Ally stepped through the door first, with Levi following. And they immediately saw who they assumed was the head of this entire operation. He was sitting behind his desk in a large chair... but nothing seemed off about him.

At all.

He looked like an African-American with a shaved head, no facial hair, in his 30's, and was sharply dressed for the business world.

He smiled at them, and gestured to the seats in front of the desk.

"Welcome, welcome." he greeted them. "Have a seat." he offered.

"Would you like something to drink?" he asked. "I have coffee, tea, water, juice, and soda." he told them.

Levi sat down beside Ally, and thought for a moment.

"Well... some ginger ale would be nice." he said.

The man nodded, and soon Levi had a bottle of ginger ale.

"Thanks." Levi replied.

"You're welcome." the man replied to the both of them.

"Now, to business." he said. "My name is agent Hal Sharp, and I am in command of this organization, Special Unit III. But we just call it 'The Unit'." he went on.

"Special Unit III?" Levi asked.

"We're essentially a shadow branch of the government." Hal responded. "But we're also essentially a world-wide organization." he continued. "And I know that sounds shady and criminal, but we're not. We're a specialized organization that is tasked with protecting humanity from and against what which would mean it harm, and which they must never know about." he went on.

"So... you essentially protect people from the boogeyman?" Levi then asked, half-jokingly.

"You might have stopped believing in the boogeyman." Hal responded. "The problem is, HE still believes in YOU." he responded.

"...." Levi was silent, and looked a little unnerved by the statement.

"Pretty much." Hal replied.

"So if your job is to do this, how can you be helping us like you are?" Levi then asked. "It seems... decidedly out of your scope of responsibilities." he continued.

"That is true. It DOES seem that way." Hal responded.

"However, we are also a haven for those that do not fit into the world at large. Whether it be counselling and training to get work and fit in out there, or hiring them here, we ARE an outreach for those that are... 'different', shall we say." he continued.

"Granted there ARE other places that specialize in such things, but... well, we get enough cushion in our budget that we can VERY comfortably do it, too." he then laughed.

Hal was silent for a moment, briefly raising an eyebrow at Ally.

'....hm.' he thought. 'I see...' he thought further.

"Well, sometimes we DO make exceptions." he told her. "Ie: if helping one such as Levi here includes helping you out, we're more than happy to do so." he went on.

"And yes, Conduit IS the correct term." he then confirmed.

"Now, let us talk about your education." he went on, moving the discussion along. "I made some calls and sent them your GPA's, and they say they'd be more than willing to accept you, and that you will both get a sizeable scholarship." he informed them, handing them each a sheet of paper.

"The details are there, but to truncate it, you'll get a scholarship for the rest of your education, if you stay here in the Unit, in the dorms we offer." he summarized.

Levi appeared to be frozen in shock and disbelief as well.

"Oh... oh my..." he said quietly.

"I... I never expected THIS much..." he muttered.

Hal just chuckled in response.

"Glad to have pleasantly surprised you." he said.

"Now, the actual transference will take a bit, but you should be able to get back to your schooling relatively soon." he continued. "In the meantime, I advise you to get to know your new surroundings." he suggested. "Assuming you'll be living here for the time being, you'll want to familiarize yourselves with the building, and the people within it." he went on.

"That... makes sense." Levi agreed.

"But before THAT, we have some red tape to go through, and some formalities to finalize." Hal then added.

"Excellent." Hal responded.

And with that, they got to work. There were SO many documents to sign, it was almost unreal, but just when Levi and Ally thought it would never end, Hal slapped his hand on the table.

"And there!" he declared as they handed him the latest papers they sighed.

"You are officially finished with the paperwork!" he declared.

"Finally..." Levi mumbled.

Hal just laughed again.

"With that, all that's left to do is wait for the paperwork to go through, and you'll be ready to resume your studies." he told them.

"That should take about a week or so." he informed them. "In the meantime, here are your keys for your dorm." he told them, handing said keys to them. "And you are welcome to access our cafeteria whenever you like." he finished.

"Now then, do you wish to have a guide to take you to your dorm directly, give you a small tour, or do you wish to wander around and discover things yourselves?" he asked.

Levi looked at Ally and shrugged.

"No." he replied. "Not really." he said.

"I can see pluses and minuses for all of the options, but they all seem to equal out in the long run." he told her.

"So I'm good, no matter what." he finished.

Hal, meanwhile, was organizing the papers, and putting them away in folders dedicated to each of them.

Hal nodded.

"Of course." he responded.

"See that, there?" he asked, gesturing to a light blue panel on the wall.

"Yeah..." Levi replied.

"Touch it with your palm." Hal told him.

Levi got up and did so, causing a 3D schematic of the building to project from a small hole near it, with a glowing red dot on it.

"These are positioned strategically around the building." Hal said. "Red dot means 'you are here', obviously."

Levi withdrew his hand, and the map disappeared.

"Ready." he said.

"Thank you so much, once again." he told Hal.

"Anything I can do to help." Hal responded with a smile.

"Just know that any signs that say 'employees only', MEAN it." he warned.

"We have some very dangerous materials and creatures here. Don't snoop where you shouldn't be." he continued, his tone almost alarmingly serious.

"But those sections are very clearly labelled." he added, returning to a lighter tone.

Hal had a very serious look in his eyes, and she knew that this was NOT a social call, but his expression lightened a little when she offered him some coffee.

"Please." he said, entering the house.

"Angela, I have something to discuss with you." he told her.

"Something of the utmost importance." he went on as she shut the door.

"I assume Liv isn't home?" he asked.