"Ah, yes." Hal responded.

"Drake. Ash and Ashleigh's grandson." he mumbled.

"A good kid. Little emotional and impulsive, but good kid." he went on.

"Anyway, you two were very close before you disappeared." he told her.

"You became good friends, and were almost never seen apart." he informed her further.

"In fact, rumours were circling that you were... well... MORE than just friends, behind closed doors." he added with a smirk.

"You two are good friends." Hal told her.

"Not as close as others, but still, on very good terms." he said further.

"...don't think there's much more to it than that." he then admitted, thinking about it.

"But still. He cares about you a lot. Good friends are hard to come by in these... troubled times..." he muttered.

"Anyway, and if you're wondering about Nixie, you two were never really close. Friendly acquaintances, I believe." he then said to her.

"But yes, Drake is the one you truly grew quite attached to."

"They're fine." Hal responded.

"As good as can be expected, anyway." he said.

"Overall... they have each other, and that's gotten them through a lot." he told her further.

"So I am grateful for that." he went on.

"And yes, you should at least tell Drake what's happening." he suggested.

"Just so he knows, and doesn't think you've stopped loving him."

"Ahhh, Kelly's around." Hal responded.

"She tends to not stay in one place for very long, though." he then said. "Her presence attracts Lindsay and Kiah's attention, so she fears for the safety of where she stays." he growled.

"But she doesn't want to give up." he assured her.

"So she's adopted a more nomadic lifestyle." he said further.

"She travels with her mother, I believe."

"Indeed." Hal responded.

"Now, Drake is in the same boat as that, in the sense that his DNA is quite interesting, but our sources say he's a far less desirable target, as he has "too many" different types for him to be useful." he told her.

"I think it's his mana has so few of each, that they're not in meaningful quantities for them." he guessed.

"But who knows when that might change?" he sighed.

"If they decide he's suddenly worth experimenting on, he'll probably turn nomadic, too."

Again, Hal was silent.

"...gone." he told her.

"Well... Azazel, Roxie, Anya, and Zeke are, anyway." he said.

"They... they just weren't strong enough." he mumbled.

"Or they let their guard down at some point." he growled further, biting his bottom lip.

"...I'm sorry, Hazel..." he apologised quietly.

"We tried to save Zeke... but we failed..."

Hal shook his head.

"No." he replied.

"Well... no." he then repeated, after seemingly almost reconsidering his answer.

"He's here." he told her.

"But he's... he's changed." he said.

"He watched Miki die before his eyes, and that seems to have really broken his spirit." he informed her.

"He's not so much 'living' now, as he is... 'waiting to die'... which will never happen."

Hal paused for a moment, and thought about it.

"...I recall you once telling me there was." he said.

"Or... was it something else...?" he mumbled.

"You mentioned something a while ago that was the equivalent of you telling me you were guaranteed a good night's sleep now." he went on.

"But you were vague about it." he continued.

"Said you had to be, or something..."

Hal just shrugged.

"I have no idea." he told her.

"Feel free to try." he said.

"If nothing else, I can promise you he won't get violent." he then said further, before giving her the information as to where he was... more specifically, the dorm he was staying in.

"...hardly ever leaves it." he sighed.

"I've all but lost my last best friend. His soul was finally crushed."

Hal was silent as well, but looked at her and smiled.

"All right." he said.

"I hope you're right." he told her.

He then reached into a small filing cabinet, and brought out a keycard, handing it to her.

"Here." he said.

"One of the open dorms." he said further. "Just find the one that corresponds to it." he continued.

She looked and saw it was attached to a metal tag, with a number etched on it.

"The tag corresponds to the number painted on the door." he told her. "We've had to restructure a bit since the world went to shit."