"...that's an ominous warning..." Jake said.

"Sounded almost like a threat." Sharp commented.

"No... no, I've heard her make threats." Jake responded. "That was a legitimate warning." he assured Sharp.

"....." Sharp was silent, and then sighed.

"Right." he said.

"Come on." he told Vanessa.

"We need to talk."

Sharp merely took her inside, and... on autopilot... started to take her to his office, before catching himself. He then quickly altered course, and took her to one of the interrogation rooms they had.

Once there, they went inside, and sat on opposite ends of a long table.

"All right." he said.

"You say what you have to tell me is serious." he told her.

"Let's have it." he continued.

"And I'LL be the judge on the severity of it."

Sharp was stunned to hear that.

He had to take a minute for it to truly sink in.

"I beg your pardon?" he asked.

"The Order of the Sand. The ones responsible for dreams, sleep, and the very subconscious... are corrupted." he said. "Those said to be near-infallible." he went on.

"...that is a VERY bitter pill to swallow. And a hard one to, at that." he then said.

"If what you say is true, then this is a situation that can... and will... bring the entire world to an end." he stated.

"How could you possibly know such a thing!?"

Sharp paused as Vanessa mentioned Peyton.

"............well..." he muttered, before thinking.

".......huh." he said.

The more he thought about it, the more skittish she had been. More paranoid, and seemingly more tired.

"Well... hm." he mumbled.

"Wait." he then said.

"How would YOU know how she's been?" he asked her.

Again, Sharp paused.

".....yes.... yes, she has." he agreed.

He was silent as he gritted his teeth. Everything Vanessa was saying was adding up, but... how could he believe her? She could be pulling manipulation on him.

However, at that point, his cell went off. He checked the ID, before sighing.

"One moment." he told her, getting up and making his way to a corner.

"Yes? Is this important, because-" he started to say, before he paused, clearing having been interrupted. "Mmhmm... mmhmm... uh-huh... wait... what? Really? You're... serious?" Vanessa heard him say. "You're sure. Absolutely... no, no, I don't doubt you, or your sources-" he continued, sighing quietly.

"Well... well, you can't get better than that." he admitted.

"Yes, I'll do whatever I can to help. I'll let you know when I get solid information." he finished, before hanging up and making his way back to the chair.

"Right then, what else can you tell me?" he asked her.

"Because if you have any more information on this crisis, then it would be greatly appreciated." he added, his tone noticeably different than before.

".........." again, Sharp was silent.

"Very well." he said.

He then proceeded to push a notepad and pen over towards her, as well as a special specimen bottle, specifically used for keeping mana samples in.

"Here." he said.

"Use those." he told her.

"And your arrogance is aggravating, but fitting." he then added.

Sharp looked at the notepad, and was stunned. Her writing was gorgeous. It looked like straight up calligraphy.

"Ah... well, your handwriting is... impeccable." he complimented her.

"And... anything else?" he asked.

"Well... hm." he mumbled, thinking about something.

He had Vanessa Encrae at the Unit. She was powerless with the mana cuffs on, so she couldn't really use her mana at all to manipulate the people here. This was the perfect opportunity. One of the biggest criminals in the history of the mage world was in their custody right now. As the head of the Unit, and one that was close to Hollie Remmington, he had a legal and moral responsibility to take her in and hold her.

But she had come to him in genuine need. She had supplied him with information that they could not have gotten otherwise. Wouldn't it just be honourable and good form to look the other way, just this once? Did this act deserve such a turnaway, after all she'd done to various people in this world, over the time she'd been alive?

"No... no, I don't think so." he then managed to get out.

Hal just growled when she said what she did.

"Yes..." he said.

"Out of our hair." he commented.

'...damn it all.' he then cursed, looking away.

"I have the opportunity of a lifetime right here, Vanessa Encrae." he then said.

"Yet my sense of honour is telling me that I would regret it forever if I essentially did the 'proper' thing right now." he told her, deciding that the blunt truth was always the way to go.

"My mind is in a war over the 'right' thing to do, and the 'proper' thing to do." he went on.

"..........so let's get back to the entrance." he then finished, sounding defeated.

"Don't push it." Sharp hissed, as they made their way to the security area.

"Keys." he told Jake when they arrived.

Jake tossed him the keys, and when Sharp and Vanessa were outside, he took them off her.

"You have 10 seconds to get out of my sight." he told her.

"And if you leave ANY traces, we WILL track them, and we WILL find you." he promised.

Hal couldn't shake the feeling of being incredibly stupid right now.

Because of some idiotic sense of 'honour', he'd let Vanessa Encrae go. They'd had her, and let her go.

He wondered how this would impact the future of everything, but part of him was scared to think about it.

But he DID know that he felt a lingering pit of dread in his stomach.

"....damn it all to hell." he growled, knowing Hollie would eventually find out about this... and wondering how badly she would react to it.

"Wouldn't be surprised if this ends up costing me big in the future." he muttered.