Colin's posts

Cain just sighed.

"To put it another way, it's... kind of like a paradox." he told her.

"As you can see, it's clearly leading towards someone else." he said.

"However... it's also leading towards... YOU." he went on.

"It's as though this tether things you're in two different places at once." he continued.

"But.. that would mean that there's someone out there with your EXACT mana." he reasoned.

"....which makes NO sense." he mumbled, thinking about it.

"Did we mess up anywhere?" he wondered further.

Cain watched as Erica did as she was directed, and looked to his mother.

"All right." he said.

"Let's get this started." he told her.

And sure enough, they did. It took about 25-30 minutes, but through their mixings and dealings, they had finished.

"All right." Cain said.

"We're ready!" he continued.

"Or, rather, that should be it." he went on.

"And... activating!" he declared.

With that, the quartz started to glow, and the next thing they knew, a translucent 'tether' of mana shot out of Erica's chest. One that looked black at first, but if one looked closer it would be an extremely dark navy.

"...what...?" Cain muttered.

"That... wait, what?" he asked further, obviously confused now.

"...that is concerning." Cain responded.

"And confusing." he added.

He then paused for a moment, and thought about it.

"Maybe something will come up in our work." he suggested.

"For now, we need to get TO work." he continued.

"Come on." he told her.

"Mom's already ready." he said, heading towards the house.

".....hey..." Cain greeted her in response.

"Yeah, sure." he then said.

"But are you OKAY?" he asked.

"See... you did not look good. And you teleported out here, when you're capable of teleporting inside." he went on.

"What's going on?" he asked her.

"And why do you look so... strained and tired?"

"Yeah, sure." Cain responded.

"I'll go do that now." he told his mother.

He then stepped away from her, and proceeded to step outside, where Erica was.

"Erica?" he addressed her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"You could have just teleported inside, you know."

"......" Hal was silent for a moment after she left.

"Oh dear." he said, before sighing and sending her a text.

I will make it so that you and anyone with you can jump right to the lab. it read.

Meanwhile, inside the house, Cain paused for a moment.

"That was Erica, I think." he said.

"She's... outside...?"

Hal was silent for a moment, before sighing.

"Right." he said.

"Well... do what you feel you must, then." he told her.

"I will make sure to try and avoid contact with people." he said further.

"...is there anything I can do to help you?" he asked.

"If not, then get moving and try and do something about this."

".....I see." Hal responded.

"Actually, I don't." he then said.

"I am very confused about all this right now." he told her.

"I would very much appreciate an explanation, but something tells me we don't have time for that." he went on.

"So I will do as you suggest." he continued.

"Is there a way to fix whatever is happening?" he then asked.

Hal was slumped in his chair, silent.

Motionless.

It was as though the life had been drained from him.

But he then looked at her and shook his head slightly, regaining his composure and sitting up again.

"What....?" he muttered.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"I feel like I've been... trapped in some sort of weird nightmare..." he commented further.

"...and what is that mana?" he then asked, looking at the mana in her hand.

Hal looked... angry.

And unimpressed.

And impatient as well.

"...so... you dare say what is best for me?" he asked.

"Just like you humans." he growled.

"You have 10 seconds to make this worth my time." he then told her.

"After that, you will forcefully be ejected."

When she checked, she found that the one in question was, in fact there.

He looked over towards her, and waved slightly.

"Yo." he said.

"Sup?" he asked her.

"Again, fair warning, nuthouse in there and blah blah blah." he went on.

"If you want in, just say so." he told her, darting his tongue out.

"Because yeah, you're Erica."

"...." there was silence around the room, before Azazel sighed.

"If you think it's safe for you to be around him." he said.

"You know that even if that wasn't the case it wouldn't stop her, right?" Armo asked in response.

"That's... a fair point." Azazel admitted with a sigh.

"All right, if you want to head back, I don't think anyone here is going to stop you." he told her.

"However, I insist that it be through a mana portal." he then said further. "You are in no condition to be out and about." he reasoned. "Especially with what's going on with people right now." he added.

"Then give us a portal." Armo replied.

Azazel did just that, forming a portal on the wall, as Armozan wrapped around Aly's body again.

"This one's a bit special." Azazel told her. "Step in, envision where you want to step out, and it'll happen." he explained.

There was silence for a moment, before Cain spoke.

"A mana tether?" he suggested.

"Sure." he said.

"It's doable." he told her.

"Can probably do it right here." he continued.

"Then get it on it." Azazel told him.

"Cool." Cain responded.

"Mom, I'll need help." he then said to Aedan.

"And Erica, we'll need you, obviously." he added to Erica.

"No clue." Azazel replied.

"But it's spreading and replicating." Armo commented.

"At an alarmingly fast rate." he went on.

"We need to find a way to stop it." Azazel told her.

"And since it's your mana, you should be able to help." he reasoned.

"The fact that you're confused about it is already not a good sign." Armo muttered.