Colin's posts

The child was silent and still for a moment, before the screams of the leader's cohorts jolted him back to reality.

He ducked down behind the rock, but didn't look away. He just pressed himself up against the rock and didn't dare poke his head out again. Not until the screams and yells stopped, anyway.

And it took a while for them to stop.

It sounded like absolute carnage out there, with immeasurable pain, but he stayed where he was.

At this point, he was afraid to move.

He didn't want to be seen by anyone, for fear that he might get sucked into this.

"....what...?" the kid mumbled to himself.

He felt like he should help her, but... he also felt like he didn't need to. She seemed to be fairly confident in her chances and abilities... and he somehow felt like she was justified in so.

Meanwhile, the one that she was speaking to just growled.

"Arrogant until the end!" he said.

"How very fitting for a monster!" he declared.

He then brought his sword up, and made a slashing motion, looking like he was aiming to behead her.

The child, meanwhile, seemed to freeze where he was, stunned to see this unfold.

He was tired.

Weak, and tired.

But he kept moving. His small body pushed him forward, with a single goal; move forward. Put as much ground behind him as possible. Make sure the distance behind him continued to go up.

And at this point, that was all that was keeping him going... right up until he was running through a thick forest, tripped over a large root, fell to the ground, and just... stayed there.

He was so tired, and his body hurt. Even falling to the ground was a welcome rest.

However, he soon heard sounds of what seemed to be a battle nearby.

"...huh?" he mumbled, before shakily getting to his feet and making his way towards where he'd heard the sounds.

His ears led him to a clearing near the edge of the woods, with some large boulders at around the perimeter of it. He found one of the larger ones and hid behind it, before poking his head out to see what was going on.

Hal returned the gesture, and held his daughter, wrapping his arms around her.

"I know, I know." he replied.

"And I know it was terribly frightening for you." he said.

"But it seems that fate has seen fit to bring me back into this world, whether for my own sake, yours, or another." he went on.

"Believe me, Lunet, I'm here." he assured her further.

"I'm here, I'm real, and this isn't a dream." he continued.

"I promise."

Hal just chuckled.

"You're not." he assured her.

"I'm here." he said.

"It's real." he went on.

He then sighed, and shook his head slowly.

"A lot went down, I know." he then said further.

"And I'm sorry you went through all you did." he apologised.

"But I'm proud of you, Lunet." he finished.

"A secure laptop." Zeke replied.

"One NOT connected to the internet, or any of the systems here. Nothing at ALL." he stressed.

-Some time later-

Lunet was sleeping in her bed... it'd been a bit since she actually slept the entire night... and finally woke up.

When she did, she felt different.

And then she heard a familiar voice.

"Finally awake, dear?" it asked.

"Not surprised you were asleep so long."

Sure enough, he did.

He followed her readily and eagerly.

"......eesh." Zeke shuddered, before going to the R&D department.

"Kiah! Ilias!" he called out when he got there.

"Need something looked at!" he went on.

"...in quarantine!" he then added, knowing that would at least spark interest.

"...." Zeke was silent as he saw this.

"That is still unnerving." he said.

"Also, get him to tell you if he has any accomplices in this." he told her.

"We need ALL the information out of him." he went on.

He then looked at the drive, and sighed.

"Need to have this checked under the proper quarantine." he mumbled.

Zeke approached the man.

"Give me the drive." he told him.

The man obeyed.

"Hmph." Zeke then muttered.

"Thank you." he said to the woman.

"I have reason to believe that this drive contains an advanced mana-virus that can jump from technology to organics." he explained.

"It needs to be looked at and confirmed. And if it is, he'll be brought to proper justice."

The one in question, Stephen, looked towards the woman.

He looked like he wanted to turn and run from her... but he didn't.

Instead, he found himself simply staring at her. Her body, her curves... and he found himself lulled by her tone.

He then started to slowly make his way over, a dreamy expression on his face.

Zeke, meanwhile, just decided to hang back.

'Hoooooo boy...' he thought.

Zeke was silent, before racing off.

He made his way to someone who was holding a USB drive, and stopped them.

"Stop right there." he said.

"Going to want to see what's on that drive, there." he commented.

"...." they were silent for a moment, before bolting.

"HEY!" Zeke yelled.

"SOMEONE STOP HIM!" he shouted, giving chase.

"....." Zeke was silent for a moment.

"I..." he stammered.

"I think so?" he said.

"Part of me wants to say... uh... Chloe?" he went on, clearly confused.

"Yeah, Chloe." he said further.

He then paused again, and looked panicked.

"Someone's going to infect her!" he exclaimed.

"They're the one all this starts from!"

Zeke had almost fallen over, but managed to keep himself upright.

"Oh... oh, dear." he said.

"That was... that was rush, to understate it." he muttered.

"Ah...!" he then exclaimed, looking at Lunet.

"Lunet!" he said.

"Lunet, are you all right!?" he asked, kneeling down close to her.

Zeke just crossed his arms over his chest.

"I know." he replied.

"This is a shit situation." he commented.

"And there doesn't seem to be any 'happy' way out of it." he went on.

"More suffering for the sake of suffering, it seems." he lamented.

"But... I've told you what I know." he then said.

"....yeah." he finished, heaviness to his tone as well, now.