Colin's posts

Jake, who was looking better than before, but still not the greatest, looked at Ashley as she said what she did.

"...oh?" he asked.

"May I ask who?" he asked her.

"I DO hope it won't result in an altercation here again." he went on. "And by that, I mean here in the security area." he then added.

"...I've had my fair share for a while now..." he muttered.

"Really need to start working out more..." he then mumbled quietly.

"...yeah... yeah, sure." Ash replied.

"I'm actually at the guild now, and Sydney's here too, giving Cass some updates." he told her.

"I'll go and see her now, and tell her about this." he went on.

"So yeah, see you in a few." he continued.

"...and I certainly hope this is GOOD news." he added.

"...." Hal was silent as Sierra laughed at her broken heart comment.

'Sierra...' he thought to himself, before shaking his head.

"Well, let's discuss how this should go down..." he told her.

Meanwhile, Ashley could almost FEEL Ash's confusion on the other end of the phone.

"Uhhhh... sure." he replied.

"When?" he asked.

"Now." Ashley responded.

"All right, be there in less than a minute." Ash told her.

"Anything else?" he asked.

Hal just sighed.

"This better work." he said.

"We only have one chance at this." he commented.

"We need to make it count." he muttered, shaking his head.

"Regardless, Sierra, I'm sorry again." he told her.

"I never would have expected something like THIS to happen..."

"Over here, I'd want Tyson and Roxie..." Hal muttered.

"Maybe Zeke..." he said further.

"...and Aedan...." he went on.

"And of course, you." he then told Sierra.

"Regardless, Ashley, go and find out who can be here to help with this." he then said to Ashley.

"The sooner we get this organised, the better."

"Basically, we'll need to commandeer the cafeteria and make it look like an average lunch... but seeing as he'll arrive around 12:30, we can have it be more sparsely populated." Hal replied.

"Seed it with people that can fight, or hold their own, at least." he continued.

"I'll find a few agents that can deal with one such at him." he went on, before pausing.

"...and I hate to say it, but Aedan should be there as well. She'll want some... therapy... involving him." he then mumbled further.

"Ashley, can you think of anyone in YOUR circles that would be suited for this?" he then asked Ashley.

Hal was silent for a moment, before snapping his fingers.

"All right then." he said.

"We now have a scant few hours to formulate a plan of ambush and attack." he told them.

"If he's bringing you lunch, then... the cafeteria would be the optimal place for this to occur..." he reasoned, scratching his chin again.

"Hmmm." he muttered.

"We'll need people there to keep him in check, as well..." he went on.

Hal was silent for a moment, and raised an eyebrow.

"...yes. Yes, you can do that." he said.

"I technically cannot alter someone's free will. I can't outright mind-control someone, but I CAN put small suggestions in their mind." he continued.

"I can implant a small idea, and they can rationalise it out in their own mind, essentially." he continued.

"So, depending on his personality, and the wish itself, yes, that could work nicely."

"......hm." Ryker muttered.

"I guess we're starting to meld." he said.

"Becoming more like one entity..." he went on.

"Well... I..." he then said further, before sighing and making his way towards Eke, giving him a hug.

"I'm sorry." he apologised.

"I'll be more careful to watch for that in the future."

"....hmmm." Hal muttered.

"That makes sense." he said.

"But we still need to lure him in here in the first place." he went on. "And THAT might be trickier than we'd like." he continued, scratching his chin slightly.

"Can either of you think of a reason for him to come into this building?" he asked Sierra and Ashley.

"Ashley, you're his aunt, so you'd know him better than anyone else, more than likely." he said to Ashley. "And Sierra, you've been rooming with him for a while, so you may have some insight to how he is currently." he then told Sierra.

"We need to make sure he's not suspicious about this, otherwise thing may end up getting ruined." he finished, still thinking about how they could go about this plan.

"We are in a unique situation." Hal replied.

"It seems that your nephew is boarding with Sierra as a roommate." he told her.

"However, he does not know that we know this." he went on.

"I figured you would have some insight into all this." he then reasoned, sitting back a little.

"Tell me, what do YOU think is the best course of action?" he asked her.

"Just storming the building, guns a-blazing, is probably NOT the optimal solution here."

"Ah, Ashley." Hal said.

"Have a seat, please." he told her, gesturing to one of them. When she did, he nodded slightly.

"We have some news about Cecil/Cedric." he then said.

"We know where he is, and how he's been infecting my agents." he told her.

"But before we go on, may I ask that you please remove his mana from inside Sierra again?" he then asked. "Without a doubt, he's placed more in her to try and control her again." he reasoned.

"It should be nowhere near as much, though." he then added.

"That IS the question." Hal replied.

"We'll discuss it when Ashley gets here." he told her.

"They ARE related, after all." he sighed.

"She'd know about him, and perhaps how he'd work. Perhaps she'll be able to help us with this." he reasoned.

"The thing is, we have an advantage now. We need to be able to make it work for us."

"....damn it." Hal cursed.

"That brilliant bastard." he said.

"Through the money. Nobody would have suspected it." he said further.

He then sighed and shook his head.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you, Sierra." he told her.

"But now we know. And he doesn't know that we know."