Colin's posts

"Makes sense to me." Jake replied with a chuckle.

"Yeah, it's the big stone building that... kinda looks like a cross between a church and a castle." he told her.

"And they have a LOT there." he laughed.

"Oh, and if you show them your ID badge that says you're in with us, you'll be allowed into the secret section where there's info for... well... not the general public." he informed her.

"Make sure you show it to any of the staff on the second floor."

"....library?" he asked.

"Yeah, there's one a few blocks south of here." he told her.

"And Violet, eh?" he asked, putting down the paper.

"Name's Jake." he introduced himself.

"I'm the security guard here, obviously. Most of the time, anyway." he added.

"Whatcha need the library for?" he asked, puzzling over something internally.

The guard was silent as he seemed to hide behind his newspaper, before Violet heard some 'ssst' sounds, and he seemed to freeze. He was silent for moment, and then cleared his throat.

"Ah, sure." he then said.

"You must be one of the newbies here." he commented.

"I'll try to help, sure." he went on.

"Whatcha need?"

Aly watched him go, and smiled.

"At least he seems energetic." she commented.

She then proceeded to unpack everything they had, and organize it. Once she did that, she started to chop and cut everything that needed to be chopped or cut.

She wanted all the prep work to be done for Eke when he came back down.

'...I wonder if what's been happening is concern-worthy...' she then thought.

'Am I just overthinking this...?' she wondered further.

"Yeah, thanks." Emerald echoed.

"No problem." Zeke responded.

With that, they parted ways, and the siblings stepped into the door.

"Huh. Looks comfortable." Emerald commented.

"...suppose I should clean myself up a little." he then said.

"I'm pretty dirty and gungy." he chuckled.

"I know next to nothing about this." Zeke admitted.

"But the guy that did it is named Leo." he told her.

"Leo Fenretti." he said further.

"Uh.... Sharp knows of him, obviously... and I think Kiah in the lab does as well..." he went on, thinking about it. "Oh, and Illias in the lab as well." he added.

"I can see about arranging a meeting for you." he offered.

"Or you can talk to Sharp, Illias, or Kiah about it." he added.

"I'm going to need to ask him." Zeke muttered.

After some small talk, they stopped at a door.

"Here's your dorm." he told them.

"There's two bedrooms and one bathroom, and it should have everything you need." he told them.

"You have access to the cafeteria at any time, and if you're lost, look for these blue panels here." he then said, putting his hand on said panel that was near their door.

As he did, a 3D model of the building's interior was holographically displayed, showing them where they were with a red glow.

"....nice." Emerald commented with a small smirk.

Zeke paused for a moment.

"Yep, all kinds." he said.

"Also... Fortuna?" he then asked.

"Yeah." Emerald confirmed.

"....hm." Zeke mumbled, thinking about something as they continued to walk.

"I swear I've heard that name before..." he said to himself. "Did... Dad mention it...?"\ he mumbled further, wracking his brain for the info.

"...or am I thinking about something else...?"

Aly looked skyward, and was silent.

"Looks like it, yeah." she said.

"....wonder if it'll be bad..." she then mused.

"I hope not." she went on. "Ryker doesn't need to be caught out in this." she reasoned.

"We headed back?" she then asked Eke.

"Or do you have any more stops to make?"

Once they left the office and were on their way, Zeke looked at them.

"So. You're new here." he commented.

"Yep." Emerald replied.

"Where are you from?" Zeke then asked.

"We get all kinds here, from all over, so where are you guys from?" he asked further. "You have accents, but I can't place them." he added.

Despite his oppressive and frightening aura, he seemed to be genuinely friendly and outgoing.

They were only waiting for about a couple of minutes, before a large man with a rather imposing aura came into the office.

"You called?" he asked.

"Ah, Zeke." Hal responded.

"This is Violet and Emerald." he told him. "They'll be staying with us for a while, and I need you to take them to their dorm." he explained.

"Sure thing." Zeke replied.

"Excellent." Hal said, before looking at the siblings.

"Let us know if there's anything more we can do for you." he told them.

"You're very welcome." Hal replied.

"....really? Just like that?" Emerald asked him.

"Just like that." Sharp confirmed.

"Of course some details will need to be filled out and figured out." he then told them. "Which is to say, basics, like age, full names and such." he went on.

"And we'll need to figure out a country of birth for you." he continued.

"But all that will come in due time." he reasoned.

"For now, you're top priority should be fully recovering and recuperating."

".....hm." Aly muttered.

"Well, rice is good as a side for fish." she said.

"Oh, and if you like, I can help make dinner." she offered. "I know how to make really good sushi rolls." she told him.

"I mean, as another dish in the dinner. Obviously the cooked fish will be what shines." she quickly added.

"But for spices and seasoning, lemon and dill are classics."

Aly followed him, thinking about it.

'I'll need to talk to Ryker about that.' she thought.

"All right." she said.

"How can I help?" she asked.

"Is there anything you'd like me to grab to help speed up the trip?" she asked further.