Colin's posts

"Eh?" Ryker muttered, seeing the box.

"You... did, eh?" he asked, accepting it.

"For me?" he asked further.

When Eke nodded, he looked at it again, and sighed quietly.

"Well... all right then." he said. "Let's take a look at what's in here." he finished, before slowly opening the box and peering inside at its contents.

"Excellent." Hal responded.

And with that, they got to work. There were SO many documents to sign, it was almost unreal, but just when Levi and Ally thought it would never end, Hal slapped his hand on the table.

"And there!" he declared as they handed him the latest papers they sighed.

"You are officially finished with the paperwork!" he declared.

"Finally..." Levi mumbled.

Hal just laughed again.

"With that, all that's left to do is wait for the paperwork to go through, and you'll be ready to resume your studies." he told them.

"That should take about a week or so." he informed them. "In the meantime, here are your keys for your dorm." he told them, handing said keys to them. "And you are welcome to access our cafeteria whenever you like." he finished.

"Now then, do you wish to have a guide to take you to your dorm directly, give you a small tour, or do you wish to wander around and discover things yourselves?" he asked.

Levi appeared to be frozen in shock and disbelief as well.

"Oh... oh my..." he said quietly.

"I... I never expected THIS much..." he muttered.

Hal just chuckled in response.

"Glad to have pleasantly surprised you." he said.

"Now, the actual transference will take a bit, but you should be able to get back to your schooling relatively soon." he continued. "In the meantime, I advise you to get to know your new surroundings." he suggested. "Assuming you'll be living here for the time being, you'll want to familiarize yourselves with the building, and the people within it." he went on.

"That... makes sense." Levi agreed.

"But before THAT, we have some red tape to go through, and some formalities to finalize." Hal then added.

Hal was silent for a moment, briefly raising an eyebrow at Ally.

'....hm.' he thought. 'I see...' he thought further.

"Well, sometimes we DO make exceptions." he told her. "Ie: if helping one such as Levi here includes helping you out, we're more than happy to do so." he went on.

"And yes, Conduit IS the correct term." he then confirmed.

"Now, let us talk about your education." he went on, moving the discussion along. "I made some calls and sent them your GPA's, and they say they'd be more than willing to accept you, and that you will both get a sizeable scholarship." he informed them, handing them each a sheet of paper.

"The details are there, but to truncate it, you'll get a scholarship for the rest of your education, if you stay here in the Unit, in the dorms we offer." he summarized.

"Pretty much." Hal replied.

"So if your job is to do this, how can you be helping us like you are?" Levi then asked. "It seems... decidedly out of your scope of responsibilities." he continued.

"That is true. It DOES seem that way." Hal responded.

"However, we are also a haven for those that do not fit into the world at large. Whether it be counselling and training to get work and fit in out there, or hiring them here, we ARE an outreach for those that are... 'different', shall we say." he continued.

"Granted there ARE other places that specialize in such things, but... well, we get enough cushion in our budget that we can VERY comfortably do it, too." he then laughed.

Ryker was silent for a moment, and sighed heavily.

"I'm pretty broken, too." he said.

"We're both messed up, let's face it." he admitted.

"We need each other." he went on, smiling a little. "And that's not a bad thing at all." he then told Eke.

"Let's face it, we stop each other from going off the deep end." he added with a light chuckle, but Eke could tell that Ryker was half-serious in that statement.

Levi sat down beside Ally, and thought for a moment.

"Well... some ginger ale would be nice." he said.

The man nodded, and soon Levi had a bottle of ginger ale.

"Thanks." Levi replied.

"You're welcome." the man replied to the both of them.

"Now, to business." he said. "My name is agent Hal Sharp, and I am in command of this organization, Special Unit III. But we just call it 'The Unit'." he went on.

"Special Unit III?" Levi asked.

"We're essentially a shadow branch of the government." Hal responded. "But we're also essentially a world-wide organization." he continued. "And I know that sounds shady and criminal, but we're not. We're a specialized organization that is tasked with protecting humanity from and against what which would mean it harm, and which they must never know about." he went on.

"So... you essentially protect people from the boogeyman?" Levi then asked, half-jokingly.

"You might have stopped believing in the boogeyman." Hal responded. "The problem is, HE still believes in YOU." he responded.

"...." Levi was silent, and looked a little unnerved by the statement.

Ally stepped through the door first, with Levi following. And they immediately saw who they assumed was the head of this entire operation. He was sitting behind his desk in a large chair... but nothing seemed off about him.

At all.

He looked like an African-American with a shaved head, no facial hair, in his 30's, and was sharply dressed for the business world.

He smiled at them, and gestured to the seats in front of the desk.

"Welcome, welcome." he greeted them. "Have a seat." he offered.

"Would you like something to drink?" he asked. "I have coffee, tea, water, juice, and soda." he told them.

Levi just chuckled lightly, as his face turned a little pink.

"Eh-heh." he laughed quietly.

"Y-yeah. I guess we do." he said.

"Pardon me for interrupting your little moment." the receptionist then said, causing Levi to jump a bit, and his face to go a little redder.

"...but you may enter the office." she finished with a warm smirk.

"....and I only stayed because of you." Levi responded.

"I... seriously." he muttered.

"You made it... well... tolerable. Worthwhile." he said.

"That's why... I... don't think I would have moved out here if you didn't want to move out with me." he then admitted, looking away slightly.

"I'm not sure... I'd have been able to adjust, without you." he finished, scratching the back of his head.

"I know it is." Ryker responded, placing his hands on his shoulders.

"I'm just frustrated that I can't do anything to help." he said.

"I... there really is nothing I can do." he sighed.

"But yes. I would do that." he then added, referring to the pond.

"Readily and happily."

Levi just sighed.

"I am." he said.

"You know it was miserable for me back there." he told her.

"Always hearing the voices, people avoiding me and insulting me, my grades were going to start to suffer, I'm on shaky terms with my family..." he went on.

"Ally, this is what we're both wanted for... well, since before we met." he continued.

"This is the perfect chance for us."

Ryker almost dropped what he had, but managed to set it down, before returning the hug.

"Eke..." he said.

"Let me... tell you what I was thinking earlier." he told him.

"I know you like fish. And I know you like TO fish." he said. "And I know the backyard on this property is big." he continued. "I was thinking of building a pond and stocking it with fish." he went on.

"Let you fish whenever you want, and have your pick." he chuckled.

"But only if you are comfortable with it." he insisted.

"You're my brother, Eke. And I love you, no matter WHAT happens."

"I dunno, maybe I'm just being paranoid." Levi responded.

"But he just seemed like he doesn't like us." he sighed.

"...." he was then silent, and looked down to the floor.

"Just.... yeah, guess he WAS more judgemental, but.... oh well." he finished.

"I'll try and lighten up a bit."