Colin's posts

"Yeah about that." Jake said.

"Back up." he told her.

"No longer a Fallen?" he asked.

"...you were one in the first place?"

Jake paused for a moment.

"Ah... I guess... wait, hold on." he said.

"Firstly, could really go for sex, and then food after." he told her.

"Secondly, what are you talking about?" he asked.

"Mental connection? And earlier you mentioned Fallen's craftiness. What are you on about?"

"The fact that that's a thing is scary." Jake said.

"You have a vast network as is." he told her.

"Them having no useful information is... unnerving." he continued.

"But... as you said, no point in thinking about it."

"Yeah, I guess so." Jake admitted.

He then looked at the clock, and sighed as his replacement stepped through the door.

"Headed out for a while." he told them.

"Not sure when I'll be back." he admitted.

"Let's go, Anya." he then said to the one that had been sitting atop the desk.

"Yeah." he said.

"This is the end. Literally." he said further.

"Existence will cease to be, and all will be nothing." he lamented, shaking his head.

"Honestly never thought it'd be something like this. I... just that never occurred to me." he admitted to her. "Not sure why. Maybe I didn't want to face that possibility." he guessed.

"Pondering a state of nothingness and non-being is... terrifying, AND a headache."

"Yeah, sure." he replied.

He then buzzed for someone to come and take his place, before looking at her.

"...man..." he mumbled.

"I've been through a lot in my life." he said. "See a lot happen in this world." he continued.

"Never thought it would end like THIS."

"...." he was silent, before shaking his head.

"Die... be reduced to literal nothing... all the same, I suppose." he said.

"Sure." he muttered.

"Might as well just do whatever." he reasoned, shrugging.

"If YOU don't have confidence in this, I might as well just go with the flow."

Hal just smiled.

"Go on then." he told her.

---

The one behind the desk looked at her, and smirked in response.

"Sure thing." he said.

"I'm good to go whenever." he told her, leaning forward slightly.

"Whatcha suggesting?"

Hal saw she was a little uneasy, and took a small breath.

"Don't overexert yourself too much." he said.

"You're already been through a lot in a short period of time." he reminded her.

"So don't wear yourself down to nothing." he continued.

"You going to be all right?" he asked.

Hal scratched at his chin briefly.

"Hm." he mumbled.

"Or see if they know anyone that might go." he said further.

"But you use the channels you have to see if you can't rally some forces." he told her.

"We need to move this into endgame territory."

"Hmmmm." Hal mumbled.

"Well, the ultimate goal would be to take down and destroy the Fallen's leader." he said.

"I get the feeling that, once they lose their binding element, they'll go back to the way they were before, and be a manageable threat once again." he reasoned, thinking about it.

"But we'd need a team that can actually FIGHT them." he continued.

"If you have any contenders, let me know." he told her.

"And if nothing else, telling this information to those that can use it would be handy as well."

Hal was silent again, before sighing. He then reached down and set the small trash bin he had there in front of her, in case she needed it. He then went back to researching on his computer.

"Let me know if you DO feel ready to do it." he said. "Just so I can potentially avert my gaze." he reasoned.

He then went silent and continued to look, before she saw his eyes widen slightly.

"I think we MIGHT have our answer." he told her.

"Houska Castle in Czechia." he said. "It's an early gothic castle, and supposedly built over a very large hole said to be a portal to Hell, itself." he told her. "Now, that's not true, obviously." he continued. "However, it there ARE the remnants of an old-world nexus there, believed to be one of the originals in the world. One of the first of all the nexuses to exist." he explained.

"So it's a big deal." he muttered.

"However, there ARE also strong spiritual mana readings there, if I recall correctly." he then went on.

"Sounds like just the place they would hole up. It would probably mask their presence." he finished.

"...a Czech castle?" Hal mumbled.

"Hmmm." he muttered.

"Firstly, I understand." he said. "Too many of those forced insights, and it'll do a number on your head." he told her.

"But a Czech castle, a Czech castle... hmmmm..." he repeated.

"Hang on, let me search." he told her, going to his computer.

"Do you want a drink or something?" he offered.

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

And the info hit her. HARD.

It seemed like the Fallen had some sort of protections up, but it wasn't full or complete.

However, something was keeping her from getting a specific reading.

All she got was that it was the Czech Republic... and there was a castle.