Colin's posts

While Ryker was having another fitful sleep, and his body continued the process of getting ready to 'adapt' to the underworld, Savra returned to their lupine form and stayed close to Eke as well.

Aly still looked concerned as she checked Ekes vitals, but nodded when he said he was thirsty.

"I'll get you something to drink." she said.

"Watch over him." she told Savra, who nodded in response.

She then made her way to the kitchen, wracking her memory for what this could be. It seemed like something she'd read before... but what?

"Firstly, look at this." Hal said, turning his screen towards them, and showing them the feed.

They all heard some threats and such, mentions about a 'collection', and they all saw flashes of the greyish stone-like skin that the one they were watching had. Not much was happening that was bombastic or too violent, but they all knew this didn't sound good.

Hal then turned the monitor back towards him, and sighed.

"Lunet did some digging, found some posts on that weird conspiracy board, followed up on it, and managed the setup you see here." he told them.

"It's the manor just at the outskirts of town." he then said.

"...the one where the dude is suspected in over 20 disappearances, but nothing's even come close to being proven, or even warranted a search?" Zeke asked.

"Precisely." Hal responded.

"I think we have our smoking gun, along with someone that needs saving. And we need to do it NOW."

Azazel just sighed.

"Not as flattering as 'I'm the only one she trusts to do it', but far more honest." he mumbled.

Zeke just laughed as they heard that, and when they reached Hal's office, they saw that Roxie was already there.

"Welcome." Hal said.

"Oh, I didn't know you were here, Anya." he then admitted, seeing Anya with them.

"Excellent." he commented. "The more the better." he reasoned.

"I need you all to go on a serious rescue mission."

"I've been all right." Azazel responded.

"And Cain and Aeden haven't blown up the house yet, so that's always a positive." he added with a smirk.

"And if you ever need help quelling more boisterous insurgences, let me know." he then said. "Cerby can certainly use some exercise and chew toys." he reasoned with a laugh.

"...I keep forgetting you're their caretaker." Zeke admitted.

"It's never usually relevant to anything." Azazel replied with a shrug.

They both looked back at her, and Zeke sighed.

"We're clueless about this." he said.

"For all we know, it's a rogue demon or something." he told her.

"Possible, but not probable." Azazel chimed in, as they neared Hal's office.

"How've you been, Anya?" he then asked.

"Long time no chat."

Jake returned the kiss, and smiled at her when she headed off.

"Man, I am one lucky man." he said to himself with a contented sigh.

As Anya walked, she saw Azazel and Zeke coming from different areas as well, and she knew that they were all headed to the same place.

"Guess this is pretty serious." Zeke commented. "Think there's trouble from either realm?" he asked.

"That or the situation is entirely unknown, and celestials and infernals can handle damn near anything." Azazel responded.

"We're pretty much the strongest mana Sharp has at his disposal."

His eyes widened when he heard that.

And he knew he had to mobilise a team. NOW.

As such, he sent a call out. He needed some of his strongest.

He pressed the button on the P.A. system, and made an announcement.

"All available Sky and Tunnel agents report to my office! Stat!" he said. Sky meant those with affiliations with the celestial realm, while Tunnel referred to those with the infernal realm.

He needed strong mana.

Hal's eyes widened when he saw the stone-like grey.

He'd momentarily been taken in by the beauty of the woman he saw, but this new development caused him great concern. That did not look normal. It did NOT look like something she should have.

'...is that...?' he wondered, before narrowing his eyes a little.

He decided to continue to listen in on this. He wanted to see what else he could, hear something incriminating.

But he would not hesitate if he heard or saw her life being in extremely immediate danger.

Hal just shrugged again.

"Sleep for me is something I do to help me with routine." he told her. "It helps me ground myself and remember where I am in my life, and how I'm no better than anyone else." he reasoned.

"Also, it's nice to just 'turn off' for a bit." he added.

The next day rolled around, and Hal was back in his office, tending to things. His receptionist wasn't in, because she was working afternoons, so he had just finished sorting everything out and had gotten on track. Thankfully, there wasn't a whole lot for him to do right now, as far as administrative tasks were concerned, so when he looked at the clock and saw it was 9:55, he nodded to himself.

"Right, let's see what's happening..." he mumbled, grabbing the thumb drive out of his desk.

He plugged it into his computer, accessed the files needed, and brought up the part that allowed him to hijack the camera on the phone it was connected to. He initiated it, and wondered what he would see and/or hear.

Hal just chuckled as they left his office and he locked the door.

"Oh yeah?" he asked.

"Hmmm..." he mumbled, the two of them walking through the hallways.

"Odds are it's one of their 'premium burgers'..." he went on, before he suddenly remembered it, and he snapped his fingers. "Oh! Right, the one with the caramelised onions on it, right?" he asked.

"And it comes with a heap of fries with that seasoning on them that you like so much." he went on.

"Want a cherry cola with it, as well?" he asked.

"10? All right, good to know." Hal responded, getting up from his desk and making his way closer towards Lunet.

"And yes, it IS a dumb hour." he lamented. "But such is the sacrifice we all need to make at some point in our lives. Multiple times. Many multiple times." he then mumbled.

"Let's just get home." he restated.

"Want to grab a bite before we get there?" he asked.

"Helscape should still be open until... either 3 or 4. Long enough to grab something to go."

Hal looked to the blue button, and nodded in response.

"I'll remember that." he said.

"Blue button allows communication." he truncated.

He then sighed quietly, and closed the file, withdrawing the thumb drive and putting it in one of the drawers at his desk that locked. She then saw him write something down on a small sheet of paper, and could make out that it was a reminder about the drive, and to check it later. He set it by his computer monitor, and shook his head.

"Since that seems to be the case, I will leave it for now, and check again first thing when I return here in the morning." he told her.

"For now... we should probably both head home." he suggested.

Aly paused and thought for a moment, pondering Eke's situation.

"I don't know." she said. "Not right away, anyway." she then said.

"But I think I might have read up on something like this." she told him.

"We need to get you inside, and make sure you're comfortable." she went on, as Savra changed into their humanoid form to help carry Eke indoors.

Hal narrowed his eyes as he heard that, and saw what little he did.

"...already, I don't like this." he muttered.

"Something is not right. But it's not yet enough to warrant a search." he continued.

"But I dare not say anything right now. I don't know if my voice is being carried through this." he then admitted, having wondered if there was an audio connection, but only knowing the visual.

Which made sense. Camera and all.

All the while, he was keeping his voice low. Low enough that Lunet was able to hear him. Barely. But still.

"...come on, what is happening there...?" Hal then asked, his voice a bit anxious.

If someone was in trouble, and it could lead to the break in these multiple cases, then he would not hesitate to send agents out.