Colin's posts

"Eh?" Ryker muttered, looking over at him.

"Sorry? For what?" he asked.

"And whatcha mean by that last comment?" he asked further.

"Seriously, somethin' seems to be buggin' you again." he commented, shaking his head slightly.

"So how about you tell me?" he suggested.

"I know I should practice what I preach, but don't start practicin' what -I- practice."

"Pretty much." Ilias responded.

"I don't know the full details, but Mira's now a threat, and Peyton fears for her safety." he said.

He then proceeded to say what Sharp had told him, and how this was the best way for him to follow that order. He sighed afterwards, and looked around, before looking back at Ally and Peyton.

"And with that, I should go." he said.

"Get back to R&D and... well, essentially be where I'm supposed to be in an emergency like this."

"Yeah, that's fair..." Ilias replied.

The rest of the walk was... quiet, but tense, until they reached the Relations department, where Ally was the one to see them first.

"Peyton needs somewhere to hide, in case Mira's looking for her." Ilias said to her.

"Can she hide here?" he asked.

"It's a place that would be lower on the list for her to look." he reasoned.

"This is true." Ilias replied, as the two of them left the office and started to make their way towards Media Relations.

"However, the only reason is... because of them." he said further, as a few snakes popped out of his hair.

That was when they heard Sharp's voice over the P.A. system.

"We have a code DEEP RED! Agent Greyson! Procedure 3 is now in effect!" he commanded.

Code red meant there was someone dangerous in the building. Deep meant it was someone that worked there. The name wasn't always available, but this time it was. And procedure 3 meant 'lockdown until the suspect is in custody'.

Ilias just shook his head.

"This is... unreal..."

Ilias rose with her, and nodded.

"I'll escort you there." he told her.

"Sharp told me to protect you, no matter what, but I'm pretty sure he said that out of desperation, as he needs to get the word out of whatever's happening, and I happened to be there at the time." he reasoned.

"I... I'm not a fighter, and my natural abilities will only go so far." he went on.

"But at the very least, I can escort you to where you'll feel safe."

Ilias crossed his arms over his chest for a moment, thinking about it... and then snapped his fingers.

"What about Jake's office?" he suggested.

"He hardly goes there, and it's pretty safe and secure, even if a bit on the small side..." he told her.

"Either that, or you can hide out in the Media Relations department." he then continued.

"I know the current head there will probably bitch about it, but you know as well as I do that if she denies you sanctuary there, or tries to force you to leave or makes you uncomfortable, she'll be gone in a heartbeat." he reminded her further.

"...between you and me, she's already teetering on being fired due to how she continues to treat Levi..." he then whispered.

Ilias wasn't sure how to respond to that, and merely knelt down so he was more level with her, eye-wise.

"...I bet I can guess why, though I don't know the scope of it." he said.

"But... I..." he then started to say further, before pausing.

It was pointless to say he was there for her. It was pointless to say that she had friends here. She knew that. She never DIDN'T know that. But it wouldn't help here. They'd just be empty words.

So he just gently placed a hand on one of her knees.

"I promise I'll protect you as best I can." he said.

Hal looked at Peyton for a moment, before heading to the door and looking out.

"Hey! Over here!" he called to someone.

"...what's up?" Ilias asked when he was close enough.

"Guard Peyton and do NOT let Mira close to her. If you see Mira, raise the alarm, and do NOT let anyone hurt Peyton. Understand?" Hal ordered him.

"Yes, sir." Ilias responded, as Hal looked back to Peyton.

"We'll get to the bottom of this, I promise." he said to her, before hastily leaving.

"..." Ilias was silent, before making his way to Peyton.

"You all right?" he asked her softly.

Hal's expression was mostly blank... but it was easy to see there was anger behind his eyes.

"........I see." he said after a pause.

"Find her." he told them.

"I'm putting the word out that Mira Greyson is to be detained on sight, and is not to be allowed to leave this building." he said further, stepping away from her desk.

"Whoever's behind this has a LOT to answer to." he growled.

"I refuse to believe Mira's doing this of her own volition."

Hal looked over to the woman, and sighed quietly.

"Looking for Mira." he responded.

"Or for any clue as to what the hell is going on with her." he said further.

"She's not been acting herself, it's been affecting her friends and loved ones, so we came here to confront her on it. And found she was not here." he then explained to her.

"...why are YOU here?" he asked.

"No, no, no, no, no..." Virgil repeated, stepping up close and looking her over. He paled as he couldn't sense her mana, before taking his phone out and calling an emergency to the medial wing, telling them where he was.

He then looked back at Roxie, and bit his bottom lip.

"Who did this...?" he asked.

"It... it couldn't have been Mira... right...?" he asked himself further.

"There HAS to be another explanation!"

"..." Virgil was silent for a moment, before shaking his head.

"Nah. It's... probably nothing." he said.

"Virgil, it's okay." Erica responded. "You know she finds it flattering when you worry about her." she added with a light laugh.

Virgil's face turned red for a moment, before he cleared his throat and stood up.

"Right. I'll be back in a second, then." he told her.

He then quickly left the department, and made his way down the hall, wondering what room they might have gone in... but his attention was grabbed when he saw some concerning blood droplets on the floor, and a room whose door was ever-so-slightly ajar.

"...please let this be just my being stupid." he mumbled, rushing to the door and opening it, seeing a figure laying motionless on the floor.

"ROXIE!?" he exclaimed.

Hal was silent as he saw she wasn't there. And neither was the spear.

"Damn it." he cursed.

"We need to see if anyone's seen her." he told Peyton.

---

Virgil looked back at the entrance to the interrogation department, before looking back at another that was there.

"Hey, Erica?" he said.

"Roxie left with Mira a bit ago." he commented. "Been almost a half-hour." he went on.

"And Mira said that it wouldn't take long at all. Think something happened?"

With that, the two of them were out of his office, down to R&D, went past all that were there, and stopped at the closed door to Mira's office.

"Mira!" Hal said, knocking heavily on the door.

"Mira, open this door! Now!" he demanded.

No answer.

"Mira, we're coming in!" Hal then stated, before opening the door and stepping inside.

Only to find that Mira... was not there.