Colin's posts

"........" Ilias was silent as he heard that.

He then looked at Nate, and started to slowly approach.

"I..." he stammered.

"I don't... I mean..." he stuttered further.

He wanted to check his eyes, he wanted to see what had happened... but he was too scared to. He wanted to know, but at the same time, he didn't. He deliberated for about 40 seconds, before approaching Nate closer... just for the man to 'come to life' with a scream, causing Ilias to jump back and land on his ass.

They didn't see his eyes, though, as Nate had moved too quickly, and had then fallen to his hands and knees, breathing heavily, and sweating profusely.

"5 minutes!?" Ilias exclaimed, as Nate continued to thrash and yell out in pain.

It seemed like an eternity, but sure enough, 5 minutes later, Nate stopped.

And slumped down, unconscious.

"...all right...?" Ilias mumbled.

"How long does the 'reboot' take?" he asked her.

"A minute? Longer? Shorter?"

Nate tensed up when that happened, and he started to thrash once the needle was removed.

And it was violent.

"Nathan!" Ilias yelled.

"What the hell!?" he said to K.

"I know you said that this would be painful, but what IS this!?" he exclaimed.

"...and why do I feel like he's starting to freeze from the inside-out!?" he continued, before pausing.

"Wait..." he mumbled.

"Wait, THAT'S why..." he continued, as it clicked why certain things were in the mixture now.

Nate just looked at her blankly, before going and taking a seat.

"Nathan, are you sure-" Ilias started to ask, but was interrupted by Nate.

"Yes. Yes. A thousand times, yes." he answered.

"I'm scared to death of what might happen, given the attitude of the one that made it." he then admitted.

"But I can't let fear hold me back." he reasoned.

Ilias was silent for a moment, and then nodded.

"All right." he replied.

He then turned and left to gather Nathan, leaving her alone with her thoughts for a bit. About 5 minutes or so.

When he returned, he had Nate in tow with him.

"We're back." he said.

"All right." Nate chimed in.

"Let us do this."

L continued to move, and only gestured for her to follow, which she did.

They made their way back to where she had first woke up there, and he checked the data and results and such from the previous experiment on her.

"We need to recreate this." he told her, showing it.

"This is what caused the change... or switch... or whatever, I'm sure of it." he continued.

"So if we can do it again, we should be able to reverse it."

She didn't get a chance to finish her statement, before L walked past her, and hurriedly.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it." he cursed.

"How did this happen!?" he growled.

"And can I recreate it?" he wondered aloud.

"I need to see that data, I need to do this AGAIN." he went on.

"This HAS to be reversed!"

"....back home?" L asked.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" he asked her.

"....." he then paused, as things started to click together.

"You... didn't regress." he said.

"You're not K." he realised.

"You're... you're from the past...?"

L appeared to be completely flabbergasted and stunned. He quickly turned away from her, slamming his palms down on the nearby table, and she noticed his breathing was heavy and laboured.

"I..." he stammered.

"That..." he stuttered further.

"No! No, you don't understand!" he then said. "I... she... that..." he continued, before pausing again.

And he was silent once more.

"...I don't know." he finally answered, to both her first question and her ending question.

"I... don't know." he repeated.

L took a few steps back, almost knocking everything over on the table behind him.

"I am not like her!" he declared, fire in his eyes and tone.

"She... she did nothing but cause misery!" he told her.

"Everything she saw was nothing more than..." he went on, before pausing. "...a... resource." he finished.

He then paused again, his eyes shaking and vibrating slightly... but Kiah could see a spark of who he used to be in them now.

L froze when she said that. Specifically, when she mentioned that name.

"...." he was silent, his pupils shaking a little.

"Wh... what?" he asked.

"Encrae...?" he asked her.

"Like me? Like Encrae?" he asked further, his tone darkening.

"Are... you saying that she and I are... alike?"

"Everyone changes, K." he told her.

"It's only natural." he said.

"It's part of evolution." he reasoned.

"K, sometimes you need to change how you look at things to move forward." he went on.

"It's all right. Really." he said further.

"...duly noted." Ilias responded.

He then looked at what she wrote, absolutely fascinated by it all.

- - -

L just smiled a little, as he saw Kiah look through the notebook. Or, rather, finish it up.

"See?" he asked.

"It's brilliant." he told her.

"You've learned so much." he went on.

"How could that EVER be a BAD thing?" he asked her with a wider grin.

At that point, Ilias received a rush of clarity.

It wasn't the Vanessa comment that had done it, it was the one BEFORE it.

She then saw him heavy a heavy sigh, and heard him laugh softly to himself... a warm laugh she hadn't heard in... an eternity.

"For being a scientist, I can really be a dunce." he chuckled to himself.

"Yeah, let's get to work." he agreed, FAR more at ease now.

"Just write down what you'll need on the white board." he said further, as they entered one of the rooms.