Colin's posts

Jack just rolled his eyes.

"Seeing as we're both alive, the relationship between myself and Kiczys is best described as 'acquaintances'." he told them.

"As for the living people here being worried, perhaps a little, but I wouldn't say it's noteworthy." he went on. "For the same line of reasoning that stops me from using my mana on her." he continued.

"Wraiths cannot be mind-controlled. At all." he then said. "Granted, that stems from the fact that they are single-minded and think of nothing but the target of their anger and unrest, but the point still stands. You cannot command a wraith. They refuse to listen. Even when mana is used to try and force the issue." he informed them. "Kiczys, while not a 'wraith', technically, has some aspects of it, making her resistant to dark elf mana." he then said.

"I see." Sharp commented.

"Secondly, the mana boost she got from Anubis not so long ago fills in the gaps." Jack continued. "Simply because the sheer strength of it would quash and destroy any dark elf mana that went into her body." he revealed.

"That also makes her far stronger than me, and she could very easily expend her full power to torture me without risk of killing me." he added. "So it's well within my best interests to play nice while she's keeping a watchful eye out on me." he finished.

"Ah, yes, speaking of dark elves, and Encrae in specific..." Sharp then said. "We've learned that Vanessa Encrae is, in fact, responsible for this disruption in the life and death cycle." he told them.

Sharp seemed to be stunned for a bit, before he shook his head.

"That... was a lot of info to take in at once." he commented.

"Just know that even though I carry the name 'Encrae', I'm not your enemy by association with Vanessa." Jack assured him. "I'm an enemy for entirely OTHER reasons, but this is a situation of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'." he added.

"Right." Sharp responded.

"Well, if he needs to be watched, we can assign a guard to him-" he told Rylie, before Jack interrupted.

"Or just ask Kiczys if she wants to." he suggested. "She's strong enough to keep me on a leash."

"Mmhmm." Jack muttered in response, before the receptionist waved them in.

The two then made their way into the office, with Sharp looking... a bit stressed, and less than impressed.

"Before you say anything, it's the situation." he told them.

"Now, how can I help you?' he asked as they took their seats.

"I'll let the lady do the talking." Jack said.

"How chivalrous." Sharp commented.

"Comes with the boon she received not so long ago." Jack said.

"So yes, I know better than to try anything with her." he told her.

"I was certainly foolish when I was alive, to the point where my actions and thoughts were enough to warrant my death, but I am NOT stupid." he assured her further.

"If anything, she may be the key to fixing all this." he then added.

"Or a key figure, anyway."

Jack shook his head.

"I may be an Encrae, and I may be dangerous, but I am not as dangerous as Madison Kiczys." he told her. "Even if I were to try something, you know as well as I do how that would end for me." he said.

"Plus, it'll give her some perspective on just how screwed this situation is." he then reasoned.

"So I'll speak with her." he went on.

"Who knows, maybe she's learned something about all this."

Jake watched as the two of them stepped into the building, before sighing quietly.

"Encraes..." he muttered.

"Seems I'm destined to never get away from them." he lamented, before calling Sharp.

Meanwhile, as they walked, Jack kept looking around.

"...mmhmm." he mumbled.

"Yeah, Kiczys should be here, still." he said.

"You feel it pretty clearly too, don't you?" he asked Rylie.

Jake just sighed heavily.

"We both know it makes no difference whether I want to or not." he said. "I mean, I'm going to do it anyway, but you and I know there's not a damn thing I can do to stop you." he told her.

Jack just chuckled sharply and harshly.

"He's got a point." he said to Rylie. "You pretty much make his entire purpose meaningless." he told her.

"Just the security part." Jake retorted. "I'm not so fragile as to go through an existential or career crisis just because Rylie can't be locked out of anywhere." he finished.

He then pushed the buzzer, which unlocked the door for them.

Savra was intelligent and could speak, but they were still an animal. And a very canine-like one at that.

When Eke used his claws to scritch all over them, they rolled onto their back, and when Eke started on the tummy area, he noticed that Savra's leg was just a-kickin' out rapidly.

Ryker saw this too, and chuckled.

"Heh. Look at that." he said.

"Guess we know what they like."

Jake had a bit of a dumbfounded expression upon hearing all that.

"...I... see." he said.

"Yes, yes, I'm a blight to my kind and my name, whatever." Jack muttered. "Anyway, her question?" he then asked.

"Well... Madison Kiczys is here..." Jake informed them.

"THAT explains it!" Jack exclaimed in response.

"There's a definite 'wraith' vibe coming from this building." he said. "It's faint, but it's there."

Jack just growled when she said that.

"I forwent that name a LONG time ago." he said.

"...explains a lot." Jake muttered, darting his tongue out again.

"And... how can I help you?" he then asked.

"For the good of the world at large, I need to be kept here and put under constant surveillance." Jack responded, though he was continued to look around a bit, as though searching for something.

He caught the helmet and sighed.

"Keep him away from me, and I won't get into his head." he told her.

"You KNOW I'm bad at self-restraint." he said.

A short while later, they pulled up to the Unit, and made their way to the security checkpoint, where Jake looked at them as they walked in, and raised an eyebrow as his tongue darted out.

"Rylie." he greeted the woman.

"...and who is THIS?" he asked, looking at Jack.

"Yes and no." Jack responded.

"I don't need to get into his head to see THAT." he chuckled.

"When he thought I was actively threatening you back there, he had a look in his eyes that said even though he knew he was outclassed by my in every way, he would do whatever he could with what he had to try and stop me." he told her.

"I saw it in his eyes, and it was sincere. No hesitation. He was scared of me, but that was taking a backseat to wanting to try and protect you. As... well, as laughable as it sounds that YOU need protection." he then added.

"But yeah, didn't need to do any mind-invading for THAT."

"Got it!" Emerald called back, as Jack followed Rylie.

"While I have my humanity back, I'm serious when I say this." he told her.

"Congratulations." he said.

"You've found a good man. Don't let anything happen to him." he said further.

"It's clear he's head over heels for you." he went on.

"That's rare to find."

"Excellent." Jack responded, grabbing the glass and chugging it down.

He held it in his cheeks for a moment, before swallowing and exhaling loudly.

"Ahhh! Delicious!" he exclaimed.

"That is QUALITY!" he declared with a laugh, before sighing again.

"All right, I'm good to go." he told her.

"Do with me what you will." he finished with a wry smirk.