Colin's posts

"...eh?" he muttered.

"Abby...?" he asked himself, before shaking his head.

"Office!" he called to her. "Door's open!" he said further.

He then went back to looking at the numbers on the sheet, but he couldn't concentrate on them right now.

He was wondering why Abby was here, and looking for HIM, specifically.

She usually never visited unannounced like this.

Hal watched her go, and shook his head.

"Hm." he mumbled.

"Certainly hope what I did helps... whatever it manifests into." he went on, before sighing.

"Now I need to find out what's causing some of my agents to become dangers to each other." he then growled, wondering how many he'd have to quarantine and restrain, much like he had for Zeke and Aedan, before this was over.

-A few days later-

Marcus sighed as he looked at the papers in front of him at his desk, going over the numbers.

"Hmph." he muttered. "Seems the maple rum is a big hit. Need to stock up on THAT..." he told himself, making a note of it.

"...payroll expenses are as usual..." he went on.

"Must ask Jasmine why the vodka seems to be lower than average, though..."

Hal nodded.

"If you get into any trouble for this, let me know." he told her.

'Aaaaaaany minute now.' he then said, before thinking about it some more. 'Hmmm. I DID put a small delay on that... generally that means she'll get an idea, or something will happen within 5 minutes.' he reasoned.

"You know I'm here to help. I always am." he went on. "I want to provide a comfortable and safe working environment for my employees, as best I can." he said further.

"Anyway, thank you for informing me of this." he continued.

"Do let me know if anything more comes of it, good or bad."

Hal had a bit of a conundrum now. He knew it was unprofessional for him to actively help someone try and get someone else fired. It wasn't morally right. However, he also knew that Levi and Ally were two of the best employees in the media relations department, and that everyone that worked there seemed to have an issue with Craft. So, after a few seconds of deliberation, he came to a decision, and smirked internally.

"I know." he said.

"And I know it seems hopeless." he told her.

"But who knows? You get a flash of inspiration, or an idea, or he could screw up monumentally. Things can change... like that!" he finished, snapping his fingers on the last word he spoke.

"We can only hope a solution is found to all this. One we can all be happy with."

"I know." Hal responded.

"But he's not left tangible evidence for it." he muttered.

"He's smarter than the bad egg I had in the medical wing a while back." he sighed.

"And it irritates me." he admitted.

"I'm sorry you and Levi have to put up with him." he then apologised to her.

"I know it can't be easy for you to deal with him on a daily basis."

Hal just pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'll bet." he said.

"I am getting sick and tired of hearing his complaints about... everything." he muttered. "Seems he just LOVES to get people in trouble and power trip all over-" he started to say further, before pausing suddenly.

"...uh..." he mumbled.

"This... this is off the record, okay?" he asked Ally.

"You... didn't just hear me say those unprofessional statements." he muttered, clearing his throat a little.

Hal merely reached forward and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Alyssa." he said.

"Hold on." he told her.

"Just think... if he's ever shown anything like this before, without reason. And if he has, has it been THIS bad or THIS sudden." he went on.

"For all we know, there's something... or someone... else influencing him." he continued. "I realise that may be a bigger cause for concern, but don't make any assumptions about anything right now." he told her further.

"For now, we just need to wait until he's awake, so we can ask him about it."

"...hmmmm." Hal mumbled.

"That IS troubling." he agreed.

"And this blue ring. You've never seen anything like it before?" he asked.

"Never." Alyssa confirmed.

"Well, there's a chance the Ancient Ones did it, but there's also a chance they DIDN'T." he commented. "Sadly, we know nothing about this, and what could have happened." he continued.

"And the only one that can tell us is currently unavailable for comment." he lamented.

"But did the medics give a preliminary prognosis?" he asked.

Sharp looked at the email, before looking at the clock and his schedule, sighing, and sending a reply telling her to let them in.

Which she did, and he saw it was Alyssa.

"Oh, hello Alyssa." he greeted her.

"...something wrong?" he asked. "You look concerned." he commented.

He then paused for a moment, thinking about it.

"...Levi?" he inquired.

Nate nodded in response.

"Got it." he said.

"Come on." he told the one that came with him, who lifted Levi up in his arms.

"Looks like he needs a little rest is all." he reasoned, before they left, with Nate waving slightly to Ally.

Once they had gone, everyone started to slowly get back to work, though there was general worry about Levi.

".....hm." Nate mumbled.

"I see." he said.

"Anything else? Any external injuries or anything we should know about?" he asked.

"No, I don't think so." Ally responded.

"All right, we'll take him to the medical wing." Nate told her, before pausing a moment.

"And if you start seeing any trouble from this, let me know." he whispered. "I'll tell Dr. Edwards." he added.

Nate just sighed on the other end.

"Someone will be there-" he started to say, before pausing.

"MYSELF, and someone else will be there within a minute." he told her, before the call was ended.

The boss looked like he was fuming at what Ally had said, but before he could really say anything, they felt the mana of the one that had teleported themselves and Nate to the area.

"All right, what happened?" Nate asked, as the other person started to check over Levi.

Levi just nodded in response.

"Yeah... she did..." he said, suddenly sounding like he wasn't in good shape at all.

"I'm sorry..." he then apologised to their boss.

"I... haven't been... feeling good, lately. Ally's been... worried..." he continued, before he just let his arm fall, dropping the box of paper clips.

"Pulled me... away... to... tell me..." he then said further, but his strength was all gone, now.

He collapsed forward, and landed on his front, motionless.

"Someone call the medics!" one of the other employees that saw that yelled. It was no secret that everyone in the department disliked the boss, and would back each other up if something happened. And that's what was happening now.

"Oh no, Levi needs help now!" another exclaimed, before looking at the boss.

"Quickly!" they told him, knowing he was the primary one that was supposed to do it, as he had witnessed it, and it was protocol.

After a few agonising seconds, as the boss got closer still, the door opened and Ally saw Levi standing there, sudden horrendous bags under his eyes, and he had a small box in one hand.

"...see?" he asked, as the boss got into earshot.

"I told you I knew where the..." he went on, before looking at the box. "...paper clips were." he told her.

This was all, of course, an attempted ruse. He wanted to make it seem like she was having trouble finding something, and he found it for her.

He had no idea if it would work, but he'd hoped it would get Ally out of trouble at least.