Colin's posts

Hal paused, and shook his head lightly.

"I have a very unique employee here." he told her. "Her name is Alicja, but she houses 3 other souls within her body... one of them being Cameron, the soul of a male mana-hunter." he explained.

"Due to his circumstances, he's very bitter and off-putting, but has never been violent. Until now." he lamented.

"In short, it seems he murdered one of my other employees, a man named Jeffery, and also murdered my own daughter, Lunet." he told her further. "Granted, she is a regenerator... technically... so she WILL come back from it, but my anger still boils within me, regardless. But I digress." he said.

"Cameron then attempted to flee the building, where my main security guard, and head OF security, Jake, attempted to stop him. This resulted in a severe blow to the back of his head, Cameron's leg being incapacitated from Jake's defensive acidic saliva, and Jake being nearly choked to death." he went on.

"As it stands, Cameron is now in custody here and under strict lockdown, Jake is in the medical wing for his injuries, and another security guard, Izea, has a wrenched shoulder from saving his life." he told her.

"But Cameron was acting like a stereotypical old-world mana-hunter, despite being able to successfully reign it in constantly and consistently in the past."

"There has been an incident, yes." Hal responded.

"And yes, this should be in person." he told her.

"However, before you hang up, I give you permission to appear directly into my office." he then stated, as he got up and made his way to a wall panel, opening it up, and fiddling with it.

"Our security system has a profile of your mana from when you last visited... standard protocol and all... and I've excepted it from triggering the alarms, so you can just appear in my office without worries." he explained.

"And I've done this for... well, a couple of reasons, but I'll explain those when you get here." he finished.

Hal just smiled in response.

"I understand." he said.

"Jake is friends with practically everyone in this building, but... well, he's a special friend to a few people, myself included." he went on.

"Regardless, get moving, we'll be in contact later." he finished, as she nodded and left, closing the door behind her.

"..." Hal was then silent, before grabbing the receiver of his desk phone and dialing a number.

He had to tell this to Sariel.

"No kidding..." Hal growled.

"And I have security footage to look at." he went on.

"...also... Izzy?" he then said, as Izzy took a step towards the door.

"Yeah?" she responded, looking back at him.

"I know you're going to say you were just doing your job, or you would have done it anyway, or whatever... but thank you." he told her. "Thank you for saving Jake." he said further.

"Thank you for saving my best friend."

"...right." Hal muttered.

"Forgot Lunet was the tech for your arm." he said.

"Look, just... take it easy, ok?" he asked. "If you've tweaked your shoulder, leaving it unattended is one of the worst things in the world we can do." he told her further.

"If it starts to get worse, promise me you'll at least get it checked in the medbay." he went on.

"Okay?"

Hal shook his head.

"I don't know, either." he said.

"But I intend to launch a full investigation into it." he told her, which... was a half-truth. He didn't know if he actually COULD do so, or if it would yield any results, and at the same time, it could be argued that an investigation was ALREADY underway.

But sadly, he couldn't tell Izea. Not right now, anyway. He was unsure as to who should know about the potential looming threat, but it was looking like Izea should be one of the ones in the know very soon.

"Go have your shoulder checked out." he then said.

"We don't need YOU potentially out of commission because something gets screwed up in there."

Hal was clearly frustrated, but trying his best to keep himself level. He took a moment or two to compose himself, take a few breaths, and Izzy could tell he was attempting to mentally talk himself down.

"Cameron has always been an ass." he said. "But then again, he's had every reason to be." he then went on. "He is a male mana hunter, trapped in the body of a female mage, sharing said body with 3 other souls." he continued.

"Frankly, I would be amazed if he WASN'T on the short-tempered side." he admitted.

"But he's never gotten violent. Not like THIS, anyway." he went on.

"..." he was then silent again, before he recalled what Sariel had said to him, before his pinched the bridge of his nose and growled audibly.

"Right." he said.

"How are YOU faring, Izea?" he asked the goblin.

Hal paused for a moment, before nodding. He then snapped his fingers, and she watched as he had a rush of information... which led to him looking VERY angry... sad... concerned... and confused.

"I..." he stammered, sighing. He proceeded to tell her what he had learned. More specifically, the order of events that had transpired as soon as Jake and Cameron had met in the hallway, as well the conversation that had occurred.

"So Cameron has murdered Jeffery, AND my daughter." he said darkly.

"He will pay dearly for this." he went on, but then paused suddenly.

"...assuming we can punish HIM without harming Alicja, Rose, and Ebony." he then muttered, clearly unimpressed.

There was silence for another few seconds, before the door seemed to open by itself. She knew Hal had done it with his mana, and she saw him on the phone, talking to someone, obviously.

"It shall be filled out and completed by next week, I promise." Hal said.

"Now, I must go, it seems that an emergency has popped up." he went on, as Izzy entered.

"Yes, feel free to call me back tomorrow morning. Goodbye." he then finished, before hanging up the phone and looking at Izzy with focused and unimpressed eyes... with a definite undertone of worry.

"What's happened?" he asked her.

The ones that had come as backup nodded.

Two of them helped Jake to his feet, and started to help him through the hallways, while the remaining one picked up Cameron and carried them off. As the ones that were helping Jake were walking away, Jake looked back towards Izzy.

She saw a look of concern and pain in his eyes, but she knew he was grateful.

He was just worried about what caused the incident in the first place.

But she had no time to concern herself with that. She needed to let Sharp know.

Jake lowered his head when she said all that.

"...I know..." he replied. "Heaven help me, I know." he repeated. "Jeff was a kind man... one who never did anyone any harm... but Cameron outright admitted to murdering him." he said further.

"I don't know what's happened with him, but things aren't going to end well, I don't think..." he continued, as a few more security guards showed up.

"Chief!" one exclaimed, looking at Jake, and seeing Izzy sitting atop Alicja/Cameron.

"What's happened!?" another asked.

"Cameron attacked me. Full-stop." Jake responded, before going into a minor coughing fit.

"What do you want us to do, Miss Izea?" another asked Izzy. She was new, yes, but the security staff had quickly come to see her as the second-in-command to Jake.

"I don't know." Jake responded.

"He called me a freak, and when I ran into him, he was trying to escape this building." he told her.

"....Izzy, he admitted to murdering Jeffery and Lunet." he then revealed.

"Granted, Lunet's not a big deal, but... Jeffery's gone." he mumbled.

"I don't know why, but Cameron's gone full mana-hunter on us."

Jake was silent for a moment, trying to get his head back together, but having some serious problems doing so. He shook his head slightly, which almost caused him to fall over, and then sighed heavily.

"I..." he stammered.

"No." he said. "Don't... don't think I'll be able to get to my feet at all." he told her.

"Cameron... he hit me really hard at the base of my neck... and then you... you saw him choking me out..." he continued. "Breathing... well, at least I CAN do it now, but moving overall still requires massive effort and concentration." he explained.

"...thank you, Izzy." he then said.

"You legitimately just saved my life."

Jake responded by grabbing Cameron's wrist with both hands, in an attempt to stop the attempted choking.

"Ngh." he grunted.

"Cameron, you're a mana hunter, and that is WHAT you are, but it's not WHO you are!" he exclaimed.

"What happened to you!? Why did you change your ways suddenly!?" he asked further.

As he continued to struggle against the mana hunter, he wondered if anyone had heard him. If Izzy was around, she would have, but that was IF she was around. And he was struggling hard.

If he faltered here, it'd be the end.