Colin's posts

Ash paused for a moment when he heard the names... all three of them.

"Hm." he mumbled.

"Chris's name brings feelings of anger and revenge welling up inside me." he told her. "...but I need to just shove those down." he sighed.

"Ayla... if I remember right, I pity her." he then said. "Didn't deserve to be with Vanessa." he mumbled.

"...and... Erica Windsor... that sounds... vaguely familiar?" he added.

"Not sure... why..."

Ash nodded at Jake, and Jake nodded in response, before the Fyrane and Ebony made their way inside.

"You're looking well." Ash commented.

"...oh, and for the record, I go by 'Ash'." he told her. "I know that you probably last knew me as 'Ashley', and have known me as such for a long time, but... well, yeah, I just go by 'Ash' now." he restated.

"But call me whatever, I guess. Ashley IS my name." he shrugged.

"Seems this place is doing well, too." he commented.

"Heard it was a dumpster fire recently."

Ilias accepted the phone and watched her go, before sighing. He looked at the phone and looked towards where Hazel had gone, before following her to give her her phone back... and maybe ask about her socialness.

Maybe. He wondered if it would be too awkward. Or perhaps too rude. Regardless, she needed her phone back.

-Close to 2 hours later-

Jake sat back in his chair, and stretched out, as he looked and saw Ebony step into the security area.

"Hey." he greeted her, looking at the clock next.

"Ah yeah, about that time." he said. "The one you mentioned is coming should soon be-" he started to say further, before there was a burst of black fire mana in the teleporting landing area, and Ash appeared there.

"Hello, hello!" he greeted the two of them confidently, stepping towards the pair.

"Yeah, sure, 2 hours." Ash responded.

"I can be at the Unit in that time." he told her.

"...and it'll be weird to see you... her... again." he then mumbled.

"Regardless, I'll be there." he assured her.

"I've noted it. And... yeah, should be good." he finished.

"See you in a bit, Al-Ebony." he told her.

If she could have seen Ash's expression, it would have matched the silence he was hearing. He was stunned to the point of almost being frozen, for close to 10 seconds, before he cleared his throat.

"Ah..." he stammered.

"Well... I mean... I can try?" he muttered.

"I guarantee nothing, though." he then said. "Depending on how badly... wait... well, whomever it is, is faring, talking might not help." he told her. "But I WILL try." he promised.

"Also... Alicja, huh?" he asked.

"Oh! I remember you, yeah!" he then said. "Or... her." he said confusedly.

"Didn't... know the Unit was where you called home now." he admitted.

Ilias listened to the conversation, and watched a Hazel walked off.

"...huh." he muttered. "Hazel seems... a lot more socially comfortable these days." he commented. "She's really come a long way, it seems." he went on, shaking his head.

"...wonder how I've missed it..." he added guiltily. He saw her almost every day, how did he NOT notice this?

Meanwhile, the phone rang for only a few seconds, before it was answered.

"Yo, Hazel." Ash said, having looked at the caller I.D.

"Sup?" he asked.

"Comin' out for a visit and need a place to stay?" he asked further, which was usually the case. The first part, anyway. She never actually stayed at the Fyrane manor, mostly because she didn't want to be a burden, but that didn't stop Ash and Lindsay from offering.

Before he could say anything, she was off, on her way to... wherever she was going.

"Ah... okay then...?" he muttered.

"Weird." he said.

He then shrugged and sighed again. He knew he'd have to tell Angela all this when she returned. She deserved to know who these patients were...

Meanwhile, Ebony made her way to the lab and knocked on it, waiting for someone to let her in. That someone just happened to be Ilias, and he opened the door for her, allowing her entry.

"Hello, Alicja." he greeted her with a smile.

"How can we at the lab help you?" he asked.

"Hm?" Nate mumbled.

He then thought for a moment thinking about what he'd given her, when he had, and other such things. He pondered it for about 10 seconds, before shrugging.

"Barring any mana interruptions, or any possible early awakening because of the dark elf's influence... 2 hours or so?" he responded.

"Give or take 20 minutes." he added.

"Why?" he then asked.

"What are you thinking?"

"That IS true." Nate admitted.

"Just have to wait until the sedative wears off." he told her, and then paused for a moment.

"...also depends on if the team gagged her or not..." he then added. When Ebony looked a little confused, he sighed.

"She... well, she kind of has herself in control... or, rather, her personality is there, but she's actively fighting the presence of the dark elf inside her." he explained. "...she told me to kill her." he then revealed.

"She said she wanted to die." he continued.

"...they might have gagged her to stop her from biting her own tongue to the point of bleeding to death."

"...hm." Nate mumbled.

"I see." he said. "At least we have a name." he said further. "That's more than we knew previously." he went on.

"Makes me wonder what the hell happened." he then commented.

"From what I've heard, once that woman has someone, they're only free once their usefulness has expired, and that usually means death." he said further. "...yet Erica and Olivia are back, and these two are here as well." he said further.

"It's... confusing." he mumbled.

"The only one that knows for certain is Erica, and... well, she's probably not in any mood to discuss what happened."

Hearing that DID calm him down some, and Ebony saw that. The conflict inside him had subsided a bit, though she could tell that he stance was still leaving a bitter taste in his mouth, so to speak.

"I know." he replied.

"I might need to have some extra surveillance for him." he told her.

He then sighed, and shook his head.

"Might as well say this now, if you all don't know it yet. You'll find out soon enough." he muttered.

"He wasn't the only one to come in. He arrived with 3 others." he told her. "...at the Unit, anyway." he then said.

"Erica and Olivia showed up prior to him, and when he was brought here, there was another elf. A female wood elf." he informed her. "...don't know anything about her." he shrugged.

Nate was silent as Ebony explained the situation, and who the person in the bed was, and she saw that he was now feeling conflicted. He didn't like actively thinking about what had happened to Alicja when she was under Vanessa's control, what she went through, the other souls that had suffered under her... and to hear that the one in the bed had a hand in it... the largest hand, according to Ebony... hurt him. She could see it plain as day.

He then looked away, and closed his eyes.

"...be that as it may..." he said, trailing off a little, and almost acting like he couldn't say any more.

"...I can't allow you, or anyone else in that body, or anyone else at all to try and hurt him or kill him." he told her. "Believe me, hearing this... I want to go in there and... and..." he continued, his hands balling into fists now. "...the things I want to do... the things I have the power to do..." he went on, his hands now shaking, his knuckles turning white... before his hands suddenly relaxed.

"...but if I were to act on it... if I were to knowingly allow someone to do something to him... then if I wasn't fired from here... if I wasn't brought up on charges of any sort... even if I was and they were cleared... I would quit." he informed her. "I could never work in this field again." he said further.

"I'd no longer have any right to call myself a doctor. Or a medic. Or anything like that." he said quietly.

"I'm sorry, Ebony. Rose. Alicja. Whomever else is hearing me say this right now." he apologised.

"Hate me all you want. Believe me, part of me hates myself for taking this stance, but I cannot in good conscience back down from this."

Just as Ebony said all she did, some staff returned with what he'd asked for. Nate put a hand up when they got close, and shook his head.

"Ebony took over." he told them. "It's fine now." he assured them further.

They nodded and left, causing Nate to just sigh.

"I know." he told her.

"But right now? Honestly? I don't care." he said. "She can be angry at me all she wants, this is not a place to act out vigilante justice, or revenge desires, or anything of the sort." he reasoned.

"Call it naïve, call it idealistic, call it stupid, but I think that a hospital... or equivalent thereof... should be a safe place, no matter the patient." he went on. "What happens outside this place is another thing, but in here? I will do all I can to ensure the safety and health of the patients here." he then told her, getting to his feet and extending a hand to help her up as well.

"Plus, Dr. Edwards put a lot of effort and stress into making sure his heart wouldn't just give out as soon as he got her. She would not be thrilled if Rose had come along and decided to negate all that work." he added at the end.

Nate didn't want to hurt Rose. Or anyone else in Alicja's body. He continued to pin her down, and clamped a hand over her mouth to prevent her from starting up any more recitations or spells.

"Someone get a sedative!" he called out.

"Rose isn't in her right mind, and she may hurt someone!" he declared.

He then looked at her, and narrowed his eyes.

"Rose, if you won't calm down, then someone else in there take over!" he said, narrowing his eyes and concentrating on her life aura.

He'd come to know the vast majority of who was in there, to the point where he could tell who it was from their aura, when he couldn't see their eyes. Optimally, someone more composed and in-control would assume command of the body, but if nobody did, then the body would be put to sleep.

He had to protect the patient. If nothing else, he didn't want to work and effort that Angela had put into stabilising him to go to waste.