Colin's posts

"..." Azazel was silent as he heard her speak, and saw her scratching. He'd seen it before, but never this bad. Never this... precarious. Normally her scratching was only brief, but this was constant. She was constantly battling to keep herself from going crazy on everyone.

"I... yeah, fair..." he then said.

"Aedan, we're... we're trying to find out what caused this, and to see if we can't help." he told her. "Though odds are you already know that, or have been told that, or whatever." he sighed.

"Do you know what happened?" he asked.

"Or do you have ANY clue as to what could have brought you to this state?" he asked further.

Azazel crossed his arms over his chest, and pondered that.

"Hmph." he muttered. "I see." he said further.

"That is... interesting. Confusing, but interesting." he went on, looking absently towards Aedan again.

He then pressed the intercom, and bit his lip.

"...Aedan?" he said into me.

"It's... it's me, Azazel. How... how are you doing?" he asked, pretty sure he knew what the answer would be, but... well, he wanted to talk to her. He had to hear her voice right now.

"Everything is just conjecture at this point." Azazel said.

"..." he was then silent and looked towards Aedan.

"...feral, huh?" he asked.

"Does she recognise anyone?" he asked her.

"Or... show that she does?" he asked further.

"Does she even seem INTELLIGENT, still?"

Azazel shook his head.

"Sorry." he apologised.

"But I don't think we can afford to try and ignore any realistic possibilities." he reasoned.

"...what could have caused this, though..." he then said, thinking about it.

"What's been different...? Has anything been... out of the ordinary..." he wondered further, narrowing his eyes a little, and remembering things that had happened before the lockdown took place.

"Wait, you said Hazel's acting more like her old self?" he then asked. "Long shot, but think Vanessa Encrae's involved? She seems to be the only one that can suddenly revert Hazel to that state."

"That's even MORE worrisome." Azazel commented.

"Like... holy hell..." he went on.

"So many things are compiling on each other, so many questions, NO answers..." he listed off.

"...and Sharp going all secret..." he continued.

"I don't think... wait..." he then mumbled.

"Blood Red is a lockdown that even HE can't end." he realised. "Is he compromised...?"

"...her soul..." Azazel mumbled.

"But her soul should be firmly anchored to her body." he said.

"And if it were gone, then... she'd just collapse. There'd be no activity at ALL." he reasoned.

"So... if something's messing with her soul... that is frightening." he went on.

"But... what the hell..?" he then muttered further.

"Damn it..." he cursed quietly.

"..." Azazel was silent, and shocked to hear this.

He was pretty much stunned, actually.

"F-Feral?" he stammered.

"But... b-but... that... she..." he stuttered further, shaking his head.

"What could have happened?" he wondered.

"And she can't be the reason for this lockdown. Not for THIS level." he continued.

Azazel seemed a bit overwhelmed by all he heard.

"Ah..." he stammered.

"Oh. Right. I forgot Blood Red means no wireless communications." he said. "Geez, been a while since I've reminded myself of the protocol for that." he continued, shaking his head.

"And... Aedan's locked down?" he asked her.

"You don't know why? But... but... surely you can tell me why." he then said.

"Is she a danger? Does she have some weird illness that she's acting as a carrier for?" he asked her.

"Do you have ANY info at ALL?"

Azazel nodded in response.

"Thanks." he said, stepping in.

"So, uh.... any idea where Aedan is?" he asked.

"She hasn't answered my texts, my texting as stopped working, my calls have stopped working, and... well, my phone isn't working any more." he said further, scratching his head.

"I know she was supposed to go on a mission right before this lockdown happened." he then said.

"Maybe she managed to get out beforehand or something?" he went on.

"Anyway, you seen or heard from her?" he asked again.

Ilias looked at her, and bit his lip.

"I wish there was some way to find out." he told her. "But we're stuck here." he said. "Literally. In all senses of that word, we are stuck here in this building." he went on.

That's when the two of them heard a rapping at the glass door that led to R&D. They looked over and saw Azazel there, an expression of concern on his face.

"...huh." Ilias mumbled.

"Speak of the devil." he said. "Well... not the devil, but... you know what I mean." he muttered.

Ilias looked down at the floor for a moment, and heaved a heavy breath.

"If I knew, I'd say." he said.

"And Agent Sharp has barricaded himself in his office. Refuses to answer to anyone." he went on.

"This situation is dire." he mumbled.

"I'd say he's not in the right state of mind, but this level of lockdown can only be achieved when he has mental clarity. So... that's obviously not the case." he then reasoned, shaking his head again.

"Nothing makes sense, and it's pissing me off." he growled.

Ilias cursed lightly.

"Damn it." he said.

"Guess her text to me was the lucky one that got through before things really got bad." he reasoned.

He then sighed, and shook his head.

"What the hell is going on here, Kiah?" he asked.

"The Unit's been flipped upside down."

Hal watched her go, before shutting the door and locking it... and then sighing.

"...I should tell Syraene about this." he said to himself. "She'll need to know all this now." he reasoned, shaking his head.

"...I really wish I could care more than I do about this right now." he then lamented.

Meanwhile, Bast and Zeke were still sitting down, before Zeke stood up, and started to walk away.

"Where are YOU going?" Bast inquired.

"She told us not to fight any more." Zeke responded. "Leaving seems like the best way to ensure that." he reasoned.

"...fair." was all Bast responded with, as Zeke continued on.

Hal helped her get to the door, and sighed.

"I know." he replied.

"For now, I'll do what I can." he said.

"And I'd say I'll warn the building of you... but that probably won't do much." he lamented.

"Killing you won't solve anything. But that camera... I'll see what I can find out about it." he told her further.

"Thank you for using your moment of clarity to tell me this." he then thanked her.