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Horizon Research and Treatment Center - Admin Building and Dormitory


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Re: Horizon Research and Treatment Center - Admin Building and Dormitory

Something odd, well perhaps odder, might strike Bell as the man passed her. A curious, almost recognizing, look crossed the man's face as he glanced at Bell...

Not at her work, her. And just perhaps, at something about her not physically obvious, either.

It was clear from the path he'd taken once inside the building, he was heading for Cross' office. Whoever he was, he obviously was someone that knew exactly who he was going to talk to, and likely why. However, he didn't seem like someone involved in business.
 

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Re: Horizon Research and Treatment Center - Admin Building and Dormitory

Bell frowned in response to the look the old man gave her. He didn't stop though, and she didn't stop him. Looked like the man was headed to see Cross in any case, so she simply went back to what she was doing, heading off the path a ways to sit on the grass and work.
 
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Re: Horizon Research and Treatment Center - Admin Building and Dormitory

After quite a while of working, Bell would suddenly hear what sounded like a small female child giggle, then two words from a voice that matched. "Don't forget."

Should she look up, there would be what looked like a young human girl in front of her... Except that this girl was only the size of Bell's forearm at most. She was also wearing an odd dark blue one-piece outfit with high boots and elbow-length gloves of the same color. Perhaps even stranger were the gossamer wings protruding from the being's back.

After seemingly making sure that Bell had noticed her, the "girl" giggled again and took off, zipping up and seemingly heading directly for, and through, the windows of the "office"...

((Yay, pic: ))
 

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Re: Horizon Research and Treatment Center - Admin Building and Dormitory

"Forget what?" Bell asked, looking up to find the miniature winged human in front of her. That made her gasp and back away some, the fairy just giggling and flying off, towards one of the upper windows of the admin building.

Glancing around, she checked to see if she had drawn attention. IF she had, she'd put on a sheepish grin and shrug. "Fell asleep." She'd comment with a chuckle.
 
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Re: Horizon Research and Treatment Center - Admin Building and Dormitory

The closest people that Bell could see were a couple of what appeared to be the security staff, but they were a ways off, over near the entrance to the research lab. Given that they were in the process of helping transfer some kind of materials in, plus the distance, there was little chance of them having heard her.

However, something just seemed strange about the being that had spoken to her. And she might remember that Cross had suggested that she mention any further weirdness to him...
 

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Re: Horizon Research and Treatment Center - Admin Building and Dormitory

Bell flopped back down once she realized nobody had noticed her freak out, sighing deeply. Cross had said to let him know if anything else wierd happened, this almost certainly counts. Then again, the things whizzed up there right through one of those space-ready windows, could be he already know.

Groaning, she got to her feet, heading back into the admin building and getting into the elevator for his office. She wasn't cut out for any of this, all the stress was gonna make her hair fall out...
 
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Re: Horizon Research and Treatment Center - Admin Building and Dormitory

Oddly enough, when Bell reached the meeting room, Cross was nowhere to be seen. The older man, however, was sitting in one of the chairs near the window, and he might see her come in. On the other hand, he did seem to be reading something that, at the moment, was hidden from Bell's view. Of the odd being that headed this way, there was no immediate sign.

Given that the man seemed to know his way around here, and most of the other employees seemed to recognize him, it's likely that he might know where Cross is at the moment.
 

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Re: Horizon Research and Treatment Center - Admin Building and Dormitory

Bell stifled a groan when she saw the old man alone in the room. Something about him set her off, put her on edge, though she was damned if she knew what it was. Her first instinct was to just walk back out again and look somewhere else, but... Ah well.

“Scuse me, sir. Have you seen Mr. Cross about?“ she asked, remaining near the door for now.
 
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Re: Horizon Research and Treatment Center - Admin Building and Dormitory

The man looked up. "Ah, you must be the new employee he mentioned. I suspect he's in his workroom." As he said the last he gestured to his right. Oddly enough, not towards the office door, but rather a some point along the wall before it.

He seemed to go back to reading whatever it was briefly, but suddenly spoke up again. "Oh, he's probably forgotten to tell you... For some reason I'll never fathom, he decided to hide the door to his workroom. He used one of the oldest methods, though, so it shouldn't be too hard to find."

The bookshelves on that wall were the only decoration, and as such, likely connected some way to the hidden door. The books were primarily a collection of works on folklore and mythology, technical manuals, and business ethics.

For some reason, the being was suddenly visible again, seeming to look carefully at one of the books, before taking off for another part of the room, vanishing while doing so. Should Bell happen to wander over, she might notice that in the middle of one shelf was a book that seemed incredibly out of place. It bore a single word title: "Greed".
 

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Re: Horizon Research and Treatment Center - Admin Building and Dormitory

“One of the oldest methods?“ Bell repeated, unsure what he meant. Her question was seemingly answered a second later, the appearance of the sprite making her jump, though she managed not too make a sound this time. Glancing back at the old man, she almost asked if he had seen it as well, but stopped that as well. If he hadn‘t, it was better to keep things quiet.

She found the book the creature had been inspecting, finding the title odd in the middle of all the other books. Figuring it had something to do with Cross‘ hiding place, but not really sure how, she reached up to take the book from the shelf, thinking there may have been a button behind it or below it.
 
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Re: Horizon Research and Treatment Center - Admin Building and Dormitory

When Bell glanced back at the old man, he seemed amused at something he was reading... Or he'd noticed the sprite and Bell's reaction. Still, he'd not reacted overly.

The book only tipped slightly, before a small click was heard. Should Bell release it, the book would slide back into place, before the bookshelf swung quietly back against the wall of a revealed hallway, short in length before turning to the left. The room the hallway opened to on the other end was obviously lit up.
 

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Re: Horizon Research and Treatment Center - Admin Building and Dormitory

The drow seemed quite surprised by the development, heading down the revealed corridor slowly. When she reached the end, she‘d peek into the lit room, staying in the hall. “Mr. Cross? Are you in there?“
 
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Re: Horizon Research and Treatment Center - Admin Building and Dormitory

When Bell looked in the room, it might surprise her. Then again, with everything else happening recently, maybe not.

Immediately inside were banks of wall displays, showing what initially seemed to be a variety of information about the Center itself. Although the first about half of the room's floor was clear, a holographic map of the Center, with certain pieces of information displayed about each building, was currently being projected into the open area. Behind that were two massive, nearly floor-to-ceiling hardware housing rigs, likely for the room's systems. Somewhat in between the two "racks" was a workstation of sorts, this showing a number of flat holographic display panels up.

These panels were "pushed" aside, almost like someone opening curtains, as Cross, who was behind them, spoke. "Yeah, something come up, Bell?"

Either he'd guessed that she would have been able to find it herself, or he'd forgotten he'd not told her about opening the door.
 

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Re: Horizon Research and Treatment Center - Admin Building and Dormitory

The most surprising thing Bell found about the setuf was how much like her own it looked like, albeit Cross' had a fair bit more apparent power behind it. Realtime holographic interfaces tended to be drow in nature, or at least more common for them. "Yeah, you said to mention when anything else wierd showed up. Was on the grass outside when a fott tall human woman with insectile wings told me not to forget, then zoomed off into one of the upper windows here. I think it was the one outside, cause it appeared again when I was trying to find my way in here. Don't know if the old man out there saw it or not." She explained, her tone becoming increasingly exasperated.
 
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Re: Horizon Research and Treatment Center - Admin Building and Dormitory

Cross seemed to frown slightly at her description of the creature that had appeared. "Huh. Sounds like it was a Pixie. They're usually rather harmless most of the time, and in fact they're ofte... Wait, an old man?" He sighed slightly. "Shiraishi, probably. I was kind of hoping he'd have been here before you this morning. He's far better at explaining this mess than I am. Which would also explain the Pixie. He likely figured things out, and sent his around to test you slightly. Not the easiest of methods to deal with, though."
 

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Re: Horizon Research and Treatment Center - Admin Building and Dormitory

"He knows too?" She asked, her aye starting to twitch a little. "What was he testing me for? Resistance to heart attacks?"
 
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Re: Horizon Research and Treatment Center - Admin Building and Dormitory

Nate gave a nervous chuckle. "Had that thought myself, when he was teaching me. Yes, he knows as well. And as you might have guessed, he's actually the one who taught me when I learned, so he's probably better at explaining the whole mess than I am."
 

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Re: Horizon Research and Treatment Center - Admin Building and Dormitory

Bell sighed, glancing back the way she had come. "You want me to go talk to him, don't you?" She asked, exasperated. "Something about him just feels off to me. I just wanna forget this all happened..."
 
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Re: Horizon Research and Treatment Center - Admin Building and Dormitory

Nate let out a sigh of his own. "I think I might be able to explain a bit as to why he seems a little off. As near as I can tell, he was born with the ability to see them. Not like me, where I learned. Not like you, where there's just glimpses of them. From the get-go, as near as I can tell, he's seen them."

Another sigh, then, "If you don't want to speak with him, I can't force you to. I would suggest it, though. If there's a way to block this, he might know of it, or how to find it. But I'm not going to sit here and say that there is a way, because I don't know.

If the need arises in that situation, I'll ask him to write up a message containing the specifics, both what I told you earlier as well as any clarifications or things that I missed."

Nate stopped long enough to fiddle with one of the screens briefly, then added another comment. "In either case, I've sent an additional set of coding to the holo-bracer I gave you yesterday. What it will do is project a field of sorts around the wearer that will significantly protect against attacks from them. At this point, it's the best I know how to do for your situation."
 
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