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" Hum... I'm sorry to hear about that." As much as Ale liked the world where she lived now, the constant need of money for survival was always a nuissance. Back at the island, money didn't exist (Hikari used gold as a matress), people survived on trades and services. "You should get some rest, then you may feel better." she advised him.

"Look who's back!" Ale commented, as she saw Azana coming in.

"Does that apply to you too, love?" he asked, joking, as Macpere attended to Azana.

He nodded a bit to Ale. "Yeah, I'm done for the night, though, so unless anything weird crops up, I'm relaxing here and now. Just need some quiet...and so long as Ultima's not in, I should get plenty," he added with a wry grin.

Azana gave a wave to Ale with a grin, surprised but happy to see she was recognized despite the drastic change. MacPere did his usual routine, a rather comforting stability in her rather chaotic life.

She took a sip of the liquor, coughing a bit as she did so; she had, actually, never tasted gin before in her life. She already thought she had had a considerable repertoire, but he definitely proved her wrong. "Well, apparently Stella has been flirting with the head of dispatch, generically making my life hell in any way she can find. Officiating midnight duels, hunting down rogue daimons...I don't think I've been this weary since the Eden Forsaken incident."

Another gulp burned down her throat before she continued, "but thankfully I have connections, too. Tech took the liberty of falsifying my schedule so the dispatcher can't give me missions until the next server maintenance...but then there's Sosol. He doesn't get to head out much, especially with how busy I've been, but part of the whole 'laying low' thing is NOT running around town..." She sighed, shaking her head.

"I thought about bringing him here for a night...and he'd be safe here, I know, but to and from..."

MacPere pouted back at Gren as he pulled out a chair and spun it around, sitting on it backwards. "Well, I'll let you judge that one for yourself~"

He contentedly listened to Azana's tale and frowned at the 'laying low' part. Such familiar circumstances to one so close... "My God, that b***h is playing up again and they have you working like a mad dog? I almost like my current issues~"

Something clicked in his mind and he stood to get himself a tumbler, pressing his lips to Gren's as he passed. "By the way, Sweetheart, I have an interview with a particularly prestigious journal tonight, hence, I may be a little late."

"You haven't done a thing to earn that title, dear." He smiled at the kiss, sipping from his scotch. "Oh, okay...so long as you're safe. An interview, huh? What about, banking?"

Azana gave a sigh, knowing that MacPere had heard Stella's story before, but she gave a bit of an abridged version for Ale. "Stella is a distant cousin of mine and works in the GMO...she has some, well, prejudiced views about agents and abilities, with her on top, of course. She is incredibly powerful, but hasn't worked out in reality nearly as much as I have, something she seems to think puts her in a higher class of agent."

She finished the tumbler, happy for the ice's dilution of the gin, and readied herself to talk about something she never could before, save for one person. "Sosol didn't do anything wrong...and by all official accounts, he's dead. If the GMO found out he was alive, and in my care, no less...things would get complicated." She closed her eyes, all the images and memories flooding back into her mind as she recounted things.

"Sosol was once known by the codename Isaiah, and he was a very special person in the GMO...an Oracle. They are usually kept locked away, isolated from the outside world in order to maintain the purity of their minds and of their predictions. I infiltrated the Delphi Complex myself, looking for answers, and found them. Each allowed me one question...but Isaiah, he traded for it, looking into my mind and seeing the world beyond his lifestyle." She shook her head, knowing that without the metaphysical protections placed on the Inn, she would practically be confessing to the crime.

"Not long after, he saved my life during some of my routine patrolling...he had escaped the Complex, but was having trouble laying low AND surviving in a world so unfamiliar. I took him in, faked his death for the GMO...and he's been with me ever since. He wants to see more, to actually experience things, but I'm afraid if any high-powered GMO agents recognize him...they'd lock him up again, and likely come after me for hiding him away. They're paranoid like that, probably thinking I'd use his power to undermine their operations."

Not that that would necessarily be bad...something isn't right in there... She thought to herself as she poured a little more gin. "He knows about all of you...I'm sure he'd love to meet you sometime."

" She seems to hold some kind of grudge against the GMO. And I can't blame her." Ale thought, and was sadened by the thought of her friend having to hide who he was, in order to survive. " I'd like to meet him too, someday." She said, simply.

Azana glanced over at Gren, who seemed to be offering a vehicle. She smirked, chuckling slightly to herself. "It's been harder and harder to hide him; I've had Tech insulate my entire house with MindShield material to keep his energy from leaking out. Without all his predictions, I've had to keep him psychically active to keep from a mental overload. A vehicle would have to be quite sophisticated, or he would have to suppress himself to painful degrees to avoid detection."

She racked her brain for a little bit. She knew Tech had been working on a transport system, but she didn't know the details of the theory or if it could be stealthy. It was likely an over-cautious manner, on her part, but she never knew how many high-power Chalices were out and about on surveillance. A metaphysical Panopticon, feeling completely exposed...what, exactly, were they all looking for?

A young man materialized just inside the door of the Inn, his long black hair tied back in a tidy ponytail. His clothing was dark, as well, and he wore what looked like sunglasses, even in the relatively low light of the Inn of Peace. Around his neck was a pendant in the shape of an eye, which he pulled off as soon as he was within the protective bubble of the Inn.

"If you knew the answer to that question, Azana...I'm not sure you could take it anymore."

She spun around in her chair, staring wide-eyed at the arrival, her surprise turning into shock and pure, unadulterated terror.

"Sosol...!"