Jake paused for a moment, thinking about it.

"Well, a few things." he said.

"As you said, he can order an evaluation." he told her.

"But they're friends as well. He can appeal to THAT." he went on.

"You know Hal. He has a way of making things happen." he then said with a confident smile.

"He's a miracle worker."

"Not overly." Jake responded.

"From what I recall, he had a bunch of meetings in the morning, but the rest of his day is pretty much catching up on some paperwork and filing." he said.

"So now's a good time to bother him." he assured her.

"Please. You owe it to Mira to try and find out what's happening." he went on.

"She loves you. And you love her." he continued.

"I don't know what happened in Greece, but... it surely can't drive a wedge between two as close as you."

Jake didn't really have time to say much else before she left, and when she did, he narrowed his eyes.

"Mira..." he said.

"I don't know what the hell's going on with you, but if you hurt Peyton..." he started to say further, his tone darkening considerably near the end, before he shook it off lightly, and forced himself to calm down.

'No. There has to be an explanation for this.' he thought, taking a few deep breaths.

Meanwhile, Hal was filing away a stack of papers he had just finished, when his receptionist buzzed him, saying Peyton was there to see him. He was silent for a moment, before telling her to send her in.

She did, and immediately he could tell something was eating at her. And he hoped it wasn't anything to do with Mira.

"Something wrong?" he asked her.

Hal didn't even hesitate.

"...I figured." he said.

He then leaned forward a bit, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Did the time off she asked for weeks ago not help?" he asked.

"She took 3 days off... with you alongside... to try and calm herself down and be with you." he went on.

"Has that not helped at all?"

Hal narrowed his eyes when Peyton said all this.

"...I see." he said.

"Something happened in Greece. But I don't know WHAT..." he growled.

"I intend to get to the bottom of it, though." he the stated, standing up.

"Come on." he said.

"We're going to see her. The both of us. NOW." he told her.

"And we're going to find out WHAT is wrong with her."

With that, the two of them were out of his office, down to R&D, went past all that were there, and stopped at the closed door to Mira's office.

"Mira!" Hal said, knocking heavily on the door.

"Mira, open this door! Now!" he demanded.

No answer.

"Mira, we're coming in!" Hal then stated, before opening the door and stepping inside.

Only to find that Mira... was not there.

Hal was silent as he saw she wasn't there. And neither was the spear.

"Damn it." he cursed.

"We need to see if anyone's seen her." he told Peyton.

---

Virgil looked back at the entrance to the interrogation department, before looking back at another that was there.

"Hey, Erica?" he said.

"Roxie left with Mira a bit ago." he commented. "Been almost a half-hour." he went on.

"And Mira said that it wouldn't take long at all. Think something happened?"

"..." Virgil was silent for a moment, before shaking his head.

"Nah. It's... probably nothing." he said.

"Virgil, it's okay." Erica responded. "You know she finds it flattering when you worry about her." she added with a light laugh.

Virgil's face turned red for a moment, before he cleared his throat and stood up.

"Right. I'll be back in a second, then." he told her.

He then quickly left the department, and made his way down the hall, wondering what room they might have gone in... but his attention was grabbed when he saw some concerning blood droplets on the floor, and a room whose door was ever-so-slightly ajar.

"...please let this be just my being stupid." he mumbled, rushing to the door and opening it, seeing a figure laying motionless on the floor.

"ROXIE!?" he exclaimed.

"No, no, no, no, no..." Virgil repeated, stepping up close and looking her over. He paled as he couldn't sense her mana, before taking his phone out and calling an emergency to the medial wing, telling them where he was.

He then looked back at Roxie, and bit his bottom lip.

"Who did this...?" he asked.

"It... it couldn't have been Mira... right...?" he asked himself further.

"There HAS to be another explanation!"

Hal looked over to the woman, and sighed quietly.

"Looking for Mira." he responded.

"Or for any clue as to what the hell is going on with her." he said further.

"She's not been acting herself, it's been affecting her friends and loved ones, so we came here to confront her on it. And found she was not here." he then explained to her.

"...why are YOU here?" he asked.