Ilias was silent for a moment, before nodding slowly.

"Not bad, not bad at all." he said.

"Well enunciated, pronounced, impressive indeed." he told her. "And... a regular...?" he then asked, clearly confused, but then shook his head slightly.

"And nice to meet you, Sabrina." he told her, as one of his snakes extended out slightly towards her, causing him to sigh and move closer to her as well, so that the reptile could inspect her properly.

"This is Helena." he told Sabrina.

"She's... the most dominant of my snakes."

Ilias snickered a little in response, as Helena intensely examined Sabrina's hand, flicking the tongue all over, inspecting all she could of it. He then just sighed lightly, and looked at her.

"Yeah, I'm a rarity." he told her. "Pretty sure you can count the number of those like me on one hand." he lamented. "Don't let it get me down, though." he then added.

"And yep... yep, you are a new experience for Helena." he then confirmed.

"It's not a hive mind, but we DO share information and/or knowledge when it's gained." he told her. "We are connected, after all." he reasoned with a shrug. "Though it DOES bring a question to mind." he then said, Sabrina already knowing what it was.

"What ARE you, to have peaked her interest so?"

"That explains it." Ilias responded.

"You good now, Helena?" he asked the snake. Helena responded by darting her tongue out a few more times, and then resting her chin in Sabrina's hand, which caused Ilias to chuckle.

"You're cool now." he told Sabrina. "She'll lay there for a minute or so, and you're free to stroke her head if you want." he said further. "But do NOT boop her snoot." he warned.

"That's a privilege that is to be earned." he stated. "...which just takes time and exposure, admittedly, but still." he admitted.

"Regardless, you new here?" he asked. "If so, when'd you get here?"

Ilias looked confused and concerned when he heard that.

"A branding?" he asked. "Shifting on lockdown...?" he asked further. "Pardon me, but isn't shifting a necessary part of being a shifter?" he then inquired.

"Yep." Sabrina responded.

"...so much so, that doesn't locking that down put immense strain on the body, to fatal degrees?" Ilias then asked.

"Mmhmm." she replied.

"...I see." Ilias mumbled. "Well, whoever did that is a monster, and I certainly hope that, if they haven't already gotten what they deserve, they get it soon." he commented darkly.

"Regardless, you ARE safe here." he assured her.

Ilias just sighed.

"One would think." he said.

"But... well... Gorgons are more common there, as you are probably well-aware." he commented. "And being a male gorgon-kin, my presence is... well... it's not one that the others would like to be reminded of." he continued. "Plus, I'm not all about that 'turning people to stone' stuff, and they're afraid I'll lead them to going extinct by intervening and getting them discovered and crap." he sighed.

"Even though they don't really do that anymore unless they're going to be a problem, but... well, they're a bit paranoid." he lamented.

"So I fled to this country, but found it difficult to hide... until a dullahan friend of mine brought me here for my own protection, and to lead a more productive life." he explained further.

"And here I am, part of the Research and Development team, putting my PhD to good use." he chuckled.

Ilias laughed.

"No, it's not my eyes." he stated. He then pointed to Helena, who opened her mouth, revealing sharp pointed fangs.

"It's them." he said. "All of my head snakes can produce a venom that initialises the process of turning someone to marble." he informed her. He then proceeded to open his own mouth, where she saw a pair of distinctly pointed canine teeth, before closing it.

"My own venom can be used to CURE that." he went on.

"So yeah. Not eyes, but venom." he summarised.

"I think that's a trait of being a male gorgon-kin." he then said. "Like, pretty sure the eye thing is just in the females only." he mumbled, thinking about it. "Yeah, petty sure." he said.

"Regardless, even if it's not a man-thing, it's MY thing."

Ilias was silent for a moment, before looking to be seriously thinking about it.

"I..." he stammered. "That... that is a very good question." he then admitted.

"I mean, admittedly, I'm the only one of my kind that I've ever met, so I've not been able to test it, so this is all merely conjecture, but... perhaps?" he answered her, continuing to think about it.

"I mean, one can argue that each Lacerta Lapis is unique, and would therefore have its own unique venom, so they would be required to make the antidote... but that's not the case for your average snake. If someone is bitten by a rattlesnake, doesn't matter the individual snake, there's an antivenom for it." he went on. "...and my ability to turn people to marble IS a biological function, not a mana-based one..." he continued.

"So, even though this is speculation, I suspect that my own venom could at least be used to synthesise a cure for one that was bitten by another Lacerta Lapis." he concluded, before pausing, and chuckling slightly.

"Sorry if I got all scientist there." he apologised sheepishly.

Ilias just shrugged.

"I have no idea." he said.

"Seriously, I know very little about shifters." he admitted.

"I've only encountered a couple in my lifetime." he said, before pausing. "Three." he corrected himself.

"The first one ran away from me, paranoid as hell that I was going to kill him, the second was trying to kill ME to try and infiltrate this place and cause havoc, and the third one? Well, they're a genuinely nice individual, and I could see myself becoming great friends with them." he told her with a smile.

"if they'd like that, anyway."

Ilias just raised an eyebrow and smirked at her when she mentioned meeting that third shifter. He had a feeling she knew who he was talking about, and he guessed she was onboard with his suggestion. Or he hoped so anyway.

"Firstly, if you'd like to test that out, stop by our R&D department." he told her. "Seriously, we do a lot of experimental work there, and if you'd like to find out, you could safely do so there, and we'd learn a lot from it." he said further. "Just something to be consider, seeing as you said that you'd be staying here at the dorms for a bit." he reasoned.

"Secondly, life here is amazing." he then answered her question. "This is a place where you don't have to hide who you are... for the most part." he said. "We DO have the occasional 'regular joe' come in, but they tend to be kept in the more 'visible' places here." he explained. "But for the most part, everyone here knows everyone else, everyone knows we employ those from all walks of life, help all those that need it and can't find it out there in the world, and we all try and get along as one cohesive functioning machine." he said.

"...and those that decide others are inferior because of what they may be are... swiftly reminded that they are not all that and a bag of chips, and will find themselves out a job, out of options, and out of knowledge about those that work here." he then added. "No, it's not as nightmarish as I'm making it out to be, but those that are found to be untrustworthy have sensitive information about this place and the people working here safely removed from their memories." he informed her. "And yes, it IS safe. No, I don't know how it works, but I accidentally found out something that I didn't have the authorisation to know a year or so ago, so I asked if I could have that piece of info removed." he clarified.

"How'd they do it? I dunno. What was the info? Dunno anymore." he laughed.

And anything to be wary of? Eh, not really."[/b] he then said, scratching his head a little. "Just steer clear of restricted areas, which will be clearly marked, and try not to be condescending to others." he told her. "Try and get along and respect others, and they'll do the same to you." he smiled.

"Oh, and steer clear of the cafeteria between 11:55 and 12:35." he added. "Lunch rush. It's chaotic. It's when all the more general employees have their lunch times, usually." he informed her. "Always try for 11:30ish, or 1:00ish." he chuckled, and then paused again.

"...also, the head of Media Relations is an absolute snob and a bitch, and she doesn't know it, but the gears are turning to have her terminated from her position, and have her forget all she learned of this place." he whispered to her. "But you didn't hear that from ME." he stated. "I'll deny it up and down if confronted with it." he went on. "But just try and steer clear of the 30-something-year-old woman with long brown hair, blue eyes, and kinda stocky stature." he warned. "Always wears red dress shoes, skinny jeans, and black shirts." he finished.

"Ah, sorry about that." Ilias apologised.

"The truncated version is: stay out of labeled restricted areas, have your lunch a little early, or a smidgen late, and look out for the head of Media Relations." he summarised.

"Beyond that, you'll be fine." he told her.

"And yeah, when this place has a problem, it is QUICKLY dealt with. Usually." he said further.

"We've had persistent problems before, but those were extenuating circumstances."