"I..." Hal stammered.

"I don't... know." he admitted. "It's never been done, or recorded, at least." he added.

"I'm not a shifter, I promise!" Zeke insisted.

"Liv, your fave soda is Cherry Bubble Blaster! I bring it occasionally when I'm back from Europe." he told Liv, before pausing for a moment.

"Wait..." he said.

"Wait, did you say that that Root Beer, Barrel Barry's, had replaced it? Or that it was close...?" he then wondered, thinking about it some.

Zeke responded by returning the hug and holding her close.

"...we'll need to ask you some questions about this." Hal told him.

"I know, I know." Zeke responded.

"But I need to make sure Liv is all right." he added, as he continued to hold her and reassure her that he was all right, and everything was okay.

About a couple of months later, Zeke was in the local precinct, speaking with a new liaison there, and showing her the ropes, helping her out.

But he then paused when he overheard a couple of other cops talking... mentioning about how someone was found clawed to death in their bed.

"....huh?" he muttered.

"Someone was found dead in the bed, supposedly clawed up by an animal?" he asked the female.

"........" Zeke was silent as he heard that.

"I see." he then said.

"That's... quite disturbing." he commented.

'Is it the same as me?' he asked himself mentally. 'And if so, does this have a singular cause, or multiple ones?' he wondered further, before shaking his head.

"Regardless, I'll be sure to give it to my superior, post-haste." he told her.

"Anyway, back to business, I gave you the cards of all your key contacts regarding us, yes?" he asked, wanting to make sure he'd gotten that done.

"....right then." Zeke muttered.

"Well, then I think that about does it for orientation and such." he told her, carrying on with the conversation that they should've been having.

"If you have any questions, call or text me." he went on.

"If you start to feel overwhelmed, it's all right. It's understandable. Just don't stress yourself out over everything. Remember, you're here to be a bridge between agencies." he reminded her.

"Know the scope of your duties, and don't set a trend where you'll always do more. That's a very good way to burn out. Only go above and beyond if you KNOW you can do it, and it won't interfere with your normal duties."

Zeke nodded in response.

"Indeed." he said.

"Have a good day." he told her, before they parted ways.

Once they did, he discreetly made his way back to the Unit, going through security, and started to make his way to Hal's office.

Hastily.

So much so, he ended up turning a corner and bumping into Anya, causing them both to fall to the floor on their asses.

"OOF!" he exclaimed, before registering what had happened.

"Anya! I'm so sorry!" he apologised, scrambling to his feet and offering his hand to her to help her up.

Zeke picked up the file he'd dropped, and sighed.

"I'm on my way to see the boss." he told her.

"Remember a bit ago? When I... eh... 'died'?" he asked. "Woke up in the autopsy room?" he asked further.

Anya just nodded.

"Well, it's not just me." he said.

"Seems we have at least 4 documented cases of it happening to others." he went on. "Others that can't just wake up after dying..." he said further.

"This is officially worrisome, and troubling."

"Yep." Zeke replied, before continuing on his way.

---

Syraene was sitting at her desk, going through the files and invo she needed to go through, before she heard a frantic knocking on her door.

"...come in." she said.

No sooner had she said that, one of the people in her employ, a young male named Peter, quickly rushed into her office.

"Miss Syraene! Miss Syraene!" he exclaimed.

"We've got trouble Big-big trouble!"

"It's Cecelia!" Peter responded.

"She-she-she's-she's-" he then rapidly stuttered, as though he were stuck on 'repeat', before Syraene stopped him.

"Stop." she said. "Calm down. Take deep breaths. Organise your thoughts. THEN vocalise them." she told him.

Peter did as she said, and after a minute, looked at her.

"She's gone!" he said.

"Nobody can find her! Nobody can track her! She's... we think she's dead!" he revealed.

"Is her beacon still responding?" he asked, faint hope in his tone.

Peter's expression sank.

Hard.

"No..." he whispered.

"No, that... that can't be..." he said in a hushed tone.

The worst appeared to have happened. An Order member was gone. Wiped from existence. And that was something that VERY few individuals and/or creatures could do. And Syraene knew when Chronos was going to 'prune' the ranks in advance, so right away he could be crossed off the suspect list.

However, she figured she would ask him, anyway.

Regardless, that didn't change the fact that there was a very worrisome situation on their hands right now.

"What... what now...?" Peter asked her.

"....." Peter was silent, before nodding.

"All right." he replied.

"What... what should -I- do?" he then asked.

"Like... people are going to ask me questions because they know I went to talk to you about this. They're going to want information." he continued.

"But if her beacon isn't responding, that's not good, to understate it." he went on.

"What should I say?"