Now, Let's count up your sins!

[Athena Myaló]

The elevator doors slid gently open, and Glen stepped out at the front of the group, followed closely by the two storm troopers. Athena had been able to tell as soon as the lobby came within range of her senses that the room was no longer how they had left it. The team hardly got two steps out of the elevator car before they were surrounded. Not by attackers, fortunately; for the God-Soul, however, the present situation was arguably less pleasant than an imminent battle.

Glen squinted in annoyance as sporadic bursts of light went off. Camera flashes. She really didn't need this, especially right now. She glared around at the crowds of wide-eyed reporters and photographers. The hoard stared back at her for a few startled seconds, and then began to push their way towards the group, all suddenly talking at once.

"You were at the scene of the attack, weren't you? Who was the victim they mentioned to us? How did you survive?"

"Do you work here? Do you know the man who was found in the elevator? They haven't told us anything!"

"Wait, are you wearing one of the library artifacts?"

Glen made a point of ignoring their questions, but couldn't pretend that they weren't there at all when they were blocking the way to the exit. The storm troopers who had accompanied her down the elevator moved forwards to clear a path through the disorderly crowd, and the hippogriff followed closely behind, flanked by two more soldiers who had been guarding the crime scene. She kept her eyes trained directly on the ground in front of her and did her best to tune out her surroundings. She wasn't feeling too well.

One reporter, a small man in a black suit, deftly swooped in behind the leading soldiers and matched Glen's stiff stride, almost immediately bombarding her with a rapid series of questions.

"Good evening, miss, I'm Anelex Gralie, head reporter for the Coruscant news site Tier 1 Digital. Now, why are you wearing the relic known as the Lavalliere of Aeon? Is that connected to the murder and subsequent suicide that occurred here earlier tonight? Do you know who was killed, and how? Were you present? What do you think the motive of the killer was?"

The storm troopers had already moved to push him back, but Glen stopped abruptly and stared up at the intrusive journalist. She opened her mouth to speak, and the room quieted in anticipation.

"Buzz off." Anelex's expression went from hopeful to crestfallen. "Since apparently you can't get it through your thick skull, I am not in the mood, Mr. Gralie. Ask somebody else who hasn't just seen their boss dead and been knocked unconscious by some freaky power amulet." The librarian's horn started to glow with a threatening aura, and Anelex Gralie stepped back, eyes wide, as Glen continued. "It doesn't matter how great your stupid article is, anyway. Your whole precious online newspaper is going to do down the drain once word gets to Coruscant officials that you and your constituents hack into private government files in the Dataverse to find classified information for your stories." The room was finally dead silent. The storm troopers exchanged significant glances. Glen, however, still wasn't quite finished. "Oh wait, it just did. The word has been gotten. Now if you don't mind, and even if you do, I'm going home!" Tears at the corners of her eyes, the hippogriff forged ahead of her escorts, shoving people aside herself. The room remained eerily quiet as the storm troopers and Athena jogged to catch up with her, the only sounds footsteps and the furious scratching of pencils on pads of paper.

Athena, although it was impossible to tell just by looking at her, was once again very, very worried. Not only would everyone in Coruscant know about Glen's unusual abilities within a day, but the hippogriff seemed to be quite distressed and rather lacking in self-control. Her behavior was understandable and would be acceptable under normal circumstances, but Athena knew that it had already landed the hippogriff in a pitiable situation. There was also no way of knowing whether the Lavalliere was partially responsible, or whether her symptoms would subside or only worsen. Glen would need careful treatment and surveillance until satisfactory conclusions could be drawn about the full effects on her mind.

Furthermore, Athena had scrutinized every inch of the area she could sense inside the library, and although it was filled with humans and even aliens, there was no trace of any tall, icy biomech to be found. That was somewhat less of a concern: Kopaka was at least equally capable as she was, and had mentioned that he might be drawn to a separate line of investigation. As for the matter of watching over Glen, there was a good chance that Athena could handle it herself, or find some other assistance. At the same time, though, she hoped she could determine the meaning of the odd phrase that the Toa had given her. She had committed it to memory - "kopaka at kopaka dot mobi" - but understanding how to use it to send information was another matter altogether. Perhaps Glen can divine the answer for me, she thought to herself half-jokingly. She doubted that prophesies would come on command, although it was difficult to tell. Even if not, given some time, she would probably be able to figure it out herself with her Muse. Of course, "given some time" is the key phrase... Glen, Athena, and the four storm troopers had already arrived at the main door of the library. There were a few stray reporters and plenty of news vehicles parked on the street, as well as a full guard of soldiers, but fortunately no one gave them trouble upon their exit.