[h1][color=gray]Elias Winzer[/color][/h1]
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Eli knelt down next to the Nexus console and grabbed a plastic-wrapped container of water bottles. He thought this kind of thing would happen and he was [i]right[/i]. He raced down the side stairs and walked over to Malcolm as he wiped his regurgitated mess off the floor. Why, he had no idea. There were service bots stationed at the door. He could have just gotten one of them to do it.

"Hey." Eli said as he approached the boy, "You okay bud?" All he got as a reply was a reassuring nod, followed by a bit of a gag. Boy wasn't feeling too good still. Eli opened up the container and handed Malcolm the first bottle of water. "Drink up." He told him, sounding rather insistent. Malcolm took the bottle happily, and resumed mopping. Guess he liked the labor.

Good kid.

He turned his head to the opposite aisle, where Ursula was. He pried another bottle of water from the container and hurried over to the girl. "Hey. Hey!" He said as he knelt down, offering her his hand. "You alright?"

Ursula's shaken frame recoiled slightly as he extended the hand towards her, still unsure of where she was and slightly disoriented from the consciousness displacement. Was she still dreaming? Was this another Zone trick? She looked up at him past her cracked glasses and listened to his question, before shaking her head rapidly. "N-no. No no no. Not at all. That was the single most terrifying experience I've ever had." Her voice was shaking and raspy as she reached out for his hand. Eli pulled her up off the cold steel floor and promptly unscrewed the cap off the water bottle in his hand. He handed it to her, knowing full well she'd need it.

With a vicious swipe, she made a grab for the water bottle he held in his hand, raising it to her mouth and gulping it down greedily and messily. Rivulets of water ran from her chin to dampen her uniform as she drained the bottle completely, the cool water helping her body to cool down.

Eli couldn't help but chuckle. He patted Ursula's shoulder. "God damn." He said, doing his best not to come across as an asshole. "You three did one hell of a job."

The bottle crumpled as Ursula sucked the last of the liquid out and crushed it in her hand, dropping it on the floor as she stumbled for a moment. Her footing was unsure, but the disorientation was fading now. Her breathing was still ragged and quick. "We... we got our asses soundly handed to us. We beat down a small squad of Aggressors and then got a nun's beating from one dude in a ram helmet. Did you know he'd... he'd be that strong?"

Eli hesitated a bit. "I, uh..." He said, separating his hand from Ursula's shoulder and scratching the beck of his head. "Kind of figured, yeah. BUT... with your, uh, [i]investigation[/i]... I can safely confirm that he's working for the Crimson Matriarch. So we've got that." Ursula coughed into her fist and made a gesture in between a wave and a clawing motion, towards the bottles of water. With a harsh clearing of her throat she inquired in an unsure squeak, "Can I have some more? Also, the Christmas what-a-what?" Eli handed her another bottle, which she promptly uncapped and began consuming.

"I'll fill you in when everyone's out of Zone 1." He responded, "For now, three of you take it easy. Trust me, you've done plenty for your first time in the Nexus Projector." He turned his head over to where Nora was seated. He took out one more water bottle and left it on a chair monitor for Ursula, just in case, and made his way over to the last of the trio.

He approached her and delved down again. "Hey, you good?" He asked. He took out another bottle of water and held it out to her.

Nora stared at the bottle for a solid ten seconds before reaching out and calmly taking it. "Thank you," she said, twisting the cap off and taking a sip that devolved rather quickly into a gulp. Then she choked slightly, spilled water all over her scubs top and quite handily ruined her attempt at looking cool and collected. She glared at the bottle with red-rimmed eyes like the whole fiasco was its fault. "I'm good," she said finally, and rose to her feet.

Eli held the water bottle container under his left arm and patted Nora's shoulder with his free hand. "Good work out there." He said, "You rest up while I check on the other team." With that, he turned and left the girl to her own devices, heading back up the aisle towards the console. He set the container aside and sat back down in his chair, switching the neural comm over to the group involved in the workshop assault.

"Hey." He called out to all of them, "You guys holding up?"