[b][color=fff79a]Hazel[/color] & [color=00ffbb]Lawrence[/color][/b]
[b]A collab post with [@Snagglepuss89][/b][hr]

It was all set up. His plan had been formulated on the return trip from the battlefield, and more than anything else it was what had been occupying his mind for the past couple nights. Of course, he would still need his target's cooperation- to an extent- to go through with it, but he suspected that wouldn't be an issue. Not if she maintained the same behaviour he'd seen from her so far.

Still, he was filled with... apprehension. Quite honestly, he hoped that she [i]would[/i] resist, and that the whole thing would be called off. It wasn't just Ground Zero that gave him pause- although his desire to go back to there ranked somewhere around 0- but the whole situation reeked of uncertainty. Uncertainty was not something Lawrence B. Ellison liked to tangle with, even on his own terms.

Alas, there was no helping it. He had caught word his target, Hazel, was out turning in her forms to the office, and he was waiting outside for her to finish. There was no sense in interrupting her before she finished, who knew if she would have another chance today after his plans. He just hoped that he didn't end up more injured on his "day off" than when he was actually involved in a battle. 

Finally though, the door beside him opened and out walked Hazel in all her... Glory certain wasn't the world. Indifference? Whatever it was, it was a trait that encapsulated the young woman. Quite frankly, she stood out like a sore thumb no matter where she was. All the better when someone needed to find her. Before she'd gotten far he walked up next to her and spoke:

"[color=00ffbb]Hey Hazel, do you have any plans taking place in the next couple hours? I have something important to do together. I want to start immediately if possible.[/color]"

The little he had gathered about her the last couple days of knowing her is that it was important to be clear and direct in absolutely everything. She was [i]not[/i] good at picking up the subtleties of language. As such, he hoped he was leaving to opening for confusion.

[color=fff79a]"Plans?"[/color]

Lawrence seems to have been waiting on her outside the office. For what reasons, she did not know. But she certainly didn't have any plans or schedules. Those were usually decided by them. They made whatever plans with whatever intentions, and she simply followed. Whatever important things Lawrence had for her surely cannot be any different.

[color=fff79a]"I do not have any plans of my own."[/color]

"[color=00ffbb]Perfect. If you'd follow me then, we have a little ways to walk. I know you're not much for conversation, but I'm free to talk until we get where we're going.[/color]"

With that, he began walking once more, motioning for her to follow, walking towards the opposite corner of USARILN East by the look of it, then again most of the grounds were in that direction from the offices. They walked in relative silence, stopping only once by the security post next to the hospital. There was a single guard waiting outside of it, and recognizing Lawrence, identified them almost immediately. So, with their escort, who seemed to keep the entirity of his attention on Hazel, they continued.

Some time later, they arrived at their destination. The literal ghost town that was a near permanent fixture-and even second home to several of the Abes- at UARILN East: Ground Zero. Lawrence had been there many times, and did not need an escort or permission to travel to the magic-torn landscape. Hazel, however, was different, for the moment anyway. It was possible this would become a permanent fixture of her stay at the Instituion, or perhaps she would never visit it again. Lawrence intended to find out one way or the other.

Stepping forward, he was greeted to the sound of:

"[i][color=f7976a]Temporary power supression deactivation.[/color][/i]"

Before a feeling of... [i]completeness[/i] washed over him. When Hazel did the same, no such noise greeted her. Whether Lawrence didn't notice or was unsurprised though was hard to tell, because his focus at the moment was entirely drawn to the figure perched atop her tower in the middle of the "city". The Ground Zero Ghost. An enigma that Lawrence had never been able to figure out- or anybody else for that matter. Still he raised a pointless hand to her and gave a small wave.

"[color=00ffbb]Been awhile, hasn't it?[/color]"

Months, in fact. He had lost his reason to travel here a long time ago, and the Arbiter had little use for the place on his own. Still, that could change today. Looking over at Hazel, he beckoned her to follow him deeper into the projection, until they were surrounded on all sides by the ghost city. Finally, seemingly satisfied, he turned to her once more.

"[color=00ffbb]This is Ground Zero. Aberrations come here to sate their stigma without having to worry about destroying "Real" people, or places. I wanted to bring you here to remove your collar where it would be safe to do so, just in case my power isn't enough to... change the outcome of whatever removing it is going to do.[/color]"

He began reaching forward, before pausing.

"[color=00ffbb]Just two questions first: Would I be reasonably safe until I get out of the way? And do you want me to?[/color]"

Hazel had followed him without question, silent as she walked towards this Ground Zero. The place called Ground Zero was intriguing, in that it seemed to simply jut out of the scenery like a badly cut pop-up book. Noticing he was reaching for her collar, she took a step backwards by reflex, holding up a hand to the collar's lock. She had taken the drug relatively recently, so there was no real danger of her going out of control, but all the same she felt uncomfortable without the collar on. As for the questions he posed to her... .

[color=fff79a]"I do not know."[/color]

She had no idea where he would be safe, nor did she know where he could get out of the way. Hazel had never been asked the last question either. They had simply acted, and she would simply obey.

[i][color=00ffbb]I'm not sure what I expected.[/color][/i]

With a sigh, he briefly debated continuing. Lawence was not somebody who liked operating under unscertainty, especially when his health was involved. Still, he'd wasted enough time today on this little escapade, and was reluctant to call it off before even beginning. With a shrug of what could have been resignation, he bathed them both in a white glow before stepping behind her and undoing the mechanism on her collar. He backed away from her slowly, trying to judge the level of danger he was in by sticking close.

"[color=00ffbb]How do you feel?[/color]"

 Fear and apprehension started to rise as his hands neared the collar, peaking when the collar popped open and dropped to the ground.

 Almost immediately she could feel herself returning to her, like a fresh breath of air after spending a long time in a poorly ventilated room. More alive,and complete. Wearing the collar felt like locking a piece of yourself away, and with it, a piece of the suffering. Oddly enough she felt not even the slightest bit of the compulsions she usually felt, probably thanks to that white glow surrounding both her and Lawrence. The initial fear had almost faded away at this point.

 [color=fff79a]"I am alright. There are no injuries, pain or any abnormalities."[/color]

 He nodded slowly in response, relieved that he wasn't being attacked. It was always better to expect the worse, especially when someone like Zhang gives you a warning about removing something. It seemed, at least for now, that he was over prepared.

"[color=00ffbb]How's your stigma? I know it's probably hard to tell with my power on you, but as long as your range hasn't increased more than...[/color]"

He stopped to think for a moment, not often having to consider the range of his own power

"[color=00ffbb]Thirty or so meters, I was going to stand back, drop my power, and let you work it out of your system for awhile.[/color]"

[color=fff79a]"Work out my system?"[/color]

Hazel was unsure what that meant, but there didn't seem to be any problems with her stigma. She had only been using the drug before coming to this facility after all, and always it had proved to be sufficient to quell any shadows that might haunt her. Some vestiges of her stigma did haunt her from time to time, but it had never gotten to the point that she lost control. The collar was a recent addition, a very helpful recent addition, that helped suppress her stigma even if she was late in taking her daily dose.

[color=fff79a]"As I have reported before, there is no abnomalities at the moment."[/color]

He cocked his head in reponse. No abnormalities? In fact, she didn't seem any different at all from before he removed the collar. Was this some sort of... complex joke on the director's part? Admittedly the possibility was close to zero, but he was having trouble coming up with a plausible reasoning for all the precautions behind her collar with what little he knew.

"[color=00ffbb]All right, I'm going to drop my power then, let me know how you feel afterwards.[/color]"

With that, he did exactly as he said, dropping the white aura around them and taking a couple more precautionary steps backward just in case. Prepared to throw it back on her immediately if need be.

The calming veil dropped, forcing her to acknowledge the shadows she had been ignoring. The drug by itself, as stated previously, was usually enough to suppress her stigma. Combined with Lawrence's ability, it had been effective in ensuring her calm. However, by now her abilities had grown more powerful, meaning her stigma had more power over her. The drug alone was barely sufficent, having been created during her time in that facility, where she was weaker.

[color=f7976a]"Afraid?"[/color]

[url=http://i.imgur.com/L7kxkpr.jpg]That girl[/url] from her dreams, dancing slowly to unheard music, dancing around Lawrence as he looked apprehensively towards Hazel, unaware of the dancer near him. She was wispy, ethereal, and yet somehow more real than the place around her. Hazel froze as the girl reached towards her before twirling away with a smile.

[color=fff79a]"I... am afraid."[/color] 

She was breathing slightly faster now, her body tense from fear. Hopefully whatever it was Lawrence wanted her to do without the collar didn't take too much time.

"[color=00ffbb]Sounds like your stigma then. Destruction is supposed to help sate it, so go ahead and destroy what you can here until you feel better. I'll stick around until you're done.[/color]"

She didn't need to tell him she was afraid for him to notice the change in her. He was good at reading most people, but Hazel was already somebody that was easy to read- in the sense that there wasn't much there to read at all. Seeing her actually start to come alive with [i]some[/i] emotion was... interesting, although he would have preffered it was something other than her stigma.

One thing at a time though.

[color=fff79a]"D... Destroy?"[/color] 

All she had to do was destroy things until she felt better. All she had to do... . Hazel wanted badly to just curl up in a corner with her eyes shut and ears covered, but they won't let her do that. She needed to complete their orders before being allowed to. Taking in a deep breath, her arms turned transparent, almost invisible to the naked eye. With an experimental swing, she projected an attack towards a small building nearby. Though it looked as if she was trying to move inside some thick viscous liquid, the raw power of the attack was undeniable. The building's front exploded inwards, before she collapsed it entirely with a barrage of punches. Though still suppressed by the anklet, it was strong enough to topple any small building, especially considering her abilities works better on non living material.

Encouraged by the slight feeling of comfort the destruction brought, she started moving faster and faster. That feeling of euphoric pleasure washed over her every time she destroyed anything with her ability, running through her body like an electric jolt, making her knees weak from the intensity. By now that feeling was overwhelming even the drug's haze, enough to make her vision go white. Enough for her to go after the shambling apparitions next, tearing each one apart like they were no more than paper.

Lawrence reissted the urge to let out a whistle as he watched Hazel get to work. So that was what he coul expect when he removed the collar, eh? It didn't completely make sense to him yet why she had to wear it in the first place, but maybe he was underestimating the effect his power had on the girl. Once it was removed she seemed to be taken by her stigma just like anybody else. Was there more to it that he was missing?

He'd have to ask before their next battle.

As he watched her beginning to attack people, he finally looked away and moved in the opposite direction, keeping her in sight but trying to be well out of range in case she turned on him. A berserking Aberration was... not fun to deal with, and he didn't intend to have to fight for his life with the girl he was trying to help right now. The girl with an increadible amount of power, and seemingly no emotions or social skills. Who needed a 'handler' when she went into battle and seemed to have no desires of her own. What the hell was his roommate exactly? At this point he wouldn't be surprised if Hephaestus had managed to make an android.

Finding a bit of rubble that was relatively comfortable to sit on, he contented himself to watch his roommate and wait. He had no idea how long this would end up taking, but his own experiences had taught him not to be in any hurry when you visited Ground Zero. Those experiences also taught him to be glad he was an Arbiter.

It was never enough. Every time she destroyed something, she sated a bit more of her desire, which in turn grew stronger even as she fed it. Even as she tried to bury her stigma — all her memories — under all the destruction, it arose once again, slightly stronger. It wasn't until she collapsed from sheer exhaustion under that strange tower that she finally stopped. Gasping, she tried to speak, to say something to confirm her status, but only managed to painfully exhale a breath of air.

Hazel was finally fully lucid, her stigma unfettered by neither drug nor collar. While she had staved it away for now, it wasn't long before it would become unbearable again. She would have panicked right there and started looking for the collar, but she was too tired to even move at the moment, especially considering she wasn't holding back on using her ability during her rampage. Settling for the next best thing, she started pulling the unmarked white bottle out of her skirt pocket, only for it to roll just out of reach as she lost her grip on it.

Utterly defeated, she gave a small sigh of frustration and closed her eyes, hoping her stigma didn't come in full force before she could recover her strength and take the drug.

Time passed. Lawrence spent much of it turning over the collar in his hands and looking at it, trying to ignore the destruction going on around him. Moving to another spot when Hazel started to move in his direction, until he was safe once more. The girl was practically a force of nature at the moment with the amount of nonstop destruction she was causing. He wondered what she could do with an armament, but at the same time hoped he never had to find out. 

Eventually though the destruction slowed, and Lawrence began following after her until it ground to a halt under the Ghostss tower. He saw the bottle roll away as he approached, and a minute later had it scooped up and in his hands, sitting next to the body of his collapsed roommate. Turning it over much like he had the collar, he asked:

"[color=00ffbb]Feeling better now?[/color]"

[color=fff79a]"Better?"[/color] Hazel turned her head to look at him. [color=fff79a]"I am too tired to move. Otherwise there are no abnormalities that I know of at the moment."[/color]

She stared at the bottle and collar, hoping there wasn't anything else he needed. Hazel wanted nothing more than to just go back and hide in a corner somewhere with the drug and collar.

Following her gaze, he handed both of them back to the girl. While he was curious about the medication, it wasn't any of his business what the girl did with her free time, whether it was medical or recreational. Still, again with the '[color=fff79a]No abnormalities[/color]' talk. Hazel could turn not answering a question into an Olympic sport and get the gold every time.

"[color=00ffbb]Sorry, I figured this would help you out a bit. Go ahead and relax and until you're feeling better and we can make our way back.[/color]"

With that, he enveloped her with his power once more and pulled a familiar book out of his pocket, flipping through it with no particular regard for the order of its contents. After all, he had finished it a hundred times by that point.

While she was too exhausted to even lift her head to put the collar on, at least she could still swallow two pills. 

The drug took some time to work, but she calmed down considerably once she took them, compounded by Lawrence's ability. She still had no idea what Lawrence's goals was with what he ordered just now, but she wasn't about to ask. They wouldn't give her any real answer if she asked, and Lawrence would undoubtedly be the same. He did say something odd though, something they would never actually say. 

Curious.

After a short while, she finally regained enough strength to lift herself up, and put on the collar once more.

[color=fff79a]"I have recovered enough to walk,"[/color] she announced. [color=fff79a]"Shall we return?"[/color]

Lawrence stood as she began to and offered her a hand, tucking his book back into the pocket of his jacket. It seemed like the day had been a mostly fruitless gesture, and he hadn't yet decided whether it was worth trying to repeat. She [i]did[/i] seem to relax at the end, like anybody who was able to sate their stigma did, so that was at least something new learned. Overall though, the girl remained an enigma.

"[color=00ffbb]Yeah, thanks for agreeing to come out here.[/color]"

After that they walked back in silence- meeting their escort once more at the edge of Ground Zero- with Lawrence's powers supressed once more for all the good it did. Sure, the trip had mostly turned out to be a waste of time, but he felt like he understood his roommate a [i]little[/i] better, or at least the circumstances surrounding her. More importantly he had a better idea of what to expect when he removed her collar, and how much his power would affect her in that state. Information that would probably be invaluable in the future. 

Information that could help buy time.

Time that could be spent learning more about her.

So at the end of the day: How much of a waste was it?