A late summer chill spread through the night outside of the old Sky Labs. The large crowd of people, who had been there earlier, had long dispersed save a few stragglers. From a lone truck, parked on the streets nearby, the Watcher observed the scene through the eyes of his elder biotechie. Hilda was her name. Hilda tapped her fingers on the steering wheel impatiently. The Watcher could feel her impatience growing stronger by the second. It was the nicotine, The Watcher knew. Unconsciously, The Watcher sent a signal her way causing her to pull out a spare cigarette and light it. It wasn’t long after that all the tension, which the Watcher felt building up in Hilda, simply vanished. It wasn’t long ago that the Watcher received a status report from Jake notifying him of two girls who had been taken away for questioning. One of which who seemed to match the description the Watcher had given of Emily. Last he heard, they had been dragged into Building C and locked away in the storage closet. Chances were they were being questioned perhaps by barbaric means. Hilda took one last puff of her cigarette before tossing it out the window and grumbling something about aching bones and too little sleep. [i]Where is he?[/i] wondered the Watcher. He had been unable to get ahold of Blink ever since he entered the Rift Room. The Walls were too thick. The signal cut off. The Watcher hadn’t counted on that… Hilda sighed as she pulled out a second cigarette. “To cancer.” She grumbled half-heartedly while lighting it up. It was then that an ear piercing shriek reached Hilda’s ear. It seemed to come from inside Building A. Hilda sighed as the Watcher had her put out the cigarette using the inside of the Truck. Another sheik reached Hilda’s ears; this time from the East. The sound was inhuman and unsettling to the common. The Watcher knew this sound. It wasn’t a good sound. A third shriek from the west. The Hybrids were coming. The Patriarch was making a risky move here. What exactly had happened in there to push him to this point? --- The Patriarch could sense them. The hybrids, his children, were coming to his aid. He could feel them crying out to their brethren hungry for blood. For that moment he felt like he could conquer the world. The hybrids excitement combined with the Rift’s whispers and promises of power, was overwhelming. And for a second, just a second, he entertained the thought of unleashing the hybrids upon the entire city. He began to call out to the rest of his hybrids, ready to unleash them all. Lucky, he caught himself and quickly came back to his senses. The Rifts whispers grew louder. Beckoning him on. Seducing him! Taunting him! [i]No![/i] He thought. [i]Not yet… Not yet...[/i] The whispers softened then, as if hearing his thoughts. The Patriarch only needed to summon a handful of Hybrids. Not the whole lot. That mime fellow had just taken out his protection in one go. He had to act now! He didn't feel comfortable without protection. The Patriarch felt his temper rising from the Mime's betrayal. He wanted to kill the man, but the Patriarchs current situation called for a slightly different action. Lowering his gun a little he said, “It seems I’m outnumbered.” He took a quick glance to the right. “In that case...” The Patriarch swung the gun way off the to right and fired. A hiss emitted from a nearby machine and then… Then came the rhythmic, organic hum of the AS field firing back up. The Patriarch cringed as the AS field washed over him. And then... Then he ran. Ran toward the exit. Protection. He needed protection. He fired five more shots behind him. Where was Shade when he needed her?