Almost instinctively, Ben lifted Gregory by his backpack away from the reach of the wraith and bodily hefted him towards the far corner of the room, out of harms way. There would be time for courtesy and subtlety later. The wraith now turned its attention to him. Heart pounding and mind racing furiously, Ben slowly backed away. He'd faced wraiths previously, of course, but he had always been thoroughly prepared before venturing into the Inner Shell. Constantly vigilant, ever on guard. He'd never dreamed they would be able to mount an attack here, in the Consortium headquarters in broad daylight!

	The menace came closer, its sickly greenish hue evincing a primal revulsion in him. If only he had his lantern! But it, along with his other equipment was in some inconspicuous corner of the room, where he'd deposited it on entering. There too, was his hulking, back-mounted energy gun. That ill-understood Energy... it was, so far, the only thing they knew of (or that Isaacs and Hartwell had discovered) capable of disrupting these evil spirits. He reached over to a piece of laboratory equipment with a tell-tale blue glow radiating from various apertures. Tearing it from its frame, he hurled it straight through the abomination in front of him. A dangerous gambit, but perhaps one that would buy enough time to retrieve his lantern.