Lana woke up with her ears ringing with the sound of a gavel slamming down -- final and still ominous even when one was accustomed to winning. Was she late to work? Except the ceiling coming into focus wasn't the familiar one of her bedroom, or the, sadly, more familiar one of the office over her own personal couch. Instead, it was institutional tile, and with the identification came the rest of her memory waking up.

Well, that and Martin Landel on the intercom. She got up, brushed her hair, and took her time heading down the main hall. They'd gotten exactly nowhere last night, even with the new radios, and the only thing she had to show for it was not being dead. She paused long enough to post a note, and then let them usher her into the library.

Ryuuzaki wasn't there, nor were either or the others -- but Zero was standing in the middle of the room, staring at nothing. She'd seen that stare on dozens of faces -- something was very wrong, although she'd have to get him talking to find out what. "Zero? What's wrong?"