“Very well,” he turned and gave a nod of his head towards Ken who turned and headed for the door, but not before giving a smile and a small wave to Elisabeth. As he disappeared out into the hall, Charlie looked towards Sara. “You’ll be conducting the briefings tonight. I fear I have a terrible amount of paperwork to attend to now.”  He gave a pleasant smile to Elisabeth. “I do hope you’ll give Sara your utmost attention. What you learn here will keep you safe and will keep Crisis from having to face such a deadline anywhere in the new future. I’d take notes, if I were you.”<br/><br/>And that was it. Without so much as another look, he was gone from the room and Sara was opening the door and beckoning Elisabeth out into the hall. Holding the door for her, she led her down to the left. The hallways, no more ornate that the militaristic room she’d been in, seemed an endless corridor full of doors to each side, some with small windows and others just slabs of old metal. In the shabby light from the dull fluorescents, Sara didn’t look intimidating at all like she had with the flicker of fire. In fact, the color looked a little ill on her skin and made her hair appear far too yellow.<br/><br/>“This might take a bit,” she warned the woman without looking at her. “We have a good deal of information to cover in a short amount of time, so try to take it all in but, for the love of the gods, do not be afraid to ask questions. Really. I’d hate to see this go south so soon.” She turned another left, leading down an equally drab hallway. “Whatever you do, above all, please no sudden movements or loud noises. Screams, coughs, sneezes- all that. We’ll all be in there with you for now, so it won’t be so bad but still. You can’t keep the damned thing chained down or we would, be sure of that. Chains just drive him crazy. Also, we’ll make sure the positioning is nice and open so he doesn’t feel closed in. Never corner him or crowd him,” she added, gaze turning to her. “That usually ends up pretty badly.”<br/>Finally, the clacking of her heels ceased as she stopped at the end of the hall, pulling open another bland door and motioning Elisabeth inside with one wave of her hand.  A large open room, it held a single dark wood conference table in the center with seven black chair sitting around it. Other than that, however, it was also completely bland making it quite obvious that aesthetics weren’t something any of them were concerned with.  She clacked in and shut the door. “Please take a seat. They’re surprisingly comfortable.”  She walked to the far end of the room and pulled open a small metal door on the wall, closing it and returning with a black pen and a pad of paper.  Setting it down, Sara walked to the end of the table and took her seat.<br/><br/>“Alright, now, class has begun,” she mused with one of her more pleasant smiles.<br/><br/>What came next was a veritable onslaught of information. The blond had almost begun talking, no stop, over the next forty-five minutes covering nothing but rules and ‘should nots’ that Elisabeth should be aware of. Just for this one meeting. The list, should Elisabeth have been keeping track, looked a lot like this:<br/><br/><blockquote class="uncited"><div>No<br/>-perfume*<br/>-unnatural scented body washes or care products* <br/>-previous contact with domestic or wild animals*<br/>-electronic devices capable of making sound. Even if disabled, no devices with speakers are allowed at this time.<br/>-shoes that clack or squeak. Others will be provided. <br/>-food or drink allowed <br/><br/>Should you feel<br/>-the urge to scream<br/>-the need to sneeze<br/>-a raise in heart beat<br/>-extreme nervousness<br/>Please alert one of us in the room, and you will be escorted out<br/><br/>It is highly suggested that you don’t<br/>-laugh loudly<br/>-smile exuberantly<br/>-make sudden movements<br/>-be over animated, including excessive talking with hand gestures<br/>-jump at movements<br/>-correct him<br/>-interrupt<br/>-stare for too long<br/>-attempt to approach him.<br/><br/>You should<br/>-show him respect<br/>-avoid holding his gaze<br/>-ask simple questions when provided the chance.<br/>-agree with him **<br/>-stand still if he approaches<br/>-let us know if you are feeling uncomfortable<br/>-inform us if you have any wounds. <span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic">Immediately</span></span>. <br/><br/><br/>*(If this has occurred, you will be required to take a shower and provided with a new set of clothing)<br/>**(at least for today)</div></blockquote><br/><br/>All of the rules, but none of the real information. Exactly why she should do this and how come she was required to adhere to strict rules was left out. Well, mostly, except for the wrap up statement of, “And everything else you need to know will be provided to you from the horse’s mouth. Part of Crisis’ job, you see, is to actually help you work with him. Doesn’t always work, and I think it is a load of rubbish, but procedure is procedure. You’ll learn that around here.” She slowly stood from her seat, looking relieved that is over. “Now, we should be a little above schedule. Give you time to prep and let us know anything before the first encounter. I swear it isn’t always like this,” she said with a little wave of her hand, “but he’s been taking this rather poorly lately and we’ve had to bump up our security around him. I suppose facing nearly certain death will do that to even tame folks, though.”<br/><br/>She walked around the table towards Elisabeth. "The real important thing is just to remain calm and, if you feel you cannot do this, let one of us know so we can get you out of there. From his end, he is pretty self monitoring, but we all know him enough to see when he is going down hill. Hopefully, we will have him as docile as a doe and you'll be able to have a nice little chat."   She motioned towards the door. "When you're ready then."