Ithi'Ka turns back to Kasumi, her silvery eyes flashing with annoyance.  Her expression softens somewhat when she meets the monk's eyes... clearly, it's not Kasumi that is the cause of her frustration.  "Recently, yes, but before you begin we have it cast again.  We do not want this to be known to those below."  Occasionally, the acoustics of the tunnels carry up a dry-throated croak, echoing from far down below, where the deep chambers teem with shambling corpses.<br/><br/>She shrugs toward the main building above the lab, where a pair of black-armored soldiers stand with halberds posted between their feet, the hook-tipped steel heads straightening in salute to Ithi'Ka.  She doesn't return the gesture, though her face tightens with annoyance at the formality.  She leads Kasumi to a pull-ring door, and beyond waits a large foyer, its peaked ceiling held aloft by talon-like vaultings that reach up over thirty feet, where long iron chains support pale blue crystals whose cold, fair light washes the room.  "The lab is directly below..." she gestures to one corner, "with the subchambers opening in that side, where all the activity is.  Stairways in the connecting rooms there, lead to the tunnels down, the main gate."  As if in reply, the rhytmic, booted footfals of trained soldiers moving in unison echoes from beyond the doors.<br/><br/>"What can I do to make this better for you?" she asks, her gray-skinned face turning toward the monk as she purses her dark mouth.