With the time to act limited, Reggie, with the help of Hyacinth, Tegan, and Nel, quickly got a plan together to hopefully stop the next test of the machine in the lab. Simple seemed to be easiest for everyone. The idea was to go into the Marlino Corporation building once again but instead of going to the lab, gaining access to the HVAC system. Since Tegan had already done some investigating when she was getting access cards for them, she knew what floor they would need to access. However, she had never actually been to that floor so was unsure of security measures that may be in place. This worried Reggie a little since it was possible it could require a different kind of access card.

"I know we have limited time before we need to act, but what should we do if we need an access card?" Tegan and Hyacinth looked at each other briefly before Tegan turned back to Reggie.

"As far as I can tell from my investigation, the only place with that kind of security is the lab. It is likely just a key." Tegan seemed pretty sure of herself on the matter which calmed Reggie some. "I will have no problem getting us inside." Hyacinth nodded in agreement as Tegan spoke.

"Ok, since we don't have a lot of time to prepare, I guess I will trust you?"

"Why did you phrase that as a question, Sunshine? Do you have no faith in my abilities? After getting you those access cards..." Tegan trailed off seemingly insulted but since she had a small smirk on her face, Reggie didn't take it too seriously. Reggie then went deep into thought about the plan and mentally checked off items to make sure they weren't forgetting anything. Since it was such a simple plan, he felt he might be missing something but nothing came to mind so he decided to move on.

"Everyone make sure you have what you need today. Tomorrow morning we will be putting our plan into action. Any other questions or anything?" Reggie looked at each of them one at a time. All three were shaking their heads, ending the meeting. Then they individually went to prepare what they needed.

***

The next morning, everyone seemed ready. Reggie was a bit nervous but considering what they were doing, it was to be expected. To help Tegan blend in, Reggie took her to the same store he took Hyacinth and Nel to buy clothes. Same as Hyacinth, she was very uncomfortable in them. Hyacinth provided some words of encouragement and a supportive thumbs up.

"You will get used to them. They are strange but they do look good on you." Tegan seemed happier with them once she was complimented by Hyacinth. Reggie agreed, as well. He was nodding along a little harder than was really necessary.

While Tegan's clothing was very similar to what Hyacinth wore, she gave off a much different vibe. Hyacinth was shorter, giving the impression of a young intern or new employee. There was a sort of sweetness to her that Reggie found enjoyable. By comparison, Tegan had a much more mature beauty which Reggie attributed to her elven heritage. If Hyacinth was the girl next door, Tegan was the overly attractive teacher all the students loved but were intimidated by. He had a hard time not looking at her. How is she so different with just a change of clothes? She went from attractive to 'OMG, I can't stop staring' in just moments. Can clothes really do that? Is this some sort of magic? Crap, she is putting on glasses. Is she trying to melt my brain? It's bad enough that Hyacinth can barely keep her chest contained in that blouse. Stop staring. STOP STARING!

Reggie's internal struggle continued for some time as Tegan added a nice pair of glasses that complimented her face. If she tilted her head down, and stared at him over the top of the glasses, Reggie was pretty sure he would pass out. Just looking at Hyacinth had a similar effect, despite being an entirely different type of beauty. The first time they went into the office to gather intel, Hyacinth had leaned over the desk next to Reggie for reasons even to this day he couldn't understand. The view down her blouse itself wasn't more revealing than any other woman in an office but since they were huge and basically right in his face, Reggie's brain entirely stopped. Once his brain rebooted and he realized he was staring, his face turned bright red and he quickly turned away. Hyacinth didn't say anything but Reggie knew she had noticed. He was pretty sure he was mid sentence when it happened and the pause was much longer than one would need when caught off guard. Reggie silently thanked the universe that Tegan didn't have as big a chest as Hyacinth. He wasn't sure his rapidly beating heart could take it.

"Move your ass, Sunshine." The image was shattered when Tegan yelled at Reggie in her usual brusk manner. He knew he could count on Tegan to ruin a moment. Reggie shook his head to focus on the task at hand and followed her into the building. As usual, they were able to go straight to the elevators without any issue.

Knowing what they had come there to do, Reggie was already sweating despite the weather being extremely pleasant. After they got in the elevator and Reggie pushed the button for the appropriate floor, he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. The elevator didn't take long to reach the requested floor, but Reggie felt a little better when the door opened into an unfamiliar hallway. The group left the elevator and started looking for the right door. They were all labeled clearly and it wasn't more than a minute before they came to one labeled 'Facilities - HVAC Access' in bold print on a placard that was mounted on the wall next to the door.

As expected, a simple key was needed to enter. Knowing how lazy the employees seemed to be about security in the building, Reggie tried turning the doorknob. In this case, it seemed the facilities employees were more responsible as the door was indeed locked. "Tegan, you're up." Reggie stepped aside so that she could take his place. The hallway was still empty which Reggie was glad for, but thinking about it he thought it normal since people likely only came down here periodically for supplies or maintenance.

Tegan wrapped both of her hands around the doorknob and closed her eyes. A split second later, Reggie heard a clicking sound and Tegan turned the knob. She opened the door wide and dramatically gestured them inside as though she were a model on a game show with a huge grin on her face. Reggie ignored her and was the last one in before Tegan closed the door behind them.

The room wasn't very large and looked how Reggie expected a room for HVAC to look. It's not that the room itself wasn't big, but most of the space was occupied by ventilation shafts and other equipment related to heating and cooling the building. The space was limited but not so much that it felt cramped. There was enough room for them to get around each other, though barely. Nel wasted no time and placed a piece of what looked to Reggie like paper with a strange design on it on the floor closest to the main vent in the room. He then took out a small jar of pastel blue powder and sprinkled it on the paper. He began chanting to himself as he continued sprinkling the powder.

Nel put the jar away and Hyacinth, who had been standing next to him, joined him in his chant. Reggie couldn't understand what they were saying and was pretty sure it was not a language he had ever heard before. Still chanting, Hyacinth brought out a tiny knife and pricked her finger. Nel did the same and then they both knelt over the paper to each drip a few drops of blood onto it. Before standing up, Nel placed a small clear crystal on the paper and Hyacinth pulled out some sort of eye dropper type bottle and dripped a couple drops of the liquid onto the crystal. The moment the liquid touched the crystal, a sizzling sound could be heard. Nel and Hyacinth stood and took a step back. The sizzling grew a little louder until the entire paper and everything on it caught fire, creating smoke that went straight into the vent above the paper.

Reggie continued watching in awe during the entire sequence but when he saw the smoke he couldn't help but ask a question. "Isn't the smoke going to be obvious as it comes out of the vents?"

"It will dissipate in the shafts as it spreads and has no odor or taste. I find it highly unlikely anyone will be able to see it." Reggie nodded at the satisfying answer from Nel. "It should spread up and down from this location for several floors. The lab is only a floor away so that will definitely be hit. I am unsure exactly how many floors above us it will spread but it gets less effective as it spreads so probably only the first couple floors above ground level. Three at the most."

Reggie nodded again as the smoke continued to pour into the vent. The paper continued to burn despite being roughly the size of a notecard. It took several minutes longer than Reggie had expected for the flames to disappear. Surprisingly, the floor where it had once been burned was still as clean as before. There was no trace of any fire having happened there.

"Ok, it's time to leave." Nel seemed in a rush to escape, which Reggie agreed with but wondered what Nel was worried about. Regardless, he followed right behind, along with Tegan and Hyacinth. Once they were in the elevator, Nel handed out small vials of a golden liquid that reminded Reggie of apple juice. "Drink these quickly. They will keep us safe from the effects of the spell." It may have looked like apple juice but tasted so incredibly disgusting that Reggie nearly threw it right back up. He looked around to see that the others were having a hard time keeping it down, as well.

Once the elevator door opened in the lobby, everyone left the elevator at a pace that was quick enough for the situation but not so fast to be suspicious. There weren't a lot of others in the lobby, but no one seemed to be getting sick. Reggie never asked how long the spell took to kick in. A minute after leaving the elevator, Nel, Reggie, Hyacinth, and Tegan were back outside and slowed their pace some as they walked home.

"I didn't see anyone getting sick yet. How long does it take?" Now that they were on the way home, Reggie was much more relaxed and talkative.

"Umm, an hour, maybe. I don't know. I have never done it before. You know, Nel?"

"I don't think there is an exact timeframe since it depends on how it will disperse, but I do know the effects aren't immediate. It may have started by the time we get back to Reggie's home, or it may take longer. There is no easy way to know since I have not studied this spell in much detail." Reggie was surprised at first to hear Hyacinth say she had no clue but after Nel chimed in, he thought about it more and realized he was right. It was a big building and they had no idea how many feet of ventilation shafts the smoke would need to go through to reach each floor. They would just have to wait and see. Hopefully, there would be info on the news when they returned home but Reggie figured it may take much longer than that for results. It turned out, there was indeed something on the news when they returned but it wasn't what they expected.

***

"Reports have been coming in about some sort of illness spreading through a downtown Marlino Corporation office building. There is no estimate as to how many people have been affected but early information says they have found people with varying levels of symptoms as high as the twelfth floor."

Reggie was standing in stunned silence with his mouth dropped open as he stared at the news anchor on the TV. They had turned it on when they got home not expecting much to have happened yet and were shocked by what they saw.

"Authorities are worried this may have been some sort of biological attack but say it's too early in the investigation to say for sure. They do know it seems to be contained to the one office building and that it has varying effects on those that were exposed. Some have only shown minor symptoms such as vomiting, but in the majority of those affected it is said to be worse. Another 25 have been confirmed to be rushed to the hospital due to the severity of their symptoms, however none have died and officials say it is unlikely even with the most severe cases."

The news anchor continued on with the report but Reggie had lost his focus and could no longer hear it. His eyes suddenly opened wide and he turned to Nel to point an accusatory finger. "You said it would be at most three floors! This is insane! A BIOLOGICAL ATTACK!?" Reggie continued yelling at Nel though his words were getting harder to understand. Hyacinth waited for him to become quiet again then led him to the couch and had him sit down. She handed Reggie a cup of tea and forced him to take a sip.

"We are all at fault here, Reggie, but at least no one has died." At the word 'died' Reggie's expression changed again to one of sadness as he placed the tea down and slumped back on the back of the couch. "Please, relax and drink your tea. It will help you calm down."

Reggie sat up enough to grab his cup again and take another sip. By the time he had sipped a large portion of the tea, his face had already softened immensely. Nel turned off the TV in the hopes of keeping him calm and once it was off there was even more improvement in how Reggie looked. He finished his tea and took a few deep breaths. "I am sorry for yelling at you, Nel. Hyacinth is right, we are all to blame. We were all involved in some way."

"Think nothing of it. In all honesty, I have gotten much worse. You didn't even use any curse words or shoot spells at me." Nel's response to Reggie's apology made everyone direct strange looks at Nel. The same expression on all their faces which seemed to say 'what did you do? That's not normal' but Nel just shrugged. The change in the atmosphere was welcome. Reggie, Hyacinth, and Tegan continued to stare at Nel for a few more seconds before they all just started laughing. More of a giggle at first but it turned into something more hearty and eventually even Nel laughed a little, though in a much more distinguished manner. Tegan actually fell off the armrest she was sitting on due to laughing so hard, which only made the others laugh more. All the tension that was in the room moments earlier had dissolved in an instant.