"Who's there?" Morgan exclaims as I clamp a hand over my mouth just a moment too late. Damn it, just my luck to be busted. Morgan's already starting to turn around and he's bound to at the very least catch a glimpse of me through the gap in the washroom door.

Fuck it. Let's try taking refuge in audacity. Morgan already knows someone is here, no point hiding my presence now. But he's got no proof I've been spying on him. I open the washroom door without preamble and walk in without missing a beat. Morgan eyes me cautiously as I head toward the sink and stand right in front of him.

"What is it?" Morgan frowns defensively as he hurriedly grabs at his shirt.

"You have a serious skin problem." I deadpan while prodding his torso with a finger, "Go see a healer."

My index finger scrapes against the shimmering patches that mar Morgan's smooth skin, confirming my suspicions. Morgan isn't suffering from a rash. Scales are growing under his skin. Before I can examine further, the man in front of me angrily slaps my hand away.

"Did you come here just to laugh at me?" Morgan demands, "That's funny, coming from someone who's blind."

"What makes you think I'm blind?" I purse my lips, deliberately tilting my head away to appease Morgan but using the third person view to focus on the scales growing all over his chest. The light plays off the scales, causing a brief rainbow flash across their surface.

"Its obvious. You're blindfolded." Morgan gives me an annoyed look, "Your eyes won't start working not matter how much you use magic to sense about."

"How did your skin get that way?" I ask, ignoring the jab. This is the first time I've seen a person start to spontaneously transform into a snake. Morgan's also completely mundane, he doesn't have a scrap of magic within his body. Meaning something or someone is causing the transformation.

The memory of the Avatar of Hackal towering over the ruins of Springvale pops into my mind for a second before I decisively shove it aside. Let's not jump to conclusions just yet.

"Leave me alone." Morgan sneers as he puts his shirt on, "Go take your own advise and see a healer about those eyes of yours."

"Don't need to." I shrug, "Can see just fine without my eyes. You have a much bigger problem though."

"Oh yeah?" Morgan challenges, his eyes narrowing.

"You're scratching yourself so hard that skin has broken." I reach out and force the man's arms aside, revealing Morgan's torso once more, "There's even light bleeding here and there."

"Its not your problem." Morgan mutters as he buttons up his shirt, "Why do you care anyway?"

"I don't." I clarify, "But you've got to admit, the sight of someone's skin peeling off has a way of getting attention. And it wouldn't hurt for you to get your condition looked at."

"Why, thank you for that recommendation. I would have never thought about it for myself." Morgan snarks, sarcasm dripping from his voice, "So noted."

"Just trying to help, friendo." I put both hands up in mock surrender.

"Anyone who works for the Dasars is no friend of mine." Morgan spits back, "Goodbye."

And with that the man barges past me, butting me hard with his shoulder. Morgan's face is stony, but his eyes are spinning, revealing the depth of the emotional turmoil he's drowning in.

Morgan wants to talk. I know it. He would have immediately clammed up otherwise and not spend time trading barbs with me. I just need to push him a bit further.

"Why does Richard pick on you?" I shoot, straight into Morgan's face. And the man stops dead in his tracks.

Bingo.

"How did you know about that?" Morgan asks in a quiet voice.

"Everyone knows about it." I explain patiently, "You're famous as Richard's whipping boy."

"Heh. I never saw it that way." Morgan chuckles bitterly as he rests his head against the wall, "I thought everyone in the militia was being given a hard time by the Dasars."

"You more than others." I point out, "Richard goes out of his way to single you out. But what I don't get is why you just, well, take it?"

"You mean why I don't fight back?" Morgan smiles nastily, "Just letting Richard Dasar push me around?"

"Yeah." I reply, "Richard even goes around saying that you wouldn't fight back."

"That's because I owe him." Morgan's expression becomes a mixture of sad and triumphant, "I took something from Richard Dasar that he will never be able get back."

"Do tell." I say calmly, barely restraining myself from leaning forward in interest.

"I took the love of his wife." Morgan grins at me with forced cheer.

"WHAT!" I blurt out before managing to belatedly hush myself. Morgan merely gives me a cocky smile that doesn't extend to his eyes.

"Richard's wife. You're talking about Sylvia." I swallow and get my composure back.

"The very same." Morgan shuts his eyes as he idly scratches his chin.

"But Sylvia's missing. No one knows where she is." I rebut as my mind starts filtering through Morgan's words, "And no offence, no woman would want to see you naked, the way you are."

"None taken." Morgan smiles, this time with some real cheerfulness, "I wasn't always scratching myself non-stop. These days I still get invitations to dance you know, as long as I keep my shirt on that is."

"Huh. So that's how it is." I muse, taking a closer look at the man. Got to admit, Morgan's good looking in a generic clean cut kind of way. A face with sharp, well defined features but managing to look gentle at the same time. His skin is also really smooth, like super smooth. Almost like he doesn't need to shave at all. As long as you don't see the scales growing on his skin, Morgan does pass as attractive.

"Richard said Sylvia disappeared though." I dig deeper, "Nowhere to be found."

"Sylvia isn't missing." Morgan bites his lip, "She just doesn't want the Dasars to find her."

"Guilt?" I probe, "Isn't that why you let Richard kick your ass about? Then you take your compensation behind his back, am I right?"

"Its not like that." Morgan laughs, but it comes out more like a sob, "There was compensation from Sylvia alright. I just wish I never received it."

"You don't mean -" I hint delicately.

"What do you think?" Morgan gestures vaguely at his chest, "My compensation."

"Damn. That's rough." I respond with sympathy, "So its some kind of disease?"

"Don't say that!" Morgan snaps angrily, "Sylvia wasn't dirty. This is ... this is ..."

Morgan's voice trails off as his eyes become empty. As the man struggles to find the words, an abrupt pain sears by ass. Its the mark of Hackal, throbbing as badly as on the day the Sage branded it on my skin. The pain digs deep and I almost feel the mark begin writhing on my ass, just like a real snake. The desire to tear my pants off and douse the mark in water just for some relief becomes overwhelming.

And then the pain just disappears as if it never existed at all.

"A blessing." Morgan groans out, tension escaping all at once, "That's what Sylvia told me. She had granted me a blessing."

"Pretty shitty blessing if you ask me." I remark.

Morgan's eyes turn sharp and he looks deeply at me, "Who are you really?"

"What do you mean?" I exclaim, taking a few steps backward from this sudden intensity confronting me.

"Sylvia ordered me to never tell anyone about the blessing." Morgan hugs himself tightly, his fingers stealthily scratching away, "And I never did. Not because I didn't want to. Whenever I tried to talk to anyone, my mind would just ... blank out."

"I see." I keep my face carefully neutral. The mark of Hackal had been going crazy just now. Whatever spell Sylvia put Morgan under, the smart money is that its connected with the dark god somehow.

"You see? Is that all you're going to say?" Morgan demands heatedly.

"Well ..." I begin before he interrupts.

"I'm scared. I don't know what's happening to me." Morgan punches the wall in desperation, "My body's changing and I can't do anything about it. Can't even look for help."

"There, there." I pat Morgan on the shoulder reassuringly, but my hand encounters an unexpected hardness. Its the scales, they've spread all the way up Morgan's shoulder blade.

"No wonder you got so pissed off when I suggested you go see a healer." I comment.

"You have no idea." Morgan calms down as he accepts my comforting, "It was really annoying."

"Go see Sylvia." I suggest, "She did this to you, she should be able to reverse it."

"I can't find her, not anymore." Morgan sobs, "Sylvia told me that if I wanted to meet up, to go into the mine and she would find me there."

"So she's been hiding in the mine all along." I hum, wondering if it would really be so easy, "Makes sense, the mine has been shut down by the Dasars, making it a good secret rendezvous spot."

"No, Sylvia isn't hiding in the mine." Morgan shakes his head, "That's the whole reason why I can't find her."

"She could just be avoiding you." I shrug, "There would be plenty of places to hide in a mining complex."

"You don't understand." Morgan insists, "There was a cave in, that's the reason why the mine was shut down."

"The entire complex was destroyed."

....

Unknown: challenge.exe

C:\SAGE

SAGE:\RUN PYTHON.EXE

SAGE:\RUN EMU.DLL

challenge: ey0d82u8eudhi9u34

Awaiting response

SAGE:\Firewall = 1

Emu perform hookup - generating response

response: 10930di0d01si03d

challenge passed!

opening file ...