Chelsea had basically was still thinking while leaning on a wall. She couldn’t really make sense of anything really, which why Hattori Akechi said her mother’s name. However, her mother kept everything to herself even more so than she could. It took her a bit to notice someone barreling towards her, which was Ms. Bykov. She went ghost white for a bit, which was definitely not a good thing because of the fact Ms. Bykov looked very peeved off at her specifically. ”...Uhh, God damn it… What does Miss Bykov want with me?” Chelsea thought to herself with a definite rising fear in her body language. She was basically shaking nervously at the scary always angry Russian Grizzly Bear.
In terms of what Kaz had said towards Chelsea felt like her life flashed before her own eyes. She looked directly down in shame for what she had caused in terms of Naomi’s death. If she was there, she would be able to save her but didn’t. ”I-I’m going… to stay s-sober K-Kaz… p-please don’t hurt me. I-I will keep that in mind.” Chelsea said, jittery, nervous and deathly afraid. It was harsh for what Kaz had said, but it made her start crying because it she always felt awful for what she did. Her eyes went definitely dimmer, after she stopped her crying and wiped her tears. However, it made her realize that Kaz was no longer talking to her since she probably went to the armory, which probably meant that Kaz and Takai was going on a mission. It was definitely terrifying for her since she still doesn’t quite understand what is going on with Kaz.
Chelsea remembered that Takashi will be hosting a tea party, in the Emperor’s Garden. However, it requires her to wear something formal and not her casual dress she enjoys wearing. She walked quickly towards her dorm room, which she needed to get ready for the High Tea party. It took her a bit to pick out the kimono, which she did buy with her allowance. The Kimono she picked out was what she bought with her own allowance. It was only to her liking because it having flowers on it, which was a very beautiful color. She had her scar, which is on her left arm, which was definitely showing because of it.
In terms, certain things she didn’t really want to know the punishment of being late. Therefore, she didn’t take that long to get to the Emperor’s Garden as quickly as possible. It felt a bit hard to run in a kimono, which she was wearing. She basically arrived, when everyone was basically introducing themselves but before the 2pm start time. She noticed a young kid starring at her, which introduced himself as Ashton Andrews-Hyuga. It caused her to be embarrassed slightly at it, since she never really had anyone stare at her for any other intention than using her alike Guarri Nobunaga does. She looked down at the whole thing, which Takashi welcomed them. ”T-That would be a nice… Takashi-senpai.” Chelsea responded to Takashi in Japanese, however. She was a bit nervous at the whole thing. It took her a bit to walk over to the table for High Tea, which the host was Takashi. It took her a bit until she recognized a very familiar voice, which was Daiyu Li’s voice. She always had a pleasure in listening to Daiyu Li. However, she never really talked to her before.
Chelsea looked towards the young man in the High Tea party, which is Ashton. She tried to smile to him but couldn’t keep it up for long since she was definitely depressive. ”...N-Nice to meet you, Ashton. My name is Chelsea Riley O’Connell.” Chelsea said, in Japanese with a slightly a bit more nervous only because she was a bit embarrassed. She did enjoy like eating apple pie, which was something of a childhood favorite. ”...I-I do hope I can handle… this… I am so hopeless...” Chelsea thought to herself, with tearing up a bit, and her eyes going slightly dim. It is good to learn about the culture of Japan since she hasn’t really learned that but she does know their dialects very well. Kinda hard to learn something when you are an American like her, which is an heiress.
Just as Takai finished strapping the finishing touches of his uniform onto his body, he took the moment to sit back down and think over the mission at hand. Whilst he'd been near Kaz, she'd claimed to join him on the mission. As long as she behaved, at least in his mind, nothing would go wrong. Whilst the importance of the mission seemed rather lacklustre to those newly acquainted with the NSF, Takai was fully prepared to treat the situation as yet another life or death situation. An old friend's identity was a stake, giving way to the necessary actions of taking her into custody if she was but a gram's worth guilty. Takai hoped dearly that she was innocent. Routine checkups on ex-members had been common throughout the year, but Iwata was a different member. She'd left for reasons unlike the others: mental instability. Takai simply hoped that no one had preyed upon her vulnerable state. Knowing Kaz was coming with him made him slightly nervous. After all, she had no moral stake in the situation. Perhaps that could've been a positive to the investigation, but whether or not she was really going to participate in the physical search was another story. At the very least, backup was always well appreciated in times of crisis. One could never be too careful. Whilst pondering the possibilities of the upcoming encounter, Takai leaned into the armoury cabinet brandishing his name. Inside, his personal firearms were waiting. Specifically, the ammunition was elsewhere in the facility, prepared for pickup. At least it was a precaution that Takai himself could get behind. Whilst he didn't see himself as a crazed gunman hoping to take control of the NSF via violent means on the interior, he knew it was another case of heightening security where possible. Whilst he felt inclined to only take his sidearm, he knew at least keeping the submachine-gun was a precaution he wanted to take himself.
Eventually, he found himself fully kitted up, mounting the final icing to the cake. With several miniature drills built into the device itself, hooking onto the metallic frames augmented in his frontal lobe, Takai finally equipped the PHUD. The metallic brace fitted under his jaw and quickly loosened, giving him freedom to speak and gape his mouth open if need be. A few seconds were assigned to adjust its grasp, the stable headpiece finally lodged into place, freeing his body to move around once more. It was currently folded upon his forehead, acting as a minor armour plating from the smallest of arms fire, whereas if it were deployed such secondary protection would be transferred to the eyes and face in its partiality.
Moving towards the exit, he eventually found himself rendezvousing with their vehicle. Kaz had already asked to drive. There was no real need to argue over who got to take the wheel, seeing as it was just petty in comparison to their given task. Meeting up with her, Takai nodded silently before muttering to himself, collecting his magazines and bonus utensils in order to properly grasp his control over their objective. With Kaz nearby, there was never a true sense of safety. Yes, she was indeed a bear when it came to the field of combat, but her conversationalist tendencies seemed rather intrusive from previous discussions. A short fuse, at the least, patience was not a virtue to take note of. Though, Takai could be extremely wrong, only having a few bad experiences around her to truly judge her personality as he'd seen it so far. She wasn't exactly bad company, and there were definitely worse looking individuals to have at his side. Off duty, perhaps it would've actually been exciting to go for a drive with Kaz. Until that possibility, they had a rather tremendous job to do. With the coming raid only days around the corner, every advantage that the NSF could get over their adversaries was not recommended, it was essential.
Eventually, their vehicle was ready. The NSF-Standard Armoured Patrol Vehicle, or the APV, was labelled only as a non-police or NSF vehicle. No links to its licence or anything went back to the organisation itself, having fake aliases created for the plating on both the front and rear of the vehicle. Whilst it wasn't the most inconspicuous of vehicles, or covert, it was at least useful in what it needed. Minor the detailed armour differences, the vehicle itself was not much different visually from that of a normal 4x4. Surprisingly, the vehicle itself was fitting for the likes of Kaz. Both were intense in their mechanisms' roars. Easily, both could provide a serious punch if driven far enough. Takai waited for Kaz to brace herself for heading out, before he finally opened up with conversation.
"Alright then, Kaz, remember to park off on the other side of the street. We're heading off to the edge of the Southern Exclusion zone, Estate 19. I don't know if you're coming inside with me, but if you don't just keep your eyes and weapons ready just in case. I've got a head-piece camera set up, should be linked to the monitor in the vehicle's dashboard if you want to watch the progress, and in case something goes horrifically wrong." Realising how mood-breaking his latter statement was, he quickly smiled for once, trying his hardest to give some form of immediate contradiction to their woes. "Not that it will go wrong. Keep some restraints ready as well, just in case Iwata makes a run for it."
In reality, Takai begged to the unknown deities above that there was no need for her to run, or indeed any reason for her to hide. With a stroke of luck, she'd be out and about, according to the observation teams last known report, giving them a window of opportunity to conduct their investigation before she even had to ability to interject. Iwata's fate was in their credibility, as well as in their judgement. In the ideal situation, Takai's nostalgia wouldn't cloud any immediate last time.
Shit there it went, Margo just had to open up his big fat mouth. Maybe this approach was all a Mistake. The look of puzzlement on the guy's face didn't help his feelings either. Christ christ christ. He bit his lip as the guy cocked a brow and acknowledged him. Margo wasn't sure how exactly his face was supposed to look but he could only imagine he looked like a scared squirrel or something as the man responded, he seemed somewhat amused at first so that's good right? "Margo, huh?" Margo sat up even straighter if that was even possible he scratched the back of his head nervously as he nodded, yep that's him. "Please don't call me G.I. Joe. We're not soldiers after all..." Joke didn't land. Abort mission! Abort mission! Fight or flight were the only two things that were flashing in Margo's head as he cringed out how badly this interaction was panning out. He sputtered a moment thinking of how exactly to respond before the final blow came in "Take care of you?". Oh sweet kami, He didn't think it was cute at all. No no, no don't take it seriously. He squeaked deep in his throat as he swore he could feel a hole opening up under him to swallow him. God if only he could just slither away from here back to his bedroom like a snake. But wait! there's more! gets even better as a ginormous, Foreign WOMAN sat beside the man. Margo was already writing his eulogy to the stray cats he made friends with to read at his funeral as he shuddered at her gaze.' That woman totally thinks I'm an inferior rat too her,' he thought to feel depressed as he piped in as well "Perhaps if you need to ask someone to take care of you, you should find another line of work.". The final nail in the coffin.
Margo slumped in his seat as heard Takai give...some sort of empathetic encouragement "Kaz, please. I get what you're trying to say, but sometimes we do need a little pick-me-up." Margo smiled at that, ah there ya go- "I'm not going to babysit you if that's what you are asking for. I'm an Operator, I'll point you in the right directions here and there, but it's not in my job description to make sure you get everything right. I suggest you learn that skill yourself or you might find yourself in a bit of a tough spot within the next few days." SIgh. Was it a crime to wanna be cute and flirty? Margo wanted to make a great come back. Hell, he was so witty and funny and mean to his customers back at the gala...Why was he sitting here like a scolded puppy in front of two lions? Before he could even muster up the courage Takai muttered something about blah blah blah importance of something something something and took his leave. Margo turned to talk to the Jolly Green Giant but she got up too and clapped her Man hand on his shoulder "I apologize. You will do fine.. Margo stuck his tongue out at the woman. Prudes, all of them prudes. They all looked down at him and underestimated him... as expected. Margo sat up and stood. people were leaving the mess hall left and right. Fuck. This really didn't go well. Margo covered his face with his hand. ""Its okay man, you got this, so what, your show fell slat, but like mama always said, just give em an encore" He forced back a confident smile as he jogged in place. he's got this! He will prove his worth! He has more motive being here in his pinky than the entire body of a ton of those people.
Margo slowly trudged his way back to the Dorms, the feeling of rejection still fresh in his chest he traced his hand along the wall. Pondering on what exactly he should do to make some sort of positive connection with at least [1]Someone[/1]. With a small sigh, he took down his hair and rushed to his room. Maybe some sit-ups and squats will make him feel tough or something. However, before he could reach his door he saw the message board on the main hall. he stared a moment as he read carefully. Maybe there was some sort of training workshop or something... He huffed as he rose an eyebrow. "A tea party?!" Margo had never been to a Tea party before...wait why the hell is there a tea party at the NSF base..shouldn't everyone be like...having dramatic training montages or something? Margo checked the time and squeaked. Well if he's gonna go he's gotta do it soon. The boy rushed into his dorm and typed away in his laptop what to wear at tea party All of the results were traditional yukatas and kimonos or the western alternative was filly dresses and dress shirts. He bit his lip as he looked through his closet. A lot of these would get him dress coded that is if there was one. Margo hissed as he tossed his clothes around only to find something somewhat resembling a kimono, a thin silk black long robe that ties around the body into a dress. He smiled as he held it against himself in the mirror."okay, hottie knock em dead" He kissed the mirror and began to change, throwing his hair up in a bun with some combs in an attempt to look somewhat fancy and classy. Hell, this street rat has classy as his middle name. With a bit of lipgloss and a couple more coats of Mascara he left his dorm and headed out to this supposed party. This could be a good chance for him.
He blindly wandered a bit before stumbling upon the garden, bingo. Margo hesitantly made his way over to the group, taking in the obstacles of the day, fuck...most of them were foreigners, how the hell will he impress Ken dolls with his magazine and early 200's textbook English? At there was SOME Asian people there....in goddamn Tokyo. There was the Large man, Takashi he was a respected specialist, someone who you ought to respect..however that was all he recognized. Margo slowly made his way closer to the crowd as the 'party' began,"Welcome, minna-san. Shall we begin High Tea? Today's selection comes from the fresh bounty of the season. We have roasted green tea, chestnuts and pralines along with a selection of cookies I am sure you will enjoy long with traditional tea biscuits. As for pies, we have strawberry and rhubarb, sweet potato and carrot and of course, apple and pecan pie. Take off your coats, have a seat and we shall begin." He slowly approached the table, unsure whether to engage just yet as he was mesmerized by the teas and sweets that were spread among the table. Wow. so fancy. All the parties he ever went to were in hot crowded clubs, where men and women alike would crowd and grind together as booming music played. This however...was way different. He smiled as he took a look at the cutely decorated cookies and treats, hesitating if he really should reach out and grab for one. He must look ridiculous everyone was dressed so nice. Fuck! everyone was dressed so nice! he looked like he was heading to a club. sure his dress hit his knee but maybe the blue eyeshadow was a bit much... damn. his attention was drawn to a robotic woman...dressed in a beautiful kimono. man he wished he looked like that... god hed kill for a pair like hers too. he snickered to himself at the thought as he listening in "Good afternoon and thank you for the invitation Skygge-san.' ooh that woman was smooth. margo sniffed a scent that made him nostalgic as he looked around hurriedly, where did it come from, he spotted a huge foreign man with a cigarette. mmm, the smell of smoke was so pleasant. He slowly made his way over to the man, unsure if he should sit, he made the pitch of his voice a bit feminine as to not shock the man too bad as he mustered up the best English he could "Wow super cool smoke, guy" he said in a very broken but confident cadence. He smiled proudly man! that English was so good! hell, he sounded like a natural! @MK2@Smike@GrizzTheMauler
Seohyung arrived with minutes to spare. A few people were already there. He’s had tea with two of them before. The sword woman whose name escapes him and Skygge, in his Yamato Autumn Collection suit. He knew O’Connell from regular missions. The others were new to him, the blond man smoking in the back of the garden, the feminine boy in a dress, and the small boy that excitedly introduced himself. Seohyung followed the kid’s greeting, until he said an English name then a Japanese name. He wasn’t well versed in English passed Hello, Goodbye, and My name is. English wasn’t a class he remembered much from middle school and only learned enough to pass the tests. He vaguely remembers given names are first, then the last second, but the boy spoke Japanese, so he didn’t see the point in greeting him like he couldn’t. He must not have been raised here or he wouldn’t have to think too hard about how to greet him and his manners were shit.
“Hajimemashite, Hyuga-san. Kamenashi Seohyung desu.” He bowed forty-five degrees, then straightened up. His chest tightened up, his breaths slightly shallow, and his palms were sweaty. He needed to move, before Hyuga got the idea to say something about his name, so he went to stand by his seat.
Skygge sat at the head of the table, brush in hand, writing something in kanji. It was a poem, but he didn’t recognize it. Can’t say he knew much poetry to being with. Seohyung kept his focus on important things: training, missions, and fashion. Anything else escaped him. Once Skygge was done he greeted them and allowed them to sit. Seohyung sat in a chair to Skygge’s right. He didn’t like being this close to him. Skygge has gotten on him about his training and mission conduct on plenty of occasions. Seohyung wouldn’t say he hates him, but their interactions are unpleasant to say the least and being this close makes him anxious after the stunt he pulled today. But he didn’t want to move, it’s the seat he always sat in to get a close enough look at Skygge’s High Tea suits. There’s a lot he could say about his superior officer, and impeccable fashion taste was one of them. The Yamato Collection wasn’t his favorite by Fukuto Shiruku, but it was no less beautiful than what she usually produced. Though his wages are decent, he still doesn’t make enough to hope to buy one of her outfits.
Out of the corner of his eye he caught the new foreigner approaching and frowned when he put out his cigarette on his shoe. He could only guess he was American. Shit manners seem to be common among them. He ignored the foreigner’s attempt at a friendly smile and poured himself some green tea instead and put a biscuit on his plate. The sweets didn’t appeal to him. Sweet things made his teeth hurt.
Seohyung kept to himself and listened in on everyone else’s conversations. The feminine boy in a dress's English was atrocious. He couldn't understand much other than super, cool, and guy but nothing added up. This was already a trainwreck.
Between sips of tea and bites of his biscuit he kept his eyes on Skygge’s suit. The golden embroidery stuck out the most against the black fabric, but that wasn’t the best part. It was the subtle black design that went unnoticed unless you looked closely. A hallmark of Fukuto’s works. Less was more and nothing said that better than subtlety. What he wouldn’t give to feel the soft fabric on his finger tips and trace the design from sleeve to chest and all the way down.
It didn't help that Skygge's suit was tailored to fit. Broad shoulders accentuated, waist narrow and snug in the waist coat. He caught a glance at his thighs in those pants when he first walked into the garden. It was almost too bad he couldn't get a look while he sat. His face flushed, but he didn't stop his gaze. Did Skygge have the blue one? It was his favorite in the collection. The blue tie with silver embroidery was a nice piece on its own. Maybe he could buy it separate, even though he wasn’t a fan of ties, one from Fukuto would be worth it. He'll have Usagaya look it up later.
Ashton seemed to be on a roll. Not only did he get apple pie and sweet tea out of this deal, but he had the attention of Daiyu and everyone else. Now to find a way to leverage that into information, friendships, and good impressions in general. And yes, he liked the attention - He had to admit that.
Carefully eating his apple and sweet tea, he observed the etiquette, waiting for the others to talk first… Only for the fast pace and wide variety of individual conversations to catch him off-guard - So many people were talking about so many things! Chelsea did greet him, though, and Ashton courteously replied, this time in English, “Happy to meet you for the first time, Ms. Chelsea. I’m glad that this group can meet in such… Serene surroundings.”
That was true enough. Now to be a mischievous boy and discreetly ogle Seo despite his injuries, as his listening skills were not good enough to allow him to parse what people were talking about. Also, to gush at Takashi’s fashion sense - He wasn’t a fashion enthusiast, but he liked beautiful things, clothing included.
He breathed in and out as he looked for a chance to socialize, but found himself gravitating towards Chris despite his best efforts to get interested in someone else. And so the first words he blurted out were, “So, Chris Bell, was it? Happy to meet you, my name is Ashton Andrews-Hyuga, Japanese-American Cyber-security specialist - I’m good with computers and drones.” A slight smirk, this time directed at most everyone else, “I even hacked this place once in my attempt to get hired - I thought that if I demonstrated the flaws in their cyber-security, they’d hire me. And they did.”
Then back to Chris alone, “So, what was up with the reported incidents a while ago? I want to know your side of the story.”
And to everyone else, “What do you think of the Administrator - Ochisuta-sama, I mean? I tried to get to his office, but his secretary saw through my attempt to place myself on his schedule and told me to go away. Shows that the Administrator is competent enough to pay attention to the human side of his security, I’d say.”
Why did that topic come out? I sound egotistical now! And I might get in trouble. Oh, well, it’s too late to get out of this hole anyway.
“And yes, I am… Fascinated with our Administrator. I read his dossier and what info I am qualified for several times now and there are still omissions that point to more stuff I want to know,” Ashton continued musing. “He’s a literal mystery, after all!”
A smile, “And of course, it goes without saying that I am a fan of the current Prime Minister and his policies!”
It's kind of ironic, in a funny way. She came into the mess area for a simple cup of morning tea and they were all preparing to go out to a full-on tea ceremony. She wasn't going, herself. Not only was it just not going to do when her tea was already at hand, but...Asagi had pretty much not been interested in the social event, overall. Her so-called relationship with people was largely professional. Friendly, but professional. Some traditions, she would embrace. Others, she would not. It was the way of things. Asagi got a proper greeting out of Chelsea and at least a wave out of Bykov. It's all good.
Besides...there was something else she could do.
As she drank her drink, Karine accessed the system once more and discovered that, yes, the training room was once more available. Someone had gone in there with a mop and a wheeled container for all the robot bits. Seohyung had been in there with his usual routine of trying to get himself killed and...it just wasn't worth it, was it? I'll show you what I mean. Finishing her drink, she set out to the same area that Seo had been in previously. You wouldn't even smell the blood. This place, though... It was more than a robot arena. I mean, there were - in fact - gonna be fighting robots in here, but it did more than that. Slipping on a pair of VR glasses, Asagi unlocked the full interactivity of the room. She could've synched her own eyes with the way the room worked, but...why mess with her own perceptions? Throwing off her coat and preparing her standard weapon loadout, she set the system and switched off a few features of her own hardware. When practicing, Asagi preferred to actually make sure her own skills were in decent shape, so she switched off her targeting reticles and vector pathing. You know, all that Robocop stuff that allowed her to automatically lock onto a target.
ACCESSING NSF TRAINING ROOM>>>>>
. . . . . DONE
NSF TRAINING ROOM
Please Select Battle Level:
"Level 40."
Select VR Environment:
"City, Evening."
Special Options?:
"Changable surroundings."
The room actually had pads that would push out and in to change the elevation of everything you were standing on or how much room you had to maneuver, making the environment that much more difficult. Karine preferred the challenge to keep her from getting sloppy on footing and such. From there, she setup a particular music mix and synched it to her earbuds. This was why Seohyung needed to stop killing himself the way he did, or at least use more guns. The sword is really a backup weapon. In full combat gear, plenty of ammo, the first song cued up, which was ironically one of the last songs, but that's what ya get for hitting Random. The countdown began and Asagi soon started her own training regiment. Right now, her settings made this place look like she was playing Super Hot, but time moved regardless of whether she did. Out came the combat machines, and she immediately opened fire moving, taking down several with her swift motions and an accuracy that was well-honed even when all her parts were made of flesh. That was the tragedy of Seo: Asagi was better while handicapped, and he was wasting his time trying to overperform when he was underprepared. Of course, she herself was not without failing, but what she didn't fail at was the job. It was the one thing she definitely wouldn't slip-up in.
No cure for random-ass circumstance...
Asagi ducked and rolled, and without even the coat in her way, had no limitation in movement as she fired into robots, or even slammed one into others. Even when one tried to point-blank her, she automatically snapped it away with disarmament training back in the force. All of this, and there was still a certain sadness in her. Even while disabling what were essentially cheat devices from training, there was the fact that she could also last longer than Seohyung, just because her arms and legs would simply not tire, and she couldn't make them respond thus. She'd outperform him on sheer stamina because she was barely using any, by comparison. Also, while his sword were impressive, she still knocked off a robot's head by hand with a well-placed kick.
So yeah, she'd be at this for a while, beating other people's scores.
Takai didn't seem to be in any rush to drive so Bykov took the lead, doing one final check of all her gear before staring the engine. What was the point of not having any identifying markings on a vehicle if it was going to be the most conspicuous thing on the road anyway? Any idiot could see that it wasn't just some adrenaline junkie's modified offroader, it was too big, too imposing. With it's top mounted lights and solid black paint job it would have looked more at home running over protesters in the streets than going for a leisurely cruise. It reminded Kaz of the Humvees and JLVTs she had used to negotiate the mountains and plains of Afghanistan, all it was missing was the hatch mount for her minigun and a different coat of paint. Really this whole "shadow war" reminded of her time in country. She had done the same house to house clearing there that she was doing here, a foreigner coming in to tear apart family homes in search of hidden weapons and terrorists that may or may not have even existed.
If she closed her eyes for long enough she could still go back to Bagram Air Base. She had spent enough hours sitting there that she could picture the blankets on her bunk, smell the sewage from the main city of Bagram baking in the one hundred plus degree heat. There had been no escape it, the odor of food trash, offal, and human waste creeping under doors and through cracked windows, just fermenting as fans pushed around humid air. It was the first thing she had noticed when she got off the C-130 that took her there, her nose wrinkling as she was greeted by her new squad. You got used to it they had told her, and they had lied. You could never truly get used it, you simply tuned it out as best you could. Sometimes it would come back to her while she was eating and it was all she could do to keep from throwing up.
"The edge of the Southern Exclusion zone, Estate 19. I understand." The APV lurched out of it's spot, Kaz having never been especially lightfooted in vehicles of any kind, and up the ramp out of headquarters and into the light of day. With one hand lightly resting on the wheel the bear of a woman guided her beast of a vehicle past the checkpoints and into NeoTokyo proper. There was a good bit of road to cover to get to the Exclusion Zone, plenty of time for her demons to catch up with her if she let them. To stave off the memories Kaz opted to make inane small talk, no matter how bad at it she was. "Takai, where you ever in the military overseas?"She had never asked about his service record but the encounters with the pathetically unqualified Margo and the dangerously inept Chelsea had placed the question fresh in her mind.
----------------- Now things had gotten interesting. Margo and the disheveled American were an "intriguing" sight to be sure, looking more like a sex tourist in the red light district and his escort of dubious age than a pair of investigators given the power to kill by the Japanese government, but they might as well have not existed at all once Chelsea entered the garden. Chelsea Riley O'Connell, heir to the Halifax Company and unknowing participant in an underworld power struggle. The father of the girl she had gotten killed, Hattori Akechi had been a major figure in the Yakuza at one point before the Daichi family ousted him with the help of the Yamaguchi-gumi, and the man who had owned her during her tenure as a strip club waitress was in deep with the Yamaguchi as well. In fact, his father was Hattori's right hand man and a Yakuza mole, reporting on everything that went on.
And Daiyu knew all of this because she was at the center of it. The Guarri Ace strip club was one of the fronts she used to launder money and one of the places she knew could always be called on to entertain some of her more prestigious clients or dispose of a body or two. It was one of the linchpins of her web, important enough that if Nobunaga ever stepped down or was killed it would pass directly into her possession. It was not for sale and never would be. So when she found out Chelsea had managed to get a position in the NSF she had taken notice, watching her like a hawk whenever possible. Of course, it wasn't polite to stare so Daiyu had to settle for listening in on her conversations and taking note of her movements but that was alright. She was nothing if not observant. "Chelsea, looking lovely as always. Such a gorgeous kimono, you have to tell me where you got it!" If she looked back through her notes she'd probably figure it out herself, it wasn't hard to track the movements of a buxom blonde Californian through the capital of Japan.
Ashton was making a fool of himself as was to be expected of a sixteen year old boy, "discreetly" eyeing up his comrades and pestering them with tales of his skills. Insufferable yes, but a potential problem she would be careful to avoid. There was a good reason her computer, tablets and phones were kept in shielded bags. His story about hacking the NSF sounded like typical teen bullshit but he had been hired after all. Out of everyone besides Chelsea she would have to keep the closet eye on him, make sure he didn't need to be bribed, bullied, blackmailed, seduced or shot.
For now she could settle for having some fun with him.
"It's so nice to see such a sweet young man with an interest in politics!" she cooed, giving Ashton her best "Aren't you adorable?" look. "Intelligent and brave enough to join the NSF, you'll make the girls very happy!" Her cybernetic arm dug into a well concealed pocket of her kimono and retrieved a folding fan, Daiyu spreading it in front of her face to conceal her light laugh. She wondered if he would pick up on the secondary meaning, watching him even as she sipped her tea.
By the time the Tea party had entered its full swing, Chris had resigned himself to sitting in silence. People were speaking to one another in Japanese, so Chris couldn’t make heads or tails of any of it. He picked at a slice of Apple pie and took a drink of his Tea as he glanced around for any waiter staff. He wanted some whiskey to spike his tea with.
‘God.. Just a little whiskey to get through this.’ Chris thought to himself as he frowned, no such luck for him. Nobody was around to take his request.
‘Soon as I get into the city, I need to buy a flask.. Never hurts to have your own supply.’ Chris thought to himself, and he stayed thinking to himself for a while until a voice to his right called his attention. It was English.
It was the kid who was dressed better than Chris. He introduced himself and listed some of the accolades Chris looked the young man over with a raised eyebrow. He was a cyber-security specialist, and apparently a good enough one to crack the NSF system. Chris didn’t doubt him, on account of him being there, but he couldn’t help but be skeptical of the kid. All smiles, and natural talent with computers doesn’t correlate into keeping your nerve in a gunfight, or pulling the trigger on somebody you’re looking in the eye. Something Churned in Chris’s stomach then, as he let his mind wander for a moment, what was it? Worry for the kid? For himself if he needed to go on mission with him? Chris couldn’t be sure.
“Nice to meet you son, Hell of a portfolio, real impressive.” Chris smiled at the kid and nodded for a moment before he asked his next question.
“So, what was up with the reported incidents a while ago? I want to know your side of the story.”
Chris gave the kid his best poker face, but on the inside he was annoyed, whoever that driver was,he was a real dick writing out that report. Chris shrugged his shoulder and smiled politely at the kid, deciding to play it dumb at the tea party.
“No clue what you’re talking about son, what incidents?” Chris then turned his attention to his coat pocket and pulled out another cigarette, holding it in between his fingers he considered excusing himself to go take a smoke break when he felt a pat on his shoulder, turning to face the source he saw a man..Or a woman, a man in transition?
“Wow super cool Smoke guy!” And then the person in front of him smiled widely, with an odd proud look in their eye. Chris couldn’t help but feel touched by this person approaching him this way. There they were, didn’t know English at all, but still trying to engage him in conversation. Chris appreciated the effort so he turned more in his seat to face them, smiling. He took care to speak a little slower and more pronounced so that nothing got lost in translation before he said.
“Y’know what? My Japanese is probably worse than your English.” Chris smiled and chuckled. As he held out his pack of cigarettes to the person in front of him.
“Feel free friend, take one. I’m Chris Bell by the way, what’s your name?”
“Thanks for the flattery, Ms. Li,” Ashton said, not entirely taken by said flattery, but knowing that confronting her too soon about that would be… Dangerous. So instead, he changed the subject, “I’ll make a lot of boys very happy too, if I ever get the chance.”
A smile, “Mind if I ask what your tastes in men are? Or other women, if you are so inclined? And yes, I am a hormone addled teenager - I just know that fact, am comfortable with it, and I play it up to my advantage. Of course, revealing that begs the question: How much is my judgement actually affected by pretty faces and how much am I using it as a mask? I hope no one tries to find out.”
Then a chuckle. “You’re an inspiration to those of us with even the smallest traces of foriegn blood, Ms. Li. It is my hope to emulate your success one day, as a cybersecurity specialist and seller of security software. In the meantime, though...” He trailed off, “There is a foe to be defeated. A foe whose Freudian Excuses and underlying grievances do not justify their methods and end goals. I hope to build my future success on their ruins.”
Pride and arrogance were in Ashton’s words, but also an undertone of resolution. His idealism and his hatred of the Jinrai were both real, after all.
A smile at Chris, then. “That’s all right. You don’t sound so bad now that I’ve met you. By the way, want me to upgrade your personal cyber-security for free? I need to do something to foster goodwill among this group, after all.
“Actually...” He says this as he looks around the gathered guests, “Which of you guys wants a free upgrade to your personal cybersecurity, for your internet usage that does not relate to your job? I’m offering to do it right now...” Ashton holds up his smartphone, which was still linked to his personal computer lab, “In order to show you guys how capable I can be. Consider this a free sample designed to whet your appetites.”
Then he turned to Daiyu, “Note that as you probably spend billions on your own cybersecurity and obviously won’t trust a kid whom you’ve just met, I’ll offer you something else.”
He takes out a small old-fashioned-looking laserdisc. “This is a new Antivirus program I developed. If it’s even half as good as your professional staff’s software, do think well of me in your dreams!”
It was, by the way, exactly half as good as Daiyu’s professional staff’s software, with the implication that if given an even better laboratory and training, Ashton can do more.
Chelsea sipped a bit of her green tea and took a delicious bite of her apple pie, while sitting at the table. It gave her a bit of a pick me up since she definitely needs it. Her eyes brighten up a bit, which considered with what Ashton said since it was in English, when she spoke in Japanese. It was slightly enjoyable to hear that from him. ”It’s definitely nice in terms of the serene nature of this garden, which can help someone think. About the mistakes we’ve made to end up in a world so… twisted by dangerous people in the world.” Chelsea replied to him in English. She was telling a truth to what she had said, because if it wasn’t for her mistakes none of this would have happened. In the back of her mind, which was a nice thing to talk about or to help her get off her chest in someway.
She thought about many things while sitting in this garden by herself, which always didn’t help her mood much. It was a definite experience to be here with many other people, which were unique compared to her anyways. ”I dearly miss Hattori Naomi… she was my world… until that day when she died…” Chelsea thought to herself, with heavy regret written on her forehead. However, she was interrupted in her thoughts when Daiyu spoke to her, which was a compliment that gave her a nice smile. In her mind felt a bit awkward when she remembered seeing Daiyu at the strip club once or twice. Whenever Daiyu was at the strip club chatting to her master, she wasn’t really allowed to enter the office since those were important meetings or some such. ”Thanks for the Compliment, Daiyu. I love it too. I got it at a high end expensive store that sells Kimonos. It was called, Kimono Yamato.” Chelsea said, in English with a smile on her face.
Chelsea is still a bit amazed at Ashton’s skills to hack and be successfully hired by NSF. She did read the file of Ashton’s. It did say that to a letter, however, what he said about the Administer Takeda-senpai being mysterious felt a bit ominous. However, all this was talking to Chris Bell, whom looks like he was trying to not be interrupted while eating his food and drinking his tea. It took her a bit until she heard Margo say something in broken English, which made her laugh her ass off for a bit. ”Margo-san, I have to say… that was funny what you said to Chris. Engrish is always funny.” Chelsea said, in Japanese while trying to calm herself down from the laughter. It was something she wasn’t good at, which is because she had never really had a good laugh ever since Naomi died.
She sighed a bit with certain things, however. It did take her a bit to want to talk to Chris anyways, since he definitely did go to bed. ”Chris, I have to say what you are wearing is a bit old. But you do look good in it, kinda feels like something my father would wear if he was in a nostalgic mood.” Chelsea said, in English. It was mostly conversation to get Chris to talk about his time in the Marines and what he thought of her father Gregory. It took her a bit off, when Ashton basically asked about everyone’s Anti-Viruses for not related to the job. She felt even more embarrassed when Ashton basically told Daiyu what he’s interested in. It’s not really good to judge a horny teenager by just their cover.
Chelsea had the best anti-virus software that doesn’t relate to being in the NSF. It’s from the Halifax Corporation called the Unicomm 8000 Total Protection against any type of virus or hacker like Ashton is. Unicomm 8000 is a Military Grade Anti-Virus for certain top secret US Government projects. ”Uhh, I have the best from my parent’s Corporation, Unicomm 8000 Total Protection. It even has great language options, but I was told I cannot give anyone the Anti-Virus because its specifically for… my family only.” Chelsea said in English. Her tone was a bit disappointed in what she had to say. It was obvious that the Halifax Corporation had a code in not sharing highly developed software to allies, rivals or enemies to their home country. Only the United States of America and the Halifax Corporation has access to the Unicomm 8000 Series of Anti-Virus software. It would take until the 9000 series for the Unicomm 8000 Series to be accessible by the world governments that are allies to the United States. However, the offer was nice gesture from Ashton. ”Thanks for the nice gesture though, Ashton. It’s the thought that counts for offering that upgrade.” Chelsea said, in English with a smile towards Ashton.
”Unicomm 8000 is always being upgraded, I think it had its 8th Revision so far? I think… It definitely helped against hackers trying to hack the Pentagon.” Chelsea thought to herself about the software that she has. It had a toolkit, which would shut down hacker’s computers if they tried hacking the Pentagon. It was nasty, and it would alert the closest police station about the hacker’s location. She always had a definite trouble with its UI though, since that was the only thing that wasn’t updated in awhile. However, she went back to sipping her tea since it was enjoyable to drink.
It took a moment for Maro to realize that he was intruding upon a conversation, for the blond man was speaking to the pipsqueak with a loudmouth. He couldn't quite place a finger on it but od did that kid seem...sketchy. Besides kids arent exactly morally nor logically sound in decision making...He will keep an eye on him the little bastard. Margo heard a loud laugh soon after he uttered his perfect English and quickly turned to a kimono-clad woman...Foreign woman. Margo swore he could have had a heart attack, oh God oh god shes laughing what did he actually say?! Her looks didn't help Margo out either; she looked just like the girls in his magazine, tan, light hair, light eyes and a barbie like bod. Guh why was he born this way? He didn't belong at this party, he looked like an Indonesian Transvestite and he's pretty sure every other chick here looks like fucking princess Kaguya all fancy in their dumb expensive kimonos. Ugh man, he wants a Kimono too no fair! His face instantly became red as he sputtered.
” Margo-san, I have to say… that was funny what you said to Chris. Engrish is always funny.” Oh god she spoke Japanese too. Margo made the noise of a kicked puppy as he quickly tugged and fiddled with the hem of his dress, he felt so embarrassed. How did he look right now? Could he pass for a woman? was he a hot woman to her? was he a hot guy in a dress to her? oh god, he was a mess. "o-oh! haha..uh.." he quickly reached for a teacup and poured it full before chugging. God, caffeine give him strength. "Uh glad I can entertain, Malibu Barbie,"he said with a small smile as he held the bridge of his nose. why did women make him feel so...weak..mommy issues are the worst. while he mentally shriveled and curled in a ball the sudden attention to the smoking man made him slightly snap out from his turmoil.
The man's face seemed to be very amused with Margo's..uh questionable English and smiled, “Y’know what? My Japanese is probably worse than your English.” He chuckled a moment and instantly margo felt a little relief, his body relaxed a moment as he also smiled. Margo laughed as he slowly caught onto his comment and sighed with a shrug. It had been so long since someone had smiled at him like that..a genuine friendly smile. Not to mention that hearty laugh from Barbie also made him feel fuzzy too.
Margo's eyes lit up as he saw Ken doll pull out a box of cigs. MMmm Ciggeretes reminded him of childhood.“Feel free friend, take one. I’m Chris Bell by the way, what’s your name?” Margo took a cig and stuck it between his lips as he pulled out a mandated lighter from his stuffed bra. he lit it up a bit before inhaling a moment, blowing out the smoke away from the table before he slowly processed his words. oh, he knew Names. "Hi, Chris Berr" he struggled on the L sound a lot but trudged through "I'm Margo" he gave another proud smile as he savored his cigarette, yeah they were cancer sticks but god were they the best way to get cancer ever.
"Chris, you are such cool guy" he chuckled "You look like a Ken" he praised "Cuz your head must be just as empty" he added with a laugh as he began to loosen up. What? he couldn't help but tease he loved giving jabs to others it made him laugh. It was nice to talk to people, and it was especially sweet after the not so successful morning he had today. Margo looked around the table, he was the only one standing uh oh. He pulled out a chair and got comfy as he tried not to stick out too badly. His eyes caught onto the slight gaze of the Big breasted China woman. uh oh. He quickly moved away from her eyes as he finished up his cup of tea. She was no good, and boy did he want to be her. Ah, he loves the idea of being a Femme Fatal..but he was femboy disaster so close enough.
He smiled to himself, before realization hit him, "H-hey barbie?! how did you know my name?" he said in Japanese much more comfortably as he looked over hesitantly. oh, odd. Were there already rumors spreading or something? He was sure he had never met the chick before in his life. He reached over to the table and began to nibble on a cookie, god he had been so strict on his diet ever since he got here. something carb-filled and sugary was just what he needed right now. "mmm god this is better than sex." he groaned to himself as he forgot the convo he started before looking over to Chelsea again with a jump. Oh shit, he was loud. he only smiled awkwardly. He couldn't help but have the same manners he did back when he worked at the Gala..rauncy and uh..overt. Not tea party material at all. But if he was surrounded by a bunch of sleazes and tramps he would've been the life of the party he swears! Well, today was going to be an interesting day now wasn't it?
The ride was quiet. Takai could tell that both of them had inner thoughts of their own, yet no one said a word. For the majority of the ride, Takai flickered around with numerous instruments on his headpiece and stared out of the black-tinted windows. NeoTokyo's archaic design proved itself a worthy adversary for Kaz, though her driving mostly got them through without any worries whatsoever. For a while, Takai was still in silent awe over the contrast of the old and new world surrounding them. Designed brick buildings that were considered withered by design layered one street, only to be followed by the far more advanced technicality of the modernised apartments, neon districts and layered streets. Thousands of working bodies wandered aimlessly in herds throughout every corner before they left the centre of the metropolis, returning to the exterior edges of the promise-land. Soon enough, the more empty lands beyond the brightened flourishing mid-day life became a familiar sight once more. Takai had been into the Exclusion Zone only once, and the experiences were not as fancy as he'd like to have imagined. Luckily, they were only circumnavigating its perimeter, finding the appropriate street to intercept Iwata's homestead. Once more, Takai clenched onto the hope that she wasn't home, just like the intelligence support suggested, giving him free reign to explore her newer life without interruption or danger.
Kaz finally spoke, which at first felt more like a mutter than an intriguing question. Her ponder on his previous service made him think for a while. He'd never seen military service, though he hadn't been too far from it. Overseas was a different sort of question, however. He'd never seen the world outside of Okinawa, as well as mainland Japan itself. It was a saddening thought. But nevertheless, he'd been too focused on the career-based priorities that he'd almost forgotten what it was like to be ultimately free from the torment of the underworld that was reality. For a second, he sighed, before returning to the conversation by turning to Kaz, seeing her eyes fixated onto the road and journey ahead.
"Overseas? No, unfortunately not." He planned to finish the topic there, but seeing her strive to make conversation after such a while of silence, he felt a large sense of guilt force himself to speak once more. Innately, there was no reason to disappoint Kaz, for she did ultimately seem like an interesting, albeit dangerous, individual to converse with when the chances came around. "Well, I wish I had. Grew up a policeman, Kyoto originally. Eventually found the lifestyle abysmal and falling apart. Y'know how the story goes: found a love life, fell apart and fell into a bit of a tough financial spot, before leaving the badge behind and looking for a way to satisfy wanderlust. Always wanted to travel, as I've never left Japanese soil. Guess fate had other plans and I found himself in the eyes of a specialised investigation unit, kind of like a predecessor to the NSF's formation. Kinda fell back in love with the workline, felt like I was actually doing something."
Takai was visibly uncomfortable with looking back over his life. It felt monotonous, underwhelming and ultimately a waste of a fairly stolen childhood. Blended with the years of silence accompanying it, where friends were hard to come by and the line of duty kept him warm on most rainy days, Takai did feel rather insignificant in the grand scheme of things. He'd been an asset to Japan and even was amidst a political landslide that dictated the future of millions across the nation, yet despite all of this it was something he felt almost numb to nowadays. Takai's slight lust for a regular lifestyle was nowhere to be found anymore. There were no comfortable homesteads under his name, where a potential child or lover of his would greet him as he walked through the door everyday. All of that was a romanticised version of the true and gritty reality he'd found himself in. All of the stories he'd heard as a child had set his mind up for a richness of traditional value, where service was the ultimate offering to give to Japan, returned with the greatest honour and lifestyle in return...they'd all been rather false. Takai sighed once more, quietly fumbling with his headpiece once more to pass the time. He felt bad for Kaz being partnered with him, despite it being entirely by her own accord. He wasn't the most comfortable partner to be centred with, especially with his focus on friendship being fractured by the one-sided attention he gave when he started his path to the NSF.
In truth, Takai had lost a lot of faith in where his life was going, and so he accepted that perhaps he'd just be a walking gunman with orders to finalise the domesticated plans for Japan's future. Japan needed people to dictate what would come about in the finale of the ideological shadow-war, and for all that those people knew a great deal had to be set aside to ensure it was down flawlessly. The NSF had been quiet for Takai since Iwata had left, once again separating him from one of the few friends he'd started to get comfortable alongside. There was no offence to Kaz: she'd been good conversation alongside Daiyu since they'd joined, giving Takai a sort of responsibility to look over the more absent minded individuals who'd found their ways within the force.
"Well, at least we're getting things done. Heard a buzz on the radio that some sort of tea party was going on back at the base." Takai sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with the tips of his gloved fingers. "When I said we weren't running a daycare, I'm starting to doubt it. I mean...it's really nice that they're talking to each other, but with only days before the raid...I'm not so sure. Maybe I'm just jealous that I'll never find my own way into one of those gatherings."
Of course, only selected individuals of the Section Commander were aware of the Raid's existence. Those in the tea-party were either aware and silent on the matter or were blissfully ignorant to its development. They'd be briefed on it the day prior, and at least they were told to not make plans for the week as to ensure maximum availability. Other sections had already conducted their own raids recently, so it was only natural for it to fall onto Takai's own unit.
Finally, the car arrived to its destination, and Takai asked for Kaz to stop the car. Where she'd park was up to her, but Takai had to simply focus on his own personal matter. Once the vehicle had reached a full stop, knowing that they were only moments away from their objective, he opened his door and walked to the rear of the vehicle, grabbing some of his own personal equipment. Firstly, he drew his firearms, holstering them onto his personnel and slinging the larger of the two around his body. The essentials were out, alongside their ammunition. Most of the things he needed alongside protection were already on his body before he'd gotten into the car. He returned to the seat he originally sat in, opening the door and leaning in to talk to Kaz.
"Keep watch on that monitor when you're ready. It'll feed onto my camera. Let me know if you see anything going on outside or notice anything on the camera. We'll be on our own for a short while." With his gloved fingers, he prodded the side of his headgear, watching it fold down onto his eyes. Once his vision was replaced with the cybernetic view of useful information, he turned, closing the door and thumping the side of it to give Kaz the okay to move if she desired to. From there, he moved forward on foot, quickly jogging down the street as to save time. All around them, the empty eeriness of the street left a faint impression of nervousness in their muscles. Takai felt the clattering of his uniform silently muster his existence. As he jogged, his eyes darted all around his sockets, staring at every conceivable angle he could identify as his steady breath lit up the microphone linked into his system. Motions of generalised suspense always came with these sort of operations, breaking the loud and proud romanticism of the policing life. The NSF weren't officers of the law, they were political weapons used for a good that was either greater or worse than the ideals each operative held.
Eventually, he reached the front door. Perfect. Yet things felt...off. The door was unlocked. As he opened it, he aimed his firearms, expecting some sort of trap to be laid before him, but there was no such thing. Before him, a silent, dark room vapid of life and colour presented itself. A splash of browns and greys, mixed with the ugliness of dimmed, abstract artwork almost perfectly fit the exact formulae of Iwata's self. Turning around, Takai quickly looked at the door, seeing that it indeed had no lock built into it. He sighed, wiping his cheek to check he was still in one piece. So far, so good. No signs of trouble and a seemingly empty home ripe for the investigation. Takai eventually got to work, using his HUD to begin his silent search of the premises. On the bottom floor, things seemed to be...quiet. Little did Takai actually realise, that just outside, a vehicle had pulled up.
Takashi took a few cookies and poured himself some tea. He set aside his scroll to let it dry, looking around and assessing the group. Already people had started on their business, things that he filed away mentally. The first was Chris' discarding of the cigarette, noting that he was very American. At Margo's broken English, he scoffed inwardly. English was generally the second language they learned in school as children. Though sometimes they didn't use it enough and it was lost on them.
"Of course. We must strive to share our cultures, Li-san." He replied smoothly, taking a polite bite of a cookie. He noted a muted tone in her body language, though dismissed it as he noticed Seohyung eyeing him. That was the fifth time since he sat down, and he was unsure of the reasoning. He was dressed modestly, his style impeccable and clean. He would have to ask the younger man about it later, shifting in his seat subtly to grab a praline, stretching out gracefully and snatching up his treat.
"Ochisuta-dono is a rather busy man. Please refrain from hacking onsite devices. It is inappropriate." He gave the boy a stern look. He was a definite headache, and if not properly curbed, a security risk. Takashi made a mental note to keep an eye on him.
Snapping his gaze on Chris and Margo he shook his head. "Please refrain from smoking at the table and Bell-San, you needn't smoke so much they'll be the death of you." Takashi was not the biggest fan of smoking. He never saw the purpose in it and it left one with a horrid smell. He kept well away from it.
"I'll have to pass. My equipment is stacked in the latest software from my contacts in Black Steele. It's not something easily gotten into." The ambition of the young man was a little grating to Takashi, who'd seen it before and it never ended well. His father had it and well, he was never home to even raise him. Too busy out drowning his sorrows in liquor and gunfire.
Takashi checked his watch, the screen interface blinking green at him with a notification of yet another Interrogation he was going to be in charge of. The investigations team found some more on the leaks they'd been seeing but nothing specific. He grunted at it as he sipped his tea, he was put on to root out the Jinrai from the ranks. It was a difficult task yet he knew he could do it. It would leave a good mark on his record and elevate his career.
The Exclusion Zone. Kaz's mother had almost ended up patrolling here back during those terrifying weeks and months after the bomb dropped. How different would her life had been if she come to Japan when she was 12? Maybe she would have seen war for the senseless carnage it was and decided to go to college, become an engineer and pioneered the first true cybernetic augmentations. She could have done it too. She had achieved mild fame as a teen for her achievements in the field, had been offered full rides to a number of schools. She could have made something great, gone done in history and gotten medical schools named after her. But she didn't. She allowed herself to get suckered into the trap of blind patriotism against her mother's wishes and lost any chance she had of making something of herself. Kaz tightened her grip on the, grinding her teeth as she waited for a reply. The awkward silence was making her wish she hadn't even bothered trying to be social. Why did she put effort into being a normal person if she knew it was just going to fall flat?
Bykov eased up a little when Takai finally answered, cursing quietly to herself as she missed a turn. "No you don't."She grunted in response. "Or at least you should not wish that. Serving overseas changes people for worse and not better, most of the time. You do things that are not good to people who may or not be not good for a cause that is not important." Not too dissimilar to the NSF really but she knew better than to tell her partner that. "Being a policeman isn't bad. It's good you have meaning again."
Carefully Kaz doubled back on herself, managing to snake the APV through a back alley and back onto the right path. "When I was in Afghanistan and Iraq, sometimes I would go on patrol. When we would be called to a village there would be unrest because people didn't like us. My friends carried rifles and I had the machine gun. Bu we would get out of our car and the first thing we unholstered were our pistols and machetes. They are execution weapons so people got scared when we brought them out. I remember one boy looked me in the eye when I did that. He did not say a word but he did back away and left. Later we were going a house and arrested his father. The son reached for a knife and I threatened to blow his father's head off. He stopped."
She didn't really have a reason for sharing that story. Maybe she had intended to show him what she had had to do to survive. Maybe she just needed to vent. The why didn't matter anymore, she had shared her story and it was up to Takai to interpret whatever meaning he could from it. She needed at the mention of the tea party, drumming her fingers against the wheel as she fumed. Kaz pulled to stop in front of one of the many shabby tenements that lined the Exclusion Zone, down a ways from the suspect's house. "Fuck them. There is more important work they could be doing. The NSF does not get what it pays for."That was about all she had to say on the subject, coasting the APV to a stop down a few building from the target's house.
She gave Takai a nod at the order, switching on her camera feed and giving him a silent thumbs up. Usually she preferred to work in teams for this kind of thing but Takai was the cop after all. She was content to sit and wait for him until he needed her, or she was until another car pulled up mere moments after he stepped inside. It was nothing special, a white van that was more than a little weather-worn, but the person who stepped out of the driver's sit was. Kaz switched on her mic and took a second look to confirm the identity before calling in to Takai. "The target has just arrived outside, she is about to enter after you."
The situation should have been resolved before it had even started. Takai was inside and already on the alert, she would be taken completely by surprise. But when four armed men wearing body armor hopped out of the van things got a little more unpredictable. Kaz counted two assault rifles, one shotgun and one DMR, all military grade and all aimed at the doorway. This was an ambush, the Jinrai had set them up. "Four more, all armed, waiting outside!"
Takai didn't have surprise on his side anymore. The one advantage he did have was that it was only supposed to be him present. The Jinrai operatives wouldn't be expecting back up. There was no way Kaz would be able to make it out of the car and grab her gear in time, she would need to use the weapon she was already sitting. With a twist of a key the APV rumbled back to life, Kaz stomping on the gas pedal and tearing off towards the opposition with a squeal of tires.
----------- "Oh of course you will." Daiyu agreed amicably. "Forgive me, I shouldn't have assumed."The businesswoman's smile didn't falter even as Ashton flashed a shit-eating grin of his own, wondering if she had been this insufferable at his age. "Bold question Hyuga-kun, bold question indeed. My taste is expensive, more than you can afford if that's what your asking." She let her grin fade into a wry ghost of a smile, waving away her answer with the fan. "I'm joking of course. In truth my taste in men and women matters very little. I work anywhere from 60 to 90 hours a week, not counting my duties for the NSF. It would be something of a wasted effort trying to find someone who can keep up with that." She didn't feel compelled to explain that those hours were split between managing legitimate stock portfolios and keeping all manner of illegal operations in play.
As Ashton continued to prattle on Daiyu was almost impressed. There was a certain quality about the way he played at being a cute kid and a clever conversationalist. Maybe it was the sheer cheek of it. Either way, if he thought being a horny teen was going to make him likable then he was welcome to continue. She'd wear her mask and let him prance around in his until he got too close. "Please, you flatter me." she demurred. "I simply want to helpmy home protect itself against an insidious internal threat as thanks for all it's given me."
Did this asshole just use the word Freudian?
He had indeed, but his grandiose words revealed a hunger for status that Daiyu was very familiar with. Perhaps he'd be a thread she could tug on later to help her unravel her problems. She glanced at the laserdisk curoiusly, taking it with a gracious nod. "I'll make sure to have my staff give it a look then. Thank you Ashton."
Greedy little bastard.
Turning back to Chelsea Daiyu gave the younger socialite an approving nod, using a single metal finger to stir her tea a bit more. "I know the place yes but I'm afraid I've never visited it. Clearly I'll have to change that." No matter what other qualities you could ascribe to her (airheaded, bimbo, drunkard, better suited to being a strip club waitress, the list went on) she did have good taste in kimonos. "Elegant and beautiful, your clothes match their owner it seems." The name Unicomm 8000 Total Protection was promptly filed away in her memory to have someone look into and the rest of the valley girl's words ignored. The other American and his working girlboy thing were busying smoking themselves to death, Daiyu noticing with some distaste just where Margo produced that lighter from. Switching into perfect English for the time being the con artist gave Chris a winning smile and spoke to him. "Welcome to the NSF Chris. I look forward to getting to know you better." And she did. Whatever "incidents" Ashton was talking intrigued her. Whether they were true or not didn't matter, rumors could often be just as revealing.
"And Margo darling, I didn't forget about you. Your sense of style is striking as always, you need to share tips with me! In fact you and I are going to schedule a shopping trip sometime, my treat. And I'm not going to hear any arguments about it!" There was absolutely nothing about Margo's fashion she liked but those on the outskirts of society tended to be the easiest to manipulate.
"Seo, something tells me that that little warning we got this morning had to do with you.” She had switched back to Japanese, her voice one of near motherly concern. “We all respect your dedication but please consider taking it a little easier from now on? Who else in here is going to give me a decent sword fight if you die?"
Around him the conversation was mostly in English. Seohyung couldn’t understand any of it and he didn’t care to. He’s used to being excluded in social situations, so he kept to himself and his mused about Skygge’s suit. The more he looked at his shoulders and chest the more familiar he became, like he’s seen his body somewhere before. Granted he’s known Skygge for over a year, but this was different. Like he’d seen him somewhere that wasn’t in a work capacity. Seohyung tilted his head. It was right there at the front of his mind, but he couldn’t thi...wait. Those shoulders broad as ever, chest wide and large, he tipped over sideways just enough to see his waist line and the tops of his thighs. Masked Phantom? No. He couldn’t be. Seohyung sat up right and looked across from him right passed the sword woman’s head. No, not sword woman. Li. That’s what Skygge called her. Not Japanese, but she doesn’t look it to begin with.
He was focused on the flowers a ways from the table, eyes slightly wide. Skygge had the exact same body type as Phantom. There’s a Phantom poster on his wall back home. He hasn’t seen it since he was last home a year ago, but he would recognize that body anywhere. He bought magazines just to look at him. It’s what got him into fashion to begin with. He’s always wondered what his face looked like. Now he knows. What was he supposed to do with that information? Should he ask Skygge about it? Would he even admit to it in the first place? Not likely. He kept his face covered for a reason, but it’s not like Seohyung would tell anyone else. He has five friends and he hasn’t seen any of them in a year. Not that he would, even if he saw them everyday. He’ll wait until High Tea was over to confront him. He doesn’t want to put him on the spot and oust him to everyone, especially after training this morning.
Seohyung looked away from the flowers at the call of his nickname. One that’s only used when “Suicidal” was attached to it. His eye twitched just the slightest bit. Her tone was motherly and he hated it. Not even his father called him that and his friends called him different variations of Kame. Either -chan or -kun or -san. He sat up straighter, though he hadn’t slouched in the first place.
He stared into her eyes, fists clenched his pants for a moment, then he relaxed his grip. There’s nothing to fear. “Ri-san, please refrain from calling me so familiarly. In the fourteen months I’ve been here we haven’t exchanged much conversation, and we see either other on occasion in the training hall. I admire your skills, but we’re not friends, lovers, or family. Address me as Kamenashi-san.” The more he spoke he realized he was asking to be hated by the entire table, which was fine. He never expected anything to change. “Also refrain from being concerned for me. I don’t need anyone to mother me. Training won’t kill me.” He’s too resilient for that. “If you want a fight we can set an appointment, preferably on a free day.” He’s watched Li train on several occasions. She’s really good. Enough to get his blood hot. He wants a challenge that’s not robotic. Li could be that for him if she takes him up on the offer.
“Thank you, Daiyu,” the young man said, even as he noticed the rising annoyance with him within the room - It was clear that his attempts to be liked were potentially leading him to ruin and not the reverse. I need to be cautious from now on. I revealed my cards too early and surrendered to my pride. A frown at that. Never again - I know what behaviors to avoid now.
The mask he metaphorically wore caused distrust. His boasting and arrogance just provoked irritation. He didn’t truly get it, didn’t really get why, but Ashton decided to step back his efforts anyway and just sigh and stay quiet. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try and listen in, though, especially as Daiyu had a way with compliments. In fact, he’d even believe she was manipulative, which she could be as everyone in power needed guile to survive if they were ambitious. Well, most everyone.
Perhaps he can get lessons from her in manipulation? Bad idea, Ashton, part of him thought. Manipulative folk don’t share their secrets well, especially trade secrets.
At Seohyung’s mini-speech, Ashton nodded, acknowledging that he heard said mini-speech, but said nothing further, sensing the Half-Korean's mood and not wanting to do anything to aggravate it. Nevertheless, in his private thoughts, he said to himself, It seems Kamenashi-san is not interested in anyone except perhaps Takashi. I should not say anything to him lest I anger him.
Further thoughts: It seems I have to pick and choose my companions carefully - I can't just interact with anyone and expect them to be Nakama/True Companions.
Then he turned towards everyone else in the room, shifting fully to Japanese as he did so. “Everyone, sorry for my earlier behavior. I let my ambition push me towards… Unprofessional behavior. But I have something new to talk about.”
Ashton inhaled, then exhaled. “Right now, one of our best combat operatives, Kazankova Bykov, is currently in an expedition to investigate… Someone with Takai Shusen, another ‘best combat operative’. But let’s focus on Kazankova-sama, shall we? Basically, it says on her available dossier that she lost her ability to feel positive emotions after her frontal lobe was burnt out in an incident before she came to Neo-Tokyo. This is relevant as I’ve been pondering the viability of growing a new frontal lobe for her using cloned tissue and fiber-optics.”
Remembering that Chris didn’t know Japanese, Ashton repeated what he said in English, before continuing his mini-speech in both of his languages.
“Takashi, Daiyu, and even Chelsea as she still has a bit of wealth, I will need your help in this regard. By doing this, we can and will foster goodwill and cooperation between us and improve our combat effectiveness. And I will pull my own weight as well,” He then pulls out another laserdisc, “This one contains all the research I’ve been able to legally acquire on the subject of artificial frontal lobes - And yes, it is legal - As well as some draft software I made for the cybernetic parts of the potential artificial brain.”
A pause, before he continued, “I hope this is a more worthwhile project than my previous… Babbling.”
Nina knew how... unusual her circumstances were, not only having entered Japan without a passport or anything, but also making quite a ruckus in the town's black market. Despite her background, they were still incredibly strict, going as far as trying to trace whom she had dealt with when buying things in the black market. She had to be quite careful regarding what she said on the interrogation, especially since she had still 'contacts' on Neo-Tokyo's black market. Sure, they weren't exactly people whom one would trust with a secret or promise, but they respected and trusted money above all else. Ironically enough, their greed was something she could definitely trust. Since she highly doubted the NSF would willingly give her some of the advanced cybernetic components and raw materials she would ask, it was good to at least have another 'source' for those. Still, Nina was lucky that everything went perfectly well, especially since if something went wrong, being thrown into a cell was the least of her concerns.
Nina was expecting the NSF to be so lax to let her just wander around the base whenever and wherever she wanted, especially after how strict the interrogation was. But there was no sign of guards outside her room, no devices to keep track of her or even locked doors when she arrived there. While that surprised her, it was somewhat understandable. After such a strict interrogation, they probably could trust Nina enough to let her go wherever she wanted inside the base. It was also fairly comfortable, more than what Nina was expecting. A big bed, television and enough space for her to keep her things and even a table she could probably use as a workbench after some modification. They were also kind enough not only to not ask her anything about the bio-cybernetic legs she had and even let her keep the semi-automatic crossbow she had.
After taking off the light armor she uses for most combat situations and the light armor plating in her legs she wore a simple olive green shorts and a very basic white t-shirt before she sat down on the small table to tinker with her crossbow a little. Since she had been informed that most of the NSF members were currently occupied with something, she didn't have much to do outside of waiting, in that case, she might as well fix that annoying jamming her crossbow was having some times. She knew that the misfiring and jamming problems were, almost certainly due to a specific mechanical component in the trigger box and the feeding mechanism that were worn out. Since those two parts were the only parts that were still from the standard model, they weren't that compatible anymore. After all, Nina had pretty much made another entire weapon after modifying and completely changing most of it's standard parts. Before she was able to change them though, the whole issue with the NSF happened.
After taking out the magazine, Nina carefully opened the weapon as she begun the delicate process. After she finished exchanging the pieces and was just putting the cover back and closing the weapon though, she ended up pressing the trigger by mistake, which promptly made the crossbow shoot out a bolt, punching through the wall and ending somewhere between the next two rooms. She took a while to understand what happened, looking to the perfect circular hole on the wall, until she finally figured out.
"Aaand I didn't check if there was any loaded round, did I?" she said, asking herself with a heavy sigh. She only hoped it didn't destroy or pieced anything in the other rooms. It was relatively hard for someone to notice a small hole, but an entire bolt wasn't that hard to miss... Since the other members weren't currently there, there wasn't any possibility of an 'accident' but she couldn't do anything about the missing bolt either.
"Great..." she sighed. Depending of who were the owners of the other two rooms, that could prove to be incredibly troublesome to deal with...
"Might as well go to see the training room they told me about before the others come back..." Nina said to herself as she stood up, getting out of her room and making her way to the training room, according to the instructions that other NSF staff gave her when asked. Not only she wanted to see how it was and take a small tour by the base, but she hoped the training room had enough space for her to run and exercise herself a bit.
Chris watched as the weepy one said something to the person with Broken english. He watched them tense, and begin playing with their dress, she then glanced at Chris and began talking to him as well. ”Chris, I have to say what you are wearing is a bit old. But you do look good in it, kinda feels like something my father would wear if he was in a nostalgic mood.”
He glared at her for a moment. Was she trying to compliment him? Was she calling him old? Chris couldn’t really tell, but he adjusted his tie and cleared his throat, replying quickly while not really taking his eye off Broken English.
“Can’t tell if you’re calling me old, or if you’re hitting on me, but since you mentioned im reminding you of your daddy, i’m going to hope you’re just calling me old.” He said with a smirk as he patted Chelsea on the shoulder.
“I’m sure your old man is a good guy.”
Chris then watched as the person who spoke to him in Broken English seemed to visibly relax when he smiled at them. They took Chris’s cigarette and before he could take out his lighter to offer it to him they dug into their chest and took out their own.
“Well shit, fair enough.” Chris said with an approving nod as he pocketed his lighter the person properly introduced themselves to him.
"I'm Margo"
“Nice to meet you Margo.” Chris said taking a long drink of his tea.
"Chris, you are such cool guy" Margo said with a chuckle "You look like a Ken"
Ken doll? Odd comparison.Maybe it was a cultural thing? Or maybe Margo was as weird as weepy. Time would tell Chris decided as Margo continued.
"Cuz your head must be just as empty"
Chris choked on the tea he was drinking as Margo finished talking. Without missing a beat Chris put his tea saucer down and took out his own cigarette, remarking with a chuckle.
“My Ex wife would agree with that statement.”
He nudged Margo and shook his head, chuckling as he began to reach into his pocket for his lighter. Just as he was about to light his cigarette he heard the voice of Takashi scolding him and Margo about smoking. He wanted to reply, but decided against it. He’d have time to make jabs at his expense later.
“Yeah no problem chief. No smoking at the Tea party.”
He’d tuck the cigarette into the pocket of his dress shirt and nudged Margo to do the same.
“We can share a smoke later Margo, toss it for now huh?”
Chris sat in silence for a while, listening to the people around him talk. For whatever reason the kid seemed to be trying to pitch some tech to the group. The kid was kind enough to talk about it in English and Japanese, so Chris tried to follow what he was saying. The boy was smart, Chris couldn’t deny it. It unsettled him even. He couldn’t have been much older than his son, and there he was, talking about cutting edge tech with what could probably be some of the deadliest people in the world right now.
Was it the father in him? That made him worry about Ashton as much as he was maybe. Chris tried not to think about it much as he locked eyes with the beautiful woman he saw speaking to Takashi earlier in the event. She seemed to have noticed Chris and Margo when Takashi called them out for smoking. Her smile put Chris at ease for a moment as she spoke to him.
"Welcome to the NSF Chris. I look forward to getting to know you better."
Chris raised an eyebrow and grinned.
“Damn, I love to hear a lady say that. Why don’t you start with your name sweetheart, I haven’t had the pleasure of hearing it yet.” Chris said with a grin as he listened to her turn her attention to Margo.
"And Margo darling, I didn't forget about you. Your sense of style is striking as always, you need to share tips with me! In fact you and I are going to schedule a shopping trip sometime, my treat. And I'm not going to hear any arguments about it!"
These words gave Chris pause. He couldn’t quite place it but the words spoken felt like they were dressed up to be sweet, but he they put him off all the same. Shopping trip her treat? Were Margo and her long time friends, or did she have that kind of cash on hand to spend? Either way it felt way too nice for a coworker type relationship. Maybe it was the culture? Chris figured time would tell.
He stretched then, and checked his watch. Chris didn’t really know how long tea parties lasted, but he wanted to visit the city before long. He turned to Margo, nudging them and speaking slowly again so that they would understand.
“Hey listen Margo, you’re from this city. You mind taking me around a little later? I got a few things I need to buy and I need a guide. Do me a solid?”
Chelsea was trying to stop thinking about what she had done, however. It didn’t really help since she couldn’t really ever go back into the past to alter her lot in life. She gained a small smile on her face when she noticed Margo-san blushing. It was a bit cute, which did help her mood slightly because it was definitely down. However, when he slightly laughed at what she said, however she was a bit confused when he said Malibu Barbie. There was a specific reason why is because she never really played with dolls before, which only because she had to craft Military Grade weapons when she was young. ”Margo-san, it’s good you can entertain so well. It’s been forever since I laughed genuinely so thank you.” Chelsea said in Japanese. She had a specific tone of voice, that shows she’s been hurting for a very long time with her decisions. It sucked a bit much for the whole thing.
She took a small bite of her apple pie, with a slight happy smile on her face. However, something in specific made her giggle slightly, which was how Margo said Mr. Bell’s last name. It was a bit hilarious to her, which is honestly something she never really thought about. Her father tried to keep his children away from any type of vice but it stop herself from drinking alcohol anyways. ”Why am I such a failure? I guess its good I have kept away from smoking…” Chelsea thought to herself, with a slight sigh. She wanted to cry right now but tried to look at the positive side of things, even though there isn’t one. Her only friend in NeoTokyo is dead and is stuck in a tiny hole unable to get out of her depression. However, the only reason why she thought that is only because of what Takashi-senpai said to Chris Bell and Margo-san.
Chelsea couldn’t help but giggle at what Chris said to her. Why would she try to hit on someone if he reminded of her dad, which wouldn’t be a good thing. It made her feel a bit disgusted about that, however. This isn’t Alabama where that would be slightly acceptable of a thing to do. However, she did notice his smirk after he patted her on the shoulder, which made her shake her head. ”Y-Yeah, my father is definitely a good man Chris. I wonder if you would recognize his name? Gregory Ryan O’Connell, retired Lt. General of the Marine Corps.” Chelsea replied to Chris in English only to see his reaction to her father's name. She hoped the reaction is good, since she would love to see it. However, she lost her smirk.
She noticed Daiyu nodding to her, which made her have a gentle smile on her face. It’s a bit obvious Chelsea does enjoy clothes shopping a bit too much. However, this kimono she’s wearing definitely fit her tastes. It took her a bit off guard with the compliment that Daiyu gave her. ”T-Thanks for the Compliment Daiyu.” Chelsea said, in Japanese with a smile. However, in the back of her mind, it felt like a somewhat of a backhanded compliment. She couldn’t really help but just sigh and drop what her mind is thinking, however.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Ashton talked about Ms. Bykov it took her a bit off guard. She never knew that her frontal lobe was completely damaged. ”I still have a feeling Ms. Bykov would… still be mean to me with what I’ve done.” Chelsea thought to herself. She shook her head a bit and looked directly at Ashton. However, she was going to say something a bit supportive of what he is trying to do. With what he said about her having a bit of wealth kinda felt a bit insulting to her. She basically sighed and huffed a bit, at what Ashton said. It didn’t help she did not want to cause a scene. ”A-Ashton, that was a bit rude don’t you think? But I guess I do deserve being insulted for what… I have done in my life. I don’t really know how Gregory would react to this proposal. He's right now the Interim CEO for the Halifax Corporation since my mother hasn't fully recovered from her heart attack. However, it is a nice proposal for me, but I don’t really think it would repair my relations with Ms. Bykov.” Chelsea said in English with a depressed tone in her voice. It’s still nice she repaired her relations with her younger sister Silvia. However, she mostly said her father’s name only to see how Chris would react to it with a slight smile on her face.
Chelsea, however got interrupted with her thoughts of happiness about repairing at least her family’s relationship. The person who interrupted her was no other than Margo-san, which finally realized what she had said to him. ”U-Um… I knew your name Margo-san, only because of I looked at the public file on you in the NSF Database. I only looked as far as, your name. It’s a cute name after all.” Chelsea said in Japanese to Margo. She did enjoy the cuteness of Margo’s full name, no matter what could’ve been in the public file. However, when Margo said specifically what he said, it made Chelsea straight up giggle about it. It was just too damned funny, which was bit too much for her. This caused her to realize many things, however the first thing she realized is Margo should really be a comedian. ”Margo-san, you should be a comedian… one of these days. It would be a good stand up act. However, I don’t really know about… stand up comedy in Japan though.” Chelsea said in Japanese, again.
However, in the back of her mind the one thing she thought about was she shouldn’t ever be happy again. It was a depressing thing, but she didn’t really have much choice in the matter since Guarri Nobunaga owns her. She had no real idea, what her master was doing or planning but then she remembered, exactly what he said to her. It made her have a slight flashback about it, which it was basically before she went to the NSF via the Hattori Akechi contract. ”...Redemption… how long will that take? I always wonder that with what you said Master Guarri...” Chelsea thought to herself, which left her in a bit of an odd thing.
In the Guarri Ace Strip Club, which is where the owner of the establishment was in his office yet again counting up the yen his property made for him. It did help that he had Chelsea, one of the most popular of his property. He looked at the time and sighed a bit and called Chelsea into his office with the intercom system of his establishment. It’s mostly because he was slightly frustrated at the NSF/Hattori Contract mostly. ”Chelsea, can you please come here. I need to talk to you.” Nobunaga said. He had a slight tone of sadness, in seeing her go to the NSF of all things. However, he’s completely neutral in that shadow war better to be not bothered about that when there’s money to be made.
Chelsea walked into her master’s office with a slight nervousness to her. She does know of the constant updates of the NSF/Hattori Contract. However, the only reason why she was nervous is how she heard her master’s slight tone of sadness. It was a bit terrifying, however she was wearing her waitress uniform since that’s what she is supposed to wear. ”Y-Yes, Master Guarri?” Chelsea said, nervously in Japanese. She couldn’t really shake off that Guarri Nobunaga wanted to humiliate her again for something else she did.
Nobunaga laughed slightly at seeing his most popular property being nervous. It was always a great thing to deal with the scared American. He stopped counting his money, which caused him to stand up and walk over to Chelsea. It took him awhile to figure out what to do, however. He had a massive grin on his face and did something unexpected, which was give Chelsea a head pat. ”I must say Chelsea you have doing much better with the last client you had. You followed their instructions to the letter.” Nobunaga said, with a massive smirk on his face.
Chelsea had a shiver down her spine happen, when her master stood up and walked to her, which caused her to be utterly terrified. She closed her eyes since she doesn’t really know what he does, however. She felt his hand on her head, patting it. It was so odd to say the least, which caused her to look directly up towards her master with a definite confused look on her face. The only problem to the whole situation is that her master Guarri Nobunaga was 6’4” tall. ”U-Um… Master Guarri… Why did you do that? Uhh, yeah… he creeped me out a bit with what he had me… wear.” Chelsea said, with a slight confusion in her voice and agreeing with her master at the same time.
Nobunaga looked down towards Chelsea, however. He had a slight thought in his head, since he did remember that client didn’t have any complaints. However, hearing what Chelsea had said basically gave up the ghost basically. He deeply sighed with a slight bit of annoyance, that one specific client is so disturbing in most cases. Uesugi Shin’ichi, which is one of the clients, he hates dealing with. He does run the most well known black market weapon dealer known as the Jahrin Incorporation, in terms of Uesugi Shin’ichi. ”I did that for the only reason, you need to at least cheer up somewhat. However, you won’t be needing to worry about Uesugi-san. It’s only because of the fact you will be in the NSF soon.” Nobunaga said, with a sigh about the whole situation with Uesugi Shin’ichi. He has much bigger fish to fry over what’s going on with Uesugi-san’s creepiness.
Chelsea blinked a bit when her master say cheer up, however. It didn’t feel like she needed to cheer up since she’s still under his wishes or whatever he wants to do with her. ”M-Master Guarri, you are giving me false hope you know that right?” Chelsea questioned. However, she was mostly confused in what he meant about Uesugi-san in question. She doesn’t really question it because it isn’t her place to. ”T-Thank god… he’s too creepy for my liking… even more so than Hattori Akechi’s wife....” Chelsea thought to herself, with a definite smile on her face. In a sense, what Nobunaga said definitely gave her a reason to cheer up somewhat.
Nobunaga smiled at what she questioned him, however. He did notice her smile and that she did cheer up slightly about hearing something about that guy. Therefore, he removed his hand from her head and seriously got down to business. ”I must say, you are pretty smart for someone so dumb for allowing your incompetence get the better of you. Is the only reason why I gave you false hope most of the time. However, its time for business. I will be letting you do your assigned task by Hattori Akechi in terms of going to the NSF. I only want one thing from you, a promise.” Nobunaga said. He knew that she will probably ask something like what kind of promise. In terms of Chelsea’s blatant talking points, were a bit weak most of the time.
Chelsea sighed when Nobunaga said that, which meant he was still angry at the specific thing she did. It caused her to look directly into his eyes, and wonder what he meant. ”...What kind of promise, Master Guarri?” B-But I will promise nonetheless.” Chelsea said with a bit of a tinge of fear. She couldn’t help but feel like if she didn’t promise anyway something bad might happen to her. However, she just sighed at the whole thing.
Nobunaga laughs slightly at Chelsea, he was slightly amused at the whole situation. It definitely showed that she definitely learned being his property, however. Her training is still going to be a long road, which he’s going to enjoy. ”Nice you’ve learned about what my property has to do. However, I must say do you truly know about the Experimental Medication you are taking or do you just believe your parents?” Nobunaga asked, with a bit of feeling a bit sorry for Chelsea in question. It’s like she never really questioned her parents at all, when all her parents were doing was punishing their daughter in a more cruel way. The blind leading the blind it seems, which kinda disgusted him. However, he feels this way because he had to go to his brothers and sisters funeral after Hattori Akechi murdered them all. ”I am a bit in disbelief, that Chelsea is blindly following her parent’s advice in taking that bloody god awful drug. I learned about the truth of that drug and… its awful. I will make sure she still pays for her crimes against Hattori Naomi, which will cause me to stop her from doing anything that will harm herself. I will make sure she’ll become so broken, she will ask for me to save her. Then I will rebuild her to become my most perfect property for this establishment. She’ll definitely have children for what I have planned.” Nobunaga thought to himself, with a definite look of Chelsea is still totally naive. She’s only acting like she doesn’t know what her parents are doing to her.
Chelsea didn’t really know what her master was saying, what does that mean exactly. It on her face as clear as day, it was heavily confused. ”...I must take it to keep the voices out. Unless it does something more than that?” Chelsea asked, curiously. She doesn’t want to fail her parents yet again by not taking the Hyper Reactive Suppressants.
Nobunaga deeply sighs in hearing that and walks over to his desk, to take out the truth about the Hyper Reactive Suppressants. It was on a document he had since a year ago, which was a bit much to learn exactly what the drug does. However, what she said definitely made sense in what the first thing it does do. He hands over her the findings of the Experimental Medication, which is definitely close to being a cure for Suicidal thoughts. ”Read this, you’ll be interested to see it. The Truth of the Hyper Reactive Suppressants. There’s a reason why I wanted you to promise me, to never tell your parents you know the truth of this drug.” Nobunaga said, with a bit of a slight smile on his face.
Chelsea couldn’t believe her master Guarri had documents on the Experimental Medication, which she takes every year. However, the document* in question was put into her hand by Master Guarri to read it. It was definitely shocking in some cases, however. She had some hypothesis on what exactly the drug did to her. It made sense now in why her father basically told her what he would do if she would get anyone killed in Japan by her mistakes. In terms, it could be worse she supposed would have been allowed to kill herself, if her parents truly didn’t care for her. She looked directly at her master with a bit of suspicion because it was too convenient in how he got this. However, she didn’t really know whom would leak this overprotective information about the Hyper Reactive Suppressants. ”M-Master Guarri… I would like to know where you got this information? I had my own reservations on this drug but I took it because my parents wanted to protect me. They aren’t monsters, you are for causing me to have to take it in the first place. If it wasn’t for you my life would be so much different… They know I know more than I let on about the Hyper Reactive Suppressants. B-But I do agree with you…” Chelsea said, with a bit of frustration in the whole thing. She was annoyed her master basically trying to blackmail her parents for what he did to Silvia and her, all those years ago.
Nobunaga raised his eye brow, when told him about knowing about what the Hyper Reactive Suppressants. It took him a bit to realize the fact, she was highly intelligent one of the greatest minds in United States of America alike her mother and father basically. This point still shocks him about her IQ, which is 135. However, he has plans for Chelsea that he won’t ever go away from. ”Aha, I constantly forget how smart you are Chelsea. It’s probably because of how beautiful you are and you look like a porno star rather than an heiress. I can’t give you where I got this information. You are a definite interesting woman, compared to most of my property. However, I would have seen you as something more than property more like a lover to be honest.” Nobunaga said, with a definite tone of annoyance in his voice. He wanted to see what Chelsea’s response would be to his lover comment. However, he knew her better than she knew herself, because of the fact she’s basically forced to be an emotional wreck and following orders to the letter otherwise.
Chelsea sighed deeply with what Nobunaga had said, it was insulting to say the least. However, she didn’t really like the insult calling her a porno star than an heiress. ”M-Master Guarri, that’s rude. But I would never be your lover with what you are. A monster who’s hiding some dark secrets.” Chelsea said, basically to outright reject him. It was mostly because of the fact he was insulting her too much and constantly tormenting her.
Nobunaga laughed slightly at what she said, however. He was honest to her, however, it would have been lovely to be married with a woman who knew all the Dialects in Japan but not the culture. This girl who got Hattori Naomi killed because of her incompetence only require one thing right now. It’s punishment and having her children sold to the highest bidder when he wants her to have children. ”I was actually serious about what I was saying. However, you had to be completely incompetent and an alcoholic dumb ass whore who didn’t go with Hattori Naomi. If it wasn’t for you she would be still alive. I loved her deeply I was trying to save her from her damned father. However, she was too naive to realize her father is so cruel that he will never stop being a bastard.” Nobunaga said, with a slight anger in his tone. He lifted his hand up and came close to slapping Chelsea on the face. However, he stopped himself from doing it since its not time for her to be punished that way with being beaten unlike no other. Because she’s still useful as a prostitute and soon now a NSF Agent.
Chelsea’s eyes went wide when his emotions came out about his lost of Hattori Naomi. Its seems the person that she actually pissed off wasn’t Hattori Akechi but Guarri Nobunaga. This made her shiver in fear because she couldn’t help but feel like a worthless human being for not realizing what these two people’s relationship were. ”M-Master Guarri… I-I’m so sorry for my failure in protecting her… B-But what are you saying?” Chelsea questioned with a slight confusion in her voice. However, it feels like that Guarri Nobunaga knows what Hattori Naomi said to her or something.
Nobunaga sighed, he wished he didn’t say that out loud to her. Chelsea kinda reminds him of Hattori Naomi being always for the family and not much else. It is true that Chelsea’s parents mean well, but her uncle was the one that leaked the information. However, he doesn’t want to spill that since they have an agreement with each other. In terms of how Chelsea reacted basically gives him a hint that Hattori Akechi said something about Chelsea’s mother Fiona. ”Its going to take a long time before I accept that apology Chelsea. But you remind me of her, since you follow your heart and idealistic beliefs until you lost everything. However, in this case, Hattori Naomi lost her life and all you did was become my property for all time. I’m sorry for yelling at you but don’t try to do anything that will make me hit you, Chelsea. And regret it.” Nobunaga said, with a slight truthful behavior about it. He always will miss Hattori Naomi, she was always a great person.
Chelsea was a bit shocked to hear that from her master, which felt a bit depressing to her. She was being reminded about her awful decisions from the person who owns her as property. However, it felt like he was going to say something that would shock her. ”Uhh.. Master? What are you trying to get at?” Chelsea asked, with a slight confusion. She hadn’t had any real knowledge of how close her master and her friend was besides acknowledging they were going to be married.
Nobunaga looked at Chelsea and walked back to his seat so he wouldn’t be so close to Chelsea, which was always a bit annoying to be honest. He wanted to wait for the breaking her down completely than rebuilding her right now. ”I have to ask one specific question, what were Hattori Naomi’s final words to you? Did they involve ’But you… had... to… make… me… a bigger fool than you? I do want to see you have a redemption so to speak in the NSF but it’ll take you a long time to gain their trust since what you’ve done.” Nobunaga said, with a serious tone in his voice. He waited to hear Chelsea’s response.
Chelsea eyes went wide when she heard what her master had said, it was shocking. She started to cry about the whole thing, it caused her to fall down on her knees and couldn’t help but feel like she was specifically worthless. ”...Y-Yes it was those exact words… Master Guarri.” Chelsea said with tears going down her eyes. However, her eyes went dim because of she does cry a bit too much.
It didn’t take too much time but Chelsea basically promised after her cries, to say she won’t be coming back to the Strip Club. That would be too much of a problem dealing with him right now. Nobunaga laughed at what she said but reminded her that he’s her property and will never be able to get out of that. However, he did tell her that if she truly does Redeem herself he’ll let her go and live with her parents. But it’ll take a long time to properly redeem herself for her utter incompetence most people within Japan are honorable people. She knew her master was basically lying about freeing her, but she nodded anyway trying to believe in hope against hope it was true. It took her to a bit to leave his office after that horrid conversation, it was definitely not what she was expecting to be honest. Basically being constantly reminded about what she did by her master Guarri and everyone else that knows about whom Hattori Naomi’s Bodyguard is. She knows she fucked up but it hurt that Hattori Naomi said the exact same words to the letter to Guarri Nobunaga as she did her. This flashback ends, as of now it was only because Chelsea snaps back into reality.
It was created by the Halifax Corporation Subdivision Eight, however. It was ordered by Fiona K. O’Connell to save her daughter Chelsea. Hyper Reactive Suppressants, which completely suppresses the individual’s entire mental state in a stagnate form. It creates two separate personalities, which the first one is constantly depressed and crying with no positive emotions. Only fear, of what she has done or the helplessness of being worthless to people that sees her as inferior. It doesn’t help that its how she is normally anyways, with the fact she tries not to be so trusting and naive again. However, the second personality is basically the opposite, she’s happy, kind and chipper but doesn’t talk much only to do her assigned tasks that she is given. It’s basically one’s about work and no play, and the other is basically about pitying herself.
There’s an additional thing, to this whole thing. It must be taken once by mouth, once a year with any liquid. However, if she hears any of the keywords involving the voices in her head. It will cause her to be completely hopeless and docile for a total of 8 hours. However, the only good thing is, if she is drinking alcohol, which will cause her to be in this docile state for only 15 minutes. In terms, it causes her to be even more emotionally unstable and very anti-social. It usually takes around 3 months of being around people for her to finally open up and talk about her problems.
The biggest deterrent using this suppressant is basically she’ll always feel not completely safe and be slightly paranoid. No matter what, she’ll be permanently stuck in a loop of the most horrible thing that happened to her. In terms of having nightmares about seeing people dying in front of her own eyes, which she knows. These nightmares are so terrifying since it is a few people outright murdering her mother, father, sister, everyone else she knows and loves and leaving her in a cage being a slave. The person in question that was doing all these awful things is someone named Hattori Akechi. However, this nightmare was jotted down and there’s specifically a note written by her father. It shows on the note, it was written on 2012, which was the year of when she was forced to take this drug in the first place. Only because of the voices, which was in her head before this drug and she wanted to end it completely. This obviously was pointing out that this entire nightmare scenario happened only the first time she took the suppressant. These nightmares were very precise in whom they were trying to talk about in terms of Chelsea’s and her family’s life. Premonition Nightmares, which is the term is called some form of foresight but the user doesn’t really understand the nightmares in question. Additionally, it shows that Gregory doesn’t want this to happen not at all.
Her flashback ends and she looks carefully around the room, hopefully no one noticed her stop talking for awhile. However, most people here would probably enjoy her if she didn’t talk since its always better to talk to a wall than someone who’s a complete failure. She couldn’t really figure out why her master Guarri told her all those things. However, she started to cry because the exact final words of Hattori Naomi stung her the most. ”...W-Why did Master Guarri have to tell me those words again… Her final words to me stung really big time. I miss Hattori Naomi… deeply… I feel utterly terrible for… drinking on the job when I had a job to do. I wonder, who leaked those documents of my Experimental Medication to Guarri Nobunaga… and how long he had them.” Chelsea thought to herself, with tears going down her face. Her eyes dim because of her tears, however. She slowly tries to stop herself from crying since she was at a High Tea Party and needs to stop it.
Chelsea takes awhile to calm herself down by sipping on her tea for a bit. However, it helped slightly and looked at the host of the High Tea Party. She sits her tea cup down gently. ”Takashi-senpai, I am happy that I was here at this party. It kinda reminds me of the dinners, my family had at home since they are always about formal outfits… more so than casual. My mother Fiona Kayla O’Connell enjoys these type of events much...” Chelsea said in Japanese to Takashi. It was mostly a compliment to the whole thing since her mother do enjoy these type of events. Culture exchange is one of her tenants as a CEO, however, her father is the interim CEO right now.
So, Nina wanted to go to the training room, did she? The walk-up to the room may remind some of a spot on the Enterprise D outside the Holodeck or maybe the X-Men DANGER Room. It was an armored hallway with a heavy-ass sliding door there. Warnings around the side indicated that you should never enter the room dead-on, especially if somebody else's training session is engaged. Training devices didn't use lethal ordinance, but they could still lead to injury and unconsciousness when in use. There was a sign indicating that when the red light above the door was flashing, the room was active. You could still enter, but you were advised to be prepared for such a situation.
Now, if she DID come inside...
The room was dimly-lit, and there was only an open archway of space between the inside and the out. Off to the side, just inside the room, was a storm-gray longcoat, and inside...there was a helluva lot of activity. Obstacles had slid into the room from the walls and ceiling, the terrain had the ability to raise and lower in segments, and this music... God damn. The room was huge and capable of making different environments, and inside of it was a woman who appeared to be in full combat mode. Asagi was in there, holding one of the robot's rifles and kicking it into two others before gunning them down with their own non-lethal ammo. For the room, this counted as lethal against the target, even if the ordinance really wasn't.
The situation? Karine was out of bullets for her own guns, so she'd started appropriating their weapons. If Nina was looking in, via camera or the doorway, she could easily see that the black-haired Japanese woman had all four limbs cybered up, as they sometimes did a move where they attacked a robot via bending the wrong way. She had a training room rifle in her hands, one of their swords on her belt, and two training pistols shoved into her Glocks' holsters. She had paid no heed to time or score or level of combat. Level 40 was pretty damn tough, mind you. They came quietly out of the darkness, and they attacked without warning...except that her sense of anticipation had had her reacting in split-seconds to even the slightest of movements or sounds that couldn't be accounted for by anything else than the enemies in the room. Operating under the assumption that she was constantly in danger and under observation by potential attackers, Asagi lashed out quickly and without second thought, just as her training had always shown her. Execute and move on. Her movements were either quick and precise or smooth and fluid, followed by a crunch of hardware.
Thing is, though, this session's been running non-stop, and it looks like she could keep this up a long time. It looked like it could be paused or joined or even that you could just shout out at her if you needed to. But the question is...what do ya do?
