Session Start: Sat Jun 03 13:09:20 2006 (H-1) [April 3, 2039 - 0710 local time] [on the bus, rolling north on the loop around downtown Tokyo-E] It was a long, hard, cold shower for everyone, and the standard-issue H- 4 emergency jumpsuits are a little scratchy as you ride away from the parking garage. The driver mentioned something about heading to your offices... [Session Start] * LadySnow wasn't cold at all and in fact found the shower to be very enjoyable. So... That was... interesting. * LadyKiss shakes her head. "Things just don't seem right. Nothing about that... that scene seems right." * LadyTwister looks like she would have rather done without the shower, but is nonetheless looking alright. "Nothing was. Looks like we have our job cut out for us." So what did you think about it, General Your Highness-sama, ma'am? * Lord_Fate stretches, yawning, but blinks, not quite dozing off, at an elbow- jab from his sister. * PrincessRoyal suppresses a twitch at Snow's form of address. Kiss is right. But but even if it's not right, we have to make it right, right? Maybe not so much right, Chi, as clear. But we're supposed to bring the bad guys to justice! It seems like we got the frame of the puzzle but all the middle pieces are missing... We can't just let them keep doing things like this. Whatever they were doing. * LadyTwister sighs heavily, leaning back. "Can't bring 'em back, but we can at least close the circle... by finishing the deal, yes." Well, certainly. So was it Ladies who did that you think? Who else would have powers like that? We'll nail the fucks who did this to the wall, no question. And... * LadyTwister trails off, looking like she doesn't quite wanna answer Snow just yet. * LadySnow pokes Mari in the side. "Language." :P * LadyTwister meeps. "Hey." I don't think we have nearly enough information to say for certain yet. So then where are we looking next? With the group that guy belonged to? * LadyKiss actually colors a bit at the language shaking her head. "What gets me is some of it seems to be obviously there for us to find and see and others of it that should be there just isn't. At all. even signs of it being taken wasn't there." I think...we should go and see the survivor of the team. I really don't think they were after whatever it was. Maybe they didn't want it to get out anymore than our Ladies did. Just... for different reasons. Definitely. He'll have some insight... if he's taking it well, anyway. Whoever did this was well equipped, and better trained than the H- 1 team. I wouldn't say better-trained. But... they were definitely ready. * LadyTwister holds up a finger. "Preparation can make all the difference." They do get points for surprise. * LadySnow frowns a bit. We should at least be able to get some sort of sense of the timing on this thing from him. * Lord_Fate nods agreement, and shakes his head to keep from nodding off. The bus emerges out of the underground bypass onto relatively high ground overlooking the downtown region from the northeast. The huge shapes of the Arcologies cast monstrous shadows this early in the morning, seemingly eating full blocks out of the sprawl. Tucked in next to the beltway here are a number of low, nondescript government buildings which all of you recognize as the primary security campus of H-2 and H-4. H-3, the paranoid weirdoes, have theirs further north. * LadySnow pokes Fate. "Why you so sleepy? Aren't you excited to be doing stuff? I mean, sure it's late but... come on! Adventure!" This, is NOT an adventure. Sure it is! In a way, it is... just as dangerous as one, if we run afoul these guys. It's more work, though. Serious work. We're gonna get the bad guys and win. How is that not an adventure? I... am trying to stay awake. Just need something to drink. And it is quite interesting. * LadySnow digs around in her bag. "I have a uh... water?" She holds up a bottle to Fate. An adventure is a fun little romp. This is serious. Ever prepared, Chi. * LadyTwister snickers, tapping her feet to some tune in her head. Adventures are serious too if you do them right! But that doesn't mean that you can't also have fun with them. You just need to have the right mindset. Oh, thanks. *pulls out a small bottle of pills that sounds almost empty, and dumps three into his hand before putting them in his mouth. He takes a gulp from the water to swallow them* * PrincessRoyal listens, a faint smile on her face. * Lord_Fate offers the water back to Lady Snow. "Ah, that will help." * LadySnow looks at the pills. "Ooh, what are those?" * Lord_Fate holds up the bottle. It's labeled, in English, "No-Doze". And you're welcome! *she smiles brightly at the Lord, stuff the bottle back into her bag.* The bus swings around to the north side of the ten-story H-2 building. This is the rear of the building, the side that you never see on television. A quadruple-wide garage door opens up and you roll to a halt in an empty garage. * LadyKiss shakes her head sighing. "So, Ma'am, talking to the Lord?" Just something to help stay awake. *pockets the bottle* Yes. Ooh, what's that say, Mari? *points at the bottle* ... No-Doze, Fate? Man... * LadySnow speaks English already, but she likes to have Mari translate things just cause she can. * LadyTwister makes a face. "Had a friend almost OD on that once. Wasn't pretty." Aren't they just caffeine? * LadyTwister nods. "But too much of any drug is usually not a good thing." A familiar face is waiting for you in the garage as you get out of the bus. * Shihei-san taps her foot impatiently. * LadySnow climbs out as they arrive. Pretty much, yeah. * LadyTwister promptly makes a not-happy face upon seeing Shihei-san. "Besides, there are other things that'll help wake you up." * Lord_Fate stretches as he climbs out, yawning again. I don't even drink coffee. It makes me hyper. * LadySnow idly bounces in place as she waits for everyone to get out. * LadyKiss nods smiling as prettily as she can when she steps out. "Ah, so nice to see you again, Shihei-san." * PrincessRoyal waits for the others to leave first, cocking an eyebrow at the sight of Shihei. Hiyas Shihei-san! * LadySnow waves politely. I won't let you borrow my pills, then, Lady Snow. *smiles* Fortunately we were just getting ready to switch cover stories for H-1, anyway, so we had this place all ready to go. * LadyTwister does wave to Shihei-san, nonetheless. "... I see. Our new ops base?" It's your base, your office, and your cover story. Ooh what's our cover story now? * Lord_Fate looks it up and down, appraisingly. In particular examining it for firing positions and for vulnerabilities to infiltration. The team is still in the garage. It's a big garage. Not a detective agency, are we? Are we traveling salesmen? Pirates? Ooh can we be pirates? ... Chi. * LadyTwister frowns. "We are not pirates." * Lord_Fate laughs giddily. Pirates aren't very discreet, Snow. Yeah but they're only supposed to think we're pirates because um... uh. Well it made sense back when I thought of it. * LadyTwister has to fight back a snicker at that one, patting Snow on the shoulder. * PrincessRoyal smiles a bit and shakes her head. No, not a detective agency. You are the H-2 Transient Investigative Support squad. Basically, a flying team of H-2 agents that is shuffled between major investigations as there's a need for extra warm bodies. *nods, bringing his laughter back under control* Out of curiosity, what was the old cover? Warm? *looks down* Never mind, no, never mind. I'll look that up on my own time, later. Gotta stay focused on the important bits now. * LadyKiss smiles faintly. "Sadly, some of us aren't warm." She's looking directly at Snow as she says this. * PrincessRoyal snerks, and nods. When H-1 is not otherwise occupied, you may even be used that way. There's nothing wrong with being cold! Nothing at all. Sounds like a decent enough cover... and side-work couldn't hurt. * LadySnow nods at Fate. "Thank you." Hm. I'd never considered police work. Dibs on being the official translator! Should do well to keep the team in practice. Do we get to investigate pirates? Pirates aren't nearly as exciting these days as they used to be, Snow. Half of them are glorified accountants. Considering what we can do, Fate has a point. I'll introduce you to your H-2 boss in a bit. Come on inside, I think you'll like what we have set up. Ooh set up. Dibs on the corner office! * PrincessRoyal cracks her knuckles. "Let's have a look, then." * LadyTwister gets a-movin', sticking close to Snow. "Someone's going to have to keep you in check, girl." * LadySnow blinks. "Why?" There's an extra-wide door on the east wall of the garage, wide enough to drive several cars through if it slid open all the way. The DDS leads you through, into a large room with a high ceiling. As I said, we were only preparing for a cover change, so the place is not furnished yet. * Lord_Fate looks around, his electronic monocle busily flashing data at him. * PrincessRoyal nods, looking around. So... do we get to choose furniture, then? * LadySnow looks around positively anywhere. Ooh can I decorate? I'm great at decorating! The room is almost 30 meters by 40 meters, and the only furnishing in it is a large conference table in the center of the room. * LadyTwister fiddles a bit with her PDA, then tucks it away, preferring to look with her own two eyes. "Huh." ...we should set up a firing range over there. *gestures to one wall* You'll have access to H-2 training facilities. Very good, then. Excellent. We're not going to shoot our own office! You know that the north wall is an outside wall, but there are no windows. There's a couple of doors and a small corridor leading to stairs upwards on the east wall, and another door on the south wall. So, main area... I assume there're sleeping quarters and whatnot here? * Shihei-san strides across the room, her heels clicking on the bare concrete, to the northern door on the east wall. She throws it open, revealing a somewhat decorated executive office. Ooh we should put a picture of the Queen on this wall over here... and over here a small table with the latest issues of MG Monthly... and here would be a great place to have card tournaments... And with the entertainment center here we can probably get one of the new 80 inch screens... *bounces around the room checking everything out* Princess Royal, this is your office. The department that used to have this space didn't take its stuff, so if you like it this way, we can leave it. ... hey. Fate. * LadySnow looks into the office as it's open. "Oh dibs-- Damn." *pouts* * PrincessRoyal raises an eyebrow and checks it out. * Lord_Fate blinks sleepily. "Yes?" * LadyTwister looks over. "Do you have anything to calm people *down*?" * LadyTwister can't help but half-smile. * Lord_Fate smirks. "Sorry, no." The office is furnished in overly-modern, geometrically-derived, black and royal blue. * LadySnow pokes around in all the furniture in the office seeing what's all left in it. * Shihei-san walks south past the stairs, to the other door on the east wall. This is another extra-wide door. * LadyKiss blinks looking around. "Oh my, it's very pretty." And this is the office for the support staff. That's you, Ozawa- kun, though if the team wants to add a few more there is budget for it. * LadySnow checks all the drawers and stuff to see what's left. * LadyTwister sticks close to Shihei-san, idly watching her for any sign that she's actually, y'know, not a robot. Ooh we can hire people? * Shihei-san is totally ignoring Lady Snow by now. Can we hire Ryoko? Pretty please? Who? * LadySnow is totally oblivious to being ignored. She's my bestest best friend. She's really super smart. You'll like her I promise. Ryoko's a bright girl, but I dunno how much she'd take to a job like this, Chi. ...er. What does she do, exactly? The support office has some very old metal desks in it, but no chairs, no wall coverings, and no carpet. On the south wall is another super-wide door. She's Lady Arrow. She shoots arrows and stuff. She has a pet bat! And this goes to the armory. ... this place needs an update. * LadyTwister frowns at the desks, toeing at one. I'm sure she'll be able to do anything you need her to do though. Like I said, she's really super smart even if she is kinda quiet. * Lord_Fate mutters something about driving hummers. We get an _armory_?! * LadySnow immediately dashes over to check it out. * LadyKiss presses her lips down at the sight of the support office but says nothing. So cool... The armory is almost twice as big as the support office. There's machine tools and workbenches and lots of lots of gun racks. No weapons, yet, except for one. * LadySnow dashes over to check out the one weapon. * Lord_Fate ambles into the armory, and eyes the one weapon. * LadyTwister helps herself to a look as well. "Hm... looks like this place has seen some use... vehicle-armoring and whatnot?" Someone has left a forty-year-old Glock 8 here, with a white ribbon in a fancy bow around the barrel. * LadySnow picks it up and looks it over. My...this is unexpected. Huh. Shihei-san, what's with this one? ...old weapon. But a solid choice. It looks like a gift. This used to be a liaison office with H-4 Second Brigade, where they would help H-2 with heavy weapons. * LadySnow checks if it's loaded. So shiny... It's not loaded, but there is a box of ammunition and spare clips sitting on the floor below the rack. Can I keep it? ... * PrincessRoyal shakes her head. "Oh, dear." Ah. Well, we'll fill this place soon enough. I'll just need a spot for a few just-in-case Stingers. * LadyTwister smiles, momentarily. Lady Snow, you should use the standard 11mm. But... someone wanted us to have this! It's special! * LadySnow cradles it protectively. Snow, if it stays, it stays. Maybe it's a good-luck charm. But if it's good luck then wouldn't it be better to bring it with us? I can customize yours to fit you better. And you really don't want to hassle with multiple ammo types if you don't have to. * LadyKiss smiles a bit. "I think it's nice she found something." I can use the other gun, but I just want to have it... * Lord_Fate eyes the Princess. "'Oh, dear,' ma'am?" Like a horseshoe above the door or proper feng shui and all that. Just... let it be. You'll get a better gun! But Mari... * LadySnow gets all pouty and big-eyed. * Shihei-san opens up a small door on the west wall near the main entrance to the room. "And in here, we have the locker room." Better gun. With a laser sight and everything. Even your name stenciled on the barrel! * LadySnow bounces over to look in the locker room. * LadyTwister sighs, following along. "So much energy." The locker room is a locker room. The lockers are big and black, and the short wooden benches are short wooden benches. There are toilet stalls at one end of the room, but there's no partitioning for the sexes. * Shihei-san moves south again, opening another door. "And showers." She walks in. * LadySnow tests the acoustics of the room. "Echo!" * Lord_Fate follows along, seeming a bit more with it - if a bit more on edge - for the moment. And we have co-ed facilities. Heh, this should be fun. * LadyKiss smiles happily. "This is rather a nice set up." * Shihei-san opens up one more door from the shower room. "And I'm told this is a tradition." Fate will just have to wait his turn. ...let me guess. Jacuzzi? * LadySnow sticks her tongue out at him. * LadySnow gasps, her face brightening three shades. The hot tub is big, filled, and already heated. The decoration is fairly institutional tiling, but it somehow seems cozy and homey. * LadySnow bounces over to the edge of it. ... hot tub! Whoo! ... Why's it so hot? * PrincessRoyal snickers. "Like it was transported directly from the old agency." Ooooh I don't know. I'm sure we can all share the hot tub with each other. * LadySnow touches the water, chilling it till there's ice floating on top. * LadyKiss smiles and moves right behind Lord Fate her voice lowering and softening a bit. "Isn't that right?" Much better. I understand that this has actually been here for some time. Mallet was playing games with the H-4 budget. I think. She's gotten better at hiding that shit. ... hey, Chi, there's no fun in that for the rest of us, unless... wait, nevermind. * Lord_Fate turns a bit red as the conversation's innuendo pierces his thoughts. "We'll see." Unless what? ... whoa, wait. *The* Mallet? Princess Mallet?! * PrincessRoyal shakes her head. "And here she was always so down on that sort of thing before." This is her hot tub? Oh my gosh! Captain Catastrophe her goddamned self? * LadySnow hugs the hot tub excitedly. Figures, that is. She worked with this office a lot, back when it was more active. Did you know her too Royal, highness, ma'am? Oh, yes. Ohhh, yes. Whoa... You knew like EVERYONE! * PrincessRoyal shakes her head. * LadyTwister chuckles. "Sounds like you had fun, ma'am." What was she like? Not a big deal - the showers are way too big already, and I'd rather pay for a bath than for collateral damage. * Shihei-san sniffs. "Anyway. There's more you need to see." Shihei-san, does this place have AC? It's hot in here... Right. And Chi, you're always hot. That's because it's always hot! ...that would be a very, very long story, Snow. Oooh. But when you have time you'll tell me, right? Promise? ...okay. Sure. * Shihei-san leads the team back out to the main room, then to the stairs tucked into the east wall. Yay! It's a promise. * Lord_Fate eyes the hot tub, eyes Snow, and snickers for no apparent reason. * LadySnow bounces back over to Shihei and pokes her. "Is there AC?" I might wanna hear this myself. Nothing like important MG history straight from the source. * Lord_Fate stops when Destiny glares at him. But doesn't look apologetic. * LadyKiss is quiet right now, just enjoying listening to the others. I'm sure we can arrange for AC, Snow. Yay. Upstairs, we have some facilities for managing anyone you might detain. Oh? I couldn't find a good enough one for my apartment so I ended up just getting three. We get to detain people too?! This is the best job ever! ...that should be an interesting challenge. Do we get to interrogate them? The stairs are a single flight up, and you come out in a north-south corridor that must be right above the offices. * LadySnow bounces even more excitedly as she hops up the stairs. Well, needing to interrogate people may well come up, so... yeah, detainment. * LadyKiss laughs a bit. "I'm quite apt at making people stay put." Excellent. * Shihei-san goes to the north end of the hall, and opens the security door there. * Lord_Fate follows. It's hard for them to run when they're frozen in place. * LadyKiss smiles at Snow. "Exactly." * LadySnow checks out the security on the door as they pass it. You follow her into a long narrow room with what must be a one-way mirror looking into a fairly large interrogation room. Well, not complete freezing, people... we want living subjects. Oooooooh. I always wanted a one way mirror. This is... exactly what it looks like. We're swapping out the monitoring and recording hardware, but it'll be ready in two days. * LadySnow pokes into the interrogation room and makes faces into the reflective side of the one way mirror. * LadyKiss smiles a bit. "This is much more then I expected." * Shihei-san ducks back into the corridor and walks south past the stairwell. She knocks on the door there. ... she's always like this. It's alright once you get used to it! * Lord_Fate grins mischievously and vanishes, suddenly appearing behind Snow and saying "BOO!" over her shoulder into the reflective side of the glass. * LadySnow hops back over to the group next to Mari. "Used to what?" Yes, I gathered. * LadySnow eeeps! And jumps as Fate scares her. A bit of snow drifts to the ground from above then as she calms herself down. "Don't do that!" >< You, Chi. You're one of a kind. Thank you! * LadyTwister pats her on the shoulder, then catches some snow on her tongue. "Welcome." * Lord_Fate laughs. "Sorry, but you left yourself open to it." He pats her on the shoulder than moves to see what Shihei-san is up to now. Well I'll just have to get you back then! * LadySnow sticks her tongue out at Fate. The door opens, revealing another office, this one with lots of security monitors, showing every inch of the facility that you've seen so far, except for the hot tub. A man in a bright yellow uniform shirt salutes Princess Royal. * Lord_Fate , still smiling, looks over his shoulder and winks at her as he walks off. Hi! My name is Ich-- Snow! * LadySnow offers him a hand to shake. Nice, our own watchful eye. Lady Twister, a pleasure to meet you. Lady Kiss. A pleasure I'm sure. * PrincessRoyal salutes out of reflex and nods. * Lord_Fate stands to the back of the group, watching the introductions quietly. I'm Lieutenant Haga, Your Highness, from H-4, First Brigade. I'm heading your security team. We're still forming up, but we should have the full complement - six of us - by the tenth. * PrincessRoyal nods again. "Good to have you on board, Lieutenant." Six people just to watch our office? Basically they're here to guard the offices and the detention facilities. They shouldn't be helping you in the field unless it's a total crisis. Right. We'll have two people here at all times. Well, almost all times. Do we get badges and stuff? Mmm. Is there any off-site monitoring? They're cleared for H-1, so you don't have to watch what you say around them. Excellent. What do you mean by off-site? Good. Does that mean we can transform in front of them? If you're comfortable with that, ma'am. I don't mind! Just don't be uh staring too hard when my clothes evaporate or anything weird like that... Just wondering if anyone not here is keeping any tabs. * LadySnow sticks her tongue out teasingly at him. ... do we have any coffee around here? The expectation is that you'll generally be transformed here. Actually, that you'll always be transformed when you enter or leave the building, and when you do anything else for H-2. No offence Lieutenant, but I shall be keeping transformed. I have no problem with that expectation. Of course. Works for me. I can do that. But you know, sometimes stuff happens... The monitoring here is as classified as records of any black project - Duchess Sakura and Her Majesty have codes to get in, but that's it. Good. So if anyone does get in we'd know they had to go through them? And you, Shihei-san? Do you have the codes, as well? And goodness knows who else is patrolling the area. * Shihei-san frowns. "I'm not sure - it's possible the other Duchesses might have authorization as well, but not directly. I do not." Is there anything else we need to see? * Lord_Fate nods. "Understood." Do we get a helicopter? * Shihei-san turns and heads further south down the corridor. * Lord_Fate perks up at the mention of a helicopter. * Lieutenant waves as the door shuts. H-2 has helicopters. There isn't one on your TOE, but you should be able to get one quickly if you need one. * Lord_Fate grins. What sort of armament do the H-2 helos carry? Oooh. Can we jump out of them? They don't. * Shihei-san points at another door as you walk by. "That's another interrogation room, a little smaller than the other one. Moving on, we have three holding cells for one or two prisoners each." Perfect. ... now I have to ask why you're asking this, Fate. And... Chi, you only jump out of you need to, which should only be in an emergency. Asking which? * LadyKiss shakes her head just trailing along. Because he likes guns and stuff? About armaments? Good to know what to expect before you have to requisition the vehicles, is all. True, true. There are three little rooms, with solid doors, not bars, off to the east here. Cells... hopefully we won't have to use those too often. * LadySnow checks out the locks and stuff on them. In a city environment, though, mounted weapons could really only hamper the helicopter. Much better to bring any desired guns along as personal arms. Exactly. And then, finally... we have something a little more strange. Oh? * Lord_Fate grins, continuing under his breath, "Helos make great sniping platforms, too." A sheep launcher? ... strange, Shihei-san? Yes. * Lord_Fate blinks, yawns, and turns to pay closer attention to Shihei again. Then let's see it. * Shihei-san opens the door on the south end of the corridor, and the team enters what seems to be a large closet. Ooh. Closet. ....What is this? There's a control panel on one wall, and she presses a large green button on it. * Lord_Fate yawns again, watching intently as he covers his mouth with his hand. Big shiny button... Looks like we'll know soon enough. * LadySnow watches excitedly her eyes pasted on whatever it is. There's a deep rumbling noise, and part of the east wall of the closet begins to slowly roll back. As it moves and the team can see around it, you realize that the piece that's moving is nearly five meters thick. Holy hell, that's thick as sin. Armor? Is that to keep us out or it in/ ? This is as heavy as we could get. ...huh. * Lord_Fate stands on his tiptoes to see over heads as he examines the door and what lies beyond. It settles to a stop, revealing a narrow, short hall beyond, leading to a thick, but relatively normal door. This one opens into what must be another cell. I... take it this is where we put troubled guests? Let me guess. Ningyo and Lady-proofed? Or is there one already there? * LadyBobOmb glances to her left for a moment, then blinks. She concentrates a moment, then two things suddenly appear, one on either shoulder - they're both black, small orbs, with eyes, and a fuse, and a little thing to turn on their backs - the one on the left has a pair of wings, and a pink ribbon, and the other lacks both - it looks a little confused. This is very experimental, but in theory you should be able to hold a Lady, or the equivalent tier of Ningyo. ...hmmm. We *think* that most Princesses would be able to hack their way out. Some faster than others. * The winged one hops and flies a circle around Kas for a single pass, then settles again on her shoulder. They both look everywhere. Are they watching in here too? Of course. Hopefully we'll never have to put one in there... or anything, for that matter. * Lord_Fate blinks, and glances briefly at the two black things before turning his attention back to the cell at hand. * LadyTwister looks over as well, eyes glowing a bit brighter as she tries to figure just what in the hell the little things are. One of the things H-1 does is deal with crime committed by Ladies. There isn't much, and the Hierarchy prefers to deal with it... internally. * PrincessRoyal taps at a wall experimentally. Of course. Are there any magical measures laid over this facility? It would be best handled that way. But there have been occasions where something like this was needed before. * PrincessRoyal makes a vague, affirming noise. The entire cell is lined like that, correct? Wouldn't it be better to put something like this underground? Hm. And we have a Princess, couldn't we just order them to not use their powers? And uh... be nice? There's at least three meters of solid armor all the way around this cell. If they can get through that, underground won't really matter. I imagine General Royal isn't going onto the field. Given the ties to our Earth magic, it may well be better to -not- place such a detention facility underground. Orders... well, they're good, but they're not perfect. And there's nothing magical we could come up with. We asked Hardhat Security Products to help, but they refused. Yeah, but if they're above us and they come down on top of where we're working... Seems like less people would get hurt if it was underground... * PrincessRoyal snorts at Shihei. "I can imagine." * Lord_Fate 's wrist speaks up - well, really, it's the malevolent-looking black spider on his wrist - in a surprisingly deep masculine voice. "Refused? They produce magical devices?" They produce magically hard... things. Hats? Well, yes. * Lord_Fate 's spider doesn't nod, but does say, "I see." Well, Snow, you'll wear yourself out eventually. And by then, someone'll know and you're likely to have something very big and lethal pointed at you once you're out. * LadyBobOmb blinks, then smiles. "How nice." ^^ Anyway, that's the tour. ... that reminds me. Need to request a .50 cal just for special occasions. Do we get cars? * PrincessRoyal nods at Shihei. "Thanks." A good heavy rifle would be a good thing to have on backup, too. * Shihei-san is already moving back to the stairs, and down to the main room. "There are a couple of other people you need to meet." When do we get our furniture? Right, right. Do we get to pick it out? Do we get a spotlight with our emblem on it? Of course ma'am. It's so nice to meet every one. * LadyTwister isn't too far behind Shihei. "Oh... one question. What's our stipend and budget look like?" Theme music? * Lord_Fate follows, shivering a bit. Chi, mebbe y'should note everything down and submit it later. Shihei-san might miss a lot of what you've said. * Shihei-san finally has had enough. She rounds on Lady Snow, causing a pileup on the stairs. "One more STUPID comment, girl, and you're never going to get a promotion in Security. Not in my lifetime." * LadyTwister does a fine job of not bowling everyone over. * LadySnow stops and frowns, lower lip starting to quiver. "But but but... what was stupid?" This is not a television show, this is not a game, and it may be the most important thing your little vacuous aristocratic ass does in your lifetime. Is that understood? * LadyKiss flusters a bit but soon fines the wall to be -very- interesting. Now grow up. Fast. * Lord_Fate looks coldly at Shihei-san, but doesn't say anything. Yet. Don't be so hard on the girl, Shihei. She'll figure it out on her own. * LadyTwister then fights to stop herself from facepalming. "... anyway, our stipend and budget? Need to know what we're working with." * LadySnow eyes start to water at this point. "But. I'm... trying..." * Shihei-san starts moving again. "Gods. She wants theme music." Easy, Chi. Just relax... Pay no attention to her, Lady Snow. I'm sure she's just as overtired as the rest of us. I doubt she phrased her words very...carefully. *there is a touch of threat in his voice* She's just excited. The first real job will toughen her up. * Lord_Fate glances at his sister. "...sorry, sorry." He suppresses a yawn again. * LadyKiss stops finding the wall interesting. "Lady Snow, do you happen to like cheesecake? I know this little cafe that makes the most wonderful chocolate cheese cake. I should be a good judge of that now shouldn't I? I think we must go there soon, and I simply won't take no for an answer." * LadySnow tears almost start to fall before they freeze against her face. She swallows deeply. A trickle of snow starts to fall around her from seemingly nowhere. "Theme music isn't stupid.." she mumbles under her breath. Theme music? Your personal stipend? You're all on MG-15 compensation, with full overtime and combat pay. * LadyTwister whistles. * Lord_Fate yawns at that. H-1's budget is... more complex. I'll be working with your Princess on that over the next few weeks. * LadySnow wheels on Kiss. "I'm getting three!" It's almost cute how absolutely serious she is when she says this in spite of her frowning face. * Lord_Fate chuckles. "My condolences, Princess Royal." * LadyBobOmb pulls out Glitch, then fiddles with it a bit, sending Chi's H-2 PDA something. Mm. Right. Ry--Ryoko would be good at helping you with that, ma'am. She's really smart... * LadySnow pulls out her PDA and looks at it. * LadyTwister can't help but chuckle. "So... we should have a sit-down and proper introductions and all that. I mean, we're a team, but I don't know a thing about any of you 'cept for Chi." I'll keep that in mind, Snow. ... and the General, but who doesn't know about her here? * LadyKiss grins. "Oh I absolutely insist on it! We will go as soon as we can. My treat." * LadyBobOmb blinks. "Do they have ice cream too?" Ice cream cheesecake? * LadySnow ponders this. At the bottom of the stairs, an older Lady - as old as they come, anyway, is waiting for you. She has a normal office-lady uniform on, but the cat-like claws are a giveaway. Yes, but it's not as good as the cheesecake. I believe we had other people to meet first, team. Of course Ma'am. ... oh yeeeeah. * LadyTwister makes an impatient face before she wipes that look away. * The snow around her slowly dissipates. This is your Deputy Director - Senior Lady Neko is technically in charge of your cover group. I see. Nice to meet you Ma'am. * Lord_Fate stands at the back, watching quietly again. And rubbing his eyes. A pleasure to meetcha! Hi! *she gets out before she shoots a look at Shihei, before adding much more calmly:* I'm Lady Snow. Ma'am. * PrincessRoyal half-smiles faintly. "Good to see you again, Lady Neko. Although I doubt you remember me." * LadyTwister waves. "Hey, Chi, recognize her?" Nice to meet all of you, too. I don't remember seeing you there, Princess Royal, but I did know that you were on the Hunters team that day. * LadySnow studies her carefully. "Lady Neko? I have all your cards since the first series!" See, I knew I kept you around for something! I've handled cover for H-1 a couple of times now, so I understand when to stay out of the way. I will have some work for you, though, from time to time. * PrincessRoyal nods. Right. What kind of work? * LadyBobOmb bows at Neko. "A pleasure to meet you." My departments mostly handle organized crime, but in theory your section... that was the Temporary Investigative Support group, right? You can be loaned out to anyone in H-2, in theory. * Lord_Fate shakes his head sharply, and nods. "I'm Lord Fate, ma'am. Pleased to meet you." He salutes, in lieu of reaching over people to offer a hand to shake. Transitive. Though we may rename it - this got laid on really fast. I can imagine. Like Yakuza stuff? ... And pirates? * Lord_Fate eyes Snow, but bites back a suggestion to put her in charge of naming the team. He laughs quietly to himself, instead. Lady Twister... knew I forgot something. I could make up a name for the team if you want! *looks at Shihei* ... You probably don't want... ... well, I imagine piracy's gotten pretty high-tech, but that's not much of a problem here. Maybe towards China, though... * Shihei-san looks at her watch, pointedly. "Neko-san, could you introduce them to their H-2 rep? I need to get back to the Palace." No, Snow, that's quite all right. No problem! * LadySnow bows formally to Shihei. "Thank you for the tour, Shihei-san. I hope we can get along better in the future. Maybe you can go have cheesecake with us?" * LadyKiss smiles. "It was a pleasant tour. I hope you didn't take too much time with us." Get some sleep, Shihei-san. Thanks once again, Shihei-san. We'll try not to raise your blood pressure. Too much. * LadySnow pauses. "Do you like cheesecake? If not maybe we can go do something else..." * LadyTwister hazards a grin. General Royal... I leave this to you, then. I'll send over the second forensics report as soon as it's ready, but I hope you figure this one out real quick. Jump was... she was... one of the best. ...I understand. Anyway I promise we will do our very best to make you proud. Thanks for the help, Shihei. Hope we didn't keep you from your duties too much. * Shihei-san nods and heads back out into the garage. * LadySnow harumphs at being ignored again. I was being nice... * Lord_Fate shakes his head, watching Shihei leave. "That woman needs to grow up." She's a tightass, but I imagine that's what they need from her. Shihei is pretty abrasive, but I think that's intentional. It has its place. I'm sure. Meh. Anyway, let's get back to the important things. * LadySnow pokes Mari again. "You don't need to call her names just cause she was mean." Like pirates and theme music. And I can call her what I choose, Chi. She's very efficient. ^^ Sakura's previous DDS was that way as well - I think she wants to play good-guy within the department. Aren't we all good guys? In the big picture, maybe. * PrincessRoyal puts a reassuring hand on Snow's shoulder. "I'm sorry she was so hard on you. " Lady Snow, I will have to arrange to show you some police dramas and familiarize you with the concept of "good cop/bad cop". * PrincessRoyal then removes it and slips it into her pocket before she gets frostbite. Discreetly, though. * LadySnow puts a hand on Royal's. "It's okay, ma'am. I won't let it bother me. I'm sure she'll come around." She better. Meh. Anyway... there is one more office here that belongs to H-1. In any case, I shouldn't worry too much about that. If you would follow me? * LadyBobOmb nods, and follows. At least as far as you all are concerned. * LadySnow looks at Fate. "Oh I've watched lots and lots of those. They're the best. I can't wait till we get to interrogate someone. I'm gonna shoot them in the thigh!" * LadyNeko leads the team back out to the garage. "This is the only way to get to the rest of the H-2 building from this section. The whole area here is meant to be isolated from the rest of H-2. As far as Shihei-san is concerned, if we do well on this assignment, she'll be happy with us. We can't impress her with kind words. * LadySnow follows Neko closely. We're not here to impress her, in any case. * Lord_Fate yawns over a chuckle, amused by Snow's antics. You really don't have to worry about it so much guys. I'm okay. Really. ... Snow, interrogation is usually meant to be non-harmful. * LadySnow smiles brightly to show this. Stress and duress, sure... * PrincessRoyal smirks at Twister. But sometimes there's no time! Hunny, there is always time. Not on TV! * LadyBobOmb just smiles. ^^ * LadyNeko opens a door in the south wall of the garage, and you're in a long corridor. There's an elevator at the far end, and only one door along either side. Chi, never change. ... that's behind the doors? That door leads to a small, homey office, where a thirty-ish woman stands abruptly as the big bosses walk in. Hi! I'm Lady Snow! * LadyBobOmb blinks, looking at the doors- one of the small black things on her shoulder simply disappears, and the other one takes flight and hovers about the door until it opens. This is Eliza Yamazaki. El, this is your... group. * LadyKiss bows a bit. "Lady Kiss Ma'am. Nice to meet you." * LadyTwister follows, then smiles at the woman. "^Howdy.^ Lady Twister... a pleasure to meetcha." * LadySnow again offers a hand. * LadyBobOmb holds out a hand to let the flying one land on it as she enters - the one that disappeared simply reappears on her shoulder. * Lord_Fate again stays to the back of the group, watching. Hi! I'm basically the liaison between you, and other people in H-2 that might want something from you. Neat! El's not - repeat, not - cleared for your real duties, though she's been briefed on the sorts of activities she might see here. I see. A pleasure. Can you get us a tank? Right, ma'am. What would you need a tank for? ... a tank might be fun. Can you drive it, Snow? What wouldn't we need a tank for? A real pleasure, though I have a feeling I should wish you luck. Sorry, ma'am. I help people get things from you, not the other way around. * LadyBobOmb blinks at Chi. Then shakes her head, and laughs. Why do people need our tanks? They're not fun to be on the receiving end of. Or alternately, I tell them that you're not available. I understand I'll be doing that a lot. * PrincessRoyal nods. I imagine we'll be busy, ma'am. I think you've got the hang of it, El. Coming up with imaginative ways to say 'no' is going to be a fun hobby for you. Tell them we'll do it later. Or maybe offer them ice cream as compensation. * LadyKiss smiles "I do wish you the very best of luck. I shall not forget you on secretary's day." She then laughs to show it's a joke. * One of the black orbs - the winged one - immediately switches to Snow's shoulder. * Lord_Fate yawns, wondering why he has the sudden urge to call Yamazaki-san "Madam Secretary". In any case... I've got a meeting in about ten minutes, and I know you all have something you're working on right now. * LadySnow grabs it and looks at it. ... hungry. What's for breakfast? What's this thing? Congratulations, Miss Snow. You just made a new friend. ^^ Yes, ma'am. * The Bob-omb is cute! It's a black orb with a fuse, big cute anime eyes, and a pink ribbon and cute little wings. It's looking at Chi expectantly. Yes, ma'am. I suppose we should get to work. Of course, do we have office supplies already? I'd like a big corkboard and lots of thumbtacks and paper. * LadySnow pokes it experimentally. "Does it talk?" I... uh. It's not coming out of my budget, but I'll check to see what the status on your furniture and supplies. * LadyTwister keeps her eyes on Snow... mostly because she's always fun to watch. "Work, and the day just started. This is going to an adventure, alright." Thank you. Also, I want to update the stuff in t he support staff office. They’ve hardly got anything in there. * LadyNeko bows politely, and heads for the elevator. Yay! Adventure! Thank you Miss Neko, ma'am! * The Bob-omb doesn't talk! Its eyes get bigger and bigger as it stares at Snow, though. Take care, ma'am. Thank you, Lady Neko. * LadyTwister waves to Neko, then returns to Snow-spotting. * Lord_Fate glances at his sister, and the twins both chuckle, as if sharing a joke. * LadyKiss smiles. "I'm sure it talks just like Rice Crispies. Only instead of adding milk you add fire." * LadySnow continues poking the bob-omb idly wondering if it's ticklish. The team drifts back out to the garage. Ozawa is unloading duffel bags from the bus. Hi Mr. Ozawa! Are we gonna go see that Lord now? Ozawa! Heya! * Lord_Fate shivers a bit. Hi to you, too, ma'am. * LadyBobOmb blinks. "Be nice to her. I don't she likes being held like that." * LadySnow walks over to him. "What are you doing? Do you need help?" * WingedBob-Omb isn't ticklish. It's surface is hard. It's also squirming a bit. * LadySnow looks down at the bob-omb. "It's a her? What's her name?" * LadySnow loosens her grip, letting it do what it will. * WingedBob-Omb takes flight, orbiting around Snow's head cutely. Heh... I think it likes you. * LadySnow giggles. They like ice cream. * LadyBobOmb pauses, then continues. "A lot." I'm just settling into the office and armory. Later today I'll go round up the equipment from the old H-1 offices, and we should all talk sometime about what weapons you want. * Lord_Fate moves next to Lady Bob-Omb. "So. Just how much do those things explode?" * Lord_Fate asked that quietly. * LadySnow looks at it again. "Do they even have mouths?" Right, right... need a rifle... hm. * LadyTwister rubs her chin, sinking into thought. Sounds good. I'll use whatever you think is best, Mr. Ozawa. *smiles at him* * LadyBobOmb glances at Fate, then points from one spot to another, roughly pointing out a distance of 8 meters. * LadyTwister catches the explosion-range demonstration and whistles. * Lord_Fate nods. "More impressive than their namesakes. Impressive," he says, equally quietly, before drifting a bit away, creating personal space again. That's a lot of exploding. * PrincessRoyal twitches very slightly and mutters under her breath. "...property...damage..." * LadyBobOmb looks away for a moment. "... hopefully it won't be necessary. I don't like to force them to do it. They're friends and scouts first." * LadySnow pats the bob-omb as it flies. "I'm sure it won't come to that." Most likely, avoiding that sort of thing is what we're going to strive for most. * WingedBob-Omb lands on Snow's head, and perches there. * LadySnow suddenly yawns very big. "So uh... what do we do now, your Highness, ma'am?" Oh, definitely. * LadyTwister smirks. "It's best to win the battle before it has even been fought... and all that." * PrincessRoyal eyes the yawn and turns to take in the team. "How much collective sleep has everyone had?" * Lord_Fate yawns, too. Darn Snow; that was contagious. I can go longer. Though I think if we're going to do anything major, we would want to do so fully alert and rested. About four hours here Ma'am. Uh... *looks at her collector's edition Queen of the Earth watch* I think it was three hours? Maybe? Uh... 4 hours here? Hmmm. Less if you count regenning the hangover away. More than --*jaw-cracking yawn*--enough. I don't have to sleep though. You don't have to make an exception for me... * PrincessRoyal goes for her duffel bag and checks a file. We should get this done so Shihei doesn't get mad at us anymore. Don't worry about her, Chi --may I call you Chi? Sure! All my friends do. And she makes friends fast. And you're more than welcome to be my friend. * LadySnow smiles cutely at Fate. * Lord_Fate smiles. "Don't worry about Shihei-san. She is just that type of person." Look, it's not Shihei's job to get mad at you. It's mine, if you do something that calls for it. It's her--*laughs, as Royal says what he was going to* * LadyTwister pats Snow on the head. "Which we'll try not to do. I'm not gonna blow that kind of a stipend doing stupid shit." * LadyBobOmb blinks, and starts to say something- then stops, thinking better of it. * LadySnow pokes Mari again. "Language!" Ow. ...heheh. I'll be sure to not do anything that will make you mad, your Highness, ma'am. As long as you do your job, I doubt that will be the case. Yes ma'am! * PrincessRoyal hmms. "Well, let's go talk to the survivor. If the ride is long enough, we can sleep on the way." And if it's not we can get to know each other! ...can I get some soda, first? [End Session] Session Close: Sat Jun 03 16:20:38 2006