[Date: December 30th, 2015. Time: 1010 hours.] [After the mess at the science institute, some people needed time to recover. Whether mentally or physically, there haven't been missions for a while. Things have been somewhat settling down at the headquarters in general as well, especially with things wearing down after the holidays.] [It's just enough time to catch a morning meal though! The cafeteria is opening and bustling!] [Start of file.] * Xiang-Fei is in the back, doing the cooking! She's wearing a red Chinese shirt (the kind with the buttons near the shoulder and matching loose pants. Shoes, too. Total cultural appreciation, today. Except for the white apron she has overneath. That's probably based off a French design or something. Either way, she's cooking. * Aaron walks slowly into the cafeteria. He's in much, much better shape than the last time people saw him, i.e. he's not bleeding and his innards aren't threatening to fall out. Still, there's a bit of stiffness and extra caution in his movements. He sits down at a table near the door. * Olivia is munching away at breakfast already, an interesting... if unappetizing mix of various breakfast delights. She's typing away at her lappy as she munches on a bagel sandwich thingy. (Character interaction is apparently verboten tonight.) * Xiang-Fei glances over her shoulder and smiles when she notices Aaron and Olivia sit down by the door. She calls to them all the way across the cafeteria "AARON! OLIVIA! I MAKE GOOD FOOD FOR YOU!" * Aaron eyes the serving area, then gets up and heads over. "You called? So, what's on the menu this morning?" [A group of people turn their heads to stare at Xiang-Fei as she yells across the cafeteria. A good portion of the looks are from people who are obviously not morning people.] (Aaron is a morning person, natch.) * Xiang-Fei grins as Aaron heads over, oblivious to the stares she's getting. "Is chicken and salad and noodle soup! You eat much, yes? Eat food is good for you!" * Ryan comes walking in right about now, for the first time since he split for Italy. He's dressed in denim, as he always is, and he clearly isn't a morning person because he stumbles straight for the coffee. Ah! * Aaron gets a tray. "Fill 'er up, then. Could use some decent food. Hospital food is... less than enjoyable." ^_^ * Xiang-Fei notices and waves him over. "RYAN! COME, COME! EAT GOOD FOOD!" (Ryan's hearing aids blow out.) * Aaron puts his hands over his ears. "Ow." * Xiang-Fei nodnods and fixes Aaron a generous portion of each. "Mother say healthy d... um... di... um.... healthy eat is mostest important part of... um... of stay healthy?" (Nah, it's the future, they've got active noise cancelation to filter out Xiang. ;p) * Ryan looks at Xiang-Fei, shrugs to himself, and walks over. With a full cup of coffee and a packet of cream. (But not !Katie.) * Olivia shakes her bagel-sandwich-thing in Xiang-Fei's direction, meat hanging down from it slightly. "DO NOT INTERRUPT THE MASTERMIND WHEN SHE IS HARD AT WORK ACQUISITIONING NEW ITEMS OF GREAT VALUE!" (That would be fsking scary.) * Aaron looks over at Ryan. "Welcome ba-" He winces. "Good lord, they're playing off each other now." Buying stuff on eBay? (...Olivia acquires +1 point in her Awesomeness stat.) * Ryan sits down by Aaron. "Thanks. And it looks like." * Xiang-Fei blinks at Olivia. "HUH?! DOES THAT MEAN YOU NO WANT?" ... Duh. * Aaron has a spoonful of soup. "It's been... interesting with you gone." FOOD GOOD! INTERRUPTION BAD! [Elise winces as she enters into the cafeteria. She appears to be holding a clipboard close to her and looking around, ill at ease.] OOOOH. OKAY! I BRING TO YOU, SOON! OKAY! * Xiang-Fei waves to Ryan. "Ryan, you want chicken or noodles or salad?" * Ryan nods at Aaron, watching what he says because he doesn't need to watch those loud people. "What happened?" He looks around. "And where's... uh, T.J.?" [She finally notices Aaron and starts walking over towards him.] ... Chicken and noodles. I've never been much of a salad person. * Ryan pours cream in his coffee. (Good question. Is TJ off, or just not there yet?) Okay, but you should eat. Vegetable are is important food part. (TJ took some time off to be with his wife, but left a contact number to call if there's an emergency.) * Xiang-Fei fixes some food for Ryan, then grabs a tray and brings some to Olivia. (He's *married*?) (Apparently!) (Yes. ;P I'll double check but I'm pretty sure.) (he is.) (He is.) * Ryan accepts the tray. "Thanks." Upon smelling the food, he asks, "Did you make this?" It's a long story, but to answer your more immediate question, TJ went off to spend some time with his wife. [Elise clears her throat. "Um. Excuse me. Mister Lanford?"] * Aaron looks up. "Oh, hello. What may I do for you?" * Xiang-Fei nodnods to Ryan. "I make!" [She hands him a small slip of paper. "Message for you."] * Aaron takes the paper. "Thank you." He looks down at it. [It's folded!] * Aaron unfolds it! Exciting! [Elise nods her head. "I'll be in my office if there are any questions though."] * Aaron nods absently. * Ryan eats some of the noodles. "Mmm." * Aaron reads the note. [The message reads to meet on the third floor at 1130 hours outside the offices. No rush, but it does request to bring "his team" with him.] * Xiang-Fei looks at Ryan. "You like?" [It's not signed.] Hmmm. * Aaron folds the note back up and carefully slides it into his jeans pocket. ( Aaron's thinking "Great, where am I going to find a team?" ) So, apparently someone wants to see us in about an hour. The note doesn't say who. (It's Lenscrafters.) * Xiang-Fei blinks. "Hungry people?" No, I think this is business, not food. Oh. * Ryan chuckles and digs into the chicken. "It's really good, Xiang." * Ryan also has some coffee. Mmm, coffee. * Xiang-Fei beams. "Eat much!" * Olivia finishes her sandwichbagelthing. "Whoo! Take THAT you bid-snipers!" * Aaron has some more soup. "The note wasn't from Elise, but wasn't signed, either." * Olivia cackles and grins as she glares into her 'Den of Evil'. "Nobody outbids the 'Olivibot2000 it-sniper.'" Nobody? NOBODY! How come? * Ryan mmphs and swallows. "Where do we have to go?" Third floor, outside the offices. 'cuz I'm the best. Oh. Okay! [A few breakfasts later, everyone makes their way up to the meeting spot. There's a young Japanese male with a clipboard, dressed much like Elise waiting there.] ( He's got boobs? ) (That's one major difference from Elise, yes.) (He's wearing the skirt, but he just can't pull it off like she can.) * Xiang-Fei put her apron away at some point, just in case you were wondering. (Much like a MALE version of Elise's uniform. Sheesh, you guys. ;P) (^_^) [The man looks up as Aaron approaches. "Mister Lanford?"] * Olivia has an awesome skore of awesome +1! Yes. [The man nods and looks over the group. "Right this way." He takes out a key and fits it in the lock behind him, opening it up and starting to go through. Behind the door are a maze of twisting passages, all alike.] Does anyone else get the impression that we should be dropping breadcrumbs? I would if I had breadcrumbs to drop. ^^ [The man walks forward through the passages. "Please shut and lock the door behind you after we enter.] * Ryan nods and walks after him. * Olivia walks after! * Xiang-Fei follows! * Aaron locks the door behind them and brings up the rear. [The man starts heading down the passages, takes a couple of turns, and finally turns at a door. Beside all the doors you passed seem to be a scanner and speaker, and this one is no different. He presses a button to the side and speaks into the speaker. "Aaron Lanford is here." There is no name tag on the office, only a number. Why do I get the feeling that I'm in trouble? Maybe you is famous. Aren't you usually in trouble? * Xiang-Fei gets a light bulb over her head. "Maybe you is scouted for model!" [He presses his fingers on the panel one at a time and a moment later (after a red beam comes across his fingers), there's a click on the doors. "Enter."] Worse than usual? And no, Xiang-Fei. I think they prefer people whose hair isn't going to eat combs. * Xiang-Fei blinks and peers at Aaron's hair. Maybe there's a mouth in there? I think the comb-eating look is good on you! Why, thank you. ^_^ * Aaron opens one of the doors. I no think combs are very good for you... [The door opens to a moderately sized office. Yumi is standing to the corner off to the side of a large mahogany desk. Off to the side in an alcove is what looks to be a lot of electronics equipment. Kei is standing off towards that side frowning at the person sitting in the seat, who (of course) has their back turned to you. He seems to be frowning. "This is highly unorthodox, you realize."] [Yumi looks up as you enter. "Ah. Come in. Ryan, good to see you back." Her tone doesn't sound particularly good. * Xiang-Fei whispers to Olivia. "What's a unor- unortobox?" * Ryan looks around. "Thanks. I think. What's this meeting about?" Unusual, different, not the standard. Do we actually do anything that *is* orthodox? HellifIknow! [The woman in the chair turns around and looks at you all. She has long straight black hair and glasses and is dressed in a black business suit, not a KS uniform like Keyoumi or Yumi wear. "No, not at all." She extends a hand. "Kyoko Shinihara. PSIA."] [Yumi and Kei *both* frown at that.] * Olivia doesn't know why the frowning! * Aaron shakes her hand. "Aaron Lanford." * Xiang-Fei gives her standard one-liner. "Huh?" [Kei frowns. "Public Security Investigative Agency. Means she's government.] Oh. [Anyone who made the roll already knew that. They also know it's the Japanese equivalent of the FBI about.] They let government in here? * Ryan shakes the woman's hand. "Ryan." [Kei shakes his head. "Not usually. In this case, though, she's a client."] * Olivia waves to Kyoko and smiles, rail-road track braces shining. "Olivia." ^_^ [Kyoko waves her hand slightly. "Don't worry, I'm not here for personnel records or anything. Actually, this is strictly off-the-books. In fact, we may be able to help each other."] Oh? ["We have reason to believe that a certain company is in violation of international treatise. Going under guidelines, sliding regulations, bribing officials, things like that to avoid being caught. Well, those are the effects more than the cause." She opens up her briefcase off to the side of her chair.] * Xiang-Fei tilts her head. ["Now, normally businesses tend to regulate themselves, so there is little interference from us. However, I believe the situation may be coming to a point where they are rallying against national government authority." You want us go after corrupt officials? ["Yes and no."] * Xiang-Fei boggles over that one. [Kyoko takes out a few photos and spreads them over the table. It shows...something, unconscious. Ryan, Xiang-Fei, and Aaron recognize it as the same beast that assaulted KS a few weeks ago. The one Lurika referred to as Voulant.] [Olivia might have seen it too if she hacked into the security camera logs.] * Xiang-Fei blinks. "It that guy!" (And for those still lost, http://rowyn.sandwich.net/KS/logs/KS43.txt) ( I vaguely remember. ) ( Which is cool, 'cause so does Xiang-Fei, probably. ) (Woot.) (My efforts have not been in vain!) (I unfortunately need to go soon.) [She leans back in the chair. "We encountered a certain chemical in its makeup that's rather foreign as well. A new strain of amino acid. There is no official name for it yet, so we have just dubbed it X36. The chemical makeup is on this disk here." She holds up a disk and puts it on the table, sighing. "I would hate to ask for outside assistance on this, but it would seem you already have a dealing with this."] ["And officials have been unwilling to part with specific information on this. Though we have tried."] * Xiang-Fei tilts her head. "X36? What were other 35?" * Olivia laughs. ["It is just a designation. Don't ask me to explain why scientists name things."] Oh. ["The reactivity of this chemical with human DNA is very volatile. As I am sure you have witnessed. Apparently it is instrumental in rapid growth of tissue."] Uh... Mutant clone monsters from the center of the earth? * Xiang-Fei nodnods. "Is not first time it happen. [Kei interjects. "Pretty much. Though only some from column A and some from column B."] * Ryan nods. (Ear hurting. Need to go to sleep. Sorry.) [Kei sighs. "You knew the facility that this came from. They are asking us to go back and destroy the means of production and alter any records relating to this chemical."] Back? * Xiang-Fei shudders. Um, I don't know what facility it came from? [Kyoko looks over at Kei. "I thought I was going to explain that part." Kei nods. "Yeah. But we don't fully trust you." Yumi gives Kei a look.] We don't? [Yumi then turns to Olivia. "Yes, but they will need a computer expert. Their last hacker is..." She cuts herself off for a moment but changes her tune. "Someone still needs to alter the files."] ( I can alter them with my fists!!!! ) ( *Crunch* "Deleted!" ) (Dude, I can have it randomly play strong bad e-mails too! SWEET!) ... Oh. [Kyoko leans back in the chair. "If you succeed, we could consider you a seperate, but independent, part of the PSIA. Off the record, of course. So it would still be an independent organization. But there would be a much higher standing." * Ryan looks at Yumi to see if she actually likes this idea. [Yumi looks unsure. Kei seems not to like it too much though. He gives Ryan a look but doesn't say anything while the official is there.] * Xiang-Fei looks unsure, too, but probably for a different reason. [Kyoko sighs. "You do not have to decide immediately. But we are still a client. And still willing to offer the sum you request. Our resources would be at your disposal."] (Xiang-Fei is unsure because she has no clue what's going on!) How come you ask for Aaron? [Yumi speaks. "He was the only one we knew was available from the mission at the time. If we had known others had returned, then we would have contacted them as well." [Kyoko nods. "Are there any questions? I am informed that this would be a joint operation. There are apparently many such facilities. We would need to take them down simultaneously so communication is at a minimum." Kei nods. "We have other teams available for that. Don't worry."] * Xiang-Fei boggles. I have question. Do we know where we go to? Because that place is big. * Xiang-Fei gestures with her arms. "Biiiig." * Olivia gestures with her arms wider tha Xiang-Fei. "Biiiiiiig?" * Xiang-Fei gestures wider! As far as she can go. "Biiiiiiiiiiiiig." * Olivia nods and gestures as wide as she can go, nodding. "Biiiiiiiiiiig." * Xiang-Fei nods. [She shakes her head. "I am afraid I do not have any information. Since you had been there before, perhaps you noticed something about where the facilities were held. But finding their mainframe and manufacturing facilities is of prime importance. Perhaps the scientists as well."] I think we need talk for Akira and Keyoumi and Richard, too. [Yumi frowns at that. "We are not an assassination service, Miss Shinihara."] [Kyoko stands. "Very well. If it does not come to that, then I would not ask you to resort to such measures. I will leave my card if there is anything you need." She sets it on the desk and starts to head out. Yumi heads to stop her. "Someone will escort you."] [She buzzes for someone to come get Kyoko.] [A few moments later, the same man who escorted them earlier comes to the door. Kyoko looks mildly affronted but makes her way out with him.] ( They sent a crossdresser to escort her, so it's no surprise she's upset. ) * Xiang-Fei watches her go before going back to boggling. We need boat driver. Or plane driver. Or seaplane driver? Maybe T.J. can do it. * Xiang-Fei nods. [Yumi looks thoughtful for a moment. Kei frowns slightly and looks down. "Damn. I don't trust the government as far as I could throw them. But with their resources, they'd be a big asset, no mistake. The higher ups want to take it."] [Kei shakes his head. "Hell. I want to take it just as an excuse to be a blow against Fidelis. They've screwed with us enough."] ( The solution is to accept the job on the condition that Xiang-Fei be made the head of PSIA. ) ( Japan need protect supply depot! That where enemy always hit first! ) ( Watch out for the fire attack! We can block it with a firewall!) ( But damn, we'd have plenty of supplies. ) We talk with Keyoumi, yes? Where is at? Sounds worth it to me. [Yumi finally looks up. "We should have our experts analyze this chemical as well."] * Xiang-Fei boggles. We have experts? (You had Ayaka!) ( Oh yeah! ) [End of File.]