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Kaname Chidori, age 16, has been living on her own ever since her father and younger sister moved back to New York sixteen months ago. Part of her figured she'd live alone in her apartment until she got married or something. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever imagine that she'd be forced to live on a military base.
Say goodbye to sleepovers with Kyoko. This whole moving business was something that she didn't even want to begin to explain to her best friend. She didn't bother to even try and explain it to her father. Instead, she just told him that there were problems with packages being stolen at her apartment complex and provided him with a PO Box to send letters to instead.
It was probably better if he and her young sister, Ayame didn't know what was going on, anyway. If they knew she was in sort of danger, they'd only worry. Her dad would probably move back to the US, and moving to this base was bad enough. She was still trying to come to terms with all of this, herself.
Goodbye, perfectly normal high school life.
Kaname shifts the box in her hands. Most of her things she had shipped off; they should already be in her room. But this box is filled with things that are special to her. Old family photographs -- especially ones of her mom. A few photo albums. Her childhood blanket. The Bonta-kun plush toy she's had ever since she was a baby. The box isn't exactly heavy, perse, but it's certainly large and unwieldy. That's part of the reason why she's having such a rough time carrying it.
Still, she's been walking around this base for ten minutes now, and she's still completely lost. And unfortunately for Kaname, her usual shadow, Sousuke Sagara, wasn't around. Thankfully, though, there's a figure up ahead.
"Hey!" Kaname calls out, as she quickens her pace. "Do you know where the dorms are?"
Say goodbye to sleepovers with Kyoko. This whole moving business was something that she didn't even want to begin to explain to her best friend. She didn't bother to even try and explain it to her father. Instead, she just told him that there were problems with packages being stolen at her apartment complex and provided him with a PO Box to send letters to instead.
It was probably better if he and her young sister, Ayame didn't know what was going on, anyway. If they knew she was in sort of danger, they'd only worry. Her dad would probably move back to the US, and moving to this base was bad enough. She was still trying to come to terms with all of this, herself.
Goodbye, perfectly normal high school life.
Kaname shifts the box in her hands. Most of her things she had shipped off; they should already be in her room. But this box is filled with things that are special to her. Old family photographs -- especially ones of her mom. A few photo albums. Her childhood blanket. The Bonta-kun plush toy she's had ever since she was a baby. The box isn't exactly heavy, perse, but it's certainly large and unwieldy. That's part of the reason why she's having such a rough time carrying it.
Still, she's been walking around this base for ten minutes now, and she's still completely lost. And unfortunately for Kaname, her usual shadow, Sousuke Sagara, wasn't around. Thankfully, though, there's a figure up ahead.
"Hey!" Kaname calls out, as she quickens her pace. "Do you know where the dorms are?"
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[Cathy's leading the way with surprising confidence for someone who claimed not to know it just a minute ago.]
So you've been "assigned" here? Aren't you the girl that bulletin went around about? From the hijacking?
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"I'm just staying here until it's safe for me to return to my apartment," she says. "As soon as I get the all-clear, I'm headed back home."
That kinda answers Cathy's question.
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[It didn't say much more than that the VIP mentioned in the mission briefing about the hostage situation had been successfully recovered, and measures were being taken for her protection. Indeed, not going in to specifics was probably one of the measures.]
Right, makes sense you'd want to get back to normalcy after all that. Have...
[Cathy pauses; on the one hand, she probably shouldn't pry or overwhelm the girl. On the other hand, she does appear to have been more or less left to her own devices without even anyone to show her where she's staying, so...]
Have you a liason or anything? Someone to keep you informed? Counselling, anything like that?
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"No," Kaname replies. "I was just told to report to this base and assigned a room number."
A beat as Kaname peers over at Cathy from over her box.
"Yo wouldn't know anything about getting a liaison or anything, would you?"
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[That might change as she gets to know her better, but for the time being, Cathy sees no reason to let being a cyborg pilot from space with a robot sister in her head interfere with practicalities! And practicality dictates that, all else aside, civilians subject to recent trauma not be left to wander about a military base without anyone making sure they don't go anywhere they're not supposed to, or end up stewing in their confusion until they freak out entirely. Once she looks in to the details of what happened out there, she'll also be of the opinion that teenage girls who thought they were going on a school trip to the beach and instead got kidnapped, experimented on, and shot at, shouldn't be left to just tough it out on their own, but that's more about basic decency than practicality.
She shakes her head.]
No specifics, but I can ask some questions and get back to you. I think the mission to rescue you came from outside Unity Group, so it may just be that whoever requested it are going to send someone to meet you here later.
[That's being a little charitable, but if something classified is involved, the responsible parties may not have the manpower to split between sorting out arrangements with base command and keeping Kaname in the loop.]
Actually, I can ask someone else to ask those questions, if you'd like a hand getting your things moved in.
[And some company while you're trying to figure out what's going on, too.]
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Even though a small part of her is still a little scared to find out what is going on, there was a bigger part of her that was determined to find out the truth. At least once she knew that, she could formulate a game plan and figure out how to deal with it on her own.
Right now, she was just wandering through the dark. Once she had some walls around her, at least then she could feel her way through these things.
"Both of them, actually. I'm sure it'd be pretty boring unpacking all my things on my own." Kaname continues moving forward beside the other woman. "So are you an ensign or something?"
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The next rung up, actually. Lieutenant Junior Grade Cathy Butler, with the Erewhon Colonial Defense Forces. My sister and I are on assignment with the Unity Group to test a prototype. Our mothers' design, as it happens.
[She looks curiously at the girl. It seems a slightly specific question to ask.]
Met a lot of ensigns so far today?
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"Ahahaha, no. Not in the least! I think just about everyone I've met so far has been a pilot."
Present company excluded, as far as Kaname knows. For the moment, anyway.
"What kind of prototype are you guys testing?" she asks, glancing over at the brunette. Some kind of new military weapon or something?
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Our family run a research and design firm, so we're developing it as a joint project with the military. I'll spare you the full sales pitch, though. Unless you happen to have the ear of someone making budget decisions for any small militaries...?
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And if it was a special case, why had she been assigned to this base in particular?
"I'm afraid not," Kaname says with a smile. "I don't even know who's who here, let alone who's making the executive decisions."
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You'll probably run in to a lot of pilots, yeah. We tend to have more downtime between outings, where the support staff are more consistently busy. And of course, a lot of people with UG aren't in a regular chain of command, so who knows how they'll kill time?
There are some personnel directories and things like that, though, so you'll at least have an idea of who you're dealing with. We'll have to find out your level of access, but there's some information available even to total civilians.
I don't suppose you're a huge fan of robots and military hardware, and this is a dream vacation for you? Or, for that matter, people in uniform.
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Kaname forces a smile as he shifts her other hand back under the box. "But here I am," she says with a shrug. "I guess I'll just have to make the most of it."
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That's the spirit. Well, at least if you start to get cabin fever here, you can check out the Star Rose. Lots to do up there! And a team of pilots around your age just transferred in, too.
Old movies, huh? What's your favourite?
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That's a pretty good one, though. Not something I'd watch with a bowl of popcorn and my girlfriends over, but, you know. Powerful.
[Cathy pauses.]
These should be the dorms. Which are you?
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And then, suddenly, they've made it to the dorms, which just happen to be disguised as hotel rooms.
"28," she says, glancing up at a door with a gold '14' hanging from it. "So I should be right down the hall. I should be able to find my way from here, if you're busy."
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So you're a Godzilla fan, huh? They're kind of a guilty pleasure if you're a Jaeger fan too, but let me tell you...