The Black Dirge [Sci-fi]

[CalamityJade]

"Right...I will see exactly why you only got the spec sheet and not the conditions of the retrieval." Which possibly meant Shinigami had gotten out of whatever hole he might have been planning for her. "I would rather not hand them such promising software, either of my own design or of the package. I do not expect them to be dumb, especially considering the last investigation..." He gave a slight sigh. "Speaking of which. Cell 2574 has gone into Dark status after possibly having a software mishap that was aquired. Any communication with anyone claiming to be from there is unauthorized and should be treated as a possible hardware bug." Meaning that someone got grabbed and the whole celll would be dissolved, figuratively or literally, depending on what happened. That might explain why the Boss, someone who usually kept his calm, had been quick to the small level of anger he let Shinigami see. "I expect that you will send messages through the non-critical channels for anymore updates on the package, yes?" and there was that conversational tone again.

[yamikuronue]

"Of course, sir. Do you wish to see the benchmark results?" She keeps her tone even, wanting to end this conversation and work out to get some of the tension and fury out of her muscles.

[CalamityJade]

"Of course. It will help with monitoring any improvements. Was there any more...pressing concerns?"

[yamikuronue]

"Primarily the delivery. I will enter my requisition requests for the next shipment after I send you the benchmarks."

[CalamityJade]

"Then I believe we are done here. I expect to have a progress report in two weeks time." And with that he cut off the communication.

[yamikuronue]

A month, she'd be stuck with this nuisance... honestly. Well, she'd turn most of it over to Zee. If anyone could coax some slight improvement, it was Zee.

And she'd of course have to run some mission simulations for the team to build teamwork... if they freaked out the newbie, she'd just have to put that in her report. Next week sounds like an excellent time to schedule one of those.

Still peeved, she sets about doing the necessary paperwork.

[Hitoshirenu Shourai]

The girl looks at him questioningly, but doesn't press further. "So... um... what exactly are we supposed to do here...? I... mostly just have ideas... like what was in the news, I wasn't told much... after I was picked up. Mostly that I was... supposed to help the resistance. With my power. Because I'm one of you." She thinks a bit, then nods, seeming to have finished that thought and got out what she wanted to say. It was nice being able to talk to someone that didn't think she was useless.

[Rednaxela]

Lanky ol' Marbles just shrugs, "I mean, that's most of what there is to it. Classic case of people fearing those who are different, who can do things they can't do. Blah blah, destroy what they don't understand..." He trails off and stretches his arm a little before continuing, "There are often little missions from some leader-type-folks, though I hope that will stop being necessary some day. Will see."

[Hitoshirenu Shourai]

"And... I have to go on missions like that...? I don't... think I could do that..." She somehow looks even more frail, "I've... always been sickly... I couldn't stay healthy long enough to do much more than walking to my classes and home... with help. The doctors couldn't... figure out what was wrong, and... my family had to... pay a lot of money in hospital fees..." She curls up a bit, hugging Yukki tightly, "Because of that, my father, he... would get really mad... and he would drink... and shout, and argue..." She trailed off, her eyes looking almost lifeless, but a moment later she started again, "But I've been getting better. He's... gone. And I was going to school much... more often, but then... that accident... and now I'm here." Well damn.

[Rednaxela]

Kenji sighs deeply, "I'm sorry, sounds like you had it rough... anyway... I'm sure Shinigami and Zee and them won't make you do more than you're able to. They're... a bit bristly... but at the end of the day, they're also dependable." With a slight hint of a frown, they pause, before continuing, "Just make sure to let Zee know when you you're approaching your limit... and for that matter don't be afraid let anyone know when you'd rather not do something. Even Shinigami; Her bark is worse than her bite... well... from the perspective of those on the same side anyway."

[Hitoshirenu Shourai]

Kimiko nods slowly, "I don't know... what my limit is... I was never good at physical stuff... because I was sick so often..." she pauses, then blinks a few times, "Now that I think about it... aside from me... my class always had the least amount of illnesses..." she looks up at Kenji, "Do you think... maybe... I took their illnesses...?"

[Rednaxela]

Kenji frowns a little, "Could be... If that's the case, as far as being sick anyway, being here would probably be better for you than a school." What a strange form of healing ability, he thinks to himself.

Then looking to her again, a moment later he decides to add "If your power always is taking the harm onto yourself... you'll need to be careful... All the more reason to practice in harmless controlled circumstances  before going further. Maybe... papercuts?"

[Hitoshirenu Shourai]

She winces at the mention of paper cuts, "Those are the worst... they hurt and sting... and feel horrible... oh... but I guess there are worse things," she says, gingerly touching her newest scar on her belly, "I don't remember how I did it, but we can try it. Do you have any paper...?"

[Rednaxela]

Kenji winces a little bit, "Maybe not right now... Not a fan of papercuts myself, and in no particular rush here..." In truth, he wasn't really prepared to be dealing with causing pain to himself or others right now... no... he'd much rather suggest waiting for some random accident to crop up. He also finds himself thinking... if it really does work by taking on the ills of others... might make sense to have good medical care for them... hm... he finds himself pondering out loud "Wonder if we could procure some of that stem cell culturing tech..."

[Hitoshirenu Shourai]

"Stem cells...?" She blinks a few times questioningly at him, her hair falling in her face momentarily before she pushes it back up behind her ear. "What do those do...? Do you think those would help...?"