Both of the agents remained silent, as they let the questions flood in. Rather than answer them as they came along, Sophia figured it would be best to answer them once everyone had their initial say. Zephyr on the other hand just didn't seem to care about answering anything, well that is till Eun's question came up. Something of which made the sides of his lips twitch up (a sight hard to confirm due to his mask) as he reached up to lightly touch his hair. Tilting his head up a bit, he seemed to consider the question for a moment.
"...….Yes...its a requirement. If....its not white...you are't considered a real agent......must make it this color.....those that don't, usually do it later, or....shave their heads~." He mused, finding the question to be utterly irrelevant to the situation at hand, yet he couldn't help but answer it, as until just now, he truly hadn't noticed how often white hair seemed to appear, at least, for this particular group.
"Zephyr!" Sophia whisper/shouted (something of which caused Zephyr's shoulders to softly shake, not from fear, rather he was holding back some laughter, to make sure he didn't let anything out he had to bring the back of his hand up to his covered lips). Letting out an exasperated sigh Sophia looked over at Eun as she gave him a soft smile as she shook her head.
"No, its not. Despite what Zephyr may say, a lot of the agents have different color hair, the three of us having white hair, is merely a coincidence."
"Hehe, you bought the wrong dye and didn't realize it till it was too late..."
Immediately a rosy flush graced her pale cheeks as she shot a glare to Zephyr as he looked at the opposite wall, pretending he didn't say anything.
"I swear..." she whispered, giving her head a small shake in an attempt to remove the blush, she turned her eyes back to the group as more started to speak. Of course a smile appeared on her face as she was more than ecstatic to answer any questions that pertained to the mission, she already got a question she had to answer from Ying, hopefully there would be more. She listened to Jake speak, and her smile remained (she even almost laughed at the skypirate bit), however when he brought up the sexy air head bit, she visibly flinched at this. Reaching up she softly grabbed her forearm, her smile faltered, yet she kept it for the most part as she continued to listen to him. Zephyr on the other hand, showed little interest. the only time he looked at Jake was when the zodiac referred to his partner, and even that didn't get much of a reaction from him. "
Ninjas stars...…..are fun." he droned finding the insults to be inconsequential.
"....Agency took mine away though.....doesn't allow them...…..too expensive... Too many complaints..."
While Zephyr brushed off the comments without an issue, Sophia on the other hand was at a slight lose of words for insults she had received.
"..Yes um...well..." Sophia started feeling really awkward right now as she tightened her grip on her arm. She knew she had goofed a few times already, the announcement, her ramblings, and the start of the presentation...the air head comment did seem valid in the whole aspect of things. Still, actually hearing someone say it, especially with that someone being a zodiac? Well it did make her gut get this twisted sick feeling, not that she showed this (well she tried not to, she had moved her eyes from Jake to the floor, and a dusty rose color went to her cheeks due to her embarrassment).
Luckily, she was able to distract herself from that situation when someone else started to speak. More than delighted to focus on a different subject she turned her attention from the floor to Hayate. Her grip was still a bit tight, but that smile remained as she listened to everything he had to say as well. Another reasonable question, at least he was being civil about it, even if it was obvious he had qualms with the situation at hand. Once Hayate was done speaking she gave a small nod, her lips still showed a calm smile, though it wasn't nearly as bright as when the questions started. Zephyr on the other hand, merely remained silent, his eyes which seemed to show no care or emotion calmly scanned the group before him.
"These are great questions, if there arent any others, I'll start answering what we have." Sophia stated calmly her tone not faltering in the least. Just as she was about to being answering, one of the other Zodiac's spoke up.
Sophia blinked a few times as she listened to Mai's outburst, while she was a bit shocked, it was obviously she didn't hate it either. As her smile seemed to brighten a bit at the fact that one of the Zodiacs were defending her and even Zephyr. When Mai sat back down and apologized she gave the girl a gentle smile.
"Thank you for your comments Miss Allen, but apologizes aren't needed. Zephyr has the habit of rubbing nine and half out of every ten people he meets the wrong way. At this point I just see it as an unwanted talent." She said simply which caused Zephyr to roll his eyes, but he said nothing in defense about this statement.
"Still, I do appreciate it." Turning her gaze to the group she softly clasped her hands in front of her.
"With that, I will answer everything I've been given. Let me know if I missed someone's question."
"To start off." She looked over at Ying with her gracious smile.
"Miss Fēng, the amount of time this will take, is rather hard to say for certain. I would like to say.....a week, that is if we start making our way to the location today, however that may be an overestimation. It could take as little as five days as well, it truly depends on the situation. As for the second part of your question. We lost communication with the camp two months ago. We sent the agents in about a month and a half ago. We kept talking with them for a good while, however, on the day they were suppose to arrive at the camp we never got a report from them. This happened a month ago. As you said, a lot of time has been lost. Honestly, we wanted the meeting to be done far sooner, however...…"
"...You're impossible to reach all at once...… We were told to wait till the six year meeting..." Zephyr drawled, his eyes once more finding more interest on a wall than the group.
"...Tried to make something happen sooner, but couldn't...."
Sophia nodded at this.
"While a good amount of time has passed, we were lucky that the meeting was occurring within a manageable timeframe. If it occurred latterly than intended, then there would have been additional issues to deal with." After this she turned her gaze over to Jake, as she had already long since answered Eun's question.
"I would show you my identification Mr. Kane but....." She trailed off a bit as she debated if she should tell the other what happened to her ID or not. With a simple glance, Zephyr knew what was on her mind, so with a light and begrudging huff he pulled his own ID out of his pocket. While he didn't care for showing his ID off to anyone, he felt it would be easier to do so than have her attempt to explain just how she lost hers. Besides, there was no reason to give more fuel to everyone to make them believe the woman was incompetent. With the ID now in hand, he flicked his wrist and accurately tossed it onto the table, so it landed in the middle of it, allowing all the Zodiacs to get a good look, should they choose to inspect it.
"That's as real as it gets... If you think my ninja star throwing self is lying....call your clan leader....or whoever.....can get more verification."
Should someone take the time to inspects Zephyr's ID. They would see if was very much real. It had his name (Zephyr Yuri, Nazilevskii), his picture (the face mask was still on him, covering his nose and below, however he wore no hat), his birthday (11/11/1994), as well as his current position (Senior Field Agent), lastly was his ID number. If checked in the light, they would see it had all the qualities of an ID for the agency he was apart of, there was nothing off about it and was in fact a genuine ID that belong to the Zodiac's Information Agency.
"Thanks." Sophia whispered to Zephyr, who merely grunted in response, making it evident he didn't enjoy giving his ID out. With that she cleared her throat before continuing.
"As for your other comments. While I understand his clothing may seem rather on the overkill side of things, I have to ask you don't press on the matter. His clothing isn't hurting anyone, and..."
"I worked hard on it.... It suit my tastes, looks like a cosplay I saw...….something I enjoy....works well at conventions." Zephyr said far too bluntly as he shrugged, his eyes looking back at Jake without any care.
"...………………….." Sophia almost facepalmed as she took a small breath before slowly exhaling.
"Zephyr, your mouth, keep it closed from now on please."
She only got a shrug in response as he slipped his hand back into his pocket.
"As for your comments on me, lets not go to petty insults please. I know I'm not the most organized and that I am rather clumsy, but please understand I am doing what I can to make this meeting work with what I have. I don't want an argument to occur over things like name calling, so lets keep it out of the meeting. Outside of here however, you can call me what you wish." She put simply.
"While I understand your concern about the agents, they wouldn't have any information that concerns any of you to give." Sophia said before looking over at Tani giving the young girl a reassuring smile.
"The idea of gaining the help of the Zodiac reps, didn't occur until after we lost communication with them. That, and all agents are trained to make sure no information is given out, even in...stressful situations."
"......Not to mention, our agents aren't average...nothing close, the clans don't seem to enjoy......average people in their...underfunded agency.........… How about... not insulting those that cant defend their name." Zephyr brought up coolly, with some contempt in his tone as his dull gaze looked over at Jake.
"Zephyr, don't make me repeat myself please." A mere scoff left the man as he once more turned his gaze to the wall. Trying to hide her exasperation, she turned her eyes over to Hataye as it was now time to answer his questions.
"When it comes to numbers, I do agree that thirteen is a large amount of people to bring on a single mission, especially one that we have so little to go off on. That being said, we really don't have much choice in the matter. If we take even one rep, all the others are expected to come as well. Their are some exceptions, however for the most part, the clans want to make sure they aren't missing a thing. It is felt that if only one member were to assist us, then information, or anything of importance we gain, will never reach or be shared to the clans that didn't participate."
"Basically.....the clan leaders want everything to be crystal clear....what better way to make sure nothing is hidden...then by sending a trusted and hopefully well trained representative."
Sophia gave a nod to this.
"Exactly." Sophia said before suddenly raising her foot only to smash her heel onto Zephyr's foot (she was in fact wearing high heels). This caused the heavily clothed individual to tense greatly, his eyes instantly snapped shut, a low grunt escaped his lips as he remained in his spot (namely due to the fact his foot was pinned to the ground).
"As long as they have more training than you when it comes to closing your mouth when kindly asked, I think we will be fine." Sophia whispered to Zephyr as she dug her heel into his foot making him wince a tad. In response, he gave a swift yet stiff nod showing he fully got the message she was trying to send. Giving her partner a smile, she slowly lifted her heel off of him
. "Behave yourself."
Now removing her eyes from Zephyr, she returned her attention to the group. "
Please know, that we don't only want you because the clan leaders insist. But also due to the fact we believe your powers will be a significant asset to us. Everyone here has a power that is unique, not to mention powerful in their own right. Some are perfectly suited for combat others, not so much. However, what they may lack in combat usage, there is a vast variety of other situations your powers will be of use. For instance, you Mr. Kurotama." Giving the addressed man a warm smile, she continued.
"From what I understand about your power, it can assist us in questioning any individual we find that may have something to do with the missing agents. Not only that, but it seems to be able to help in communication as well. Truly a marvelous power, both of these things will be valuable to say the least, especially considering the situation we are going to be placed in. With your help, the mission will go smoother than it would without it. This applies to everyone else in here, I honestly feel like there is a way for each of you to assist us in this to make the job go smoothly and without incident. To say I would enjoy working along each of the Zodiac representatives, is a great understatement." After stating this her usual calm tone faltered a bit, as a tad of admiration and excitement slipped from her lips. It was subtle for the most part, but not impossible to miss. Along with that, her eyes seemed to have am eager glimmer to them, while she didn't seem outwardly giddy, it wouldn't be hard to tell that she was genuinely delighted about the possibility of working along side them.
"Though, don't get me wrong, I fully understand why some, if not a large portion of you have no interest in doing this mission. It is time consuming, and we are unaware of the dangers that lay ahead. Personally, I wouldn't want to put something like this on anyone's shoulders so suddenly. Sadly, this mission is time sensitive, and lives hang in the balance as well. While it is possible to remove you from this mission, that would mean someone from you clan would have to take your place. Which would require a great deal of time, since I would have to discuss this person's removal with the clan leaders. If you are switched out, any credit that could have been yours, will of course be given to the one that takes your place. If you wish for someone else to fight for your clans pride, honor and image, please let me know after you have fully considered the situation." Rubbing the back of her head she continued.
"While I recognize this is a massive pain to many, if not all. I do ask you stick with us until this is cleared. We don't want any casualties, especially if they are avoidable. So please. bear with us, even if some people have gotten off on the wrong foot with others." Her soft smile remained on her lips as she gazed at the group, giving all of this a moment to just sink in.
"There is still a bit more to discuss about the mission. For instance travel and guidelines. Luckily, its not as much material to go over so it shouldn't take a great deal of time." Sophia stated as she gave a small tilt of her head, she was about to continue, however, before she could Zephyr finally spoke up.
"...…...Travel...from here to our location will be....two, three days max. If we go by chopper...should take less. However, the forecast says bad weather tomorrow...don't want to risk being in the air during that time." Zephyr stated, his eyes now focused on his gloves as he continued on
. "As for guidelines, those that actually end up going on the field....do what we say, when we say it. Tell you not to move, freeze. Tell you to hide, some how get the rats power...… Tell you to duck....you get the point. Don't follow our orders....can lead to unpleasant things...just go as ordered and we will have...no issue...………….. Hopefully...…… You'll be supplied with everything you need....we know what weapons you were trained with....if you don't have your own....we'll give it to you when we disembark...….. Don't cause trouble with authorities.... We are not above the law." Zephyr drawled as he looked at Sophia who didn't bother to stop him from speaking, after all, she was going to go over the same thing.
"Thank you Zephyr, my throat was getting a bit sore honestly." Giving out a small laugh she looked at the group.
"Any other questions before Zephyr and I leave you to discuss and figure out what you wish to do?"
@Kazuaki Yoshioka @SolemnOath @Solaresque @xLarius @Rads @Gumi @Allegra @Iceydaze
