Welcome to Gaia! ::

As Mateus returned, a man with an unmemorable face and clothes departed from the room and vanished into the stairwell. Aaron's back was turned to Mateus, and he seemed to be pacing with a concerned look on his face while repeating the word "crap" under his breath multiple times. When he finally turned around, he was so surprised that Mateus was behind him that he pretty much back-pedaled into a wall.

"W-w-wow, M-m-at, y-you surprised me. How long you been th-there? You ready to start."

Mateus made no mention of the fact he had startled Aaron, although Mateus did find his anxious pacing and inaudibile muttering a little unsettling. He was nervous about something and the boy doubted it had anything to do with server maintenance. "I was not gone too long, was I Senhor? I am ready to begin. Just tell me what needs to be done first."

He had hoped his ignorance to Aaron's nervousness would help relax his superior and focus on the task at hand. The boy did not want to ask his reasoning for this type of reaction, at least not yet. Besides, it was probably nothing, Perhaps Nikolai had badgered the poor kid on the communicator again.

"As you wish. I shall get started." Finally it seemed Aaron calmed down a little. taking some supplies in hand, Mateus began the tedious task of starting on the server his superior had pointed out to him. He was indeed correct, this server was quite filthy by computer standards. It seemed odd to the boy that such a thing could happen really. With the amount of resources used to insure that the server room is not only kept secure, but at one point Mateus was sure that they kept this huge server room to clean room standards. Perhaps things had in fact changed. He wasn't in the loop as much when it came to the logistics of the place. Nikolai did things his way and used people of his choosing. That did not include Mateus.

Thing were truly different under Nikolai's rule of the organization. Little things like this server issue would not go unnoticed by Isabella, few things did. He always did wonder whatever happened to his cruel and calculating mistress, he did miss her presence. She was never one to show love or compassion, but if you worked for her, you always knew where you stood, for the most part anyway. She was the only person the boy was close too, having raised him since he was too young to remember anyone else. Mateus thought of her often and wondered what exactly happened, he assumed she was dead. At least that's what he was told. Little information was passed to him and it was too risky to make these inquiries on his own. He knew he was watched constantly. It was never said, but he was well aware that his loyalty was questioned time to time.

With the last mission a complete debacle it was no wonder the paranoia of a potential mole was suspected in their group. Either that or the quality of the incompetence just got ridiculously out of control, Mateus couldn't decide which. With some of the work done for the day, Mateus nodded to Aaron as he was dismissed. "Very good Senhor. I look forward to resuming our work tomorrow. Have a pleasant day." Mateus said nothing further as he headed out of the server rooms and towards the elevator. Seems the hours of menial work did make him a bit peckish. Pressing the up button, Mateus waited patiently for the elevator to arrive.

A quick step on then off the elevator brought him to the lounge area. Charlie was the one holding down the fort today. An uncharacteristically genial chap. So much so it made Mateus wonder how he ever ended up in Kepi in the first place. He was one of Nikolai's additions. Perhaps he provided a lot of information about the staff here. Who knows really. It was never a good thing to engage in thoughtful paranoid conspiracies, someone always loses. Sitting at his usual place at the bar, Mateus put in for a simple meal and some water. Although there were no particular restrictions in Kepi when it came to alcohol, Mateus was not known to drink anything of the like.

*Watching Kamiko leave, the young woman turned to her drink after giving the other woman a farewell wave. Sitting there in silence, she finished her drink before paying her own share and departing. Making her way back to her room the young bodyguard continued what she had been doing. That list Mr. Polzin always had for her. There were still a few tasks that she needed to finish up. They took place in the Arsenal Annex, seems the head over there requested assistance. People called the one in charge Iron...and they weren't male. It was a female in charge over there. So the blue-black haired female had no issues.
Then what would she do? After that she would go to check on Faye and all before coming back and grabbing a meal and turning in to be up early for when she was needed again. It wasn't much of anything really. She just took care of things around the base normally. She was a trained bodyguard and unless she was needed somewhere to guard someone, she barely left the base. It was a few times when she had been sent out on a mission that they needed her skills elsewhere, so now she didn't go anywhere. Which was fine, not like she cared so long as she had something to do.
Walking in she made her way into area. Her presence was not missed by the one whom had her summoned. She was in her mid 40's and looked to be a little rough around the edges but she was one of them hard working girls. Heart of gold and fist of steel...Iron wasn't afraid to put people in their place when needed but was too good to eliminate.*
Iron - Good, you're here. Thought you weren't coming, you are normally spot on for time.
Meave - It was in my schedule, so I came. Was late to a meet with Kamiko that ended up pushing things back a little. I apologize.
*The young woman bowed and Iron was trying not to laugh, someone bowing to her was a little ridicules but the other had always this way.*
Iron - No need, I can normally count on you, Meave. You know what you are doing. That much I can trust you with, I need to repair some things so I have no time for cleaning the weapons. My last aid was shot on mission, so I'm gonna need some help for a while.
Meave - So long as it is alright with Grand Master Polzin, I could help you till you have more assistance.
*The woman nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer.*
Iron - I'll forward the request in a bit. You get started and I need this fixed asap.
Meave - Understood.
*With that Iron when into the furnace and Meave took her seat at the desk she used for cleaning. Taking out the oil, cloth, tools and brushes she would need, the bodyguard set up her table before going to retrieve one of the items that needed her attention. With it in hand she headed back to the table, sitting down and began to work.*

*Yesterday Meave finished up her day helping out Iron and promised to be back the next day, as it was in her was in her schedule. After getting a quick meal she made her way to her room and spent the evening with her hawk. Looking over bare room, female took off her glasses and set them to the side, slightly dreading what Kamiko and her little sister had in store for her next Thrusday. Picking up her flute, she closed her eyes and lightly played the instrument for about half an hour, before calling it a night and going to sleep.*

*The next morning saw that Meave was once more in the same routine. She woke, showered and took Faye out for her morning flight. Both owner and hawk proceeded to breakfast, enjoying each others company. Once that was taken care of the spectacled one took her companion back to her room. Checking the time and knowing there was nothing else for her planned, the fighter went straight back to Iron and began helping her once more.
That was until Meave heard what sounded like foot steps heading in their direction. At first the younger female thought it was just some of the foot soldiers coming to get their weapons but closer inspection of the sounds...no, it wasn't foot soldiers at all. Waiting to see who it was, she was pleasantly surprised when she saw a pair of twins, no one had seen in months.
Isao and Masahiro had come back from their latest tour. They were early too. In fact, Meave had not expected to see them, the siblings were another of the few that she got along with mostly...Isao confused her a little from time to time but that was alright. She set down what she was doing in order to greet them properly when Isao had spoken. The bodyguard paused mid bow for a moment, getting Iron to pay closer attention to what was going on. Standing back up, the black-ish haired fighter stared at Isao for a minute before tilting her head to the side and blinking...she didn't get it.
Iron however had a different reaction. When Meave looked at Isao with cluelessness on her features, the older woman burst out laughing and came over slapping Meave on the back so hard the younger's glasses almost fell from her face. The quiet girl looked up to the one she was helping with even more confusion. The brash woman, just filled in the conversation for her.*
Iron - Well, hun, as sweet as that is of you to say. You have to remember just what kinda case we are dealing with here. Laying the honey on too thick, you're just going to drown the bee.
*Looking on between the two Meave felt even more confused than before. Using both hands she reached up to straighten out her glasses before she returned to watching every one...still lost about everything...what did angels and bees have to do with saying hello?*

*The conversation seemed to continue the line of the previous and kept the quiet female just as confused. Iron was just as confusing as Isao...well the whole of the Kepi was normally confusing for her. As the elder female stepped in to take control of the exchanged speech, Masa took his time to come over to her. As far as Meave was concerned he was the nicer one of the two regardless of his looks, of which the younger was sort of fond of. Masa had a look all his own.
When the rocker spoke, he apologized for his brother's behavior...like he normally did. This cause the normally stoic female to give him a small but sincere smile. It wasn't his fault that his brother was weird. So like normal she just brushed it off, Masa shouldn't have to worry about covering for his brother.*
Meave - It is alright, I should be used to his manner of being yet, he catches me off guard a good amount of the time.
*The subject then changed to the man's weapons. They had been on tour for 3 months, so where the instruments of battle had been replaced with instruments of music it didn't mean that they didn't have to be checked. Just like a guitar, the weapons had to be tuned every now and then.*
Meave - Certainly, please come this way.
*With that she began to head back into the armory area. That was where she had left all her tools any way. Good place to start and to get some time to sit down and feel as if she is actually getting somewhere. With the amount of guns that had to be fixed the bodyguard was certain that she would helping in there for the rest of the week. May as well turn the topic into one that is informative. Addressing the rock star she spoke again.*
Meave - How did your tour go?

The training room was filled with music as Neil was warming up on the punching bag. The PA system was as loud as could be, and the fighter just continued to unload on the bag. His blows delivered enough of an impact to echo throughout the whole room. But he wasn't doing this simply for the matter of training, the man had been seeing red for the past couple of hours. Based on his performance during the last mission, he was stripped of his team leader rank and now had to report to another Kepi Elite. More specifically, Carter. The news infuriated him. While he still stood among his high-ranking Kepi members as one of the strongest, he had to report to someone. Use "sir" when addressing. Do what this person told him to do. That pissed him off to no end. Barricading himself in a training room was all he could to keep from going off the deep end.

"Argh! The nerve of that Nikolai b*****d! I oughta go up there and put two holes his high-class russian... argh!"

He lashed out the bag again and actually knocked it off its hinges. It flew in the air before landing with a hard thud in the corner. He stared at the bag, breathing deeply before going to set another on up.

"Well, I see your training is off to a fine start."

Neil turned around to see a woman standing in the doorway. She looked to be 5'7" with a slim, athletic build. Her hair was short with a light green color and eyes to matched. She was dressed in a workout tanktop and matching pants. She smirked and welcomed herself further inside the room. Neil continued working on resetting the bag.

"Whadaya want, Julia?" he asked.

"Nothing much." she responded. "Just wanted to know what crawled up your a** and died is all."

Her crudeness aside, Julia was really the only other person Neil got along with. She was a tough fighter who gave him a run for his money on numerous occasions. While her reason for joining the Kepi was uncleared, he saw her as a valuable ally and friend. He sighed deeply as he got the bag reset.

"Boss man demoted me. I'm now a signature Kepi member who's no longer allowed to lead his own team. I'm the only one who takes the orders now."

"I see. So that's what has you steamed."

"Ya damn right!" he exclaimed. "Nevermind the fact that no one was available on their f*ckin communicator and what have you. I screwed up, I didn't know the plan, so I got cut. I swear I wanna break that motherf*cker's face so badly!"

"Oh shut the hell up. Please? You're doing more whining than me on my period." she said. For better or worse, Neil stopped talking and went back to hitting the bag. Julia cut off the music, so she could speak to him more clearly.

"Now look, I know you're not particularly happy with the current arrangement. But don't sweat it so much. So Nikolai bumped you down a peg. You still have the option of getting back in his good graces and getting your spot back. You just have to get your head outta your a** and really get in it gear. We're not here to play patsy, we came to kick some a** and win a war. You do that, you get your spot back. Easy."

Julia had put his situation into a workable perspective. Work hard, rank up. That's what Neil would have to do if he wanted to stay with the Elites as a true Elite. He sighed and rubbed his head.

"You're right, Jules. I just gotta get real serious about this. Thanks."

She smiled at her friend and gave him a slight nod.

"Hey, that's what I'm here for. To give you a good kick when you need it. Now stop pummeling that bag and try me on for size. I haven't forgotten that last L I took, and I intend to make amends.

She settled into a fighting stance and taunted Neil. All he could do was grin and prepare himself as well.

"You sure you can beat me this time?"

"Tch. I've been doing some extra training with Iron, so I can't lose."

"So you mean that this'll be really embarrassing when you do lose, right?"

"Bring it, Shinra!"

The woman came in fast with a powerful kick that Neil blocked with his arm. The amount of power behind the strike was enough to send a shiver of pain down his spine. He grinned hard as he stared his opponent in the face.

"Looks you brought the fire today! I like it!"

(Julia Androse: http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac240/Lady_Phoenix20/Zis Album/rezi_anime_punk_girl_wallpaper-other_zpsecb7vi1l.jpg)