BUSHIN :: Main Page (Accepting & Open)

Lass stopped walking when he heard Isabelle's response. To his surprise, he saw her asking for a deal. For a moment, Lass paused and looked at his laptop in his bag. It was already doing more hacking and Lass had already obtained files about Isabelle and P.A.N.D.O.R.A. Slowly he turned around and looked at Isabelle. "I thought you were angry at me? Also, what would you have that I want?

Jin saw Amy walk through the door and immediately pushed aside his food, knowing that this conversation would be more important. Wiping his mouth, he asked, "Miss, am I right to assume you're here for interrogation?"

Good, he seemed open for the idea. Now all she had to do was play her cards right and manage to persuade him in joining. "With the information you have given us, there are only two ways we can repay you back," Isabelle began counting off the options with her fingers.  "The first one is, as P.A.N.D.O.R.A. members, we can bribe the superiors with the information to let us rejoin the organization and make you a new member. P.A.N.D.O.R.A. will then see to it that you are offered a job for gathering intel, have the best living conditions, and have some securities as an Arcane.

To Lass' surprise, he did not expect Isabelle to openly invite joining P.A.N.D.O.R.A. Of course, he had many questions and doubts upon Isabelle's offer. With a curious tone, "What do you mean by rejoin the organization? Are you not apart of it? More importantly, why should I join your organization?"

Lass only knew a small scope behind the two organizations that have fought each other for quite a while.. Personally, he didn't bother to favor or like one side over another. More importantly, he doesn't realize he would be classified as an arcane.

Isabelle snorted aloud at Lass's questions. Clearly he wasn't all up to date as she thought he was, but she'd leave the previous questions aside. Their relationship with P.A.N.D.O.R.A. was not the issue at hand. "Didn't I just list off the benefits for you? Let me repeat myself then: secure living conditions, a more accepting community, and a job. We'll even offer another bonus for your efforts if you can clear off your first round of training, like..." Here she trailed off, thinking of what they could offer to the kid. The tinkling sound of the marble in glass caught her attention and widened her smirk. "a lifetime of 'ramen' drinks of the highest quality and flavors. P.A.N.D.O.R.A. will pay all the expenses for you, including exportation fees from Japan."

Lass crossed his arms the moment he heard "ramune." He tried not to smile at the unless amounts of Japanese goods but forced himself to keep his neutral face expression. Though the other perks sound pleasant to the average 19 year old, he didn't really care much for the benefits. "What about the second option?"

"Why, I'm glad you asked, kid." In a fluid motion, her machine pistols were brandished out before her. One muzzle was a few inches away from his own head and the other probing the outside of the messenger bag. If he chose to run, then it would be unfortunate for P.A.N.D.O.R.A. to loose such a valuable asset, but fortunate for them if Lass turned out to be a traitor. She continued in her usual tone, "Death or 'ramen'? It's your call."

Amy nods, she types something into her holo " I'm going to start a few simple questions first. Why where you at the supermarket when we found you ?"

At this point in time, Jin saw no productivity out of lying about anything that didn't concern P.A.N.D.O.R.A. When he responded, he did so clearly and calmly, "I was buying groceries, miss." Thinking for a bit, he then added, "May I know your name as well? It doesn't seem to be fitting to call a young lady like yourself "Miss" all the time."

To Lass' surprise, he was amaze at Isabelle's speed and fluid motion. However, he had already been in this life or death situation again. "If something does happen to me, just note that secrets will automatically be exposed." There was a small smirk on his face. Time was on his side as he didn't want to make a decision quite yet. "For the time being, I will help unconditionally. However, you're running out of time as your friend is about to get an experience of his life." Lass then pointed back at the holo-board he gave to Isabelle as it contained information of potential "use of force" the S.A.F.E.U have at their disposal.

" Amy. What about yours? " she typed into her holo a bit more

"Why this damn brat!..." Despite her murderous thoughts on the Arcane hacker and how much she wanted to decorate him with bullet holes, Isabelle kept a neutral look on her face. "Fine then, it's a deal. I'm Isabelle, and you are?" she asked, proffering a open hand towards Lass.

---

Heavy footsteps approached Blake's ward and a military officer jerked his divider curtain open. Blake looked up in surprise from his assembly of lego blocks, the gun magazine was discarded onto the floor. "You can't possibly be making me go back to work now," he whined, even though his wounds were well recovered. "Didn't they tell you that I'm supposed to be off-"

The military officer cut him short by tossing a warrant onto his bed. "The superiors wants all of Team Foxtrot to start interrogating Arcane prisoner #41935 right away. The rest of your team is already down in the cellars, and you have permission to leave."

Blake's eyes widen a fraction and his lips curled into a chilling grin. "Does that include me using my special tactics?"

Only a curt nod came from the offier, causing the Arcane to shriek with joy and make some quick preparations before visiting his teammates and Jin.

"Jin Yang, a pleasure to meet your acquaintance." He replied amiably, not wanting to stir up unnecessary trouble. He then sat in a kneeling position, waiting for the next question.

Satisfied that he was able to control the situation under his favor, Lass smiled and shook hands with Isabelle. "You can call me Lass. What is your plan of operation?"

"You'll find out soon. Right this way, Lass" she said, still gripping his hand. Feeling her ancestor's powers quickly surge through her body, Isabelle envisioned the location of their hideout and teleported with him to their location.

Appearing in the ruins of an abandoned apartment, Isabelle held up a shushing finger to Lass as a droid hovered above. She then waved towards the droid, showing it her face before proceeding into the hideout. "Watch your step, Felix likes to set up old hunting traps." Almost as if on cue, the sound of a metallic trap snapped shut along with the squeal of some poor unfortunate animal within its jaws. She hardly winced at the sound and moved forwards into their hideout, dodging traps and debris. They soon came into a poorly furnished living room occupied by five others.

"Isabelle, what's with that runt here?" A man leaning beside the broken window with a sniper rifle in hand asked.

"Our ticket out of this hellhole and to saving Jin." Isabelle proudly stated as she shoved Lass in front of her insurgent crew. "Introduce yourself, don't be shy now."

Filled with amazement and curiosity, he was surprised at how different life was under the metropolitan of New York. What surprised him more was that it was all under the city. Upon meeting the group of individuals he nodded as he introduced himself. "You can call me Lass." What caught Lass' attention the most was the man holding the sniper rifle. Rather, it was the sniper rifle Lass was eyeing on.

"Nice to meet you Lass," the sniper said, acknowledging him with a nod. "I'm the weapon's expert of the group, Alexius. If you've got any interests in any weapons, I'll help with the outfitting."

From beside a worn-out plush sofa stood a pair of twins, both in their mid-thirties. The male twin was standing behind the wheel chair and supposedly the chauffeur of his sister in the wheel chair. They were dressed impeccably in formal black and white garb, though it was a bit dusty from their stay in the apartment. On cue, they silently nodded at the same time. "That's Felix and Rachel over there. They don't talk much, so don't get offended if they don't say hi. Just be careful not to screw things up under Rachel's watch though," Isabelle whispered.

On the sofa sat an elderly man with a fedora and a teenager decked out in outlandish clothing and black nails. "Good afternoon, Lass. I am Maxwell, our team's coordinator." The elderly man introduced himself while taking off his hat and bowing. The teenager sprawled beside him merely snorted and muttered his name to be "Caleb."

Lass acknowledges all the individuals with a nod for each one as they were introduced. "Pleasure to meet you Maxwell." As Maxwell bowed, he follow suite. In the back of his mind, he was slightly skeptical at the group but was optimistic since he was caught off guard at Isabelle the first time they met.

A loud clap of hands ended the introductions between the members. "Alright, we have no time to waste," she announced, and tossed the holo-tablet onto the cracked coffee table. "This tablet that Lass has so kindly handed to us, contains all the information about S.A.F.E.U. from approximately three months ago, and possibilities where Jin could be located." As she spoke, Maxwell immediately began analyzing the information on the tablet with feverish fingers. "Maxwell, how long will it take you organize a plan and escape routes?"

Without lifting his gaze from the screen, Maxwell said, "Why, only a few minutes, child. With this much information, we should be able to move out anytime... Just give me some time and.... Oh my goodness. This information was so top secret that... I never knew..." The elderly man became so absorbed the new information that he didn't notice Isabelle ushering the rest of the crew out of the living room and into the dining room. Only Caleb remained in the room with Maxwell, taking up Alexius's former position with the sniper rifle.  

"While Maxwell is in his thinking mode, we're gonna suit up. Rachel and Felix, go to our usual place and see if we have any gear left for another raid. Alexius, get Lass a weapon just in case anything happens." The Haitian commanded as she turned on her heel, headed towards the entrance.

"And where are you going?" Alexius questioned, as he clapped a hand onto Lass's shoulder.

"Out to visit an associate from you-know-who." she said dismissively before teleporting away.

Lass raised his eyebrows slightly after hearing Isabelle is going to see another individual. Turning towards Alexius, Lass pointed at the sniper rifle he first spotted. "Do you have something like that in your inventory?

Kurt stooped down and made himself comfortable on the cell floor, himself sitting across from Jin. He had felt a certain kinship with the captured warrior, so he treated him with respect. Tacking on another question to Amy's previous one, he asked, "What kind of food were you buying, Jin?"

---

Jin closed his eyes and thought for a moment, recalling the foodstuffs that he had bought. His eyes fluttered open, and he responded quickly, "If I recall correctly, I bought fruits, vegetables, noodles, ramune, some candy, and some beef." Jin was about to add on some more ingredients, but was interrupted by the sudden opening of a door. Jin saw the man with a knife that he had fought before, Blake.

Alexius looked thoughtful for a moment, fingers tucked underneath his chin as he thought. "I think we might have a few SSG 08s lying around the hideout. Let's go take a look in the armory." Here, he began walking down the hallway towards a flight of stairs winding upwards onto the second landing. "So, how did Isabelle bring you here?" He asked, amicably. "Let me guess, you're an Arcane too, right?"

---

Blake's clear eyes immediately lit up at the sight of Jin in the cell. "Why hello again! Thanks for the scar you gave me last time, I finally got to see the color of my own blood~" He grinned happily at their captive before turning to Amy. "Are the basic interrogations done yet, Ames?"

There was a big grin on Lass' face when he heard "SSG 08." Though Lass isn't a social individual, he was a bit more comfortable to talk to a male figure. "As society classifies us, yes. How did she bring me here? She had a gun to my head... twice." As they were walking down the hallway, Lass had both his hands behind his head.

Amy nods as she doesn't say anything else.

Alexius chuckled at Lass's sarcasm and began ascending the flight of stairs, careful to avoid any holes in the floorboard. "That's the Isabelle way, alright." Alexius said. "She may not be a fighter, but she knows not to bullsh*t around while negotiating." Walking down the second landing's hallway, they came across a large portrait of a rich family. Alexius slowly removed the painting to reveal a gaping hole in the wall filled with weapons and tossed an SSG 08 to the younger kid. You sure you don't want anything else?" He asked.

---

Blake was literally bouncing on the balls of feet in anticipation and clapping his hands joyfully. "Sweet! I'll be in my usual room waiting for him then~" He said, jogging down the hallway to S.A.F.E.U.'s special interrogation room for torture and the like. The man had his own room to himself, filled with his preferred weapons and toys hanging around the room.