President Monoko wrote:Kayna...Depending on how she's built, of course, the name should slip into the white-haired woman's head like a fish silently into water. It was natural, there, as if it had always been--after all, Kayna was her name...there should be no doubt about that. The woman may idly brush a strand of brown hair from he eyes--a slight pout coming to her lips unbidden at the chastisement...
Kayna blinks at the momentary chastisement, and frowns for a moment, pouting slightly. Something seemed wrong about the whole situation -- possibly just the unfairness of being called out like that, but... no, there was something else wrong about this situation. Brushing the hair from her face, she tries to remember what it was she'd seemingly forgotten...
Meanwhile, elsewhere...
Professor Heidegger frowns at her displays.
"Something wrong, professor?" Major Matheson asks, leaving over the woman's shoulder. Most CTC officers and scientists preferred to interact with available data through their cybernetic uplinks, even in fully virtual sensoriums, but Matheson never felt comfortable ignoring his physical surroundings, at least while in the field, so he relied on the visual displays available in the mobile command unit on board the transport.
"I'm detecting physical and neurological changes within Special Adjutant Caine," the professor said, adjusting her glasses.
The major frowned at that. "I thought the U-series were practically invicible, particularly against transformative agents..." he mutters.
Professor Heidegger allowed herself a slight smile. "Not quite," she admitted. "But I'm quite curious to know how this got past her defenses, particularly the Imagine Breaker." She skims through the incoming data from the various sensors available. "It looks like we're up against a particular potent enemy."
Major Matheson straightens up, stroking his chin. "Diablo 2 has just finished its sweep of the area. She we deploy its strike team and the URD team?"
The woman shakes her head. "We shouldn't risk them yet... although I'm going to deploy URD 2's T-series on a retrieval mission. We can't let that fall into someone else's hands yet."
The major nods. "All right." He glances back at the troop compartment of the aircraft. "Do you think even the HTR gear will help?" Glancing back at the professor, his gaze shifts down to the COWARDS unit worn at her belt.
Noticing his glance, Professor Heidegger smiles. "It might," she says. "But the design paradigm may be working against us, here. We'll have to see how well the CRAVEN units hold out. Personally... I'm going to trust in the COWARD System. If my guess is right, it may actually provide a better defense against what we're up against."
Major Matheson grunts. "Huh. Maybe I'll have to ask for one out of storage... although I don't plan to get any closer than a kilometer to that thing." He turns away, but pauses. "Oh, and professor... if it does look like we're going to lose the assault team, I'm making preparations to order an LRS-HV/NL."
The professor quirks an eyebrow at that, but nods. "If you feel it's necessary. We still don't have enough data to know whether or not that would be effective."
The major just chuckles. "Perhaps... but I'd prefer to at least try. Better safe than sorry, after all."