The Debriefing [Cadet Morning Topic]

Maria hefted the coffin as usual, while sometimes scraping the bottom habitually to much of her chagrin. There was a lot inside her being that made her feel very uneasy. Nothing too special was going to happen, except perhaps a review of last night's events. But it's because of that it made her uneasy. Rarely did she take much of a peek at social media, but she noticed there was a stir in Sunlake Palms about a hoard of screams mentioned or something among the lines of being haunted. She was afraid to hear the news about what happened there, but just staying back wasn't going to get her answers. Though the Cadet had some general idea what had happened... But it didn't make her feel great about it, at all.


Soon Maria arrived at the Class Zero building, still attired in her nun garb. The sight of Alex and Lisa was heartening at first, but the look that exchanged between the two was something of concern. Shiina seemed rather dour, Maria didn't have to wonder much of why. Though there was one person that the Cadet felt like she met before, yet they haven't. Who was she...? Nevertheless she kept smiling, albeit there was a hint of worry in it. She chirped in greeting, ”Morning, everyone. How are you all faring?”

The Cadet waved at everyone that was present. If the Princess was here, it was a good indicator that she was in working health, especially in the presence of caring family members. But it didn't hurt to give some concern to her well-being, after all she is Royalty. It was worrying to hear from Serenity that she had to recover, but evidently it shouldn't be a problem. Which, of course, Maria didn't know that Lisa had gone back the night before despite her injuries.

Alex on the other hand, she was sure he was alright, he seemed rather smug about something. Exactly what, she didn't know. And that created a feeling of a growing pit in her stomach, which she tried hard to ignore. Shiina looked rather solemn, so she chose not to bother her much either. Again, the fourth person in this motley crew just didn't click in with her mind, but perhaps her brain will remember in time.

She walked towards the four before setting her coffin down against the wall, clearly even Maria had her limits carrying such a gargantuan weight, especially when walking around with wrist and ankle weights on. It would be hard to see due to the sleeves of her habit, of course. Speaking of which, they were getting a little itchy, perhaps Julius was inside so that she could finally take her seat and finally set the weights aside for today's meeting?

There was an irritating melancholy in the air this morning. After that stellar success last night on her first real mission as a Cadet, Cecilia thought she'd wake up in the morning free of all doubt and worry, but sadly that wasn't the case. Despite Julius's words and her own attempts at reassuring herself, her mind continued to wander its way back to the more unpleasant memories and implications of the operation, especially the sudden appearance of that demon(?) after Sera's defeat. While she held faith in the royal family and remained confident they could handle it themselves as the prince had insisted, she still couldn't help but feel a little troubled by what was going on, and even if she understood on an intellectual level why she was being assigned to other duties and tasks, it still irked her on an emotional one.

To make matters worse, news about a particularly gruesome killing was spreading through Suzie Q like wildfire. A resident of the district was found... eaten, her body viciously torn apart and devoured. She hadn't seen the scene for herself but just hearing about it was enough to make her feel sick to her stomach. It conjured up images from that night five years ago, visceral and bloody memories which had plagued her ever since. Thankfully (though also unsurprisingly), the government was either assigning Cadets to the case or already had them investigating it, at least according to what she had heard. Whatever monster was lurking in the streets, it would be brought to justice soon enough.

But even one victim was a victim too many in her book, especially considering the terrorist attack in the district that happened not too long ago. Suzie Q wasn't anywhere near being consumed by chaos, but nevertheless, it was troubling what was going on there. It reminded her just how badly the Cadets were needed and further affirmed her decision to join them now rather than later. Maybe that's why she found herself heading to the debriefing this morning in spite of Maria already representing them there.


As she approached the group of Cadets that had gathered there, she instantly noticed the atmosphere among them was just as heavy as it was in her home district, if not moreso. There were a couple of happy faces, but the mood was decidedly mixed. A sigh escaped her lips as she made her way over to the area, nodding in response to any greetings directed her way. She had kinda been hoping they'd all go out for breakfast after this, but that was starting to seem unlikely. Perhaps she shouldn't have skipped it after all.

Oh well. Whatever the case, things could be much worse. For now, Cecilia would simply wait patiently for the meeting to start, saying some quick and quiet prayers to Isla as time slowly marched on.

Sleep. It seemed that such a thing was hard to get when there was pain and chaos involved. He wasn’t quite sure how he got home, but he did know that most of the night he did not sleep. The events of the failed mission bothered him for a good while mainly because he was concerned about the others with him. He was concerned for Vivi cause honestly he did not want her punished for simply giving it her all and in the process being on the wrong team at the wrong time. If anything she was the most innocent of them all. He was concerned about Henry simply because he wonder whatever happened to the guy after all the chaos had stopped. He didn’t recall seeing the guy, so he had to wonder there. As for the last person Ms. Ghost...well there was a different form of concern that came from her, mainly a more selfish and paranoid one that involved her perhaps becoming a form of pest in his life. While he gave her information alright her actions and the way she behaved suggested that maybe he might have to keep an eye on her.

He wasn’t too sure, but a gun to the face from someone that was supposed to be an ally was never comforting. He honestly didn’t get why she did that, but whatever, he would just have to deal with her...and the fact that in the morning they were probably meant to report….Yeah that one was going to be a bitch. He supposed he could just not go...after all, he was techincally still recovering from that damaged to his leg. Sure it wasn’t physical, but the pain was real enough...and it was another reason why he did not sleep well. If his mind wasn’t worried about one thing then pain kept it occupied and if not pain then something else. It was a vicious cycle, so about time morning arrived the idol kind of in a zombie mode and he guess somehow got of his room and managed to not fall down the stairs since when he did finally snap out of the strange fog he was in, he would fine himself staring at the tv in front of him, the TV’s sound mute. He was watching some news program that was giving the weather, but then a breaking news report came up that had the Cadet’s stomach turning uncomfortably….There was a report about some chaos that occurred in Sunlake Palms...something involving screaming and dead bodies. The Government was on the case of course, but….did that mean his team was not the only ones that failed? Did this have something to do with Alice?

He had to wonder and in turn found himself groaning inwardly since he knew the only way to find out was to go to the very place he did not want to go...the morning meeting. This was not going to be pretty, but he supposed he had to do what he had do. After all couldn’t leave the job undone and so with that he would get himself up and perpare.

Some time later, despite being tired as hell and the leg he had been shot in deciding to still give him a bit of trouble, the idol would make it to the location he was suppose to be in just as people were settling in and questions were being asked…..specifically one directed towards his team who were all there. He could’ve kept quiet, but honestly….he wasn’t one to let others take the flack for something he did, so as he stayed by the door, he would answer.

“If I may, Your Highness,” he would begin in calm tones before taking a small breathe and continuing. “I lead a small team to the location Queen Bee was in that consist of myself, Ms. Vivian and a gentlemen by the name of Henry. We found our target and attempted to engage; however, she proved be quite the challenge so I called in Ms. Ghost as back up to try to even the playing field. However, not much was proving effective and in time we came a standstill and after being attacked and agitated further, the target managed to separate myself from Ms. Vivian and Ms. Ghost. From there I tried to negotiate with her; however….it did not go so well. I ended up shot in the leg and being unable to pursue her, she got away.” Haru would keep his report to the point and professional, showing no lie as he remained standing firm despite failure on his part. He had given his report and anyone looking could tell he wasn’t lying or trying to hide anything. The facts were what they were. What happened from there though was another matter.

Haru would hear the response back and take what was said easily enough as he cast his eyes to the side. “Perhaps it was foolish and rather dangerous of me to try it, but I honestly had hoped to simply bring her in. Regardless, I’ve learned the lesson well and will not let it happen again, Your Highness,” Haru would say his voice soft and humble as ever as he took the lash. While it was true he could be merciless, when he was attached to something in even the smallest of ways this colder side of him broke and made it hard to do exactly what he was supposed to do.

Ms. Claire….he didn’t know her long, but he had gained a form of respect for the woman that perhaps if things had been different it might’ve grown into something more; however, things were not like that any longer. Even so it did not change the fact that, the respect had been there and while it had been dangerous to do so it was not as easy to pull the trigger on her as one would think. He knew it was a direct order, but still...to kill just because you were ordered to?

He push that one away as a familiar voice drew his attention back to the present. Drew his attention back and caused whatever softness was there from pondering about Ms. Claire to dry up and be replaced by a coldness so thick it was a wonder it didn’t freeze the very thing it was directed towards as he looked at the woman who spoke. Had he expected Ms. Ghost to keep her mouth shut?

Absolutely not. In fact, he had suspected for awhile that she was going to give him hell and what do you know? Here was the proof that made it true. He honestly did not understand why she was so keen on being so difficult as if she was a commanding officer or something, but if that is the way she wanted to play that was fine by him. He would simply deal with the fact that she was going to be a thorn in his side. Annoying, but what else was new?

However, before he could formulate a good response to that and the looks given, his attention was brought back to the Prince as he acted out rather unexpectedly as Ms. Ghost decided to ramble about and call Ms. Claire some rather rude things. He honestly wasn’t surprised the guy was pissed. He would’ve been too considering that Ms. Claire and the Prince seemed to be rather good friends. Those that worked under His Majesty seemed to respect him greatly, so to have this come after said things had occurred? Yeah there was plenty reason to be offended. Even so that desk thing was unexpected, but the Cadet remained rather calm as a sigh escaped him.

“I honestly did not want to even say that to them, but do not misunderstand my intentions. What Queen Bee said to me was rather heavy. She said a lot things that I do not proof for nor did I find it wise to share with anyone at the time. To be frank, I was hoping to recover and speak one-on-one with you about it to see what you would advise to do; however, things did not pan out that way. My hand was forced so to speak, so I did mention the mole. As for details….” he would hesitate a bit as as his eyes briefly glanced over at Alex before drifting back to the Prince. “If you command it, I will tell you exactly what she said….” he trail off there, leaving it to the Prince to decide on that matter.

He wasn’t trying to be difficult here, but rather he was highly aware of who was in the room with him and while he did not know said players well, he did understand what the Prince was doing by using Queen Bee’s name. If he gave the information he had, he would have no choice, but to reveal exactly to who was who. Even with code names...it wouldn’t take much to line up the pieces depending on what information one had.

Haru would take notice of the look of suspicion from the Prince, but took it well enough. He hadn’t been lying with what he said. To speak to the matter the Prince wanted information on, would indeed be easier to address by stating names, but also the older Cadet found information he had rather tricky to handle. While it was true he could’ve let it all out there, he did not think it wise to hand over information that could potentially cause more chaos than needed even more so when a lot of what was said had no proof behind it.

Regardless, the Cadet would leave how he would be presenting said information up to the Prince. If he commanded it, he would tell the whole thing here and now; however, it would seem the Prince was a perceptive fellow and in the end agreed to speak with him after the meeting. To what was heard, the Cadet nodded appreciatively to the first part, but when questioned a bit more, the Cadet would pause to think as he shifted his weight to the leg that had not been shot to ease up the lingering pain there. Even so, he did not wince as he opened his mouth and answered.

“I recall her ranting alot against the Government and also making some mention of returning the city to a chaotic state. From what I understood, I think she may be trying to overrun the place with demons and bring life as we know to a survival of the fittest sort of deal. It was quite strange to be honest. As for accomplices, I do not recall her mentioning any within those rantings. I am afraid that is all I have,” Haru would say his words coming out easy and without a trace of a lie as he looked over at the Prince with a small frown seeming a bit annoyed with not being able to provide more information, but he did what he could so hopefully that was enough to aid them in the end.