Interrogation [Cadet Investigation]

The morning waned by as school finally reached the end of its eight hour period. While club activities continued, there was a room reserved for the Cadets and a special guest within the Sorority Halls. It was empty, but not for long. A young girl finally stepped towards the door. Sheepish and shy, the student peered inside only to notice it was empty before entering the room herself. It always felt more nerve-wracking to be the first one to arrive for her. Samantha would wait by the desks and fiddled with her phone as if it were some comforting implement to ease her anxiety. But she wouldn't have to wait for very long as they arrived.


It was her first time actually meeting Cadets. Stories and news of their exploits made them feel like they were entirely above most people. Knowing this certainly didn't help matters as she squeaked out her greeting. Needless to say, the girl really wanted this to end soon. But she had to stay, if only for her friend.

Only her second time within Seven Stars Academy and Susan was still on business. It was just as well, she had long graduated her own schooling and had no need to be on the grounds save for her responsibilities as a Cadet. She was slightly relieved by the timing of things, actually. Susan would have hated to be present during active school hours. She felt that she was much too old to be there milling about among the students, at best she would be mistaken for a teacher, likely from her attitude and manner of dress. At worst she would be glared at or questioned and the businesswoman simply did not want to deal with that at all. She was already nervous as it was this being her first real assignment. It was the first real chance she could get to prove herself... well, unfortunately second after the events of the other night. Hopefully that was an isolated incident that would be kept between her and Julius, it would do nothing but erode team cohesion to have her crying incident as public knowledge. Thus this was the first chance as far as anyone knew, and her first chance for redemption after her lackluster performance during her trial.

Susan had arrived early as per standard protocol. If you were 15 minutes early you were on time, if you were on time you were late, and if you were late you were fired. Unfortunately for her sake the others did not share her mentality and it left her waiting. No matter, even though she was away from the office Susan could still work out some of her projects in the downtime. She brought along her tablet for note taking and her PowerPoint presentation over quarterly sale trends was coming along nicely. To be truthful she was hesitant to take the reigns of this operation being as it may that she did not quite get how things worked yet. As it was she was assigned to this interrogation rather late and was coming in with no doubt reduced information. It would not do for her to lead this time around, not until she could establish a pattern of reliability that others could place trust into. It was difficult starting from the bottom again yet she had been there before, she would make do.

Still... an adult standing around fiddling on a personal computer after school was awkward and Susan could feel the butterflies thrash in her stomach. The time was whittling by... or perhaps it wasn't, but it certainly felt like such. Susan checked her watch... 2 minutes. Only two minutes had gone by in the eternity that she was waiting. The businesswoman folded her arms uncomfortably, uneasily awaiting the appearance of her new comrades as she stood guard outside the assigned classroom for this operation.

Jackie stared at Seven Star Academy, with a slight frown. So this was the 'school' Humans attended. That was good to know. He would have greatly preferred if it had been under better circumstances, but...this first trip would have to do. Cadet Business was important to him, and he refused to screw up on his second mission because he wanted to have a bit of a look around. Pushing everything else to the back of his head, he entered the school. After taking a moment to get directions, he made his was too the classroom in record time...though he stopped outside of it. It seemed like the entire group hadn't assembled yet. Which was strange, but fine. Better to arrive a little early rather than not at all.

"U-um...hi! My name's Jackie, I'm here for the Mission too." He greeted, with a polite nod. He removed his sunglasses, hanging them on the color of his sweater. After the last investigation, he realized that ALL good cops took off their glasses, only to put them back on and say a cool one liner at the end of the investigation. Or at least, that's how it went in Cop Shows, and Boss hadn't corrected him when he asked, so it HAD to be the case! With his introduction stated, Jackie stood still, waiting for some kind of go ahead, or instructions. Unlike last time, it wasn't a solo investigation, and Jackie wouldn't act without an agreed course of action.

It was another day and another pain in the ass job that he had to do. Joseph didn't want to go initially. But in order to soar to the top, results must be shown to the prevailing superior officer. To get results, experience on the job was necessary. He hated this, but still forced himself from returning home immediately. The Cadet jammed his hands in his pockets while looking relatively nonchalant of the whole thing. Really, he preferred to screw around at home than be here. But what can you do?

After making the last turn from the corner, Joseph finally eyed a pair of people near the designated classroom. He easily recognized one of them, prompting him to give an acknowledging nod at Jackie. It appeared to be the place if this guy was here. So who was this office lady spinster? She appeared significantly older than most of the Cadets he ever met, save for the Prince. But she did seem professional. Maybe it won't be so much of a waste of his time. He approached them.

Resting her head on Shiina's shoulder, the apex predator known as Azami would release a listless yawn while pawing the pillows underneath her indignantly. Taking delicate time out of her day to talk to some brat? The stench of grunt work emanating from this mission was palpable and she was practically about to hurl at the notion of members of the glorious Tsurinai family playing babysitter. But it was her master's will and so she'd see it through -- no matter how frustrating it was. The shiba swiftly scanned the faces of the Cadets assigned to the task but found little in the way of familiarity or noteworthiness, so she accordingly paid them little regard for the moment.

"Is this really important enough to assign Cadets to? Tch... It's honestly a pathetic idea. Will the queen meet us in person and ask us to save kittens from trees next?" Despite her complaining, Dogzami's words wouldn't reach the ears of any in the room (as far as she knew anyway) thanks to the natural language barrier in place, ensuring that the bitter morning curses and whining would simply register as a dog's subdued barks and yips.

For just a moment Susan had thought that the students that approached were just that. Students. But apparently they themselves were Cadets much to her surprise. In hindsight it made perfect sense; Seven Stars Academy itself had a Cadet program that enlisted their best and brightest and it would follow that a good portion of Cadets would come from this pool. Adults such as herself were often busy with their own built lives: marriages, children, careers... She likened it to the military. Those with an infinite open future with enough talent to endorse were scouted out since they had a higher chance to be agreeable and greater ability to be molded to the Cadets' core values and mindset. In this situation Susan would be the odd one out. Whether her age would garner respect or scorn would need to be seen, she certainly hoped it was the former. As far as first impressions went the young man who introduced himself as simply "Jackie" seemed nearly as nervous as she was if a little informal, but that brought no judgement other than he might be as new as she was with the matching pattern of behavior. Joseph was a different story adhering straight to protocol and eager to engage in the assignment at hand with a commanding presence that felt natural, she assumed he was the more seasoned of the two.

But it was apparent that none of the trio present were in charge. As soon as Susan opened her mouth to return introductions she was interrupted by the appearance of a fourth student, the de facto leader of this operation by not only her claims but presence and possession of greater information.
"Pleased to meet you," Susan nodded in her stoic professional manner, "As I have not introduced myself yet to anyone present I am Cadet Susan Groves, also assigned to this interrogation. I look forward to working alongside you all." Her statement was polite if a bit curt and wooden, but there would be time for pleasantries when the work was finished. The businesswoman accepted the dossier with a small "thank you" and began to read immediately. This must be the information that she had been missing, there were connections here that had not been made clear.

Susan would pull her tablet tighter to her chest when Shiina would mention how she was there to take observational notes. That was... that was what she was there to do. The mousy woman did not feel it her place to take charge in this investigation being as new as she was, however she was worried she might have to take the reigns given all this recent information. She would have been content to sit idly by and allow the others to conduct their inquisitions, interjecting relevant comments and questions here or there as she observed their standard practices, yet she would be forced to perform instead. She also happened to be the only fully-capable adult that was a part of this. N-not that everyone was incapable of course, she would not insinuate that Cadets were incompetent by any means. But she was certain that she was the only one of them able to rent a car and it would reflect poorly if someone of her age did not present themselves as in control of this event. There were certain cultural obligations she had to meet, and Susan could freely meet them if she were allowed to merely observe, fulfilling a perceived supervisory role despite all actuality and it was clear this would not be happening. It also gave her a mote of concern that their "leader" would refer to a dog as her partner like some sort of high school club rather than the elite protective force they were, but she wrote that off as a character quirk. The shiba inu was likely some sort of school mascot, they were still students after all.

"Y-yes, I understand," she replied softly, turning to focus on the task at hand: absorbing relevant information. Susan's eyes scanned the report before her, mouthing out sentences as she read silently to herself and making faces at the paper in an attempt to understand what it was she should do with this data.
"I believe I have a number of questions, Ms. Tsurinai," Susan stated in a much more confident tone. She was always one to have questions, the better to grasp every little nuance.


There was certain other information that Susan needed to know but nothing she could not glean from their witness's student records. It would be rude and unprofessional to ask an obvious question that could be answered by looking at the document she had been handed. Particularly she was attempting to gauge who they were about to speak to and who best to do so.

Action:

Strengths & Weaknesses:

Impact:

Jackie tended to save to formalities for the civilians. It was easier that way, as far as he could tell. After all, the Cadets were the ones he was 'really' going to get to know, anyway. He waived at Joseph, when he finally arrived, giving a quiet nod. And then the other girl showed up. At first, Jackie was confused...until she introduced herself as a Class 2 Cadet. "Oh!...it's a pleasure to meet you, Officer Tsurinai." Jackie greeted, deciding to act a bit more formal in front of a superior officer...though then he ended up far more interested in the dog, attention taken away from the piece of paper Shiina had given him. He supposed he could understand her annoyance, but still! It was a job for cadets. "If the Queen asked us to go help a cat out of a tree, we'd do it anyway!" Jackie huffed at the dog. "We're here to help the city...and technically kittens, AND missing teenagers are apart of the city." He crossed his arms, before finally looking at the paper.

"Huh...well, I think our fellow Officer's pretty much covered any questions I'd have myself." He decided. "Our job's just to see if we can get any leads on where the kid's disappeared to, right?" Jackie asked, before going quiet. He had initially thought that any other missions posted in the following days would be follow ups of some kind on the investigation he had done the other day. That app was going to end up annoying him, but whatever! This job was important too! And he was going to do his best to complete it!...that's why he was created, anyway.

Strength Used:

And just like that, his question was answered. The young Cadet swerved around to meet face to face with a young woman with a head of silver. Whatever annoyed complaints he had, they were all gone when he saw her coming. Or at least until he saw some mutt trot near her like some kind of mascot. They stuck out like a silver-painted thumb and a brown dot in the school background. Tidy and professional just like the other woman, but most importantly a higher-up Joseph could learn to suck up to. While there was that mutt that begged a question, it was better to keep quiet on the matter. Instead, it was time to put on that sweet ass-kissing mask. "It's a pleasure to meet a superior officer, Ma'am. I look forward to working with you. The rest of you as well."

He accepted his page from her and made a cursory glance over, not really caring too much about the details. Right now he would just watch and bide his time a little to get a feel of how this all worked. Wouldn't want to fuck up in front of a superior. Not like this pale weirdo recruit who began talking with dogs for some out-of-place asinine reason. This is why he hated weirdos. The tendency to ruin the mood was outright annoying. It made things annoyingly awkward. What a great start. A mascot and a dog whisperer. He quietly thought to himself with a composed look on his face.

Had he just... What the fuck? Azami blinked in confusion at the man. Under normal circumstances, she'd simply dismiss him as delusional as she and her master had done to that pink-haired primadonna back when she had succumbed to paranoia regarding the shiba and her speech, but he displayed far too much clarity and knowledge of her words for this to be any mere eccentric rambling. The notion that someone could actually understand her was simultaneously relieving and worrying given what she had been saying behind the backs of the humans of the city, however, as expected no one seemed to pay him any mind and she had no interest in changing that for the moment. Instead Azami merely smirked smugly at him and wagged her tail from inside the bag. "Didn't your parents teach you any manners? You shouldn't talk back to your superior -- I'm of higher birth and rank than you Maury. Once you prove yourself worthy of the label then you can feel free to lecture others on what it means to be a Cadet." Casually licking her paw, she'd fall silent after that gloating and turn her attention back to the case at hand. Presumably it was time for the group to move inside and confront the witness now that pleasantries were out of the way.

When the door opened, the sitting girl jolted her back up straight as she hurriedly turned off her phone with one hand before jamming it into her pockets. She seemed awfully worried by the numbers that were coming into the room. Was there something wrong? While the classroom accommodated for a full class, it suddenly felt stifling for her. She expected maybe one or two Cadets to begin questioning her. But this? It made her feel a lot worse. She apprehensively replied. "Um... Okay. I'll do my best. What do you need to know?"

"Y-yes Officer Tsurinai," Susan affirmed meekly, feeling chagrined. She believed that she was already off to a bad start, referring to another Cadet as Miss instead of Officer as others had done. Shiina's small correction had similarly shook the businesswoman's feeble confidence which admittedly wasn't terribly difficult to do. Clearly her professional and cold demeanor was a facade, she was much too skittish to remain stoic when pressed. Hopefully she could keep up a more pleasant and accommodating attitude for this interrogation, she would hate to scare Ms. Williams by being overly professional and icy.

Jackie's presumption over the situation was correct... even if he was... addressing the Cadet's dog. T-that was... interesting. In any case, they were there to gain leads on where Ms. Wilson could have disappeared to. She guided her nose in closer to skim Ms. Ts- ...Officer Tsurinai's clipboard with the Missing Person's Report and found it odd that Ms. Williams was the one to submit for it. Not Ms. Wilson's parents. She raised an eyebrow but would remain silent on the matter. If Ms. Wilson came from a broken home then it would be typical that they would not have cared or noticed, as tragic as that was. On the other hand it could also reveal that something had happened to Ms. Wilson that Ms. Williams was privy to, which would be why she herself submitted the report. She mentally noted down that question for later but other questions would be needed to be asked:

When was she seen last and where? Did she act unusual at all before she went missing? Did she profess a desire to run away? Where do you think she would go, where did you like to spend time together? Did she have any other friends that you know of? Any enemies?

But those would be answered in time.
"Yes, thank you," Susan would answer immediately to Shiina's comment about email contact. It would be a wise decision to exchange information at the end of this exchange for reliability's sake.
"N-no further questions. I believe I am prepared. I don't mean to impose myself, but if it is alright with the group I would like to open discussion for this investigation," she relayed to her new team, "I have already formed a line of questioning and I believe Ms. Williams to be a model student, she may respond more favorably to someone older than her peer group." Susan would wait for objections but not long. It would do well for her to be seen taking initiative in this matter, it certainly wouldn't hurt. She did her best to conceal her hesitation upon crossing the threshold to the classroom.

...Officer Shiina did her no favors by sitting behind the teacher's desk, making her more nervous. It was almost like one of those bad dreams where you were taking a test you never studied for that was worth over half your grade. O-only this one was actually happening. Nevertheless, Susan would resolve to blank her emotional slate and become who was needed at the moment. Officer Shiina had made remarks on her strictness so she would become more approachable yet still professional. Like a guidance counselor.


...she greeted with a cheery politeness. Susan would wait for her to return pleasantries with a Good!, I'm sorry to hear that, or replying in kind, whichever was appropriate. It was a psychological trick of course. By asking her what she liked to be called it would grant Ms. Williams a modicum of perceived control over the interaction, informalities would relax her, and a peppy attitude would establish positive connotations.
"My name is Officer Groves, you have already met Officer Tsurinai and this is Officers Jackie and Kerrigan. As you know we're here to talk about your friend Serah." Susan slowly sat down as she spoke, remaining standing would be intimidating, and she kept up her pleasant smile until her next sentence where it was replaced by a concerned frown.
"I know you must be concerned about her and I promise we're doing everything we can to look for her, which is why we called you here today to ask you these questions. Anything you can think of helps, and with your cooperation I'm sure we can find Serah."

Susan placed her tablet face down on the table, it was much too informal to continue to cradle it during the interrogation. She returned to an upright posture with a sympathetic and caring smile before speaking again. An act, of course. The businesswoman may have been a little more rattled than the student in front of her at the moment if not equally so. Fake it 'til you make it.
"Now if you don't mind, could you please tell us a little about your relationship with Serah Wilson? How do you know her? ...do you remember your last interaction with her?" Seemingly unimportant questions but leading ones. Susan surmised that their last interaction would have been rocky, which leads to asking if she was acting strangely before she disappeared, which leads to asking...

Questions Being Asked:

Strengths & Weaknesses:

Impact:

She was honestly afraid at first. But did her best to remain as composed as possible. There was a slight relief in her shoulders when only one of them would be questioning her for now. Yet the butterflies in her stomach refused to stop fluttering. Even as Susan began to warm up from that seemingly icy exterior. Then again she was a Cadet meant to protect the common people. So maybe it was alright and it couldn't hurt to give it a shot. She continued to murmur sheepishly in reply to this Susan Groves. "I'm... I'm okay. Maybe. I didn't do too well in my recent test."

Small talk. It was a typical way to start things, but it was a decent enough icebreaker in its own way. Hesitation aside, it was a sign that it was time to get down to business. Starting was hard, but it got easier to talk when she kept spilling the beans.

"Serah goes back to middle school with me. She was really popular and nice... she even gave me a chance to be friends when no one seemed to care about me." She squirmed in her seat a little. While the Cadet's smile was trying to ease up the vibe, the questions did put a little bit of a tension still. Especially the last one, it made her pause with a pained look on her face. She struggled to remain calm. Samantha hesitated for a moment as if still deliberating on what to say, but she finally nodded. The resolve was slowly set and the exchange would begin.

"...You're a rude dog." Jackie decided, losing interest in Dogzami. Honestly, why were the only dogs he met so mean? He loved dogs! Still, Jackie entered the classroom, deciding to hang back and let Susan do the talking...at least at the start. He was listening intently from where he stood, but walked forwards when the app was mentioned. He didn't really care if she didn't do well on a test. "Um! Just a moment, Officer." He held a hand up. "That App you just mentioned, did it by any chance lead to a website?" Jackie asked seriously. Nervousness in his tone was gone, and his expression had changed.

"And you said you kept deleting it...did she mention if it came back on it's own, or did she have to redownload it?"