Lesser Kay, like almost every Centran town ever established, was small, run-down, and really rather rustic. It was cobbled together in a manner only slightly less haphazard than most, with a fairly well-planned dock and a serviceable warehouse district--both of which saw frequent use as military and science personnel stopped over in the town on their way to wherever they needed to go.

It was the first time that Taiga had been near an actual settlement since he had defected--and he wasn't at all sure he wanted to be near this one. So, after a brief conversation, they had agreed that Taiga would wait outside the town until Lu came to get him. Where Taiga went, of course, Fujin would follow--so she had stayed, prompting Raijin and Seifer to stay put, as well. Squall had frowned over this state of affairs for a while, then ordered Nida to remain with them--what purpose he was serving there, Nida wasn't sure. And so, when all the confusion had passed, it ended up that only Lu and Squall would actually be going into town, and neither of them were quite sure how to react to that. In the end, Squall just demanded to know where the terminal was and stalked off on his own.

The Terminal was a low, circular building near the centre of town. It was free-access, maintained by docking fees and local taxes. Inside were about thirty free-standing computers, all connected to the Estharan main data network.

At the moment, about three of them seemed to be in use.

Squall took one situated far enough from everyone else in the room so as to be comfortable, keyed in the information for Balamb Garden, and hoped that someone on the other end would be watching for a signal. Knowing his luck, they wouldn't be.

The SENDING light in the corner blinked steadily for some time--almost a minute later, the B-Garden logo blinked onto the screen. After a few seconds it disappeared, to be replaced by Xu's face.

Xu seemed rather surprised to see him.

"Squall!" Her voice, coming through the small speakers, was soft and tinny. "It's been quite a while since we heard from you. What's going on? Quistis said you had gotten on a train to Timber--"

"We were able to make contact with Seifer in Timber," Squall said, unconsciously lowering his voice in the quiet Terminal. "but we had to pursue Fujin and Raijin into Lower Centra. We're in a town called Lower Kay in the Hope-Kay Lowlands at the moment--"

"I'll dispatch a transport to pick you up," Xu offered.

"There are some... unusual circumstances that you may need to be aware of," Squall began.

"Oh?"

Squall nodded, trying to organize what he knew into a form that might be halfway coherent. This was going to be one of the most interesting reports Xu was going to hear in a long, long time.

-

When Lu walked into the Terminal, she glanced over to see Squall already deep in conversation with... whoever it was he had contacted. She didn't know much about SeeD--only what the newscasts had told her when Ultimecia had been defeated--and she had no idea what kind of bureaucracy he would have to wade through or why. She figured it might be best just to leave him to whatever he was doing.

Self-consciously adjusting her clothing in the clean facility, she took a booth at random and input her personal identification code and the network information for the bureau she was trying to reach. After a few seconds of redirecting, a stern face appeared on the screen.

"Field Officer Hali Lu," the man said, reading something off the bottom corner of his screen. "There's an alert out for you. ...you're in Lesser Kay? Why haven't you contacted the regional police for an escort back?"

Lu bit her lip. "...I need to contact someone named Jenn Hadai, ESOC Ministry of Observational Research."

The man looked unconvinced. "Is there something you need to report? Are you in danger? What's--"

"I'm sorry," Lu said, "but I can't talk to you. I need to speak to Hadai. This--" she frowned, putting on her best Official Business face. "This is of the utmost importance."

The man still looked skeptical, but he nodded. "I'll see about putting a link through."

The screen blinked tot he ESOC logo, and Lu rocked back on her heels. This was going to be tricky, if she knew anything about scientific politics.

Hadai appeared sooner than she would have expected, face as open and generous as ever. "Lu!" she exclaimed, doing her absolute best to give the impression that she was grateful to see her. It was very convincing, even though Lu wouldn't let herself be convinced at all. "I heard you went missing. I hope everything is all right?"

"Hadai," Lu began, leaning in and dropping her voice. "I need some help, and you're the only one that can help me. Do you feel like it?"

True to form, Hadai pouted a little, and hummed and hawed. "Lu, you know I have a very tight schedule, and the ESOC is being very demanding with their latest assignments...."

"I have something that could cement you into the forefront of any field you wanted," Lu said.

Hadai bit off the end of her sentence, looking with sudden shrewdness into the screen. "What's going on, Lu?"

Lu took a deep breath. "What would you say if I told you that I had a cyborg and his biological daughter waiting just outside of town?"

Hadai stared. Lu moved in before she had the chance to say anything.

"Let me rephrase that, Jenn. How fast would you get us back to your lab?"

-

Xu was taking the report rather well, Squall noted. Not as well as Cid probably would have--but, then again, Cid would probably have found some other way to make the mission report an ordeal by now.

"I don't need to tell you that this is rather a bizarre turn of events," Xu stated, staring fixedly at the screen and folding her hands together, considering everything she had been told. "And I wouldn't know where to begin looking for precedent or regulation. But it sounds as if you know what you're doing."

Squall hadn't intentionally been trying to trick Xu into thinking that, but it seemed as if he had managed to, anyway.

"I'm a bit concerned about taking Seifer into Esthar, though I suppose your other options might be even more troublesome. If you need, I can talk to Cid about sending in backup--"

"That shouldn't be necessary." Squall glanced up, noting that Lu seemed to be wrapping up her conversation. "I'll contact you once I arrive in Esthar."

Xu nodded, flashing a quick salute. "Good luck, Squall."

Squall returned the salute an instant before the screen went blank.

Stepping away from the console, he glanced around the building. Lu was pushing away from her own panel, looking decidedly uneasy. Squall waited until she approached. She was biting her lower lip, and Squall had a feeling that even if she wanted to hide how uncertain she felt, she wouldn't be able to.

"Is there a problem?"

Lu motioned to the door. "Not here," she said, stepping out. "I mean... I don't know, but let's not talk here."

Squall glanced around. There was no reason to believe that they were being monitored--Lu was probably just being jumpy. Even so, debating tactics would be a waste of energy, and there was no real downside to heading back out to the rest of the group at that moment. Following her out, Squall waited for her to get to whatever point she thought she had.

Lu waited until they were a street away from the Terminal before stepping carefully off the path, glancing up and down the street and managing to be exceptionally overt while trying for the exact opposite. "You're a SeeD," she began, staring at Squall as if trying to convince herself that she wasn't talking to a seventeen-year-old. "And I only know a bit about what that means, but I guess you'll know as much about how to read this as I will."

She was waiting for a response. Carefully not grimacing, Squall said "Go on."

"The woman I talked with, Jenn Hadai, is head of the ESOC Ministry of Observational Research. It's one of... several dozen Ministries that the ESOC maintains, which means that she has no more actual power than... well... a politician--when it comes to the actual world, you know. She can request that someone be dispatched to pick us up, but it's not as if her order carries the weight of anything much behind it. ...what do you think it means when she tells me that she'll have us in her office by the end of three days?"

Squall had been listening with half an ear to most of her exposition. Instead, he had focused most of his attention on watching as six Estharan soldiers turned an inordinate number of heads as they headed out of the town.

"I think we should get back to the group," he said.