A day had passed, and first thing, the former Midford slowly began making her way through the halls of H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. headquarters, clutching to the instructions given to her by her granddaughter tightly as she attempted to navigate the place. It was a bit overwhelming. Linoleum floors, concrete and stainless steel, with quite the monochrome colourscheme adorned the base. It was certainly not what she was accustomed to, and she found it overwhelming. Everything looked the same to her, as she carefully tried to avoid soldiers and staff members alike, as if she wasn't supposed to be there.
Tough-looking men and women passed by, wearing the same uniform as her, while others looked less frightening, and wore either labcoats, or white poloshirts with black dresspants, depending on the division that they were placed in. She was looking for a specific person, the head of the Intelligence Department, Lieutenant Suyin Chu. The face that everyone and everything looked exactly the same to the angels did not help, nor did the fact that quite a few people were staring at her. The way she was carrying herself certainly didn't fit in with that of your typical H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. soldier, and her white hair was really peculiar.
Once again, she looked at her instructions, wearing a concerned expression on her face. If only Integra had thought to give her a map of the interior. That would have been exceptionally helpful. Perhaps the younger Hellsing thought that Elizabeth was already somewhat familiar with the basic layout, which was hardly the case. After meandering about, it was only a matter of time until someone stopped her and asked what she was up to. She only hoped that she was able to safely reach her destination before that could happen.
"Oi!" Elizabeth jumped at the sound of a gruff voice behind her. Out of curiosity, she turned her head, only to see a soldier making a beeline straight toward her. His head was shaved, his eyes were beady, and he had a scar on his cheek. His sleeves were rolled up, showing off his antifreak sigil tattoos. This was bad. He was the exact kind of person that Elizabeth did not want to converse with.
"Y-yes?" the woman asked, trying to be polite. The soldier stopped right in front of her and asked.
"Are you new or something?" the man asked suddenly, taking Elizabeth completely off-guard. "You look lost…"
"Oh, yes." The angel replied. "I am. I'm looking for the Intelligence department. I'm supposed to talk to a Lieutenant Suyin Chu?"
"Ah. It's that way, down this hall, turn left, you'll get to a four-way with a big open area, but keep going, then turn right." The man informed, gesturing as he spoke. "After that, just follow the signs. When you get there, you can just ask somebody where she's at."
"Oh! Thank you." Elizabeth answered. Perhaps these people weren't as frightening as she thought. That was comforting to know. She offered a smile. "I'll be sure to do that, then!"
"Yeah, the first couple of weeks can be tough. This place is a maze. But, since you're with Intelligence, it shouldn't be too hard to get memorized, right?" the man said in a friendly tone.
"Oh, no. I'm not in that department."
"Really? Then what division are you? Combat?"
"Uhm…" Oh dear. Elizabeth hadn't the faintest idea as to what that meant. Exactly how many divisions were there, and which one did she belong to? "Actually, I don't really know…"
"You… don't know what division you're in?" asked the man, arching an eyebrow. Soon hey furrowed, and a mean expression crossed over his face. "You gotta I.D. on ya?"
"Uhm… No?"
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to come with me." The man said.
"You'll do no such thing!" interrupted a familiar voice. Both parties looked behind Elizabeth to see a young man in a black suit and matching coat walking up to them. An audible sigh of relief escaped the woman as she recognised the blonde.
"The lion?!" spoke the soldier, flabbergasted by the appearance of the menace.
"The very same." The demon answered, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder as he continued to speak. "She wasn't lying, you know. She is new. So new, that she hasn't gotten an I.D. yet. She's in the Special Operations Supernatural Division. Her code is #A-001, and her name is Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Hellsing. You can radio up Sir Integra, yourself, if you don't believe me. Go on. I'll wait and be late for my meeting."
"U-uhm…" fumbled the poor soldier. "That… That won't be necessary. My apologies, Sir…"
"As long as you're aware." Alois answered. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we'll be off, then."
Quickly, the menace ushered the angel away, walking with purpose as if he owned the place. To the left, down the hallway, and to the right, he travelled with Elizabeth in tow. Eventually, he let go of her and let her walk on her own accord, slowing down his pace some as they got a decent enough amount of space from the scene.
"Thank you for that…" the woman finally said, with a sigh. "Thank goodness you were still here. I don't know what I would have done back there!"
"Don't worry about it." Stated the blonde, wearing a grin. "At most, you would've been detained until they phoned Integra and got things sorted out. So, what were you up to?"
"I was looking for someone." Elizabeth answered. "I was trying to find the Intelligence Department, but I got lost. What about you?"
"I've got to talk to the head of the Intel Department." Answered the Macken. "It's almost Christmas, so Ciel's got his hands full with FUNTOM since he took the day off yesterday. So, I'm here by myself, today. I'm here to talk to Lieutenant Chu about the Cerberus case."
"Sorry about that… Anyway, I need to talk to Lieutenant Chu, as well…"
"It's no big deal. We were happy to have you over. Just stick with me, though. I'll take you there. Something tells me that you're in on this meeting, too, judging by the timing." Alois speculated as they continued their route. "Oh, and just so you know, when you talk to Miss Chu, don't stare at her leg."
"Why?"
"She's sorta self-conscious about it…" the menace informed. "She was in an accident in the field. She used to be part of the Combat Division."
"Oh…" uttered the Hellsing. She could only guess what happened. Vampires in particular, can be very tricky creatures, and have been known to lay traps. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence, really, even back while Elizabeth was in her prime.
Her suspicions were only confirmed when both fair-haired supernaturals reached their destination. Alois swiped his I.D. card and unlocked the large door that led to the massive room with two layers, one upper and one lower. Screens and desks lined up in nice, neat rows on the lower level- which could be reached by traveling down the stairs directly in front of the entrance- while more screens with maps being played with by staff members on the upper level. The pair turned to the right, opting to not go down the stairs and to stay on the upper level. There, Alois walked slowly so that the gawking angel behind him could keep up with him as he made his beeline for one woman in particular.
She wore a slightly different uniform than Elizabeth; it had no hood and simply had a suit collar. She also wore a skirt and plain black shoes, one fitting on her prosthetic leg that attached at the knee. Her long, black hair was pulled back into a pony tail, failing to obstruct the red beret that sat on top of her head. Verdigris eyes stared at a map marked with red dots through a pair of spectacles with silver frames.
"Lieutenant." Called the menace, snapping the woman back to her senses. She looked over her shoulder in order to see who it was, and turned to face the blonde completely upon recognizing him, raising her hand to her forehead to offer him a salute.
"Sir Macken." She addressed, standing at full attention.
"Adese." The blonde said, waving in a friendly manner. "And it's not 'Sir'. That's my boyfriend. I'm not knighted, so it's just 'detective'."
"My apologies…" the woman said, relaxing her posture and lowering her arm. "I trust you're here about the Cerberus case, yes?"
"Yep! So, what all do you need, or I need, or what are we going to do?" questioned the menace, rubbing his hands together. Both women arched an eyebrow at his phrasing and actions before Elizabeth finally answered him.
"I was instructed by Integra to tell you that we need data on all recent supernatural activity in the London area." The angel said to the lieutenant. "We need to figure out what is related to the Cerberus incident and what isn't, seeing as though they capture supernaturals and make them work."
To that, Alois thought for a moment, rubbing his chin and furrowing his brow as the gears turned in his head. "In that case, shouldn't we also figure out if there's been any disappearances of residents in the special zone?" He asked. "They set up shop in that area already. Wouldn't it make sense if they snatched a few people up, while they were at it?"
"That is possible…" Suyin replied. Digging around in her jacket, the agent located a memo pad and began writing a few notes. "I'll get the data to you and Sir Phantomhive right away. Is there anything else?"
"Uhm…" began the angel. "I was informed that I was somehow supposed to be on the case as well. Integra didn't specify how, though…"
"Just tell us what you know about it, and help us out with figuring out their movements." Alois suggested, snapping his fingers for effect in a silly manner. The man then proceeded to pull out his cell phone. "If we come up with something, we'll call you and get your input. If you come up with something, call us, and we'll talk. What's your number?"
"Huh?" Elizabeth asked. "Number?"
"Oh… Sorry… I forgot… You don't have a mobile yet, do you?" questioned the menace. He held the device up so that the woman could see it. "It's a telephone, but it doesn't have any wires, so you can call somebody almost anywhere, and it fits right in your pocket!"
A grin formed on the menace's face as the woman's lit up at the information. Elizabeth was practically sparkling while marveling at this device. "Amazing!" she said. "Communication with troops must be so easy! You can give instructions in an instant, and spread information so fast! With this, you don't have to send people to pass on a message, which would be great during combat."
"I know, right?" Alois stated, placing the device back in his pocket. A haughty expression was plastered on his visage as he recalled the first time that he, himself heard of the concept. His response was actually quite similar. "Technology is incredible!"
"Unfortunately, keeping in touch is going to be problematic if she doesn't have access to a telephone." Input Lieutenant Chu. "You can call the Intel Department, and we can pass along a message, or inform her that she has a call, I suppose."
Suddenly, the Macken's smile faded, his brow furrowing once more. Suyin was right. If Elizabeth was running about on the base, it would be difficult to locate her in order for her to take her calls. The intercom was an option, but how many times a day might they need to use it? Eventually, the menace came to a solution.
"We need to get you a cell phone." He said, turning back toward the angel. "That's our next order of business. There's not a lot we can do if we don't have contact with you, so we need to fix that. Do you have anything else planned for today?"
"Not really." Answered Elizabeth. "Is that really alright?"
"Sure it is! As long as we tell Integra, we can. So, is it settled? We'll go set you up with some essentials, while Suyin gathers the data we need." Alois recapped, turning toward the lieutenant. "Right?"
"It isn't my place to question you, Sir." Suyin replied. "It seems like a good plan, to me. I'll get right on it."
"Thank you, miss! So, it's a date!"
