Again, filler.
It was about twenty-three minutes later when Matt called again.
"Alright, Shiro," he began without even a hello, "You know that new nerdy Icelandic girl, Ina?"
"Yeah." Shiro confirmed, lowering his voice as he looked at the secretary, who had returned as soon as she had delivered Keith to the med bay without a word of comfort for the worried lieutenant. "What about her? And, wait, are you talking while driving?"
"Yeah. But I'm not holding my Phone…Katie's holding it up to my ear."
"My arm is tired." Katie piped up.
"Just a moment more, Kate." Matt assured her. "Back to Ina, do you know if she left to be with her family this week?"
"No. She did not." Shiro informed him, curious. Where was this going?
"Okay, good. Would you mind contacting her? I need to see if she's available to watch Katie in the lab."
"I don't need a babysitter!" The girl responded, miffed.
"I know, Katie. But this is so you have a fellow geek to mess around with." Matt huffed. "Would you mind asking her? Thanks, Shiro!" He said, not waiting for a response. The phone hung up right after.
Shiro blinked at nothing. Well. That happened. He looked at the secretary, who had returned after wheeling Keith off. She didn't say anything, just began filing paperwork.
"If they're any updates considering Keith, will you tell me?" He pleaded, staring at the woman hopefully.
"Where'll you be?" The woman asked, glancing up at him.
"Around the first-year cadet's dorms…or the lab."
"I'll send Dr. Rizavi's daughter if anything happens with the kid." The secretary waved him off, looking considerably bored.
"Thank you!" Shiro beamed, then scampered off. He always felt better when he had his hands busy.
His first stop was his own dorm, flinging it open. Jamie, who was leaving later in that day to see his family himself, started, looking up in surprise. "What?! You look like you're being chased by a pack of wild tigers!"
"Yeah, yeah." Shiro shook his head, sighing. "Your girlfriend is the woman who mans where everyone's rooms are, right?"
"Uh-huh. Wait, are you going to sneak a possum into a girl's dorm again?"
"Stop bringing that up! I was fourteen. Fourteen!" Shiro flashed all ten of his fingers then closed all of them but four. "Besides, I don't have a girl I like anymore."
"What about that Victoria girl?"
"Veronica. And we broke up a year ago. But that's besides the point! Can you call up your girlfriend and ask her to find someone named Ina Leifsdottir's dorm?"
"Ina is a girl's name!" Jamie squealed, pulling up his phone to call his girl.
"She's, like, eleven."
Jamie blinked slowly. "You have weird crushes."
"I DON'T HAVE A CRUSH ON ANYONE!" Shiro tossed up his hands in exasperation, glaring. "I need her to babysit for a friend of mine."
"You have friends other then me and Adam?" Jamie stared, surprised.
"'Adam and I.' And yes, I do. Where do you think I go off to so much?"
Jamie thought for a moment. "I dunno." He called his girlfriend to end the conversation.
Shiro listened to the couple's banter for a while once she picked up, then finally sighed. "Jamie. Ina?"
"Oh, right…no, not you babe." Jamie nodded, grinning at the phone as he filed in the request.
After several agonizing moments of waiting, she responded. "Room A613." Jamie recited to Shiro, before beginning to talk to his girl again.
Shiro didn't even have it in him to be annoyed, once again running out from the room. He hardly remembered to close the door behind him, making sure that it closed fully.
He recited the code in his mind, searching up and down the student dorm hallways until he found it. Knocking briskly oh the door, he waited.
After an agonizing long time, the door opened revealing a pale face with goth black hair. Shiro knew this wasn't Ina, but he recognized her as Thaila Zuesdottir, a fellow Icelandic girl who had requested her dorm shared with Ina.
She was clad in black pants and a dark grey shirt with the orange Metroid insignia on it.
Shiro decided instantly that she and Keith would either be best friends or each other's arch enemy. If they ever met. If. Keith might…might still die.
"I'm looking for Cadet Ina." Shiro told Thalia, faking a smile, though his mind was on Keith.
"Ina." Thalia stood aside, gesturing to Shiro. "It's for you."
Shiro took a step inside the room at Thalia's welcoming jerk of her hand.
Ina glanced up, eyebrow raised. She was seated on her bed, papers and devices. She waved a single hand in a salute. "Sir."
"At ease, cadet." Shiro smirked. "Ina, I need your help."
"What for?" Ina perked up, blinking.
"Listen, a friend of mine says you're good with computers. And kids."
Ina nodded. "I am quiet fond of children as wells as machines."
"Alright. Ina, a friend of mine is in the hospital, his fate is still uncertain. Do you know who Matt Holt is?"
"Of course!" Ina sniffed indigently. "Smartest cadet in the Garrison, three years running."
"Well, he has a little sister, and we need her out of our hair for a while. She's interested in tech, can you show her the ropes?"
Ina was instantly on her feet, saluting. "Yes sir! I would be glad to!"
Shiro nodded back gratefully. Now, all that was left to do was wait for Keith's results.