"Welcome back you two."
Motoko and Stella both smirked at Aramaki's amused tone. They'd been on leave for a whole week since the wedding, but now that they were back from their honeymoon, it was back to business.
"So what's on the docket? Anything fun?" Stella glanced at the few documents resting on Aramaki's desk.
"Nothing ongoing, as of yet." Aramaki replied. "I have a meeting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs later this morning, so I'll need to borrow your wife."
"Politics... Not fun." Stella sighed, then glanced at Motoko. "Still don't understand how you can stand that crap."
"I never said I enjoyed it, y'know." Motoko teased back. "Remember: Strengths and skills."
"Still not my thing..." Stella shook her head before turning to leave Aramaki's office. "Anyway, I've got recruits to bully."
"Please don't..." Motoko sighed. "That training regime is hard enough as is, don't make it worse for them..."
"94 seconds on a three minute course." Stella winked over her shoulder. "Remember that, my love."
Batou and Stella were evaluating the newest Section 6 recruits when Paz and Saito came in. Paz had his hands in his pockets, but Saito nudged a bottle of beer into Stella's arm.
"Welcome back." He smiled as Stella took the cold drink. "Figured you'd want one while these idiots run around the training course."
"Thank god it's just a beer. I've had far too many 'girly' drinks in the past week." Stella chuckled as she took a sip of the familiar brand. Good on the boys for remembering.
"That reminds me, the Major took you overseas, right?" Batou asked suddenly, still watching the recruits.
"Yeah, we stayed at a beach resort. Had a really good time." Stella replied. "Met a couple good looking women, had sex, went swimming. Y'know, usual vacation shenanigans."
The three men chuckled at her joke, then Stella's gaze suddenly went to one of the recruits that was lagging behind. "HEY! HURRY UP!" She suddenly shouted at him, causing him to run faster from the sudden shout. "He's been lagging behind quite a bit. What's the big deal?"
Bringing up the particular man's profile in her cyberbrain, Stella read his information before sighing. "Of course... Fucking organic." She held her beer out to Saito. "Hold this for a minute."
Saito had a vague idea what she was going to do, but he tok the bottle from her regardless and they all watched as she ran to the man and called for a full halt.
"I've just read your files, and I'm not pleased by what I saw." Stella began, ignoring the varied degrees of fatigue of the men around her. "So why don't you tell me why your cyberization percentage is so damn low when you're training for a cyberized unit?"
"My prosthetic appointment is in three days." The man replied. "I'm going full cyborg."
"Then why the fuck are you here and not on medical leave?!" Stella held up her hands in annoyance. "Who's your unit commander over at Section 6?"
"Captain Welrich, ma'am." The soldier replied.
"Wait here." Stella ordered as she marched back to Batou and relayed the information, a nagging suspicion in the back of her head.
"Welrich's new. Got transfered here from Canada, I believe." Batou explained. "Hence the number of recruits."
[Chief, can you get me a line to a Captain Welrich from Section 6?] Stella relayed to Aramaki.
[Something wrong with the recruits?] Aramaki asked.
[A bit, yeah. Got a full organic recruit that shouldn't be training right now. They're going full cyborg in 72 hours.] Stella glanced over at the recruit, then whistled between her teeth and beckoned for him to approach.
[Alright, I've got Welrich now. Transfering.] Aramaki switched the line over to the Canadian officer.
[Captain Welrich, Section 6. How may I be of assistance, Sergeant Kusanagi?] The distinctly Canadian twang in the Captain's voice when he pronounced her new surname momentarily surprised Stella, but she took it in stride.
[One of your recruits here should be on medical leave. Apparently he's going to be fully cyberized in three days. Are you aware of this?] Stella explained.
[Are you one of the Section 9 personnel that's overseeing the training?] Welrich asked, audibly concerned.
[Yes, I am. I've been observing this recruit and became acutely aware of the situation after reading his files. He then explained to me that he was waiting for his appointment.] Stella sighed audibly.
[I understand. Have him taken off the program and send him back here.] Welrich finally seemed to understand.
Stella glanced at the panting recruit as the line went dead. "Spoke to your Captain. You are being taken off the training program and have been ordered to return to speak with him directly."
"Understood, ma'am." The recruit gave a crisp salute before leaving the training floor entirely.
Stella gave word for the recruits to resume, then returned to where Batou, Paz and Saito were standing, taking back her beer with a nod of thanks.
"That Captain guy got my name right... but the way he said it almost made me start laughing." Stella took a sip of her drink, but when the three men gave her curious looks, she decided to imitate the Canadian's twang. "Koo-sa-nah-gee."
They all laughed, knowing that some names sounded a lot funnier in foreign accents.
"You've heard, haven't you?" A lone man stood over a grave, staring at it sadly.
"Yes, I have." A female voice suddenly spoke up, and a young woman, barely out of her teens, disabled her Therm-Optic camouflage. She'd been sitting atop the large gravestone with her legs crossed and resting her jaw on her raised fist, looking very bored. "Should've known that vindictive harpy's back to her old tricks, Master."
"No, I meant about my daughter. She got married a little over a week ago." The man's eyes twinkled proudly at the thought of his darling girl finally growing into a woman.
"Oh, my apologies, Master." The woman looked embarrassed by her slip, but the man took it in stride.
"My ex-wife's a feisty one, though. She didn't look all that pleased at the wedding, that's for sure." He chuckled dryly. "Must've been the decor."
"Forgive me, Master, but from what I'd gathered, it would appear that your daughter is employed with Public Security Section 9. Her marital partner is also a member of said unit." The woman's eyes darted back and forth, like she was reading something.
"Keep me updated on further findings, Sacchi. I'm going to pay a visit to my daughter tomorrow." The man gave the order, then the young woman lightly hopped off the grave before walking away, disappearing with Therm-Optic camo, exposing the name of the deceased written into the stone. "Feels strange, reading my own name on a gravestone..." He commented to himself before turning around and also activating his own Therm-Optic camo. "Kazu Kuroi, you're not dead yet... Not by a longshot." He chuckled again before completely vanishing.
