"Ugh...why did I accept this position again? Just when I think I'm getting somewhere with all this paperwork, more takes its place." Yua was really starting to regret becoming her father's assistant, she thought it would be relatively simple, the white-haired lung remembered that in her timeline her mother was her father's assistant, Ch'en made it look easy in front of Yua when she was young so she naively thought it would not be a challenge, how wrong she was. "How did you do this, mother?" Yua thought to herself while going through more paperwork.
Yua was on her way with Hoshiguma to get some lunch from the cafeteria; she was still recovering from the injuries she received protecting Vanilla, so she was still in no condition to train. Hoshiguma told her that when she was healthy enough, they would begin training again. The green-haired oni said that, for now, she would be keeping an eye on her and helping her out while she was going about the landship.
While Yua did want some space from Hoshiguma, she appreciated that the oni would be helping her; the last thing she wanted was to end up collapsing somewhere if she pushed herself too much. As they neared the cafeteria, they both caught sight of a person who was rarely seen here - the doctor himself. He caught sight of the pair and approached them; he then spoke, "Afternoon, Operators Smokescreen and Hoshiguma, how are you today?"
Hoshiguma replied "I am fine. Thank you, Doctor. Operator Smokescreen is still recovering from her wounds, so I will be helping her out with anything that comes up." The doctor nodded "That is good, I am glad that operator Smokescreen has such a reliable friend and mentor; thank you for helping her." Hoshiguma found this a bit odd that the doctor was thanking her for simply helping Yua but paid it no mind; the doctor was an odd person in general.
Turning his head to Yua, the doctor spoke, "Well, the reason I came here is I was looking for Operator Smokescreen; I have an offer for her." An offer? What did the doctor mean by that? Deciding she wanted to find out, Yua asked the man, "What sort of offer do you mean, doctor?" The doctor responded, "Well, I am glad you asked. You see, in my position, I have a lot of paperwork to do on behalf of Rhodes Island, but I am also the commander of our forces. It can be overwhelming sometimes. Doctor Kal'tsit has mentioned that I should get someone to help lighten my load, and she also mentioned you seem capable, so in short, I offer you to be my assistant."
Both Hoshiguma and Yua were surprised by this, "Why me? Surely there are better operators than me, what are you planning father?" Wanting to find out more, Yua asked, "What will the assistant be doing, doctor? What are the duties?" "Filling out paperwork for operations or new operator's applications, as well as creating combat records to help train our operators; do you accept?" the doctor finished.
Yua found this odd. Why would Kal'tsit recommend her to her father? Something about this didn't seem right, but Yua also had an idea of how she could use this to her advantage. "This could benefit me; not only can I be with my father to keep an eye on him, I can also find out information on the Seaborn. I can strike them first!" Seeing the benefits this gave her, Yua accepted the offer.
"Very well, tomorrow morning, report to my office, and we will go from there." The doctor then said one more thing, "I know that you are being trained by Hoshiguma, but this will affect the amount of time you both have together; I will try to make sure Hoshiguma gets to train you when she can." The doctor then turned and left, leaving both of them standing there. Hoshiguma, who had listened to all of this, could only think, "What is going on here? This isn't making sense. Why would Kal'tsit recommend her as the doctor's assistant so soon?"
That is why Yua was now in her father's office, dealing with mountains of paperwork. The white-haired lung was getting more and more frustrated. She was ready to tear her horns off at this point; seeing his daughter struggling, the doctor spoke up, "Are you alright, Yua? Need to take a break?" Replying to her father, the girl said "No father, I need to get this done. I know you have enough to deal with already." Grateful that his daughter was thinking of him, he let her carry on; she would get used to dealing with this amount of paperwork eventually.
Knowing it was now lunchtime, the doctor thought it best to go and eat, taking a break from his own paperwork he asked Yua, "What do you want from the cafeteria? Is there anything specific?" Yua simply replied that anything was fine. A third voice then spoke up "I will come with you, doctor." Turning his head, the doctor saw Kal'tsit get up from her desk and head to the door; the doctor told his daughter he would not be long and left with Kal'tsit. As they were leaving the ancient feline thought to herself "Let's see if you are looking for anything, Yua, my eyes are on you."
Realizing she was now alone, the lung paused in her paperwork and went over to a drawer filled with files from past operations. "I need to find something about the seaborn," she thought to herself. "Anything that can give me an edge on them." Yua searched for what she wanted. Eventually, she found what she was looking for, took the file, and began reading it. "Abyssal Hunters…aegir…church of the deep…leviathans." As she read through the file, Yua realised she had her first lead. The lung had heard of the Abyssal Hunters before but never met them or knew what they did. When she had the opportunity, she would have to seek them out.
Upon hearing the door open, Yua quickly hid the file she had found and resumed working on her paperwork. Her father and Doctor Kal'tsit had returned from lunch, with her father carrying a sandwich for Yua. Thanking him, she took the sandwich and began eating it. Resuming her paperwork, Yua thought to herself, "So the abyssal hunters fight seaborn, they would be the perfect people to ask about them. Who would know about them? Probably my father and Doctor Kal'tsit, but asking them would be too suspicious."
Yua would have to ask around when she had a chance, but for now, she would carry on with her paperwork. Eventually, evening came, and the lung decided to call it a night. "I will head to my room now, Father," she said. "It is getting late; I will see you and Doctor Kal'tsit in the morning." The other occupants in the room said their goodnights to Yua and let her leave. Heading back to her room, Yua had the file she had taken hidden in her jacket. She would read it and find out what she could. Any advantage she could get against the Seaborn, she would gladly take it if it meant getting an edge on them.
One hour later, the doctor told Kal'tsit he would be heading back to his room and see her and Yua in the morning. When the doctor left, Kal'tsit waited until she was sure she was alone. After some time, Kal'tsit whispered "Red." A lupo in red emerged from the shadows and spoke, "Red is here, Doctor Kal'tsit." Seeing the person she had requested arrive, Kal'tsit spoke, "Are you well, Red?" The lupo replied, "Red is well, Doctor Kal'tsit." Satisfied that her charge was okay, Kal'tsit then asked her an important question.
"What did Yua do while I was gone, Red?" Red replied, "Yua went to the drawer, Doctor Kal'tsit. She took a file out." Going to the drawer, the ancient feline checked which file was missing. After some searching, Kal'tsit realized a file on the abyssal hunters was missing. "Why would Yua want information on the abyssal hunters? Does she have history with them or the Church of the Deep? How peculiar." Thanking Red for the help, Kal'tsit told her to keep an eye on Yua. Red nodded and then disappeared.
"I need to find out what Yua wants; I'm not worried about the abyssal hunters themselves, but if Yua wants information, who knows what she is up to?" Kal'tsit knew she would have to speak with Gladiia when she returned from her mission with her fellow hunters, asking them what they knew and warning them of a potential threat in the future...