After some more talking with Amiya, Yua decided it was time to leave. She told Amiya that she would see the cautus tomorrow. Realising how late it was and that she hadn't eaten yet, the white-haired lung decided to get some food from the cafeteria.

"I hope it's quiet there, I imagine I'm not exactly everyone's favourite person at the moment, I just want to get some food and leave." Is what the lung was thinking to herself as she was heading towards the cafeteria, she knew that sooner or later she would be deployed with other operators so she couldn't avoid everyone forever, she would explain to everyone her reasons for keeping it quiet about being related to the doctor, but she would do it when she was ready.

The cafeteria was bustling with activity, as many operators had finished their shifts for the day and had come to eat before retiring for the evening. Three such people were sitting on a bench - Ch'en, Swire, and Hoshiguma. Currently, as they were eating, and talking about the main issue that was the talk of the landship at the moment - Yua being the doctor's daughter.

"I understand why you guys didn't tell me," said Hoshiguma to Ch'en and Swire. "Everyone won't shut up about it." Even though deep down the oni was a bit annoyed that her friends didn't tell her. With the way a lot of people in Rhodes Island were acting, Hoshiguma understood why.

"Believe me, we wanted to tell you, but Yua and the doctor wanted as few people to know as possible; it got more complicated when W found out. She was blackmailing the doctor." Swire explained the situation to her friend. Hoshiguma didn't like hearing that the sarkaz was blackmailing the doctor, but it explained why Amiya attacked her. "She definitely deserved that." Is what Hoshiguma was thinking; she had no doubt Ch'en and Swire were thinking the same thing.

As the trio continued talking, suddenly, the cafeteria suddenly went completely silent. The three of them found it odd, and when they looked around, they saw many operators facing the same direction. When they turned their heads in the same direction, they understood why it went quiet. Yua was standing at the entrance; the white-haired lung hadn't been seen in the past few days by anyone except Hoshiguma, who had been bringing Yua her food. "Glad she's finally out of her room," Hoshiguma was glad that the lung had decided to leave her room. "Yua couldn't hide in her room forever."

"Oh no, way too many people here!" Yua was nervous that everyone was looking at her; she didn't like being the centre of all of this attention. Yua took a deep breath and gathered her courage. "Okay, Yua, you will be fine," she told herself mentally. "Just grab your food and go, just avoid eye contact with people. You can do this!" The white-haired lung tried reassuring herself. She then started to walk toward where the food was being served to collect it. As Yua was walking, however, she could hear different comments from different operators aimed towards her.

"Oh look, there's daddy's little princess..."

"You think you're too good for the rest of us?"

"Did daddy let you out of your golden cage?"

"What other privileges does your dad give you?"

"I bet you have Amiya wrapped around your little finger as well..."

"Just ignore them," Yua thought to herself when she heard the comments. "Just ignore them." The lung understood why some of them were angry, but this was the exact reason why she hadn't told them. The comments, however, didn't stop as Yua carried on walking.

"Yeah, go on, carry on ignoring us, daddy's girl…"

"Are you going to tell daddy we've been mean?"

"Daddy can't always protect you, girl."

Hearing all of this was getting Ch'en, Hoshiguma, and Swire angry, Yua didn't deserve this. "Is that what they all think? That Yua is living some life of luxury while everyone else is fighting?" Ch'en tried to understand what everyone thought of her fellow lung. They clearly didn't know about her. They all just assumed that because Yua was the doctor's daughter that she got special treatment. Granted Yua was the doctor's assistant, but that was Doctor Kal'tsit's idea. The feline wanted the two of them to bond.

"That's enough! All of you! Stop this right now!" Ch'en shouted out to everyone. The blue-haired lung decided that she was going to put an end to this right now. "All of you clearly don't know about Yua, or Operator Smokescreen, as she is known. I know that she doesn't have the life that all of you think she has." Ch'en paused for one moment before continuing, "She has been through more than what you all think, she isn't living in some ivory tower; she is a Rhodes Island operator like the rest of us." This got several operators thinking about what they thought about Yua.

Were they wrong about her? Ch'en continued speaking, "So don't think just because she is the doctor's assistant and daughter that she gets all sorts of special privileges. Yua still has a job to do just like everybody else, and if you have a problem with her, you have a problem with us. Is that clear?"

The way Ch'en was speaking, a lot of people knew that she must know Yua better than the rest of them, they clearly must have misjudged her if Ch'en was speaking out against what they were saying. Ch'en wouldn't just speak up for anybody.

Hoshiguma then spoke up in the lungs defence, "Yua is my apprentice, and I can tell you all know that if anybody tries anything, they will have me to deal with. It doesn't matter if you are a fellow Rhodes Island operator or not." Everyone knew that Hoshiguma was a force to be reckoned with; some operators had also seen Yua train with Hoshiguma and even defeat Ch'en in a spar, so they knew the lung was no slouch when it came to fighting herself. Swire then decided to speak up for Yua as well, "That goes for me too. I consider Yua a friend, so you all had best leave her alone."

Seeing all three of them speaking up for the lung, many operators decided that it was best to leave Yua alone. Some operators decided to get up from their seats and apologise to her. Seeing the people who were family to Yua speak up for her nearly made her tear up. "Mother, Aunt Hoshiguma, Aunt Swire… Thank you," the white-haired lung mentally thanked them. When the situation had calmed down, Yua got some food and sat with the three of them. "Thank you, all of you, for sticking up for me. You didn't have to do that." Yua told the trio. It meant a lot to her.

Hoshiguma nodded. " It's really no problem, Yua," the green-haired oni said to the lung. "I understand why you kept your secret about the doctor being your father, but I can see you're a good kid; heck, i saw you take a hit for Vanilla in that mining operation." Ch'en then spoke. "I know that you have more secrets that you don't wish to tell us, and that is fine as long as they aren't a danger to Rhodes Island, but if you ever feel like talking to us, you are more than welcome to anytime." Yua was thankful that they weren't pushing her for any more information; she would tell them everything when the time was right, she promised that, but for now she would focus on tomorrow as she had a day away with her father and Amiya, it would do her some good getting to spend time with them...

Up in Kal'tsit's office, she was waiting for someone to arrive. The doctor had just left, informing her that he would be spending tomorrow with Yua and Amiya. Kal'tsit was fine with this; she had a more pressing matter to deal with.

After some time, another person entered, and Kal'tsit spoke to them, "Good to see you, Gladiia." Gladiia then spoke, "Thank you for seeing me, Doctor Kal'tsit. I know it has been busy these last few days, with the doctor's daughter, I had no idea that the man had a child and she was an operator here." Kal'tsit responded, "Yes, it also caught me off guard, as well, when I found out, but I still think there is more to her, and she isn't telling us everything, which is also why I needed to speak to you."

Gladiia raised an eyebrow at this, why would Kal'tsit need to speak to her regarding the doctor's daughter? She wanted to find out, "What do you mean Kal'tsit? What does she involve me?" Kal'tsit then replied "When Yua was appointed as the doctor's assistant, she took a file from this office, a file that involves you and your fellow abyssal hunters, I believe she was looking for you." This caught Gladiia's attention; the doctor's daughter was at that village for a reason. She was looking for them. "That's why I got in contact with Irene from the Inquisition, I wanted her to find you, so I could find out if Yua was an enemy, that's why the Inquisition found that hideout of the Church of the Deep and gave you that information."

Gladiia knew where Kal'tsit was going with this. "You wanted to see if she was a member of the Church of the Deep, correct? She was attacked by their members and nearly turned into a seaborn, so that must confirm she isn't a member." Kal'tsit nodded. "That does confirm she isn't a member, but that still doesn't explain why she wanted to find you."

Gladiia could not think of any reason why the doctor's daughter would want to find her and the other abyssal hunters. Kal'tsit then came up with an idea. "I want her to be part of your team. Starting after tomorrow, I have to find out what Yua is hiding. If she is part of your team, you will be in a good position to find out. She will be with her father tomorrow, so you have time to inform your fellow abyssal hunters."

"A land dweller as part of the abyssal hunters?" Gladiia thought of the idea proposed to her. The aegir did not like the idea, but the girl did seem to know quite a bit about the seaborn, much more than the average land dweller, so she must have dealt with them before.

Gladiia then told Kal'tsit, "Very well Doctor Kal'tsit, I will inform the others regarding this, but I will need more information from the Inquisition, we will need to find more hideouts, so please keep in touch with Irene." Kal'tsit was satisfied with that and nodded; that was one issue dealt with. Kal'tsit then spoke again, "Now, what is it you needed to speak to me about Gladiia?" Gladiia sighed and then spoke.

"It's about Skadi..."