Room 503, Tuesday Morning.
Yurika's cellphone was ringing.
Dōjima's phone going off at odd hours was not an uncommon event, considering. It was usually Tōko or another member of the Tokyo scene, or even Rikku texting her rather than yelling up the stairs.
This ringtone, however, was not one of the usual suspects.
"Dōjima," she said curtly as she flipped it open. She wasn't even going to pretend this could be good news.
"Miss Dōjima, I hope this is not a bad time." The voice on the other end of the line was smooth steel, belying the age running beneath it.
"The line is secure, sir," Yurika said neutrally. "Ohaiyo gozaimasu, Father Juliano." Crap. Crap crap crap. She had met with the Father, of course. He had been the one to recruit her, seeing her potential under the layers of rebellion. Lately, however, there had been a handler between them, a buffer for plausible deniability.
"You are compromising your mission," came the blunt words. "Yurika, I know we told you to keep a low profile at the school, but you are in serious danger of ruining your cover."
"I haven't done anything to endanger the mission," she hissed, feeling the pit grow in her stomach as she sat down on the bed. "No one suspects a thing, they think I can't even fire a gun properly." Except perhaps Reno, but she was reasonably sure he believed her story. "The mission is secure, sir."
"The problem is not your work at the school, Yurika." Juliano's tone softened slightly, and she forced herself to unclench her fist. "You've done a fine job of keeping your cover there, and your seduction of the Montague boy is admirable. It's the rest of the world that's a problem. The press is in an uproar, they're convinced that your parents have shuttled you off to a convent somewhere, or have had you institutionalized."
Seduction. Of course they see it that way, she'd been very careful to paint it in those strokes for her reports. "You mean America isn't an institution?" she snaped bitterly before she can stop herself, and Yurika grimaced.
"Yurika," Father Juliano warned, and she could almost hear the headshake. "It's nice to see that your edge hasn't dulled, you'll need it."
"You've come up in a STN-J file-check," he continued, as if she hadn't just sassed the head of SOLOMON. "They're reviewing all the Seeds on file, and checking for signs of Craft, just a routine they go through every few years. You will get a letter from your father today, which summons you home for the weekend to undergo the testing. Of course, your testing is scheduled for Saturday afternoon, giving you plenty of time to see and be seen at home."
"Of course, I happened to come up," she said dryly, pinching her nose. "SOLOMON needs me to make a scene, don't they? How many papers are we talking, here?"
"Think of it as a chance to meet your future coworkers, Yurika."
"You did not answer my question, Colegui-sama."
"As many as possible. I want to lay to rest any rumors that you've become a nun, or eloped and taken up charity work." There was a pause, and the rustle of paper before he continued. "Feel free to bring those delightful 'friends' of yours. The bigger scandal you can create, the better," he said. "You've got a portal on Friday afternoon to Tokyo that will deposit you in a secure location, and your return is scheduled for Monday morning."
"Good luck, Miss Dōjima."
The line went dead, and Yurika looked at her phone for a moment before throwing it across the room, snarling. Seed testing. Fantastic. He could go to hell, there was no way she was bringing anyone with her for that.
[OOC: Establishy! NFI, content of conversation is NFB, but the fact she got a call and is heading home on Friday is fine.]
Dōjima's phone going off at odd hours was not an uncommon event, considering. It was usually Tōko or another member of the Tokyo scene, or even Rikku texting her rather than yelling up the stairs.
This ringtone, however, was not one of the usual suspects.
"Dōjima," she said curtly as she flipped it open. She wasn't even going to pretend this could be good news.
"Miss Dōjima, I hope this is not a bad time." The voice on the other end of the line was smooth steel, belying the age running beneath it.
"The line is secure, sir," Yurika said neutrally. "Ohaiyo gozaimasu, Father Juliano." Crap. Crap crap crap. She had met with the Father, of course. He had been the one to recruit her, seeing her potential under the layers of rebellion. Lately, however, there had been a handler between them, a buffer for plausible deniability.
"You are compromising your mission," came the blunt words. "Yurika, I know we told you to keep a low profile at the school, but you are in serious danger of ruining your cover."
"I haven't done anything to endanger the mission," she hissed, feeling the pit grow in her stomach as she sat down on the bed. "No one suspects a thing, they think I can't even fire a gun properly." Except perhaps Reno, but she was reasonably sure he believed her story. "The mission is secure, sir."
"The problem is not your work at the school, Yurika." Juliano's tone softened slightly, and she forced herself to unclench her fist. "You've done a fine job of keeping your cover there, and your seduction of the Montague boy is admirable. It's the rest of the world that's a problem. The press is in an uproar, they're convinced that your parents have shuttled you off to a convent somewhere, or have had you institutionalized."
Seduction. Of course they see it that way, she'd been very careful to paint it in those strokes for her reports. "You mean America isn't an institution?" she snaped bitterly before she can stop herself, and Yurika grimaced.
"Yurika," Father Juliano warned, and she could almost hear the headshake. "It's nice to see that your edge hasn't dulled, you'll need it."
"You've come up in a STN-J file-check," he continued, as if she hadn't just sassed the head of SOLOMON. "They're reviewing all the Seeds on file, and checking for signs of Craft, just a routine they go through every few years. You will get a letter from your father today, which summons you home for the weekend to undergo the testing. Of course, your testing is scheduled for Saturday afternoon, giving you plenty of time to see and be seen at home."
"Of course, I happened to come up," she said dryly, pinching her nose. "SOLOMON needs me to make a scene, don't they? How many papers are we talking, here?"
"Think of it as a chance to meet your future coworkers, Yurika."
"You did not answer my question, Colegui-sama."
"As many as possible. I want to lay to rest any rumors that you've become a nun, or eloped and taken up charity work." There was a pause, and the rustle of paper before he continued. "Feel free to bring those delightful 'friends' of yours. The bigger scandal you can create, the better," he said. "You've got a portal on Friday afternoon to Tokyo that will deposit you in a secure location, and your return is scheduled for Monday morning."
"Good luck, Miss Dōjima."
The line went dead, and Yurika looked at her phone for a moment before throwing it across the room, snarling. Seed testing. Fantastic. He could go to hell, there was no way she was bringing anyone with her for that.
[OOC: Establishy! NFI, content of conversation is NFB, but the fact she got a call and is heading home on Friday is fine.]