Valdis visibly relaxed when he mentioned her father was safe; she listened to the rest of his admission without interruption. She was bothered that he inadvertently attacked her father; but she did believe he wasn't the type to do so on purpose. Before losing her temper at something or someone Valdis preferred to look at their motives. She let him finish and she sat there in an awkward silence. Her facial expression gave no in site to her inner thoughts. Val just stared at him with a cool expression before she finally spoke about a minute later.

"When you say the threat has been eliminated does that mean they will not be able to take control of you anymore. Or you will refuse to go near my father again....do you know who hijacked your brain? Better question is....do you bear a mark of a Zodiac?"

His bits and piece type of speech was hard to gain a clear picture. But it was a difficult subject for him and perhaps he had never had to word it to another person before. She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding as her shoulders sagged.

"As for my father he thinks anyone talking about mystical properties of the covenant is a lunatic, if he hadn't seen me with his own eyes he would not have believed it. Then again he often has that condescending tone....its just how he is...do not take it personally."

"Oh, I know who did it, now..." Yinko ground out through clenched teeth. "And by eliminated... I mean the more...permanent solution." The young man frowned, grasping the knife in his hand. How he had been so foolish, how he had allowed the Covenant secrets in his mind to go unnoticed for the last two years, he didn't know. Still, he'd have to take extra precautions. Maybe... maybe he should have Sophia take another look in there, just to make sure.

"What sorts of marks?" David asked, hearing the conversation take another turn. He wouldn't reveal anything until he knew what Val was talking about. Surely, though, the Nihil didn't use the prisoners of the camps for all of their higher-level goons. Surely, they wouldn't entrust such low quality control to power the middle-ranks of their army.

Listening as the conversation went on about her father, the young man sighed. Forging an alliance with Japan's recognized government was going to be difficult, if not impossible. That left linking up with the American military presence in Tokyo, and the group's opinion on those odds weren't very high.

Well it was good to hear that he had taken care of the issue; the team didn't need another team member to turn on them at a moment's notice. When he asked about the marks Val had to think of it for a moment.

"The Zodiac have a way to mark their underlings; there are several different types of marks. But all the marks connect the marked to the markie. For example Taurus marks all her underlings so she can keep track of them. This mark is invisible unless the marked or markie makes it appear. But it does form a link that the Zodiac shares with the marked....you can get rid of some marks by finding it and burning it off...least that seems to be the case with the youma I had a run in with. Whether it was a permanent solution I wouldn't be able to tell you"

She scratched the back of her neck still thinking.

"Reason I ask is usually the higher ups mark their favorites. I'm still conducting research on said marks but that's all I have at the moment. Though I'm not sure what they do for the lower ranks of the Nyhil; I've set my focus on finding out more on the higher end of the Zodiac seeing how unfortunately they'll be the ones we're up against. "

Now David was worried. A favorite amongst the Covenant? He'd laugh if that was what he was. The treatment he had received wasn't anything like being considered a pet.

"And what are their practices of marks if they experiment on you in the Camps?" he snapped. "It's not like they treated me like a favorite... more like a whipping boy..." Frowning, David plunged the knife into the floor, burying the blade a good inch into the wood. He was going to butcher those pigs, one by one.

Staring at the blade, his hand started to grow translucent, and suddenly, it vanished.

"Quite frankly I have never been in a camp, they didn't take people into camps when they attacked my home. They just slaughtered everyone..... What I know of the marks is the interaction we had with Taurus."

She blinked when the knife was slammed into the floor....she need to get this boy a chopping bored, floors that had been around for hundreds of years should not be stabbing boards.

"Grannys not going to be happy about her floors being stabbed"

Then his hand went invisible and she sweat dropped.

"You're not going to show up in my showers like Nazo now, are you?"

Staring first at the translucent area where his hand should have been, then the knife, then back to Val, David shifted uncomfortably. "I can... fix the floor..." he grumbled. He pulled the knife out slowly, and closing his eyes, tried to focus on his hand. The effect slowly transferred up his forearm, his shoulder, then over his body. At least, that was the illusion it had created.

Looking down at the hint of his shadow cast by the candle, Yinko turned towards the girl.

"You're not my type," David answered.

She watched as he locked on to the feeling that the powers were likely to produce within his own body. She stayed quiet for this process, because she knew the process of learning a new ability. It was interesting watching the slow process of an arm disappearing. When he answered to her comment about the shower Val threw her head back and laughed. So he did have a sense of humor! Her eyes gleamed wickedly when she looked back.

"So you do have a sense of humor! Although I'm not most people's type, they tend to shy away from the crazy. However that new ability will sure be useful. So long as you don't run into people who can sense you like granny, Nazo, and myself."

"That certainly limits who I can use it against," David grumbled. "Almost doesn't make it worth it, if the Zodiac can detect me." He paused, thinking it over as he stretched out with his mind. "Maybe... it will have some uses." A sly grin crossed his face, thinking about the military base, about their logistical needs. "You think we'd need anti-armor capabilities to deal with the threats against us?"

Valdis returned his smile understanding instantly where his thought process was going.

"If I'm understanding where your thought process is going then yes, anything will most likely help. So far most of the knights have built cases against us with the military. So having some leverage tools will be more then helpful. May I suggest however focusing on the Japanese Military....There are too many coincidences for me to turn a blind eye to. They had the cats who were to awaken the senshi trapped in the first place according to Nazo. There are more points against them...however even when dealing with normal's I suggest you use extreme caution. Though I'm sure I don't need to tell you that."

She giggled.

"But oh what I would give to have that ability; course I would be extremely immature about the whole ability. Suppose its best that I stick to my blow things up routine."

She scratched the back of her head; he seemed to be in better spirits seeing that he had another ability that would make him useful.

"Do the team a favor and don't get caught tho; as much as I have a bad feeling about the Japanese Military we need them in the final battle. I have seen it; we'll need both the Americans and Japanese when we march on the citadel. So if you can dig up information that can ensure there cooperation that will set us up grandly...Also keep an ear out for any information regarding crystals. If something about crystals comes up...go out of your way and obtain it."

"I'm starting to get the feeling," David started, frowning, "I'm the only one in the group that grasps this cloak and dagger business." Releasing his mental grasp on Val, he begins to fade back into existence, arms, legs, his head, then his torso, all shrouded in black. "If I do these things, you know we can't tell some of the others, right? At least, we can't until there's some unit cohesion."

That in and of itself, David knew, was an issue he had to sort out.

"How are we supposed to get the unit to work together, anyway?" Yinko grumbled. "Everyone seems to be a perfectionist and prima donna, and no one's willing to follow anyone."

Valdis did her best to look slightly insulted at the idea that she was among those included in having not a clue of the cloak and dagger business. Then again he had no idea, she giggled and shrugged her shoulders in response.

"I'm perfectly aware of idea of a need to know basis. You give the information when it will help serve a greater purpose."

When he asked about the group Valdis tapped a finger to her chin, this was not the first time she was asked this. In fact he was the third person now to approach her with this very problem.

"They do listen... to an extent. I find if you give information to people like the little mouse they tend to fallow...or at least attempt her wishes. She's to damn cute to say no to... Her opinions matter to a lot of members on the team. Since they matter folks tend to make the decision to at least attempt what she asks; so in their minds there still making an independent decision. In short I find the group can function better on a subtle level. But honestly things go to crap once its gets a bit hectic and Sophias separated from the group. But it is an issue that needs to be addressed and I can assure you, you are not alone in those sentiments."

Putting the knife away and taking a seat once again on the floor, David considered giving up for the night. He had managed to make some progress on his new ability, and the talk, while informative, was too vague and non-directional to accomplish anything. "Maybe it's time to call it a night."