Ashley walks in after a while, getting an invite from Taika to come to a rock climbing place. He was looking around and sees Taika and some other girl following her up. It seemed that they were chatting up a storm and grined slightly. It had been awhile since he had done something like this in general. Ashley was dressed like a normal person then in a lab coat and such. A black shirt, blue jeans, and some boots. Although out of the corner of his eye he sees an unexpected person to be there. As he sees Kurio up on another corse and just raises an eyebrow slightly. But it was just a public place so he turns his attention to Taika and the girl, although Ashley somewhat recognized the girl but not sure where. It would come to him sooner or later as everything did for him.

"OI TAIKA DOWN HERE" Ashley calls out to her and gives a wave to her as he was contemplating on climbing himself. Since it had been a while since he had done it and may have been a bit rusty. Although with the safety percautions it would be ok for a newbie to climb up there.

Taika looks surprised at the teenager’s response. “Most people get a little freaked out at the prospect of that of things. Particularly since it would come without consent. However, being that they aren’t entirely human, I don’t think the laws should apply in that capacity. Still, we still haven’t caught one. Getting a class 4 is difficult enough…”

Begrudgingly, Taika agrees with the girl about the SHOGUN though. Frowning a bit, she adds, “Yeah, I’m not saying it’s not without its use. I’m just saying it’s not worth the money and energy poured into it. Or the praise that it’s receiving.”

However, Taika freezes as the teenager mentions the Zodiac being taken down. “Alright, I knew that, but how did you know that? That bit of information’s been hidden from the public. Give me that and I’ll tell you all you want to know about how I earned my place and whatever lessons you want.”

She looks down as she hears a familiar voice. “Hey, Ash. Join the no harness party. Also, this is my new padawan… ummm… crap, what’s your name?”

"They probably get freaked out cause they don't want to be the ones to gather the information. Also I don't see why it would be so controversial if it was kept under wraps; it's no worse than the Spector program the military's got going. They already crossed the line of human experimentation and that's on people who's on our side."

She was actually quite proud of herself for not falling by this point. The act of talking made things a bit easier to keep in the mindset of the now.

"You said getting a class four was difficult enough; have you caught one then?"

Valdis chuckled at the older woman's response.

"It probably receives much praise, I image the boys have been dreaming of mech suits for years. Its a new large shiny toy that came out of comic books and goes boom for them."

Valdis only laughed when Taika froze and a stream of questions flowed. It was at this point she surpassed her on the wall as she continued to climb. Before she was able to answer she heard another male voice call up from below. She stopped and looked down; he knew Taika as she called down to him and asked yet another question. Valdis laughed and shook her head.

"Allow me to answer to questions in one shot; I'm Valdis Mortimer Ito; the presidents daughter"

Ashley grins slightly at Taika's response and slight challenge. He starts to walk over to the wall that Taika and her so called apprentice Valdis was at. The staff was approaching him and starting to offer the harness to him. "I did mountain climbing in the swiss alps so you really think I would need it" said Ashley as he dismissed the guy. He stretches a few times and starts climbing up to the duo and would take him a bit to get to the two of them. "Its been awhile since I have done this Taika" he called up and he was closing the distance. "Quite a pleasure to meet you Valdis-san. Might I inquire what the two of you were talking about" he said to the younger girl as he was reaching them.

He was curious on what the two were talking about since he did not catch any part of there conversation. Since the two of them were having a pleasant conversation.

The world works in strange ways. Taika didn’t picture ever running into the president’s daughter at a rock climbing wall. And she definitely didn’t picture a girl with a high profile father running around without security. “Huh. Weird,” she says.

She smiles at Ash as he says it’s been awhile. “It’s like riding a bike; you don’t really forget. And I think I work better with the threat of falling and hurting myself. I assume it’s the same for others.”

“As for the conversation, mostly reiterating my Jun rant and reliving my youth. Also, as I grow older, it occurs to me it’s time for me to pass down my wisdom to the new generation.” In truth, she hadn’t even hit 30 yet, but talking to someone who seemed about 10 years her junior made her feel old.

She looks back at Valdis, her new pupil, “That was until Valdis said something of interest. So you seem to be good at getting information as is. What do you know of the battle of Scorpio? Did get anything on team celestial?”

Let's face it, there isn't much reason for anyone to stay on top of a climbing wall for an extended period of time. Much less long enough for a group of three people to have an in depth conversation about, well, whatever they were going on about.

The Lieutenant begins to descend the staircase in the back, noting that the advanced wall had become crowded, though he didn't know Taika, or recognize Valdis and Ashley from the distance they were at. He didn't feel like climbing back down, and he flustered quite a few people when he rappelled last time down the side of the wall using a vacant harness. Descending the stairs, he would exit on the ground level off to the side about thirty seconds later, walking to a water fountain.

One of the staff members comes up to Saeki, knowing his profession, demanding that he escort them off the property for trespassing and breaking the rules and directions of the staff, to which Saeki curtly replied.

"Off-duty." he says with his expression remaining as firm and apathetic as it normally was, before he walked over to his own bag that was in one of the open storage units on the ground: shelving without a door where it was accepted that the community who came to this center was somewhat trustworthy to each other. He unzips a bag, pulling out a black, unmarked pill bottle that was typical of supplement along with a water bottle. Opening the water bottle, he plops the pill inside and begins to shake the water as it begins to turn a orange hue.

"Ash was it? As my new mentor said we were talking about Jun; which lead to the topic of me breaking into his office; which then lead her to offering me lovely advice about security systems. We have both reached the conclusion that causing Mr. Kanekos business face fall would be fun of the highest caliber."

When Taika asked yet another question a sly smirk spread across her face.

"My dear teacher I haven't had my questions answered yet; I believe I met the requirements for your first tidbits of knowledge yes?"

Valdis attention was diverted when she heard the people below demand that they be charged for trespassing and escorted off the property. Annoyance lit her eyes and her lips pursed into a thin line...this was the last time she was climbing at this facility.

"Excuse me"

She reversed her climbing and descended down until she was ten or so feet off the ground and just let herself fall the rest of the way down. She landed neatly on her feet and spun around to speak with the people demanding they leave.

"I will be more than happy to create a law suit against this company for harassment and gross negligence for safety precautions for the previous incident where in your employee failed to hold the rope causing in a freefall which could have resulted in serious injury. I will also make public my opinion on this lovely establishment; I'm sure it would be great publicity for you."

She didn't push her public status often how ever in matters like this she had no issues reminding people she could and would tarnish their reputation if pushed. Valdis venomous look took a mercurial turn as her eyes shifted to the sap that they were trying to get to escort them off. She grinned up at him with a true smile.

"Kurio! So you're the sap there trying to push around. How's big old and grumpy bother doing?

Ashley smirks slightly at the thought of getting even with Jun as that could help him with his future projects. "Shall I be calling you Darth Taika now" he said to Taika. His eyes flicker over to Valdis "Yes it was, well that would be nice. But I would like to go into a bit more detail. Me and Taika are in a sense are partners in crime so to speakhe said and was going to say more but Valdis had desided to head back down. Ashley followed where she was going and heard her going into a rant on abusing her power as the president's daughter. Then followed with his eyes to something that caught his attention. And if Ashley could facepalm he would but he was holding on to the rock wall.

"Damn.....I just hate the string theory....I'm going to head back on down Taika. See you at the bottom" said Ashley as he climbed down. He had to chuckle at the fact that it was like riding a bike on the climbing.

“See why she is my understudy,” Taika points to Valdis after mentioning plans for Jun’s downfall. She snickers as Ash says the name Darth Taika, “I only bend the rules a little.”

Taika nods as Valdis doesn’t answer the rest of her questions. “Alright, an answer for an answer is fair. I got… ummm… detained once for trespassing and breaking and entering and treason and espionage and a few other things that I don’t think I really deserved. Mostly, I wanted to answer scientific questions about the nature of the Covenant, and since I was a civilian at the time that meant going into areas that I wasn’t allowed. I’d like to state that I wasn’t convicted of anything, so my nickname is also undeserved. I ended up joining the military after everything was cleared, but most of my superiors know about that unfortunate event in my past. So that’s why I’m at the bottom of the peaking order.”

She watches as Valdis creates more of a scene at the bottom of the wall, and can’t help but laugh. It was a funny sight. The girl didn’t even need to say anything since the staff was helpless to stop the no harness party.

It’s clear that everyone recognizes the man that’s probably her superior though. "Huh?" she says when Ash indicates he's climbing back down. She feels almost out of the loop. Giving one last look at the top of the wall, she reaches the bottom and joins the group. Another time then…

When Valdis hops down and puts her two cents in the whole situation. It took a moment for Kurio to recognize the feisty young woman when the staff members, defeated in their attempts to reign in order and the rule of law slink off back to their caves to resolve to make certain this situation never happened again. Kurio felt like the might be less cooperative with his own training in the future, but he would deal with that when the problem comes about. It's not like the manager wasn't a squeamish man overly eager to please for fear of some kind of retribution or unspoken promise of future favors.

"Valdis. I see you're making friends as well as always." he says in greeting as his eyes track where the others were retreating. Taika and Ashley would notice that his exposed arms and bits of his torso that peeked out from his workout clothes were covered in scars, healed over burns, and signs of frequent combat in the past far more so than Ashley had witnessed so far. It might explain why he stood up against a Class IV outside the theater without hesitation. Around his neck along with his dog tags was a small ring at the tip of it that looked child size.

"So to what do I owe the pleasure of your presence Valdis? Kasei's situation is the same as it always has been.." he says, his voice turning a little dejected toward the end: Valdis would know that the fact Kasei had been getting older and older without a change in her status was bothering him, and that the prospect of her waking up to an abrupt change was just as terrifying as the prospect of never waking again.

Valdis watched them slink off with an icy expression; they were highly annoying. She didn't enjoy using her status as a idol but it was a tool and tools were meant to be used. Violet eyes shifted back to the familiar face of her friends older brother. It was a shame she hadn't gotten to spend more time with him; he obviously cared for her a lot. Kasei would have had fun messing with him as well, course he would have gotten double teamed by her and that girl. The corner of her lip twitched up in a lopsided smile; Kurio more than well knew her abrasive personality. He may or may not have gotten attacked when they first met; when they came overseas Kasei had and still was her only connection from home. Sharing had not come easily.

"You know I don't need friends I need results; and frankly if I was trying to make friends I would choose people more competent at life because these people are obviously failing. However I did just meet someone who caught my interest, I think she's coming down the wall now."

She folded her arms across her chest, as they climbed down. Her calm expression forming a small frown when the mood went from teasing to melancholy. A sigh escaped her lips as her arms fell to her side; her gaze shifting back to Kurio. Out of anyone she understood his fears the best for she shared that burden as well. She reached out and took his hand and gave it a small squeeze of understanding. The physical contact only lasted a moment before she let her hand drop. There was nothing either one of them could do to improve Kasei's situation but as the saying goes misery loves company.

"I'm here because I enjoy rock climbing every now and then. However I doubt I will be returning to the facility...But on better news I am in the process of separating myself from my current agency and joining Mr. Kanekos. Under the terms that part of the profits go to helping the families and victims of the covenant...Making Kasei more comfortable will be at the top of the list....and since her health has never shown any drastic changes bad or good...I was thinking of having her moved to a home location. That is if you're interested....the charity would be able to help fund the expenses."

Threatening to beat a business into the ground one minute and charitable the next. She noticed the others were near the ground and turned her attention back to Kurio.

"We can talk about this later; over lunch or dinner perhaps? Moving on to a different subject I was having the most interesting conversation about the big baddies with Ms Taika here. Along with her teaching me some valuable skills on having into computer systems."

Ashley gets near to the bottom and then just hops off down to the mat and he sees Valdis and Kurio talking. As he gets closer the science officer sees the battle scars on Kurio's arms. Knowing that he saw more combat time then himself. As they were talking his ears picked up a name Kasei and from his understanding and deduction that the girl was related to Kurio and a friend to Valdis. So Ashley did not bring it up unless spoken to about the subject. Although this girl's situation seemed very bleak since as her condtion was not changing at all. "I don't have issues with Kaneko doing something to help those that have been effected by these attacks. I just don't like what he is making, those machines are not suited for combat like the covenant. Although I top him on the weaponry angle"he said adding something since he wanted to try and get into the conversation.

"But if the luck I am having with that thing I made. Then I am on the right step to what I want to make" he said and was thinking over about something else.

Taika walks over to the group which now surrounded the man that probably outranked her. Part of her always felt weird running into high ranking officers in causal locations. She was certain she would screw up the vast majority of her meetings. She always had such trouble with the military hierarchy, and maybe that was yet another reason she was so low on it.

She comes in just time to hear herself being refer to as Ms. Frowning a little, she interjects, “You know I feel old some days, but I’m not that old I swear. I don’t need a title before my name, but if you wish to put one there, use Dr. I have a PhD after all, and that at least sounds distinguished.”

She nods along with Ash, “Yeah, I don’t think anyone minds him helping people out. But like Ash said his work is pretty lackluster.” Now Jun was making himself look like a good guy by starting charities. She’s not sure why, but that just pisses her off more.

Looking at the familiar man, she extends a hand, “Taika Laukkanen. I don’t think we’ve met before, but you seem awfully familiar.” In the back of her mind, she chants ‘Please don’t call me convict.’

Kurio's eyes shift in the direction of Taika when Valdis mentioned 'someone of interest' before back to Valdis. Why was she associating with this woman whom seemed to be college aged or more? Kurio didn't recognize the lab rat for who she was: combat and MP divisions rarely interacted with scientists, much less one face in a sea of hundreds. The fact that he had any kind of association with Ashley was an anomaly, one that Kurio's more firearm and CQC oriented comrades would prod him about sometimes in an almost too harshly joking manner. Such was the way of the grunts.

"Well they never bothered me with my own training before, but I usually intimidated them too much to be bothered plus the manager is a suckup to anyone with authority." Saeki says with a slight sigh, realizing that it might be his own actions that caused the situation to escalate with the others. When Valdis mentioned something about at home care for Kasei, Kurio was visibly uncomfortable. It to him felt like it would be selfish to want such a thing, and he believed Valdis was drastically underestimating the costs it might be for such a thing. It was something that might benefit others more. But when Valdis mentioned to talk to it later over some sort of meeting, he just nodded. It was an affair for something not in front of strangers.

Ashley approached and prattled on about the usual science science blah blah that he usually talked about and that Kurio usually filtered out until something reached a particular interest to him. Then the older woman aproached, introducing her as Taika Lakukunen, Lakurakenana, Lakunamata...Taika would have to suffice for now.

He extends a calloused hand, grasping Taika's for a moment.

"Kurio Saeki. I don't know why I would sound familiar. I am but a Lieutenant in the Military Police as of now, going about my duty as day to day demands." he says with a very plain and blatant honesty.

"I think, I'll lay off on the science stuff since it would make some people bored. Anyway...so Valdis-san, my younger sister is a huge fan of your group. Do you know when your next concert will be? Since I did overhear that you were changing production companies" said Ashley as he was trying to make small talk with the young lady. He was not expecting the idol to be this eccentric and chaotic, since he was use to seeing the more sweet and demure looking ones of the styreotypes on TV. "I want to give her a few tickets so she can go with some friends and have some fun. She was doing well until the more volatile attacks recently. I apologize if I am asking too much. I'm just an older brother trying to do what he can for his sister" he said rubbing the back of his head. Since his sister was the only family he had left. Plus trying to make her forget the problems in the world.

Ashley's eyes flick over to Taika and Kurio, hearing there conversation and just raised an eyebrow slightly. This was directed at Kurio, as the man needed something a bit more outside of training and such. At least he had some hobbies outside of the lab and the military.