An Important Conversation.

Sui was taking some time out of the house, so he figured this was the best time to do this. He needed to have a bit of a talk with Vivian; she was the only one that would be able to help him really, and he didn't want to worry Sui. After all these years, it had become very apparent that the seal that the former leaders of the country had placed on him was having... serious side effects. His growth was highly stunted, physically speaking; and it worried him. He was afraid that it was having other effects, ones he hadn't noticed. He needed her to check him; they needed to find the records (if they ever existed) of the seal, find a way to 'fix' it. Or even.. maybe... remove it. He didn't see Vivian as the type to 'brand' her people; at least, not like this. He was pretty sure that Espi had some kind of mark on her; but it wouldn't do the things that his did, and it was done with her consent. Gen's was... not; not truly. He'd been all but a vegetable when he'd arrived, and barely any better when they'd placed it.

He'd literally just been taken from his cage, placed in an empty room, and told to stand still while a bunch of sealers drew on him, the floor, the walls, the ceiling... everything was covered in intensely dense runes he couldn't begin to understand then, let alone now. There had been no asking; his lack of resistance was taken as consent. Or maybe he never had a choice. He never asked.

He hadn't cared, then.

Now he needed to care. He couldn't afford to risk his health and body now; not with Sui here to protect, not with... friends, a sort of family. He had a reason to care, to live; so he had to care about himself now, at least enough to keep himself healthy.

He'd been standing outside of the door to her office for several minutes by then; he did it often, just sort of sat in the hallway beside them; so it wasn't that weird for him to be there. It was sunny in the hallway, and he felt like he was doing something that way; he was supposed to be a weapon after all, so he might as well be in a position where he could protect his leader if something happened. He had no love for his former masters; his loyalty was to his sister and Vivian and Espi and Sixx. He'd use those skills forced upon him to keep them safe.

Knocking on the door, he cracked it open just enough to stick his head in, "Vivian...? Can I talk to you?"

Vivian was feeling rather amused at the moment: before she had left for work Sui had pushed a little bag lunch onto her – claiming that she knew Vivian hadn't been eating right, which of course was the honest truth. Vivian had thanked her, but hadn't bothered to look into the bag until her growling stomach had gotten the best of her. She had been hoping to find something she could nibble on without making a mess and upon reaching into the bag had found a sandwich which she hadn't inspected enough to figure out what was on it, a bottle of water, and a bag of freshly cut and washed veggies.

Vivian had a carrot half eaten in her hand as she heard a knock and looked up to see Gen sticking his head in. She nodded and motioned for him to come in while she finished chewing what was in her mouth and swallowed. ”Of course, what's up?”, she asked curiously.

Vivian leaned back in her chair, curious as to what Gen wanted to talk about. She didn't bother covering up the important papers on her desk, or hiding anything – there were four people she absolutely trusted in this village: Sixx, Gen, Sui, and Espi. So she had no reason to hide anything from any of them.

She offered up the baggie of veggies. ”Want some? Your sister demanded I take a lunch with; made it for me too. I think she realized I wasn't eating like I should so she ambushed me on my way out the door.” Vivian chuckled; she wasn't used to being cared for, and it was a bit nice if she was being honest with herself.

The boy slipped inside of the office like a ghost; if not for the fact that he was actually solid, he'd likely never bother with doors; hell, if his collar bones weren't anchored to his ribs and shoulders he could slip through any space his head could fit, similar to a cat. It was part of why they'd kept him in a solid room, versus a typical cage; even when he wasn't protesting and such he'd unconsciously slip free in his moments of total incoherence. Instincts and all.

The offer to share the lunch was appreciated, and nodded in agreement as he sat down; reaching for the cut vegetables and taking a celery top. Common misconception about rabbits; they preferred the leafy tops of the plants, not the stalks that humans normally ate. The leaves had what the rabbit needed, the stalk was just extra bulk to fill up on. "Thank you... She left me one too, but I was going to save it for when she got back, so we could eat together..." He was peckish, but not hungry in that way he was used to; they'd been able to get into a habit of actually, well... taking care of themselves, to a better degree; eating regularly, and even sleeping some, in his case.

Figuring he'd get to the point so as to not waste her time; he still had problems with the idea of 'bothering' people, as his mind thought of it; so he didn't want to take forever beating around the bush and such. "I was wondering... if it's not too much trouble... if maybe we could find the records about the seal they put on me. You know I've been working on trying to catch up with my education... and I like to read the medical books... I noticed something..."

He stopped for a moment to chew on his lips, a nervous habit he never really got rid of, but that he had only recently started doing again. "You've examined Sui, you've heard our stories... you know our age, as close as we can figure out. We never did know our birthday, or what year we where born; but it's not that hard for a medic to figure that out. You must have noticed it by now... we're so... small, and we're both... neither of us is really... right, for our age. I know girls tend to grow up a bit later than boys... and we're never going to be... well, big; but... I can't help but feel like there is more going on than just some effect of our not fully human nature. It's only been a few weeks and Sui is already growing; but I'm... not. I haven't, not for years, now. I'm exactly the same as I was when I got here; but I shouldn't be. The seal... I remember the handlers talking once; they said it would 'suppress the beast'; it feels like it's shutting my mind and body down when it triggers... I can't help but think that maybe it's suppressing more than just my rages and my power... They used to talk in front of my like I wasn't there, like I was a chair, or a table, or a statue; when they where putting the seal on me, the handler said 'I'm not an expert, I'm not a medic; there's no telling what this seal will do to the kid.' I don't even think the one that did it was properly trained to place seals... he was a summoner by specialty; so he knew a bit... but summoning and sealing aren't the same... What if he did something wrong and this seal is causing more problems than any of us realized... I don't want to risk something happening to me and leaving Sui alone again..."

Vivian chewed on the recent most carrot in her hand while she listened to Gen speak. She could understand his worry, as she too had noticed his lack of growth. Given she was a medic she noticed things easily enough, and that had been one of them. Sui was growing, perhaps not as fast or normal as a human, but the growth was there. However, as far as she could tell Gen hadn't changed at all – as if he were frozen in place so to speak.

When Gen finished speaking Vivian nodded. ”Yeah, I was actually going to try and see if they had any files in that place on you today, actually. I had noticed that, too, and it worried me. Your sister was a little worried last night when some of her clothing didn't fit right and asked me to check on her because she thought something was off: I think she's noticed something is up too with you.”

“I noticed she had been growing, but you're definitely right that you're not. In fact, you should be quite a bit larger then your sister by now, given the rate of growth between males and females, even given everything the two of you have been through.”

She bit her bottom lip thoughtfully for a moment, thinking. ”I'll have to see if I can find a seal expert floating around – someone I can trust. I have no experience in seals, and I'm not willing to risk something happening to you by risking it.” No, she definitely wasn't going to do that – she would never be able to forgive herself, or look at Sui again for that matter.

"I am patient; I would rather not risk any more than I have to. The more information we can find, the better. I know the handler that originally placed the seal is gone; he.. I don't know exactly what happened, but he appeared on the KIA list not long after the deed was done." He idly rubbed at his chest a bit, kneading the flesh marked by the seal softly. It had long since stopped paining him at random; when it was first placed he felt a near constant dull ache, with the odd sharp stabbing pain when he'd first wake up in the morning.

"Please... don't tell Sui about this. For now, she doesn't need to know. I've told her all about the seal, but not that I've been worrying about it's unexpected side effects. She's happy, and that's all I want. If leaving the seal means I stay small, but alive and healthy for her, I can live like this until the snows claim me; but if there is anything we can do... a chance at some sense of normality... I know it is large request, but it would be... nice. We were never really normal, and we never will be, but getting to a place were we don't have to remember the bad times... That's what I want."

”No need to worry, we'll figure out something. Even if I have to extend a hand to someone outside of our village that I can trust I will. And you don't have to worry about me saying anything to Sui: she's... starting to relax and be happy. I don't want to do anything to upset that, either.” Vivian moved the papers on her desk off to the side; she was in no mood to deal with them, nor to sit back behind her desk any longer. Taking care of Gen's needs was on her top priority list, and she couldn't do that sitting in her office.

She pushed her chair out and stood up, grabbing her hat and spinning it on top of her finger. ”I'm going to head down there now... it might take a few hours to dig anything up, so I want to give myself as much time as I need. Do you want to come with?” She wasn't going to force him to go back to that place if he didn't want to – she had avoidance issues with the place she was held for the short period and tortured in after she was captured, so she would understand all too well if he never wanted to step foot back in that place.

It was relieving to know that not only could he trust her, but that they felt the same about his sister's emotional well being. He was having a harder time getting used to having allies and friends than he was the unbelievable amount of changes and such that had happened recently. If she was going to check the records in the old ANBU barracks... best he went with her. He knew... things, about that place.

"I will accompany you. There are... traps, hidden in the walls and floor... things that not even the ANBU itself knew about. The records we'd need are in the highest security areas... there's no way to know just how many are still active, and if the codes and ciphers you have to disable them will even work. However... they all give off a distinct sound, one I can hear rather easily with these ears of mine. I would prefer to go with you for your safety, even if I would rather never see that place again."

Vivian nodded: it made sense that he would know the place better then her – and his ability to hear better would do wonders. Vivian had no intentions of ending up hurt, nor allowing him to become so, so being cautious was the best plan.

She slipped her hat on her head: she normally didn't bother with it, but it would certainly keep them from being bothered. No one would dare question her this way, that was for sure, and they wouldn't question Gen since he was with her. ”Alright, let's go. We'll make this as quick as possible.” She had no intentions of staying in that place longer then they had to, especially for Gen's sake – she didn't like the idea that he was going down there despite never wanting to step foot in the place again, even if she could understand that he was doing it to keep her safe. So, the less time they took the better in her opinion.

Vivian walked around her desk and over to the door. Just as she extended her hand the door would open and Espi would step in. Grinning a bit to herself she would scoop the female up quickly and give her a gentle and get fierce kiss before setting the now breathless female down – their standard greeting when Vivian was able to catch Epsi unaware. Espi blushed crimson and looked rather pleased at the greeting. ”You shouldn't do that... you make my head feel all funny and light.”, Espi scolded her playfully with a chuckle. The younger female would then look towards Gen and smile and wave. ”Hello, Gen. Are you two leaving somewhere?”

Vivian chuckled softly. ”Just a quick errand and then we'll be back. I think we should have a relaxing evening when we're done – all of us. No work. Perhaps we can all go watch a movie or something.”

Espi nodded. ”I'll go find Sui and we'll pick one out then! And we'll get popcorn! Lots of it!”

Vivian nodded, touched Espi's face for a moment, and then walked out of the office. Espi, still scarlet in the face, was beaming very happily.

Gen followed behind quietly, as he did everything. He took a moment to stop and speak with Espi, a simple, "Please don't tell Sui where I am... I don't want her to worry.", before resuming his trailing. He was just too used to being a few steps behind someone, following them as a hidden weapon; even if the person he was following was far stronger than he was. The trip down to the hidden barracks and storage areas was quick, thankfully; the entire village was crisscrossed with miles upon miles of dedicated tunnels; to allow for safer travel and an escape from the worst of the cold. The deeper they got, the more of an almost dark air began to waft from him. He wasn't upset or anything, he was just... remembering, sort of.

It was far easier than it used to be; with Vivian there to remind him that he wasn't alone anymore, and that the last few months where more than just a hallucination was doing wonders for keeping him from shutting down and turning into a lifeless puppet, as he once was. He kept his ears up and always moving, scanning for any of the traps that existed around the area. He knew most of them, but there where always things that where a surprise, and he'd had plenty of the information withheld from him. "Be careful, the majority of the tunnels on this level have pressure sensors in the floor. The moment you find an access panel, start disabling what you can... There is no escaping the blast if one of the traps goes off, the tunnel will channel the energy of the explosion and magnify it. So long as it's only one, we'd survive... but not without injury. I doubt anyone could survive two traps exploding at once..."

Espi would nod with a smile to Gen's request. ”No worries, Gen. I'll keep it quiet, and I'll keep her distracted with popcorn and picking out movies.”, Espi would respond with a bright smile before leaving: skipping as she went in the happy way she so often did – at least when not outside and cursing the rather cold air.

Vivian watched for a moment and then chuckled. As Vivian went and entered into the place it sent an usual chill up her spine. As they wandered through the halls she would begin to hum a soft and gentle tune: it was something to keep her thinking about anything other then the darkness that happened here. If she thought about it she would get angry, and her anger would not lead to any good place. To Gen's comment she nodded. ”Alright. I have no intentions of either of us getting harmed in here.”, she said softly: even though she had the ability to heal most injuries given she was a medic she still didn't want to risk it if she didn't have to.

Once the access panel was found Vivian made quick and effective work disabling as much as she could with the information she had. She was careful though as she went, not wanting to risk triggering anything by accident.