Jason took Kazaro’s chastisement calmly and silently. The man had a valid point, Jason really didn’t have any sway over Nero and Suto. It wasn’t his place to interfere in their squabble, and was rightly called out for it. Jason felt a small surge of anger when Kazaro ridiculed his blame of Kayaba for all the deaths, but he shoved it down and focused on the task at hand. He had said his peace, now they could all get on with clearing this Tower. Jason nodded his acceptance with what Kazaro had said and moved over to join his Lady for the final floor. As he strode over he saw that she was already busy talking with Kimi and stopped short so he could listen in.

Alphard had turned when she heard her name and found Kimi standing before her, back straight and confident. [i]Damn,[/i] she thought, [i] this girl’s got guts. Here we are, complaining about ourselves, when this little kid is right out there with us, kicking ass just as well as any of the rest of us.[/i] “What’s up, Kimi,” Alphard asked, resting her armored forearms on her tower shield. Kimi gave her request, never faltering once, and then fell silent. Alphard could tell that she was clearly expecting a response immediately, but the tall girl truly didn’t know what to say. She let out a gusty sigh. [i]Well, I guess the truth will just have to do…[/i]

“Well Kimi- may I call you Kimi?- you’ve caught me rather unawares by your request, I’ll admit. But it just so happens that what you are asking is also pretty relevant right now. You see, Jason and I were just talking about whether or not we could have more people join us before entering this Tower. He and I are approaching the limit of what we can do alone, so accepting another team member would be rather prudent. The issue, however, is the danger that we would be putting a new teammate in.” Before Kimi could object, Alphard charged on, “Now I know that you can handle yourself, you are a clearer after all, but Jason and I have been- and will continue- taking many of the hardest missions of each levels first. And we usually do it alone. There is no support for us; if we get overwhelmed in the field, there’s no second wave ready to rush in and save us. There’s no one watching our backs but each other. One mistake and we die.” 

Alphard shuddered. “It’s a pretty intense way to play this game, but it’s all I know, and Jason agrees with my methods.” She looked deep into Kimi’s determined eyes and sighed. “If all that sounds alright with you, then fight alongside us here in the Boss Fight. If we feel that you can handle the stress we’ll put on you, then you can come with us to go talk to, uhhh, Kazuma! Yeah, that was his name… he’s another person seeking admittance to our little group. My information broker made talking to him the price for info on this place, so we at least have to give him a chance. You will both be tested in a little underground training area Jason and I set up back on 27 and, if you pass, you can come along with us in the future. If not… I’m sure any other sane team would accept you in a moment.” With that, Alphard tugged her helmet on over her long silver hair and walked away. 

Once she was out of earshot, Jason paced over to Kimi and clapped her on the back, saying, “Welcome to the team, I’m sure you’ll do fine”