Letter Bee

NEOTOKYO: State of Disarray [Open]

Ashton Andrews-Hyuga

“Thanks for the flattery, Ms. Li,” Ashton said, not entirely taken by said flattery, but knowing that confronting her too soon about that would be… Dangerous. So instead, he changed the subject, “I’ll make a lot of boys very happy too, if I ever get the chance.”

A smile, “Mind if I ask what your tastes in men are? Or other women, if you are so inclined? And yes, I am a hormone addled teenager - I just know that fact, am comfortable with it, and I play it up to my advantage. Of course, revealing that begs the question: How much is my judgement actually affected by pretty faces and how much am I using it as a mask? I hope no one tries to find out.”

Then a chuckle. “You’re an inspiration to those of us with even the smallest traces of foriegn blood, Ms. Li. It is my hope to emulate your success one day, as a cybersecurity specialist and seller of security software. In the meantime, though...” He trailed off, “There is a foe to be defeated. A foe whose Freudian Excuses and underlying grievances do not justify their methods and end goals. I hope to build my future success on their ruins.”

Pride and arrogance were in Ashton’s words, but also an undertone of resolution. His idealism and his hatred of the Jinrai were both real, after all.

A smile at Chris, then. “That’s all right. You don’t sound so bad now that I’ve met you. By the way, want me to upgrade your personal cyber-security for free? I need to do something to foster goodwill among this group, after all.

“Actually...” He says this as he looks around the gathered guests, “Which of you guys wants a free upgrade to your personal cybersecurity, for your internet usage that does not relate to your job? I’m offering to do it right now...” Ashton holds up his smartphone, which was still linked to his personal computer lab, “In order to show you guys how capable I can be. Consider this a free sample designed to whet your appetites.”

Then he turned to Daiyu, “Note that as you probably spend billions on your own cybersecurity and obviously won’t trust a kid whom you’ve just met, I’ll offer you something else.”

He takes out a small old-fashioned-looking laserdisc. “This is a new Antivirus program I developed. If it’s even half as good as your professional staff’s software, do think well of me in your dreams!”

It was, by the way, exactly half as good as Daiyu’s professional staff’s software, with the implication that if given an even better laboratory and training, Ashton can do more.

@GrizzTheMauler@Landaus Five-One@MK2@silvermist1116@Smike

Kingdom Hearts - Lights of the Multiverse [Latest Reboot]

Note that I might be giving this RP to someone else, in order to free up more time and energy for other endaevors.

NEOTOKYO: State of Disarray [Open]

Ashton Andrews-Hyuga

Ashton seemed to be on a roll. Not only did he get apple pie and sweet tea out of this deal, but he had the attention of Daiyu and everyone else. Now to find a way to leverage that into information, friendships, and good impressions in general. And yes, he liked the attention - He had to admit that.

Carefully eating his apple and sweet tea, he observed the etiquette, waiting for the others to talk first… Only for the fast pace and wide variety of individual conversations to catch him off-guard - So many people were talking about so many things! Chelsea did greet him, though, and Ashton courteously replied, this time in English, “Happy to meet you for the first time, Ms. Chelsea. I’m glad that this group can meet in such… Serene surroundings.”

That was true enough. Now to be a mischievous boy and discreetly ogle Seo despite his injuries, as his listening skills were not good enough to allow him to parse what people were talking about. Also, to gush at Takashi’s fashion sense - He wasn’t a fashion enthusiast, but he liked beautiful things, clothing included.

He breathed in and out as he looked for a chance to socialize, but found himself gravitating towards Chris despite his best efforts to get interested in someone else. And so the first words he blurted out were, “So, Chris Bell, was it? Happy to meet you, my name is Ashton Andrews-Hyuga, Japanese-American Cyber-security specialist - I’m good with computers and drones.” A slight smirk, this time directed at most everyone else, “I even hacked this place once in my attempt to get hired - I thought that if I demonstrated the flaws in their cyber-security, they’d hire me. And they did.”

Then back to Chris alone, “So, what was up with the reported incidents a while ago? I want to know your side of the story.”

And to everyone else, “What do you think of the Administrator - Ochisuta-sama, I mean? I tried to get to his office, but his secretary saw through my attempt to place myself on his schedule and told me to go away. Shows that the Administrator is competent enough to pay attention to the human side of his security, I’d say.”

Why did that topic come out? I sound egotistical now! And I might get in trouble. Oh, well, it’s too late to get out of this hole anyway.

“And yes, I am… Fascinated with our Administrator. I read his dossier and what info I am qualified for several times now and there are still omissions that point to more stuff I want to know,” Ashton continued musing. “He’s a literal mystery, after all!”

A smile, “And of course, it goes without saying that I am a fan of the current Prime Minister and his policies!”

@GrizzTheMauler@Landaus Five-One@MK2@silvermist1116

NEOTOKYO: State of Disarray [Open]

@13org, We are, there's an open slot.

NEOTOKYO: State of Disarray [Open]

Ashton Andrews-Hyuga

Disappointed at not being able to contact the Administrator, Ashton Andrews went back to his room after receiving the notification of the upcoming tea party mentioned on the task board. After making sure his computers were untouched, he went to his closet and got out a nice formal suit - Paid for with his saved-up salary - whose soft black color was pleasing to Ashton’s eyes. He also had a bowtie of the same color, one that looked embarrassingly juvenile, but hey, he was still a kid.

Speaking of being a kid, Ashton did not like being disappointed. However, he also knew that life won’t give him whatever he wanted just because he wanted it. So he forgot all about his desire to approach the Administrator and instead decided to focus on the people within his group… Even though a recent notification stated that one of his would-be teammates was a bit of a child hater. Ashton, being a child himself, strongly disliked child haters, especially those who would inflict physical harm on people like him.

Nevertheless, that was a matter to dismiss - He had socialization to do! Ashton wanted friends and so he’d get some from the adults in the NSF by demonstrating his talents and his idealistic conviction and his adorableness. He may have failed in getting the Administrator’s attention, but he can and will show the adults that he was worth bringing into their organization.

Walking to where High Tea was going to be set, plotting out a route to the Emperor’s Garden using both his smartphone and his eyes - The latter took precedence to the former as smartphones were capable of error - Ashton belatedly realized that what he thought was conviction may actually be arrogance, but also knew that such a feeling cannot be corrected in just a few moments - He’d just have to be more self-aware of what he felt and thought from now on.

Upon arrival, Ashton saw that a varied cast of… People were arriving at the gardens as well, including Chris and Chelsea - He was uncomfortable with the former for obvious reasons, while as for the latter, his hormones and the fact that he was attracted to women as well as men made the buxom lady very… Unsettling for him. And of course, it was rumored that Seohyung, the Korean with a dark past, a dark past Ashton was barely able to avoid, was coming and never missed occasions like this.

Upon seeing Seohyung or someone who looked like him arriving at the garden, Ashton waved hi and said in Japanese, “Hajimemashite (Happy to meet you for the first time)! My name is Ashton Andrews-Hyuga - Tech Support Cadet and also a Rigger and Hacker!”

@GrizzTheMauler@Landaus Five-One@MK2@silvermist1116

BeeNCQuest Lore Thread.

11/22/2019 - Repaired the images 25 days ago, but forgot to announce it now.

Kingdom Hearts - Lights of the Multiverse [Latest Reboot]

I won't be available tomorrow.

NEOTOKYO: State of Disarray [Open]

Ashton Andrews-Hyuga

Ashton was busy preparing cybersecurity for any intrusion by Jinrai, knowing full well that he could not fend off every one of their attempts at entry in both the physical and digital worlds - This meant prioritizing some approaches over others. Weaving a web of protection, of interconnected firewalls and antivirus programs and constant scanning of all files not in a secure archive, Ashton was ready to make the defense as confusing for the enemy as possible when they made any attempt at entering his demesne.

Not that he was willing to let them any mole they have inside pre-emptive strikes or sneak in any groundwork before that happened, of course. For Ashton had established seven security programs, the ‘Seven Eyes’, whose goal was to alert him to any sign of dangerous activity among NSF employees and the Jinrai spies outside. These security programs used a parallel network of cameras and drones that operated alongside the NSF’s own closed-circuit network, and logged every action they caught, occasionally ‘tagging’ them as suspicious or dangerous. Note that the ‘Seven Eyes’ could and did return false positives, and so had to be corroborated with surrounding data lest Ashton make the mistake of jumping to conclusions.

And surrounding data was best-acquired through actual people - Computer whiz Ashton might be, but he was no stereotypical tech specialist, withering in the darkness. No, he was not going to let his social skills slip! And so, after making sure that his computers were capable of running semi-autonomously, and that he can always access them from his smartphone/comm-link/omni-tool, the young man then sent an email to Takeda Ochisuta’s office, asking for a personal meeting. Waiting a few minutes for a response, Ashton made the decision to go anyway regardless of whether he received permission or not. If needed, he can always artificially place himself on Takeda’s secretary’s schedule.

He knew he was playing a dangerous game if he did that, but he counted on Takeda’s capability to be impressed through daring, quick, and not necessarily suicidal actions. After all, that was how he got in the NSF in the first place.

Getting up to go out of the computer labs, Ashton walked to Takeda’s office, digitally putting himself on the secretary’s list if he had really not received permission to meet with him. All the while, he was measuring his personal feelings towards the NSF Administrator. An Ex-Jinrai operative who had defected to the NSF while preserving his original beliefs and ideology, Takeda was not to be trusted out of hand - He had still given hesitant yet still existent support to concentration camps for foreigners, concentration camps he could have been put into despite his Japanese blood.

But then again, neither was he - Despite his commitment to 99% of what the NSF believed in (the 1% was merely an allowance for human error), Ashton was enough of a maverick to gain their distrust. After all, he had earned cadet-hood and a relatively high place in the system by showing how their existing cyber-security was weak and vulnerable. So he had more to learn, more to learn from the best and the best was a person he distrusted, somewhat disliked, but respected anyway.

Then it turned out that the Secretary was smarter than he thought she would be, telling the young man, "I'm sorry to say this, but you are barred from an unauthorized meeting with Ochisuta-sama. Even if you did manage to place yourself on his schedule, considering your personal history and your... Capabilities, it would not be advisable to you in without Ochisuta-sama's personal verbal permission. In short, you are not allowed in his office until he says so and even then it'd be under the strictest precautions. Do we understand each other?"

Well, this was a surprise.

"Loud and clear," Ashton said as his disappointment was overridden by caution. "I'll be taking my leave now."

Then he left, pondering looking for other fish to fry...

((Edited with Conscripts' permission.))

@Conscripts

~ Phantom Thieves of London: The Calling ~

Mikhail Chekhov

One of Mikhail's gifts was that he knew he wasn't always special or unique, and that what special things do happen to him happen to other people as well. So his first thoughts were, Others will probably rescue me or be brought in here. Probably the latter, and that meant he had potential allies. Although part of him hoped that Hatto-san or even Tyler had found their way into this place and had ‘magical’ weapons as well. Either way, for now, he’d wait, even if it was waiting to be tortured. After all, the room had only few furnishings and his phone had limited power.

Inside the prison room, Mikhail resisted the urge to reflect on his earlier actions. Philip and Alex committed crimes against him, damnit, not the other way around! He did not need to apologize to those two, not at all!

Obviously, that wasn’t the case, and Mikhail found himself yelling, ”I don’t want to apologize to Philip and Alex, even if I get out of here! I know I did wrong but it hurts my pride to apologize! Did it ever occur to anyone that what they did to me is worse than what I did to others?!”

He may - may - have drawn the guards’ attention to him because of that. Oh, flipping crap! Why did this happen to him?

And he also noticed the lying self-deception and hypocrisy in his own words. Why can’t he take refuge in those qualities instead of being repulsed by them?!

Kingdom Hearts - Lights of the Multiverse [Latest Reboot]

Bumping this.