The lobby was mostly marble tile, high ceilings, a long front desk with 3 people in different uniforms. On the right was a buff female officer dressed in the classic Navy Blue of the police. To the left, was a suit whose hair and shave, and overall demeanor was... was so clean. Too neat to be believed, hard to tell who he represented. In the center was a KNNA soldier, suited up in the traditional colors of the Kaipen Nung Flag, his uniform was black with sandstone colored epaulettes and buttons with a diagonal sash of electric blue. Koharu walked up to the KNNA officer at the front desk. Like, with confidence. His chest had been puffed out, both of his hands face down on the desk instead of shoved in Koharu's pockets, and calmly maintained eye contact. 

"I'm looking for Caitlyn Glass." Koharu was rather impressed with himself, he was almost never this calm talking to authority figures. Koharu could vacillate between too snarky and too quiet. The Officer asked for Koharu's ID, which he swiped into the system and returned.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No, I don't. But if I need to make one, I will. It's urgent. Could you get me in touch with her please?"

The officer was typing furiously, "What is the nature of your business with her?"

"Reporting a security concern." Woah, Koharu. You have no idea what you're talking about. Maybe tone it back...

"Are you KNNA?" the soldier's eyes sharpened, his back straightening. 

"No..."

"Are you reporting a threat to the city?"

Gosh, this was like saying the b.o.m.-word in an airport. "Not that kind of security." Koharu wanted to look hard at himself when he said that. What are you even saying?

The KNNA officer looked Koharu up and down, and for a paralyzing moment Koharu thought he was about to be arrested. "I'll call for someone to escort you up." 

"I'll take him up, I'm headed up to see the birds anyway" Koharu turned to see a plainclothes gentleman, 6'3, bulky. One eyelid drooped, and the man seemed to have sustained a lot of injuries in his life. You would miss him in a crowd of people, but when you zeroed in on him, one knew he had seen it all. His face had been worn down by the sands of deserts, the grime of cities, the island sunshine, and too many nights spent utterly sleepless. 

The KNNA officer greeted the man warmly, handing over a specially marked lanyard with a ring of keys and an ID card. "Good afternoon, Mr. G'wain! You sure? I can get one of the boys to escort him up."

"We'll be fine." said the man as he put the lanyard around the neck. And like he had uttered magic words, the building opened up to them. They walked straight through the metal detector, not stopping when Mr. G'wain made it chirp ominously. They got into the farthest elevator in a set of 6, it had a scanner on the outside for the ID card. When the doors opened, the walls were covered in sound dampening foam. 

They stepped inside, the man had to scan his ID card yet again before punching the button for level 70.

A distractingly good rap song was playing in the elevator. Koharu had to actively fight the urge to dance as they ascended the levels of Glaswerk Towers. He felt like a kid that had gotten away with shoplifting in a candy store. The song was getting funky too, Trumpets! No, Koharu, don't bounce around like that- the scary guy will think you're high. Law enforcement always sees the worst in somebody having a good time.

Not all the floors were listed on this elevator but each was labeled.

B5- Bunker, B4- Pool and Gym, B1- Private Parking, 1 - Lobby, 2- Food Bank,  5 - United Bank and Cafe, 7 - KNPD, 19 - KNPD Clinic,  25- IRS, 28-  KNNA Senior Living Quarters, 35- KNNA Armory, 50- Main Cafeteria, 60 - FFRS, 65- Meeting Rooms A-K, 66 Meeting rooms L-Z, 70 Crow's Nest, 72 Balcony, 73 Helipad.

.... Holy F... What strange alternate universe was Koharu in? As Koharu leaned in to look, he thought he heard the shutter of a Camera. He snapped his attention toward the grizzled stranger.

  He was merely leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, the expanse of his back crushing the tiny foam cones.

"So, how do you know Caitlyn?" he asked when Koharu met his gaze. His ID card had both his name and picture, Talon Gawain. Zeta 1. KNNA. All Access. In the small space, Koharu could smell the dust of the streets and the grease of taco trucks on this man. It make Talon seem safe, approachable. Koharu was still very aware that Mr. Talon Gawain could throw him across a football field.

"Caitlyn saved my life once." said Koharu, staying in the farthest corner from Mr. Gawain.

"Oh? When she was a beatcop?"

"No, she wasn't on the beat..."  He could feel the man looking him over and while the stare wasn't malevolent, Koharu shrank himself anyway.

"So, why are you seeing her today?"

This man was very used to interrogating people, lying probably would arouse more suspicion than the truth, "I need to ask her a favor."

"What, you need help changing a lightbulb?" Talon joked.

Koharu was staring up at the elevator lights, perturbed. The light casting extreme shadows, so that one could make out the shape of his skull, "She might need to save my life again."

The elevator stopped at level 70 so suddenly that Koharu staggered. He followed Talon, keeping his head down. The Crow's Nest didn't seem to have walls but tinted windows looking out over the city and the west side piers. It was the most amazing 360 view of Kaipen Nung that Koharu had ever seen. He could literally see the rooftops of his apartment complex. He could see the far ends of the city, but Talon was leaving him behind. Weaving between large mostly empty desks, with tall computer monitors, they reached a desk that was flanked by thick glass on all sides, turning it into a small meeting room. There was Caitlyn! Dressed very nicely. She must have gotten a pomotion if she could afford a long brocade coat like that. 

And sitting next to her, typing furiously was... that guy. The pale skinned guy that he had spent languid hours cuddling, literally this morning.

 Oh this could prove to be awkward.

 The man was buried in his work, several binders and computers were open around him. Without looking up he snapped, "Talon, you're late."

I don't even remember his name.

"Good morning to you too"

"It's already dusk." the pale man snapped, "I'll have your debriefing now."

"A guest for you, Ms. Caitlyn" said Talon gently.

"What? I wasn't expecting..." Caitlyn trailed off when she saw Koharu. She had this pleasantly confused expression. Like somebody had given her a birthday cake even though it wasn't her birthday.

"...Ramda, is that you?"

She did remember him! Koharu beamed at her with the full force of his personality behind it. His voice rang out with irreverent fondness, "Who else, Witch?"

She got up and hugged him, her own snarky grin on her face. "It took me a minute, you're no longer 'third world thin'."

"Hush, I wasn't That Skinny."

"Oh yes, you were! You made me want to quit my diet!" Koharu cackled at her, and his eyes met Li's. Koharu had actually been in quite a few situations like this before, he donned an expression of polite obliviousness. In a tone both casually flirty and giving away no sign of recognition, "Good Evening."

Li looked at Koharu, you could see the gears turning in his head but his expression was completely neutral. Koharu felt Caitlyn stiffen at his side. Talon was looking on, mouth in a grim line but eyes alight with obvious interest. Koharu's hair at the back of his neck stood up, he had guessed that Li might be Caitlyn's co-worker, and so had left it up to him, if he wanted to acknowledge his acquaintance with Koharu. He was used to people wanting to hide their association with him after all. But maybe this was Caitlyn's boss? In which case, he might be high up the food chain than he'd thought. He might react badly and have Koharu thrown out. Sometimes the closeted were so paranoid about seeing him, they hadn't caught on that he had pretended not to recognize them.

Li nodded at Koharu, in the same off-hand way you might see college boys acknowledge each other when they were off campus. Li greeted Koharu with 1 word, which he said as if it was Koharu's name, "Sexy." And then cooly returned to his work.

Caitlyn and Talon both straightened at that, "What?" 

Koharu wasn't sure which one of them was asking. He was too busy. His cheeks were burning, Koharu's mouth was hanging open and he couldn't even close it. He couldn't make his own body do anything actually. He now knew what it felt like to be electrified by shock. 

So he's not actually in the closet... Loud and Proud. That's... Nice? ...what do I do with that?

With the strong sensation of falling rapidly back to earth, Koharu was startled back to life by Caitlyn. Usually, the woman showing no emotion at all,

Caitlyn, Yelling. Very loudly, "When did this happen!?"

Koharu stared at her, she was looking at Li, glaring really. Li was masterfully ignoring her, typing furiously without even a smirk. A walrus was wailing, painfully giving birth right behind him! Koharu looked over his shoulder. ah. No. that was just Talon Gawain. Doubled over, laughing like he might be loosing his mind.