Kaia was more or less screaming into the void internally, having been stationed in another frozen hellscape after some...disagreeable interactions involving her commanding officer, to say the least. At this point she knew very well how to survive on a winter island, thrive in that kind of environment even. She would almost enjoy it if it weren't for the unbearably cold temperature really. Well that and the fact she had another set of absolute geniuses at the base she had to deal with. In her mind they either were in the same boat she was or they were just either masochists or insane. In any case she'd close her coat more, getting more used to it by now as she waited for whoever was helping her so she could get this over with.

Another question she had theoretically was if they'd make her seem useless or just make it harder for her to rank up in general. If they were she could practically kiss her rank up to captain goodbye, and if not they were either going to be useless. There was also the possibility of her sheer lack of actual combat ability in comparison to others might just work completely against her in either case, though some respect given to her would be amazing given how she's received nothing like that as of late. Her lack of physical competency wasn't helping anything either, though by this point she'd accepted this to just be a fact and an obstacle she probably couldn't fix without killing her appearance.

She'd hop down from the ledge she was sitting on, pacing back and forth in front of the building as she thought. There wasn't a whole lot else to do, not even a can or rock to kick around. She'd eye an icicle, breaking it off to play with that for a bit maybe. Maybe see if it tasted different from other kinds of ice, but that didn't seem like a smart idea since she didn't want an embarrassing tongue-related incident. That'd be a fun one to explain. Instead of doing that, she just drew pictures in the snow with it. Was it immature? Probably, though she didn't care.

Kaia would stand up, her attention shifting a little too up than she expected to. She was a bit intimidated by this man, but it could be worse, much so in fact. She'd lean against the wall lazily, adjusting the sword on her belt looking slightly larger than she should be wielding normally, though only by a few centimeters at maximum. "Yeah, more or less. I mean, its probably pirates or something." She'd reply with a slight laugh, taking it as seriously as any busy work. "You think they assigned this to us to keep us busy?" She'd seem reasonable enough for now.

She had a general idea of where to go, though she was never good with exact instructions. Especially so on winter islands where it's borderline impossible to tell the scenery apart. She did know though that the place they were looking for was on the edge of town, an apparently older building. Around town there were rumors that the places on the edge of town had things most ween't supposed to see but she figured that was nothing more than baseless rumor due to the mere fact she was assigned to go there despite the fact she was more or less a faceless nobody in the grand scheme of things.

She'd snap out of her inner monologue to talk to the Elliot again. "Oh yeah, name's Kaia.Sorry to not mention it before." She'd extend a hand, embarrassed she forgot. "So what even made you get stationed here on Karakuri, like did you piss off a commanding officer or something?" She wanted to get a feel for the man, to see if he was relaxed or uptight, nice or not so nice, as well as somewhat testing how well she can get along with him and for how long that can last.

"Ahh the ol' patrol to keep em busy. I hate when that happens, though..." Her tone would be a bit less cheerful. "I mean I used to find it all beautiful, now it's just lonely. I mean yeah the tech here is nice but nobody except upper brass gets it." She'd sigh, being used to this sort of deal with getting sent somewhere and assigned with a partner with no understanding of her predicament at all. "I mean, I just object a little to an order or being sent to places like this instead of like, fun islands where people are and I get stuck in wastelands like this." She'd run the back of her head, her used to it but not exactly in that high of spirits due to it.

"But I don't get why you'd want to come here. I mean yeah you get to travel, but..look man." She'd turn to face him. "I've been an ensign for two years now, I'm just trying to get to captain or commodore rank at least so I can have that luxury of choice, but I know I'm too weak for it." She was reserved to her fate mostly, but she also was still working. "But I don't give up. I don't give up so I can lead a squad and leave this hellscape one day!" She'd smile back, trying to be less aggressive now. "I-I'm sorry.." She'd mumble, not admitting it but feeling bad for again going off on a co-worker.

"I do know where we're supposed to head. It's some real far back district to the west, basically uninhabited due to temperature." She'd resume her somewhat sarcastic mood. "But nooo, they just had to hear some scary noises that made grunts like us take care of it. Not like it could be the wind or anything." She really didn't understand why she specifically was sent but had a general idea that there were things she wasn't being told. Part of it she figured was as a suicide mission to make her a popsicle or otherwise just kill her since she was a filthy heathen that dared question authority or reason behind decisions made.

"Yeah, though if my boss is any indicator I won't be getting it even if others do." She'd laugh a bit. "Must be lucky though, to be able to have that kind of access.I mean, upper brass probably means Vice Admiral with my luck." She's remark, having been through hell and back as her personality would seem jaded and aggressive, like despite how young she is almost as if she's seen more years of combat, survival, bad management, and in general suffering than she would like to say. "I mean I don't know what I can do, lacking a devil fruit and all. I mean I'm basically a wet noodle in terms of manpower and general usefulness." She said in a neutral tone, one that said she was reserved to this fact due to it being true for so long. "I mean...if I ever find one I'm definitely gonna take my chances and eat it." She'd been around the grand line long enough to know that devil fruits were a gamble no matter how you look at it since you can end up really strong or really weak depending on your fruit.

She then hears him about plans and strategy, her having a plan in mind even though it was very dumb by most standards. She'd always had reasons behind dumbs things she does, but never the strength to back it up so this could work well this time if this Elliot was strong as he seemed. "Well, you may be able to be noticed yeah. Me though...not likely." She was being somewhat deprecating to be humorous, the tone she uses a whimsical one. "I mean, wouldn't want to be too amazing and make you unable to rank up, so I'll tone it down a bit more than usual." She'd giggle a bit. "Though for the plan...well, we see the surrounding area to see what's going on before entering, you stick with me and you act as more or less insurance that no lone enemy jumps us."

She'd walk up to the building, noticing some of the pain hipped more noticeably, likely a result of human tampering at some point but the snow and ice on top of the chipping and graffiti made it too difficult for her to work out. Though she did motion Elliot over, finding the inside clean as if it's been lived in recently, some strange machines and things she didn't recognize off in the corner of the room, though not operational. She'd also smell the faintest scent of gunpowder, the traces faint to where a normal person wouldn't realize it's anything more than the expected old musty smell these kinds of places have but not too hard to notice since she was able to smell it.

"Well seems like someone has been here as of late. Go check the other rooms, I'll investigate here to see what I can find." She'd notice newer graffiti the more she enters, guns leaned on the wall that was out of sight initially, some doors leading to different rooms, the sound of footsteps coming from behind one of them briefly, a man yelling to a coworker, though stopping mid-sentence when Kaia spoke up. Neither of the two could make out exactly what the man said or what he looked like, but he sounded big and burly, with an almost german accent. Kaia would motion to Elliot to go in that direction since he looked capable and big enough to take anyone in a fight, as opposed to her, who was almost 3 times smaller than her affiliate. She'd have her hand on the hilt of her sword though, looking around the room for other things but finding nothing else out of the ordinary. Though there was one detail that did disturb her quite a bit; the same engraving that was standard on the marine's rifles appeared on these guns, and it didn't seem as if these were stolen. It actually looked like they either were ex-marines or the scarier option which was that there was an infiltration of marines on the island or a traitor.

Kaia was listening the the conflict Elliot had engaged in. She'd enter another of the doors nearest to her, voices of two men echoing from it briefly, before dissipating slowly along with the sound of boots hitting the floor. Her opening the door made the hinges creak, it sounding like someone was coming back in her direction. Unsurprisingly, that's exactly what was happening. This fact became obvious as what looked to be a formal lady in a long skirt and button up shirt with enters, clearly acknowledging Kaia's existence despite barely looking up from a small book she was reading. The defining feature that Kaia noticed though, was what looked like the beginning of some kind of tattoo on her neck, all but the tip of it hidden by the shirt collar.

Kaia would try to resolve this peacefully, though stay cautious. For all she knew, this woman could be a civilian or someone actually a threat. "Who are you? Why are you and the others here?" She'd keep her hand causally on the end of her sword in a non-threatening manner to at least have some grip on it if this did turn into a fight. Though most aren't weren't dumb enough to to just attack marines she figured, though due to the odd circumstances things might not be that simple.

"I'm not with the others, I'm here because I was paid to be." She'd appear annoyed, holding a sarcastic tone like it's just a n annoyance more than anything.

Kaia was somewhat confused now, not expecting that response. She didn't know quite what to expect but obviously not that nonchalant of a response. "So, um...ok. Who's employing you?" Her tone would be more confused and just not sure what to make of this.

the book would close, her looking at Kaia, rolling her eyes. It seemed as f she just wanted to be left alone so just spilling the beans would be the easiest way to do so. "Well, I was told it was private contractors allied with the marines, but it turned out to be a gang from the area." She'd start to walk past Kaia out of the room, not caring very much about anything right now. "I'm just the record keeper for the third party that made the guns, not the one who approved of them being here." She'd re-open her book, walking back out to the city proper's direction.

Kaia wasn't exactly feeling like stopping her since she got the feeling she was either too strong to care, telling the truth, or really not in the mood to deal with this. Kaia could be a coward admittedly, and didn't have the confidence to take on someone she even assumed might be strong, so she just let this happen, heading back towards Elliot, or rather where she thought he was.