Having always been a bit more comfortable among the trees, a young, white-haired girl weaves her way through the woods, occasionally climbing among the trees, proceeding slowly and carefully to be sure she doesn't fall, or more quickly along the actual ground. After a while, she'd find some strange guy in the woods near the wall. He didn't seem to be doing much of anything, which begs the question of why he'd bother, but with nothing else to go by, the girl figures there's probably nothing to be afraid of, she walks out of the woods and waves at the man Bit far out for a picnic don'tcha think?

The man speaks in a gruff and blunt tone. "You here to cross?" Whatever the man is standing there for, it lies just beyond the crest of the hill he's guarding. Coincidentally, the wall also looms from atop that same hill. "Papers and cash, if you're out here you should know the drill." The man's ragged appearance is somewhat offset by his calculating eyes. To the untrained eye, he'd seem like nothing more than a disinterested theme park attendant, blindly repeating the same phrase, but when further examined, his eyes scan every inch of the place, almost mapping it again every second, accounting for changes in the scenery: a hint of brush disturbed by a small breeze, a squirrel perched no longer in the tree it had been for a while, and every single move the girl made.

The girl scratches the back of her head, not quite what she was hoping for, but informative enough, he's probably some kinda human trafficker, but to get more information than that it'd probably be best for her to play along, so Setsuna shrugs her shoulders before patting around her clothes as though looking for something "Sorry, I just heard about this crossing recently, I haven't actually been to one before. What all did I need again? I... Hope you don't mind me being a bit cautious with all that's going on"

The man sighs, newcomers weren't unwelcome, but getting all the info out was still a pain. "So you need a government ID: driver's license, that sort of thing, and you need cash. Depending on who you are, the rate varies. We screen people before we let them through, that way the feds stay off our back. For someone with a spotless record, well, someone that ain't a crook at least, usually 10,000 yen a pop. After that, we add things on. Now if you wanna get through I'll need some ID, and you better be able to pay." The man lights a cigarette and sticks it in his mouth. Now he was just waiting for a decent response.

so they are at least running like a respectable business considering the circumstances. However, after a few moments the girl finds what she was looking for in a pouch on her belt. A simple, blue passport which was issued around two years ago "Ok, I trust this'll do for the ID, I'm afraid I might be a bit short on the money though... My... Other source forgot to say anything about it, and I don't usually carry that much with me."

The gruff man takes the passport and scans it with a device similar to a tablet, several indicators come up, reading out any sort of run-in with the government Setsuna may have had. I won't claim omniscience and would request that such instances are voiced at Setsuna's discretion. "If you can't pay for passage, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave and come back when you can. We might not be overflowing with customers, but sometimes they're scared and seeing an unfamiliar face keeps 'em from coming through. You understand, yeah? Don't worry about your ID anymore though, you're in the system now."

In addition to obvious things like her name and age of 19 years old, the system would likely pick up on her passage to and from America in the past year, but nothing bothersome. The girl would search her person, coming up with about 6,000 Yen total Is there anything else I can do? I’ve been separated from a family member recently and need to be looking for them. I promise I won’t cause any trouble.

The man sighs and keeps his face stern and his eyes cold. "Sorry, we can't make exceptions. Either you pay the fee or you find another way through. Surely you know that once we go easy other people come clambering along trying to get lower costs with sob stories. Best I can do is take, eh 2,000 and send word along. My boys in the north know how to track a person down, maybe you'll get some word from them?" The man taps some buttons on his tablet. This causes it to light up, and his eyes squint at the young girl. "My offer stands, but your time's limited. Got a VIP coming shortly and he ain't too keen on being held up."

Oh I see how it is. Setsuna plants her feet in the ground, glaring back at the man with one hand on her hip You’re one of those con artists looking to take advantage of anyone dumb enough to believe those rumors. Probably would have said I didn’t have enough no matter how much I had, after all you never committed to a number. I bet there isn’t even a path here.

The man tenses up a little, his face contorting into a small scowl. "If you're gonna get all preachy, do it somewhere else. I don't HAVE to let you through, nor do I HAVE to give your family a message from you. Think what you will on the legitimacy of our practice, but do it on your own time. Now we gonna have a problem, or are you gonna clear out." There's a rustling in the trees, footsteps crinkle on the dead autumn leaves. A man in a dark leather jacket and white undershirt walks to the man stationed at the wall. He flashes a piece of paper at the guard, and the guard's once tense expression shifts to one of fear. "O-Oh I'm sorry sir, I j-just need to handle this young lady here and we'll be good t-" The man holds up his hand motioning for the guard to shut up. "She's with me, now why don't you call off your dogs, I could see 'em from a mile away! Didn't I tell you I wanted 'Complete Anonymity'? So why the hell do you have twenty Guardians watching the tunnel, eh!?" The guard kowtows at the feet of the newcomer, whatever power this man held over the once gruff man is clearly stronger than his dignity. "I'm sorry sir, but we've had breaches in th-" The man would have none of it. "I want those Guardians' surveillance tapes wiped... ASAP. Now then... shall we go?" As the stranger gestures for the girl to follow a group of armed men would emerge from behind the hill. They seemed different... Their faces were mechanical, as were their movements. The stranger inspects them as he passes. "Next time I expect to pass unimpeded, understand?" The guard quickly rushes to his feet and salutes the stranger. "Y-Yes sir!" With that, the man in the leather jacket would proceed behind the hill, waiting for the girl to follow him.

The Girl follows after the jacketed stranger, turning back to give the guard a mocking smile before catching back up with the VIP. Setsuna adjusts her collar and stutters out a T... Thanks... Sir....

The man shakes his head dismissively. "Eh, don't worry about it. The people that guy works for owe something of a debt to me, so usually they just let me come and go as I please." At the base of the hill, there is a small hole leading down beneath the wall. It looks decently sized, about the size of your average tunnel, but when compared to the size of the wall, it feels dwarvish. "I suppose this is the part where I say you're lucky I came along, those Guardians aren't things you wanna mess with. I dunno if you've seen 'em on patrols since the tech is still fairly new to wherever the hell this is, but they're basically robot soldiers. The guns they had weren't for show." It's at this point that the man enters into the tunnel, but not before retrieving a candy bar from his jacket and taking a bite from it. "So... what makes you wanna go north, huh? Not many people tango with the smugglers just cause they heard a rumor."

Setsuna breathes a sigh of relief, it’s definitely best for her to avoid these guardians if she can, especially if they’re some kinda super robots. The girl follows. It’s... Kind of complicated.. I’ll keep it as short as I can for all the help he’s offered, Setsuna at least owes the man this much, so as she proceeds through the hole I just recently got back from my studies in America, so I was hoping to be able to see my sister when I got back, but we’ll... A lot of stuff’s happened, not the least of which is this stupid wall, so I haven’t been able to find her yet. I was hoping I’d get something more from the north side.

The stranger sighs and looks around the tunnel the two are passing through. "Hell of a thing ain't it? One night you go to sleep then the next day the life you've built is split into three... Me, I'm just getting some food for a patient of mine. His request really, shoulda just given him local, but the guy makes me go and check his house so I might as well make him comfortable." He continues to meander along, every so often taking a bite from his candy. "I'd've tried to find a detective instead of doing it on my own. Hell, maybe the more high-end ones have Guardians to do the legwork... But I guess the best I can do is say good luck with that whole missing persons thing."

Aren’t you like super rich or something? Setsuna continues through the tunnel, checking out the inner part of the wall as they go. I can’t even really afford to go through here myself, I doubt I could pay anyone to do it. And besides... It’s complicated. I’d rather just find her myself

He lets out a raucous laugh, one that he almost stops to catch his breath from. "Pshh, super rich... Nah, I just happen to know the right people. Unless you're talkin' personality, then yeah I have a personality almost as rich is my devilishly good looks! Super Rich... ahhh. If I were super rich, first thing I'd do is make it so I don't have to go near this damned wall that's for sure!" He keeps walking until they come to the opening in the other side of the wall. The other side is simply an open field before them, some farmers wander about the empty field, not surprised by the new faces on the horizon.

Setsuna snorts a little, bit tries to cover up her laughter, shaking her head before continuing Well with how he called you a VIP I assumed you were some kind of celebrity. Or big businessman. The Girl emerges from the wall, looking around the countryside, shading her eyes with her hand as she scans the place A.. Anyways, thanks for all your help Mr..... Setstuna struggles to think of a name for a moment, only to realize they’d never actually exchanged them R.. Right. Sorry, I’m Setsuna Tamaki. Is there anything you’d like me to call you, or should I just keep using Sir..... Sir.

The man taps his chin in thought for a bit. "Well the name's Souichi Isurugi, but most people call me 'Owner'. I used to run a cafe and that's what a lot of people took to calling me, so I'm kinda used to it. Mr. Isurugi would work too, but that's your call." With that Souichi would wander off to the west. Toward the city.

Alright then... Owner... I’ll see you around, thanks for the help. I hope to see you again Its kinda an odd nickname, but there’re probably weirder. Setsuna just hopes no one gets the wrong idea whenever she says it. Since she just said goodbye it’d be kinda odd for Setsuna to follow him, so she goes off in a random direction for a few minutes, away from the wall of course, before turning towards the city herself. It’s a better place to get clues after all.