"Get that wire plugged in, Shouchi! How many times must I tell you?!" Ruka yelled from underneath the table while connecting wires from her CPU towards probably the fifth monitor she and Shou were setting up.
"This is HDMI, Ruka-san," Shou responds from behind the table. "We need VGAs."
Ruka slid out and stared straight at Shou, "why didn't you get VGAs?"
Shou shrugged, an HDMI cord hanging uselessly in his hands, "it's what the supply people from the base gave."
"Damn it," Ruka cursed. "How many more monitors on your side?"
"Uhh.. two more."
"Well I'm done with my five. That makes what, seven out of nine monitors?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Well, I'd prefer to be looking at twelve, considering our mission needs. Three more monitors and five VGA cords, list that down, Shouichi," Ruka groaned as she rose. Her white tank top was now dirty, the sweat made it cling tightly to her lean frame. Her hair was plastered to her forehead, some strands hanging above the frame of her glasses.
She then dusted her combat pants, her battle dress jacket tied by the sleeves in a square knot around her waist, making her look like some sort of army mechanic. The Lieutenant gave a weary sigh, it's been four days since they arrived. She hoped they would be finished setting up by at least the second. Turns out, the base is more under equipped than the Admiral had let on. What Ruka brought were hard drives containing the programs she needed, she thought the base would have at least a computer that can handle these — turns out there wasn't.
They requested equipment from Shimazu-sama, what they received was an absurd amount of cash wired to Shin's account meant to "purchase whatever they need, whatever they can't they tell Shimazu-sama and he'll handle the rest." Now that's a comforting thought, really makes you feel the hatamoto's support, Ruka thought sarcastically.
This gave Shou and Ruka the first drive outside the base — with Aeri as their grumpy chauffer — to purchase the necessary hardware. They bought scanners, hard drives, file organizers, more hard drives, a printer — make it two printers, some more file organizers, a DSLR and a lens that Shou swore is used in wildlife documentaries — a request from Takeru, and a lot more hard drives.
As for the cords, the supply personnel from the base said they have some, well, here's what Ruka gets for believing them, not that she could even blame them, nor scold them. She'll just have Shouichi inventory everything that's missing and have him go on another shopping run outside the base — with Anna this time, so the boy won't grumble every chance he gets.
"Well," she clapped her hands, dusting them off and making Shou cough, "we'll have to make do until we find some more VGAs. Boot it up, Shou. Let's see what we're working with."
"Well, here goes nothing," Shou remarked as he plugged the power cord to a nearby socket. The station was pressed against the wall. The monitors were arranged in a 3x4 pattern with a desk below, a keyboard, mouse, and joystick for Ruka's and the squad's use.
Shou then crawled under the desk, tapped the edges of the CPU for the power button, and pressed it. The machine lit up with a satisfying hum. Shou crawled back out and stood beside Ruka as they watched seven monitors light up in blue, two however, remained as dark as whatever storage room it was pulled out of.
Ruka pursed her lips and groaned in frustration, "is this the fastest this can go?"
Shou kept quiet. He knows better than to provoke Ruka when she's annoyed — he's not Takeru, he still cares about his own health and well-being.
Just then, the door opens, and in comes Uchinaga Aeri, carrying another armload of boxes containing the files they need. "Woah," she remarked, "this barracks sure now looks like a storage house," she remarked.
"Yo, Aeri!" Ruka greeted while keeping her eyes on the monitor which is now presenting a loading screen.
"Let me help with that," Shou meets Aeri and takes the boxes from her arms. "What are these files, ma'am?"
"Uhhh..." Aeri looked at the top of the box where a label was taped. "These are the reported protests and incidents against Japanese presence in Goryeo for the last ten years, as requested by Major Sanada."
"Uhhh..." Shou then turned to Ruka, "where was the Goryeo stack again, Ruka-san?"
Ruka held her hands sideward, swaying both of them up and down, until only her right arm was moving, "my right-hand side, Shou," she replied while watching a loading screen at 12% completion.
"Got it," Shou nodded then moved to the other side of the barracks. They were given a decent 30x30ft barracks, and in just two days, the living space they have shrunk to roughly a quarter of what it initially was as one side of the wall slowly got stacked with the files Shin requested for analysis.