After the Dawn (IC)

[Ayakashi]

Operator Nuriel
Meeting Room
March 8 - 3:47 PM
Blacksteel Worldwide Landship

"...please don't do anything to get yourself in trouble, Miss Nuriel. Or arrested. Especially not arrested."

Nuriel takes a deep, deep breath and brings the palm of her hands against her visage.

"... deepest apologies for the outburst I... got a little bit too enthusiastic I think," the angel eventually mutters after a short silence. All signs of eagerness and confusion have vanished from her facial expression, and there was no more none of the goofiness which had characterized her interaction with others. All that was left was a cold, icy stare. not too far from the one a professional would have in most circumstances, like Grapevine for instance. It is as if Nuriel had hit some 'reset' button and purged all of the hysteria that had been running though her mind after... well, the revelation of the organization of the squads.

“Well, Santonia and Valravn were coming to the bar with me, so why not join us? I think we can transform this bar crawl into an information gathering session, no problem.”
“Meet us at six or seven. Try to wear something a bit less severe, Ms. Sword Angel!”

"The bar crawl can double as some sort of squad meeting of sorts from the look of it... and hmm... I will see you there then."

Nuriel's impresion She looked like the playful kind of squadmate, or a the very least, the kind that always was looking for something interesting to do. Sting gave off a vaguely similar vibe, so Nuriel had to wonder wherever these two would get along well or if their similar personalities would clash... well, the answer would present itself this coming evening.
Did that girl just call her clothes unfashionable or something? It's a gift to Nuriel from her mother!

And maybe 1 of the less than five clothes Nuriel has. Speaking of which, she should go pick up the stuff she put to wash from the Laundery Services. On her way to her private quarters, most likely.

"Now, I believe our local physician wishes to have a word with you, hm?"

Oh? It certainly looks like it. Nuriel has no idea hat this is about, but she follows nonetheless. Perhaps it was a package from Frostleaf? Or it could be something else... like a medical inquiry of sorts. Grapevine was indeed, from Nuriel's experience, a very thorough person...

"How may I help? Is there anything you need of me?" she asks as she joins Grapevine out in the corridor, where she presumes she was called to for some more privacy. She will take the opportunity however to admit something that the doctor is probably curious about:

"... and if I may say so, I've taken this turn of events much more in stride than I should. The last time someone suggested that I instantly refused then ran out of the room in fear of breaking down in front of everyone. Showing some signs of hysteria and confusion might be... slightly better in comparison? I don't know."

[Egophobia]

Operator Grapevine
March 8 - 3:48 PM
Meeting Room
Blacksteel Worldwide Landship

“That much is good. I take it you’ll be eating something if you plan on drinking? You’re too thin not to.” She gave the girl an especially dreary look. “Describe your usual diet to me. I need to update your file.”

The girl’s psychological improvement was notable, but the deficient diet couldn’t be helping. Morale factored into long term recovery, and a stable, if not pleasant, diet was a part of that. Sankta especially, with their cultural near-dependency on sweets.



Operator Grapevine
March 8 - 3:56 PM
Medical Ward
Blacksteel Worldwide Landship

The medical facilities onboard the Blacksteel landship were, at a glance, pristine, both in the sense that the technology was at-minimum recent, if not current, and it was clean. It ought to be, considering it was effectively a private hospital for the company’s Operators, but one could never be too careful in Columbia. The unspoken corollary to wealth was cutting corners to save costs. The facilities were… acceptable, though, and Grapevine walked up to the receptionist’s desk to request the files she had expected to be given in the first place.

“Good afternoon. I am Rhodes Island’s representative requested by Blacksteel for operations in the Rocky Mountain Catastrophe Zone. Could you furnish me with the files on the Infected Operators participating in the mission?”

Professional and to the point, as always. If the receptionist wanted to make small talk, she was welcome to engage, but it was up to her. Regardless, brevity was a courtesy when it came to bookkeeping, and so she set a prepared clip of papers onto the counter. Identification papers from Rhodes Island, letters of introduction, and a list of operator names.

“Additionally, Operator Jessica Brinley is a former patient, and we would like to verify her well-being.”

[Elyrin]

Operator Grapevine
Medical Ward

The medical receptionist nodded in response to Grapevine's introduction, and had a quick glance at the stack of documents.

"Good to have you here, Doctor Bask. We were hoping to see you earlier in the day, but no doubt you were busy as soon as you arrived." She took some time to look over the identification papers in perhaps excessive detail before marking one page with a stamp. "I'll see that the senior staff get these letters."

The Liberi woman turned to her computer and began typing, glancing down at the operator list for reference occasionally. After a minute, she returned Grapevine's ID.

"Access granted. Though not everyone on the team is infected. And here-" she handed over a small card with a username and password written down. "-is your login information, in case you weren't given it earlier. You can sign in and access the files on the landship terminals or your own, if you brought one. Do you need anything else?"

The receptionist sat stock-still, back straight and fingers still on her keyboard as she waited for the answer.

[pinetree]

Operator Santonia
March 8 - 4:15 PM
Blacksteel Medical Ward
Blacksteel Worldwide Landship

"-oh, Operator Santonia. Good timing."

"What, did I forget I have a check-up this arvo?"

She approached the desk and and quickly noticed her target was right there as well.

"Hey, there's the birdy I was looking for! What are you two looking at there?"

Santonia moved closer to Vitro, maybe a bit too close to comfort. She and her people were very physical, something that caused no shortage of problems in her travels.
Well, not so much in Siracusa, but people in Victoria and Kazimierz certainly didn't appreciate it, specially the mobile city people. Add to that the fact that she's Infected and... one would have expected her to have learned to keep some distance.

Then again, for each lesson Santonia got from life, she ignored two others.

If the liberi operator was a bit taller, she'd certainly be leaning on his shoulders to look at the documents in his hands, but since he was a bit too short for that, tail it was. It wasn't really something she did counsciously, the thing just naturally laid over his sholders and over his left arm as she approached from the right.
Only upon seeing her face on the file did the songstress realize. She sought out the toxicologist to get some song ammo, but the dude was sure to be interested in her own stuff.

"Vitro. Mate. If you wanted to know me better, you could have waited until we got to the bar! I'm a very chatty drunk!"

She quickly took ahold of her own file and pulled it out of the stack, curious to see what it said.

"Let me see what kind of dirt they have on me here."

And as she did, her eyes oportunistically looked over what was visible in the other files, looking for anything interesting. A barely noticeable little mischief, surely.

[RacingeR]

Operator Asura
Landship Cafeteria
March 8, 4:15 PM

She’d never get accustomed to how early the dinner was in BSW. It was one of those odd things that Asura would never quite manage to adjust to.

In this case, however, it was a bit of a blessing. The pink Lupo went around, picking a bit of everything: some honey chicken, some garlic mashed potatoes, a bit of cream corn, and a fresh dinner roll.

It wasn’t all that much, quantity-wise, once she was done adding to her plate. Sure, there was a bit of everything, but the amounts were rather small. That was fine with her: even after all these years, she was still unable to eat too much without feeling unwell. Which irritated the hell out of her physicians, who thought she still needed to eat more (and more healthily) but that was just how it was.

A real shame, too. Asura wasn’t exactly a foodie, but she really enjoyed the variety when she could afford to.

She remembered the first time she’d been able to eat what she wanted (leaving aside her early childhood). That’d been, when? Around a decade ago? She’d stuffed herself until she’d thrown up. Sometimes she still had to repress the impulse to do that again.

Bleh. Enough gloom and bad memories (though that one was a bit of a good memory, she supposed).

Asura took a look around. Not much people-watching to do just yet. Maybe she’d see something of interest if she hanged around long enough, but would be kinda boring meanwhile.

“Hiya~” So she parked herself on Masters’ table, waving a bit at him. “Got a bit scary, back there, didn’t it?” She asked with an innocent tone, although both knew Asura would’ve happily watched the world burn. Or literally watched the office burn, in this case.

Both Jeremy and Asura were fellow ‘prodigies’ in the sense they mostly guided themselves through their instinct and talent, although the Lupo’d had a bunch of formal (if rather eclectic) training. In fact, Asura was also sometimes asked to help with training, often to equally useless results. Unless it was explaining the basics of stealth, that was.

And that was mostly what she knew of him. Either way, she was just going to make small talk until something interesting happened, or she finished her meal, either or.

[Elyrin]

Operator Asura
Landship Cafeteria

"Mm?!"

Jeremy almost lost the bologna out of his bologna sandwich. Clearly, the man had vanished into another world with his food to disregard everything outside. He managed to catch the meat before it made a daring escape, though, and grabbed a napkin to wipe some mustard off his face.

"Oh. Hey, uh, Asura? Sarah and the doctor lady didn't keep you too long, I guess?" He seemed a bit surprised to see you there so early. Sarah didn't really have a reputation for long meetings, but maybe Rhine Lab did. "Well, s'not a bad thing. Sarah doesn't get pissed often, but it's never pretty."

Jeremy turned his attention back to his food for a moment, taking a firm grip on his sandwich and having another bite, followed by a spoonful of soup. When he was done, he looked over at the Lupo again.

"So, how's the mission looking? I know you can't say what you're doing exactly, but there were a lot of operators in that room."

[Ayakashi]

Operator Nuriel
Meeting Room
March 8 - 3:48 PM
Blacksteel Worldwide Landship

“That much is good. I take it you’ll be eating something if you plan on drinking? You’re too thin not to."

"Well, I do not plan on drinking no. I tried enough times to know what kind ofpath that leads down."

She shakes her head. Nuriel has gone through many countries, notably Ursus, which was famous for its alcoholics, and never taken a liking to drinking. Even her former squadmates, who all loved alcohol to a degree, could never get her to drink a single drop of vodka. She was more than aware of her intolerance of alcohol and preferred to be the sober person who would make sure that no one did anything stupid after having imbibed an excessive amount of booze, as one is often wanton to do when letting themselves go.

“Describe your usual diet to me. I need to update your file.”

"It... well I'm not eating potatoes or being hand fed by... what was her codename again... Gavial? The food at Rhodes Island was very good though. Much better than all the greasy and oily nonsense that's rampant in the shops and stands here"

Nuriel pauses to ponder on Grapevine's question, most likely thinking on what exactly it is that she eats everyday.

"Hmm, I drink some hot water with a bit of sugar in it during the morning. Then I usually eat a sandwich with butter and some lettuce leaves... and an apple for lunch. Then for dinner uh, it's either some bread with cabbage and carrot soup... or waffles. There is a waffle shop that sells their stuff about as cheap as bread near where my private quarters are... so I usually go grab salted waffles there to make sandwich with ham or something out of them. Oh and I have a nice glass of hot milk with some sugar before going to bed."

... what a strange diet.

She explains her eating habits dead serious to Grapevine, not realizing that there are some truly bizarre details in there, but then, she is a bizarre character herself, so how could she find out what is natural and unnatural in one's eating habbits?

[Egophobia]

Operator Grapevine
March 8 - 3:49 PM
Medical Ward
Blacksteel Worldwide Landship

For a moment, it sounded like Nuriel's eating habits had stabilized. In the beginning, Doctor Gavial had needed to pin the girl down and force the food into her mouth. In dietary terms, 'stable' meant both 'regular' and 'proper', and what the smaller Sankta describe failed to even come close to the second requirement. The cheapness of the ingredients wasn't lost on her. If Blacksteel's military rations were up to code, then the girl probably ate better while she was on deployment than at home. She met Nuriel's seriousness with a shake of her head.

“That's not a proper diet,” she said frankly.

Even the Sankta predisposition towards eating too much sugar sounded healthier.

“I won't reprise old lectures, but the satisfaction that comes from frugality should not come at the expense of your physical well-being.”

Nutritional shakes were one solution. She'd have to see what the cost was in Columbia, or barring that, the ingredients for one. Something to get her off of that 'bare minimum' diet. And no, the waffles didn't count as 'self-indulgence'.

“I'll work out something on our end, but you need to eat something solid in the mornings.”



Operator Grapevine
March 8 - 3:59 PM
Medical Ward
Blacksteel Worldwide Landship

Grapevine took her identification card as the woman returned it, along with the login information she'd need to access the company's records.

“Somewhat.” She returned the card to its place on the front of her vest. “I was deployed on short notice and the operation is not what I expected.”

She gave a gesture somewhere between a nod and a half-bow.

“I will do what I can. Thank you for your time.”

There, perfectly diplomatic. Director Warfarin would be proud. Or say something deranged like always. And with that, she turned and left for the entrance.

[Elyrin]

Operator Grapevine
March 8 - 4:10 PM
Liberty - Landship Dock Parking Lot

It was still cold and dreary outside. Maybe not as dreary as Grapevine herself, since it still wasn't raining, but the clouds overhead gave off an inescapable feeling that it could start raining at any moment. A quick look around revealed Jessica standing on a sidewalk not too far away, wearing a familiar outfit and clutching an oversized umbrella. She looked mildly depressed, as usual, but brightened up a little when her eyes met the Sankta's. The girl waved in greeting before pulling out a cell phone and calling someone. Grapevine hadn't even made it all the way over when a mostly white taxi pulled up.

"Afternoon, ladies! Where we heading today?"

The driver was a skinny-looking man with dark hair, probably a Liberi from the look of him.

"Hello! Kaiming's on the north side, please."

"Of course, hop in, hop in! We'll be there before you know it!"

Jessica went around the car to hop in the passenger side. She seemed unworried, for once, but would it really be that quick to get all the way across the city?


March 8 - 5:19 PM
Kaiming's Eastern Delights
Liberty North Side

No. It really wasn't that quick. The driver seemed to have a fairly liberal interpretation of Columbian traffic laws, but even so, he was forced to make several detours. It seemed like every other road had some sort of holdup, whether it was an accident, ongoing construction work, or a very stubborn traffic light... to say nothing of the times he wasn't even driving on the road. Which happened about 3 times more than the recommended number of sneaky alleyway shortcuts.

"Have a nice dinner, ladies! Don't be shy, call me again!"

"Th-thanks?" The driver didn't even wait for Jessica to finish before speeding away. Did he even wait for the doors to close properly? She watched him go for a bit, before shaking her head and sighing. "Well, this is our stop. We'll have to walk the rest of the way."

The two women stood across the road from a Yanese restaurant. "Kaiming's Eastern Delights" it said, with a bit too much neon. A variety of greasy and spicy smells floated over the street.

"Down the road here, Miss Grape- uh, Doctor Bask. It's about twenty or twenty-five more minutes to get to the clinic from here."

[Ayakashi]

Operator Nuriel
Meeting Room
March 8 - 3:50 PM
Blacksteel Worldwide Landship

'Proper food huh. Am I not eating properly? I don't feel like I'm starving. My diet gives me fibers, protein and enough sugar for me to last through the day. It doesn't go against my palette either,' Nuriel silently ponders as Grapevines speaks her piece on Nuriel's diet.
Yes, indeed, her palette is very special, and perhaps rather posh for someone who served for so long in Reunion. She did grow up and spend most of her teenage years in Laterano.

"I would eat more potato-based meals like I used to back in the days but... have you seen Columbian potatoes? Their texture is not even half as good as Ursus ones. You can't store them for longer than a few days either because they germinate twice as fast... well I guess I can freeze them but using my arts all day long isn't a very smart thing..."

Surely she didn't know about that from experience. Surely she had a fridge of sorts at her-- fridges are expensive, and there is the electricity bill that comes alongside having one running at home... but it would appear that Nuriel has more grievances with Columbian cuisine.

"The pastry here doesn't even trail in the shadow of Laterano cuisine, it's a goddamn continent behind! All these barbaric ingredients that are just processed an soullessly crammed into these fake things they call 'cookies' and 'cake'. The dough has no soul! The cream and chocolate is not made with a single ounce of care!"

Either she was insane, or just a very picky eater. Or perhaps both. Well, perhaps that her fellow Sankta could understand to a degree, for after the Law in Laterano, the second most important thing is... sweets. Or was it guns? Nuriel never really understood the fad for them and was a bit of a contrarian, so sweets were definitely the 2nd more important thing in the country for her.

What solution could be found here? She lived in a country that made food which did not suit her taste at all, and while 'better' food was available, it was probably too expensive for her frugal self, which sent most of her income to either infected charities, or as she may have mentioned, her parents back home.

Well, there was always the option for asking Gavial to visit her, no? Or the threat of.

[SleepMode]

Operator Vitro
March 8 - 4:15 PM
Blacksteel Medical Ward
Blacksteel Worldwide Landship

"Hey, there's the birdy I was looking for! What are you two looking at there?"

"Huhuhuu~ Speak of the devil, Operator Santonia, I-"

— -And was cut off with the Savra's tail on his shoulder. The Supporter jumped, but relaxed in short order. Sircacusan customs aren't strangers to close contact and proximity, but to be at arm's length of him is a rare occurrence. One of the forward types, it seems.

"-Was simply acquiring vital information about my team's well-being, is all. Can't have any unknowns when administering my works!"

"Vitro. Mate. If you wanted to know me better, you could have waited until we got to the bar! I'm a very chatty drunk!"

Vitro laughed, amused at Santonia's jesting proposition. Though largely muffled, there's noticeably a scant hint of awkwardness.

"As enticing as the barside stint would be, I'm afraid that is beyond me. Pressed for time aside, I fear the proprietor may not take too kindly of my presence — I do pride myself for a tough liver, and not many bars appreciate their stock drained by one man!"

One wouldn't usually call near-immunity to alcohol poisoning "tough liver," or accounting for other factors, but it's close enough an excuse.

"But it would be nice to hear directly from the subject. Shame we were assigned towards different teams, but with you here, I am curious about certain topics-"

Noticing the Savra's drifting gaze, the Liberi immediately folded the files shut. Unexpected to have the rule of confidentiality challenged so soon, but Vitro still had his pride as a doctor.



"Ah-ah-ahhh, can't let you peep about. Confidential information is business most serious, ma'am." Vitro said disapprovingly in a manner not unlike a Victorian governess, finger-wagging and all. "If you so wish to learn of them, better ask from the source themselves; half of us are in the Assault Group, no?

Clearing his throat, the Liberi returned to business. Not many came to him for idle chit-chat, and assuming what he read of her files were correct…

"Back to the prior matter. Would you mind accompanying me to my lab if it flies your fancy? Better to discuss confidential matters away from the crowd, and I'm certain what other inquiries you have can be answered with mine tools at hand."

[Egophobia]

Operator Grapevine
March 8 - 3:50 PM
Medical Ward
Blacksteel Worldwide Landship

Taking her outbursts into consideration, Nuriel came across as more ‘eccentric’ than ‘unstable’. It wasn’t ideal, but the older Sankta had seen worse. And yes, the prepackaged sweets so popular in Columbia were unpalatable to anyone who had been to a country that made real chocolate, and fresh ingredients a little too expensive to budget an entire lifestyle around- there was no defending that, but that wasn’t the point.

“You’re not starving, but it's my job to be overly cautious.” She shook her head tiredly. “I’ll have a look at the dietary supplements available to you here and try to find something that doesn’t taste too unpalatable, but it'll take more time to find something to suit a Lateran or Ursan palate.”

She gave a short half-bow-

“My concerns aside, it is good to see you well, Operator Nuriel. Have a good evening.”

...and left.

Operator Grapevine
March 8 – 5:20 PM
Some Sidewalk
Liberty North Side

A quick running tally: the weather was pleasant, to Grapevine’s preferences, and Jessica seemed to have calmed down a little. The Sankta made pleasant small-talk as needed- or rather, asked the Feline to describe the nomadic city’s notable landmarks and features to her, citing her own unfamiliarity with major Columbian cities. She’d operated in the frontier clinics before, and a handful of mining towns, but never a city proper for more than a day or two.

...and in the negative column, too many things to count. The ride was too long and riddled with insipid chatter from the much-too-friendly driver as he violated as many traffic laws as he could find opportunities to do so. Liberty’s layout was horrendous. Were there always road crews working in the middle of the day on every single main and side street along the main thoroughfare? Too much litter. More vending machines than trees. Cars parked in the bicycle lane. Advertisements for health supplements banned in every other country where they had been sold.

Ugh, and the Operator records were no better. Vitro and Sting were passable, even if the latter’s file was pockmarked with complaints from the Human Resources department. Operators Nuriel, Asura, Valravn, and Santonia had deficiencies that would have complicated civilian life, let alone military service. And that was on top of the Sankta and Lupo showing lingering symptoms of malnutrition, the Liberi girl’s Oripathy teetering on the very edge of being manageable, and the Savra’s body actively poisoning itself. Oh, and Grave Moss hadn’t seen a doctor for twenty years and preferred to ‘sleep off’ her injuries, Oripathy included.

“Spectacular,” she commented dryly.

And once the ride was over, there was still a walk- because Columbia. Whatever. The air felt like cooking grease and buzzed with gaudy neon, as was its birthright.

“Understood,” she replied, and began walking alongside Jessica. “For lack of more delicate phrasing, is this Liberty's ‘Infected Quarter’, or just how close we could get without arousing suspicion?”

That one wasn't a criticism, she was just curious. She glanced around to take stock of the businesses. Their affluence or lack thereof. Their foreignness. Their attitude towards the Infected.

[Elyrin]

Operator Grapevine
March 8 – 5:20 PM
Liberty North Side

Jessica frowned at the mention of an 'Infected Quarter', but didn't say anything to correct the statement. It wasn't exactly wrong.

"Just as close as we can get. Sometimes you can find a taxi willing to go straight there, but I've been kicked out more than once. Better to just stop somewhere nearby."

The feline set off down the sidewalk, clutching her umbrella tightly and glancing up at the cloudy sky a bit more frequently than necessary. In the meantime, she pointed out anything noteworthy the pair walked by.

"Not many big businesses around here. Pretty much everything is smaller family-owned places like that restaurant back there. The Rhodes clinic is probably the biggest, actually. There's a couple of apartment buildings around too."

So far, the area seemed to be in decent shape. There were a good number of cars heading up and down the street, the sidewalks and roads were in a pretty good state of repair, and every store seemed to be occupied, even full.

The surrounding buildings got shorter, and after some time the pair found themselves in a area that could almost be called a suburb. Front lawns were the domain of only the largest and most expensive city properties, but there were rows of houses with a few parked vehicles as well as a group of kids kicking a ball around the street. Even with just a glance, a few had visible originium crystals on their arms or faces. Jessica stopped walking for a minute, watching the kids play their game.

"We're pretty much there. This is the cheaper part of town... relatively speaking. Lots of people don't want to associate with Infected, but it's still Liberty. The poor Infected you see in a lot of cities wouldn't even be able to live here."

The feline shook her head and returned to walking at a brisk pace. The clinic shouldn't be much further away.

"In most of the world, a place like Liberty is unheard of. Infected in Ursus couldn't dream of something like this, and the rest of Columbia isn't nearly as good. But even here, you still find people who won't even set foot in this part of town if you pay them..."

Before anyone could do much contemplating on the state of affairs, though, a drop of water nailed Jessica directly between the eyes. The rain finally decided to show up.

"Oh, crap. Here, there's plenty of room under this thing."

Rhodes Island Clinic
March 8 – 5:39 PM
Liberty North Side

The tail end of the journey sped up a bit to get out of the rain, and the two women arrived at the clinic slightly earlier than expected. Though calling it a clinic was a bit of an understatement.



It was smaller than the gigantic hospitals normally found in such large cities, but clinic was definitely the wrong word. The place looked quite modern, too. Most likely built or at least renovated in the past few years.

Jessica lead the way to the reception desk, walking past the handful of people of varying ages and races spread throughout the room. A feline woman sat at the desk, eyes glued to a monitor on her left.

"Good evening, Rhodes Island Liberty Clinic. Is your need urgent?" After her greeting, she looked up to see the newest visitors, blinking in surprise when her eyes met the other Feline's. "Oh, Jessica! Blacksteel's delivery was just last week. There's no way you need emergency supplies already, right...?"

"No worries. I'm just a guide today. The doctor here is the one who wanted to speak with you."

Jessica stepped aside, allowing Grapevine to move closer to the desk.

[pinetree]

Operator Santonia

---

"Ah-ah-ahhh, can't let you peep about. Confidential information is business most serious, ma'am." Vitro said disapprovingly in a manner not unlike a Victorian governess, finger-wagging and all. "If you so wish to learn of them, better ask from the source themselves; half of us are in the Assault Group, no?

Tch. Bummer. Guess I'll have to take my own advice and just wait until we're all drunk.

"Back to the prior matter. Would you mind accompanying me to my lab if it flies your fancy? Better to discuss confidential matters away from the crowd, and I'm certain what other inquiries you have can be answered with mine tools at hand."

"Lead the way doc. We got time until we have to meet the girls at the bar." The Liberi seemed ready to protest against being included once again, but she mimicked his finger-wagging and leaned down. "You can't brag about how tough you are and expect me to not put it to the test mate. I wasn't gonna insist, but you dug your own grave."

Santonia let go of him and walked to the exit, waiting for Vitro to come along.

[Ayakashi]

Operator Nuriel
Meeting Room
March 8 - 3:50 PM
Blacksteel Worldwide Landship


"I will... have a look at these when you send them. I'm sorry, I know I'm a bit picky but uh... I try to eat things that make life happier for me and are economical at the same time. You should try lettuce with caramel someday. Surprisingly good..."

Most peculiar woman she was indeed. It sounds like if you put anything crunchy with sweet stuff she'll be happy...

"I will see you tomorrow then I presume? We all have our own preparation to do and uh... I suppose there is this 'event' I should attend. Ugh, I should go get ready. I'll talk to you about that package for Frostleaf after we're done with this mission."

On that hopeful note, she nods to Grapevine as the latter excuses herself, and eventually returns with something that looks like a weird cross between a salute with the hand across her chest and a half-bow.


Somewhere near L’Antiquario (?)
March 8 - Sometime before the agreed meeting time.

"Is it here?"

Nuriel muttered to herself as she looked around for the others. The sankta was dressed in the same clothes that she was wearing at the meeting, having seemingly not heeded her fellow operator's comment about 'looking livelier'. Perhaps that Nuriel was of the opinion that a Laterano dress-cassock would be... more than sufficient for an occasion like this one? It's not like she had very fancy clothes back in her room at any rate... some PE clothes? Pajamas? Her old Reunion uniform? None of these would be particularly suited for this occasion.

However, a question remained... was she at the right place? Or had she followed an upside down map?

[Elyrin]

Operator Nuriel
Somewhere in Liberty

..had she gone the wrong way?

A quick look around was promising. There were a couple of restaurants on this particular street. There were more Lupo and Vulpo around than Nuriel has observed elsewhere. When a group passed by, there was a good chance the Sankta wouldn't understand their language. Surely, that must be Siracusan, right...?

And yet, there wasn't a sign of the specific building Nuriel was looking for. Logically, she was in the right neighborhood. This bar wasn't one of those hidden, secret clubs that would only let you in if you knew the password, was it?

-oh. No, it wasn't. Nuriel had just been one street off. When she rounded a corner to check out the next street, there it was, plain as day. There was no sign of any of her coworkers, but the day was quickly getting darker due to both the time and some suspicious-looking clouds moving closer.

5:50 PM
L'antiquario

The bar seemed fairly active. Most of the tables were occupied by at least a couple of patrons, with one or two empty for the less sociable. A large group crowded around... a pool table, probably, but it was hard to see.

Most of the clientele were Lupo and Vulpo, as expected, but one person in particular stood out. Kenji Yamamoto, codename Sting, seated right at the middle of the main bar. He wasn't the only one, but the others gave him a decent berth, leaving a couple of seats open on either side.

Behind Kenji - well, in front of him, technically - an enormous Lupo man paused in the middle of mixing a drink to eye the newest patron. Not used to having Sankta around, most likely.

[RacingeR]

Operator Asura
Landship Cafeteria


“Yeah, was quite to the point once it got going. Pretty short meeting for a mission this messy, I guess.” Asura nodded, eating her food at a fairly moderate pace. It was always weird to watch her eat. The absent-mindedly elegant mannerisms and just the way she disposed of her food were very at odds with her usual personality.

“Mission’s looking like a right pain in the ass. Good chance of landing my bones on the hospital or the graveyard afterwards, I think. Messy’s definitely a good way to call it.” The Lupo shrugged. “But hey, that’s how I like my missions, what can I say? Makes ‘em interesting, and this one’s got that in spades.”

She wondered what the other Operators thought about it. Most of them definitely would think of it as shady as well. But there were quite a lot of questions that could be asked about it, and which ones they’d ask could say a lot about them. Worth playing with that once they were in the bar, perhaps, but it was not a good idea to talk openly about a classified mission in a public setting. Eh, she’d think of something by then.

[arkturus]

Operator Valravn
L’Antiquario
March 8 - Sometime before the appointed time

As the sun began to hang low over the horizon, turning the sky orange, a taxi pulled up to the bar. Valravn thanked the taxi driver, paid her fare, and stepped out onto the sidewalk before the bar. She had spent a good portion of the afternoon in her personal quarters on the landship in order to pick out an appropriate outfit for the evening.

Valravn had been to bars before but never a Siracusan-style establishment. She knew little of the country and combined with the impression that Sting gave off, when she thought of Siracusa she recalled crime thriller movies she had seen before. It evoked images of moody hole-in-the-walls with dim lighting filled with a slick, well-dressed clientele who smoked large cigars while shuffling cards in the corner or took shots at the billiards table between sips of hard liquor. Of course the place was obviously a front for all kinds of secret backroom meetings and deals between important people in the criminal underground, alliances forged and broken by the spilling of blood.

Armed with this knowledge, the young Liberi combed through the vast wardrobe she had collected during her time at Blacksteel until finally settling on her attire for the night: a simple black cocktail dress that had a slight flare in the skirt that ended above the knee with an elegant patterned silk shawl draped over her shoulders. Nothing too formal nor flashy, they were going to a bar after all and she wanted to leave a good first impression. The loose shawl contrasted nicely with the form of the dress while the pattern gave her outfit some color. Plus it did a good job of hiding her talons from the taxi driver. The silk shawl was lighter than the purple pashmina shawl she was also considering but between the taxi and the bar she was unlikely to spend much time outdoors to need the warmth.

Speaking of which, she was starting to get cold. The Liberi’s choice of dress didn’t offer much warmth to her bare legs or her arms for that matter and she shivered as a breeze blew through the thin shawl. She approached the doors of the bar and with a nervous gulp, pushed them open.

She really hoped she wasn’t the first to arrive.

[Elyrin]

Operator Asura
Landship Cafeteria

Jeremy nodded along while listening to the Lupo's explanation, devouring his food as quickly as she could talk. By the time Asura was done, one sandwich, half of his soup, and most of his potatoes had vanished.

"Never a good sign when they pile eight or ten operators in one meeting. Usually, two or three backing up somebody local are the safest missions." A bite of chicken was quickly washed down by a swig of cystybeast milk, and he continued on with only a brief pause. "More operators means worse shit is going down, and more moving parts means more opportunity for someone or something to screw up."

He nodded again, but with a bit of a sparkle in his eye that hadn't been there before. Like he was impressed by the profoundness of such a basic and ordinary statement.

"A fan of messy, huh. Can't say I agree with that one. Had enough mess already; I'm good with a nice, safe indoor job."

[RacingeR]

Operator Asura
Landship Cafeteria

“Heh, I wonder if we’re even using enough operators for this one.” Then again, there’d been a third team in the works, after all, though it seemed like Sarah hadn’t decided on most of those slots yet.

“Ah, but you see, for me the safe missions are boring!” Asura affirmed. One quarter of her food had disappeared already, mostly the potatoes, and she attacked her portion of chicken with enthusiasm now. “There ain’t any challenge to them. Vigilance tasks are the safest but they’re the absolute worst, for example.”

“Nah, messy’s more my style. More chances of something interesting happening, and you always get at least one or two really strong guys to fight against.” It didn’t have to do with the scale of the operation per se. It was more of a thing that happened in the most difficult operations. The enemy would usually always have at least one powerful foe acting as their combat baseline. “Life gets boring without any challenge to it, you know?”