(no subject)

[initiates]

Date: April 1st
Location: The Initiative Hold & Courtyard.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: New Transports arrive and are shuffled into the Courtyard after their initial briefings.
Warnings: None.

You've just been hustled and bustled through mazes of information and literal, wide corridors of the Initiative Hold and you've been equipped with your weapon—be it a gun, a sword, or even your existing powers. They've handed you this light netbook and a small pouch of coins (or a debit card, if you're more inclined), and there are several Transports before and after you going through the very same motions. You can hear the Greeter's voice as she walks alongside large groups, telling them all about the history of this place and sharing with you your purpose here in a hurried and urgent tone. "You're in luck that we have enough rooms for all of you; the housing building is getting awfully full. Please, let me show you into the courtyard."

You pass what looks like huge gymnasiums, all with dummies and targets strewn and splayed around the room. Training areas. There are even classrooms, and a few small offices. You're rushed past a large library while the Greeter informs you that you can find almost all your information there, if you've got the time to look—and trust her, you'll have time. You don't spend a lot of time in the bank, and it's a bit of a blur of exchanges with more and more of these strangely-accented and oddly polite-seeming members of the Initiative.

Soon enough, you're in a massive courtyard bustling with all the other Transports. It's not exactly what you'd expect, and it looks more like barracks than anything—huge walls of concrete and stone, separating you from all of the hallways you'd just passed through. It's raining heavily, and dark clouds loom in the air, though it hasn't turned to snow. It's a chill cold, and there are shelters—long cloth hangings that extend from the walls of concrete to house you from the rain, but not enough. Most notably, the courtyard is filled with a marketplace. Even in the cold and the rain, there are several citizens seated at their covered booths and tables, bundled up against the weather. They're selling all manner of their own handmade goods and foods, and citizens and Transports alike are traveling from one small covered shop to another in search of all manner of necessities.

The Greeter's voice has become so faint now, but you swear you can make it out in the back of the crowds as she tells you, "Good luck. Be safe!"

Her voice is drowned out by the busy marketplace, though even the transactions taking place are somewhat subdued. Nobody is overly happy, really, though most citizens can be found with smiles on their faces. It doesn't seem like they're that shocked to see you, either; even if you're not bound in tattered rags and wrapped in heavy shawls as they are. You're welcome to walk up to a shop, and find yourself something to eat—hey, maybe you'll even find something akin to a raincoat. Or, you can join the others under the coverings against the walls. Where am I? What war? She was talking so fast, and it didn't all make very much sense… did anyone else catch it all?

Welcome to the courtyard. Welcome to the Initiative Hold—and most importantly, welcome to Exsilium.

Comments

[silenceandcards]

[This is going to be a stare off.

Keith has no idea what this guy is doing but he doesn't look lost (even if he was, he is not Christopher-a-man-he-doesn't-even-know and he does not go up to people in the rain -- Jade is not even in the rain -- to ask him what he's doing or if he need any help, because Keith does not want to talk more than necessary) and he doesn't look troubled, either (he looks like he's expecting something, though).

But he's also curious as to what this guy is doing so Keith Gandor stands there, under his handy umbrella that he got when he first arrived here, staring at Jade because wow he's also dressed really weird. But then again a number of people here are dressed weird.]

[clinical]

[Jade's eyebrows lift. There is a man standing across from him with an umbrella. This man is staring at him. Press X to make the NPC talk?]

[No, Jade. You can't initiate dialogue with this NPC.]

Can I help you?

[silenceandcards]

[Excuse you. He is not an NPC. Does he even show up in his own canon's video game?

But this long haired man in strange clothes is talking to him, and Keith takes a moment to decide that no, he does not need to be helped. So he supposes this man can't help him either. But he looks new and umbrella-less, as rain falls all around.]

Going somewhere?

[clinical]

[Who knows. He could be in the Victor-and-Jacuzzi-team-up-to-stop-Terrorist!Nice-and-Chane ending. Somewhere!

What an unusual person, though. Jade is strangely reminded of Largo, for some reason.]

Oh, I'll just stay here until the rain clears up. I'd hate to catch an illness so soon.

[silenceandcards]

[He will just stay the silent side character.]

It always rains.

[Simple as that. An indirect warning of "then you'll be here forever, kid" as he glances up at the grey grey sky.]

[clinical]

That's an unusual phenomenon.

[It's okay, Jade used to play around Mt Roneal. He can handle bad weather. But he does find the weather here interesting because he is a horrible scientist I hate him Yun I hate him I hate him I hate him.]

Still, I'll manage. Thank you for the concern.

[silenceandcards]

[Why are you talking to me through Jade I can't help you if you hate him but decided to play him Farrah.]

Name?

[clinical]

[Because I love you.]

[Jade does not love you. He is just attending Keith. What a succinct guy.]

Jade. Yours?

[silenceandcards]

[I do not desire his love.]

Keith Gandor.

If you need an umbrella, store's over there.

[This is what he does. Help people get umbrellas. It's not his job. It's just happened. Twice.]

[clinical]

Thank you. [What a nice, helpful dude. Jade will have to go get one when he is done people-watching.]

[silenceandcards]

[Apparently the way to keep Jade quiet and talking like a passable member of society is to keep quiet yourself. Keith goes back to his own people watching, by which I mean he's going to stand there and look at Jade and think about how a lot of the people come here have the weirdest freaking clothes.]

[clinical]

[Seriously a strange human, however.] Is there anything else?

[silenceandcards]

[He shrugs.]

What are you?

[A genuine question. You could be a solipsistic idiot or a magician or a wizard or an IsaacDian. Or maybe just weird and fashionable. Or a creature pretending to be human and getting it wrong?]

[clinical]

[His eyebrows raise.]

In what respect?

[He is a soulless monster scientist colonel emperor's-best-friend lawman fonist tsundere oji-san (no really, it's one of his titles).]

[silenceandcards]

[does he really have a CD-ROM in that icon...]

Occupation.

... Species?

[Unless you just got dragged out of Broadway, you look like a fairy tale character.]

[clinical]

Soldier. Human.

[silenceandcards]

Fancy for a soldier.

[clinical]

Unfortunately, I was not consulted on the uniforms.

[silenceandcards]

... What country? Never seen anything like it before.

[Probably not a Depression kid because it looks like money.]

[clinical]

Malkuth Imperial Forces, Third Division. Colonel rank.

Need I also ask your species and occupation?

[silenceandcards]

Never heard of it.

... Human. [mostly].

... ... Mafia.

[clinical]

That term is unfamiliar to me.

[So they're even on Not Knowing About Each Other?]

[silenceandcards]

... There are books in the library.

[They're even unless Jade wants to do homework.]

[clinical]

["What an unusual place for them."

No, come on, even Jade can hold back on that one.]

Perhaps I'll look into it. Thank you.

[It's an idle comment. Maybe he won't!

Or maybe, by the end of the week, he'll have an extensive knowledge of the history of the US mafia.

Who knows.]

[silenceandcards]

[It's not going to be his speciality, certainly.]

... You from Earth?