(no subject)

[initiates]

Date: July 1st
Location: The Initiative Hold & Courtyard.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: New Transports arrive and are shuffled into the Courtyard after their initial briefings. Now with 200% more People-Seeking lists!
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. Now and then around you you might spot paper fluttering in the faint wind from somewhere relatively dry. It looks like a list.

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

[fantasticforcefields]

Sue went to greet the newcomers every time. It was born of a hospitable impulse, true, but she was also hoping to find a familiar face...or perhaps dreading it, since it would mean her one of her friends was trapped here, too.

Despite not being tall, Sue was always, intentionally, quite noticeable, the white of her uniform gleaming against the constant gray dullness of Exsilium. The water running off the force field over her head exactly like it had hit an invisible umbrella wasn't exactly making her inconspicuous, either.

As Sue scanned the crowd, her eyes met Cao Cao's. She knew that look well, and that the person wearing it was rarely good news. After a moment, however, she smiled, perhaps not as warmly as she might for someone seeming more open or more vulnerable, but a genuine expression nonetheless. Everyone deserved a chance.

"Hello," she said as she drew close enough to speak comfortably. The universal translator built into her costume wasn't sophisticated enough to guess Cao Cao's language by his dress, so the word came out solely in English, but the intent was unmistakable.

[ningwofuren]

Mengde's eyes began to wander until they focused upon the silhouette of a strange woman blessed with near golden locks. She looked out of place here amongst such dreariness thanks to her white attire. The dull lighting of the courtyard did very little to diminish the brightness of her suit. She almost looked like a celestial goddess out there within the rain, but Cao Cao wasn't the type to believe in gods. He doubted that even gods would dress so strangely or scantily. There wasn't a single curve that wasn't advertized by that ivory jumpsuit. It was almost shameless. Even concubines had more humility than this blond woman, but Cao Cao couldn't claim he didn't appreciate it. The figure of a beautiful woman is a heavenly visage.

Mengde arched his brow once she greeted him. He couldn't understand a word she said at first, but it suddenly dawned on him that she indeed greeted him in her own strange tongue. The King of Wei stood quiet for a few moments before greeting her in turn. "Nín hǎo." He made a fist with his right hand and covered his left palm over it as he bowed. This was traditional greeting that would be had between both friends and generals. Though, he was certain that the blond woman wouldn't understand it. The language and culture barrier between him and the other transports will be somewhat daunting at first, but the Initiative's mastery over technology promised to overcome that.

[fantasticforcefields]

Even with her lack of language talent, Sue could identify Mandarin from the greeting, for all she couldn't have replied intelligibly if worlds had depended on it. However, for a device designed solely to communicate with anyone its owner might meet, no matter how alien, Earth's most common language presented no trouble at all--though Sue would seem to Cao Cao to have a strange accent and idiom until the translator taught itself the ancient form of the language by listening to him.

She'd trained with Iron Fist, and while she had no designs on becoming a kung fu master like Danny, she'd acquired a solid foundation in the basics, and the gesture Cao Cao was using had survived in the martial arts. Sue returned the bow and the salute without hesitation.

"Can you understand me now?" she asked, hoping nothing she'd been through had damaged the elaborate circuitry in her uniform since the last time she'd needed the translator, because Sue had no chance of repairing it herself, and she wasn't entirely sure about the new, inexperienced version of Tony Stark they had in residence. The tablets could circumvent the language barrier if necessary, but if Cao Cao's dress was anything to go by, teaching him to use his would be a task better suited to somewhere dry with comfortable chairs.

[ningwofuren]

A mild look of surprise lingered within his gaze once the woman's words suddenly spoke in his language. Cao Cao eyed her for a brief moment before giving her a slight nod. While her Chinese certainly was perfect, her accent was quite bizarre. She reminded him too much of how the Initiative. "I can understand perfectly." He replied with a bare hint of a smile. To Sue, he must have sounded completely different in English than he did in Mandarin. "I cannot say I know of any sorcery that can overcome languages, but I'm grateful for it." Without the hint of any accent whatsoever, Cao Cao seem to speak to her like a native English-speaker. He didn't sound British like those who hailed from this island, but certainly sounded cultured and well into his thirties.

"Quite the elaborate display here." The King of Wei gestured towards the dreary courtyard in a somewhat mocking fashion. "The rebels are quite ambitious in their own right if they truly believe they can keep us here like cattle." It's rather obvious that Cao Cao wasn't very impressed with being dragged away from home for this nonsense.

"Your name?" He asked suddenly. "You are one of few who can speak to me."

[fantasticforcefields]

"My husband is talented with...things like that." Since the thought of magic didn't discomfit him, they could postpone a discussion of the distinction between science and sorcery, and she smiled, not as convincingly as she might have. Reed was a universe away, and she didn't like being reminded of it.

"I'm Susan Storm Richards." Something about Cao Cao drew out the formality of her full name...if not her titles, since they were likely to complicate matters, like having to explain why she was 'the Invisible Woman.' Reasonably convinced she wasn't going to be denounced as a witch, Sue extended her force field to shield him from the rain as well, though any damage to his clothes must already have been done by now.

[ningwofuren]

Cao Cao didn't doubt that Sue was married, after all she is rather attractive. However, what caught his interest was her comment regarding her husband being talented with this kind of sorcery. That made him a tad wary but he didn't show it. He wasn't entirely fond of magic, but he doesn't go out of his way to denounce its usefulness. Unlike Yuan Shao who possessed a strong hatred for all things magical, Cao Cao liked sorcery when it could be manipulated in his favor. Why else would he rely upon the aid of a Japanese prophet to foresee his destiny? Magic in general certainly has its usefulness.

"An interesting name for an interesting woman." The King of Wei replied with slight bow. Nearly all the names here within this realm sounded quite odd to him. Of course someone could easily claim that his given name was quite odd as well. "I am King Cáo Cāo of Wei, style Mengde, Prime Minister of the Han." His lips quirked upward when he said that last part. He was the rightful Prime Minister of the Empire despite the fact many claimed that he was nothing more than a despot.

[fantasticforcefields]

"My name's nothing special where I'm from, Your Highness." When in doubt, Sue always erred on the side of politeness, and she didn't know enough to be sure which if any of his names she should use, not to mention the fact she'd mangle the Mandarin pronunciation even if the translator covered for her. 'King' at least seemed unambiguous, and royalty she could handle...often to their extreme consternation.

"Pleased to meet you. Welcome to Exsilium." That last came out very dryly. It wasn't a place to which you welcomed someone with unironic intent.

[ningwofuren]

A hint of a smirk settled upon Cao Cao's face momentarily before completely vanishing with no trace. If Susan blinked too quickly, then she surely missed that rare feat. Mengde doubted there were any proper words to introduce newcomers who arrive to Exsilium. Welcoming anyone to this dystopia was more an insult than a greeting. However, what does one say to the hundreds of new transports who blindly roam the courtyard this evening? Not even Cao Cao could wax a decent enough poetry to ease their burden with a welcome. If anything, he would warn them instead of welcoming them. He would let them know off the bat that this was a battlefield, and that death was imminent.

"Tell me, how long have you been lingering here?" The King of Wei asked with an unreadable gaze. Judging by the woman's demeanor, she certainly looked as if she seen her fair share of battle here. Perhaps Susan will become one of the many he'll have to rely upon in the near future.