exsiliumlogs | (no subject)

Date: September 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. 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Hey, Yuma, have a Sango with an umbrella and a Kirara perched on her shoulder approaching.]

Hm? Hello there?

Um--!

[Startled, Yuma spins around, hands behind her back in a clear sign of guilt.]

H-hello... Do you need something, Oneechan?

[She raises her eyebrows.]

Well, I do need you to stop trying to break into that building.

[She shakes her head. If she denies it hard enough, this lady will believe her, right?]

Yuma wasn't doing anything like that! I was only playing with it.

[How about no, but she'll at least humor you.]

I'm sure we can find something else for you to play with.

[That's close enough for Yuma to think she's not in too much trouble, so she steps further away from the window and closer to Sango. She puts on a cute, curious face, trying to seem innocent.]

Do you know somewhere for Yuma to play without getting in trouble, then?

[Maybe it won't be raining there, wherever it is.]

[Truth be told, Sango doesn't. There's really no place for children in Exsilium, save perhaps the orphanage, but that's not exactly the ideal destination.

For now Sango extends her umbrella a little, beckoning Yuma, Kirara meowing. The apartment, at least, is dry and warm.]

Come on, and we'll see.

[Though she's nervous and suspicious, Yuma obliges. She can always run away if need be, using her magic to give herself a fighting chance, but the cold is getting to her. Besides, this lady has a cat. Nobody who's nice to animals can be that mean, can they?]

Mmm... Okay. Yuma will go with you, then. How far are we going?

[She steps closer, just under the umbrella.]

[The cat in question will nudge curiously at Yuma's heels as she approaches.]

Well, the Hold's not too far. Yuma, tell me--do you live here or did you just arrive?

Yuma got here today... Just a few hours ago!

[She crouches down, hand out to the cat as she talks to Sango.]

What about you, oneechan? Do you live here? It's really different from where Yuma comes from, but everyone seems really nice.

I came here too, but a while ago.

[Sango starts to move, but Kirara will let Yuma carry her if she wants to.]

There are a lot of good people, but you still have to be careful. A good start might be not playing with locks.

[Though she's slightly nervous that Kirara will scratch her, she picks up the cat anyway and hurries to follow Sango.]

Yuma didn't even get it to open, though! It was still locked when we left.

[She pouts, head turned away. She shouldn't get in trouble for just trying and failing, right?]

Yes, but it's the thought that counts.

[Some raised eyebrows. Breaking and entering: not cool, Yuma, even if it's just an attempt.]

[You can't prosecute thought-crime!! She scuffs her shoe on the ground again, sulking.]

Yuma doesn't agree with that... But it's not broken, so they can't get mad anymore, and I won't do it again.

[You can't spell thought-crime without crime, okay.]

That's fine, then. Anyway, the Hold is close. You've got to be hungry, huh?

[The offer of food pulls her out of that sulk, and she looks up at Sango with interest.]

Just a little bit... Is there food there?

Not necessarily, but the apartments are near there, and there's food in mine.

[She's pretty well-stocked at the moment, she thinks. She'd remembered to prep for new roommates--or, as the case is now, new strays.]

There's no kitchen there? For such a big building, that's a little weird, isn't it?

[Not to sound ungrateful, though, she takes on:]

But Yuma will eat anything, so it's okay!

There might be a kitchen, but I don't think it's for us. As for food, we'll see what's in the pantry and you can take your pick.

If it's not for us, who's supposed to use it? Does someone else do the cooking?

That building is the Hold. A lot of the time it's full of people like us, who came here from different worlds. But it also has a lot of people who live in this world. If there's a kitchen, it's probably for those people; we have our own places to live, and they have theirs.