(no subject)

[initiates]

Date: February 1st
Location: The Initiative Hold & Courtyard.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: New Transports have all arrived and have been shuffled into the Courtyard after their initial briefings, while older Transports are returning from the mission to Uruguay.
Warnings: None.

While those who have been guests of Exsilium since at least the last wave of Transports return from their desperate mission and are pressed out of the Transporter room and into the Courtyard, the Initiative prepares to receive a second wave at the same time. And if you're in that second wave, the fresh meat, then 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

[inafadingcrown]

[The fact that she does not laugh really speaks volumes for her restraint. The sight before her is undeniable comical.]

You speak as though you have not tried. Unless I misjudge you greatly, I assume you spoke your mind upon arrival. As did I. And yet here we stand.

[heirwithouthope]

[The idea of just using his other hand to pull it off (confounded sticky piece of parchment that it was) occurs to him rather late, and then he turns to give her a sour look.]

You know nothing about me, elf.

[She was right about everything, of course. That doesn't make Thorin any less inclined to be difficult.]

[inafadingcrown]

Nothing but what I observe, Master dwarf. You do not carry yourself as one inclined to take orders. [Neither does she. But that's neither here nor there.]

[heirwithouthope]

And I am not one to be stripped from my people.

They tell me it matters not what the circumstances were back home, or what needs to be done. We cannot leave until they see fit.

[inafadingcrown]

Nor am I.

They tell me the same, of course. And for the moment, I have found no way around it.

[heartsink]

After a moment of consideration, the girl nods, tilting her head a little to one side. "Yes, I suppose that's possible. It's hard to know for sure, as strangers."

[heirwithouthope]

And what means have you taken to escape?

[He tips his chin in order to look up at her. There was interest, a legitimate desire to know what has been tried and proven unsuccessful, but that honesty is hidden deep within geological layers of scrutiny and skepticism.]

[heirwithouthope]

[He mutters at that.] A mattress far from home would suit me worse than a cold floor and sharp rocks.

[Achievement unlocked: appealing to Dwarfish arrogance. Good reasons or not, Thorin still resents the sorcerers to the west and back for bringing him here...but he can hardly bark at Frodo for linking it to his prowess as a warrior.] And what about you, Mister Frodo Baggins?

You made mention of being on an adventure or two. What do they gain in bringing you here, far from your kin?

[boughtabookstore]

It's hard to believe, I realize.

[ A beat and then a precise shrug. ]

Not particularly. I have friends here I would rather not lose.

sorry for the ridiculous lateness! orz

[hatesvampires]

[Snail...

It actually takes quite a bit of effort on his part to keep his smile from breaking out into horrible raucous laughter, but keeps his cool. He's a master at keeping himself straight luckily.]

Oh! Now, isn't that a neat little thing you got there...gizmo from home?

[And he pulls out his tablet to take down whatever it is he needs.]

SORRY THIS IS SO LATE aghghghg orz

[hatesvampires]

[YOU WANNA STOP, TOO BAD, HAZAMA TIME.

In all fairness if he knew it was straining him to keep talking, it'd...probably be more incentive for Hazama to keep him talking.]

How so? You think they're lying or something?

sorry this is so late!

[hatesvampires]

Oh, it was pretty public actually! Guy put the entire thing on the network, said if they didn't stop poisoning us he'd kill one guy ever twenty four hours. Pretty scary guy, that one. Wonder if he's still here...

But, yeah! Good job!

[He means that in a condescending way more than anything, but hides it well.]

Though it's strange - see, I was here, but went home. Then today? Here again, right outta nowhere!

I'M GLAD!!

[scinlae]

[ The laugh might unnerve some, but Morgana seems merely amused by the sound. A familiar, almost melodious sound. ]

And you speak like a man with daggers for words. [ With lines so sharp they could cut you deep, should to slip and fall upon them. ]

Gzah? [ She pronounces it oddly, understandable it is not a word in her own language. ] What does that mean?

[selfdestructed]

Just Cagalli. We arrived together.

[that's about the only person he's met in this world apart from Lacus right now.]

[emptysword]

-???

[first his old roommate conjured bread in front of his eyes, now this woman is just generating rice as if it's normal for her.

just.

what.]

Your power is creation?

[emptysword]

I'm not his apprentice.

[While he'd have liked being his father's apprentice at one point, he knew that the only reason Kiritsugu taught him only the purest basic was because he did it to get Shirou off his back.

...Right, Einzberns. That one is another can of worms he got from after the war. But since he isn't asking about it, might as well keep it down.]

I only received a little something from him, to be honest.

[itsmagicallydelicious]

Enough to become a Master.

[It's hard to tell whether it's a compliment or not -- it's not made in malicious intent, in any case. Kariya looks over the boy again, re-appraising him in light of all he's learned.

He seems well-intentioned enough, good-natured, and distinctly unmagus-like. He survived a Holy Grail War. It's a mixed bag.]

[iorhael]

[What an odd thing to say] You prefer every rock and root in the area finding it's way into back and shoulders?

[managing dwarves, call it a gift learned from Bilbo but never applied in the field until now. Frodo looks a little uneasy, and seems closed off somehow at the question]

I am afraid I have no idea why they would be interested in me. I am no warrior or ranger or burglar at heart.

[crystalia]

Is it? You already seem a bit like him. More than the name, I mean.

[captains]

Now you're speaking my language. Bones, I'm almost surprised at you!

[But you kind of wandered onto the shuttle for the academy drunk out of your mind and a little wild eyed. He's not that surprised at all]

It's because she didn't completely hate me, isn't it?

[heirwithouthope]

We have been over this before. [He would've been cold and impatient with many others. But here, his tone is just stern enough to get his point across and receive attention: the same voice he would use with his own nephews.] I need not repeat it.

[Thorin continues to look at Frodo through his withdrawal from his question.] You and I both know that the most unlikely people can be called into action. But you weren't plucked from your Shire, were you?

[needsteaplz]

[She just smiles. Don't expect her to explain why she's able to create rice like that. She tosses the grains in her hand and catches them.]

It's limited to raw rice but I can change how hulled it is, from brown rice to white. So do you have a preference of rice to work with?

[inafadingcrown]

I have not dashed about, sword in hand, threatening our captors, if that is what you ask. [Because she has a feeling that her answer is going to be unsatisfactory to him.]

It seems clear to me that, in order to return to our homes, we need access to whatever power brought us here- and, despite my efforts, no amount of persuasion seems likely to bring us that. So, for the moment, I watch, I wait, and I seek allies.

[inafadingcrown]

[Curiosity and concern are both evident on her face.]

Then you are one of those who has been taken from elsewhere. I have spoken to others, but rarely so.

APOLOGY REJECTED

[chore_boy]

[Coby wouldn't have minded. All the laughing from before about his snail transponder totally winded everyone else and he didn't feel so bad about it.]

Nice of you not to laugh. [He really wouldn't have thought twice about it.]

It's a snail transponder. It acts like what I guess everyone else would call a phone.