(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

[andagain]

Keith rubbed the back of his head. That was about the same as he was explained back at his arrival. And Barnaby and Kotetsu were capable fighters, so he wasn't surprised by how they were chosen first.

"Oh I get it!" Well not completely but it made enough sense. "Isn't it amazing technology? Look." He shows off his Sky High helmet he had tucked away in a bag. "They bought my suit over too, and made it compact so I can dress up in an instant."

[readsthelines]

O-Okay.

[Uh...that was rather blunt.]

Um, may I ask who are you?

[motioned]

Really? Hey, if you tell me who they are, maybe I can keep a look out for them! To pay you back for the cookies.

[Pushing along!]

[debtor]

[His eyes widen as she types out her answer, and his smile falters. She's mute...? And she's new. So many new faces arrive every month, it seems... He has mixed feelings on the Initiative, but he definitely cannot abide by their method of conscription.

But at least he's found out there's a legitimate use for the tablets' text function.]

I did... [But there's no need to go into that right now, he thinks.]

Have they explained the situation to you, miss?

[readsthelines]

[Wait until he meets her brothers: Lelouch, Clovis, and Schneiziel anyone?]

New...york? Where's that?

[have_hat_will_travel]

My name's Pidonus. I've been here a couple of months now.

You?

[freewoman]

['Lord father'. That doesn't surprise her in the least.]

Not many with a title like that. If he's here, you'll have no trouble findin' him.

[freewoman]

She bristled at the question. There was only one other person here who knew her fate, and she didn't like admitting it. "Not everyone here is dead, boy." She shifted her pack, her spear tied to it. Her eyes turn to scan the crowd.

"They take whoever they want, livin', dead, whoever."

[reconnaissance]

( That sentiment is oddly unexpected, and yet somehow it makes Jesse rather more acceptable. Operating on a vaguely similar wavelength, or so it seems. She tucks the information away in the back of her mind to pick away at later.

With something of a wry smile, she holds out the tray of cookies she has been cramming into her face. ) Probably better for you than smoking.

[ex_havenofear960]

[ Say what? How does someone not know where New York is. ]

On the East Coast? Of America.

[ Actually, he has seen some pretty odd characters wandering around... ] On Earth?

[ex_havenofear960]

[ Multiverse. Did he just say multiverse? Remember to pursue questioning later. For now, though, he gestures quickly to the eyes on his own mask. ]

So is that what this is all about? Is that your X-thing?

[ex_havenofear960]

[ He didn't notice her following, mostly because he's a more distracted than usual here, so he jumps slightly at the reveal. There's a delayed response after he turns to face her, too, because holy crap it's a...

actually, no, he has no idea what she's supposed to be. ]

What are those, are those ears?

[ex_havenofear960]

[ It's more intuition than spider-sense that alerts Peter to the fact that he's getting one hell of a side-eye, but he glances back at the guilty party without shame.

Okay, maybe there's a little bit of shame, but it's easy to hide that with the mask on. ]

Let me guess, I look just like that guy you went to school with, right?

[lifemelody]

[She hesitates, but then goes and shakes her hand before letting go- think it's a greeting. Because hey she's sixteen she don't need a hand to hold]

Dagger. It's nice to meet you.

[lifemelody]

Zidane's about my height with blond hair and a monkey tail. And Vivi is a small boy with a pointed hat.

[ex_havenofear960]

[ He doesn't reply right away. There's a few more seconds of gazing off at the skyline and debating his chances, but he's a bit far and the roof's too low, so chatting it is. The guy's offering to help out, at least - maybe he'll have information that they left out of the official brochure. ]

Nearest train back to Queens, maybe?

[spongetastic]

[Peter pauses, but decides he might as well go with it until he figures out what this guy is really doing] Actually, yeah. I think we had biology together. You had a thing for spiders even then.

One runs into mordor or is carried into mordor, but no one simply walks into it!

[iorhael]

[It's only a glimpse, but no one has quite that color of hair or moves with that kind of grace. It's an elf, and even though for a moment they vanish into the ground, he is sure it's not just any elf, but one he has traveled from one danger to the next with.

He must make sure.

Frodo's pace quickens. He slips through the ground, pushing past with a hurried "Pardon me!" until he has caught up]

Legolas?

Re: Hitsugaya Toushirou | Open!

[celestial_wizard]

[ Hello little boy, would you like some candy?

Wait, no, that isn't what LUcy would say at all. They have guildmates of all ages in Fairy Tail, so even if Lucy believed Toushirou to be a young boy with a strange hair color (and she can't really comment on hair color since her bestie has salmon colored hair) she wouldn't treat him the way most would treat a 'little boy'.

However, as Lucy was strolling along with her umbrella, brown eyes scanning faces for familiar ones, she caught sight of the grouchy shinigami. With the sword. Huh. ]

Are you one of the new transports? [ Beware the cheery and nice girls Toushirou! They have a habit of becoming your best friends. :3 ]

you see a mask not a face ~*~magic~*~

[ex_havenofear960]

[ Oh. Okay, so he's going with it. Touche. Peter doesn't plan on saying anything useful anytime soon, so he'll play ball. ]

Wow, you do remember me! That's really touching. But spiders, man, what's not to love? They're so cute and agile.

[controlledvariable]

[Wow, rude.]

Yes. [She looks so unimpressed (being Batgirl meant she was supposed to be easy to recognize, this feels like being Spoiler again) but rolls her shoulders so that her cape's no longer covering the big yellow bat on her chest] I'm Batgirl. They're bat ears.

[ex_havenofear960]

Seriously? Yeah, I guess that's not so bad - kind of like a really exotic cruise. Except for the not going home thing, that's probably against most cruise line policies.

So do I just call you Cookie-Man, or?

[fintastic]

[ She just laughs a little, flashing a big smile. ]

Why wouldn't I be alright? It's just a little water, it is not like I'm going to melt!

hello theoretical mask

[spongetastic]

My mom never thought it was cute when I brought them into the house. But they were a big hit with my nephews, so I guess to each their own.

pretend mask etc etc

[ex_havenofear960]

[ Just callin' it like it is. Would knife-ears be racist? Isn't that an elf thing? Either way, he stares for a few more seconds to take in the whole Bat concept.

He actually waffles on whether or not to comment, but everyone appreciates constructive criticism, right? ]

Are they, though? I mean, not to be that guy, but - aren't bat ears kind of big and round? You know, so they can hear the whole echo thing. Do you have the echo thing?