exsiliumlogs | (no subject)

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...

E-eh?!

[It is an incredibly eloquent response to the situation. She takes one staggering step backwards, then another.]

You're a monster?!

[More eloquence. Nanami's voice sounds almost reedy: She feels as though she might faint.]

No, I'm a troll!

[ And she says it so matter-of-factly too. ]

I'm guessing you have never seen a non-human before?

That's what I said!

[Troll, monster: it's all the same to her.

She lets out a sort of small, distressed whimper. The flier is getting worked anxiously in her hand, and it might end up crumpled anyway.]

Of course not. What kind of a...How could I have?

I don't know, you tell me! I don't know what kind of world you're from, I am just here to greet people!

So you work for them?

[Nanami just doesn't jump to conclusions - she ziplines across canyons to get to them.]

And they just make you stand out in the rain and do whatever they please.

Nope! I work for me and do it for the sake of helping!

[Nanami visibly falters at that. Nobody does things just for the sake of helping unless they're complete pushovers; she knows that much, but isn't detached or bitter enough to lord it over her.]

Helping...?

Why? Do you get out of it?

I get to meet new people, and the satisfaction of having done something nice! What else is there?

That's pretty selfless of you.

[Nanami doesn't sound convinced. She holds the now-mishapen newbie guide out in front of her, looking down at it.

How long have you been here...?

It will be a year next month! Not many people have been here longer, I don't think, but there are some.

[ She seems fairly proud of it too. ]

That long?!

[The color drains from her face. Whatever hope there was of getting out of here fast and painlessly, it's being obliterated.]

Well - [She clears her throat] Well then, you should have a lot of answers!

Yes! That's the point! You must have a lot of questions.

That's really smart of you. [It's said with a tone of voice that implies that it is less smart and more completely obvious.]

What are we really expected to do here? None of the story they're feeding us!