transport log » ❝ welcome to Exsilium ❞

[initiates]

Date & Time: Sept 23rd, 2012.
Location: The Initiative Hold & Courtyard.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: New Transports have all arrived and have been 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. "This isn't standard," she's saying, walking perhaps faster than most of the people she's dragging around. "We don't normally have so many Transports at once. 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. 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. 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

[devils_shoestring]

[She nods.]

Things fell through, so I left. [She doesn't elaborate what things. Vanadi knows already without her filling in the blanks.] It'd appear I made the right choice.

[implying]

What, do you mean— intentionally? [ He pulls back a little, eyes wide under the mask. Of course, leave it to someone like Bela to pull this off on purpose, and not just stumble through a window one day like he did. ]

Then— is your window still open?

[devils_shoestring]

[She shrugs.]

If they were smart, they closed it. It hardly matters now.

[aka not her problem so zero fucks are given.]

[implying]

Oh. [ He wilts a little, and you just know if his ears weren't penned up under the mask they'd be sinking. But then, he knows that's also a good thing. All the more distance between her and her demons. ] Well, that's... good, then.

[ Suddenly recalling the existence of his umbrella, he pulls it out and shakes it open, holding it up above them both. ]

Well, then, welcome to Exsilium, my dear. It's a bit dreary, but it's home.

[devils_shoestring]

[Dreary seems an understatement, but she didn't comment.]

Care to give me a better tour than that mess?

[implying]

Why, I'd not only care to, I'd love to!

[ He wraps the arm with the umbrella through hers, the better to keep it over both of them. ] Now, what would you like to see first? Landmarks? Restaurants? Bars? [ There's totally a grin here: ] Bedrooms? They're very nice, here!

[devils_shoestring]

Love, you could at least keep up the pretense that you have to put a little effort to get me into bed.

[implying]

Well, it was placed discretely at the bottom of the list! [ He grins, nudging playfully at her side. ] Impossible to leave off, though, I'm afraid. I've really missed you, my dear.

[devils_shoestring]

[She laughs softly, glad to see that Vanadi hasn't changed in the least.]

And I've missed you, but you really ought to show me your other favorite spots before we spend the rest of the day celebrating.

[implying]

Oh, fair enough, I suppose. [ So on he leads, headed for his favorite part of the marketplace— which is conveniently near to his favorite restaurant. ]

So, tell me— how is everyone? Steve? Collette, Miles? What was the last you saw of them?

[devils_shoestring]

[Bela is pretty sure Vanadi doesn't really want the real answer to how Steve's doing. So, she starts with Collette. Mostly because she doesn't know anything about what Edgeworth has been up to nor does she particularly care.]

Well, Collette went home. There were a few...complications on the last mission the Company ran and I think she had decided she'd rather focus on her own world for a while instead.

[implying]

Complications?

[ That doesn't sound good. He'd really, really been hoping for an answer more like "oh, Collette's perfectly well, couldn't be better," especially in the face of this Collette here, and how badly things are going with her. It would have been nice to know there's a version of her that's doing well. He sighs. ]

Ought I ask for details?

[devils_shoestring]

A Window opened where there was a parasitic alien species. She had to pass along her morphing abilities to some though it wasn't enough to save Loki. He was the only casualty at least.

[And really the only one that mattered to Bela. But this was about Collette.]

[implying]

[ He feels a rush of sympathy for the Collette that isn't a part of his life anymore, but even more importantly, he knows exactly what that means for Bela. His arm shifts, the umbrella is traded off to the other side, and he makes to take her hand instead. ]

Ah, these things do happen, I suppose... And so you skipped town, hmm?

[devils_shoestring]

[She takes his hand giving it a light squeeze to indicate that she's, in fact, okay. It wasn't how she wanted things to go, but it was perhaps for the best at any rate.]

As soon as I could. Lilith wasn't going to wait forever and she knew about the Window.

[implying]

A wise choice, my dear. And especially in finding your way here.

[ Even if he's... still completely bummed that he missed out on an open window. He's only been looking for one since he got here. ]

[devils_shoestring]

I thought as much. Though I'm sure Azizi might be a little disgruntled. I left him behind to Steve.

[implying]

[ Well, that seems like a pretty decent combination.

Fondly: ] Well, anything left to the care of Steve is in good hands. And speaking of, what news of him?

[ Definitely hoping for 'he hooked up with a million beautiful people', here. ]

[devils_shoestring]

I hadn't spoken with him much before I left. But from what I could tell, he was keeping busy.

[It's at least half-true?]

[implying]

Good.

[ That a little more softly, even if the smile hasn't faded— only lessened. Man, he misses that guy. ]

I do hope he doesn't take a return to being single too hard. Did he seem the type, to you?

[devils_shoestring]

[Bela honestly has to bite back the urge to laugh at that notion. Steve was very much a traditional sort of gentleman when it came to courting anyone from anything she had ever seen. If anything, he was probably moping in private and possibly swearing off romance forever. More or less, Bela thought of Steve on the emotional level of a teenage girl.]

I'm sure he's handling it well. There's probably plenty in the Observatory who are happy to see him available again.

[implying]

[ Vanadi snorts, waving a dismissive hand. The one with the umbrella, actually. Sorry if it rains on you for a couple seconds, there. ]

I only hope he bounces back quickly. Really, the man deserves that much, at the very least. A good thing there are no shortage of volunteers to help him over it, as you said!

[devils_shoestring]

They should probably writing you a thank you letter for giving Steve some experience.