transport log » ❝ welcome to Exsilium ❞

[initiates]

Date & Time: Oct. 24th
Location: The Initiative Hold
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: New Transports have all arrived and have been led to a banquet room within the Hold.
Warnings: None.

NOTE: This takes place during this plot, though the plot log will not be posted until tomorrow. The Transports already in game have returned from their mission to find the island overrun with monsters. The log is set within the safety of the Initiative Hold, however, so while characters will be aware of what is going on outside, they can otherwise go about their business as usual if they choose.

--

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. She looks worse for wear, pale and gaunt, though is putting a great deal of effort into maintaining her energy and professionalism for the new Transports. "I am truly sorry that you came at such a bad time. That wasn't intentional, I assure you."

She leads the way through the Initiative Hold. The walls bear the occasional claw mark as a sign of the misfortune that has plagued the island, but it hardly seems deserted anymore due to the other Transports recently returning from their mission. After turning several corners, you arrive in a large room that has been transformed into a makeshift banquet hall. The food presented is perhaps not as luxurious or bountiful as one would hope, but it is certainly enough to go around, and isn't inedible by any means.

"We wanted to try and make this up to you," she explains. "It's meagre, but we did not have much time to prepare." There are a number of Transports already present, some looking over the long banquet table, others seated throughout the room at large, round tables meant to each seat eight people. The mood is grim, despite the Initiative's efforts to raise morale.

Before the Greeter turns to leave, she is reminding you that it will be perfectly safe to explore the Hold, the courtyard, the housing building, and even a several block radius around it. "Hopefully things will be back to normal soon."

Welcome to the banquet. Welcome to the Initiative Hold—and most importantly, welcome to Exsilium.

Comments

[gevurah]

[ There's no hesitation or anything that indicates she's not Robin and just pretending otherwise. Kids have wild imaginations, but for many it comes to an end at an early age.

Kate doesn't look so certain anymore. ]

I didn't realize Batman got a new partner.

[ A young girl in that uniform... there's something incredibly off here. ]

[slingshots]

[ New partner? Robin's been in the scene for a year so far, where's this lady been? There's just a second spent on giving her a weirded out look, but she shrug it off. ]

Figure it can't be helped if you're not into reading headlines.

[gevurah]

I read them everyday. [ She says pointedly. Nope, not buying this anymore. ]

[slingshots]

[ Is this a joke? Because Robin's not really seeing the humor in it, and this lady doesn't really look like she's anywhere near to laughing. Actually, she looks sort of she forgot what laughing is. So, yeah, not a joke. Time to try a more careful approach, starting with the basics. ]

You from Gotham, or what?

[gevurah]

I am. And know for a fact Robin is a boy. [ Is it possible she's also Robin? But Kate would know. She might not deal with the other Bats, but she keeps tabs on who's also operating in Gotham. ]

Been a boy for maybe a year or over that now, too.

[slingshots]

[ Oh. Well. This is starting to make more sense, then. The easy smile drops back into place again, some of the caution fades off with the idea she's nursing into full bloom. This lady is just getting a closer look at Robin for the first time, is all. ]

Yeah. They never really look too close. [ That with a shrug. The gender-confusion doesn't bother her much. ]

[gevurah]

[ She can't press without giving away too much about herself, so she'll reluctantly drop the questioning for now. ]

I suppose Batman isn't here.

[slingshots]

[ Oh, she knows way better than to answer that one honestly. No matter who this lady is, it would be better for her to think there's someone in a black cape patrolling the nights, and Robin isn't alone. So she summons a jaunty smile that couldn't disagree any more clearly and gets on with the lying. ]

The Big Guy isn't real big on public appearances.

[gevurah]

I see. [ She's not sure who else from Gotham might be here. ] I suppose they told you what we're for, too.

[slingshots]

Sure. Told anyone listening, didn't they? [ She shrugs, apparently not too concerned by the news of war. ] Sounds kinda like home.

here for* oops

[gevurah]

I'm not sure I'd describe the crime in Gotham as that. [ Or would she?

But again, not giving herself away. ]

[slingshots]

[ Wait hang on. Anyone would describe crime in Gotham like that, excepting the last few months. She frowns. ]

You sure about those headlines? That one's their favorite hook.

[gevurah]

I guess a war against crime...

What's the last thing you remember from home?

[slingshots]

[ This was some time ago, but the last big thing she remembers from home... ]

What, besides the mid-summer winter freeze? Figure that'd be the big showdown.

[gevurah]

That's never happened... or hasn't happened yet. It was autumn back home. For me, at least.

[slingshots]

[ That gets a... pause, because the nuclear winter definitely happened before the showdown, which wasn't contested. ]

Superman did stop by, though?

[gevurah]

[ She shakes her head. ]

Did Wayne announce his funding of Batman Inc. yet?

[slingshots]

[ This pause is a little longer. After she discounts the possibility of having missed that before his retirement, she moves onto what other explanations there are. There's always the chance that this lady is confused, or crazy, or deliberately misleading, but that seems... a little too easy.

She shakes her head slowly, still thinking. ]

No. Figure it'd be hard to do that when he's dead. [ And this part more carefully: ] Him and Batman.

[gevurah]

[ Dead.

Kate's eyes are large and severely confused before she gets her bearings again. No, Bruce Wayne can't be dead. That would make one hell of a splash in the news. Especially after his big announcement on aiding Batman's fight against crime. ]

None of this adds up. Bruce Wayne? He's well and alive, as are his family. [ She means Dick, Tim, and Damian. ]

[slingshots]

[ No, that's not the right answer. There should be some correction, some mention of how they're the same person. Now that was big news. They still haven't stopped running stories on it.

She watches Kate carefully. ]

I'm thinking the Initiative got their wires crossed somewhere.

[gevurah]

[ She pulls the jacket around her shoulders closer, looking around the room quickly before focusing on Carrie again. ]

Must have. [ It's the only explanation at this point. ] We're all from different worlds it seems, so maybe our Gothams are different.

[slingshots]

[ And there's a world out there with a Batman Inc? Which Bruce Wayne is funding? Man. Crazy stuff. ]

Well, then nice to meet you, from a Gotham over.

[ ...And now she really wants to ask about that other Batman, and particularly about that other Robin. She doesn't expect a civilian would know much, though. Damn. ]

[gevurah]

[ Exactly. Kate can't tell if it's sheer brilliance or insanity. Too early to tell, really. ]

Nobody from the Initiative mentioned the possibility of this.

[slingshots]

They didn't mention a lot, I'm thinking.

[ Like some of the names she's seeing on the network here. Lancelot du Lac? Really? ]

Figure like I never caught your name.

[gevurah]

It's Kate. [ There's a split-second pause here. ] Kate Kane.

[ She doesn't know if the name will ring familiar at all-- though it should, maybe. The Kanes are the second richest family after the Waynes. ]