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34 minutes ago, kenod said:

For a moment instincts from high-school warred with a knee-jerk to disobey authority, but the instincts won out. "I guess we'll talk later," she told Althea. She then stood up, walking to the row of chairs indicated, sitting down, trying to look like she was paying attention.

Althea followed her to the chairs, still occupied with her words. Why just hire everybody instead of create specific job descriptions. It was a good question, one that was another similarity to Plasma Core. They hadn't cared about who they would work with as well.

She chose a seat that a wall in its back and was at the end of a row, so that she only had to watch three directions, a potential attacker might use. Hopefully this would be different. Just an expedition, nothing more. Nothing world changing. The city needed some calm, some peace. She wasn't sure it if would survive another invasion.

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Deb watched as the crowd slowly ambled towards their seats, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes. A few, like the Ghostblood leader, eyed her with open, cold suspicion. Others were simply confused. Eventually, she felt as though she had enough of their attention to reasonably begin. She nodded to Farren, who dimmed the lights and removed a small remote from his coat pocket. The wall behind Deb was illuminated with the image of Caleb Raleigh's last official mapping transmission. She closed her eyes for one moment, banishing the small knot of tension that gathered in her chest, before taking a deep breath and addressing the group.

"Good morning," she said, though by this point it was barely the morning. "On behalf of Alleycity Excavation, I would like to extend our gratitude for your time and attention. My name is Director Stancel, and for those of you who make it through the initial selection process, I will be your Expedition Leader.

"After the destruction of the city some six months ago, our Executive Committee, headed by Chairman Tycho Anvor, decided to launch a public works project to help get the city back to work. The aim was to excavate and construct a basic subway network, allowing citizens a direct route around the city, unimpeded by rubble or the risk of turning down the wrong alleyway."

"Two months ago, after beginning initial demolition, a large subterranean cavern network was discovered. It became apparent that more research and a thorough understanding of this cavern system was required before construction could begin. We adapted to this slight deviation, and our first expedition team was selected."

Deb nodded once more toward Farren, who switched the image on the projector. Though she could not see it, she knew that eight faces now took up the wall behind her.

"This team, hand-selected and lead by noted former Worldhopper Sawyer Warrick, descended into the caverns three weeks ago. Initial reports described a complex system of tunnels, caves, and caverns that appeared to have no end. As the team continued deeper, reports became more and more... infrequent." Deb gripped her clipboard a little tighter to keep her hand from shaking, though her voice remained steady. She did not agree with Garrings' decision to divulge this information so early and to so many unknown elements. But, orders were orders. Deb continued, barely managing to keep the disapproval from her voice.

"Fourteen days ago, Expedition Leader Warrick's communications network went completely dark. Our leader cartographer, Caleb Raleigh, lost the use of his spanreed at roughly the same time. No new logs have been posted, and we have reason to believe that the situation in the caverns is critical. Executive leadership has decided that a larger team would be better equipped to explore these caverns, in addition to hopefully rescuing Warrick and the rest of our initial team."

Deb squared her shoulders, now taking the time to meet the eyes of the assembled group before her. "This city has seen much hardship, and I can understand that some of you might mistrust us. That is logical, and I can respect that kind of prudence. However, I must impress upon you the fallacy of that mistrust. We began our work here in an attempt to rebuild this place, not tear it down. Though our goals have shifted in response to recent events, I can assure you of one thing: we do not wish to harm this city. We seek only to understand, and to recover those we have lost."

She cleared her throat, blinking at the sudden, slight prickle in her right eye. Must be all the dust from the ruins outside. Deb did not turn around, did not meet the laughing eyes of Sawyer Warrick, the eyes that could possibly now be closed forever beneath hundreds of tons of rock. Sentiment would not help their team now. Instead, she stood up straight, and surveyed her newest recruits.

"Are there any questions?"

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Adren speaks from the corner of the room, speaking clearly Ann's loudly. As to be heard over the meetings other inhabitants. "Is there hope that this a rescue mission or simply a recovery mission. Because that will change how we need to go about this."

In the back of his head Mercy squeeked "I hope we get to find corpses, or maybe zombies."

Cutting off any response Adrien could think of came. "Be quiet. This is a grave matter."

Edited by ElephantEarwax
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Althea listened to the words, the presentation, the first question. She commited the pictures of the dead team to memory, made sure to remember their faces. Infrequent reports. If there was a clue to be found, then it would be in there. Otherwise they were walking into the tunnels blindly, and from her experience acting without adequate information usually didn't lead to the desired result.

"Is there a chance to take a look at these reports? Read them?"

She asked loudly, interested to see how the director would react to her request. It would tell a lot about the company and her desire to earn their trust. Additionally she might be able to learn something more about them. The director assuring them, that they didn't mean harm - it meant nothing, nothing at all. Of course she did, she had to. Althea would have done the same if she tried to introduce a new company six months after the disaster with Plasma Core. The more interesting question was, what did ACE gain by the excavation? Why did they invest that much money?

For now she leaned back, watched the crowd and more specifically the director. Everything else she would look after later.

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"So we're going for option three huh," Karin muttered in a deadpan tone as she listened to the explanation. Still, the whole mess sounded interesting. And besides, returning the the alleys saying she chickened out would probably end up a whole lot worse than joining. "What kind of support will we be getting?" She asked. "Will there be other ACE employees traveling with us? And what kind of resources are available?"

Edited by kenod
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23 hours ago, Voidus said:

It seems very coincidental. She wrote with her left hand, resting the small square on the side of the chair so that Wes could see it, and using her right hand to continue filling in the form. I hadn't expected to meet anyone else with that name here. What brings you?

Wes smiled at the reply. The polished square confirmed his suspicion that she couldn’t talk, but the fact that she wanted to communicate with him anyway made him happy. Beyond Mike and the other Guns N’ Ninjas, Wes didn’t really have many friends, and what better way to make some than here? He was so excited he didn’t even have time to be amazed at her writing on two different surfaces at the same time.

“I’m not really needed much in the Ghostbloods now,” he whispered to her. “And the thought of a new project, exploring, attracted me. Though,” his eyes wandered to Althea for a moment. “I really wasn’t expecting someone else to be here, you know? Now I’m just nervous.”

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Deb felt her mouth flatten into a hard line at the shadowy man's flippant question, but she forced her voice to remain neutral. "Until such time as we receive concrete evidence that Warrick's team is dead, we are treating this as a rescue mission. If even one of them is still alive, they deserve our best attempts to find them."

She turned towards the pale young woman with the dark hair. "As far as support goes, yes, you will be receiving more substantial support from us. Our best guards and employees trained in defense and rescue will be along, in addition to any new recruits who might also specialize in those areas. In terms of resources, feel free to bring any equipment with you that might aid in your own particular areas of expertise. We are well-supplied with communications devices, spanreeds, as well as medical supplies, food, and water rations. Our surveying and cartography departments, as well as engineering and demolition, can and will also supplement any needed materials. Those of you who specialize in more niche scientific disciplines are encouraged to bring their equipment of choice. The Executive Committee has relegated a portion of Chairman Anvor's personal gemstone reserve for needed Stormlight, though you are all encouraged to bring any of your own with you as well. Our medics will carry limited supplies of the most common Allomantic metals as well, though these should be used as a last resort. You are all responsible for supplying your own means of Investiture. Necessary equipment related to cave exploration will be supplied by us, including rope, head lamps, harnesses and the like. You will all also receive one tracking node that is to be kept on your person at all times. This will enable us to keep track of one another, and reduce the risk of losing members substantially. In addition, you will receive a small device allowing you to observe the movements of your fellows. Everyone will be able to see where everyone is - this is not meant to be a secretive measure. Merely a safety precaution."

Finally, Deb met the eyes of Althea Tenira. The Ghostblood leader was a bit of a surprise, but Deb had done her homework. By all accounts, Althea was cool, effective, and a brilliant Elsecaller. That kind of skillset wasn't something to take lightly; she would be an tremendously valuable ally down in the caverns. To Damnation with you, Garrings, for sticking me up here. This is politics, and I rusting hate politics. 

"Warrick's Expedition Logs are currently classified information," Deb said, choosing her words carefully. "Releasing the logs to the public now, while so much is still unknown about Warrick and the rest of the team, has been deemed inadvisable. These people have families, and it would not do to have the entire city abuzz with rumors and speculation before they are given a concrete answer. However," Deb tapped one finger against her clipboard, irritated, "I understand that transparency is crucial to establish trust. Once the selection process is complete, you will officially be members of ACE. I will speak with the Executive Committee and see about releasing some of these logs once we begin our expedition, to better keep everyone informed."

@Invocation @ElephantEarwax @kenod @Sorana

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2 minutes ago, Oduim's Chmapion said:

"What are you not telling us?" Fasi asked "I understand the classified logs, and I don't want to push on that however, something else was discovered down there, what was it?"

Why did I ever leave Preservation's Wings? Deb thought, fighting down the urge to snap at the girl. This sort of insubordination never would have happened in her old mercenary corp. But, reminiscence was inefficient. Better to live in the present. She nodded to Farren, motioning to the side with one finger. He switched the slide behind her back to the map.

"Before we lost communication with the team, they reported many findings." She pointed to a steep, narrow descent labeled 'The Long Trail.' "Here, the tunnel dropped some one hundred meters into the earth and still continued onward, before they decided to turn back. Here," she moved her finger to a small, rounded cavern dubbed 'Mirror Cave,' "they found a cavern covered entirely in reflective crystals, every facet polished to a high shine." 

"The bottom of this cavern drops down into a deep lake, and could continue down further. This cavern, which is the largest found yet, even contained hints of ancient illustration. Cave paintings, Dr. Vann thought they were." As she spoke, she pointed out two locations labeled 'The Well' and 'The Grand Gallery,' respectively.

Deb skewered the girl with a stern, amber glare. "The point I am trying to make, miss, is that the team found any number of things down in the caverns, and we are all but guaranteed to find even more on our next expedition. This is an exploration, a first foray into the unknown. We will likely map new portions of the cavern system, find new areas of study. When it comes to these tunnels, we are almost as ignorant as you are. That is the entire point of this exercise - to further our knowledge of this place, to catalog its many wonders, and to anticipate any dangers."

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1 minute ago, ZincAboutIt said:

Why did I ever leave Preservation's Wings? Deb thought, fighting down the urge to snap at the girl. This sort of insubordination never would have happened in her old mercenary corp. But, reminiscence was inefficient. Better to live in the present. She nodded to Farren, motioning to the side with one finger. He switched the slide behind her back to the map.

"Before we lost communication with the team, they reported many findings." She pointed to a steep, narrow descent labeled 'The Long Trail.' "Here, the tunnel dropped some one hundred meters into the earth and still continued onward, before they decided to turn back. Here," she moved her finger to a small, rounded cavern dubbed 'Mirror Cave,' "they found a cavern covered entirely in reflective crystals, every facet polished to a high shine." 

"The bottom of this cavern drops down into a deep lake, and could continue down further. This cavern, which is the largest found yet, even contained hints of ancient illustration. Cave paintings, Dr. Vann thought they were." As she spoke, she pointed out two locations labeled 'The Well' and 'The Grand Gallery,' respectively.

Deb skewered the girl with a stern, amber glare. "The point I am trying to make, miss, is that the team found any number of things down in the caverns, and we are all but guaranteed to find even more on our next expedition. This is an exploration, a first foray into the unknown. We will likely map new portions of the cavern system, find new areas of study. When it comes to these tunnels, we are almost as ignorant as you are. That is the entire point of this exercise - to further our knowledge of this place, to catalog its many wonders, and to anticipate any dangers."

Fasi looked at the woman. Annoyance, and anger those were emotions that she could trust.

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Althea slightly inclined her head at the explanations of the woman. It was the the reply she had expected. If they had any idea why the team had died, they would keep silent about it. She doubted that they would open up all records to those they recuited, but that was fine as well. To use the families as an excuse, smart. She could respect that. The question of the young woman had been unneccessary - the director had already told them, that she wouldn't hand out any additional information about the reason why the team had died at the moment. Still the description of the tunnels were interesting and she made sure to remember them - you never knew.

Leaning back she looked around to see if someone else decided to speak up, wanted to see if someone else had formed an opinion about their situation. It would give her some additional clues about the others around here. As would be the decision if ACE accepted her as an official member of the expedition team. Or Wes, or Karin. They had to know that the guilds would act, how they handeled those that were here would be another clue regarding their motives and their morals.

Her face carefully shaped in her usual cool and neutral mask she spoke again, made sure her tone was the same tone as before.

"How do you finance these expeditions and the whole project in general?"

The question was a trap, a test as had been her earlier one, and she looked forward to the reply, somehow hoped, the director didn't disappoint now.

@ZincAboutIt

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Karin nodded at the woman's answer. So they'd receive full support, which was nice, especially when the alternative is going into a dangerous cave with a bunch of strangers and no support. Of course, they'd still be doing that, but now they'd have actual equipment and trained medical personnel along, which was always nice.

Of course, that left the question of what she should bring, if she had the time to get it of course. She would have preferred a full biology lab with state of the art equipment, but she somehow doubted she could carry all that with her even if she somehow got clearance to take the stuff out of the alleys. Still, she could put together a basic field-kit. Some basic medical tools like scalpels, bandages, suturing tools. Add some basic chemicals and she should be able to create a decent field-kit. Carrying the gear would be an issue though. Given what the standard protective clothing would probably look like she'd likely have to modify it to be able to retain proper use of her abilities, which of course would get rid of most of its protective abilities. Still, that could be done later. For now she focused on the meeting.

She listened to the description of all that had been found down in the caverns. She had to admit it piqued her curiosity, despite the obvious danger signs. Halls filled with mirror-like crystals, cave-paintings. She hadn't even been aware of prehistoric civilizations in this universe! Wait, she thought, Wasn't that because there aren't any? This place was artificially created, and those caves were sealed up, nobody had ever heard of them. How did anybody get there to draw on them? And of course, are they still down there. Well, I guess that there's at least something down there, given what happened to the previous team, so...

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"Is there anything to kill down there?" Mercy asked almost lustily.

"Finally you say something useful"

"I'll ask the presenter, but in a better way." Adren whispered at them. 

"Was there any report of anything alive in these caves, well not anything alive, but anything to kill?" Adren nearly shouts.

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On 9/20/2019 at 10:31 AM, Sorana said:

"How do you finance these expeditions and the whole project in general?"

"We have funding from a few separate entities," Deb said, somewhat surprised that Althea had taken her last reply without further comment. "Several independent local merchant families have pooled their funds together as investment in this organization, including our Chairman, Tycho Anvor. We have also taken out loans from the Bank of Chrysts here, and initially we hoped to pay them back after the subway system was up and running. As it is, anything valuable found down in the caverns would also help to repay the organization's debts. As members, anyone in our organization could also stake a reasonable partial claim or finder's rights on valuable resources discovered in the caverns."

"Was there any report of anything alive in these caves, well not anything alive, but anything to kill?" 

Deb's head snapped up, singling out the speaker. She felt a small frown crease between her eyes. So eager to draw blood, even on an expedition? It was hardly a wonder that this city lay in ruins, if this kind of bloodlust was commonplace.

"The initial team reported hints of life down in the caverns," she said. "Though there were no sightings, nor confirmations, of any sapient life. Insects, fish, and other cave-dwelling animals were reported. It is our deepest hope that there will be no need to kill anything while down in the caverns, a hope that I am sure is shared by everyone here." 

She breathed a short sigh through her nose, then nodded at Farren. Her assistant shut off the projection, then brought up the lights. "This concludes our presentation. Please remember to fill out your questionnaires and deliver them to Farren or myself. If you are selected for this expedition, you will receive more information on the mission, and be considered full members of ACE. We hope to have selected our final team by this evening, and will send word to all those who have made the cut. Feel free to help yourself to any food or drink, and thank you for your time."

Quote

I'll write up a list of "chosen applicants" in a few hours. It goes without saying that everyone in the meeting will be chosen :P , unless you wish to be rejected and follow along in an unsanctioned capacity. If that is the case, simply let me know in the plot PM. Again, you DO NOT need to be part of the official expedition to explore the caverns, though you will not be able to directly interact with the expedition team, for obvious reasons. 

 

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4 minutes ago, Rushu42 said:

Sarah, who had been hastily filling out her survey as the the ACE woman had talked, looked up as Fasi approached. "So what did you think of that?" She asked. "Sounds pretty dangerous, huh?"

"Ya I guess," Fasi said. "What do you think is down there."  

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8 minutes ago, Oduim's Chmapion said:

"Ya I guess," Fasi said. "What do you think is down there."  

Sarah thought for a moment. "I don't know," she said slowly. "Something happened to that other expedition, and someone had to have made those cave paintings. Maybe people? Or some sort of monster?"

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Just now, Rushu42 said:

Sarah thought for a moment. "I don't know," she said slowly. "Something happened to that other expedition, and someone had to have made those cave paintings. Maybe people? Or some sort of monster?"

Fasi looked at Sarah her mind taking her away and shutting her emotions off stopping her feeling of trust, she gazed into the distance. "People are monsters," she said weakly.

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Just now, Oduim's Chmapion said:

Fasi looked at Sarah her mind taking her away and shutting her emotions off stopping her feeling of trust, she gazed into the distance. "People are monsters," she said weakly.

Sarah exhaled softly at the unexpected reply. "Not everyone," she said eventually. "Right? I mean, most people are generally doing their best."

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Just now, Rushu42 said:

Sarah exhaled softly at the unexpected reply. "Not everyone," she said eventually. "Right? I mean, most people are generally doing their best."

Fasi looked at her. She's so nieve, she thought, then again, she hasn't been through what I have. "I guess not," Fasi said in a falsely optimistic voice.

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On 21.9.2019 at 7:08 AM, ElephantEarwax said:

"Is there anything to kill down there?" Mercy asked almost lustily.

"Finally you say something useful"

"I'll ask the presenter, but in a better way." Adren whispered at them. 

"Was there any report of anything alive in these caves, well not anything alive, but anything to kill?" Adren nearly shouts.

Althea listened to the woman reply to her and then to one muttering to himself. Anything to kill. She'd have to keep an eye on that fellow. She made some notes regarding the information they'd gotten and then, when ACE stopped the presentation without giving anybody else a chance to ask another question she got up. She would have done the same. the questions had turned into a dangerous direction. Better to stop it now, before it could escalate completely. More people talking about killing, could easily derail the whole operation.

She considered the director's words regarding the fund and then quickly send a notice to her secretary, to check these informations. A board, private investors and the bank. Sounded logical. Especially after a war the crows usually tried to pick up the breadcrumbs and to build something like that, would only be benefical. If it worked, then the people would like ACE, and they would make good money. High risk investment, but a logical one.

For a moment she looked over the room, tried to locate the guy who'd shouted through the room. She nodded curtly at Karin, then walked over to the man.

"Hello. My name is Althea Tenira." she introduced herself in an attempt to get his attention.

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