[ This is a video post! But you don't actually see the scruffy guy talking this time, aside from maybe parts of mechanical limbs and a trail of cigarette smoke—yeah, some cyborgs can pull of tricky feats like broadcasting what they see with their own artificial retinas. Cool shit. He seems to be looking outside the window—not a whole lot of festive decorations in the street, phew—, so probably nothing interesting here for you guys, which means you're more or less forced to listen. ]

So, Christmas. Doesn't seem to be a big deal in this time and place compared to 21st century America, which I'm actually kinda grateful for. Bigger problems, after all... [ Because wow Christmas sure sucks when your family is dead and you don't have a partner. ] Bet the majority of you don't even know what it's all about. Personally I just care about eggnog right now -- and so should you if you like having something good to drink.

[ Priorities. Adam's downplaying this a lot but he still got a select few people gifts... speaking of gifts. ]

Oh yeah, I think somebody forgot this at my place...

[ And with this, he means a black lace C cup bra, which he's dangling in front of his own eyes. ]

Unless this is supposed to be a gift. I'm not sure what to do with it. Might wanna come here and pick it up before I get rid of it or give it to someone else -- it being Christmas and all.

[ Adam sounds remarkably indifferent despite the implications. He's so gonna get spanked for this and that's actually exactly what he wants AHEM. Anyway, there's a private text message tacked onto this later—for Vanadi. ]

You too.

[ Yeah, just that. ]


(( ooc: also, linking Adam's CASIE permissions post again c: ))

[ oh hey, this message brought to you by... not the Initiative, not a Transport... a citizen?? ]

Afternoon, Transports. Let's keep this short, as I'm sure we're all busy people.

My name is Thom Sorenstam. I'm Commissioner of Exsilium's police force, formed as of a few months ago. I've been working with Inspector Barnaby Brooks since to establish a Transport unit within the force.

So that's where you come in.

[ shuffling of papers.... ]

We're recruiting. [ a smack -- Thom hitting the table with his fist. ] Two sergeants, picked by myself and Brooks, twenty to thirty constables, two hundred marques' pay per month, a little more for the sergeants. You'll be reporting to your sergeants or to Inspector Brooks, and mostly be dealing with Transport business.

If you're interested, talk to me over... this thing, or at our office on [ X AND Y INTERSECTION ]. I'll want to hear how long you've been here, your experiences, your qualifications, specialties, skills, the whole blasted thing. And I'd love to do background checks on all of you, but that's goddamn impossi-- [ someone in the background interjects. their words aren't clear, but she sure sounds disapproving. COUGH. ] Anyway.

[ more paper shuffling. muttering. ]

Any other questions, crimes, concerns? Leave 'em here. I'll get to them.



[ ooc: original police force sign-ups were here! calhoun/chargethesebatteries and nathaniel/noble_nate will be our sergeants, everyone else will be coming in as constables.

you're still welcome to sign up OOCly. IC signing-on in this post is optional and can be handwaved, so long you've signed up in the OOC post! ]

--sort of like a folding iPhone or something... Oh, it's recording.

[Promptly, the feed spins around, shifting its focus from its owner's feet to his face. The young man on the screen sizes up the device for a moment, then clears his throat.]

Hey.

[After a beat, once more, he clears his throat. He's more of a listener than a talker, really.]

My name is Souji Seta. It's nice to meet you all. [A bow.] To the Initiative, while I admit this is all a lot for me to take in, and I would've liked a little more say in the matter, I can at least appreciate what you're trying to do under the circumstances. Hopefully I won't let you down. If anyone else needs help with anything, I'll be happy to do what I can.

...While I'm at it, if there's anyone from Inaba watching this, contact me as soon as you can. I just want to go over a few things before I settle in.

[The feed turns on to show Minato chilling in his room. nothing special going on here.]

I get that we're here to help save worlds and all that, but I can't help but wonder. I've been here a month now, and other than that monster thing that was going down when I got here, we haven't really done anything significant other than train.

Anyone know when we'll actually be told to go somewhere?

[A part of him's thankful that he hasn't had to do anything dangerous as of yet, but the whole thing is a bit strange to him, to be inactive this long.]

[And that's really all he has to say at the moment. For the most part, anyway.]

( FILTERED TO COLLETTE )

[OOC: Open to action for roommates in 709]

So who here would class themselves as a 'Wizard' and is interested in a fantastic creation known as Wiz-Con?

[Because this 16 year old sure does want to lure you all to her apartment.]

[An edit is tagged on five minutes later:]

People who are mages or sorcerers or any other type of magical talent also count!!

[ Video--coming from Adam's tablet for once, and not his retinal enhancements. it shows him, obviously in his messy apartment, and obviously... different from what one might be used to. he's neither properly dressed nor his usual stoic, composed, monotone self.

but most notably, the lenses of his shades--which are mounted to his head--are retracted. his eyes are visibly artificial. here's the usual gravely voice: ]

...And they keep dragging more and more people here. Or is that the machine malfunctioning again? Can't be sure anymore.

Anyway, hello. My name's Adam Jensen and I'm -- [ insert vague, dismissive gesture here--his hand, too, is artificial and looks like it's made out of black metal. ] ... who the fuck even cares. I'm the local oversized can opener. Hi.

[ if it wasn't obvious before that he's drunk, it's sure as hell now. ]

Given the uh, premise under which you all arrived here as well as the popularity of thought-provoking surveys lately, let's talk about a topic each of you surely can contribute to with a story or two. Since I couldn't help but notice that we're quite a miserable bunch of misfits. Exceptions prove the rule by the way.

[ pause, during which he reaches off screen... for his smoke. ]

So, broken dreams. There's a pretty catchy song on them by Green Day which I can only recommend. But before you scurry off to find it, why don't we share with the class why we're all so damn bitter, and not only since we ended up in this shithole. Though I guess the shithole made it worse, in some cases. I don't know. Getting it off your chest might have a soothing effect, or something.

[ another pause, and he seems pensive for a moment. he might be able to offer alternative treatment methods for your troubles which may involve punching ahem. ]

Here, I'll start. I was planning to get married not too long ago, start a family. I had the perfect girl, a decent job I liked and paid well, and then--then science happened.

[ a dry, humorless chuckle. ]

Gotta love science. Your turn.

So Vanadi's hosting the big Masquerade Ball later this month, and that got me to thinking...

( Collette starts ticking things off on her fingers. )

There's no age limit, everyone's going to be wearing a mask and in costume, there's no supervision, and one of the most common questions out of new people showing up here is "where's the nearest bar," so it'll also have alcohol. Lots of it.

( Collette leans forward, chin resting on her interlaced hands, elbows on the table. She grins. )

This is so much better than Prom would ever be.

[It's been a few days since Aigis arrived, and she's been relatively quiet, keeping her head down, exploring the areas and of course, sticking incredibly close to Minato's side. She hasn't even really gone to her own room to meet her roommates yet. But recent changes have gotten her curious. The amount of new faces, the marks of destruction that seemingly vanished, and the brand-spanking new apartment buildings.

Asking locals is out of the question since they don't know, so it's time to try out the network. At the very least she's hiding some of her more noticeable mechanical parts under her school uniform.]

Things have changed. There was an old abandoned building that's now converted into apartments, but renovations like that can not happen just overnight. And there are new faces here, and they know of the history of this world, so they can't be 'Transports'?

I'm still relatively new to Exsilium. Is this normal for something involving time-travel?

[A man appears on screen. He's older, with a greying beard and a shaved head. Bright blue eyes stare into the screen, almost boring through anyone who might be watching. He doesn't look like he's in a pleasant mood at all.]

'allo. I'm Gabriel.

[He has a smooth-yet-gravelly voice and a soft English accent.]

I assume there are a great many of you that have arrived as I did, and you had the same general experience--buried in a great deal of knowledge. They said we're all here to save the world, yeah? They sure as hell tried to make it sound like a noble cause.

[He took a breath, set his jaw.]

What's really going on here?

[ A smiling yet slightly blood-smudged face is already filling the frame when Feferi turns on the feed. There's a cut on her cheek running with a bit of her pink-hued blood but it doesn't bother her to warrant more than to wipe it away with the back of her hand. ]

Hello! Hi! I would like to welcome all the new faces, if I didn't already get around to you! I'm glad you could join us, we really need all the help we can get. I'm attaching our totally awesome Newbie's Guide in case you haven't seen it yet, but if you need a printed copy, there's a whole bunch in the bin outside Room 202! Or just come find me.

[ Link Attached: A Newbie's Guide to Exsilium ]

Anyway, just to let everyone know, even if the monsters look like they're weakened and in need of help, uh... some of them are still pretty mean! Guess I should have seen that one coming, right? I would not recommend trying to relocate any of them. Not alone, anyway.

[ She pauses to lean back a little, her trident coming into view, being what she is supporting herself with. ]

Does anyone want to help me?

[It's extremely obvious that someone who isn't used to this kind of technology has been unleashed upon the tablet. And this is the most successful attempt. At least Varian has managed to find the text function.]

i will not be taking part in any of your games do you hear me? if you think i will be rolling over and just accepting that you are taking a man hostage in the most dire of times then you are thinking wrong. i do not care what your reasoning in i have things that require being taken care of back in stormwind

how dare you, that you have even attempted this. you wILL SEND ME BACK RIGHT NOW. DEATHWING'S ARMIES ARE ON THE MARCH UPON THE WORLD AND YOU HAND ME SOME KEY AND TELL ME TO GO LIVE IN A HOUSE? I WILL NOT TAKE THIS SITTING DOWN I WILL SPEAK TO YOUR LEADER AND YOU WILL SEND ME BACK. I DO NOT CARE HOW THIS HAPPENED I ONLY CARE THAT YOU WILL FIX THIS AND FIX IT RIGHT NOW. EVEN THis device is some gnomish contraption that is a pain to use. someone had better be reading this. who's in charge? where are they?

[Minato has been here for all of three hours now, wandering about the safe part of the hold, quietly trying to piece together the information he'd gotten from that first tour. It had been mostly rushed, but he had managed to get an idea of where he was and what was going on. Both of these things were decidedly not good news.]

[He figures he'd better get to helping out with the monsters, wherever they were, but first, he wanted to try to get other takes on the situation, see where he'd be best off, maybe get someone to fight with. Or maybe just wait it out.]

[Nonetheless, have a blue-haired kid on the feed, looking far calmer than any normal teen in this situation has any right to be.]

Can't say I know entirely what's going on here, but I've been told enough. I'm guessing I'm the reinforcements.

So, what should I do and where should I go?

[Straight down to business. It might be a better idea for him to rest up a bit first, but getting right into the action meant that he didn't have to brood on everything and everyone he just lost by being taken away from home.]