[20:15] <> [20:18] A few days after recieving the memo on your selection for the Europa expedition, you are sent another letter. This one, in typical CorpSpeke, glorifies your job as a trainer and your level head in combat, and requests you to show up at office #J-14 for a special assignment once you have reached Red Boston. [20:19] It gives a time, and is signed by one Richard Bradley, who is noted as the head director of ATC's Red Boston facility. [20:20] (Hold on a sec...) [20:20] (Keep expositing, if you've expositing left to do) [20:21] You have arrived in Red Boston just this morning, and have found your assigned room. At this very moment, you are in section J, room 14. The door is closed, but you can hear voices coming from behind it. [20:21] <> [20:25] * Isis stands outside, inspecting the door distractedly. She is in her normal uniform, with an old-style katana in sheath at her hip; an affectation, mostly. [20:27] A small chime sounds as the door recognizes your presence, and the voices within stop. Someone inside says "Come on in", and the door slides open with the standard whooshing noise. [20:28] * Isis sighs and straightens her clothes, stepping inside. [20:29] Inside is a fairly standard conference room - a table with chairs ringing it, neutrally colored walls, and a projector hovering overhead. Two men sit at the other end of the table - A tall one dressed in a sharp-looking suit, and a larger one, in the ATC military forces uniform. [20:31] The tall man stands, and extends his hand to you. "Good morning, Ms. Tsukitomi. I'm Richard Bradley, director of this facility, and this is General Jaime Rohaus." HE waves a hand at the other man. [20:31] We're so very glad you could join us today. I trust you had a pleasant trip? [20:31] * Isis salutes the man in the military uniform. "Sir!" She lowers her arm, the rigid military demeanor fading as she looks at Bradley. "Yes, sir. Thank you." [20:32] * Bradley lowers his hand, chuckling. "Ah, you military types are always so rigid. Please, have a seat. How do I say that in your language, Jaime?" [20:32] * Rohaus chuckles. "At ease, soldier."\ [20:33] * Isis raises an eyebrow, slipping into a chair and pulling the sword and scabbard into her lap. She favors Bradley with a faint smile. "I've found that discipline off the field reflects well on my students." [20:34] * Bradley sits back down. "Ah, yes. Very good," he says distractedly. He grabs a piece of paper in front of him, and pulls out a pair of reading glasses. "Now. It says here you're a combat trainer, right?" [20:36] (Sorry. Phone.) [20:37] (S okay.) [20:37] * Isis nods once. "Specifically field tactics and swordsmanship, sir," she replies, holding up the katana briefly as if it emphasized her point. [20:38] "Ah, so I see." He quite obviously doesn't - he didn't even bother to look up. [20:38] Well, Ms. Tsukitomi... may I call you Isis? [20:39] * Isis remains cool and reserved. "Be my guest, sir." [20:40] Well, Isis, ATC has a policy of psychologically profiling our employees by using "dummy " employees trained as psychologists. I know, sounds bad, but you agreed to it in your contract, and there's really no other way. [20:41] * Isis mmms faintly. She might as well have been carved from stone. She is, after all, armed. "I have nothing to hide, sir." [20:42] But all that aside, we've consistently gotten nothing but good reports on you. He moves his finger down the page. "Military conduct befitting an officer, thinks well on her feet, calm and collected, excellent teacher.." He tosses the paper aside with a flourish. [20:42] * Isis coughs faintly. "If I may interject, sir?" [20:42] An excellent performance, I might add. We're quite pleased with you at HQ. [20:42] * Bradley looks up. "Yes?" [20:43] * Isis smiles faintly. "In the colloquial, sir, if you wanted to make me feel better, you could have sent a greeting card." She glances at Rohaus. "'We are people of action.' Dissembling does not become us." [20:44] * Rohaus lets out a hearty chuckle. "Just so. Get a move on, Bradley. I'm sure Ms. Tsukitomi has other things to do before she leaves." [20:45] * Bradley looks quite taken aback. "Yes, well... To get to the point. Though you're not technically the commander of the mission, you have the most level head in the group, and we need someone there with a level head. To be our eyes." He looks at Jaime. "IF you would continue?" [20:47] * Isis raises an eyebrow, shifting her attention to Rohaus, but says nothing. [20:49] * Rohaus stands up, medals jingling and faces the wall, eyes focused elsewhere. "You're aware of the NeoHippie threat, of course. You know they've been building technology for their exosuits using defected scientists." He spins to face Isis. "What you don't know is that we have a very full dossier on all the defected scientists... and none of them were particularly bright, or able to come up with some of the things we've seen in the field." [20:50] * Isis raises an eyebrow. "Dummy kidnappings? To throw suspicion away from another potential supplier of advanced exo technology?" [20:51] * Rohaus leans on the table. "You're closer to the truth than most people, but it gets worse than that. We managed to capture a few NeoHippie exosuits in a raid the other day. When we dissassembled them to try and reverse-engineer the parts, we discovered things our techs had NEVER seen before." [20:51] * Isis frowns, but doesn't put forth any more theories without more reliable information. [20:52] * Bradley nods, and chimes in. "A completely different style of engineering than what they'd seen. Naturally, ATC takes every precaution with their techs, so the suits were disassembled in a clean room." [20:54] * Rohaus takes over again. He's getting quite excited. "Aliens, Ms. Tsukitomi! Aliens! When we scanned the parts for virii coming out of the clean room, we found DNA that didn't show in the Gene Banks." [20:56] * Isis blinks a few times. She is, true to the reports, attempting to maintain her composure. "Are you suggesting that some form of non-human life is supplying the NeoHippies with advanced technology? For what purpose?" [20:57] * Bradley makes sshing moises to Rohaus. "Calm down, Jaime. I'm sure she realizes how serious this is." He turns to Isis again. "We're not making any hasty assumptions, Isis, but this seems to be more than just a coincidence. The parts were marked with an unknown language, and covered with this foreign DNA. It seems likely that the situation is exactly as you described." [20:57] It's more than likely. I'm certain of it. A soldier's intuition. [20:58] * Isis sighs. "Historically, such 'benefactors' are never acting in the best interest of those they help. What you are positing has serious implications for all of humanity." [21:00] * Bradley shrugs. "ATC is, formally, treating it as no more than a theory. And we're fairly sure no one outside of ATC has this information. But as you know, we're sending sorties to several of Jupiter's moons, not just Europa, and this is a perfect chance to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Which is where you come in." [21:01] We need you to keep your eyes open. For heavier than usual NeoHippie activity, for foreign tech, for anything at all out of the ordinary. You're absolutely right - this could be dire for all of us. [21:02] ATC is prepared to offer you a bonus of 3/5ths your total pay for this mission, contingent upon your issuing a formal report in front of a board when you return. Naturally, this all has to remain absolutely secret. [21:02] * Isis nods, stroking the sword absently as she mulls the situation over. "You plan to keep this from the mission commanders. Why?" [21:03] Well, we are alerting the other mission commanders. But your commander, one ... Chako Styrina... she's, well... [21:03] * Isis raises an eyebrow, curious as to how that sentence is goin to end. [21:03] She's out of her bloody mind. Vicious and bloodthirsty, that one. We can't trust her with something like this. [21:03] * Bradley nods. "Quite right. She's been shown to be very unstable." [21:04] * Isis steeples her fingers slightly. "And the others in my dispatch?" [21:04] She's a good battle commander, but if she scents blood she wouldn't notice a herd of elephants. [21:05] Well, as we said, you've proven yourself to be levelheaded and calm. Just what we need. But we can't go telling everyone. That would cause sheer panic, and naturally there would be leaks. [21:05] * Bradley gets a very serious look. "There must be NO leaks. We can do nothing until we are absolutely sure." [21:06] * Isis nods slowly. "I am not questioning your decision. But I have found, in my experience, that even the best attempts at keeping information secret can sometimes fail." [21:06] * Isis glances at Bradley at that. "And in the event that something is discovered?" [21:07] * Bradley nods, and leans back in his chair. "Oh, of course. But we'd be fools to not try. And if someone finds out..." He splays his hands on the table. "Panic, chaos, massive defection to the "better armed" side. Exactly what the NeoHippies would like, and there might not even BE any alien threat." [21:07] * Rohaus frowns at that. [21:08] * Isis narrows her eyes faintly. "Naturally." [21:08] You are to do everything in your power to preventthe other members of your team from finding out your mission. [21:09] Everything within measure. It would be very hard to protect you if you decided to kill them off. [21:09] * Isis nods. "Understood." [21:10] Are you giving this information to any of the other expeditions? [21:10] Only to three of the other teams. [21:11] But yours is the most important. Europa has been theorized to hold life since the 1980s. [21:12] * Isis nods. "Yes... and if we encounter an... alien life form?" [21:13] We will leave that to your discretion. Detain it if possible, but don't hesitate to retaliate if it proves hostile. [21:13] Do make sure it is hostile first. It wouldn't do well to spark an interstellar war over a misunderstanding. [21:13] * Isis raises an eyebrow. "I meant the rest of the dispatch." [21:14] * Bradley shrugs. "Obviously, trying to conceal it is pointless. [21:14] Feign surprise until you return here. We will sort things out then/ [21:16] If you have no more questions...? [21:16] * Isis nods. "Understood." She pauses. "You are asking... considerable tasks of me. I hope I can perform to expectation... within the bounds of my judgement, in the context of the situations." [21:17] I am sure you're capable enough. [21:17] Of course. We picked you for a reason. [21:20] * Isis stands and salutes. "I hope your faith is not misplaced." Calm and smooth as a rock. [21:21] * Bradley stands and starts to gather papers. "Thank you, Isis. I knew we could count on you." [21:21] * Rohaus salutes back. "Enjoy Red Boston. You'll be leaving in a few days. Dismissed." [21:24] (Done?) [21:24] (Gah, I'm sorry!) [21:25] (Too many people demanding my attention.) [21:25] * Isis nods and rebuckles the sword to her waist, releasing her salute and leaving. With much on her mind, for sure. [21:25] <>