Return of the Emblem Chapter Twelve: Divergent Paths

[ReformBlade]

"Well I'm... not actually with Raquel, I'm merely intrigued, though I must admit, if there's more traveling going on I'm definitely more tempted to go with her..." Jericho trailed off before leaning back and relaxing, "Though I like to keep my options open. I mean, if yall have room for me, I'd certainly love to... go do whatever it is you're doing," And being with a pretty lady wouldn't be bad at all, would not be bad at all. Jericho added in his mind, though he wouldn't exactly have been uncomfortable admitting it out loud either. "It'd be lovely company, I'm sure." I wonder how long I'd have to decide though. He wondered until Amon spoke up about decisions. Oh. People don't seem to have much confidence with this Raquel person... I'm beginning to regret my decisions, but I can't say yet for sure.

[Phoenix]

Main Entrance

About two months ago? Of course, she meant the weapon demonstrations Weyland gave right here back before she knew just how serious a threat Sardis and his allies really were. "Yeah, I was. That's where I met Miguel, actually. Um, were you there too?"

"She was," Amber answered for her ... for some reason.

"I'm sorry we didn't get to meet-" I guess ...

Dining Hall

"Right ... well, I'd like to say 'yes', but I'm really not sure if we should just be taking people on the way Raquel has just yet," Amon explained. "Even if we could pay people to help us out, we don't have any way to support a group much larger than what we started with."

"True, Isis can only carry a handful of people at a time. Everyone else needs their own mount, has to share or walk, and that'll just slow everyone down," Fizza added. "Still, I don't mind others tagging along if they can keep up. It seemed fine for Aneda to come along since she has a pegasus, and if I'm remembering faces right, so does she," explained, gesturing at Lumi.

"Alright, then," Amon agreed with some guilt in his tone.

"I'm surprised you didn't have anything to say, Malik." Fizza immediately poked him on the shoulder a couple of times to see if he was awake and received a glare for it. "Anyway," she turned her attention away from Malik and back toward Jericho. "Well take your time deciding. Even if this cathedral search turns up nothing, we won't be leaving Europa just yet. There's no point until we come up with another lead, after all."

Meanwhile over at the other table, the servant woman returned with Anna's order and then politely excused herself. "So yeah, it'd be great to get started sometime tonight," she said to both Bert and Suzume.

"Are you going to explain why you're keeping a half naked demon and its child here?" Suzume impatiently spoke up.

"Once you're humble enough to listen? Sure. For right now though, you need to focus on my briefing. If you can't follow basic instructions, you might as well leave now and try to find work elsewhere."

Whoa, she's just ready to send me off just like that? She isn't the least bit worried that I might tell someone about this? Suzume thought to herself.

[Mercakete]

"Well, I suppose we can 'meet' now," Cecelia responded before turning a more formal attention to Raquel, "Captain Cecelia of Colonel Langley's Battalion."

She expected that since Raquel was at the demonstration that she was either a noblewoman, a soldier or both, especially since Nadine knew her from their time at Horizon. Though it may not have been obvious to the merchant, she expected Raquel to introduce herself with whatever titles she held. Little did she know just how few the pink-haired woman actually had.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Norbert had half a mind to just answer Suzume himself, but figured that probably wouldn't go over very well with Anna. Usually, he wouldn't care what any particular authority figure thought and just say what was on his mind, but there was something telling him that that just wasn't a good idea right now. So, instead, he offered up to Suzume, "I'll tell you about that later" and continued more towards Anna, "if that's not a problem. I'm more worried about that Vasilus; that Fallen girl shouldn't be holding it. And shouldn't we try to get a message off to Lilith something? She'd know how to take care of a baby Vasilus better than us and it's not like we were supposed to hang onto it any longer than its hatching as far as I can tell."

[Snike]

Blake made his way back to the entrance of the mansion, where it seemed as though the judges were still deliberating. Excellent, that would mean he'd have a least a little time to think, before things became a bit hectic. He found his way to an unused table and sat down, before gazing towards the center of the room, for impressions. Time to review the meeting.

Alright, so they had went and met Desmond - and Clover. She didn't seem to have changed much, so it was no surprise there was some dislike between Raquel and herself -, where Desmond wanted the merchant and her mercenaries to submit to the Church. That obviously wouldn't do, which is why the swordsman argued with the Head Wrathite -who, if those glowing eyes meant anything, was able to speak directly to Wrath as the rumors suggested- and in turn got a link placed on himself, and only himself. Now the issue for Blake, was that he had no idea what that link entailed. It apparently was to 'keep track' of them, but Desmond also mentioned that it gave him some degree of control over them. Which could mean a whole variety of things, but meant that he couldn't oppose the Wrathites, even if he wanted to. On the other hand, since that was done, the Wrathites would no longer be a threat, so long as he kept with the group and the Organization was still thriving. After that, well, they might be an issue. The problem was, he couldn't do anything about it, without first dealing with the link. And he couldn't do anything about the link, could he?

***

"Thanks. You too," Axel said, before Anna cut in and the topic changed to Siv and the infant Vasili she was apparently carrying. "Well, it is a winged Vasilus, right? I don't exactly see anyone else with wings here, to hold it."

Edited November 26, 2013 by Snike

[Phoenix]

Main Entrance

"Raquel Valcyn," she introduced herself. She wasn't sure whether to attempt to shake Cecelia's hand or not, so her right arm ended up stirring a couple of times.

Dining Hall

"Sure, go'head, call Lilith," Anna hurriedly conceded, though her tone suggested she didn't actually think that was a good idea. Soon they would learn why. "Just be sure to keep her quiet while she's here, or meet her somewhere else. She's wanted by the authorities for raiding the museum the last time she was in Ursentius, and we really don't need them investigating us right now."

[Mercakete]

Cecelia cocked an eyebrow. It seemed like Raquel didn't hold any rank of any kind...and was trying to decide whether to shake her hand or not. Cecelia extended her hand to help the woman out with regards to that, at least. "I take it you aren't in the military or the nobility."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Norbert wasn't sure if Axel's reflected compliment was with regard to his previous retort or his present lack thereof, but he figured that didn't matter and instead focused on his comment about the wings, which he would address after Anna was done speaking. After all, she'd started up before he was able to and she had some good points. "Alright, we'll just call Lilith after we're--" he cut himself short, remembering that he wasn't a part of Raquel's group anymore.

He amended, "Er, Raquel will call Lilith once she's out of town, then, I guess. She's the only one who can anyway, I think." He then addressed Axel again, taking up some sarcasm. "And yeah, why should I mind if she holds it? After all, having wings qualifies you as an automatic good influence on someone who will grow up to wield copious amounts of power." His glare grew more serious again. "She's a Fallen who thinks humans make good pets and probably good meals. If that baby is still taking in qualities from the one who holds it, then this could turn out disastrous! How about we let someone hold it who isn't bent on destroying or enslaving all humans?"

[Snike]

"I'm sorry but the Vasilus is an infant now, right? I'd be more inclined to allow an avian or Fallen to raise it, at least, initially, than a human, if the human doesn't have the knowledge for that," Axel responded, unfazed. "The whole 'destroy or enslave humanity' thing doesn't come as part of someone's personality. It comes from where they were brought up. Just being held by someone isn't going to give it their culture."

[Mercakete]

"We don't know what's passed and what isn't," Norbert replied, maintaining his position on the matter, "And even if you're right, there's still that influence right there. There's no reason why they can't just tell us how to take care of the thing until we can get it to Lilith. It's not like there's something vital to infant bird-folk that can only be acquired by being held by another one." Though he wasn't entirely sure about that, he couldn't think of any reason why they couldn't just give it the shelter, food and water it needed or why it had to be a Fallen or Avian specifically who held it.

[Phoenix]

Ballroom

"Excuse me," came a nobleman's voice. He followed this up by gently tapping Alex on the shoulder from behind. "My father, Bartholmeo, had an idea, and I would like to run it by you, if you have a moment."

Elsewhere in the ballroom, another person in Raquel's group was being sneaked up on in a sense. Clover carefully and quietly closed the distance between herself and Blake, making sure not to make eye contact if he randomly decided to turn around. Once she was close enough, she stood roughly at his four o'clock, and only a few feet away, facing the same general direction as him. "I'm sorry you had to become so heavily involved in this, but I do hope you will consider helping us."

Le Halls

With the private part of their discussion now over, Weyland, Chie, and Weyland's rivals, the heads of Hammer Industries, ventured back into the halls of the manse. Chie listened as the men returned to casual chitchat and pretended nothing else was afoot. She found the whole thing both annoying and amusing at the same time, having scene their exchange from the beginning.

Main Entrance

"That's right. I was just invited to the party, that's all," Raquel clarified, though she didn't want to be too specific. For one, the wrathites in general weren't a comfortable subject for her, but she was a little tired of giving out too much information.

"Her father is a retired officer," Amber noted. "Major Jethro Valcyn, right?"

"Err-r-right ..."

She's nervous as hell, Nadine noted to herself.

Dining Hall

Anna rested her chin on her fist while Axel and Bert gave their input. She was a little surprised Siv had nothing to say on the matter, though she did notice her cradling the infant a little tighter after each of Bert's statements. "Do vasili even need to eat? As for who should take care of it, just let Siv hold it until Raquel gets back. I only say that because she's the closest thing we have to 'qualified' that won't stab us first chance she gets, and she's also not going to part with it easily even if we do try to take it from her," Anna explained, pointing her thumb at Siv. By now, it was obvious by her posture, that she wasn't going to part with the infant without starting a few fires first.

"I'm a little lost here, that's one of those immortal creatures, and not just a demon?" Suzume chimed in. She'd never heard of a fallen like that, so she wasn't sure what to make of it.

[Ether]

As the CEO of Weyland Enterprises finished his business on the patio... with several of the higher ups at Hammer, no less, one of the party's guests made his way up to the man, a bit of a crooked smile upon his lips.

"Ah, Seth. How good it is to see you again." Was the greeting, along with the tipping of his overly extravagant tophat. Continuing to don his ever so fake smile as he continued to speak, the nobleman began once again.

"As much as I hate to make claim of her, do tell me, are you still putting up that ingrate brat that used to be my daughter?" He asked, a fairly obvious venom present behind his pasted-on grin.

***

Well, it had seemed that conversation about them had grinded to a halt, and with the pirate woman now accosting the princess, it seemed to be wholly the end of it.

[Snike]

... And it appeared that Clover, of all people, had snuck up on him. Oh dear, this may prove interesting.

"... If there is something else you'd like me to do for the Church, then you may want to elaborate, Clover," Blake said, not moving his eyes. "From what I understand I am helping you by going along with Raquel's group. Mind you, if I wasn't I would be roaming like I have for the past three years, so perhaps this is a blessing in disguise."

***

"Yeah, let's not hand it over to the other ones," Axel said, remembering the prisoners. "Aand I think you're assuming they'll be cooperative, Bert. But you heard the boss."

[ReformBlade]

"Awesome, time to contemplate." Jericho noted with some odd enthusiasm. "I guess if I am going with yall I'd have to find some transportation for myself, but I can worry about that if it comes to that." Bored and looking about, Jericho saw Siv, or at least registered her for what she was for the first time. The man couldn't hide the disdain on his face, nor did he particularly care to do so. Unpleasant memories surfaced for Jericho, nothing extreme, but things he would one hundred percent rather not be reminded of if he had control over it at the moment. If he were by himself, the man would've probably done something extremely rash, but as it was he did think better on it and decided to simply turn his head away and grunt. Fiddling with his Harmonica, Jericho kept silent for a time, nothing to really add to anything else said, and almost completely bummed out.

Edited November 26, 2013 by ReformBlade

[Mercakete]

A few things passed through Cecelia's mind with that new bit of information. One was that, once again, it was times like these when she remembered just how much she appreciated having Amber nearby. Another was some mild surprise. This is Major Valcyn's daughter? Hm. Delicate, little thing. "I see. I am curious, though, if you don't mind my asking: who invited you? Seeing as it was by invitation, I assume it wasn't your father. Was it the same person as invited you to Professor Weyland's weapons demonstration?" She assumed it was, given the level of security at both events.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Norbert wasn't sure who Axel meant he was assuming would be cooperative, but he was right that Anna had more or less ended that line of discussion and really, he couldn't argue with her solution. It would be too much trouble to try to separate the two when they didn't even have anyone significant to pass the infant to at the moment. To Suzume, he replied, "Yeah, we got it as an egg from some Vasili. It takes on various traits from those who hold it, apparently, and...you know, I'm not really sure why they wanted us to keep an eye on it. It's a Vasilus, though."

[Phoenix]

Le Hallway

Chie grinned mischievously and interjected before Weyland had the chance to even pose a greeting. "Used to be? Hmhm, something as thick as blood never goes away by disavowal alone." Chie seemed to know that all too well, Weyland noted, though he wasn't sure why she found that amusing.

"Pardon her, she always speaks her mind," Weyland chimed in.

Oh hardly, Seth, hardly.

Ballroom

"I suppose, but I doubt you would be so willing to 'help' us if Desmond gave you no other choice." Clover stopped looking straight ahead for a moment, glanced at Blake to see where he was looking, and then looked away, again, this time off to her right rather than straight ahead. "I don't like the idea of forcing the issue in this way. If Raquel would only come around to our side, things like this link," she gently touched his shoulder without pausing, "might not be necessary anymore. If she trusts you enough to have you at her side during such an important meeting, surely you can convince her to reconsider coming to our side ... later on, that is. I haven't forgotten your point about openly siding with the order."

Main Entrance

I DO mind her asking but if I say that, it'll just be MORE suspicious ...

It's easier when everyone finds you suspicious already ... then you can just say anything you want and people will stop caring either way before long. Those that pry aren't too difficult to deal with either~

You would know ... "Desmond Langley ... invited me here. Though to be honest, I'm sure Professor Weyland would have had me along anyway; I've been testing some things for him, though I can't be any more specific than that. Sorry." She hoped the Weyland add-on would steer the conversation away from Desmond, but she had her doubts.

"Oooo, Head Wrathite Desmond Langley? Are you and he friends or did you do something to get under the wrathite's skin and they invited you here to threaten you on neutral ground?" Amber asked, trying to find out if this was an interesting connection or an interesting scandal.

Dammit, Amber ... "Uh ... what?" Raquel feigned confusion.

Dining Hall

"Hey you, what's the matter?" Fizza asked Jericho, cocking her head at him.

Anna shrugged when Bert said he wasn't sure why they ended up with the egg in the first place. "If it takes traits from people around it, maybe they left it with you guys to keep it from being too much like them. I know I wouldn't want it taking after me. Upstarts really get under my skin. Anyway, time for your briefing. Pretend Siv isn't here for a minute, okay?"

"You could just send her away," Suzume noted, expectantly.

"What good would that do? She lives and works here just like you two'll be soon. The quicker you get used to her being around, the better, I say."

[Mercakete]

Cecelia grimaced slightly at Amber, though she was actually somewhat amused. "Romanticizing every circumstance could lead to all sorts of trouble, Private. I suppose there isn't much harm in just asking, but try to be a little less cavalier about these sorts of things," she advised before adding to Raquel, "Private Grace is something of a dreamer. She really is quite effective, however. At any rate, I understand you need to be secret about any of the professor's developments you are testing, so I do not expect any information regarding that, however, I do have a question regarding one of your fellow employees, if he is one. In fact, that is the very question, as it struck me as odd when I found out."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anna's idea of the Vasili not wanting the little Vasilus to be too much like them was an interesting thought. For a moment, he couldn't imagine why they wouldn't want it to become like them, but then he recalled how much he didn't want the child to turn out like him. Maybe it's something like that after all.

"Whatever; let's just get this started already," Norbert put in. As far as he was concerned, all the significant issues had been dealt with well enough that they could be shelved for the time being.

[Ether]

"No matter... it's as she says, it's the one last blasted tie I'm unable to cut." The nobleman replied with a smirk. Weyland's date certainly seemed an interesting one, from what he had heard, there had been some sort of snake incident at the entrance, though he didn't know the details of it himself.

[Snike]

Aaand it was time to be diplomatic,once again.

"Well he did give an option, but death generally is not viable," Blake responded, evenly enough. "Regardless, if you would like me to try and sway Raquel, later, I suppose that I will try. However, do keep in mind that Sir Alastor poisoned her view of the Church, which may make convincing her more difficult. Desmond probably did not help, either. Speaking of the Head Wrathite, though, where is he?"

He couldn't imagine that Langley would be enjoying this event, but he wouldn't just leave without Clover, would he?

[Phoenix]

Le Hallway

"Very well then. This is Chie, just Chie," Weyland introduced his date.

"A pleasure," she said with a small bow of the head.

Ballroom

"He is in prayer at the moment. Coming to this event is just a formality and he doesn't want to waste time celebrating at a time like this," Clover explained. That made so much sense it was kind of sad. "I don't enjoy these types of ... parties, either ..." she noted bitterly.

Main Entrance

"A fellow employee?" Raquel echoed curiously. "Well ... if I know for certain, I'll tell you," she offered with a small shrug. Who could Cecelia be wondering about?

Nadine and Amber just listened for the moment.

Dining Hall

"Alright then. Axel, you'd better have a seat here too, come to think of it. There was a roster amendment and you're in it. So's the local wolf girl, but she's not back yet, so you might want to pass that along," Anna explained. "First off, you two will need to know the chain of command around here ... regardless of how blurred the lines get on some days."

Both Suzume and Siv were listening closely, now. The latter was more interested in learning about this apparent hierarchy the humans had than anything else. She knew of it, but not much about it other than that Seth Weyland was at the top and so her curiosity was soaring.

"First off, Weyland is 'the boss', 'the lord', 'king', 'sovereign', whatever term you think is appropriate. He's passive, but don't even think of trying to do anything major without his approval, or mine in emergencies. Second is Connor. He's Weyland's only close blood relative and the official heir to the company. That's in writing so it's not only because he's the only close relative currently. Even if Weyland has a kid now, the company's going to Connor in the end. Now the part relevant to you two is his place in this system of ours. He doesn't hold any official rank yet due to his age, but you're expected to heed any of his requests if it doesn't interfere with your duties. So, use good judgment there if it ever comes up."

With the Weylands out of the way, she could move on to the complicated stuff. "Next are Weyland's 'Numbers'. The Numbers are a group of special operatives who predate the company by some decades and were originally created by Weyland's father. There used to be over twenty Numbers but Weyland's downsized them, so now there are only ever nine numbers at any given time. If you've got a number, Weyland trusts you, and you're a type of 'third in command' of any military matters happening around you. If you need something to compare the Numbers to, think of them as really passive Major Generals. Now before I go over the list, keep in mind that the only number with authority over other numbers is Zero-One. That's me by the way."

"So you're the highest ranking member of that group?" Suzume asked just to confirm. Anna nodded and continued.

"Okay time to go over the list really quick, though there have been a few changes in the last few days. I'm Zero-One, as I said. Craig is Zero-Two. You won't see him about much, so don't worry about that. Zero-Three is Ernesta Maki. She keeps the maids and servants managing things efficiently and helps to train new ones. Zero-Four Jaeger Lee. She's on a mission outside the country right now." She then paused to look at Axel. "I should probably note that she's the one that infiltrated Susanna Bosconovitch's little vigilante group, so remind Raquel not to get too aggressive with that group until Lee's out of there." Turning back to Bert and Suzume, she continued going over the members. "Zero-Five is Raphael Boehm. He's the guy that trained Arietta before she officially joined up. Zero-Six is classified. I can't talk about them openly but you won't be seeing them around anyway. The old Zero-Seven was a senior member, but he died of natural causes recently and we've had to adjust some things. Zero-Seven is currently Gabriella, though she used to be Zero-Nine. Zero-Eight was killed on a mission not too long ago, and Axel was going to be the next number added. So Axel, that makes you the new Zero-Eight. Congratulations. Zero-Nine is currently vacant until Weyland has another look at our staff records. Any questions?"

Suzume was wondering about all the 'zeroes' but decided not to ask about something that trivial when there might be more useful information to get right now. Unfortunately nothing else was coming to mind just yet.

[Mercakete]

"Very good," Cecelia transitioned with a nod before simply asking, "Is it true that Bert the Crusher works for Professor Seth Weyland? Or at least that he has worked for him in the past."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And so the briefing finally began with a bit of prelude Norbert didn't particularly take much note of: something about a roster change involving Axel and a wolf girl. Oigh, I hope it's not that Kit woman. Then again, I thought she said she was a fox or something and not a wolf. Is there a wolf version? Even one person like that is just too much so I really hope that's just a nickname or something...

All that was pushed to the back of his mind as he began to take in the information being fed to them. Obviously, Weyland was the boss. What was surprising was that Connor was essentially the second-in-command and they were expected to help him out if he wanted anything as long as it didn't get in the way of the tasks they already had. On second thought, I guess that does make some sense. I don't know how I feel about being bossed around by him, but from my experience, he's not a bad guy so I guess it's not a big deal.

Then came the truly interesting stuff. Indeed, Weyland had "operatives" that worked for him known as the numbers. Not only that, but they'd been around since before the company was founded and were put in place by the professor's own father. I wonder what it would've been like growing up like that. Apparently, whatever it was like seemed somewhat unnecessary as they went from twenty to just nine at a time and being given a number was, of course, a sign of trust. Furthermore, all numbers were essentially rank three in the hierarchy. Anna then explained that the numbers did have their own commander, too, and that was, in fact, Anna. Yeah, that makes sense with all that's happened.

Once Anna confirmed Suzume's question to make sure she understood Anna's place in the numbers, Anna began to go over the list. Next after Anna was someone named Craig, but he apparently wasn't around much. After him was someone who had a Kigenese-sounding name. I wonder if these numbers all stay here or if they head up different establishments in different countries. That thought was eradicated as soon as Anna explained her role. "I knew it!" He couldn't quite stop himself from that exclamation, but bit his tongue after that. If these numbers are martial like Anna says, then that means that even the maids could be deadly if they're trained by a number.

Anna went on with the list and made a note to Axel, and a rather important one. Norbert likewise kept in-mind which one was on that mission. It could be important if only so he didn't accidentally let the name slip if a situation like that came up. Zero-Five would have more interesting to keep note of if he could remember who Arietta was. Whoever Zero-Six was, they wouldn't find out anytime soon, it seemed. He didn't mind that. Until just a moment ago, he didn't even know about the numbers anyway, but it was strange how Anna referred to Zero-Six as "them." Do more than one person hold that rank? Then came something interesting. The wyvern girl used to be Zero-Nine, but had since moved up to Zero-Seven since the old one -- rather literally -- died. The news carried with it a bit of an awkward sense of condolence for the death mixed with a bit of gladness for Gabbie and intrigue at the revelations in general. A similar -- though more grimace-inducing -- feeling came up with the news that Zero-Eight had died in a mission and was being replaced by Axel. As good of news as that was for the red-clad man, at least the old Zero-Seven had died by natural causes and wasn't impales or burned or however the other one went. Finally, Zero-Nine was vacant. That was a bit troubling as it meant just about anyone could suddenly gain authority over him and he wouldn't know who it was until it happened. That left room for someone to gain a dislike of him and then get his or her hands on his leash and that did not bode well. At least with the others he knew ahead of time who to be cautious around or even to flat-out avoid.

And then it was time for questions. Norbert, himself, didn't have any and instead opted to go over the numbers and their names in his head again since that seemed like valuable information to memorize.

[Snike]

"You act as though I enjoy attending these events, as well," Blake responded, turning to look at Clover. "I am a bit surprised that you decided to linger, instead of joining the Head Wrathite, though."

***

So, the standard briefing began and went through, up to the Numbers, without incident. Then, all of a sudden, he was Zero-Eight.

"Thanks," Axel, said, slightly taken aback. "Slightly surprised that I was next in line to be a Number, though."

[Ether]

"Charmed, and I am Seris Eberhardt. Now then, do tell, have you ousted that worthless ingrate yet? For the life of me I can't fathom what would make that girl throw the excellent life I'd readied for her away... I had hoped for better than fools for children, but I suppose it took to the second for that to come to pass." The man replied, returning the woman's bow.

[ReformBlade]

Fuck, where do I even begin? I could just be a snide dick, that might end well. I should probably just try and not get myself kicked out immediately though, wait until later to do that. Hang on. my beautiful ego, you'll have your chance. "It's nothing that needs to be brought up here right now. Just a... A grudge, lets say. Again, nothing I want to really discuss. I'm sorry my face does things like that."

[Phoenix]

Le Hallway

"Funny you should mention Arietta; she's actually outside with the rest of my group's escort," Weyland replied, trying to gauge how Seris would take that news. The Hammer executives stood back and observed quietly for the moment.

Ballroom

"At least one of us should be mingling here, otherwise we will only be insulting our hosts. Desmond does not need the distractions right now, and all of that aside, I wanted to find you before this event is over," Clover answered. "I have a question of my own, Blake. Why are you working for that girl?" She frowned as she voiced the question, already expecting an answer she wouldn't like very much.

Main Entrance

So that's who it was. "Well he worked for me, but I worked for Weyland at the same time, so I guess that's technically true, and part of Weyland's payment did go to Bert," Raquel explained. "I think things are changing for good, now though. He's not going to be working with me anymore and I'm not sure where he's going to go ..."

Dining Hall

"Yeah it's a little weird but the number choices usually seem that way at first," Anna replied. "But look at Gabbie ... no one at the time expected her to be as tame and loyal as she turned out to be. Anyway, that's it for universally relevant ranks. Anything below the numbers will depend on where you two end up within the company, so until then, we'll focus on the estate."

At the table occupied by the rexians, Jericho explained his reaction, but insisted it was nothing that needed to be brought up there and then, which was something Fizza could live with. As a former Tide assassin, she respected secrets, but had also developed a love for constantly spewing them publicly for the reactions. "Well, alright, if you say so," she replied with a friendly grin. She then glanced at Siv, wondering if it was the fallen talk from earlier that had upset him. Her money was on that, but Jericho had certainly handled it better than Suzume had. Then again, Siv was sitting right across from Suzume and that was likely much more stressful to have to deal with than just seeing a fallen in the room from the tail end.

[Ether]

"Is that right? Surprised she agreed to come within twenty miles of anything cultured... you must have cowed her quite the ways." Seris replied, his projected grin dissapearing for a moment before being re-projected.

[Snowy_One]

Ballroom

"Excuse me," came a nobleman's voice. He followed this up by gently tapping Alex on the shoulder from behind. "My father, Bartholmeo, had an idea, and I would like to run it by you, if you have a moment."

Alex looked up, turning his head as he turned about to look at the nobleman. He had, honestly, started to enter into a dream-like trance state where he had been awake, yet resting. Not a big issue as he was now merely waiting for the ball to be over or for need of his painting services, but hey.

"Why, my good fellow, please, run it by me. I was merely resting and waiting for there to be a need of my services and, if listening to an idea is needed, than by all means I shall listen."