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Kutsuuko Shiratori     Thankfully, after the last couple of cold welcomes, it seems the Fenrir Far East Branch Director had finally followed through on his promise. Rather than being dumped into a freezing, dark, isolated, underground, anechonic armoured vault, an artificial gate has finally been set up somewhere meant to be accessible. It's still indoors, but as it would seem, actually above ground, judging by the sunlight filtering in through a series of windows small enough to be on a ship, though at least familiarly rectangular.

    It's not exactly four star hotel accommodations, but it beats the sterile white and grey environment of the training deck, and the battle-scarred gunmetal of the sim room itself. The checkered, hardwood flooring is pretty obviously laminate, as is the choice of neutral wallpaper equally fake, but it's not all that bad otherwise. The roof is low and the outside view restricted, but someone went through the effort of setting up the limited space as a real reception area, with tables, couches, TVs, stacks of magazines, even a vending machine in one corner, like the room is rented out by a moderately priced business function.

    The only real oddity despite space being at a premium, is a series of what look to be computer terminals set against one wall; three in total. They amount to a tightly braided trunk of cables and tubes individually the size of someone's arm running through the floor and ceiling, upon which are mounted round monitors the size and thickness of manhole covers, with modern looking screens, but no obvious interface, save some smaller, circular slot appended to the side. They don't look kludged, but rather intensely industrial, and at odds with the decor.

    It is just a waiting area though, notable only for it carrying the general aesthetic of the rest of the floor, and thus saving time to describe all at once. There's not a whole lot to do but chill as the room fills in, watched by tiny but visible security cameras in each corner, until a count is reached, and the door slides open with a very satisfying, sci-fi whoosh, letting in a gentleman in his late forties or early fifties, but in that kind of east-asian way that doesn't show it save for greying hair. Wearing the heinous combination of socks and sandals, what looks like a house robe with an expensive, black jacket embroidered with gold lazily thrown over it, and a pair of exceptionally antiquated spectacles on gold brass chains, the guy looks utterly at peace with the appearance of someone walking around their living room on the weekend.

    "Welcome! Welcome all! I'm glad to finally meet all of you wonderful people face to face! I am Branch Director of Operations, Paylor Sakaki, though honestly you can just call me Dr. Sakaki! It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." As it turns out, he's also the guy in charge. He decides to use a second to check an even more antiquated pocket watch than his glasses, then slip it back into his jacket's pocket. "Come now, let's get you situated!"

    Unless someone has a burning urge to loiter in a waiting room, they're led out into a similarly constructed hallway, set with efficient but warm lighting, and past a group of heavily armed military police stationed outside the room, just out of sight, faces obscured in polarized helmets. They stand at extremely stark odds with the casual decor, in dark blue body armour and clutching futuristic rifles that glow with orange lines, but merely stand at attention, and Paylor pays them no mind.

    Instead, people are herded into an elevator which plunges a number of floors that grows increasingly unusual with time, giving people a brief window to get their bearings and ask any trivial questions.
Mel Brock     "Doctor Sakaki. Good to meet you. Marshal Mel Brock. This is my sword, Hravn. Say hi, Hravn." The PsiMarshal isn't at all fussed about the decor, considering it a solid upgrade from their last arrival point all around, and she's cheerful enough about it to offer Sakaki a handshake and a respectful nod. And, of course, introductions. Her pace is brisk enough that she can keep up easily, and despite the lack of chilly temperature where they first step through the warpgate, she's wearing her usual longcoat.

    "We going somewhere special?" she asks, curious. "I don't mind, but I thought this was gonna be a regular old social function."
Camilla Ulyssa     Camilla had monopolized a couch all to herself in the waiting room, waiting. Attempts to take either her coat(s) or her large mechanical double sword sheath, if any were even attempted by the hosts, would have been met with laughs and no further responses, as the gray-haired and fox-eared young woman wandered in and claimed said couch as thought it were now her territory, lying down on her back, hands behind her head, impatiently staring at the ceiling.

    She had been told the area was a good place to pick fights, you see-- not with people, although she didn't discard the notion, but with monsters of some nature or another-- and so could not wait to meet those in charge and hear it from them directly.

    Neither clothes nor skin bore any scars or bruises from her brief scuffle with Reiji, either. She looks rather pristine, in movement and appearance.

    Then came the man, guiding people out of the dull waiting room and towards an elevator. She doesn't introduce herself, too used to not having to, and maybe suffering from a case of tunnel vision as concerns future fighting prospects. Trivial questions she does have, luckily, to replace the sound of elevator music, which the hosts have forgotten is a must-have. "Those guards have pretty cool suits and guns. What's their deal?"
Yang Xiao Long     Yang takes a look around as she steps out of the warpgate. "Huh, much better welcome than the first time I showed up." And then, suddenly Sakaki. "Hey Doc, I remember you from the speakers when we did that training exercise. Nice to finally have a face to put to the voice." she offers, grinning broadly. The blonde keeps with the group, looking around at the gathering and waving to the people she knows, and grinning at the ones she doesn't. Friendly one, this.
Reina Kinney Reina's standing there attentively, and while her face seems neutral, there's a slight sneer on her face as if she's annoyed about something. That's just Reina's natural expression but it might be unnerving to some. When the doctor finally arrives, she gives a slight nod of her head. "Nice to meet you, doctor. Ensign Reina Kinney. Nice to see the person behind the voice."
Heaven's Armory     "Hello, doctor." Hravn smiles. She came through with Mel, and has already seen some of the place before. Though, "I see you made improvements on the entry point." It was rather spartan, before. Not that she minds, terribly... though this body does get cold, in the fashion humans do. She keeps pace with Mel.
Reinhardt Wilhelm     "Doctor." Reinhardt greets. The aging knight in power armor has his helmet off, and he offers the doctor a nod. Handshakes from him tend to be crushing in nature, so to speak. Popping his neck, he gives Mel a grin. "I didn't think you were the nervous type. I'm all for a little excitement, myself." He teases, before giving the doctor a look. "Where we headed, and who are we fighting?" He asks, already raring for a mission as he's guided into the elevator. SOMEHOW, he fits, despite being the size of a goddamn elephant in his armor, and just as subtle.
Yuna Kagurazaka At least there shouldn't be any spiders, thinks Yuna as she emerges from the warpgate. She was kind of torn about whether to accept Fenrir's invitation, or follow up on her obligation to help with the search for Yunomi in Ravnica, but to be honest, spiders give Yuna the (literally) screaming heebie-jeebies, as do actual insects and other bugs. Since this was advertised as a more social event, she's foregoing the protection of her Light Suit in favor of her Beacon Academy uniform - but with Elner flitting along next to her, if there's a surprise combat situation (or an actual Aragami attack), she can at least transform in a hurry.

She barely has time to look around at the others who have arrived before Dr. Sakaki comes in; Yuna smiles brightly, and gives the branch director a quick bow and a hearty, "It's good to meet you, Dr. Sakaki!" - and then they're on the move again.

The elevator ride does give Yuna some more time to check on who else is here, and they're basically all familiar faces. She doesn't really know Camilla, but Mel and Yang and Reina are all people she knows, and Yuna met Reinhardt during the training exercise. "I didn't think this was a fighting visit," says Yuna in response to Reinhardt's questions. "I can gear up if needed, but ..."
Lin Karal Rei Lin's come with the group. Sakaki's attire and demeanor seems to be, oddly enough, taken in stride. Lin offers a small bow in fact, showing a little respect.

    "Karal Rei Lin. Just a martial artist out for experience! ... and mercenary work. Which brought me here. Likewise, good to meet you!"
Kutsuuko Shiratori     Paylor shakes Mel's hand. He is wearing gloves. No lab gloves. The kind of white gloves an old-fashioned orchestra member would wear. They kind of go with the glasses and watch, but seriously. "The pleasure is all mine, I assure you! Please forgive the little trip though, we don't usually have room to spare for dedicated recreational facilities, so our options for spaces to clear out were limited. I'm sure you'll appreciate it over having to stand around in a work sector! And if you don't, I'm sure the God Eaters will! Hahaha!"

    He pushes his glasses up at Camilla as if he hadn't heard her question at first, but doesn't ask for a repeat. "Oh, the military police? They're just that. It's standard procedure that all Fenrir branches have a garrison in-house, to keep order and dissuade violence, you see. In reality, they don't see much action here! The Far East Branch is one of Fenrir's finest locations, and I'm happy to inform you that our incidents of serious civil unrest are near zero!"

    A further round of polite but enthusiastic responses go out to Hravn, Yang, Reina, Yuna -- on the elevator ride, but are generally the small talk not worth dedicating entire paragraphs too. The elevator itself groans as Reinhardt steps on, making the good doctor look all the way up to his exposed, bearded face, with another little click of adjusted glasses. "You seem to be mistaken. It would be more than a little rude to throw our guests to the wolves, so to speak, on their first visit! You're here to enjoy yourselves! That, and meet your coworkers! Well, at least some of them.

    Finally, an arrival and just a couple more floors lead into somewhere much more polished up than reception and transit. A room only about the size of a smallish restaurant, but which manages to feel spacious for its lack of obstructions and higher ceiling. The floor is still fake, but more subtle about it, and the central area, circular in nature, is covered in a pretty nice rug that matches the checker in deep red. The center of that circle is dominated by what appears to be both a bar and dining ring, stools on one end, white counters, an extensive selection of bottles piled up on a wedding-cake-style central stand, and an entire kitchen cleverly compacted into the rear half of the ring. Despite the amount of liquor available, the attendant appears to a nine year old girl who picked out her own apron.

    The room past the bar is raised up on two sets of steps to either side, with a much larger counter and matching stools, viewing straight out a more panoramic set of windows. The view is about as nice as it comes here, staring out at a somewhat odd skyline. What looks like a conventional, if a little post-modern city starts off in the foreground, and gradually transitions into a kind of ramshackle, south-american ghetto style sprawl for a couple of miles, where it runs up against an utterly gargantuan, apparently solid metal wall, heavily fortified and crewed, and then just lovely blue sky. Some pretty hanging plants are placed near the window to try and spruce it up.

    The right side of the room hosts an actual piano, made of actual mood, and a seating area and coffee table for a large, wall mounted television. The left side has a pool table set up, a book case as fancy as the piano, and even more rare, being several levels high, and a pen for what appears to be . . . a capybara? It's like a pet, chilling out in there. Something subtle, acousting and mildly jazzy plays through the speakers, and the portions unlit by the window have LED arrays disgused as brass lamps.
Kutsuuko Shiratori     Apart from the tiny girl at the counter, the room is only sparsely populated. A young woman in rolled down coveralls and pulled up goggles chats with an older, darker gentleman in more rugged attire quietly in the TV corner, a more elderly and portly woman in a janitor outfit seems to be feeding the capybara, a lady roughly the mechanic's age, with bright red hair and dressed more like a receptionist, is apparently splitting her attention between supervising the 'kitchen staff' and working on a tablet PC.

    The piano corner has assembled the Protagonist Aesthetic, being five young to mid adults in various interpretations of 'uniform', being white with gold accents in a few different cuts, mostly recognizable as the same unit by the elaborate wolf's visage embossed between the shoulders and on the breast, along with rank insignia.

    In descending order of age; a Japanese guy with dark hair and a cigarette someone forbade him from lighting, wearing combat pants and boots under his nicer jacket, and with one hand oddly encased in a hefty, brass gauntlet; a middle eastern or mixed Indian looking guy (oddly with blue eyes) wearing dress jeans, a black shirt and a tie, but looking far less friendly despite the better dress, mostly leaning edgily in the corner; a north european looking girl with platinum blonde hair that's basically silver who apparently had trouble zipping her top down this morning, sat at the bench without touching the keys yet, in long boots, a plaid skirt, and a matching hat; a redheaded teen boy who decided to rebel against military clothing by dressing in danger orange beneath and wearing a headband that is almost gang colours, though he looks like a total dork. Kutsuuko is also with them, being somewhere in the middle, and dressed much the same as usual except with white.

    All five of them are recognizable as an in-crowd by the way they talk to each other, and the matching, hefty, armoured bracelets clamped around their right wrists in standard scarlet red. There are also two different people, with different bracelets, who will place and describe themselves. All in all, it is a very motley and international looking crew, but it has a pleasant atmosphere.
Mel Brock     Camilla gets a long, wary stare from Mel.

    Finally, the Marshal points two fingers at her eyes, then one at Camilla. And that's all she chooses to make of their previous encounter.

    And them Reinhardt playfully ribs her. "Hey, I'm all for a little excitement, I just prefer to know about it in advance when something's gonna eat my face." She can't fault Dr. Sakaki's logic, though. "Oh. Makes sense, yeah. Rather be able to relax." She's seen the military plice before, so it's not like they're much of a concern.

    "...well hey, this isn't a half-bad cafeteria," the psychic observes as they step into the new room. Already, she's headed for the circular bar, giving Hravn a 'come along' beckoning as she does. "You gonna want anything?" she asks idly. But while the space cop is sliding into her seat on a stool, she glances at the little girl at the bar... and does a doubletake. Looks up at the liquor, looks back at the girl, looks up at the liquor again.

    Slowly, she turns to Sakaki. "Uh... are we... is this... you know I'm a cop, right? I mean I don't have any jurisdiction here, but..."
Reinhardt Wilhelm     "Oh. Well, at the very least, I didn't come underdressed!" The German laughs, grinning as he gives Sakaki a brief handshake, as carefully as he can with gauntlets like his anyway. Sakaki might find it's like shaking hands with a vice, given his ridiculously firm grip. Mel might be right, even if Reinhardt has come to associate this place with CONSTANT DANGER AT ALL TIMES. He might be being a little too showy for his own good, arriving in battle armor that turns him into an eight foot bulldozer playing knight in shining armor.

    As they arrive to the lounge, Reinhardt's feet storm with heavy footfalls, sounding more like a walking tank than a man. He came prepared, at the very least, and it seems he wishes to make an impression while he's here. He only stops when he bumps his head against the ceiling, a la a certain gray wizard. "Ooof! Owwww, always happens...<stupid architects always make the ceiling too low.>" he grumbles, lapsing into his native tongue briefly before he ducks bellow a ceiling beam, and continues on.

    That aside, he takes note that the children coming to greet them have circlets that look exactly like Kutsuuko's, and she herself is with them. THat's enough to let Reinhardt assume these are fellow God Eaters.

    "Well met, Kutsuuko. These young men and ladies are your comrades, I take it?" He nods to them, giving a salute as he lays his helm on a table. "Quite an assortment. I am Reinhardt Wilhelm, formerly a Colonel of the German military, agent of Overwatch, now Union operative, so to speak." He'll be quick to climb out of his armor, the suit opening up in front like a certain Anthony Stark's Iron Man suits, showing he's got a t-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. Even out of armor, Reinhardt is freakishly tall at around 7'1", and he has the muscles that would give the Austrian Oak himself pause as well, barely keeping from ripping open his t-shirt if he were to flex even on accident. Hands will be shook with all of Kutsuuko's colleagues as well. Even out of armor he's got a firm grip, but they might be more used to ridiculous strength.
Yuna Kagurazaka Given what Yuna knows about Aragami, wolves would be EASY MODE compared to even the weakest Aragami on record. Seriously, wolves don't regenerate when you blast a hole through them.

Further thoughts on that note are somewhat diverted by reaching what Yuna can only presume is the rec room, or as close to it as Fenrir Far East possesses. She takes a few moments to take it all in - looking around, absorbing the ambience, getting a feel for the place and the kinds of people who work here. Reinhardt has already wandered over to introduce himself to Kutsuuko's comrades, Yuna strolls over shortly behind him, lifting a hand and waving to the group - especially to Kutsuuko.

She's going to wait to be invited to socialize more closely before she goes butting in, though.
Heaven's Armory     Hravn looks between Sakaki and Reinhardt. Ah, so that's why he came dressed like that... or does he always? This world certainly has its share of danger, though the claim of 'almost zero' civil unrest is noted, as is that humongous wall, once they all get a look at the skyline.
    And then, a bar. How nice--she hasn't had alcohol in a longer span of time than some here have lived. She's still following along, just to Mel's side, and takes a seat. Contrary to the cop's attitude, she asks, "Do you serve mixed drinks?" She's been reading about those, but wiki articles can't really describe the taste.
Reina Kinney Reina knows some things about Aragami, but there's a lot more to them than meets the eye. And wolves? Sure they may sound trivial compared to a SEED monster or something like that, but you never know what to expect with anything. Expect nothing and be ready for anything, that's one of Reina's main mottos.

When they finally arrive in the lounge, Reina nods a little again, taking in the pleasant seeming atmosphere. "Kinda reminds me of the lounge back on GUARDIANS HQ," she comments to nobody in particular. She smiles a little as she notices the others chatting, but doesn't say anything else for the time being.
Camilla Ulyssa     "Near zero? You just make me want to ask about the incidents that make it not zero now. What's civil unrest like here and why do peolpe do it?" Different worlds, different cultures, values, goals, living conditions. She's curious, that's all. And if this place really has threatening monsters, it sounds like it's in the civilians' best interest not to cause a mess.

    Proof that Camilla wasn't really looking at faces, she doesn't recognize, or maybe spot at all, Mel until the officer informs her she is being watched in the only acceptable fashion. Camilla just smiles and nods, in a way that implies no malice. Likely she already realizes how outnumbered she is here, and while that's tempting in its own way, she'd rather find stuff out about the so-called monsters that plague this world. You can fight people anywhere, after all.

    World-specific creatures, not so much.

    Whether Sasaki answers her question about the near zero incidents or not, Camilla eventually splits away from him, faced with such a luxurious and fancy room. There's quite the crowd there, too! The team of Protagonists gets her interest, and so it's where she heads, not far behind Reinhardt, memorizing the name Kutsuuko as he says it, and intruding into the conversation.

    "Hey there! I'm a tourist, don't mind me. But why don't you make my tour interesting and tell me about what you do here? Don't be shy, I'm curious and I want to know everything!"

    This isn't how you're supposed to address people, but points for proactivity?
Yang Xiao Long     Yang steps out of the elevator, and splinters off from the group a bit. She's a social creature, but being cooped up like that, sheesh.

    The Blonde spots Kutsuuko from across the room, and lifts a hand, cupping the other one around her mouth to project her voice. "Heeeeey Kutsuukoooooo!" waving enthusiastically. "And the others too!" She sees they're otherwise occupied by the others, so doesn't go to bother them, instead drifting over toward the panaramic window to look out across the cityscape. "Huh... reminds me of Vale, mixed with some pictures I've seen of Vacuo..."
Ciel Alencon     One of those two, yet-to-be-described figures is another platinum-blonde, European-type, though her jacket has a lesser zipper problem and the designs are mostly black, with a few shades of blue. Her armlet, that oversized, single-wrist handcuff-looking thing, is notably black, as well. Guessing that she's in another squad wouldn't be hard, even without seeing how she's positioned herself at a more 'awkward loner' part of the room (unless the one, remaining member of the party changes that). She's close enough to hear the Cradle group talk, but stands near to military 'attention,' and doesn't even have a camoflauge drink in her hands.

    The new menagerie of entrants immediately has her attention, along with some blank-faced blinking. She'd gotten through introductions with those she'd known to be here at the Far East Branch, but she's never seen any of these others, even in dossier form. Proper protocol in this situation is a bit uncertain to her.
Yuko Minami The second of the two undescribed figures is a young woman in similarly black and blue outfit, albeit with rather plain brown hair in a ponytail tied to the side and held together by a blue ribbon that may or may not have been picked to match the uniform. Between the uniform and the same sort of black bracelet, it probably wouldn't be too hard to figure out that they might very well be in the same team.

     She's doing the rounds around the lounge and checking in on each group briefly, stopping the pair by the TV, the kid at the counter, the lady with the tablet, and even the group by the piano before approaching the visitors with wide-eyed wonder. "Guests...? Oh! Hi there." She smiles brightly at the assembled crew, looking each of them over expectingly before offering them a quick salute and bow.

     "Yuko Minami. It's so nice to meet all of you! If you have any questions, feel free to ask~" She speaks with a light, almost excessively pleasant tone, and she looks from person to person while taking in their appearances. After a few moments, however, she turns to the platinum-blonde in the corner, and...

     Smiles. And stares. "Come now, don't be shy!" As if that ever really worked.
Kutsuuko Shiratori     "Aw c'mon, it's not like I'm drinking it!" Is the tiny girl's first reply, before the redhead in the pencil skirt looks at her, at which point she quickly remembers her manner and bows. By the fact she can pull it off, she must be standing on a raised section. Or a box. "Sorry! I'm Mutsumi Chikura! I work here! They let me stay in the Den because I'm one of the only people who really cooks, and I'm the best at it!" There is, at least, a distinct lack of MREs on display. "Absolutely!" she says to Hravn. "My mom has to try them when I make them, but everyone says I'm great at it!" She then actually pulls out a glass tumbler. "Just name it!"

    "Hey. Watch who you're calling young!" The guy at the back with the cigarette replies to Reinhardt, raising a half-finished can of beer with Fenrir's logo printed on it for emphasis. The redhead kid immediately follows up "Yeah! Lindow is totally ancient! He's been here forever!" Said kid then receives a swat to the back of the head from Kutsuuko, plaintive "oww" and all. Lindow shrugs helplessly. Kutsuuko steps out to talk to Reinhardt properly, since the guy in the corner is mostly staring at his armour suit rather than looking at /him/, and the girl on the piano is looking over sheet music inconsiderately.

    "Glad you could make it again." Kutsuuko purrs, holding out a hand that Reinhardt doesn't have to worry with. "This is your first time being here for real, so let me introduce my unit. The old fart over there is Corporal Lindow Amamiya, the Unit Captain before me." The redhead interjects- "Hey, you just-" and receives another swat. "That's Scout Sergeant Kota Fujiki. He signed on at the same time I did. He's great though, I swear! Soma Schicksal in the corner, Assault Corporal. He's also Paylor's lab buddy now, so call him doctor if you really want to annoy him. Last-" The girl at the piano finally turns around, flipping some of her hair back over her shoulder. "Sniper Sergeant Alisa Illichina Amiella. Pleasure to meet you." She says as airly as possible, earning a snort from Kota and more of a 'tch' from Soma, still fixated on the suit. There doesn't seem to be much of a chain of command despite the ranks. They act more like classmates.

    Lindow takes a moment to point over Reinhardt's shoulder -- a task only possible by the raised flooring -- towards Yuna. "Hey, Captain, isn't that your shopping buddy?" Everyone immediately has to look. Alisa doesn't look pleased. "Yeah, that wallflower over there is Yuna Kagurazaka. She's an /idol singer/. Like Yuno, except she's also a magical girl too." Kutsuuko sounds bizarrely proud of this, though she breaks to wave back at Yang. Alisa looks even less pleased.

    Yang is instead joined at the window by the mechanic looking girl, grease smudges still on her face like war paint. "Oh hey, you're from another arcology? I was wondering if there were others in the Multiverse." She sticks out a hand, still wearing her work gloves. "Licca Kusunoki! I've been told the Captain was showing off my work at your school~ Well, what did you think? Totally awesome, right?!"
Kutsuuko Shiratori     Paylor looks pleased everyone is getting along so far, letting the door swoosh-thunk behind him, but Camilla seems to have him a little off guard; at least as much as that smiley face really can be. "Ah, unfortunately, this branch, like many others, was designed as a self-sufficient arcology for a limited population, but the United Nations was unable to retain any of their own shelters or extract people from the continent, so many thousands of refugees, without anywhere else to go, migrated here. It's a common story, sad to say. The armoured wall built around the habitation zone they've made for themselves, along with our top-notch God Eaters, mean they can live in relative safety, and of course we provide the basic necessities they need, as well as as many services as we can spare, but you'll still see protests or demonstrations from time to time."

    "It's difficult for some people to not be able to work, and difficult for others to live with less wealth than they're accustomed to. There's also the issue that, for the first year since 2050, our population has actually increased, so there's issues of housing space and rationing as well." He explains it very patiently, though without a little context. Kutsuuko, meanwhile, doesn't even try to hide that she has no idea who Camilla is, gesturing at her, looking to Paylor, letting Paylor shrug pleasantly back, looking to her unit, seeing them shake their heads, and then looking back. "Uh, hey . . . girl! You know, that's a good question!" The God Eater then points directly at Yuko, helpfully offering, before suddenly snapping over to Ciel who looks like she'd like nothing more than to be left alone. "She'll be happy to explain it to you!" Absolutely mean. The receptionist lookalike hides her mirth behind her hand, before offering "Will your unit Captain not be attending today?"
Ciel Alencon     Yuko's plea totally works...

    Sliding smoothly into a smart, crisp salute, "Corporal Ciel Alençon, Blood unit. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

    ...after a fashion.
Heaven's Armory     "A martini! Oh, wait, no, a margarita. I don't mind which kind, surprise me." Hravn settles in at her seat, waving Mel down to join her. "She's one of the younger chefs I've seen, but every land has its own standards, isn't that right? As long she's responsible with her business."
    She might have also just searched for a list of 'popular bar drinks' at some point. A sword can't exactly go experience the night life on her own, so she has to try these things as she's able.
Yuna Kagurazaka Yuna actually blushes a little, even as her face breaks into a grin. "Pleased to meet all of you," she says, bowing politely (and formally) to the members of Kutsuuko's unit, including Ciel and Yuko. "I'm looking forward to helping fight the Aragami!"

Paylor is kind of going into lecture mode, though, so Yuna shuts up to listen politely. Limited population, limited resources, lots of people who need someplace safe to go and not enough space for them in the places that can actually withstand Aragami attacks.

Once Paylor's done, Yuna looks to Kutsuuko again, then Paylor. "Anyway, yes, I'm an idol singer ... I'd be happy to put on a concert here sometime, if you'd like me to help raise morale generally or anything? I'd want to refer inquiries to my manager back home, but even if it's not totally official, I'd love to do a concert for you all."
Yang Xiao Long     Yang blinks, then looks over at Licca. "Ar-co-lo-gy?" she phonetics out, mulling it over for a few moments. "Uh, not really? Vale's a big chunk of land walled off by the sea and sheer mountains. The founders built the curtain wall to block off the open end to keep the Grimm out." she offers in return. "Yang Xiao Long, by the way. Huntress in Training at Beacon Academy." she offers her right hand out, letting the golden bracelet on her wrist shift with the motion.

    If Licca takes the shake, she'd find the blonde is /very/ strong. "Oh yeah, totally awesome. Bit too big for my taste, but I think Yatsuhashi was staring at it enviously." she quips, grinning. "Anyway, Lemme show ya a picture of Vale I took on my first day at Beacon, gives ya a good idea of what I mean." she pulls her little holographic table Scroll from a pocket, and unfolds it to its maximum size, tapping a few sections, before it opens up a full screen picture, taken from the edge of a sheer cliff.

    The city stretches out, with the sea on the right of the picture, and large mountains just peeking in on the left. The city is pretty modern standard, but in the far distance, just on the edge of where one can actually make things out, is a tall curtain wall, and the bones of a failed expansion project beyond.
Reinhardt Wilhelm     The old man chuckles deeply, shaking hands with Kutsuuko. "I'm used to being something of a grandfather, even to my own colleagues." Reinhardt says with no small amount of amusement at Lindow. To be fair, Lindow might be old by God Eater standards, Reinhardt muses mentally. Says a lot about the turnover rate for these kids if that's the case.

    Discpline seems to be somewhat of a secondary concern, if not tertiary at best. These ARE teenagers for the most part, so Reinhardt can't exactly expect utter professionalism at all times. Then again, that'd be ridiculous given the social atmosphere here.

    His good eye trails over towards Soma, as the edgy, hooded teen seems to be fixated on the Crusader suit. "Impressive, isn't it? That suit's served me for over twenty years, and it's got the marks to prove it." He says, and Soma will definitely note the suit's plating has been replaced and refinished multiple times, and even then it still bears bullet marks and scratches from many an engagement.
Reina Kinney Reina listens intently to the lecture at hand, although that sneer seems to be slightly bigger than normal. Paylor might find it unusual or unnerving, but it's just Reina's quirk. The truth is, she's listening carefully to the lecture being given, and nods her head at times to indicate she's listening.
Mel Brock     Mel gives the girl at the bar a slightly wary look, before giving a very, very hesitant nod. "...yeah. Yeah, alright." It's clear she's pretty uneasy about the whole situation, but she's trying to push past it. Be diplomatic, Brock, be diplomatic. Hravn is making nice, you can too. "...I'll have some kind of soft drink. You guys know what a Shirley Temple is?"

    She's trying!

    But hey, here's a distraction. A bunch of God Eaters. People who work under Kutsuuko, even! Well, some of them. Others are from a different unit, but they're still introducing themselves. "Brock. Marshal Mel Brock, PsiMarshal to the Sol Territories Alliance, Union Elite, and I guess part of Threshold unit now. This is my magical talking sword, Hravn." She gestures to the lady seated with her at the bar, before shoving her hand in her pocket to fish around for something.

    "You're, uh. You're all gonna figure this out sooner or later, so I might as well let the cat out of the bag now... the hell'd I put it..." Mel grumbles, shifting to a different pocket, before- "Aha. Here we go. Little magic trick for you." She comes out with an old 50-cent coin, which she sets on her hand. "Call it," she says, directing her words to Alisa in specific. She waits, then flips the coin - and it never comes down. It stops at the height of the flip, all movement halting...

    ...and then swoops down as if it's gained the power of flight, flying across the room to do an orbit around Alisa's head. Followed by Lindow's, followed by Kota's, followed by Doctor Schicksal, before sweeping around to do a quick orbit of Ciel and Yuko both. And then, /finally/, it returns to her hand. With whichever side Alisa called facing up.
Kutsuuko Shiratori "Coming right up!" Mutsumi answers Hravn. Bizarrely, she then sets into a very comfortable routine of fetching items from around a bar that's a little too big for her, filling ice, handling tequila, squeezing limes, and then working what looks like pomegranate, blackberry and rhubarb with a knife for actual drink consumption, making a real show of shaking the heavy tumbler with her nine year old arms. The fact she even has sugar for the rim indicates a hobbyist bent. Against all odds however, a nine year old has effectively made a tart, fruity tequila drink, and it's actually pretty good.

    Despite the incredible disparity in age, Mel might get the distinct impression Mutsumi is doing the job of being the bartender rolling their eyes at the unadventurous teen, getting out the ginger ale and cherry for a similar routine, before standing up on her toes to slide it over. The attitude fades a little when Mel introduces herself, and then erupts into excited applause at what happens shortly after Alisa distantly calls "Tails" and is then subjected to a high velocity coin buzzing everyone in the crowd, annoying some, amusing others. "Really?" she feels the need to ask, before Kota interjects "Heck yeah really! Did you see that?!" Lindow laughs briefly, crumples the can (in one palm?) and slides over to the bar, dropping into a seat, and merely raising a hand before Mutsumi gets to work with what is presumably his usual. "Yeah, a cop would need that kind of thing from what I hear of where you guys come from, huh?" He offers, unlit smoke still held in his teeth like a bad habit.
Kutsuuko Shiratori     "Then welcome to the worst workplace in the world." Soma replies to Yuna, before getting an "Oh knock it off. She's trying to help." from Alisa. Kota jumps out of his seat at the mention of a concert. "Oh man! You totally have to do it! I /need/ to see what kind of idols the Multiverse has! It's like, science!" Kutsuuko rolls her eyes /semi/-affectionately. Paylor strokes his chin. "Well, a promotional event doesn't sound like a bad idea. I'd need to ask the-" He then pauses. "Oh right. Then absolutely!" Did he just forget he's the Director for a second?
Heaven's Armory     Hravn gives a little wave from her crossed-arms pose, when named. Her attention is then back on Mutsumi, making her drink, for which she gives a "Thanks!" and raises the glass up to have a look. It's the full experience she's curious over, so it's a few moments before she actually tries it. "Oh, that's better than I expected." Not that she has any experience with margaritas. Wherever she was last wielded, tequila may or may not have even been a thing.
    And then Mel is showing off. Hravn just smiles and sips her drink, though Lindow gets an acknowledging nod when he slides up.
Kutsuuko Shiratori     "Grimm? Like the brothers?" Asks Licca. Even the mechanics here are up to date on their folklore. Seeing the scroll come out practically gets a squeal from her though, which involves practically grabbing it out of Yang's hands to examine electronics before the image. "Wow, what does this thing even /run/ on? It's just a screen! Is there a monolayer capacitor in here? It's not wireless power is it? Is it even a touch screen or- haptics?!"

    She arrives on the picture almost as an afterthought. "Oh, weird, it /does/ look kind of similar." A heavily gloved finger points to the ruins. "What happened over there? It's so close to the city."
Camilla Ulyssa     Camilla listens to the explanation, nodding like she gets it. She has nothing to really say-- 'United Nations' doesn't ring a bell, but the words imply an alliance between nations, so it's not that hard to puzzle out what's going on. Refugees causing trouble, that ends up making sense. That happens back home, too. Some people are just never happy. You can save them, give them food and shelter, and they'll still cause a ruckus when displeased. Guess the existence of giant monsters doesn't much change that.

    Deflected from Kutsuuko and the Protagonists to Ciel and Yuko, she shuffles along to meet them without protest, seeing as how those two seem equally 'in' to what's happening than the other crowd, with the added benefit of only being two instead of five, coupled with a number of people around them already. Makes asking questions easier! And so without ceremy, it's those two she asks to fill her request.

    "So! Tourist, new here, yaddy yadda, fill me in on what you do and what you fight around here. Don't go light on the details, start from the beginning!"
Yang Xiao Long     Yang shakes her head. "Creatures of Grimm. Soulless monsters that Huntsmen and Huntresses are trained to fight against, so that normal folks can get on with living their lives in peace... they're kinda like your monster problem, but not as tough alone." She then chuckles at Licca's reaction to the Scroll. "Dust capacitor. Runs of Lightning Dust capsules that can be recharged from a docking station. It's a contact screen, so be careful where you poke." she explains, then goes a bit dour at the ruins being pointed out. "Mountain Glen... it was a project to expand Vale's influence further inland, get more room to grow... lets just say it didn't go as planned."

    She shakes off the dour mood however, breaking into a bit less enthusiastic grin. "I think you and my little sister would get on really well. She's a /total/ dork when it comes to Weapons." Shifting her weight, her bracelets shift and seem to remind the blonde they're there. "Oh right. Wanna see mine?" she asks, lifting her left hand and 'jingling' the bracelet idly.
Kutsuuko Shiratori     Soma doesn't really need to be lured by Reinhardt to check out the powered armour. The eye he examines with it is less the one you would use to admire a project car, so much as mentally disassemble a jet fighter. He winds up talking almost begrudgingly. "I can tell. It looks like wearing the Ship of Theseus. You've been working on it yourself all that time?"

    He looks at Reinhardt, finally, clearly debating how long the guy has been seven feet tall and trying to estimate his age; or some more invasive vital information. "You designed it too? Doesn't look like it'd fit someone else. It reminds me of-- never mind." Alisa butts in. "Aren't you Germans supposed to be good at engineering?" She actually asks /Soma/, not Reinhardt, in a weirdly pointed way. Kutsuuko follows up. "Or you could stop being a tight-ass and actually see him use it. Have some respect for something other than the specs for a change."
Yuna Kagurazaka Yuna blushes just a shade or so more, but nods cheerfully. "Okay! Dr. Sakaki, do you have Multiverse-compatible contact info that I could pass along to my manager?" she asks Paylor. "I'll let him know that this is ... probably sort of a charitable performance, I guess - that's the easiest way to make sure you don't wind up having to figure out how to pay a lot for it."

It's distinctly possible that Yuna has no idea how much a 'charity' performance actually costs. Hey, she sings, she doesn't crunch the numbers that go behind the scenes.
Kutsuuko Shiratori     The hold Yang's Scroll has on Licca is broken temporarily as the young woman sharply looks up and points dangerously close to Yang's nose. "Hey! A /dork/ is someone unprofessional. I'm an /expert/. A /technical/ /expert/." It's sort of tongue-in-cheek, but sort of not, and a little intense.

    She does go back to examining the photo though. "Huh. Then an arcology would be ideal then, wouldn't it? This whole city is so open-air. Barely planned. What happens if there's a wall breach? How many, uh, Hunters are enlisted there? Who do they report to?" She reaches up to scratch her head, only to wind up tapping her goggles instead. "Dust? An alternate energy source I guess? At least it's electrical energy; that much I can get." The bracelet then catches her attention like jingling something at a cat. "Do I?! Wait, don't go firing anything indoors! I'll have to fix it!"
Reina Kinney Once all is said and done, Reina excuses herself to join the others who might be at the bar. Since the bartender more than likely isn't familiar with a 'Gurhalian Special' she gives specific instructions on what ingredients to use. "I haven't had one of these in awhile," She comments to herself. "I should spread the word about what it's called elsewhere."
Reinhardt Wilhelm     "Myself and a colleague of mine designed the suit together, during the Omnic uprising years ago." Reinhardt nods, letting Soma get a good look at the suit properly. He also knows what Soma might be thinking, on some level. "And no, I wasn't this tall from an experiment. I guess I got lucky and hit the lottery in genetics." He says with amusement. He must get this question a lot, and to be fair not many people tend to be his size -naturally-

    Alisa's question isn't for him, which is curious to Reinhardt, but Soma -does- look the part of someone of mixed blood. "I'm sure there will be time enough for that demonstration soon, if the Aragami are as persistent a threat as I am told. Excuse me a moment, I'm parched, but I should be back in a moment." He says. Drinks sound like a good idea, and he takes a moment to approach Matsumi at the bar, "Any chance I can get something to drink as well? Cola will be fine, I'm trying not to drink too heavily in my age."
Mel Brock     Mel palms the coin, then returns it to her pocket, with a grin that suggests the responses where pretty much exactly what she was after. "Telekinesis," she explains for Kota and Alisa, waving the latter to come over as well - she'd call Kota over too, but he's busy being a fanboy - before shifting on her stool to face Lindow. "Be real honest with you? Yeah, they kinda do, it gets crazy out there. But I'm the exception. Most Marshals back where I come from are just ordinary folks with a badge, a sidearm and a lot of grit. Only ten psychic Marshals in the entire STA." She turns and gives Hravn a brief wink - she saw that smile. So the psi likes to show off a little for new people. It's all in good fun!
Ciel Alencon     Ciel gets singled out. A more vindictive person might suggest that this makes Kutsuuko a jerk, but that person would not be Ciel. The corporal just turns to glance at Camilla before Mel's telekinesis is distracting her from all else. "That is... impressive." Safe to say she has never met a PsiMarshal, either.

    The receptionist-type still gets a response. "Unit Captain Visconti is unavailable." Either this isn't the venue for further detail, or she just doesn't know.

    This is followed by Camilla reaching her, given enough time for Ciel to relax off 'salute' and closer to 'at ease,' if only the kind of ease that a drill instructor would approve of. Given that her uniform includes a skirt, you'd think they weren't that kind of military. "Pardon?" Her eyes go to the swords, more than anywhere else. It is the most armament that anyone in the room is carrying, if you don't count Reinhardt. "We're God Eaters, members of Fenrir's military forces. I understand that Cradle's duties mainly involve finding habitable areas and defending while they become operational. Others are defenders of the arcologies. Elite forces are given the necessary task of hunting new Aragami species for their cores. The Aragami are... large beasts comprised of unicellular colonies that make them resistant to most forms of damage. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."
Yuko Minami Yuko looks quite pleased with herself when Ciel approaches, although her expression is still about the same as it was a moment ago. And two hours ago. Does she ever not look chipper? If she has, nobdy's ever seen it yet! She lets out an intrigued "ooh" when Mel's coin circles around everyone as if defying the laws of physics, following it with her eyes and even turning when it loops around her. Once it returns to Mel, she claps politely before turning her attention back to Camilla as she comes towards her and Ciel.

     "Hello~ Yes, we're God Eaters, defenders of humanity against the Aragami!" Dramatic hand raise. "Long story short? The Aragami want to kill us, so we have to kill them first~" She still sounds chipper even as she says that. "As you can see-" Yuko raises her hand to show off her bracelet helpfully, then gestures at her own and Ciel's uniforms. "-we're with the Blood Unit, a special forces unit meant to... To..." She taps a finger to her chin, then turns to Ciel.

     "Oh, what was it Doctor Claudius said again? Something about 'hidden potential'... I just hope we live up to those expectations."

     And then she turns back to Camilla. "You're here to help us, then? We'll be counting on you, Miss...?"
Yang Xiao Long     Clang, Schrrrrcht clank. Yang's gauntlets unfold with a practiced, purposeful movement of her arms, overlaying her hands and extending all the way up to her elbows. "Don't worry. I'm not gonna go blasting holds in the place." she replies, before offering her left arm out for inspection. The intensity is shrugged off. Exactly something Ruby would say, before she mellowed out a bit at least. "Hunters aren't really 'enlisted' unless they come from Atlas. We're trained, then left unburdened by a single Kingdom's politics. Going where we're needed most... CitySec can handle minor wall breaches, but anything major is an immediate call for all available nearby Hunters to converge and handle the situation." she explains. "We had a major incident a few weeks ago. Seventy Hunters from all four Kingdoms responded as they were in range by Bullhead transport. Had a full blown battle line, but some still managed to break through. The Hunters in Training, plus some of our Multiversal allies..." she pauses and casts a glance over at Yuna, then, before turning back to Licca. "Managed to clean up the stragglers.. still lost a few good people that day though."
Camilla Ulyssa     Camilla doesn't seem to mind if Ciel prefers to eye her swords; she can tell from the formal stance and saluting this is a military-minded person. She's actually surprised there aren't more weapons around the room, really, given everyone here's some sort of monster hunter. Guess they don't like carrying them when not actively on-duty?

    She listens either way. God Eater, she likes the sound of that. Fenrir. Cradle. Arcologies. Aragami-- the monsters, nice, finally something about them. Resistant to damage. Ideal targets, then.

    Yuko the Cheerful tags in, confirming what Ciel is saying. Blood Unit. Unlocking hidden potential, evidently. This got a lot better all of a sudden.

    "Oh, me? It's Camilla."
    The swords behind her, in their single sheath, speak in a flat, smooth male voice, after Camilla does. <Sure, don't introduce me.>
    "That's Asshole."
    <Mars.>
    "Asshole. Just an AI, don't mind it."
    <Him.>
    "It."

    Without skipping a bit, she answers Yuko's question: "Help? We'll see, we'll see! So far the answer's probably yes, as long as those Aragami of yours are fun and challenging. So what's that about hidden potential?" It's unfortunate but Yuko may have just painted a target on her own back with that.
Kutsuuko Shiratori     "Death isn't known for taking no as an answer." Soma replies to Reinhardt in a way that would be cryptic if it weren't dripping with so much 'joke in poor taste'. Kutsuuko rolls her eyes. "Don't worry, they're not going anywhere. And neither is /that/ guy." Soma crosses his arms over his chest, looking away from the suit at the mention of genetics and staring off into the middle distance somewhere else. "Yeah, congratulations mister jackpot. Hope those work out for you. You know how genes are."

    Mutsumi is currently jotting down the list of ingredients Reina spouts off when the Overwatch agent finally arrives, only happy to take a break and get out can of soda with . . . Fenrir's logo on it. There is a theme emerging here. She decides to serve it in a glass anyways though. 'On the rocks', as she says. It's cola and ice. She doesn't even try to shake it up.

    Meanwhole for a twenty nine year old, rugged looking guy picking a seat next to a lady at a bar, Lindow is pretty casually respectful of Mel's space, and it doesn't look like it's just because of the kid. If anything it's the . . . ring, on his left hand, actually. How is that even allowed? "Got a lot of guts then. I'd say I'm not jealous, but in this outfit, you don't get the benefit of schadenfreude." Lindow laughs, almost at a private joke with a German sitting down to join them. What Mutsumi actually mixed up for Lindow in the process of delivering Reina her special, waiting eagerly to see what kind of thing it tastes like, sort of disappears in the exchange. Pretty soon he has a stout glass of something much stronger than beer, which he manages remarkably well despite the hand armour. "One in ten though, that makes you basically a celebrity, right? Do they keep a scoreboard? It's not really any fun if they keep a top ten of that many people, right?"
Reinhardt Wilhelm     Yoink. Reinhardt takes the glass, before he flags down Soma, motioning for the half-German to join him at the bar. Alisa is welcome too as well, so to speak. "So far, I think it's worked out just fine thus far. I'm still working, after all. I might be sixty-one, but I'm not in a museum just yet." He says, knocking back a drink.

    The mention of schadenfruede does draw an amused smirk from Reinhardt, clearly in on whatever Lindow's talking about. "Things might be grim, but there's always at least some glimmer of light even as everything is at its worst. At least in my experience."
Ciel Alencon     Ciel eyes the swords again when they--it, or him--talk. Didn't someone mention a talking sword just a few minutes ago? Though 'AI' and 'magical' seem like they're talking about different things. Or not. Best not make assumptions. She's again looking at Camilla when she speaks, though she glances over toward Yuko before answering. It's probably not going to be the answer she wanted.

    "The Blood Unit was formed of those selected for high potential in developing a new kind of power, to fight the Aragami. There has been one successful development, the man I mentioned earlier. We don't have further details." If it were a known quantity, they wouldn't call it a hidden potential, now would they?
Kutsuuko Shiratori     The lady Ciel has to inform of an absence looks disappointed. More than just professionally too. She turns back to her tablet, tapping away with less enthusiasm than before. "That's a shame. I heard he's great at parties." She only talks over the quiet, digital ticking of her work.

    "I don't think Paylor wants to interrupt with an announcement, but as a matter of fact, there are three special task forces here. Miss Alencon and Minami are from a mobile sub-branch, Friar, under Captain Julius Visconti, with a fourth member to round out their unit somewhere on the pipeline. They comprise Task Force: Blood. I'm not up to date on the specifics, but it's something like an experimental development unit, for new tech and tactics."

    "Our own First Unit have been turned into our local Task Force: Cradle, which is like miss Alencon described. The job they've been given is to find areas where human populations can expand, clear them for habitation, and defend them during construction. It involves going much further into former Japan territory than anyone's seen in a while, so it's an all-veteran team. Nobody knows what kind of Aragami are out there, after all."

    "You all comprise our off-world joint operations Task Force: Threshold, being a volunteer unit tasked with elimination of high value targets and rapid interception of inbound threats that Fenrir can't go after without drawing resources away from all of these new projects. You'll be tasked as hunter-killer cells, on a mission by mission pay scale and separate qualification track." She somehow manages to inform Camilla of that even over the highly unconventional exchange with her own weapons. She isn't dressed nice for no reason, one might suppose.
Kutsuuko Shiratori     "That's insane!" Licca answers Yang, ostensibly in reply to the idea of Hunters being free wheels free of government interference in this dynamic, but ratched up several notches by getting an eyeful of that transformation sequence. She reaches out again, only to hesitate just before grabbing Yang's actual arm, curling her fingers and instead inspecting the ammo feed by looking instead of touching.

    "You'd better not." She cautions redundantly. "Can you really leave something like that up to chance though? I mean, if there were seventy of you guys all in the same area, it doesn't sound like you're lacking for volunteers, but still." She prods at the slide cover. "And you fight those monsters with these?" Flick. Ping.
Mel Brock     Mel takes a swig of her own drink, then turns to lean herself up against the bar while she chats. "Pretty much, yeah. No rankings or anything like that, but all ten of us are household names galaxywide, more or less. Every Marshal has an assigned sector, but the ten of us all go just about wherever they need us. I think I'm the most, uh, well known, though," she adds, looking a little embarrassed. "Probably because I'm the most flashy. All I do is telekinesis, but I do it big." She absently scratches at the strip of technology stuck to the right side of her face, along her jawline. "But honestly, the PsiMarshals look at themselves different than just about any other psychic in the galaxy. Most of them, you get this kinda vibe where they think they're better'n you. We're all cops, first and foremost, and celebrities or psychics or whatever second. Sure as hell didn't pick the job for the pay or the glamor." A quiet snort.
Kutsuuko Shiratori     Kutsuuko finally splits from the others to come and bug the Blood pair, taking an especially long and critical look at the fancy black bracelets. "They still didn't make them any smaller? Everyone's been bitching about that forever, and that's the new model?" Only then does she offer the whole handshake routine, her own uniform at stark contrast with the neo-sleek Blood aesthetic, somehow seeming a little more classical though. "Nice to see you guys though, finally. Hibari's been doing a ton of digging, but you aren't on many records, you know that? You're not rookies, are you?"
Yuko Minami "Camilla and Asshole? That's..." Yuko's smile twitches briefly, and then she breaks out into laughter. "H-how creative! Ah... Sounds like a lovely relationship you two have."

     Is she being sarcastic? Her tone hasn't changed at all aside from that brief bout of laughter. Wiping an eye off, she straightens up a bit before nodding at Camilla firmly. "Oh, don't worry. The Aragami can take plenty of punishment, so you're free to use whatever you want on them as long as you're careful."

     Yuko takes a step back as Ciel explains the purpose of Blood Unit and that hidden potential she referred to, even humming lightly to herself after a few moments. "That just about explains that, mhm! And..." Yuko then waves her hand with a bit of a flourish as Kutsuuko starts to speak, listening in closely after a moment.

     "Threshold... A lovely name, don't you think?"
Heaven's Armory     Things are getting a little more crowded at the bar. Hravn, nursing her drink for the prolonged enjoyment of it, doesn't seem to mind, though she's also not the most talkative, high-BAC'd or not. Svala would be a lot more interested in these sorts of goings-on, though she's at least more sociable than Ari.
    "And I'm glad for that," she adds after Mel's response to Lindow. "If a 'celebrity' had found me, I doubt I'd even let them carry my case." She shrugs, glass still in hand, cryptically adding, "over a rule that can't be bent."
    Oh, but if she doesn't finish the drink, she couldn't very well ask Mutsumi for something else. Best get to that, then.
Kutsuuko Shiratori     Lindow smiles in a really odd way into his drink once Reinhardt has said his piece. It's a kind of inscrutable, far away expression, but not at all an unpleasant, or even particularly reminiscent one. "Yeah. That's my experience. Even if you've got it worse than everyone else, that doesn't mean you just give up, right? Everyone has something to hold out for, even if it's kind of stupid." He scratches the back of his head.

    Alisa seats herself thereafter. As appropriate as vodka would be, Mutsumi doesn't even need to ask before handing her some kind of sweet cider. "You all have your own difficulties, I'm sure. The Captain seems to be drawn to people like that. It's almost like she can't help but find people with the world stacked against them. Besides, if she's wrong about any of you, we'll find out quickly, right?" She then turns to sipping, regarding Mel with a casually critical stare. "Setting an example for others should be important as well though, no? Especially if the public eye is going to be on you anyways." She peers at Hravn as if expecting something in particular.
Camilla Ulyssa     "I do like the sound of that. So each of you Blood Unit folks are a gamble and unique. Heeeeh. Tempting! Think I'll hold off on making that call until I see you in action and weigh it against the Aragami." Time and place for every decision and all that. Camilla looks from Ciel to the lady making the not-so-formal announcement, musing, much like Yuko, that Treshold isn't a bad name. She gets the gist of it, now. Seems this world, much like Eryl's, has it pretty rough.

    "Beggars can't be choosers. I needed a weapon and this spunky Machina is all I could find. I tease him but it's because he really is an asshole." Though while they're on the topic of weapons...

    "So if those Aragami are so dangerous, what do you use to kill them? Probably not your fists. The police had pretty high-grade guns, I'd assume you have even better toys."
Mel Brock     "Hey, don't have too many," Mel says to Hravn, giving the sword a little nudge. "I don't wanna have to carry you back to the ship. Oh, wait." This time, the grin is fairly cheeky.

    This time she turns to address Alisa. "I try to live the example. I'm pretty by-the-book, by personal choice. Sounds corny, but I believe in the system and I respect the office I've been given." She takes a last drink of her mocktail, then adds, "Don't even drink alcohol while I've got the uniform on. I'm a regular stick-in-the-mud."

    Finally, she turns herself on the barstool, seating herself to where she can look out to watch both Yuko and Ciel with curiosity.
Ciel Alencon     "I don't believe there are many differences from the P53 unit." Ciel answers Kutsuuko. 'Apart from the color' is implied. People will just have to keep dealing with having this ungainly thing attached to their wrist, 24/7. Though, 'people' in this case refers to just the handful of members of Blood.

    "I have prior combat experience." Ciel's age is kind of hard to pin down, and God Eaters do often start early, which makes it even more difficult to guess just how much experience that could be, without specifying, "Though less than the veterans here, I'm certain." With Lindow and Soma around, that doesn't specify a lot.

    "I am... pleased to be here, captain." A glance at Yuko, then back to Kutsuuko. "I will aid in whatever capacity our joint orders require."

    Back to Camilla, "'Call'?"
Yang Xiao Long     Yang shrugs. "It works. Hunters are loosely bound to a code of conduct, but mostly left to their own devices." she replies. "Remnant is a tough world to live in, but it's home, so me, Ruby, Weiss and Blake.. and everyone else'll fight to protect it and the people too."

    She grins a bit at Licca flicking the metal slide cover. "Yep. Dual Range Shot Gauntlets. I modified them from a set my Dad used back when he was still in training. They were Impulse Shock Drive Bracers back then..." she seems to realize those terms would mean nothing. "Uh... Ember Celica, here, uses Dust Munitions, I make them myself retooling spent cartridges... the weapon I modified used vials of powder form Dust, fed through circuits in the weapon to add effects to strikes... I'm not all that good at fine Aura manipulation, so the munitions work better for me."
Yuko Minami Turning to Kutsuuko, Yuko breaks into another bout of laughter before shaking her head. "I'm afraid not! It does look pretty stylish with our uniforms, though, doesn't it? Even if it makes it hard to sleep sometimes..." A dramatic shrug, and then she shakes her senior's hand firmly. "A pleasure, Miss Shiratori. I... Well." Yuko straightens out her uniform before continuing. "I... Haven't actually fought any larger Aragami yet. Only simulations, but... It'll be a learning experience when I do, and I'm sure it'll go fine~"

     At least she's not lacking in visible confidence. She turns with a nod to Camilla. "In a way, yes! I hope I live up to everyone's expectations. It'd be great if you could help us anyway, especially since there's so many Aragami out there..." She actually gets a bit of a distant look on her face, then shakes her head after the next question. "Not our fists, no. We've got these weapons called God Arcs that..." Looking from Camilla to Ciel, Yuko hums for a moment before clapping her hands together.

     "... Well, it might be easier to show rather than tell. For now, let's just say they're large, incredibly dangerous, and specially tuned to the Aragami's cell structure!" A pause, and then she taps on her chin. "Although I've heard of people fighting them without God Arcs, too... I'd really like to see that~"
Yuna Kagurazaka Yuna takes a couple of moments to note down whatever contact info Paylor provides for her, and listens to the other discussions going on around her. "Even the simulations are pretty terrifying if you're not used to fighting Aragami," the blonde comments to Yuko. "Still, you *have* been trained, so as long as you don't freak out when a monster the size of those windows tries to take a bite of your everything, you should do pretty well. As for fighting them without God Arcs ..."

Well, Yuna's done THAT herself, hasn't she? "If you want, I could transform for a couple of moments and show you what I use?" she offers. She's just a little hesitant about it, but it's not like she'd need to head out to an armory or anything - Elner *is* right there with her, after all.
Mel Brock     "If you want my advice," Mel calls out to Yuko, "Let me tell you something they hit me with back in training. If you're worried about 'living up to expectations', you're gonna cripple yourself worrying and second-guessing. Focus yourself on 'doing your job', and then try to do it to the best of your ability. Living up to expectations will come on its own if you're doing your job well."
Camilla Ulyssa     "Yeah. Call. Don't worry about it for now!" No answer from military-girl again though. Camilla is already deciding that she likes the cheerful one much more. "As far as it matters right now I'm here to help kick some Aragami in the throat, or whatever they have that looks and feels like a throat. The way you described them it sounds like they could just change their shape at will, if they're just like... colonies of stuff."

    Yuko provides some data at least. "God Arcs is a cool name, either way. Specialized weapons and large, must be impressive to see. And not easy to wield. Not everyone can swing a claymore around, these God Arcs sound bigger and heavier even. Now I'm twice as interested in seeing how you fight!" A pause. "Oh, and seeing an Aragami too. Guess that part's kind of important."

    An idle glance towards Mel, and Camilla actually grins. "I don't say that often, but listen to the cop. Ain't nobody got any right to judge you for what you are or tell you what you have to be. You do you and ignore everyone else."
Ciel Alencon     Ciel turns and nods to Mel, giving Yuko another glance. "I'm certain that we will discover a way to live up to the expectations placed upon us. We were each chosen for a reason, even if Dr. Claudius is the only one with an understanding of that reason." That's the second time that name was mentioned.

    Camilla gets a faint frown, though, given that Ciel hasn't smiled once today, it's not far off her resting expression. She and Yuko make quite the contrast. "God Arcs require a compatibility test, a kind of 'imprinting,' to be used. This injects the Bias Factor, varying between first, second, and third generation God Eaters, that prevents self-cannibalization and... in short, it makes wielding a God Arc possible. They are not possible to lift, otherwise." She pauses, hesitating. "Before opening up to operations with the... Multiverse, the God Arcs were the only weapons capable of causing lasting damage to the Aragami, with some exceptions. It is still strange to think that conventional weaponry could have any effect."
Yuko Minami "They were at first, but... Well, the real thing must be more exciting, then~" Ever the chipper one, Yuko raises an eyebrow curiously at Yuna's offer to demonstrate. "Oh? That /is/ really tempting... Ah, but I wouldn't be able to bring my own gear in, and that wouldn't be very fair."

     She purses her lips, and strokes her chin once more. "Maybe... Well, if you've fought them before, then it wouldn't be as much of a surprise to you as it would to me, right?" Another laugh, and Yuko turns to Mel with a thoughtful hum. "That certainly makes a lot of sense... Yeah, I'd much rather be alive and continue fighting another day than living up to expectations as a dead person." She turns to 'Call' next with another smile that, on closer inspection, might be noticed as looking different from the earlier ones.

     That's good, right? "Oh, they're quite heavy! If we didn't have all the treatments going, I don't think we'd even have a chance at lifting them normally, especially the larger types." She responds to 'Call', then nods at Ciel with another hum and adding "Not that anyone should want to lift someone else's God Arc, of course! Why, they'll try to eat up anyone who isn't their owner. Just... Gobble them right up. Scary, isn't it~?"
Yuna Kagurazaka "I'm not sure I'd call my weapons 'conventional,'" Yuna says to Ciel with a wry grin. She does nod to Yuko, "Fair enough. Maybe we'll hit he field against some Aragami sometime - you'll get to see what I use then."

It occurs to her, the Matrix Divider is SORT of like a God Arc in that it can convert between melee and long-range modes. Heck, she went toe-to-toe (more or less) against Kutsuuko, once upon a time when they were on opposite sides ... That's kind of beside the point, though. And Yuna's not sure she wants to bring up past politics in mixed or unfamiliar company. She should probably talk to her about the details before sharing with others.

"So who's this Dr. Claudius?" Yuna wonders. "Is he the new head researcher or something, or otherwise part of Fenrir's scientific wing?"
Ciel Alencon     "Yes, that's what I meant by 'impossible.' I'm sorry, I haven't had the opportunity to explain these things before, so it might not be clear." Ciel adds, after Yuko. So, they're heavy, but also, they eat you.

    "Dr. Rachel Claudius is a researcher of Friar. She was the selector for all members of our unit, including the captain."
Camilla Ulyssa     "Sounds counter-intuitive to me. Makes you wonder how the first guy to figure out how to make and use one did it. Mustn't have been a pleasant experience." In science, not a lot of first-times go great, admittedly. Especially in the world of weaponry.

    "Anyway, I get it. Dangerous weaponry, only special people can use it, don't touch. If it reassures you I really don't have any interest in a new weapon." A glance at her own swords. Mars isn't especially chatty, and he's not very cooperative, but Fas Rota, the Machina, is reliable like nothing else she knows. Plus it has a certain sentimental value by this point.

    "I definitely look forward to seeing you bunch in action. We'll see if you're all the rage or not! Get a feeling you are, or you wouldn't be standing here, though." She's repeated that quite a lot; by now it's fairly obvious Camilla must adore fighting, or at least, watching fights. You'd have to be pretty dense to miss that. "So, anything else I need to know before the call goes out to kill a beastie? Weak spots, things to avoid?"
Yuko Minami "Ah, as long as it works. No point splitting hairs over those differences, right?" Yuko laughs once again, looking from person to person and weapon to not-weapon. "I'm sure we'll all learn a lot by fighting with each other."

     Leaving the question of the doctor to Ciel, she turns to Camilla with another light hum and counts off her fingers. "Weak spots... It really depends on the Aragami. There's just so many of them, but if stabbing doesn't work? Try slashing it! Or ashing. Or setting it on fire. And avoid..."

     A pause. "... Getting touched? Especially if they're shooting anything."
Yuna Kagurazaka "Ahh," Yuna nods to Ciel. So Dr. Claudius is a she, not a he. Oops.

No harm done though, right?

And she knew (sort of) about not touching a God Arc - that's one thing which relieves her about the Matrix Divider, *it* doesn't try to kill anyone who isn't Yuna and touches it. Although given that she can just will it to disappear when she isn't using it, not as much of a thing.

Then Camilla asks about 'weak spots' and 'things to avoid'. Yuna gives her a wry look and just says, "A lot. I asked them to compile a database for us in a form that Multiversal computers can load and sort; Elner is holding the data for me, but I'm trying to study it myself so I don't always need Elner to get it. It's ..."

She trails off briefly, then sighs and just repeats, "A *lot*," more emphatically than before.
Ciel Alencon     'Any weak spots?' 'Any things to avoid?' Uh...

    "We have classes and databases, but it's usually necessary to listen to the veterans of a deployed force, and if a new strain is encountered, we won't know their weaknesses until they are discovered in combat. If you are connected to our tactical network, you can ask the operator."

    Yeah, it's really that bad.

    "And don't let any part of the Aragami touch you. All of it will try to eat you, along with your weapons."