Scene #8472: The Control Department Welcomes Agent Petra Soroka

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Petra Soroka	About twenty four hours ago, shortly after being rescued from the Infinity Train, Petra wandered over to a postal service in the City to pick up two seemingly mundane envelopes. Addressed to a P.O. box due to the lack of anywhere else they could be sent to, Petra carried the two envelopes as if they were much weightier than they seemed, bringing them across the City into a brick building a few stories high. She said a few nervous words to the woman sitting at the front desk inside the lobby, who then nodded and pulled out a stack of papers from a filing cabinet, laying them across the desk to point at a few spots on a few pages, though most of the sheets were already marked up with Petra's signature. After a little bit of small talk, Petra slid the papers back into a neat pile, carefully opened up one of the envelopes, and withdrew a bundle of bills from inside, laying them on top of the papers. In return, Petra was given the keys to her first apartment. Now, Petra sits on the floor in the completely unfurnished living room, rereading the contents of the second envelope. A few pages of paper just slightly higher quality than printer sheets, enough to lend them gravitas and professionalism, the letter from Lobotomy Corporation is mostly repeating information that she already knew. Welcoming Agent Petra Soroka to the company, reiterating her duties as part of Control Team, emphasizing the confidentiality she's held to regarding L-corp's Singularity. It also contains the results of her mental evaluation, with respect to how it effects her job performance. Like Angela had said, it was four measurements, graded on a five-point scale; the outcome of hours of paper tests and studied cognitive tasks. LOBOTOMY CORPORATION FACE THE FEAR; BUILD THE FUTURE Mental Evaluation Results: New Employee ¶Fortitude: 3 ¶Prudence: 1 ¶Temperance: 1 ¶Justice: EX Wow! Your highest Mental Score is Justice at rank EX! That must mean you're very good at Repression! Petra doesn't know how to feel about that. Eventually, the time comes for Petra to officially start her first day working at L-corp. She bundles up all of her supplies, puts on her company suit for the first time, wearing her bomber jacket comically on top for comfort, and exits the apartment complex. The nearest Warpgate is a short walk away, where Petra punches in the code she's been using for weeks now to access the lower levels of Lobotomy Corporation, and after ten minutes, her commute is over. From the Warpgate inside, it's only a few corners and hallways until Petra gets to the main meeting room for the Control Department. After a deep breath, she finally pushes the door open.
Angela	Captain Rook is one of the most capable Agents in the main branch--having been a Rank 2 Agent before joining the Wing--most Agents don't have prior combat experience and have to rely wholly on their EGOs. And sometimes that's enough. One thing that he wasn't expecting to have to do with his expertise was to prepare for a welcome party. Typically Agents don't go to that kind of trouble because any new Agent is significantly more likely to die than an experienced one (and the experienced Agent survival rate isn't exactly perfect either). Cinder, on the other hand, is a new Agent herself but has been doing pretty damn well ever since Petra rescued her. She is more motivated than she ever was as a Clerk and has even managed to perform enough works and train up that the manager elected to allow her an EGO. She is the rare MOTIVATED and even OPTIMISTIC employee. And so she mentioned to the Captain that they should prepare for Petra's first day and make a good impression because she's the first Outsider they'll have as an employee! Rook was hesitant but ultimately--there was something he wanted to mention to Petra and maybe he could make an opportunity for it. When Petra arrives in the Control Team's Lounge, numerous party poppers go off as Rook, Yuri, and Cinder pull on the string, sending confetti bursting into the air. A banner with the words WELCOME TO L-CORP PETRA!!! is hanging above and they even set out a chocolate cake on a table with one candle on it that has the word WELCOME on it written in yellow frosting. "Welcome to L Corp!" Cinder beams and runs over to give Petra a hug. "Eeheheh! I'm so glad you decided to join us!" Yuri smiles and is content with offering a hi-five. "It's been real interesting since you've started coming by." "Let's be careful to not feel too invincible here. Carelessness is more dangerous than incompetence here." Rook says, the effect ruined somewhat by the fact that he's wearing a party cone hat in place of the bakuran he used to wear (Yuri and Cinder are also wearing these). Also despite saying this, Rook offers Petra one such hat as well. It has polka dots on it. "But glad to have you on board." MEANWHILE Angela is in her office, watching the monitors. Her eyes trail onto the welcome banner. ...She wishes she could go!! Angela presses her lips tightly against one another in consternation--if she went back down herself it would be a breach of the protocol that Petra asked for. Maybe she can have a perfectly reasonable and neutral way to participate. Hmmmmmmm. <==== TO BE CONTINUED?!
Petra Soroka	Petra opens the meeting room door expecting... well, expecting the atmosphere of a capital J Job. She isn't sure what that looks like-- despite close to a year of Elite work, Petra has never actually been employed in her life, but she assumes it's meant to be serious, and businesslike. This assumption, submerged in anxious feelings about professionalism and expectations, is strong enough to even outweigh the fact that Petra has been to Lobotomy Corporation many times before, and has interacted with its employees regularly ever since she met Angela. So when she's greeted by a chorus of party poppers instead of a vague assumption of people sitting at a long table looking at a powerpoint presentation, Petra is taken so off guard that she shrieks and brings her hands up to cover her face. When Cinder rushes in for a hug, Petra's elbows are pinned against her chest, removing the stressful decision of whether to hug her in return or not. With her hand scrunched up beside her face, Petra feebly matches Yuri's hi-five, looking wide-eyed at Justin. "--Eh? Wh-- a party? Everyone?" Even with everyone welcoming her, Petra doesn't seem to fully process what's happening until her gaze slides across the banner and falls to the cake, still holding her forearms tight to her chest like there's a gun pointed at her, even if Cinder releases the hug early. After a few seconds of silence, Petra's eyes start glittering as metallic tears well up and start spilling over. "W-wait, f-for me? Th-that's, that's, this is--" Petra covers her mouth and nose with her hands, and awkwardly giggles, electroplated tear tracks sparkling down her face. "I-- awww, thank you, I--" Petra wipes at her eye with one hand, taking the hat from Justin with the other. "Sorry, sorry, I'm just-- a little overwhelmed. Thank you guys. I'm glad to-- to be here, with you." The fact that she glances at Cinder specifically when she says that feels a little less coincidental than usual.
Angela	Lobotomy Corp - Still Better Than An Office Job. Cinder holds the hug long enough to look back to Rook and wrinkle her nose at him when he is all serious about things--though it's a jokey sort of reaction rather than truly being upset. She even sticks her tongue out a little. "Yeah yeah I'm the pooper." Rook says. "But let's not overwhelm 'er alright?" Cinder does let go at about this point. She somehow seems happier to see Petra every time they have a run-in but she may have some lingering Determination from the Infinity Train encouraging her here. She's still pretty upset about how Kale was talking about her (Lobotomy Corp continues to be oblivious to Petra's past actions). "Hope it isn't too much, you're from the Outside and all and I thought maybe you'd want to feel welcome." "The poppers were my idea." Yuri says, embodying chill. "Sorry if they spooked ya." Justin, grimly, "I got the cake. Cinder set up the banner. Actually there was something I wanted to speak with you about later if you've got the time, something I noticed during the Meltdown--" But before he can get further into it... Petra's pad lights up, Angela's face appearing on it (she could not resist. "Ah, you have arrived Miss Soraka." Angela says neutrally while looking at Rook. "I thought it would be pertinent to welcome you to L Corp as well but it seems you have quite the welcome already." There is a brief pause before-- "Hey Angela! Welcome to the party!" Cinder chirps. "I was wondering if you were gonna be able to make it." Angela, caught off guard by this from CINDER, is struck silent.
Petra Soroka	Petra hiccups, trying to steady herself while affixing the party hat on top of her head. "N-no, it's not too much, I'm-- I'm not s-spooked, or anything. This is good. Thabnk you." Petra awkwardly untangles herself from Cinder to amble closer to the table with the cake, looking down at it before glancing up to Justin, finding a little bit of stability in his immediately task-based topic. "O-oh, yeah, Cinder said you had something you wanted to--" When Petra's pad beeps to warn of Angela's arrival, Petra leans over to look down at her jacket. She gives a little wave to the tiny Angela in her pocket, face breaking out into a goofy smile. "Angela! Yeah, Cinder and Yuri and Justin set up this party for me, I guess." She rubs at her eye again, the tears finally having stopped. "And even though I'm an agent now-- and, you know, I don't take back the other stuff I said about that-- you can still call me Petra. I prefer that. From all of you, too." Cinder is the second of two L-corp employees who have treated Angela decently, that Petra has seen, which earns her another cheerful little smile. Then Petra pouts thoughtfully and looks down at the tablet again. "Though-- should I be referring to you any differently? Since you're my superior here?" Petra has not yet extended the same consideration to Captain Rook, who she staunchly refers to as Justin. "It occurs to me that, though I know something of what this corporation does, I have not asked after the meaning of its name." "Ms. Soroka, would you mind asking Ms. Angela the same question, when you next see her?" Unease stirs in Petra's stomach, scorching hot and feeling like it's parching her throat dry. If Angela turned off the tablet now, even if it was just for a moment while she walked over to the room in person, wouldn't Petra die? At her own welcome party? In front of the cake? Though, she considers, Tamamo didn't even technically ask a question, she only implied that she wanted to know, so maybe Petra wasn't magically forced to do anything here. She asks anyways, blurting it out with a shaky voice. "Oh, right, Angela, seeing you reminds me, th-that Tamamo, wanted to know. Why's Lobotomy Corporation called that?" Why take chances, even if it makes her look a little stupid?
Angela	Rook will let Petra blow out the candle if she wants but will start getting on cutting slices for everyone. He has gone a bit quiet since Angela's arrival (what he has to say is related) but he honestly isn't sure if it's something he can say or can't--but he does feel it's something he should try to get Petra alone about--if it's dangerous, he doesn't want Cinder and Yuri getting caught up in it--but if it's important, Petra should know. Angela had chiefly shifted to 'Miss Soraka' since she believed that Petra would have preferred that over signs of familiarity so it's easy to get Angela to give in on this one. "Very well, Petra. Thank you for clearing that up." Should Petra be referring to HER any differently while on the clock? "There does not seem to be a unified way people refer to me. Angela is just fine for me, if you wish to be formal Miss Angela or Lady Angela has been used by some of the Sephirah." If Justin knew Matthew Rook he'd probably be a bit a little more lenient with people calling him Justin. After the meeting with SONG he hasn't really pushed back on folks who call him Justin as hard as he might have otherwise but that's likely out of politics rather than comfort. Angela is in fact about to blink back out--she suddenly got the instinct maybe she was being too forward with Petra? Angela is really trying her best o follow Lilian's 'Relax' command but it might be some time before she really knows what's up. Fortunately Cinder says, "Stick around, okay, Angela? It's important to be at your friend's parties--Sure think Petra!" "You got it boss." Yuri snaps a two fingered salute. "Yeah sure though you all know I'm the boss right...?" Rook says, the word balloon essentially small and in the background despite being right there with the cake. This all gives Petra enough time to pass on Tamamo's question. "Ah." Angela says. "Numerous reasons. Some of which are confidential to Agents but I can at least start to get into it if you'd like." Angela faux-clears her throat to signal that she's going from party Angela to work Angela for a moment. "We draw a substance called Enkephalin from the Abnormalities we contain here. The name, as the Dame Commander had noted, is also a kind of neural compound. We extract that substance from the Abnormalities and convert it to power. That is one of the reasons why we are called Lobotomy Corporation. And of course, it is well known at this point that the Sephirah were originally human beings whose brains were transplanted into robotic shells. So that is a second reason."
Petra Soroka	Petra considers whether she wants to call Angela 'Lady Angela' while on the clock. Almost instantaneously, Petra's mind wanders instead to the idea of calling Lilian 'Lady Rook', and she stands there for a few seconds dazed and silent, her eyes vacant. "What? Oh. Um. J-just Angela, then. Same as normal." Petra doesn't lean over to blow out the candle, because she feels deeply unsure about whether she's supposed to do that and prefers to stand upright instead. She does take a slice of cake once Justin offers it to her, taking the pad out of her pocket to prop it upright on the table so that her view of it isn't blocked by the plate. She takes a demure forkful of cake, chewing through it slowly while listening to Angela's explanation. "That makes sense. That's probably enough for Tamamo, though I can ask you again later if-- wait, I'm an agent now, nevermind." Petra herself is terrible at keeping up her intended presentation of being a normal agent, rather than a favorite of Angela. While working her way through the cake, alarmingly quickly for how small each of her bites is, Petra takes a look around the room. "You know, You're both new too, relatively, right, Yuri, Cinder? What other agents are around in Control team, if all three of us besides Justin are new? Did something happen?"
Angela	Justin Rook takes the candle out himself and blows it out before tossing it in a bin. He cuts out the slices of cake and uses a fork to push them onto the plates. Everybody gets one, except for Angela. Then eventually Rook decides it's more awkward if he doesn't put out a slice for Angela too which he does so even though Angela isn't in the room and cannot possibly eat the cake. And could not eat the cake even if she was in the room. The awkwardness between Angela and Petra trying to be friends and boss/employee at the same time is palpable but Angela ultimately says, "Do not stress out about it. We also extract EGO Gear through the same method. You will likely receive one in short order. I would warn you that the EGO Gear sometimes 'speaks' to you at high affinity, but your abilities seem an adequate counter to that sort of influence. There are some philisophical elements as well that I would not wish to spoil your welcome party with." Also it's just best if the Agents don't know about that shit since they might try to do something about it if they knew. Cinder has this habit of curling over her food like she expects a bird to get at it that seems more habitual than anything while Yuri cuts hers up into many small pieces before she even gets started. Rook, of course, just shove a fork in there, lifts the whole cake up, and takes a bit that way. He's easily the fastest eater of the crew here. "I'm the second newest but not by much--Yuri joined like a couple days after I did. And I er-- was promoted up from Clerk so I'm not NEW new but I'm new at being an Agent." Cinder explains. "I was brought in from a branch office but I was an Agent then too--still pretty new but they didn't give me any gear due to the kind of Abnormality I was handling. Since spots opened up in the Control Team they transfered me over here using the Warpgates. Luckily I got a travel pass..." Justin is slower to respond. "Ah," He says, not quite wholly obscuring that he's a little down about it. "Ya-Boy and Parker got moved to different teams. Random's still here but had work. They should come by a little later though they might miss the cake."
Petra Soroka	Petra looks at the cake placed in front of the tablet, and her lips twitch. Isn't that just kind of patronizing her? And Justin's attitude towards Angela has been questionable at best, too. Petra briefly wishes she could do the same thing for Angela that Lilian had done, to unequivocally show her that she belonged at the welcome party. Tilting her head at Cinder, while going in for a second slice of cake, Petra says cheerfully, "Well-- you're the third newest now, since I'm here! That means--" Petra stumbles over her words again, reaching for something to say. This keeps happening around Cinder, and Petra has no idea why. Petra fumbles her way into an awkward half-smile, with enough dorkiness behind it to be sort of endearing, but still sincere to the point of being a little embarrassing. "That means you're the most senior one here! I'll be relying on your expertise, so teach me everything you know!" Petra considers the fact that branch offices exist, something that she hadn't thought about before. Other than that, she accepts Yuri's explanation without question. "So I guess I'm the only real new employee at the company, then, right? I wonder what E.G.O. gear I'll get...."Petra can't bring herself to be as attentive about Justin's melancholy as she would be someone else's. She nods at his mention that 'they' will be coming by-- she assumes, automatically, that the plural pronoun refers to all three of the agents he mentioned. Outside of this room, the facility reeks of blood and bleach, and agents could be dying at this very moment. Containment cells are filled with horrors that demand physical or emotional blood to be sated, all for the sake of a brutally uncompromising energy quota. The Sephirah are nightmare fuel, and cogs in a plan that Petra can't fully understand, with so much weight and despair baked into it that it makes her feel sick and alienated just to think about it. But right now Petra is happy. She finishes off her second slice of cake, and puts the paper plate down next to Angela's tablet. "This-- this was a really nice welcome, everyone. I really look forwards to working-- with you all, Cinder, Angela, Yuri, Justin. I'll..." A little bit of emotional vulnerability slips out, unexpectedly to Petra. "This is actually my first job. Like, in all the multiverse. So I'll do my best."
Angela	Justin Rook HAS been a little weird around Angela but it's hard to tell why exactly. It doesn't seem to be racism--there's no disgust in his features when looking at her, there's just this sense of unease he can't entirely obscure. He hasn't commented on it--is it about what he wanted to talk to Petra privately? ''That means you're the most senior one here!'' "Oi." Rook says. But he actually smiles this time. "Nah all good, she knows what she's doin'." It actually does perk him up a little to see the team getting along so well. He'll definitely miss Parker (Ya-Boy ... exists) but she's been made Captain of the Extraction Team and he can't get too upset at a promotion like that even if it means he'll be lucky to see her anytime soon. Agents sent to Extraction don't...usually leave Extraction. Angela's gaze shifts towards Cinder like she's trying to evaluate whether she is GOOD ENOUGH to be a Petra-friend. Angela tends to run cold so she's just staring at the moment. Cinder doesn't get flustered but her cheeks do redden at the extra attention on her. "W..well I'll happily tell you all I know about the Abnormalities I've worked on. And I'm sure you'll get an EGO in no time and--if you have any questions about THAT, I could answer..some of them? But they usually help toughen you up--sometimes even mentally--against the Abnormalities out there. Might be useful outside of them too, it's helped me in that fight against those Shadaloo guys for usre." Frankly she wonders what EGO gear Petra will get too but she has no idea. She is sure it'll probably be from someting badass though--not just because Petra is likely to earn an EGO gear set like that but it's also true that it's more efficient to properly outfit your capable agents than gear up the ones that are already flagging. She knows Lobotomy Corporation well enough to understand that. She gets that something is going on with Angela even if she's not sure what and is a little curious about how that's gonna pan out. She definitely seemed more concerned about Petra than she normally would have been. It is true that this is a hellish place to work and even the sweeties of the Control Team can't obscure that truth forever. Eventually, Lobotomy Corp's daily life will assert itself and Petra will have to deal with that as any other Agent--even if Angela was inclined to look out for her, it's ultimately the Manager who decides who works each Abnormality and when--Angela might be able to fudge things but she can't decide it all on her own. And eventually there will be another Meltdown and Angela won't be able to do anything but worry. But another truth of the Company is that even in a place like this, friendships are formed, bonds are forged, and people still find ways to care and look out for one another. Even here, we have each other Neither the City nor L-Corp has eradicated that concept yet. Angela doesn't smile, but her eyes--during this party--seem strangely warmer despite their metallic color. "I hope..." Angela says carefully. "...That you can thrive in this environment." She wanted to be honest and true and kind without obscuring the truths with pretty bullshit. LATER After the party is over, and Angela's pad is turned off once more--Justin Rook catches Petra in a position where the cameras can't see them. He flags her down with a wave of the hand and is quick about it. He does not have time. "Hey--I don't know if the rumor's true or not but you're the only person I can tell this too," He murmurs to her. "But during the last Meltdown I broke into the Manager's office and saw something I think you should know about." He takes a quick look around and after confirming nobody is spying on the conversation he whispers to Petra.
Angela	"The Manager X and Angela. They have the same eyes. They look like they could be... Well you get it. Be careful, okay? Radio me if you got questions--I can find a spot where I can keep it private." And then he moves on just as quickly.