Meeting at the Citadel

[Kauket]

The drone piqued up, tapping away into its little pad,

"Affirmative. Proceed to the arrivals processing. You will be guided to the meeting room after decontamination. "

It gestured towards the airlock behind itself.


Upon approach, you would notice a black window upon the wall. A feminine voice was heard through a tanoy, chiming in with a slight fizzle as it came to life, speaking to the guests.

"Hello! And welcome to the Citadel! Please stand by as we run the decontamination process. Don't worry, the air is just being cycled to the main atmospherics and your vitals are taken to make sure everything is alright, mainly to ensure that you are deionized and that you are well before proceeding. The process is entirely harmless. Please stand by, the door will open momentarily. "

The microphone cut out, ending with a fuzz of white noise for a moment. The door behind them shuts.

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ARRIVALS - PRIVATELY BEHIND THE SCREENING OFFICE... 9:15 AM

Behind the scenes. The scanning technician was tapping away into their diagnostics console. A blip came up on their sensors, giving them an alert on their displays. The technician hovered their hand over to the silent alarm switch, commenting as they were reaching over to flip the switch. Their wrist was immediately clamped by their supervisor, as they were about to call in on their communication device.

"... Oh f-, we got a XB contaminant. Requesting imme-"

"Negative! Disregard. It's the Fae guests. Mark it as a null entry. "

The technician yanked their hand away, peering up to their comrade in confusion, "Fae? "

"Pay more attention to your PDA, the Directora-" the supervisor sighed in disappointment, "Just go inform Cohort on the comms' that their Fae guests arrived. Quickly now."

"Sorry Sir. So much for taking a toilet break. I suppose it does explain why we're on orange alert... " the technician grumbled, tapping away hastily into their terminal to their peers regarding the arrivals.

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OUTSIDE THE SCREENING... 9:16 AM

The scan was quick and brief, the room had turned dim for a moment as the proceedure initiated. A heavy click was heard, the doors would open after the clamps released, grinding the heavy metallic doors open.

What awaited for the guests was a squadron of still figurines cladded in armor. They stood before the door, eagerly awaiting the new arrivals in tight formation, immediately standing at attention. It seemed that they only just arrived. One figure stood out in the middle of them all, their armor stood out differently from the rest. More cladded. They stepped forward, proceeding to speak out in a heavily synthetic voice.

"Good morning. I am Captain Myron, your escort for tonight. The Science Board did not expect you this early, we must extend our apologies for any delays. You must take these pass cards for clearance."

He would grab out several key cards on a lanyard, permitting the guests to opt for either wearing it around their necks or clipping it to their belt to display it.

"We will be proceeding to the meeting room now. "

After relinquishing the pass cards, he retained a grip upon his rifle. He lead the way, the first two soldiers fell in line, maintaining a column formation to encase the guests for protection. The last two rows mechanically fell in line, marching in synchronization behind, and beside the enigmatic new guests.

The interior of the facility, as they walked through the first few corridors and turns into a large courtyard complex, had appeared to be made for interests of a market place for visitors. It was relatively quiet, at least for comparison standards with a Libertarian commercial block. The odd few commercial crew can be seen trailing their container goods on a hover cart down another hallway. A few travellers can be seen entering the entertainment district, or a few weary travellers chatting to a vendor.

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ONE LENGTHY WALK UPSTAIRS LATER... 9:28 AM

The group had traversed higher and higher up the levels, the interiors of the station became dimmer and more bleached of essence, appearing as a sort of a depressed dark blue, a rough metal surface upon brief inspection. A variety of subtle droning sounds could be heard throughout the levels, the signs of a synthetic heart beat of mechanical innards, the sound of electricity producing those soft hums. After what appeared to be an eternal ten minutes, they reached a new department. The shift of atmosphere was sudden. White walls. White tiles. Cyan accents. The stereotypical set up for a sterile environment. It was clearly a scientific department. Though the air was rather chilly than usual room temperature for some reason.

"Through here. "

Myron approached the frosted glass doors presented ahead of the group, waving his hand over what appears to be a scanner. He opened the doors, holding it open for them. Through there, was a conference room, where several persons were present at the table. An older man embellished in a white robe. A female, with their cybernetic right eye and navy blue jump suit. An android, encased in a white humanoid husk.


The female spoke up, leaning against the desk with their elbows rested against it, grasping her hands together. "Talk about an early bird in the morning, hm, Nympth?" - She jested, whilst dismissing the guards, waving them off. The Captain nodded, stepping out of the room.

When she spoke up, Juliette could immediately recognise her as Revenant. Though her skin complexion didn't appear as invigorating from the last communication. Something had clearly happened.

That something was entirely known to the illusive a man in a suit: It was the previous Guildmater from the other night. The Dreamer could see it as bright as day. Her "curse" was worsened by proximity of the Nomad major mindnodes. They were dying, the psychic scarring of a destroyed mindlink remained. Though the past connection with that Nomad was years gone, the scarring had left a sense of sympathy, a perspective of understanding, within her. Melia was also aware of this 'curse', it would not take much for the Vagrant delegation to put two and two together, if one was observant with a keen eye for detail.

She was compromised with a conscious bias without realisation, with the Technocracy's most dangerous enemy and the Nomads greatest tool: Cognitive Dissonance. The others at the meeting were not as relaxed as she was, or perhaps it was not relaxation, but apathy to fate. Despite this, a sensation of obscurity may be sensed within her as she subtly remained within a defensive state of mind. Some tension can be sensed with the others, for sure that there were thoughts of uncertainty. Despite all their philosophy surrounding controlling one's emotions, fear is still a motivator for survival.

She gestured to the chairs, "Please. Do take a seat. Allow me to introduce ourselves; I am Keeper Revenant, the figurehead of the Directorate. Beside me is Science Advisor Zaharias... "

"A pleasure to meet you." the older man spoke calmly.

"Administrator Audax." The younger Administrator simply nodded.

"...And lastly, Chief Science Officer Iossif" She gestured to the android. It briefly bowed its head in a cordial manner.


She continued on, analysing the new comers. For a brief moment, she locked onto the enigmatic indifferent male, momentarily tensing her only undamaged eye for those subtle few miliseconds to evaluate him and his body language, simply finding him odd. She returned her gaze to Nympth, inquiring,

"I believe you wanted to find something?"

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