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The following has been recorded for internal security purposes, as outlined by paragraph 234 of the AeonCorp employee handbook, section 3.
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AeonCorp high-rise: Hathor, Mars. 1900 Sol standard time:
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“So you have the final list of applicants?”

“Yes sir. I have to say though; they are quite the plucky group”

“Plucky?”

“Sorry sir, old earth slang. But the groups do look rather capable. They did make it through the interviews after all.”

“And the physical tests?”

“They performed admirably”

“That’s good to know. We’re using up a lot of capital on this project, and I would be upset if it failed”

“That’s a bit of an understatement”

“It’s a Venusian thing”

“Ah…”

“Right. Let me see the profiles”

“Of course. I trust you will find them satisfactory”

“Hrmmmm. The Captain’s history seems a little suspect”

“But he is a good leader sir. Knows his way around people. And he is mentally sound, that’s an asset out there in the black.”

“I suppose, I have problems with anyone who was in the ID. They’ve given us too much trouble over the past few years”

“Agreed sir, but this crew isn’t necessarily loyal to the ID, even if some of them have worked for them.”

“True, but still… Something seems wrong about this mission.”

“Wrong sir?”

“I can’t really explain it, it’s just a feeling”

“Feelings don’t influence the stockholders sir.”

“Nothing ever does”

“I take it the crew is adequate?”

“… Yes”

“Good, now would you like your 7:05 appointment sent in?”

“It couldn’t hurt”

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“All right! Is everyone seated?” said the AeonCorp representative in front of you with a sickeningly sweet voice. She was wearing a faded blue shirt and skirt combination, along with a tiny stylized hat of the same color that perched on her bleached blonde hair. Her skin was a light peach color, except for around her temples were stainless steel communications implants could be seen. She looked around the room expectantly at the seated crew of the Intrepid, as if perhaps she was expecting something else amongst the crowd.

The room itself was a small dome. In the center of the circular room was a large holographic emitter surrounded by maybe fifteen feet of empty space. Around that were rows of chairs where the present crew of the Intrepid sat. Each of the crew members were dressed differently, but each had a picture I.D. card dangling from somewhere on their body. You notice that the crew seems to be quite the collection of humanities genetic variance.

The AeonCorp representative smiled and clasped her hands together “OK!” She said ecstatically as the implants in her temples lit up with a light green glow. The lights in the conference room dimmed around you, and a holographic display of the Solar system came into view. On it, streams of data could be seen as a layout of the Intrepid’s flight plan could be seen.

“So all right everyone. You all know the basic flight plan as detailed in your company sponsored comlinks. Engineering staff has access to technical data m’kay?” She brushed back one of her long bangs with a finger “AeonCorp reminds you that your comlinks are the best source for all emergency information during the mission”

A little part of you mind notices that this had all been gone over before back in the official briefing room. For a few moments you begin to wonder about the repetition, and then you notice the hovering news drones flitting about the conference room. Well, that answered that question.

“This is going to be a 3 year round trip to the Alpha Centarui system, wherein your mission will be to collect data, and explore the various planets of that Solar system. On the completion of you mission the Intrepid will return to the Mars station, and paychecks will be interested. AeonCorp is not responsible for any injuries that occur during the mission. “ She said. This speech was really quite poor. There must have been a more public conference before this one, probably with the AeonCorp CEO. This one was most likely to just to get a few sound bites from the crew.

“So we’re going to be dividing the crew into three groups. On your AeonCorp issued ID badge you will see a marking of either A, B, or C. This is your shift on the Intrepid. Don’t loose them, they’re awfully hard to replace” She giggled a bit at the last bit. You can hear a few groans from the seats behind you.

“Each shift is going to cover a month of space travel. This is designed for some of the scientists to get some experiments done and for engineering to monitor the FTL drive. On the arrival at Alpha Centauri, all the shifts will become active excepting unforeseen circumstances”

“We at AeonCorp would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of you. Now, In about three hours Station Security will be by to escort you too your posts on the ship. Feel free to mingle as you wait” She blinked and the lights once again came back to their full brightness. The holographic image stayed, but was now replaced by a stream of AeonCorp sponsored ads. “So on Behalf of AeonCorp. Bon Voyage!” She waved and left the room.

Around you, people began to slowly talk, until the entire room became a dull roar of conversation.



((And we’re off! Mingle about and talk if you would so like. If you want information about certain parts of the setting or just information, bring it up in the OCC or PM me and I’ll take care of it right away ))

Carla rose up from the chair she had been sitting on during the surprisingly short briefing. She nursed the base of her tail and threw a damning look at the cheap plastic chair.

Cheap peice of [censored], doesn't even have a hole for my tail. That's gonna smart for a bit

"Well, what do you make of all that then Fluffy" came the familiar voice of Carla's mentor, co-pilot and good friend, Rouke.

"Meh" Carla remarked "Can't say I was paying that much attention" she said removing her headphones that had been blasting heavy music into her ears for most of the meeting.

Rouke laughed. "I'd thought you'd have grown out of listen to that stuff by now" he said with a sly smile.

"Quiet old man" Carla replied playfully. "Well" she sighed "I guess I'll have to go meet my 'crew'." she continued making quotation marks with her fingers. Rouke nodding in response. They began to part, going towards their separate groups. "At least I can get away from being called Fluffy" she called after him. That nick name had stuck and despite it being cute didn't do a lot for her rep as a serious pilot.

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure" Rouke called after her flashing her a playful wink.

Carla looked down at her name I.D. and read it aloud "Fluffy". She groaned and ran her hand through her hair in frustration. She couldn't help but smile though, he was a sly old dog.

Coming to her group Carla began looking for the captain. She always thought it was best to know who your working for first. She had to edge around the massive frame of an Upper Europian. From outside the group it would have looked rather amusing. the Upper Europian barely noticed her tiny frame as he stood almost 2 clean feet above the younger Prowler. Spotting the captain Carla pushed her way past an old man to get to him.

"Carla Kollet reporting for duty" She said extending her hand to him in a hope he would shake it. "I'm looking forward to this mission, and serving under you" She added kissing arse.

Meanwhile Rose stood and looked around. The young vixen scientist studied everything and everyone in the room, making note of the representative's additude. Too spunky to be real unless influenced by some sort of bribe or drug she thought. She started walking around and made note of who was who around her, her boots making light thumps on the floor. Her tail swished in anticipation as all she could think about was making her brother well. Her eyes shimmered with light tears of frustration but she quickly held them back. Wouldn't help to cry now she chided herself.

John leaned against the back wall, the cheap chairs were nowhere near strong enough to support his weight. Looking over the group he would be sharing a ship with for three years he thought it was better than anything else he could find. At least he wouldn't have to deal with all the insults of being the way he was from a large amount of people. Seeing several trans-humans a small smile came to his half crystalline face. "At least I won't be the only non-human on the ship." He started to walk towards the captain to get the introductions over and done with as soon as possible. His steps made heavy thumping sounds as he walked towards the captain. John looked down at the small cat like Carla with his crystal eye as he stepped next to her, then looking back at Leroy. "John Matthew, electronics and programming expert." He went to shake the mans hand but mistakenly started to raise his left hand which was completely crystal at the two of them could see. Lowering his hand at their reaction he used his other hand, which seeming normal has several areas that were the deep blue crystal. As Leroy shook hands with him he noticed that his grip was unusually cold and hard.

Hsaruko stood and stretched with a hand to her lower back, sore from sitting in the poorly designed chair. Her tail flicked out from in between her legs by its own volition, naturally wanting to sway gently back and forth when at rest. She glanced down at her I.D. and saw the 'A' printed near her name, which was, surprisingly, spelled correctly. Not that anyone pronounces it right anyways. It's always "Haruko this" and "Sharuko that." How hard is it really?

She bent down and grabbed her PDA, which she'd stowed under the chair during the briefing. As she stood, Hsaruko bumped a young, mustelid-looking man passing by. "Are you on B shift by any chance, Miss?" He held up an I.D. badge reading 'Itachi Satori - B.'

"Nope," She replied, showing her own badge, "I'm on the A shift." The man excused himself with a curt bow and moved on to another person; a shift-mate, judging from their reactions to one another. Hsaruko flicked her wrist, and the screen of her PDA slid out from where it had been hidden. Touching the screen lightly, she sorted through the schematics of the Intrepid, noting anything important. I've got three hours to waste; with any luck I'll have the entire ship memorized before I even set foot on board. She set to pacing very slowly back and forth a few steps in either direction.

Reaching down and grabbing his breifcase, Dr. Ivin stands up and approaches the appointed captain. "Sir, Where do you want me to set up? I have all my equipment, together and ready to go. Oh, I'm Dr. Stewart Ivin, nice to meet you sir" he says flashing his ID tag.

Rose soon found the captain as well and reported herself. "Captain, Rose Midna reporting for duty sir." She flashed her tag and made a stiff formal bow as custom by her people when addressing someone of higher rank. Her voice held a firm but quiet note in it, yet her eyes held confidence.

Rick had been leaning back in the chair during the whole speech, his arse nearly sliding off the uncomfortable chair. When it finished, he instantly stood up and stretched. Right now, his legs were pretty uncomfortable considering he came a big earlier than most of the other people in the room. When he was done, he looked around the room, seeing if he could fin the description of the captain. He easily found him, considering a lot of people were crowding around him,Hm, I wonder which one of them I'll be working with...Eh, I hope they arn't total [censored]s. He watched them, not actually deciding to get up since the capain actullay looked dazed, and he looked around for someone to talk to other then the captain. He couldn't find anyone that hadn't went to the captain or was paying attention to him. He stood up, grabbing his case, and moved over to the huddle if people.

Lucien:
I emerge from a large bucket at the end of a row of chairs. I stand myself up, so my mantle is at about head level for average humans (less likely to be stepped on this way).

I don't so much turn, as rotate toward Itachi, who happened to be sitting at the end of the row next to my bucket. With my beak concealed beneath my mantle, the voice is a bit directionless - but is inhuman enuf that you have no trouble identifying me as the source. "I hope you don't think it unduly forward, but I noticed you seem to have some otter genetics. Did you bring a pool in your weight allowance?"

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Gregory:
When the presentation finishes, I look to my left and right, and notice that I'm flanked by wolves. "With the proportion of people having tails, you'd think they'd have picked better chairs." I stand up to free my own, mechanical, tail. "How'd you get roped into this mission?"

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Meadow:
When the presenter concludes, I look up briefly - just a perfunctory glance to feign attention. A few moments later, I finish typing and close my laptop. I stand up and look around, but everyone is quite a bit taller than me, so I stand on my chair. Now I can look around the room, but I'm still short enuf that I don't stick out.

I spot Itachi from across the room and squeeze thru the crowd to get to him. "Excuse me, are you Itachi Satori? I'm Meadow Shrike. I read your thesis, and heard you're working on some sort of autonomous terraforming machine?"

Itachi was surprised momentarily by the voice next to him, but quickly regained his composure, giving a slight bow towards Lucien. "I didn't, I'm afraid; My personal desires come second to my work - unfortunately - and my work consumes my weight allowance much like a black hole." Itachi sighed lightly; a pool would have been nice, had the X-3 not taken up more than its fair share of space.

"I must say, I've never had the chance to meet a being like yourself. It's a shame we're not on the same shift, you and I; I imagine I could learn a great deal about you, though I'm afraid I'm not terribly interesting..." Itachi heard a voice coming from below his shoulder - an uncommon occurrence for him - and turned to face the strangely-wispy woman who had spoken, giving another bow.

He was used to being popular throughout his life, though admittedly it was rarely for professional discussion, so this was a nice break from the norm. "You've read my thesis? Oh, dear. I'm terribly sorry; it must have bored you to tears... I believe I've read some of your own works, Miss Shrike, and though I don't necessarily agree with you on a number of things, I can't deny the efficiency of many of your proposals."

Itachi smiled genuinely, happy to be able to talk to someone about his passion, "When we get to the ship, mayhap I will show you the machine, if you've time to spare. Not the actual one, mind you," he said hurriedly, "that'll be locked down, I think. I'll show you the scale version I'll be using for testing, though."

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Hsaruko heard the voice of the old man nearby, and figured he was addressing her, so she turned to face, making sure he was looking in her direction to be sure that he had meant her. She gestured towards herself and spoke with a deep, though not severe, accent, "Represent Relicor Foundation," she pointed towards him this time, "How roped in?"


((Were you talking to someone specific, G.O., or was answering up for grabs? Hsaruko's accent is almost Russian, FYI, and when she speaks, she rarely uses nouns or pronouns as she should, which will lead to abridged sentences sometimes.))

Leroy had been paying somewhat of a dazed half-attention to the announcements, having heard all of it before during his orientation, instead favoring daydreaming about when they finally took off.


When the speech was over, he found himself quite flogged with strangers -- though from lack of knowledge of them rather than their appearance, Venus wasn't a secluded area -- and was quite busy shaking hands and saying nonimportant greetings and salutations.


"Three hours, hmm? I'm sorry everyone, but does anyone have any schematics of the Intrepid? I might want to have one last look-over, for safety's sake."

Lucien:
The otter seemed to be more interested in the winged creature, so I left him to his conversational rituals with the other. I walked off and stretched myself up tall to see if anything else caught my eyes.

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Meadow:
"Well, the VI parts of your thesis were a little tough for me to get thru. I'm not so well versed on that end of things. I think I managed to grasp the basic concepts tho." I smile a bit, proud of myself. "I'd love to see your creation once we're aboard."

"I'm flattered that you read my papers... But," I begin, raising my eyebrows at you, "What do you really think of my work? I won't judge you - to me, at least, it's just a difference in professional opinion. I understand the other side's moral stance, I just don't agree. I'm just wondering what sort of terraforming scientist I'll be working with."

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Gregory:
"Er, well..." I pause a moment to think upon my idiom. "I guess 'roped in' is from when they used rope and lassoed cows back on Earth. I guess I'm implying to question what young lot like you all are doing risking your lives?"

I smile a bit, "Personally, I'm here because I'm honored to be helping bring humanity out of our little home system and into the broader galaxy. Maybe there's someone waiting for us to join them." I give a soft chuckle, "We can only hope there's more than us, or we'll be oftly lonely in a few millennia."

((OOC: Er, sorry, didn't mean to jump you there. I think there are 3 lupine characters? I was addressing any of them - just looking for points of conversation. Anyone is welcome to join in, that's the point after all :-) ))

After shaking Leroy's hand, Rick shrugged,"Sorry, ask the engineer for that. He turned around and began moving away from the huddle of people around the captain and an octopus-like creature caught his attention, so he walked up to it,"Hello there! Might I ask your name?"He asked, still holding onto his briefcase,Why, I've never seen anyone like this. Must of had a lot of genetic changes to be like that, or he was brought up from scratch.

The captain seemed quite dismissive towards those huddle around him. Much more concerned with looking over the ships schematics then mingling with those who would serve under him. Carla couldn't blame him, he was mugged by everyone the moment the announcements had finished.

Guessing she should get to know the people she'd be working with Carla turned to the nearest crew member. He was human for sure but had crystal like growths growing from some parts of his skin. Carla tried desperately not to look, that would be awfully rude of her. "Hi, names Carla Kollet. I'll be the one driving this bus on the A shift. It's a pleasure to meet you" She said offering John her hand.

Lucien:
"Evidently!" I turn white, with red rings turning blue as they shrink, before flashing back to red and large again. You get the feeling I might be laughing, but it's only a brief pause. I relax down so that I'm a little shorter than eye-to-eye with you.

"I'm Lucien," it looks like I might be offering up an arm for a "hand" shake, but it's not quite clear. "... an uplifted octopus from the warm oceans back on Earth."

My color settles back on a pink-brown that is just wrong enough for human skin that it looks more odd on me than my animated skin. "What may I call you? ... And, if you will forgive the curiosity, what is kept in the case you carry?"