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  • 📅 February and March 2024 are YE 46.2 in the RP.

RP: Neshaten [Division 5] - Interview 3 - Deniska Cirillo

club24

Everything Is Magical
RP Date
Late YE40 (Nov)
RP Location
Div5 Central HQ
Netoshen
Division 5 Central Command
Director's Office

Morning

"So this is the third one correct?" Vaughn asked the Operator Captain as he stood from his chair to stretch and moved towards the door. "I'll send them in when I go out, you'll have to do this without me though I doubt that will be a problem." He commented solemnly while giving a brief salute to the captain, his tailcoat flowing as he turned and walked out the door.

"Operator Cirillo, the Captain is ready to see you now." He spoke with a serious expression as he passed by Deniska on his way out.

Cirillo had been sitting patiently in the waiting room for them to call him in. He had arrived five minutes before the scheduled time, both wanting to be ready and also not a burden to anyone by being unexpected. He double-checked his facial hair, verifying it was slick and smooth. His hazelnut-brown hair was neatly brushed, with the back in a tight ponytail and the bangs neatly parted to both sides. As soon as he heard the office door open, he snapped up and saluted.

"Yes sir, thank you sir!" he barked, eyes straight ahead as the director walked out of the office. Once the director was out of sight, Cirillo pulled his uniform shirt straight, walked to the open door, and stood just shy of entering. He knocked on the door frame with the first two knuckles on his left hand, then saluted with the right.

"Operator Deniska Cirillo, reporting, sir!"

Captain Leo Ci'Rado stood facing the door as he heard the operator on the other side speak. "Enter, Operator."

Cirillo lowered his hand and cleanly stepped through the threshold in two steps, pulling his right foot together with his left at the end. He raised a salute one more time, though he worried he may be overdoing it at that point.

"Thank you for seeing me today, sir."

"I'm glad to see you're on time operator, please take a seat, the Director has given me permission to use his office for this interview." Leo said professionally as he gestured to a comfy looking armchair sitting across from his own. "I understand you were recruited from the Division of public safety, a good history for an operator." Leo said nodding to himself.

"Thank you," Cirillo replied, pulling back the modest chair in front of the desk. He glanced around the room briefly, noting the minimalist furniture and the group of plants on the wall. Nothing wasted or placed without thought, very nice, he thought. He gripped his right wrist with his left hand and rested them in his lap.

"I had a lot of good years at the Division of Public Safety," he replied, looking directly at Leo and smiling lightly. "I felt like I could really make a difference in people's lives."

Leo smiled warmly, "Well it is our job to help the people of the kingdom, so lets get down to business then. I called you here to ask you a few questions as you know, are you ready?" The captain asked, giving the Daur a chance to prepare.

"Of course," Cirillo replied, leaning back into the chair and smiling. Something about Leo's fluffy, white, slightly shimmering hair made Leo look much younger to him. It made him relax a little too much; he'd have to be careful not to get too casual.

"Good, to begin with I'll tell you the real intention, this interview will help me gauge you as a person and an operator. I'm putting together a special Ai'Seru under the guidance of Director Li'Veero, and you're one of the people I've chosen to give a position to." Leo explained, waiting to see his reaction.

Cirillo cocked an eyebrow a little bit. Leo's choice of words confused him, saying his character would be gauged but also that he'd been selected for the position. He chose to believe he was selected as a candidate for the position instead and that there was still a chance he could be ousted. This was an interview, not an orientation, right? Cirillo relaxed, telling himself to calm down and ignore that pointless line of thought.

"Sounds like an interesting prospect, what's the goal of this special Ai'Seru? What makes it different from what the Division of Public Safety is already doing?"

"For a start, we operate at a higher level of authority and importance than the DoPS. As for this unit it will be the second internationally operating Ai'Seru in the organisation, only because the original Ai'Seru formed when Division 5 did was also required to act across the system. In further addition we will be a sort of special task force and will be assigned to an ongoing and quite large suspected terrorist plot." Leo said with conviction.

Cirillo's eyes opened a little wider during the description as he realized what he was being screened for.

"We'll be able to push harder into the roots of these terrorist networks with less red tape and jurisdictions to argue about. This sounds like the next necessary step, something that goes beyond where Public Safety's job ends. We can take the fight to them."

He held back the anticipation that began to build into him by squeezing his wrist. His ears flickered around a little bit though.

"You have my full attention. What qualifications are you looking for in this new team?"

"Well, you already possess all the abilities I need, you just have to say yes. But before making your decision let me tell you this, while all Division 5 operators are trained to expect a degree of danger in their work-" Leo paused and looked over at the other daur with a serious expression."-we will be performing some of the most dangerous work in the entire organisation, not all the time but certainly on some of our field operations."

"I'd gladly risk my life if it meant others could live without fear." Cirillo replied without hesitation. He remembered the smiling family after his reckless rescue during the Youth Corps. Pushing himself to his limits and diving head-first into action to save the people around him, it was almost like a drug high. What else am I even good for?

Leo noticed all the little signs on the other mans face as he answered. "I know you would, especially given your extensive history of accomplishments and action." His tone dropped slightly lower, "But now that you're in Division 5 you also have a team to think about, heroics is one thing but pointlessly endangering your own life is not a wise course of action in our field. Do you understand?" Leo asked softly, not accusing the other Daur but making sure he knew what was expected.

"I... would argue that pointless is relative in this case," he argued, feeling the needed to defend his actions even if it meant shooting himself in the foot. "I've never put myself in harm's way if I didn't see something immediate to gain from it. But I'll concede that it's bad to make those decisions solely with my own judgement while adrenaline is pumping. I've had that lesson drilled into me several times during my Public Safety years."

"And so you should have, and I should elaborate a little further. As I understand it this may conflict with your personal beliefs but as a Division 5 operator if we have to choose between our own life and the life of a civilian, we must choose ourselves." As cruel as it sounded there was a good reason which Cirillo had no doubt been informed off many times since joining the organisation, their duty was to the entire citzenship of the nation and they were far more useful alive. Thankfully there had not yet been any incidents where an operator had been required to make such a choice, a well known fact among the operator ranks as it was one of the ultimate morale boosters.

With such daunting jobs it more than often inspired the staff of Division 5 to strive to be the best they could be, knowing that they were already good enough to save both themselves and any civilians should the situation arise. "Excuse me, I'm getting a little off track. But before I start the briefing do you have any questions, or any statements you wish to declare prior that have relavence to this task?"

"I understand, no questions..." Cirillo replied with a sombre tone. He had heard that line of reasoning many times starting from his discipline hearing in the Youth Corps. It was solid logic that he couldn't argue against; he was a valuable tool to the nation that took years to develop. One civilian life would not be able to save as many other people as he could alive. But also he couldn't help but feel someone else could live a life better than he could, more fulfilling, more smiles.

"Alright then, to begin with I'll give you a short overview of our mission as this new, unique unit. As you may have heard around the HQ in recent days, more and more teams have been sent out to investigate underground gun running operations, in the last two months the number of unregistered firearms has increased exponentially and we think something big is coming." Leo stated seriously, "To try and find stockpiles the organisation has been pushing tampered firearms into circulation which we can track, several small storehouses were found using this method however it seems they have caught on and constantly keep the tampered weapons moving or just destroy them."

"So they're advanced enough of a unit to recognize our movements," Cirillo commented. "Are all the stockpiles compromised or likely traps then at this point?"

"So far only one has been a trap and no operators were killed, they left the weapon in an abandoned building outside of the city limits with explosives on the support beams. What's more troubling is that it was likely a way for them to test us, see how many we send, our gear, training." Leo answered, he liked this Daur already, he knew the right questions to ask and was already joining dots together

"That's troubling. But if they're gathering information on us, then that means someone has to be watching. Any signs of surveillance equipment bugging the place or indications of forced intrusion into local computer systems?"

Quick as ever, "None that we could find, we keep a tight watch around all our Headquarters across the continents and so far no indication they're actually coming after us, its most likely retaliation to us snooping on them." Leo said thoughtfully, "Which is where we come in, a globally operating Ai'Seru unit tasked with tracking down as much info on these guys as possible."

"Interesting, so they don't hold any technical advantage to us that we know about then. If they're stockpiling, then either they want to plan something big or drawn out. Gather the weapons en masse now while we're unaware, then slowly use them over time. Terror attacks never need more than a few people, so three years of stolen weapons could last a long time. A really long time..." Cirillo's expression turned grim.

"Sounds like we've got a lot to get done then. I'd ask for more specifics, but I'm assuming the whole group will be meeting shortly to be debriefed on the particulars?"

“Correct, there will be an official briefing next week, you’ll be sent details later, but we do have a lot of work ahead of us. Our first task will be following up on some leads and compiling all our known data about them.”

"I'm curious to hear what these leads are, but I don't want to distract you too much from why you called me here today. Did you have anything particular you wanted to ask me, about my career or person or similar?"

"Unfortunately it's nothing that flashy, the truth is that I had already chosen you for the team, this interview is just a chance to meet face to face and have a conversation, get to know one another. In our line of work its important to know and trust your team mates, especially the captain." leo said smiling. "If you wish to accept the offer then you'll be working under me along with three other operators to form team of five."

"In that case, I couldn't imagine turning this opportunity down. But while I'm here, I've got a question for you since you've researched my background extensively but I hardly know you. Just an opened ended question. What do you think makes a good leader?"

"Personally, I believe a leader should lead by example with their own actions, and they shouldn't be afraid to put faith in their team to make the right call." leo answered after thinking for a moment, regarding the other Daur with a curious glance.

Cirillo nodded in agreement. "That's a good answer. For me it's their ability to earn respect from those who follow them and just as much their ability to respect those under them. As you said, a leader should be able to put their faith in their subordinates. On the other hand, a leader must be accepted by those under them. A leader's actions must be seen as fair and justified. Rewards and punishments should be aligned with performance and results, not the leader's inability to control their subordinates. A squad cannot be commanded efficiently if the leader isn't respected. A leader cannot be too soft or strong either."

"From what I can tell in our short meeting, I think you'll do just fine. You've treated me kindly but haven't avoided any hard hitting topics either. So as long as you can make the tough calls when it counts, this team should do well."

"Well, I'm flattered to say the least, and I shall endeavour to perform as you imagine. I think the director would have my head if I didn't though, many don't know it but he and I are very close old friends. I won't try to claim I helped him build this place but I did come and stand with him when he asked, he and his partner, along with my sister and I were the very first operational unit." Leo explained, not in a bragging manner but rather he acted as though recalling a pleasent memory.

"He has high hopes for all of us, thanks to his position he often gets stuck at a desk but when that man is in the field, it's like someone turned on cheat codes."

"Hopefully if an operation goes south, they'll drop him in to save the day then," Cirillo said with a smile, imagining the director never dropping his stern expression, ignoring countless bullets, then just punching the enemy leader and forcing the rest to surrender. Jokes aside, the director sounded like he put his heart and soul into creating this organization.

"That's personally was the only question I had," Cirillo said a little awkwardly, scratching the back of his head a little. "Should we wrap things up if we're both finished for now?"

"Not wasting any time I see, I suppose that would be an efficient course of action. I myself still need to go get some food in my system before I forget again." Leo said thoughtfully, what would his sister say if she knew he wasn't eating at every meal.

"It has been quite informative talking with you Operator Cirillo, I look forward to having you in the team."

Cirillo was a bit happy to know he wasn't the only one who sometimes forgot to eat when he got too into something. His mother would always ask about that when she called; it was the only thing he remotely lied about to her. He stood up, pushed the chair back in, and saluted one last time.

"I'm looking forward to working with you, captain." He was a bit less tense when leaving, walking more naturally instead of military-tight steps as before. With a small click, the door closed behind him as gently as possible.
@Aria
 
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