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RP: Cirrus Station [Episode 9] The Silver Lining

MoonMan

MoonMan

Inactive Member
Fortuna's crown jewel, Fortune City, shone brightly cast in the amber glow of the setting sun. Colorful lights and neon signs began to become more and more prominent amongst the clusters of high-rises and multi-tiered city streets as evening set upon the city, and it was in the evening that Fortune City truly lived up to its namesake. Fortuna's first colony had grown up quickly, and now that small outpost on the barren plains had grown into a bustling hub for Nepleslians and foreigners alike, a tribute to excess, entertainment and the value of the DA.

With the shuttle in atmosphere, the viewing shutters along the sides of the passenger area were finally safe to retract, allowing the travelers inside to catch a glimpse of Fortune City from the captivating view. Although it had only been a day the atmosphere inside of the shuttle had changed, even if the shuttle itself had not. Cassefin Montreal, however, seemed to be in the same sour mood she had been in when she and Squad 35 had departed after the Eco-Eco Summit. With this being one of the few times where the Cirrus Station's strict dress code was no longer applicable, combined with the fact that everyone riding in the confines of the shuttlecraft was officially off-duty, Cassefin Montreal took advantage of the situation and had encouraged Squad 35 to 'not embarrass her' and do the same.

The grouchy Head Administrator was certainly dressed for the occasion, clothed in a tasteful cocktail dress of lush red satin, elaborately adorned with small black accents here and there. Cassefin had even taken to changing her ever-present hairstyle, if only slightly; instead of just the usual bland band holding her fiery red ponytail together, the Head Administrator had opted for a Yamataian-style hair comb. With all of this, Cassefin would have looked rather lovely, were she not sunk into her seat, eyes narrowed and mouth curled in apparent agitation.

Purina Popjoy, the woman that she was, had also taken a vacation period to accompany the squad's transport. The pink-haired administrator was wearing a elegant pink dress, long and notably less exotic when compared to Cassefin's expensive clothing but functional all the same. Purina had, however, seemingly taken the effort to out-perform Cassefin's hair; the perfectly-preened pink locks pulled and formed into spiraling mounds, decorated in bejeweled hair accessories. While Cassefin seemed on the sour side, Purina seemed positively vibrant, her excitement apparently in the glee-filled smile spread across her face as she gazed down at Fortune City with wide eyes.

"Thank you very much, Cassefin, for agreeing to give me a lift to the surface," Purina was able to contain her anticipation long enough to give her proper thanks to her boss. Miss Montreal, in response, simply grunted; it was more of an acknowledgment to Purina speaking to her rather than a reply. Purina smiled weakly, Cassefin's obvious mood putting the pink-haired woman in an uphill battle to setting her sourness straight.

"I think that Captain Abeck's decision to decline your invitation was a little rude," Purina started again, doing her best to touch was she believed to be the cause of Cassefin' strife. "... but he only did so because he knows how important those shipments the Cirrus is receiving tonight are, and he wants to make sure things go smoothly. There's no need to be so upset over it," In responce, Cassefin rolled her head lazily over towards Purina and gave her a dagger-sharp glare.

"I am not upset, Popjoy."
 
A wide pearly grin settled on Kokuten's face as he decided to stand for most of the trip, resting his polished metal hands on one of the seats in the shuttle.

Like the two lovely administrators, the Captain made an effort to look sharp. His cybernetics, eyes and arms, were polished to a sheen and without one speck of dirt or grime. His hair was styled carefully, giving him a rather sophisticated look. Below the chin, he wore an open, dark tan suit, a small flourished C knitted in the left chest. Under that, he wore a thin, dark green turtleneck of which the collar covered his neck up to the base of his jaw. Below all that he wore a pair of dark tan slacks, carefully ironed, and with his dark brown wing-tips having been polished to a shine similar to his cybernetics.

"Captain Abeck is admirable man!" Kokuten said in high spirits, the polished LEDs providing a bright and clear green color as he spoke, "Passing up on such an opportunity for the sake of duty." The Captain of Squad 35 tugged lightly at the cuffs of his jacket, "And if I may say, you two are looking very lovely this evening."
 
"Agreed." Came the almost moan of a response from Blake. He was seated towards one end of the shuttle rubbing sleepsand from his eyes. He had worn his marine uniform with the jacket unbuttoned for the ride, still awaiting his casual clothes to arrive from home. His adoptive parents had hesitated in sending just one trunk, and tried instead to find a way to get the entire wardrobe to him. Finally upon Blake's insistence, they settled for sending him the nicest clothes possible, even going so far as to buy new outfits to stuff into the trunk. Blake sighed at the thought of his very well-meaning parents back home.

"I'm so glad my mom and dad bought a vacation home on Nepleslia Prime, I'd hate to think they'd gotten hurt in the recent Mishu attacks on Core..." he pondered aloud as he twirled his goatee around one finger, "They could've just sent me some clothes when I first asked last month, though..."

Blake looked over at Kokuten and the Administrators out of one eye. Realizing he was talking aloud, he decided to explain the situation, so as not to appear a dunce: "It's because I used all the space in my footlocker for my art supplies when I shipped out... I got in a lot of trouble for that in training. Which reminds me!"

Blake excitedly reached in the breast pocket of his coat and slipped out a small grey brick of sculptor's clay and a thick needle-like instrument. Without another word, he began idly carving away on the clay, starting to form the features of Kokuten and Purina on it. Within minutes, he had the two down to a T, minus one small detail: Kokuten was in possession of a beautiful set of eyes, while Miss Popjoy has cold cybernetics peering out from her skull.

"I like etching." Said the young marine addressing the clay and no one in particular.
 
Inducing a bit of deja-vu for anyone present on the trip to the Sunny Side Up resort, Tweak steadfastly refused to wear anything but her normal garb, even after warnings of...well, if not warm weather, then of better-dressed people and Cassifin's wrath, which made Tweak look concerned but did nothing to change her mind. So the 'Spacer neko was wearing her customary knit hat (pulled low on her head over her ears, of course, and with the strings tied), an oversized black t-shirt, and loose, dark brown cargo pants with military boots, looking quite out of place as always. This time she stuck with the bomber jacket she had intended to wear instead of the lighter (and neon green) wind-breaker coat someone had loaned her on the Sunny Side trip, but the get-up still left her looking as if she would have more in common with a hobo in the alleys than the clientele their destination usually entertained.

She sat with her knees pulled up to her chin and eyes fixed on whatever was directly in front of her, be it a seat back or bulkhead, her expression blank despite the excitement around her as she mentally reviewed the summarized notes from her memory unit via a data jack inserted into the port at the back of her neck. The cable ran from the unit to her neck hiding underneath her jacket and behind her hair, leaving only the distracted look as evidence that her thoughts were elsewhere.

Not that Tweak had been all that enthused to hear they were going to an exciting city filled with lights, noise, and people. But there were always nooks and crannies in cities like those. It was the nature of such places and, unknown to her, finding those nooks helped her survive the time before she met the Freespacers. Out of the lights, away from the noise...that was where she would go. The group would find themselves minus one person once the shuttle doors opened.
 
Stovaa, due to his background, didn't have a great backlog of clothes to select from. After some deliberation, he had chosen the suit he had worn to his trial, as well as the dinner laid on for Squad 35 some time back. White shirt with crisp black suit, the collar done up this time and a small bowtie present, which Stovaa fiddled with regularly, convincing himself that it was askew.

From somewhere, he'd managed to get cufflinks shaped like small metal fists, and his trusty knife was strapped to his leg beneath the trousers, as always, kept close at hand.

He looked somewhat like a seven foot tall James Bond, albeit one in a slightly odd fitting suit, due to the fact that since his trial he seemed to have begun to bulk up, possibly due to the lack of any poisons in his system and the vitamin-rich diet, or maybe it was the time he dedicated to working out rather than doing whatever it was everyone else seemed to do when not on duty. He'd never really worked out what it was, they just weren't always around. He didn't feel like asking was a normal thing to do, so he left it as a great mystery that he neither cared nor bothered to investigate. If he strained and tried to pose like Mr Universe, he mused, he might burst a seam. Then he remembered that he didn't have many other clothes, so keeping this outfit intact was a good idea.

"Someone said Abeck's team were saying that Miss Montreal looked fabulous this evening, but I scarce believed them until we boarded."
 
Claire had seated herself next to Tweak, whose generally spacy behavior was the source of her current ire.

The Geshrin actually hadn't had time to purchase anything nice like a dress and to be perfectly honest, she was hoping to get something like that done today. (And if she were lucky, to drag someone else along on her quest for a sweet outfit.) Between getting things ready for Cassefin's meal and a couple of other smuggled items that she would never mention to her boss, she didn't have all that much money left for clothes. Nonetheless, she did still have some put away for this and wouldn't settle for something sub-par. To that end, she obviously wasn't dressed for the occassion just yet, as much as she wanted to. Her last remaining pair of jeans not ruined by paint or other stains was present, as was her cute and decidedly too small orange shirt with the lace. Her shoes sadly were standard issue boots for the moment, some heels definitely being on her shopping list. Her own hair was nothing special, but she had trimmed it up a bit, removing some of the needless length on her bangs and generally making it even. All of it was of course placed back into the low ponytail she favored so.

She wasn't letting her lack of style get to her yet though. Claire leaned over to Tweak, putting one arm around her and getting rather close to her. "Hey, dear. Wake up. We're nearly there... you gotta be ready to make some new memories, hm?" Her eyes flickered over to the rest of the crew, noting that they all were far better dressed than she, which made her a little self-concious. But this was something she planned to fix, after all. She smiled at her boss and their pink-haired friend. "Ya both look nice. Wish I had such nice clothes on hand. Maybe after this you'd like to come help me pick something out?" She extended the offer to both administrators, but anyone else was free to take her up on that.
 
Her eyes refocusing on the then and there, Tweak was brought out of her 'reverie' when Claire put an arm around her, momentarily tensing at the casual contact.

She had developed a queue of sorts for her notes, since it was impractical to expect to read all of them (and they took up daily memory space). Thus the Hanger's Notes-style summary version and a pick-and-choose of which things were expected to be immediately needed. Like who was friendly to/friends with her, why they were, and how much they knew, so recent events were there. Claire's offhand comment about "making memories" was a little jarring, but Tweak convinced herself that her friend was using it in the normal way, not intended as specific to her case.

Glancing over at Claire, Tweak managed a weak smile. "Memories...mm-hm," she murmured.
 
Kokuten nodded as Claire mentioned her plans, which brought up a thought for himself. What exactly would the dual-professed Chiaki do for his evening vacation? He hadn't thought much into it, so he went back to previous endeavors of shore leave.

He remembered when he was on the Alliance. His usual leaves consisted of three things: drinking, smoking, and getting into trouble, often in that order. Cassefin, however, was a much more strict individual when it came to behavior, and while she couldn't enforce her rule now, she could definitely do it when they got back. This brought a grimace on the Doctor's face as he realized he might be a little limited.

"Well, I know for sure that once we hit the ground, I'm going to find the first cigar shop within two miles and make some long-awaited purchases." Kokuten declared, looking towards the wall as if looking out a window, "Afterwards? Might take a walk on the town, try and find somewhere quiet, a bar or cafe, maybe."

And not a jail or a gutter. thought Kokuten, making strong notes to avoid both. As he did so, he noticed Blake's sculpture. The detail of the composition and the striking resemblance to himself was very catching.

"Is that... me?" asked Kokuten tilted his head at the sculpture, but asking Morris the question. The Captain's LED eyes transitioned to a curious, light blue.
 
Whether sincere or hollow, the groups comments seemed to have some effect. Cassefin cleared her throat and set her back straighter, checking the elaborate comb cradling her ponytail, not wanting to look too pleased with her gussied-up appearance. Purina, too, seemed all too happy to receive admiring comments; she was much less conservative about it however, and smiled gleefully with Kokuten's compliment.

"Well, it's not every day we get to go to such a nice establishment," Purina replied, happily clasping her hands together. Cassefin also seemed to swell a little in pride as Popjoy mentioned the shuttles current destination. "Yes, well, I believe I deserve a little relaxation every now and then. Luckily, I was able to get a set of suites for a remarkably great price at this newly-opened hotel on the Sapphire Strip," the red-haired administrator bragged. Down below, through the shuttles viewing windows, the passengers could make out a long series of streets between the tall buildings and high-rises. Long sections of streets and the buildings surrounding them were generally lit in the same color; an aesthetic design to signify the street names and make them easier to navigate from the sky, no doubt. As the shuttle began to drop altitude it started towards the large section of streets and establishments displaying blue glowing lights from the several signs and street lights; 'Sapphire Street', as the Fortune City locals called it. "The price only came with a package deal, though. I suppose you all got lucky in that department... but I'm not paying a cent more for any of you, just so we're clear," Cassefin explained sternly. "It's not in the budget."

---

As much as Tweak would have liked to remain away from the attention of her peers, nestled comfortably beside Claire, it would seem some individuals had the opposite in mind. Squad 35 members George Resetti and Lenny Binks were sitting quite comfortably a couple seats across from where the disguised neko was sulking in her chair.

George was looking rather sharp, sporting a simple gray pinstripe suit, opting to leave the neck accessory absent to give it a more 'casual' appearance. With his suit and well-oiled hair slicked back, if George was overdressed, Lenny was there to strike the balance. The large ID-SOL was wearing a rather loud yellow aloha shirt with an enormous pair of khaki shorts. Sitting above his wide smile was a pair of sunglasses that, were they on any other, would have been obscenely large and obtusely goofy, yet somehow seemed to adapt quite well to Lenny's large frame and current state of dress.

The two of them were sitting quietly, Lenny with his head back and eyes obscured by his tacky sunglasses. George, however, seemed content to just gaze out of the viewport and on occasion throw a quick glance over to Tweak and Claire.

---

"Oohhh!" Purina exclaimed as Claire not-so-subtly asked for her help in terms of fashion. "I would love to help you find something to wear! I'm willing to wager that the hotel has its own shopping complex... it would be perfect!" Popjoy enthusiasm was almost overbearing as she giggled with glee. Her smiled was quick to fade, however, as she caught sight of Blake's strange interpretation of her soft pink irises. Purina wasn't sure which was more unsettling; the thought of her own eyes being as such, or that Kokuten seemed to be sporting her own set of pearly irises. "Aha... well, ah... that's very, ah, interesting..."

Cassefin had to do her best to stifle the laughter, the portrayal of the two giving her a sudden stitch in the side. The head administrator snorted and brought a hand over her mouth, holding in further snickers as she watched the events unfold from afar. As to Claire's request, however, Cassefin's reply remained unanswered.
 
Kokuten cleared his throat as Purina seemed to affirm his suspicions of Blake's craft. The Doctor coughed, finding the fact of having regular ocular organs as near unsettling as Purina felt of having his mood eyes. So, to offer his own criticism, the Captain simply gave a firm, polished thumbs up, with what seemed to be a lightly forced smile.

"Ah, so, does everyone have their own room, then?" inquired the Chiaki to his newly invigorated employer. "Or is one of us using a futon?"
 
Claire looked up at Tweak, from her semi-snuggled position against the Neko. She now knew of her nature (which she had sealed lips about, of course.) but not of her memory. Perhaps she was being too friendly? But then again, it was just how she felt after their previous mission, and sharing such an important moment with her. The Geshrin did owe the spacer her life as well as her gratitude, but for some reason she found herself frustrated with how to thank her beyond just the words. Maybe she should incorporate her into their shopping trip...?

Speaking of which, Purina's enthused response brightened Claire's mood immensely. Although she noted her sudden nervousness and it's source, she aimed to snap her out of that by bringing her back to something they both enjoyed. "Would you, dear? I'd love to go shopping with you! Of course, you realize that means I'll be obliged to help find something for you as well." She got up and leaned over to Purina, whispering to her "Maybe something that'll catch the eyes of our captain, hm?" Claire's grin was unmistakable in it's intent as she retook her seat and her arm found it's way back around Tweak.

Cassefin's lack of a response was noted though. It didn't suprise her at all, but she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. But then again, they were in public. If she was going to shop for Cassefin it would have to be something away from the squad since the administrator was apparently embarassed about needing Claire's help with luring Mr. Abeck in. (Even if she wouldn't admit it.)
 
She's friendly. She has a reason to be friendly. Everyone here is my teammate. They can be trusted.

Even telling herself that, Tweak had to force herself to not shake with nerves. In an attempt to distract herself, she took her journal out of the knapsack she was carrying it in and flipped through it to a blank page. If anyone got a look, they would see pages that looked like they were speckled with ink, sometimes a tangled mess of lines in the middle of the ink-speckles. Claire's proximity, though, gave her a better view of the book. The speckles were symbols, precisely written and coded, and the tangled lines were detailed diagrams of devices and coded formulas that had no immediately-identifiable function. At least one page held a map of something, with dots and lines angled all over the place. All of that went by in a flash of flipping pages before Tweak stopped on a blank one and took out a pen.

The pen was odd enough to be worthy of attention. It was a self-contained fountain pen, with a few knobs on the outer casing to regulate flow, some sort of minuscule pump mechanism at the top connected to tubes that ran into the case, and a detachable nib which Tweak inserted and clicked into place before beginning to draw.
 
"Oh my, not so loudly please," Purina whispered as she giggled in embarrassment, clasping her hands over her reddening cheeks and shaking her head side to side, throwing a quick and hesitant glance at the captain in their presence. Cassefin rolled her eyes slightly and scoffed to herself, reclining back into her seat as she looked back at Kokuten. "I have a suite... I'm not so sure what they call your rooms. This is a very ritzy place, I wasn't able to get a single reservation for myself, but they did allow me to purchase in bulk... I suppose you all got lucky there. I don't know what they call them, but you all have single bedrooms to yourself... and I expect you to use them and not waste my hard-earned money by sleeping in a room other than your own," Cassefin's severe tone would almost be threatening, were the subject and her reaction towards it so blatantly biased.

---

After a few minutes, the occupants of the shuttle would see their destination on approach; a tall, elaborate blue building, kept alight by countless spotlights and azure-glowing neon signs. The Lady of the Ocean, or so the several billboards and signs signified, was perhaps one of the more, if not the most impressive buildings on the block, grand in design and enormous in scale. So large was the establishment that elevated above the street-level roads were several sets of landing pads. Other small shuttles occupied many of the spots, automated signaling systems bringing in other shuttles to land while a small local control tower jutting out from the building oversaw the arrival and disembark of each vessel.

Cirrus Research Station's shuttle had been given the rare privilege of the use of the VIP shuttle parking; no doubt a perk of Cassefin's VIP treatment. The autopilot was able to easily direct itself onto its designated platform, a handful of coupling clamps grasping the underside of the hull as it hovered above the landing area. When the crew were ready to depart onto the landing pad, Cassefin made sure to give them all one final announcement. "Rooms here include an evening meal at their diner," Cassefin spoke as she began to stand up, making sure that her heels were set on correctly and her dress was straight. "Purina and I are planning on eating at around eight, Fortuna standard time, if anyone would care to join us."

Upon exiting the shuttle, the group was approached by an elderly gentleman in a navy blue uniform. Slightly balding, with a thick white mustache, the man greeted the group and introduced himself.

"Welcome to the Lady of the Ocean, Miss Montreal and company. My name is Weathersby, your attendant for tonight. I'll be the one handling any of your requests for the duration of your stay, compliments of the Lady," the man explained with a small smile. Although he was little more than a glorified butler, Mr. Weathersby seemed both very humble and very proud of his work. "For right now, I'm sure you all are looking to start enjoying your time here. If you have any questions about the establishment, feel free to ask me and I will direct you to where you want to go."
 
Kokuten assumed a noble grace once the shuttle door opened to the casino's VIP landing pad. The Doctor had been taught from birth to hold himself in a blue-blooded fashion when in a setting that has a lot of rich people. When dinner was mentioned, he whipped up his wrist in a flourish and looked at the watch on his wrist.

"Hm, we have a few hours until eight, plenty of time to get on to what we wish to do." said Kokuten, before returning his hand to his side.

With that, he gave a look around of the Star Port, getting a new perspective of the classy city from an on-the-ground view. It was a rather beautiful place in it's construction, he made a note to take in some sites once he hit up the shopping district for a certain purchase.

"For right now, I'm sure you all are looking to start enjoying your time here. If you have any questions about the establishment, feel free to ask me and I will direct you to where you want to go."
Click to expand...

"Ah! Sir, where might I find a store that sells cigars? Preferably... pricy cigars, I've a rare opportunity and I'd like to savor it." asked the regal Chiaki, giving a short nod of his head to the man.
 
Blake ran into Kokuten from behind as he stopped on the landing pad, leaving behind a loud "Umph!" and throwing the beret off of his freshly polished head. He sighed as he picked the dusty hat off and smacked it against his pant leg. The clay had been crushed in the impact. "I guess I should pay better attention..." the young marine trailed off, removing the etching needle from a whole it punctured in his uniform top.

"I think I'd like to follow you if you don't mind, Captain." Blake managed to finally say, "Stores that cell cigars often also sell herbal cigarettes and other smoking products which soothe me. I hope that one store near the beach is still open... I haven't been here since I was about sixteen."

Without waiting for Kokuten's response, Blake turned back to his artwork; this time leaving the etching needle behind his ear. Blake started squeezing on the clay with his bare hands, this time forming a tiny Weathersby out of the soft material. The entire time, sticking close to Kokuten like a leech on a log.
 
Using the time to put away her pen and journal to stall, and while waiting for Claire to get up, Tweak managed to be near the back of the party as they left the shuttle. She slipped her arms through the drawstring straps in a single, swift motion as she looked around, checking her hat in a surreptitious manner while the butler-looking man introduced himself and gave his welcome speech. When he got to the part of getting directions to whatever one wanted to do, she tilted her head a little but remained quiet, wanting to see what everyone else headed before acting on her own plans. At the very least she should know where her team was heading, in case she needed to find them later.
 
"Ah, gentlemen of unique tastes I see," the aged attendant spoke, flashing Kokuten and Blake an acknowledging smile. "Floors five to ten are all dedicated to numerous retail outlets provided to The Lady by several benefactors. You gentlemen, however, are looking for the Captain's Cabinet, on the seventh floor, northern end," Weathersby directed the two. "An excellent smoke shop with a wide variety of tobacco and related products. I'm sure you will be quite pleased."
 
"Ho ho!" Kokuten rubbed his hands together, which proposed an almost plastic sound as metal grinded on metal. He gave a thankful bow to Weathersby, "Thank you my good man!" He looked back at Morris and thumbed towards the elevator "If you will all excuse us!" The Doctor shot straight on ahead of the group. It was actual a tad unnatural, because his stroll had already gotten him at least fifty feet ahead in a few seconds.

"Thank you again, Administrator Montreal!" called back the Captain from his already far-off distance.
 
"Don't worry, I promise there'll be scarce time for sleeping. Not with all the enjoyment I'll be having." Stovaa replied to Cassefin's request. This statement was not, by itself, suspect, unless the accompanying wink was taken into account. The sleazy kind of wink you only learn from watching respectable members of society exiting brothels, them noticing you, and in that split second of eye contact making the one reaction that the human body permits. That kind of wink. Belying intent that didn't bear pondering.

"How many bars you got in this place, Spotswoode?" The name hung in his mind. Despite having only just heard the man's name, he'd apparently already forgotten it, no doubt distracted by the former part of that sentence. The lure of alcohol gnawed at his already-fractious memory, leaving him picking up pieces and trying to remember the butler-analogue's name. "Weathersby, sorry. Oh, and is there perhaps a casino of some kind in the building? I'm dressed for it, so I might as well pay it a visit before I ruin my clothes in a bar somewhere.
 
Blake struggled to keep up with Kokuten as he made his way into the elevator, keeping a brisk pace behind him as well as he could, stil molding clay in his hands. When they arrived in the elevator, he stuffed the grey blob back into his breast pocket and adjusted his beret once more. He stood with his arms crossed over his stomach, in the 'street ready' position for a moment before relaxing.

"It feels weird to be wearing a uniform on casual business." he stated quickly, looking to Kokuten, "It's also kind of weird to see every one out-of-uniform."
 
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