RP: NSS Alliance MISSION 2, PART 1: Dinner with the Enemy

Jet had arrived earlier than the crew, but he'd kept to himself off to the side, quietly eating a little late breakfast thanks to the ladies. Once it began to fill up he stayed where he was, passively listening to what was going on as he looked over. "I wonder what the good captain has to say to us all, surely it's not to just chill out here and sample the cooking." He said aloud and chuckled dryly. "I just hope we don't have anymore angsty moments."

Finally choosing to sit down at a random place, the warrant officer would find that his wandering through the mess hall had taken him to the seat just in front of Soreta. Only mildly glancing around, the young cadet kept his silence as he began to eat his meal. His mind was too focused on his own work to allow it to concentrate on observing his surroundings.

Damnit...why to Elysian Systems have to be organic, the computer specialist fumed mentally as he took a bite and chew. His face echoed his thoughts now as his eyebrows narrowed in both concentration and annoyance. I can hack into any computer without an AI easily and even the systems with AI if I were cautious about it, he fumed more as he sipped a glass of water. Why do the freaking angels have to be different and use organics instead of tech!?

Benji reluctantly made his way from the med bay and then into the mess hall. He didn't bother getting himself lunch or taking a seat. The big guy was still holding a maroon colored cloth, originally white, to his nose and wishing the medics would actually pay attention for once in their lives. He took a look around and he started towards and empty chair and that's when things began to get fuzzy.

He guessed it must have been the blood loss but suddenly he wavered on his feet and was really dizzy. Without a chair to sit in he took an abrupt sit with a resounding thud. Benji blinked to clear his foggy vision and then said "Aww shit...â€

Miller checked the time, then stepped up to the microphone and cleared his voice, which did wonders to calm down those present in the mess hall.

"Everyone, I have some good news to share before we get down to business. Due to your hard work, we've successfully claimed Planet X for the empire. In my hands here is an official commendation from High Command. They've renamed the planet Nepleslia Prime and have begun operations for settlement and mining of the planet's surface. Mission accomplished, guys!"

After a raucous round of applause from the crew, Miller raised his hands to quiet the audience.

"That being said, however, we have little time for relaxation. If you'll direct your attention the seat over there..."

He motioned to where Soreta, the diplomat, was sitting.

"I'm sure some of you have met Soreta over here. She is a trained diplomat in the service of Nepleslia, and, as such, she has been assigned to us for escort duty."

The captain gave some time for those in the audience who had not met the diplomat to catch a glimpse or two. A few of the more rowdy marines yelled out cat calls.

"SHUT UP AND LISTEN UP MARINES," shouted Cadet Willis, who made a motion like he was about to leap off the stage and kick some asses. "OR I'LL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO YELL ABOUT!" The ID-SOL was feeling pent up enough as it was.

Miller simply nodded to the cadet before returning to his speech.

"Keep your shit to yourselves because we're in for some serious business... with the Elysians."

The magic word had been spoken. The word that was used for more dirty jokes per capita than an entire nude neko battalion. It was the same word that brought, for many present in the room, memories and emotions so painful that faces visibly grimaced.

And it was the word that brought the room to silence. Miller kept a stone face even though he felt a slight turning in his stomach.

"We will be departing for Elysia in the next 3 hours. We will travel at a light cruising speed so as to avoid ambush until we reach our destination. From the moment we leave dock until the moment we leave Elysian space, we will be on alert. We are going alone so as not to alarm the Elysians, but that does not mean will be unprepared. Hopefully, we can get the hell out of there as soon as possible."

He brought up a holographic map of Elysia, which appeared on each mess hall table.

"When we arrive at Elysia, we will form a marine team to escort the diplomat as she performs her duties. The marines who are granted this responsibility WILL demonstrate the UTMOST respect for Elysian hierarchy as well as their culture. If you don't know what to do then shut the hell up. The command staff will not tolerate any foolishness. Our entire nation's future rests on this mission."

The captain didn't reveal any of the details, but Wazu's datapad, as well as the datapads of the rest of the command staff would reveal the gruesome punishment they were to deal out for insubordination.

"Remember, we leave in three hours. Any questions can be directed to Lieutenant Wazu, who will be in charge of team selection. The rest of the command staff will resume their duties after lunch. Marines should remain with their teams until further notice. That is all."

Istvan grimaced. Whomever was escorting the dimplomat, odds were they would not be respectful towards her. He hoped he could go to keep them in line... His fist was itching from the incident in the hall, and he wanted, no NEEDED, to hit someone to get the anger about what had happened to that poor genshin out of his system... And Rico was not a good target since, in the end, he had not had control of himself. Adrian was not a good target because he claimed he had not known THAT would happen... So the next offender would get punched....


Istvan's smile gave no hint to his dark musings, as he finished the food on his plate

Adrian stared at the ceiling of the medbay. It was too... white. He had amused himself briefly by looking at whatever large warning labels he could read from his position on the bed, but that got old pretty quick.
He was glad that a large amount of the sedative seemed to have worn off with the detox drug, even if it hurt like a bitch.
Also, the nasty noises in his skull finally quit out. It felt nice to finally have a clear head, and odd, too. However, as wondrous as it was, the medic was horrifically bored, especially now that his ADD was no longer in check. After moving his mouth a few times to make sure it would actually move, he turned his head to Valo.
"Oi, Robot. Can I get out of these damn straps, please?"

Kokuten's eyes clacked as he listened to the briefing. A trip on diplomatic terms to Elysia sounded exciting. The idea of representing Nepleslia on such a scale seemed like an honor. His father would've been proud if he knew that his son was on such a mission. Though his mind drifted back to the world, and remembered that Adrian was still in the Med Bay.

Wonder' if his condition has improved...

The Medic picked up his tray and emptied off of what was left of the Spahgetti and trotted off to the Med Bay. When he arrived to the Med Bay, he found Adrian still strapped down. He walked over and took a look at the screens monitoring Adrian's status. The Cyborg looked up at the Robot monitoring his status.

"I can take it from here if you wish, the briefing was just finished a few minutes ago." Kokuten said with a grin, figuring he'll save his cigar for a little later. He looked back down at Adrian, and scratched his small beard.

The doors to the med bay opened up and Wazu limped in cane first. He stood in front of the automated surgery table in the center of the room, resting his weight on his cane as he called out "Medic!â€

Benji walked down the halls of the ship, his nose had finally quit bleeding and he was all upped on his special little drugs. he wavered as he walked down the hall and then kept going. It wasn't untill he made it to the med bay that he looked seriously... not right. He set the box down and made sure it's contents wouldn't get broken. He found Kokuten and Adrian and then watched them silent before speaking up. "Ugh... Koku?" He said reachign out to put a hand on the wall. "Rico broke my nose... can you do anything for it?" he asked. He became aware of the fact that he was all covered in dry blood and probably looked like he'd been to Elysia and back allready.

"Elysians." Fian muttered. He isnt racist, but bio-engineering a plague and massacaring 80% of the Nepleslian population doesnt earn them any brownie points.

... But thats all he knew about them, other than that they look like angels.

"So... Soreta. Anything about conduct that we need to know?"

(JP between me and Kokuten)
ON: NSS Alliance Medbay

Adrian hopped off the table. "I got one idea. give me a cigar."

Kokuten pulled a cigar out of his back pocket, one of his own Zunibabi cigars. The LEDs that represented his irises glowed. "What for?" Kokuten asked suspiciously.

Adrian reached out and made a move to snag the cigar. "Trust me, you'll like it."

Kokuten attempted to object as one of his cigars dissappeared from his hands Though the Medic decided to let him do what he wanted with it, he had plenty more.

Adrian took the cigar and put it on the table. He reached into one of the numerous pockets of his belt and pulled out a small black bag made to block whatever was in it from seeing light and to keep the smell of it in. He held it up and twirled it around in his fingers before he set it down, too. He examined the cigar for a moment and then turned to Kokuten. "I need a knife, just a small one, but it needs to be sharp."


Kokuten nodded, "That should be simple." He walked over to the counter and whipped out a scalpel. The Cyborg then handed the scalpel to Adrian, "Scalpel." He said in a operators assistant sort of tone.

"Thanks, mate." He knelt down and picked up the cigar. He picked up the scalpal and cut the thin over-wrap of the cigar after peeling off the brand sticker. He removed the wrapper and put it down on the wrap. He quickly unrolled the thicker paper, laying it flat, revealing the brown tobacco.

Using the scalpel, he pushed the moist brown material off the paper and onto the table. With that, he opened the small black bag and took out a several thick, dense, and wet clumps of marijuana out.

"What the hell are you doing with a bag of Mary Jane!?" Kokute exclaimed, seeing one of his cigars butchered into a blunt.

Adrian looked up at him with a slight winkle in his eye. "What does it look like, Koku?" He turned back to his work and began breaking up the dense clumps with his fingers.

"Are you kidding? What happens when an emergency pops up and we're higher than fuckin' birds!?" Kokuten's hand reached for his forhead but stopped, trying to comprehend the Medical Officers sense.

Not looking up, Adrian let out a laugh. "Heh, correction, what happens when an emergency pops up and you're higher than a bird. I'm on probation. I can't do shit with emergencies. As for you... you can deal. Hopefully." By that time, he had finished splitting up most of the grass. Looking down, he split several objects off, picked them up, and extended them to Kokuten. "Yo, chew these up. Blow your mind."

Kokuten waved his hands, refusing the grass. "I dunno man, this just doesn't seem like a good idea. I've never really done any of this stuff before...

Adrian rolled his eyes, and popped them in his own mouth. He started straightening the pot on the paper and began rolling it. "Listen, Kokuten, have you ever done any of those Emrys pheremones, like calm? It's like those. It won't be that bad, mate. And that's if you smoked like all of this."

"That's what my friend told his partner in the Medical Academy when he offered some Kasserine." Kokuten said with stern look on his face.

Adrian stared the shorter medic in the eye. "Big difference between a little grass and a dose of Kaserine. Shit's not even a narc or a psych."

Kokuten's LED Irises glowed as he stared the taller medic in the eye with uncertainty. "I... er... I don't wanna' get hooked on this stuff."

Adrian stopped his rolling movements at Kokuten's last comment, and turned to look at him. A moment later, he burst out laughing. "Hahahaha you don't hahaha wanna get hooked hahahaha on pot hahahahaha!" A few moments later, his laughter had mostly subsided. "Heh heh. Listen, I don't know who you've been talking to, put you can't get hooked on the Mary Jane, mate."

"Er, alright, whatever. I'll try and see if I enjoy it, if I don't, I'll shove it up your ass for wasting one of my Zunibabis." Kokuten grunted frustratedly.

"If you don't enjoy this, kill yourself, because there is no way you can ever enjoy anything." He rolled the base paper up, picked up the wrap, and rolled it around it. With a lick, he was able to seal it. He held up the slightly smaller new and improved cigar. "Want the first hit off this shit?"

Kokuten snatched the blunt out of Adrians hands. The Medic observed the deformed cigar and stuck it to his mouth. He took a look at Adrian and then took a deep breath. The next thing Kokuten knew, his cybernetic eyes began to fuzz, and crackle. His body began to feel... different "Whoa... My eyes..." He said as the LEDs began blinking in and out.

Adrian grinned. "Hey man, it's puff puff pass." He reached out and snagged the blunt, and stuck it in his mouth. He looked at the end, which seemed to have lost most of it's flame. "Lemme see your lighter, I need to cherry it again."

Kokuten's view fizzled as he reached for his lighter. "Here ya go, dude." Kokuten grinned as he handed the lighter over.

Adrian laughed a bit as he took the lighter, sparked it, and lit the blunt again. He puffed a bit, pulled it out of his mouth, and held it out to Kokuten. He shook his head at the medic, a wide grin on his face. "Haha. Maaan you are so waaaaasted."

Kokuten grin was wide and stupid. "Heh Heh, Man this stuff is great! I don't know why I didn't do this before!" He sucked in more smoke from the blunt and handed it back to Adrian.

"Yeah, man, it's fuckin' great isn't it?" He took a long drag and held it in for a couple seconds. "Hey hey, check this shit out, yo." He began expelling smoke rings from his mouth.

"Wooo... Nice... How did you do that?" Kokuten said giving a little crack-headed laugh.

As the two medics sat laughing like the high psychos they were, a Geshrin made her way through the halls towards the medbay. She hummed lightly as she walked, and tried to think about the numerous adventures she'd have, the people she'd meet, and wondered if she'd even meet someone she wouldn't be compelled to hate. After asking the ship's AI for directions once or twice, she found herself outside the medbay door, fully expecting two sharp, disciplined, and intelligent young Nepleslian doctors to be waiting for her. She took a breath, and walked through the door.

"P3C Suku Matsobuki, reporting for medical duties under Medic Kokuten Chiaki and Medical officer Adrian Decane..." By the time she reached this point in her sentence, she trailed off as she saw the spectacle before her and began to process it. A large, extremely high and very giggle-y cyborg with a small beard and LCD eyes that appeared to need some repairs, and a 6'4" man with green and white hair blowing smoke rings straight up and grinning wider than a shark.

Kokuten's eyes clacked as he attempted to stand, almost falling over in laughter. He walked over Suku and made a bow, and began to speak in Japanese. "Hi, my name is Kokuten Gaiasis Chiaki, he he he... the 5th."

Adrian blinked at Kokuten's torrent of Japanese, but was slightly more interested in the new crew member. "Woah. Hey there, newbie." He stood, reasonably serious, but still a little loopy. He walked over and held his hand out. "Heh, Adrian Decane, medical officer. Nice to meet you. He took her hand and shook it. A moment later, he remembered the blunt in his hand. He held it up to her. "Uuuuh, want some sticky icky? Kennewessan Green, super-bud of the first degree."

Suku watched the first man approach her and start spewing Japanese, the other seemingly with a lack of good balance. When offered the blunt she pushed it aside, she didn't exactly like what she was seeing. "I... er... Why are you smoking this in the Med Bay of all places?" She asked.

"He He, I asked the same thing!" Kokuten chuckled, leaning against one of the tables.

"Uh, well, ya' know, it's like, clean in the medbay..." Adrian paused for a hit, " and that means the floaties won't come in. And that's GOOD, ya know, cuz the floaties..." Adrian stopped when his explanation was met with a look of rather excessive criticism. "It makes sense when you're high..." He backed off a bit and went and sat down on the other table, next to all of his stuff. "Well, anyway, this is our medbay, state of the art, nice filtration system, pretty, clean, etc. Kokuten, you want any more of this?"

"Nah, I don't need to get any more messed up." Kokuten waved, chuckling a little.

Adrian gave a slight laugh and took another hit. "Suit yourself. But yeah, we're pretty fucked. Heh." picking up his special weed bag, Adrian pressed the cigar into it, putting it out quickly. The bag was apparently made for such things. He then dropped the rest of the cigar (about a quarter) in, closed the bag, and put it away. "So, Suku, where'd you come from? We never knew we were getting a transfer down here."

Suku looked critically at the older and much taller medic as he cleaned up his drugs. The stench of the smoke was very strong. "I'm from Funky City. I guess I'm here because some people aren't very professional with their work." She leaned against the wall and glared at the two medics.

Kokuten frowned, a deeper frown than he usually would give. "Bah, this is really my first time gettin' high." Kokuten's LED Irises began to start to return to a normal glow. "The guy over there, is why I'm not my normal self." Kokuten pointed a metal finger at Adrian.

Adrian narrowed his eyes at the Geshrin. "Fine, be a bitch. See how much fun duty is then. And Kokuten, I didn't force you to do shit man." Adrian smiled at his friend, and decided to simply ignore the rude Geshrin rather than waste good weed with a bad mood.

At that moment, Benji came in and started talking about Rico breaking his nose. "Oh... right with ya, mate." He thought for a second. "Actually... yeah, Kokuten would be a better choice for this."

Kokuten clacked his eyes with his blinks and gained a bit of balance. He looked at Suku, "I'll properly introduce myself later." The Medic then walked up the broke nose Marine. "Alright, sit on the table and let me see..." Kokuten said to Benji.

END

All this talk about Elysia put Rico in a somewhat bitter mood. He didn't like Elysians. At all. All the Nepleslian propoganda and bad history with Elysia didn't help that fact. He scoffed as Fian asked his question to Soreta.

"Conduct? Shit baby, we go in, sweet-cheeks does her thing, and we leave," Rico spat out venomously, with a bitter smirk across his face. "All ya need to know is, if one of those winged pricks talks to ya, they aren't sayin' anythin' worth listenin' too. And if they start pointin' guns, you shoot first."

"Well it's clear one person who's not guarding the ambasitor" Istvan said dryly from behind Rico. "I doubt you have the self controll to shut your clap-trap long enough. I have no love for the Elisians myself mind, but at least I know how to be silent...." Istvan winked at Rico. "I appologise for any damage I did while subduing you, but you were not... in control. It might be good to send the girl a letter of apology?"

"PRIVATE THIRD CLASS RICO.â€

Rico smiled back at Jet. "It's not temper baby...besides, it's got me this far. Better watch yourself or I might be sittin' at your desk soon," he said with a loud laugh. "Not that likely boy." Jet said calmly and kept sipping his drink. "And it is temper, try being nice to the Elysians."

Gran moved to the door after Adrian vacated it, swiftly marching down the halls, his mind silently directing him to his quarters.

John walked up behind Istvan and patted him on the shoulder. "I prefer boiled cabbage with sausage to any mother...'s Borscht" John chuckled and looked over the motley cast of marines at the table. Istvan snorted at John's comment. "Cabbage and sausage? Good, but winter borscht with good beef in it..." the look on his face was blissful "It is like drinking heaven."

At this point, Adrian had stopped singing completely and had just started skanking around the room while his assistant watched him. "Hey, do any of you Marines know what's wrong with this damn Nepleslian?" She turned back to her crazed boss.

Istvan looked curiously at the Geshrin woman. "Oh. He's just high." he said "Pretty common here. Pay it no heed"

John shrugged and smirked. "To each their own comrade." He sat down at a free spot towards the end of the table. "Oh, and if you all are worried, I'm done with the noxious gas attacks." He chuckled to himself and leaned on the table rather amused.

Jet gave John a dark look at the mention of gas attacks. "If you're using our canisters I'm going to have to bitch-slap you into the brig." he smirked, that smirk saying he'd do it and like doing it. John rose a twitching brow at jet's retort and then smirked. "I think my own PERSONAL mixture is far more potent."

Istvan looked worried "Do not demonstrate, please, I just finished eating."

"Then I'm having Ally confine you to quarters while you produce it," Jet smirked.

"Hey there, JOHNNY!" Adrian slammed his shoulder into John's back and continued his crazed ska dance around the cafeteria.

John's eyes had nearly bugged out of his eyes when Adrian slapped his shoulder. "Geez, you feelin' ok there Adrian?" John gave him a concerned and frightened look.

Rico flashed a challenging look at Jet as he spoke, but before he could reply, he was interrupted by the Geshrin woman behind him. As he noticed her, Rico immediately went into his usual sly grin...however, before he could whisper a single sweet nothing, he caught sight of Adrian. This soured his mood, enough even to pull him away from the attractive Geshrin woman in front of him. He quickly turned back to Istvan and Jet's table. "Yeah, that's great, gotta run, I'll see you guys later," he spoke quickly, afterwards turning to Suku. "...and I'll see you later, okay sugar?" Rico mumbled quietly at her, flashing a flirtatious smile.

Istvan's arm shot out, trying to grab Rico, "That was not very polite..." Istvan grumbled out as he attempted to stop Rico.

Rico quickly danced out of the way of Istvan's hand, not bothering to look back at the group of marines. He quickly walked through the doorway and into the corridors. He wasn't hungry anymore.

Valo nodded to Kokuten when he choose to take over. "As you wish. If you are in need of any assistance simply ask" With that Valo went back to his normal rounds.

Benji beat his forehead several times against one of the bulkheads of the med bay before picking up his box and leaving. He got himself lost and then after stowing his precious cargo under his bunk he returned to the Mess hall to find a new girl... Greshin... and many of the marines all sitting together. With a sigh he fetched himself a late lunch and dispite the odd looks from everybody because of his nose he took a seat near the new girl.

He listined to them talk and shook his head. Eithout minding if anyone heard he spoke to Suku hoping she, of all people on the god damned ship, would acctually pay any attention to him. "They're all evil, watch out for Rico, he'll rape ya any chance he gets. keep an eye on Kokuten, he likes to choke on his cigars, Fian's the only NICE guy around here. Adiran's psycho, John? don't know much about him, Istivan? well.... He fits in after Fian... and me? I'm just invisible to EVERYONE around here... pay no attention..."

He sighed and the popped open the top of the box and pulled out the half empty vial of his sister's drugs and gave himself another shot and stowed the needle away. He replaced the vial and then after a minute he smiled happily and went back to eating. Of course after a bit he pushed the tray away from him, lay his head down on the table and passed out completely as the drug slowed his heart rate.

Istvan heard Benji's grumbling, and turned. "Oh?" he asked "I am honored to be counted as a nice guy as an afterthought." he wispered to Benji. "Oh, and Rico had been injected with two doses of vigor... He did not have much control of himself at the time. Not that it excuses what he did...."

Istvan blinked at the drugs, but he had nothing to say about them. There was nothing wrong in HIS mind about doing some drugs so long as you did not hurt anyone.

Istvan shooks his head "I recall that you... kissed him. How serious was that kiss?" Istvan sounded intensly curious, though what about was hard to tell. "I am new here, and do not know much about the dynamic."

Wazu's limping came to a halt in front of the med bay. His right hand held his cane while the left held a tool box. Both were placed on the ground before he opened the med bay bulkhead and locked it on open. He then took off his rank badge and tossed it into the tool box before pulling out a cutting tool and face mask. There was a lot of mass that would need to be removed so the sterilization system could be installed in the door.

He squeezed the handle of the cutting tool, coaxing a small white flame to sprout from the top. The mask then made its way to his head while he knelt in the door frame and got to work.

Wazu was finishing placing tubing in the sides of the bulkhead when Ally gave him a reminder of the time. He nodded and reached for the data pad in his tool box, using it to send a message to Fian to meet him when possible.

Moments later, Fian Vel Steyr appeared in the doorway. From Rico, he figured that the XO wanted to see him but did not really state when or where until the message came as a confirmation. He walked to a few steps behind Wazu and then snapped into a salute loudly to indicate his presence. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

Wazu was holding a can of sealant against the side of the bulkhead door as Fian arrived. "I did not think you would be here so soon." Wazu said, placing the canister down and reaching for his rank bars in the tool box. His uniform top had been discarded in favor of a green tank top, but the bars clipped all the same. "Alright soldier," Wazu said, saluting and allowing Fian to go to at ease. "Your promotion came through. You are now a Soldier Second Class." He reached for his uniform top which had been laid down on the ground in order to produce a rank bar from one of the pockets. He held it out for him to take and added, "I also have two assignments for you."

Fian accepted the rank bars with both hands and a slight nod. "Thank you sir.". Under this modesty his head was going 'Oh yeah, oh yeah' but boot camp teaches you not to shout that out in front of your Executive Officer. He kept the bars in his left hand. "Awaiting Orders."

"I want you to help the sergeant organize and prepare a backup team for the Elysian Op. The delegation going down there is likely going to be lightly armed and armored with no power armors so if shit starts going down they are going to need some calvary to swoop in and pull their collective asses out of the fire." Wazu reached for his cane which was against the side of the wall and pulled it close to help steady himself. "I gave Rico the job of going with the delegation and he will be taking one other marine with him so work with him when you can. When we arrive on Elysia I expect the marines to be suited up and ready to jump at a moments notice. Before then I want you to personally inspect our XF-14 wing and the non-quanta-construct power armors. Make sure they are all operating at their peak."

"Yes sir." Fian said. He paused for a while to think, not that he was given such a command, but there are a few unknown variables that needs to be verified. "I have a few questions, sir."

"Proceed Marine," Wazu said simply.

"Firstly, would we be expecting to come up against Elysian units, or from another third party? Do we have any intelligence on them?" Fian said. Get your hostiles right.

"I am expecting that if something goes down it will be between the Elysians and ourselves." Wazu said, "But there is also the chance that others will come to crash the party. In either case we need to be able to extract our delegation quickly." Wazu paused for a moment before summarizing, "Prepare for Elysian hostiles but be ready for anything."

"Yes sir, I will read up the combat capabilities of the Elysians." Fian said, he was quite uncertain anything concerning Elysians but that has to change in three hours. "Last question, do we limit Elysian casualties?"

"Yes, avoid engaging any Elysians unless absolutely necessary." Wazu said.

"No further questions sir." Fian said. Three hours, time is of the essence.

"Very well. You are dismissed marine." Wazu said, giving a quick salute before detaching his rank pin and returning to the toolbox on the floor.

Fian returned the salute, turned around and marched out the door leaving Wazu to his own devices. As soon as he was away from the medibay, he quickened his steps to a jog. There is a lot of work to do.