Eris wrote:Ramona wrote:Ramona sits in the limo, leans back and closes her eyes. "I would be unsurprised to find out auntie Gogo is giving the whole thing up, selling off the assets and getting out of the game. The business just seems to be doing naught but cause her distress of late from the sound of it.
"It'll be Gralyn's loss if she does," she opens her eyes and looks at the limo's roof, "that kind of experience in the void isn't easy to come by and things just keep getting uglier and more insular by the day."
Jimi nods then smiles slowly, "You've been sleeping beauty for the last 18 months, so you don't know the half of it."
Frowning he continues, "You're right, though, it's gotten a lot rougher out there since you started your nap. Lots of worlds are closing up...getting insular is a good word for it...damn xenophobia might be a better one, though. The Imperium's troubles, the Sollie interference, Aslan getting restless, Markhelm and Lanyard threatening to close their borders to outsiders. It's depressing, but hey! Somebody's got to try to keep the lights on, right? We can't all just pull the dirt over our heads and wait to stop breathing."
Your aircar lands on the roof's landing stage, and Sergeye leads you to the elevator, presses '3'. When the door opens, you're facing the receptionist. She smiles and says, "Welcome, Gospodin, Gospa. Your meeting is in Conference Room 2. Please make yourselves comfortable." Sergeye leads you to it, bows, and retreats, closing the door behind him.
joertexas wrote:ottarrus wrote:Paying the cab [I assume it's automated at TL 10], Jiao and Ivan walk in to 47 Gorky Prospekt. Ivan tends to be assertive in situations like this, probably because he's used to being condescended to as some sort of large pet. He strolls up to the receptionist kiosk and politely says,
"Good afternoon. Second Officers Erwin and van Stoddart to see Godspodin Hardin, please. We're expected."
Jiao walks with Ivan and lets him do the talking.
The receptionist smiles and says "Dobre utra, Gospodin, Gospa." A young man comes down the hall. "Sergeye, more for Gospodin Hardlin's meeting, if you please?"
The young man nods, and says "Follow me please." He leads you back down the hallway, opens a door for you. "Gospodin Hardlin will be here shortly. Please make yourselves comfortable."
Five minutes later, he escorts another human male into the room.
That's Aadam
ALL: You see a very nice conference room, long table with 10 seats per side, and one at the head with a comfortable chair behind it. It's panelled in some kind of wood, and there is a sidebar with various unlabeled bottles, a samovar filled with what your nose tells you is zapana, and a large plate of pastries under a clear cover. There are over a dozen cups available. A holoprojector is at the opposite end of the table, and at each chair is a comm panel with keyboard and touchscreen. Present are two human females, two human males, and a male uplifted ape, all but one of the human females dressed in upscale spacer fashion. The lone female is wearing middle class civilian clothes of a Carrillian style.
That's YOU guys!
PRESENT: Jimi, Ramona, Jiao, Ivan, Aadam.
A few minutes later, after you've introduced yourselves, the door opens, and four people come in. Jimi recognises the two women, Go-Go and Gospa Zhukova, the lawyer. The two males are a middle aged man in upper middleclass business attire and a middleaged man in some kind of uniform. The businessman speaks up as he grabs himself a cup of zapana. "Dobre utra. That, by the way, is how we say 'Good morning' here on Gralyn. But you're smart enough to have figured that out." He turns and smiles. "I am Coydt Hardlin, station head here at the home office. Please be seated." You all settle into a chair, and the comm panel in front of you comes active.
JIMI, RAMONA: She looks OLD, even though she's only 8 years older than Ramona and a year YOUNGER than Jimi. To Ramona, she still has that 'dragon granny' look that stereotyped a lot of the elderly women on Topkapi. She's wearing traditional Carrillian mourning clothes. She sits in the comfy chair behind the head of the table.
The Rest of You: The elderly woman dressed in white sits in the comfy chair behind the head of the table.
ALL: The delegation sits down on the other side of you, with Hardlin taking the chair at the head. He frowns, taps the comm panel, looks up and says "I wish to thank you all for coming here today on short notice. Events are picking up, and we here at Outworld Partners are in the thick of it." He smiles. "Introductions. Behind me is the majority owner of Outworld Partners, Gospa Hiromashu. Gospodin Woo and Gospa Quinn of course know her. I present to you Gospa Zharkova, from our Legal Department, a named partner of Lorwin, Shea, Mitsumi, and Zharkova, and Major Stotts, of Gralyn Planetary Security's Second Directorate." He smiles. "A bit of background. This is all Level 1 information, you can find it anywhere, so no need to promise secrecy. Yes, Outworld Partners is sponsoring refugees from the conflict zones for citizenship here in the Union. And not just the usual techs and engineers, we're sponsoring EVERYBODY who wishes to apply. The reason is, Gralyn is trying to boost their local tech closer to the old Imperial standard level 15. No secret there. But if we only took in the techs and engineers, we'd take 20 years to boost up a level. By bringing in people who already
know how to use that tech, we can achieve Tech 14 within 5 years. And, even more importantly, we help save the culture of lost Carrill. These refugees will be the teachers and foremen of the new industrial revolution here. Questions so far?"
