trans_9 | Meat n' Greet

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Meat n' Greet

The rest of the crew assembled on the Observation Deck to meet the latest editions to their numbers. After the revelation that their worlds are gone, many of them are even more eager to see people they knew from home.

Several people are set up near the doors to provide the new people with omnicoms and comm rings. New crew-mates might see a tall man in green armor and snake girl among their number. There are also several authoritative-looking figures ready to introduce themselves.

There's a lot to tell the new people. It's going to be a lot to take in.

[ooc: Only new characters and Command Staff can start new threads for introductions, to limit the number of threads. Everyone else, just tag in and have your guys greet the newbies.]

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"I can't just leave him lying around all by himself!" Alex says earnestly.

"~Oh. What useful suggestion!~" Ifrit's voice says, irony all but dripping from the air. "~Considering I'm bound to this thing and staying in it isn't any kind of a choice.~"

"I tried to talk about getting him out once, and Ifrit says that was stupid," Alex says quietly with a frown.

"~That's because it was stupid. Kid, you're not the worst master I've ever had, but you have the sense of self-preservation of a moth. You need to work on that.~"

Well, he didn't sound like an all-powerful god of destruction. Soren relaxed slightly. "So he's bound to that ring... permanently? And you are his master?"

And then, to Ifrit: "What exactly are you? And what happens if you are released?"

Alex just nods a little, while Ifrit starts ranting. "~I'm a djinn, for God's sake! Spirits of scorching fire? Connected to other planes of existence? Subject of horrifically misrepresented human stories? Anything ringing a bell here? And as I told the little bleeding-heart here back then, an unbound djinn is a ridiculously dangerous thing. He could get himself incinerated if he just let me out like some kind of moron.~"

Soren listens, curious. "We don't have any such spirits on my world, I'm afraid. Ours are without form or specific function. Generally speaking, that is."

Actually, if all djinn went on and on about themselves like this, maybe they were better off without them.

"Are you joined by some sort of contract? That would be the kind of relationship most typical of Tellius."

Alex shakes his head. "No contract. 'Cause ... 'possession is nine-tenths of mystic thralldom.'" Alex looks at his hand with a 'did I say that right?' expression.

"~It's nice that you remember what I said, but maybe we shouldn't go announcing that to a ship full of strangers, Kid?~"

Soren frowned. "I see. Well. If that means anyone who holds that ring also controls Ifrit, I recommend you take exquisite care of that ring."

He hesitated. "And... I would agree with him in this case. Best not to let those you don't trust know about it."

Aside from the possible problems a fire spirit might be able to cause, some would no doubt view Alex with as much suspicion. He wasn't even sure why the boy had told him as much as he had.

"Well, okay, but how are we going to help save the world if we don't tell people things?"

Soren is just... not good at dealing with children.

"Well, I'm not saying you shouldn't let on that he exists. Just... don't go around telling people how to get him away from you."

He paused. "...unless you can trust them. Perhaps Ifrit can help you with determining who to trust."

The djinn actually seems to care about Alex, after all.

"Okay!" Alex says cheerily. "You've got a lot of books."

"Yes, well. They're magical tomes. They help with my spells." And his stats.

Another pause.

"Are you a mage?"

"Nope!" Alex lowered his voice dramatically. "I think maybe Gran was, though."

"~His grandmother preferred the term 'occultist,' but she wasn't bad, for a human. Nothing compared to the star-obsessed bastard who bound me, of course, but not bad.~"

Soren felt a headache coming on. "...Are you telling me that the only defense you have against attack is that ring?"

I mean, really.

"Mrs. Gaudin says that when the situation gets dangerous, I should tell Ifrit to take me far away."

"Ah." Alex had mentioned this person before, come to think of it. "And who is this Mrs. Gaudin?"

"She's married to Dr. Gaudin. They promised Mummy that if she let me help, they'd watch out for me, so Mummy said I should listen. They let me and Ifrit evacuate people and get things and sometimes knock the bad guys over if there's more than they want to deal with but they don't think they're too dangerous."

"So... they're your mentors, of a sort." At least no one had left this boy to care entirely for himself, spirit or no. "And you haven't seen the Gaudins here?"

"Nope."

"~Which is not promising.~" Ifrit says. "~Normally, they'd have torn through the crowd looking for the kid at this point. It might make sense for this creature not to take too many people who know each other. A more disoriented group can't organize a rebellion.~"

Soren smiled. "Exactly." He liked the way this Ifrit thought. His advice just now rang rather close to what he himself might have said to Ike. He was safeguarding his master's interests.

Like Soren.

"But in any case," Soren said, fiddling with the Omnicomm he'd been given. "It's difficult to plan for future circumstance without more information. Perhaps I'll see what use I can make of myself aboard this... vessel. Find out how things work around here."

And then he'd take whatever action he felt was necessary to ensure Ike's safety. If he were aboard, that is.

"And what about the two of you? Do you require some sort of aid? I assume there must be some kind of organization here to take care of children."

"~Yeah, we're going to look into that. But this is obviously part of some kind of war zone. If their use for kids in a war zone is...let's say 'something that would upset Mrs. Gaudin,' then we'll look into our other options. It'd be good if we could talk to you later about the nature of your spellcraft, just to get a few ducks in a row about possibilities here?~"

"We can't do something if it'd upset Mrs. Gaudin, Ifrit."

"~I know, Kid. I know.~"

He nodded. "That sounds reasonable. There are, of course, children who join military operations -- we in the Greil Mercenaries have some younger members among our ranks." Soren included, though he was older than he looked.

"But even we don't use children as young as Alex. Not for operational work."

"~Sounds like you're not necessarily complete morons, then. No military operation should be putting any reliance on --~"

"What are the Greil Mercenaries like?" Alex asks.

"We're..." Soren hesitated. "A family. We were started by a man named Greil, and then inherited by his son, Ike. We take jobs from people in need -- poor villages and kingdoms alike. And on the Tellius continent, we have some amount of infamy."

Then he addressed Ifrit. "And I agree. But sometimes, war has a way of forcing people into less than optimal situations." Soren was going to overlook that whole 'moron' thing, Ifrit. "Sometimes it's difficult. If one familiar member is on the battlefront, their younger siblings often want to join them. And sometimes there's simply no one to stay behind and take care of them. Children are often required to grow up quickly."

He looked at Alex. "But generally not that quickly."

"Oh! So you're a hero business! Like the Gaudins'!"

"~That kind of circumstance is understandable, but it's not something that's been a real problem in the kid's country for years.~"

"If we meet Ike, we'll tell him we say you, and if you meet Dr. and Mrs. Gaudin, you can tell them you saw us!" Alex declares enthusiastically.

"Well... I suppose. Although there are certainly some who wouldn't call us heroes. War always has more than one side, after all."

"A peaceful country, is it?" Soren sighed. Like Crimea before Daein invaded, he supposed.

"...well. Yes. That sounds like a prudent course of action." Did he even tell Alex what Ike looked like?

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Meat n' Greet

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