Amelie Abdulov looked up from her book at the double ping of the incoming messages. She thumbed down the corner of her page, chimera-earing it for later, and put it away in her canvas backpack. If she was being honest, Doctor Pajitnov's message had caught her eye more closely than Aria Starflare's, but it was mostly due to her familiarity with his doings. His name was a household staple in The People's Conglomerate, and he'd done good work in regards to the yrodstva problems they'd been having in recent years.
Aria's message was interesting for it's uniqueness, certainly. Amelie didn't know much about the pop star aside from the things everyone knew about her — her most famous song, her assorted charitable works, that sort of rag-mag mysor — but she wanted a place to do something she loved and that was never a bad thing. Plus, and although Amelie liked to think appearances didn't sway her, nice eyelashes and long legs definitely counted for something. She took out a notebook to jot down the contact information for both interested parties.
done w ur shit
Midnight Train Going Somewhere Specific
Ivy has a small, unfolding laptop bar set out, and is idly shaking water and ice in a Boston shaker, keeping her muscle memory sharp. She glances at the messages, then grunts.
"The singer. Better cash flow."
Some Guy Or Something
Destination: Anywhere, East Or West, I Don't Care
Eric looked out at the landscape through a pair of binoculars. Hellish fire, impossible upside-down waterfalls... Okay, Australia didn't have it that bad, but sometimes it sure felt that way.
Sightseeing would have to be tabled, as the two messages came in. While there was no doubt Dmitri Pajitnov was a powerful ally to have (and an even more powerful foe to face)... Eric glanced at the playlist on his phone.
"Tough call." The thick Aussie accent could be difficult to comprehend but he had gotten better at speaking slowly and e-nun-ci-at-ing. "Mr. Pajitnov could get us some cool new bits to show Limbo what's what but Aria Starflare could pull in families faster than a dingo in a nursery room."
"Evii is right though" -Saturn "I didn't know you were a bitch Evii." -Lior Val
If there are oddities in Amelie's speech, assume they're on purpose; English (or whatever form of it is spoken here) isn't her native language.
"I do not see why it is we could not make room for both people," Amelie said, the language of these foreigners — although, truth be told, it was she who was the foreigner here — stodgy against her teeth. "The yrodstva are dangerous, yes, and to turn away two settlers who could help a colony — this is impossible." She sat forward on her seat and, having finished jotting down the contact information, dropped her pen and notebook into her backpack.
"I am Amelie Lilevna Abdulov," she said, and thrust her hand towards her closest fellow passenger, the tall man with the incomprehensible accent. It was a gesture she knew about but didn't often practice, given the Conglomerate's views on public affection. "And I am very glad to met you."
edited 29th May '17 11:50:18 AM by SmallishGiraffe
The Flamebringer
Apologies for the late post, not usually very active on TVT on weekends.
Upon hearing the tint of Russian in the new speaker's voice, Amelie immediately dropped her hand and turned to the other woman. It was unclear from her posture, her voice, her clothes or her appearance where she was from, but Amelie had been so starved for her native language that even the briefest hint of it was enough to catch her ear as belonging to a potential ally.
"Vui gavari'tye pa'rysski?" she inquired, leaning forwards a little in her excitement. Russian was a different, more formal form of the Russguskan that most people in the People's Conglomerate spoke — all six verb forms were still in use, and nouns still had three separate genders to remember — but every citizen of the Conglomerate with any amount of formal education knew how to speak both languages, just in case they ever ran into someone who might be offended by the supposedly lower-class, slang-ridden sound of Russguskan.
I don't remember if Mikaela actually speaks Russian or not but if she does it'll probably be easier for us to just, like, put the conversation in English and italics, hah.
edited 30th May '17 2:07:24 PM by SmallishGiraffe
The Flamebringer
Mikaela does, though she's better with French because that was the language of the Tzar's court and, thus, the upper class of Russia prior to the Russian Revolution. I, however, do not, so yeah probably.
All are significantly abnormal in a normal world... All are significantly normal in an abnormal world.
Giant Guardian Generation: Limbo Gear Walker
At least part of Gateway City is painted a soft orange basically all the time. A huge field of fire slowly orbits the place about a hundred miles away and bathes it in a warm twilight, which also serves to kind of shield the city from certain angles of approach and cut off retreaters on an approximately 30-hour cycle, give or take a few mintues. It's safe from most of the shit in The Mess, helped by being even safer because all the people around prevent the worst of Limbo's bullshit. You can see the whole thing, like a big garish paper lantern, in the windows of the freighter taking you out to your destination.
Even this close to the city there's got to be a dude on the panflute in the front of the freighter, to ward off The Mess's chaotic influence. In your private car, not unlike a train's, you can't see the guy directly, but it's impossible to totally shut him out. You'll need someone like him in the near future to push back against Limbo when you aren't around. Someone equipped with a Will Frame like the ones on the Gear Walkers in the car behind yours, but bigger, the kind you rig into the ground for a specific location instead of attach to a ship or a mech. The passenger car is comfortable, and it's even got a nice little terminal with a VOIP client ready for use. Once someone gave credentials though it almost immediately pinged you with two unread messages:
Hello. My name is Dmitri Pajitnov. It has come to my attention that you have just purchased that bit of land nobody has ever successfully secured, just north of Gateway City. I would appreciate if you called me when you were available and told me if you would be interested in giving me some of that land in exchange for some services from me. We could come to an arrangement, I'm sure.
Holy shit, that's the Dmitri Pajitnov! A leading GW engineer and a mechanical genius, he must have been keeping an eye on anyone
stupidbrave enough to try and set up someplace outside New Tunguska or Gateway City or Limbus! His creativity could hold the land down like nobody's business, and his labor wouldn't be anything to sneeze at either. The other message, though, was just as enticing.Hey there! Name's Aria Starflare, and I wanna work with you guys on your little project. Heard you were grabbing that bit of land people keep tryna get only to get blown up by an Urostva. I want a nice studio where I can make music and maybe put on some more performances too, and I figured you guys might be interested in renting that land to me. Ring me if you're interested and we can chat!
Oh shit, that's the Aria Starflare! Pop idol and occasional Gear Walker pilot! She wouldn't be able to necessarily build you fuckoff huge lasers or anything but she could bring in more people, and with them either more gear or more money over time! Also, a live-in pop idol! A long term versus short term investment for sure! Pop idol versus mad scientist!
What do you do?
edited 27th May '17 5:36:12 PM by Taco