Welcome to Gaia! ::

The island. Evan remembered that, a little. More than that, he remembered the recruiter offering him another chance at life, to do something that was still worthwhile. He remembered taking him up on that offer. Paranormal phenomenons, shadows and monsters. Just like it said in the fine print. Evan nodded his understanding, replying "Thanks" reflexively.

Then he noticed that Ami was still tucked defensively on the ground. Embarrassment rolled through him, and he took a hesitant step forward before reaching down to help her up. "I'm sorry about that," he mumbled sheepishly, his shoulders hunched a little. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Evan nodded as Ami began her explanation of what would happen next. The familiarity of having his actions dictated to him was comforting, even if it was in a completely different setting. It would be a lot to take in, but hopefully it would keep his mind occupied and off of the fact that all of this was just so strange.

When Ami offered Evan her arm, he almost laughed. He didn't want to knock her down, but he didn't want to fall again, either. He gingerly placed just enough weight on her to keep upright and clumsily stumbled after her. The mention of a weapon gave him pause. He'd been responsible for maintaining his own rifle while he had still been active, but personally bonded sounded a little extreme. He bit back all of the questions he had about that, shaking his head at her prompting instead. "Not at the moment, but I'm sure I will," he admitted. "If--when--I do, how can I find you?"

Life division? Evan almost wanted to ask, but he figured it was something they would go over in the briefing. He straightened as they reached the door, still a little out of sorts but certainly more mobile than he had been when he'd fallen out of the pod. He cringed inwardly at her reassurances, feeling embarrassed and guilty all over again. "I'll be okay," he murmured. "I don't normally...react that way, but. Well." He shrugged helplessly, unsure of how to explain it. "I'm sorry again. Thanks for your help."

Pod duty.

It had been a while since Gale had been put on pod duty. He'd heard rumors that there were new trainees floating about, but he had been a little preoccupied with attempting to get his hand working properly again and going on missions to figure out who they were.

But now his rotation was up, and here he was, sitting in an uncomfortable metal chair, feet propped up on the nearest table, a clipboard in his lap. Absently flexing his fingers (the spasms were still too frequent to be considered fully functional), Gale tipped his chair back, the two front legs lifting off the ground.

BANG.

There was a simultaneous whoosh as a pod door swung open and Gale's chair slammed into the floor again. A gust of steam issued from the pod in question, and Gale pulled his feet down, pushing himself to his feet.

A girl stood a few feet away, looking...well, disgruntled. Gale lifted one brow.

"Good morning," he said. "Are you..." He looked at the pod number, and then his clipboard. "Nicole Callahan, by chance?"

The eyebrows rose further. Jinhai made a soft snort of mild surprise and amusement.

"Pleasure, Nick," said Gale dryly. "I see you're just as pleasant as you look. My name is Gale Gentry. Welcome to Deus Ex Machina Headquarters. Got any idea what that means?"

"I implied nothing about your face," said Gale blithely. "If you want to make that conclusion, suit yourself."

<< What a charmer. >>

Me, or her?

<< Both. >>

Gale rolled his eyes, then marked something off on his clipboard, glancing up at Nick. "You passed. Now you get the lovely job of becoming a trainee in Deus Ex. Know anything about what we do here, or do you need a SparkNotes version?"

"Sorry, not interested in you that way," said Gale blandly, without raising his eyes. "I'm quite flattered, however."

<< Oh, this'll be fun. Making friends already, I'm so pleased. >>

"And yes, though not quite. Those 'shadows' are actually creatures, supernatural creatures from a place known as Halloween Town. They're...well, you'll see eventually. That's what we do here."

Gale snapped a rubber band in place on the clipboard and looked up at Nick.

"We're in charge of making sure none of those creatures harms us, gets in here, as well as researching them."

"You're very chatty, aren't you," said Gale, eyeing Nick. He gave a somewhat exasperated sigh. "Believe me, you're not the first person to be this charming to me, so it's not like I haven't heard it all before."

He gave her another Look.

"...plus you're shorter than I am."