Welcome to Gaia! ::

A light touch on Jerry's shoulder announced the presence of someone else in the hallway with him. "Hey," Aria greeted quietly, her oversized coat seeming to swish around her as she stopped. "Jerry, right? You and I need to talk. Come with me, please."

The division leader turned and ghosted towards a nearby room, her footfalls silent as she crossed the hallway and entered an unused meeting room. She made herself comfortable in one of the available chairs and looked at Jerry expectantly.

"That depends," Aria began, propping her elbows on the table. The tips of her fingers touched, forming a triangle that rested on her lips briefly as she studied him. "In theory you deserted your post by proclaiming you had a text message and had to leave. I highly doubt Simon texted you and called you away. While I personally respect the other divisions, as division lead I do rank higher than him, therefore my request for your presence at the meeting would override any of his orders to pull you away."

"And yet, on the other hand..." She trailed off, watching him. "You didn't want to be there, did you?"

She waited for Jerry's response, thinking. Wasn't he currently in a relationship with one of her girls? Candace, that was it. She honestly had a difficult time imagining the two together, and wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen footage of them together over the surveillance cameras. He had a long range weapon, didn't he? Something along those lines, she figured. Aria wondered how he acquired that scar on his face.

"There are times when you have to work with someone you don't want to," Aria chided. "When you're on a mission, you're picked either because you're in the wrong place at the right time or because you have the skillsets needed for that mission. There are times when you have to put personal feelings aside for the common goal."

"And I don't know what 'personal hangups' you have," she continued, "Nor do I particularly care. I still need your assistance for this mission. However," She held up a hand, the other resting on the table. "In this case, your personal hangups may come in... handy."

'Complicated' he claimed. Aria arched an eyebrow at that. What could a trainee go through that was 'complicated' to the point of having to flee from a mission debriefing? They were intermediate trainees -- they should have already gotten over killing their fellows in order to claim their place as hunters. Then again, their trial was different. Aria knew she would never be forgiven for her initiation. Those she killed would never come back.

Now wasn't the time to linger on past sins.

"Yes, handy," She repeated sternly, placing weight behind her words. "The hunters stationed at the outpost have long since cleared out any threat. We can tell the trainees all we want to be prepared, but I can assure you this: they will ot believe it until they experience it first hand for themselves."

Aria watched Jerry closely as she continued, "I want you to use a golem to ambush us, catch us off-guard. If you have a personal vendetta, you can take it out on them so long as you attack as many people as possible."

Aria laughed openly at Jerry's hesitation and the reason for it. "Luckily for you, you'll be using the older golem models. They are cruder in the sense that they only speak in gutteral growls, but they will be perfect for our purposes." She rolled her shoulders in a shrug, adding, "In addition, the golems in question will not only sound the part, they will look the part as well. The only thing that may give you away is upon death they won't burst into Fear, but then again, would trainees know the difference?" She smiled. It wasn't a nice smile, but it wasn't particularly malicious either. In fact, it was quite... mischievous.

Aria fell silent as Jerry considered her proposal, finally nodding in approval after he agreed. "Excellent. I will text you once we are in position, and you may begin. You will have three golems to use -- they will progressively become harder to kill as you use them. As you will be riding in a golem, however, you will need to be careful." She rose from her seat as she continued, "While you may be physically safe in the golem, if you die in the golem there is a chance that your mind may assume that you have actually died. You will need to pay close attention to the golem and bail out before death. If you remain in there for too long..." She trailed off, shrugging. "Who can say? You may be seriously affected, or you may be fine. Either way, before you can access them the Life labs will have paperwork for you to sign."

She made to leave, pausing to look back at him. "Do you have any questions?"

On her way out the door, Aria paused. She looked over her shoulder at Jerry and offered a shrug. "Beats me. That sounds like something you will need to discuss with a Life technician. But as for actually hurting someone? That is the point." Aria crossed her arms. "If you try to avoid hurting them, the intermediates will think that something is up, and the trainees will assume that how you are attacking will be how all monsters attack. They have Fear shields; put them to good use."

Aria turned to leave, pausing long enough to look back at Jerry. "Think of it as the school of hard knocks," she encouraged, "Or at the very least, rough up that trainee that... inspired you to blow up the bathrooms. You have an opportunity not many others will have. I suggest you use it to the best of your ability, as you may not have another chance."

With another shrug, Aria turned and opened the door, exiting.