The trainees and Intermediates were given notice to attend a briefing late on the second evening. As they arrived, senior hunters and division leaders could be seen leaving the meeting room, faces both grimly determined and relieved. Once the room emptied out, the only people left to greet the trainees were the Life assistant, Clarice, and a petite black woman with short blonde hair and a stern expression.
Once the group had filed in and sat down around the table in the typically uncomfortable plastic chairs, the woman gave the a terse greeting, "My name's Edith Carr, and I lead the Moon Division. For the moment I'll be staying on the Island. If you need me, I'll find you. If you run around something stupid, I'll find you then too. Miss Sinclaire, you may begin." She gave Clarice a nod, and returned her attention to those gathered, observing and memorizing with an oddly calm sort of intensity. Occasionally she paged through a thick folder and made small notes beside the trainee profiles held within.
Clarice opened her mouth to begin and then froze, her eyes sliding off to the side briefly. Edith cleared her throat and the assistant startled, flushing in embarrassment, "Yes...okay, um," she gave them all a slightly strained smile, "Well....we did it. The Clans have been broken and while no doubt they'll try to rebuild their power structure, it should take centuries for them to reach a point where they can threaten our world to this extent again. So good job, all of you...there were losses, and unexpected set backs, but at the end of the day...our world has a tomorrow, thanks to you."
For a moment the smile was bright, and genuine, but the blonde's eyes shifted to a corner of the room and it faded quickly. Clarice lifted a trembling hand and carefully touched her temple, as if checking for something. Realizing what she was doing, the movement changed, and she gave a small, nervous laugh and ran her hands through her hair. "Of course that doesn't mean we don't have some fall-out to deal with. Most surviving senior hunters are being dispatched around the world to deal with Clan retaliation attempts as well as those who seek to take advantage of the power vacuum left in their leaders' absence. The recovery and repair of the island facilities has been left to you guys. What's being called the Phoenix was a type S Insanity manifestation. Since the temple barriers were each destroyed by the Clans' guests, we weren't able to keep it trapped inside the blast site."
She paused, eyes sliding to the side once again before quickly returning her attention back to those gathered, "And it came here. The good news is: only the outermost buildings and structures were destroyed. Most of the town has been wiped again, the lighthouse, and several other locations. The dorms, main building, training areas, and labs are all fine. The bad news is: they're currently overrun by hostile creatures. I'll explain more on Insanity later, but for the moment all you need to know is that the island's fog has always been a vaporous form of Insanity. Up until recently, it couldn't affect human beings, but that has...very obviously changed. Whatever the Phoenix did, it's caused our fog to begin solidly manifesting creatures of Insanity. So our home is still standing, it just has a nasty infestation, and it's been left to you to clear it out."
Edith got up and hit a switch, at the center of the table a 3-D rendering of the facility appeared and began slowly rotating "The red areas have the highest concentration. As you can see, the dorms are the biggest indoor hotspot."
"We think it's because they probably had the largest amount of ambient emotional energies." Clarice offered, before Edith gave her a look. The assistant's hand began reaching up to touch her face again, and the Moon lead lifted an eyebrow, causing the blonde to quickly drop her hand back down with an awkward smile.
"Yes, well, whatever the reason, it's gonna be a serious undertaking to get that cleared out. So get yourselves comfy down here. The main priority at the moment is the labs." She pointed to the building, glowing a soft orange, "The sleepers can only survive for so long with no one to maintain the pods and equipment."
"And the minipets too, they need to be..." Clarice got another look.
"Minipets. Of course. How could I forget about the goddamn minipets." Edith rolled her eyes and continued, "I'll be handling the jungle, beach, and cornfields with a small crew. The buildings will be up to you trainees and Intermediates if you want to sleep in a real bed anytime soon. I suggest going in teams, some of the things out there are nasty. Do not hesitate to call for back up when needed." She gave the group another keen, searching look, and went on, "We have a lot of gaps in the ladder these days. If you're looking to take a leadership role later on, now's a good time to prove you can handle it. Take the time to study the map, a 2-D version has been sent to your phones. If you still need some time to recover, you're free to leave."
After Edith had basically dismissed them, Clarice cleared her throat and spoke up again, "Tori? When you have a moment, I have an extra assignment for you."
The OOC
Go here for information on reclaiming Deus!
Note: for those who got all vined-up in Famine, the vines and flowers will shrivel and die within hours, sooner if you visit the infirmary. Sunny will give you all something nice and ******** disgusting to drink to help make sure your insides are cleansed. Going to the bathroom later will provide a novel, slightly horrific experience that will only be detailed in the stunned, slightly traumatized looks of those who experience it. Fortunately they are able to blend in fairly well with all the other more traditionally traumatized hunters. Initially starting out and angry red, the markings from the flowers eventually either scar to pink or white, or they just leave an fairly intricate birthmark-like discoloration.
Note: for those who got all vined-up in Famine, the vines and flowers will shrivel and die within hours, sooner if you visit the infirmary. Sunny will give you all something nice and ******** disgusting to drink to help make sure your insides are cleansed. Going to the bathroom later will provide a novel, slightly horrific experience that will only be detailed in the stunned, slightly traumatized looks of those who experience it. Fortunately they are able to blend in fairly well with all the other more traditionally traumatized hunters. Initially starting out and angry red, the markings from the flowers eventually either scar to pink or white, or they just leave an fairly intricate birthmark-like discoloration.
