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Kostya showed up early, as was his nature, nodding once at Oz and Mark, deferring quietly to the Death Lead Who Threatened Death Often Enough To Do It For A Living And So He Did.

He then, after listening intently to the lecture best instructing him in the best way to serve be a Death Hunter, decided that he would be the first to speak.

America had informed him of what had occurred in that distasteful dream, at the top of towers and what she had heard of a Death horseman's fate. He was personally intrigued by very few things, but the idea of such a technological advancement being within grasp was truly awing. They were no longer bound to recruit children who lacked in strength and fortitude. (To him, it was not a moral matter: many of the hunters on Deus were barely children themselves, and he supposed that all was fair, in this war.) Death could reach out to snap the necks of stronger creatures, to bind them and break them until they were Kostya's most favourite and precious thing:

A tool, fit to be utilized.

And so, Kostya gathered up his few note cards and stood, addressing Caelius.

"I have heard of fate of the horseman, who has been turn to veapon now in our hold. If such a strong entity can be turn into a tool for us, then other Horsemen must be also. Vould like to attempt process on lesser horseman. Propose that I and team of three to four seek out rogue horsemen, veaken them, and capture vith intent to attempt veaponizing. Request three things." For each number he counted, Kostya would hold up an additional finger. "Vun: access to several members to come vith me on patrol. Two: Supply to use to restrain and capture. Three: Access to veaponizing technology. Am villing to find full hunter to attend to technology portion if my intermediate status is lack."

Upon finishing, Kostya stood in a military stature: hands clasped behind his back, chin up, and-- despite himself-- dreading the response.

Waking up had been a chore. He was tired, and he'd been having such nice dreams: Back in Galway, looking down into the water, fireworks bursting overhead. The water looked like obsidian in a moment, as he was blinded by the colourful lights and they lulled. He held Alistaire's hand, in the dream, unabashedly. If only that was the case in waking hours. Still, the stolen minutes were worth it.

It seemed a little extreme to Harland Leander Belle that they'd be terminated if they were late to the meeting, but he wasn't particularly scared-- all he had to do was be on time, and if he had to focus on it he'd be fine. He arrived at the meeting slightly groggy but still smartly dressed (Alistaire's influence, probably) with a coffee in hand, half-consumed already by 9:45. "Good mornin'" Harland greeted them quietly, automatically, tipping his cowboy hat before he took a seat.

Harland tried very hard to pay attention. He wanted to know what the Death lead had to say, but he thought the flowery language was a little hard to follow this early in the morning. Listening to the first proposal, Harland knew that he was too low in rank still to be of much use or much impact in this meeting. Nevertheless, he'd like to change that. He could always start by being entirely more vocal about his ambitions, he supposed, if they were being given an opportunity.

He waited until there was an appropriately timed lull before he set his coffee down, slid his hat off and held it against his chest, stood to speak with Caelius. "Good mornin', Caelius; Harland Leander Belle, an' I was hopin' I might be granted the opportunity t' engage on a mission t' further document features in hotspots, so t' speak-- Have we attempted t' grid areas of the Sahara with some fixed feature so we can map the area?" he wondered aloud.

It was entirely possible he was just going to sound stupid, but it was too late now. All he wanted was to be given the opportunity to see more of the Sahara or its creatures, or any other dangerous zones and such, so that he could add to the illustrated guide he was making of the things they encountered. He thought perhaps the visual aide could be helpful for the others.

"Alternatively, I'd be happy t' help in other projects if it'd suit," he added. Harland was entirely flexible in what he did, he just wanted to do something. Harland smiled and tipped his hat at the girl who stood up. "Sounds like we're on the same page," Harland whispered to her, with a friendly grin.




458 words

Lawrence was exactly on time to the meeting, listening to everything Caelius had to say, poised in the usual posture he maintained at these things, hands - or rather hand - in a position that might have been clasped if he had its fellow to clasp it with. He listened but for the time being he did not respond, merely observed what other people put themselves forward for. He did not fear falling behind or stagnation, being unremarkable had been his modus operandi for much of his life, he waited in the background, a nobody until opportunity presented itself. He did not ask for anything, funds, supplies or training, because each of those things were things he could be held to account for later.

If he was useful for anything he left it up to the people in charge to notice and utilize it, he certainly wasn't a volunteer.

Lawrence looked up at the wink in his direction and smiled most warmly at Cee. The Death huntress was a lady with her head on straight. She got a subtle nod of greeting in return, the pale man was clearly still wary of sharp movements around Caelius, the way one might be with a bear or some other skittish wild animal.

"Sorry I'm late!"

The pink haired mess of a Death hunter clattered into the room as usual, still half pulling his jacket over his shoulders. Shiloh seemed, which was also usual, to misjudge the air of the situation or it was possible he just felt like being particularly bright and obnoxious towards the Death lead that day. He even managed a friendly wave in Oz's direction, even if had been his fault he'd lost literal control of his body for a day.

But it had only been a day, and as far as Deus went, it was akin to a harmless prank. Absent-mindedly, he rubbed at the spot on his arm, pulling his sleeve down over it as he stuck his head out the doorway. It only took him a second to grab what he'd brought with him, a particular Life hunter who really had no say in the matter. Shiloh wasn't sure where exactly he wanted to progress in this division, but he knew that whatever his plans were, Lucky could not be discounted. He was a viable asset, and begrudgingly, becoming a bit of a friend.

There were a lot of new faces that Shiloh didn't recognize and a few that he did, and it seemed he'd walked into the middle of several proposals. Not having one immediately himself, he dragged Lucky over to Gale, plopping them both in the chairs next to him.

Shiloh and Lucky were both given a nod in greeting, Gale tilting his head to look at the two of them. The last time he'd talked to either of them, they'd been mixed up in each other's appearances, and that had not really gone over all too well (Gale had mostly huddled in his room, refusing to come out because having looked like Quinn meant that he was in a certain dark skinned hunters eye line). Still, it hadn't been either of their faults, and he rather liked both Shiloh and Lucky, even if he didn't know either of them too well.

Gale let his gaze flicker back towards Caelius, and then, with a small sigh, he stood up, almost reluctantly. The Death Lead's last words were still ringing in his ear, and maybe this would be what he needed to get his damned specialization back.

"I'd like to propose a series of reconnaissance missions," he said firmly. "Specifically ones dealing with the Horsemen. Not weaponizing them, as, er..." A pause. "Kostya, was it? is requesting, but to gather information, to find their bases, and gain intel on their purposes and goals. Hand in hand in this is the testing and usage of Horseman golems, so that Hunters would be able to successfully infiltrate a Horseman lair and gather information without having to worry about their safety being compromised."

Gale paused for a moment, and drew a breath before continuing.

"Halloween creatures are worrisome, but the Horseman have more power," he said. "They are more bloodthirsty, and their addendum is less known, other than the constant striving for power and dominance. I believe focusing our attention on the Horsemen is important so that we can gain the upper hand."

He stood for a moment, shoulders pushed back, head held high as he looked at Caelius, wondering if he was going to get another incident like the last time.

As Kostya spoke first, he was addressed and answered to first.

"You will be granted an appropriate budget for weaponization, your monthly salary will be raised to compensate for any team deficiencies. If you successfully capture a horseman, then we will talk about results. As you haven't shown quite cannibalistic tendencies yet," Caelius was probably referring to Kostya's methods and not his eating preferences, "I will temporarily grant you full Hunter clearance for missions. You are allowed to assemble your own consistent team to help you with this project. I will also assign Mark to oversee the transition of any captured horseman material onto this island."

Mark sort of looked like a deer caught in the headlights and just sort of stared at Kostya.

"Once you have submitted in paperwork the official proposal, you are free to execute as needed."