[Awakening] your personal alarm clock (Lin, Lawrence)

[prolixity]

Lin's head ached. It was a dry, light, pulsing kind of ache, and that seemed off, somehow. She tried, groggily, to remember why. Her head should hurt, that was logical, but it shouldn't be hurting like this, because ... because, she remembered, there had been a rock, and a person larger than herself looming over her in a gas mask, and a great deal of pain. Her eyes flew open as the recollection sent a jolt of adrenaline through her.

She was in a small, confined space. Coffin? No. Coffins didn't have windows, and coffins were generally aligned horizontally. Also, coffin lids did not crack open with a hissing noise that suggested pressurization of some kind. Lin shoved at the lid, or door, suddenly feeling a very urgent need to be out.  

[Baneful]

After waking someone up just the day before, Lawrence was expecting that his follow up shift at the very least would be uneventful and had brought a book regarding the translation of the bible with him to read. He'd just gotten into the book itself when the alarms went off to signal someone was waking up.

//Oh for goodness SAKE// he muttered irritably in Swedish, setting his book down and switching it for the clipboard.

He made his way over to the pod in question and leaned against a neighbouring one as he waited for them to escape their confines, reading her name from the file as he did so.

 

[prolixity]

The door -- she was going to think of it as a door, since this was clearly not a coffin, after all -- swung open more easily than she expected, and Lin overbalanced and stumbled ungracefully out of the object she'd been confined in. Her mouth felt cottony and her eyes sticky, as though she'd been asleep too long. She grabbed at the door to steady herself, swaying on her feet and feeling very much as though she might still collapse at any moment.

She freed one hand and nudged her glasses up to rub at her eyes, taking care of the worst of the crusty feeling. Then she adjusted her glasses back into place and peered through them. They were dusty. However, that observation took second place to the fact that there was someone standing nearby with a clipboard, apparently waiting for her.

She focused on him. "Why am I not dead?" she asked.  

[Baneful]

Lawrence was glad that this one at least did a lot less stumbling around and getting upset, it was enough of a relief to earn a friendly sort of smile from him from over the clipboard.

"Well." he said. "That is a multi-layered sort of question which requires several answers. One. Your trial was inside an artificial construct known as a golem, your body was here. Two. You woke up because you have been chosen for a bonding ceremony with a supernatural creature. Three. Perhaps you are not dead because you are here, perhaps it was a choice you made to escape a future which was nothing but bleakness. Hopefully at least one of those answers suits you."

He nodded amicably in her direction. "My name is Dr Michaels, I have been allocated to orienting you now that you are part of Deus Ex Machina. I can answer any questions you might have."

 

[prolixity]

Lin took a moment to think the answers over and let them sink in. She remembered now that she had chosen to leave the uncertainty of potential scholarships and the guarantee of massive debt behind for something less well defined but almost certainly less expensive.

Trial -- that seemed to mean that she had passed the initial test, even though she recalled thinking, as the rock came down, that she had failed. If she had been in some kind of virtual-reality test, however, it made more sense. The criteria for passing the test, or trial, apparently did not include surviving it, and she wondered what exactly they did include.

"Is a hospital?" she asked, and then, "What kind of bonding ceremony?" That sounded strange, like some kind of ritual-magic mumbo-jumbo, and didn't seem to fit with the sleek and technologically advanced equipment that she could see all around her.  

[Baneful]

"Well." he said deciding from the questions he was being asked and the way the woman responded to his comments that she would appreciate less of a flippant response than he might normally give. "To summarise as best I can, you will find while you are here that there are energies outwith the scope of what modern science is capable of understanding, energies which cannot be measured by traditional equipment. The energy we concern ourselves with here is called FEAR. There are entities, some benign and some hostile and dangerous which stalk our world composed of this energy. We fight the dangerous ones using weapons created from entities which devote themselves to our cause, using FEAR against FEAR. "

He nodded. "The bonding you ask about has essentially already begun, you would have slept until death if something had not found traits in you that appealed to it, that weapon or partner waits for you in the cove, contained in a dormant tablet form until your material bodies meet up. Then, well. You'll have to deal with having their thoughts in your head."

And even as he spoke his own weapon talked relentlessly in his head, commenting often crudely about the woman in front of him. "Essentially you find them down there and then well, you go from there."

 

[prolixity]

Lin's knees were feeling less watery the longer she was out of the ... cabinet? pod? ... whatever it was called. She could find out later, presumably. She dropped her hand from the pod door and tugged absently at the hem of her shirt to straighten it. She really did feel like she'd been sleeping for a long time. In spite of the distracting feeling of staleness, she listened intently to Dr. Michaels's explanation. It was, at least, internally consistent, and she reasoned that if she was joining this group there was little reason for him to lie outright to her. Therefore, she would assume he was telling the truth, strange as it sounded.

She looked around the room, noticing that the pods around her were mostly filled with still, sleeping faces. Those who had not begun this bonding, then, if she understood correctly. "Weapon or partner?" she asked. "You're speaking as if this is a sentient thing. Is that correct?"  

[Baneful]

"Yes." Lawrence said. "For a given value of sentience. Some are more intelligent than others, ranging from above-human intelligence to animalistic and potentially insane. Hope for your own sanity's sake that you get one of the former." He nodded. "You will also find that another pitfall of this line of employment is that very frequently you will have to ask yourself what that sentience means when applied to our enemies. I hope you did not choose this line of work as someone who has a large number of moral hang ups."

He tapped the pen on the clipboard which was stowed under his bad arm. "Though they'll find a place for you no matter what, I am sure. What would you prefer to be called by the way?" he asked. "I tend not to go by the full name we have on file, some people prefer their old selves not be dredged up."

 

[prolixity]

"I see," Lin said slowly, a small frown appearing between her eyebrows. She had not considered this angle; it seemed that the recruiters were selective about the information they gave out. That was logical enough, though. Why tell new recruits things that might cause them concern before signing the papers? It wasn't as though there weren't moral and ethical questions about any career path. Dig deep enough into anything, and you could find something to be offended by. She nodded, the wrinkle of a frown smoothing itself out. It appeared that she would have plenty of opportunity to chew over this idea and settle her own position.

Her naturally somewhat severe expression seemed to relax slightly as he asked what she preferred to be called. "Lin, please," she answered. "I much prefer it. Thank you."  

[Baneful]

He nodded and extended his only hand in a friendly way. "Well, it is a pleasure to meet you then Lin, and I look forward to working alongside you. The company pays for very limited accommodation which improves with rank. Furniture and other items can be obtained from the quartermaster. You'll be assigned a coat with your division's emblem on it in due course."

Spinning around in a subtle flourish he showed her the back of his white coat, emblazoned with a great golden tree entwined with a snake and with a single red apple hung high on a bough. "Division is a term you will hear often. Sun are the offensive fighters, front line, represented by a sun. Moon are defensive fighters, also front line, represented by a moon. Life are research and development, represented by a tree, Death are reconnaissance and intelligence, represented by crossed scythes, Mist are any combination of the others, jack of all trades, master of none, represented by mist-like markings."

"It looks like you are in Death division." he said. "You seem of a demeanour to go far. I was once in Death. Stay below the leader's notice and you will be fine, don't and.." he held up his maimed hand pointedly.

 

[prolixity]

Lin shook the extended hand firmly. "Thank you for the welcome and the introduction," she replied, nodding. "I appreciate being brought up to speed."

She listened to his explanation of the divisions and wished offhandedly that she had something to take notes with. She thought she would remember, but this was a fair-sized information dump when put all together. If other members of this group were as informative as Dr. Michaels, however, she would be fine. "What is this place called?" she asked.

She rocked back slightly upon being presented with evidence of a maiming that Dr. Michaels was implying to be the direct result of displeasing the head of the division she was being assigned to. "Ah, the advice is noted," she said. "Thank you."  

[Baneful]

"Deus Ex Machina." he said. "Someone with a sense of humour named it." To some it had the connotation of the plot hole meaning of the term, but he had always heard it in its translated form, the idea of god from the machine. In his case the god was him and one day would - enabled by the machines which had given him Butch - be rewarded with what he wanted, even if now it was though far less destructive means.

"You will be issued with a phone in due course, it doesn't have access to the outside world but it has intranet access. We have an island twitter, it is useful for any questions you might have. My name will be in there also should you want any further advice, we do what we can to support new recruits and make the transition as easy as possible."

 

[prolixity]

"I suppose that refers to the intervention aspect," Lin said, mostly to herself. It seemed a grandiose name. She would reserve judgment about what it meant until she knew more about how this place worked, in theory and in practice.

"Thank you," she said again, nodding. "Where do I go from here?"  

[Baneful]

"I will show you the way to the weapon's cove if you like." Lawrence said graciously, gesturing at the door. "When you are done I can show you to the quartermaster, I confess I am curious what manner of creature might choose you as their partner."

"That is unless you have any other questions to ask?"
 

[prolixity]

"I'd appreciate that." Lin turned towards the door, paused. "If it's not taking you away from your obligations, of course."

She thought the question over for a moment. "I have a lot of questions, but I need to know more and make some observations before I know what questions I should ask," she said.