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"It seems like it would be worthwhile to try negotiation," Jordan said. "Since we're planning to get the artifact back, we're on Atlantis's side for this conflict, nominally at least. It seems logical that it might allow us a chance to fix the problem."

He had been listening, mostly, but he still didn't have much of an idea of what was going on and green eyes were flicking back and forth between the gathered as they talked. Nearby a pair of legs covered in galaxy print wandered close and he reached, tugging on the fabric, and looked up.

"You got any idea what they're talking about?" He asked, glancing up over the rim of his glasses when his chin tipped up.

"From what I've seen, Atlantis has technology surpassing our own, so whatever we offer would probably be seen as primitive in comparison. Also, it is controlled by a A.I. system. They wouldn't want much aside from the artifact. I would also not like this to escalate to a hostage situation. I want to avoid as many casualties and prisoners as possible. It seems it might be best to get the artifact first and present it to them, but if we want to split our options, we can have a small party go to Atlantis while the rest goes to the island to retrieve the artifact that was taken. If we don't find it or do find it, we can communicate back and forth. That would however split up our attack force and leave us more vulnerable without as many people together to fight."

He debated these options for a moment.

"Should we have a vote? Option ONe. We split up into two teams to go to Atlantis and to the island. Option Two, we all go to the island first to look for the artifact then Atlantis. Option Three, we all head straight to Atlantis to negotiate first. Three options. What sounds best to everyone?" He didn't want to voice what he thought was best until everyone else voted, not wanting to sway their opinions.

"Let's show a raise of hands with your fingers stating which one you want."

"I don't like the idea of a hostage. We don't know how survivable it is down there when nobody's actively fueling it, and I'm betting there's no food available," Jordan said. "And we don't have a good estimate on how long it would be. I think the idea of a tech exchange isn't a bad one, though."

When Melvin asked for a vote, he lifted his hand with three fingers up, after a moment's consideration.

Rhys gave it some thought, glancing over at Seren when she took her vote before refocusing so he could make a choice for himself. Splitting didn't seem like a good idea, and since the idea of going down there empty-handed didn't seem like the greatest idea to him in the first place he went ahead and raised a hand with two fingers up.

Delegation wasn't Cee's strong point. She'd much rather have leverage, or at least the artifact to give back if they were going to go to Atlantis..

..which was nuts by the way.

Cee held up two fingers and pursed her lips. It wasn't like they still couldn't go to Atlantis after looking for the thing anyway.. Better to try and have something to offer than go empty handed.

Cee's hugs and smooches aside, Oliver was better able to focus on the discussion as the little meeting went on. It sounded like the missing artifact was at the source of this problem, and he didn't like the idea of confronting a technologically advanced AI without securing this object first. Nor did he like the idea of an artifact just being relegated to a state of 'lost'. And unless the higher ups were planning on funnelling a great deal of manpower into this mission, splitting up didn't sound like a great idea either. Perhaps there were no good answers at all in this situation.

After staying silent for so long, he raised two fingers.

"Even if we find some way to bargain with Atlantis and resolve the situation without it, an object important enough to warrant this sort of retaliation shouldn't be left unaccounted for," He added quietly.