Welcome to Gaia! ::

A surge of jealousy flooded Mimsy's body, the corners of her vision clouding with envy. Space program?! Had she known that was an option, she would have pursued such a thing since her very first moments at Deus. Years of her life poured into astrophysics and he--

...would have the most miniscule budget for a space program that she'd ever heard of.

She couldn't help it. From her mouth came the loudest laugh she might have ever laughed in her whole life, hastily (and sloppily) cloaked by a cough.

Clerise wasn't doing much better. Before today she had avoided questioning her cousin's placement in Life, but this was pitiful. Points for trying, perhaps. Negative points.

Mimsy took a moment to clean her glasses to avoid seeing any reactions to her outburst or Clerise's...whatever that was.

Melvin watched as Rin fussed over her skirt, thinking it was only because she was nervous about her presentation, not about her dress. Leaning over, he whispered. "Don't be so nervous. You'll be fine." Considering most everyone seemed on edge, no one was going to be super stellar anyways. Melvin was a bit surprised that Leon proposed a space program and was about to ask where their shuttle was, but he wasn't about to be the one person who would keep anyone from getting funding during a golden opportunity like this. If Leon wanted rockets, it was up to the higher-ups, and they seemed to be fine with him going ahead with his project. Skeptical about the results, he was more curious why Leon decided on space on all things.

His eyes tried to peek over at Rin's paperwork to find out what she was up to, before glancing at Leon. "Trying to strip to get more funding?" He teased.

Ami raised an eyebrow at going to space. Ami couldn't see a benefit to it, but Dr. H was willing to entertain it. Hey, if Leon could make something out of it, you could color Ami impressed. She gave him a little thumbs up as he sat down, trying to ease the pain of the horribly small budget Dr. H had just handed him. Maybe she'd offer him some space research books later or something.

Clerise ... Ami still didn't like her just based on the fact that Clerise had beat the s**t out of her ever so long ago (and to the tune of Ke$ha songs, no less!) but even Ami could see the validity in her point. Cloaking would keep less people from getting injured. It might've done to present it in a nicer way, but by the end of her shtick even Ami found herself nodding. Ami definitely wondered why this girl was in life though. She seemed completely out of sorts here.

There were still a few people she was curious about. Particularly Rin, as Ami had been handcuffed to the girl for a day and locked up in a cell for who-knows-how-long. There was a strange sort of connection with the girl that Ami felt, even if it wasn't all positive. Though Ami did approve of the chance of clothes- the dress looked quite nice on Rin.

Ami turned to Lex and whispered, "Hmm, how does space sound for a second date?" Tori was oddly silent. Ami couldn't talk loudly enough to reach the girl, so there was instead a text from her phone under the table. Hopefully Tori had her sound off!

Szczeosny exchanged glances with Mimsy briefly as she returned the missing papers, some of which had gotten a little crumpled. A lot of what was being discussed in this meeting seemed to be little more than a background buzz. Song couldn't even translate some of what they said into anything he understood, leaving him to try and remember the prepared speech Mimsy had made him practice, and worming his way into the room at the same time.

The room went silent again as the next presenter took their seat. A half-second of standing practically on his toes, and then Szczeosny just went for it. His share of the folders were dropped unceremoniously on the table, acting as a makeshift podium.

He cleared his throat.

"Hello sir. I am Szczeosny, and this is colleague Mimsy, and ve present to you our ideas for bettering of Hunters and success in missions through the science." There was a slightly too-long paus. If he had anything more he was supposed to say, he had straight up forgotten, and the deer in the headlight look had started creeping into his expression. He began to mumble to himself and flick through the folders. "Example... example..."

"Ah - this is good one!" he crowed. He smoothed the paper gently a few times before passing it down toward H along with the folder he'd pried it from. It was a prospective design for... goggles. Lots of handwritten notes, citations pointing to easily a dozen books. Not terribly technical, but then again, most of that information seemed to be beyond the scope of even the local library. "Is 'filter goggle'. Is like... nightvision. But for the FEAR. Computer processes data, make visible new information from FEAR to user of goggle using filter of choice to make image and readout from data in real time. Small, powvered vith runic, good for all manner research... so long as goggle is in range of computer."

A fine introduction, just as they had practiced. Mimsy held her research close to her chest, chin up as she waited her turn. Approval seemed to be the least of their worries; it would be the budget that might concern them. She supposed it wouldn't hurt to put some of her own earnings into a project if she felt especially compelled to see it reach completion.

"I apologize - I know that this is not the appropriate time for me to do so, but I regret to say that I have not properly introduced myself to you. As Szczeosny mentioned, I am Mimsy Kercher, and I am quite the admirer of the work you've done, sir, as far as academic admiration can go." She offered a nod of acknowledgement to the Doctor before continuing. "That aside, we have a great deal of potential subjects, some requiring more attention and funding than others. I can try to keep this brief."

With that, she thumbed through her own papers, speaking again as she pulled a small packet from the pile. "The aforementioned goggles could, perhaps, function in tandem with this one. There appears to be some merit in the study of FEAR-based flora; I understand that it has been used offensively against us in the past, which only breaks the surface of its potential. I am intrigued by the characterization of this fauna, and think that we should be the ones to strike first in developing stronger varieties of these strains. Genetically modified plants are certainly possible within our world, so understanding the molecular structure - if there is one - or learning how to splice specimens could be an advantage. This would, of course, mean access to a greenhouse capable of sustaining FEAR-based lifeforms, as well as one or more excursions to retrieve the initial specimen. If this progresses as intended, it would eventually mean testing engineered fauna on minipets or...something larger. Aside from what is needed to sustain the test subjects, it may be imperative to procure additional laboratory equipment to further study the structures."

She reached the end of one report and trailed off, flipping through her notes.

Were they still going? Mimsy was caught off-guard as he handed her a folder, slowly leaning forward to give it to its designated recipient to look over. She was so distracted by this task that she nearly missed what the newest pitch was, catching it just in time to interject.

"Oh! Yes, ah...they appear to participate en masse in events - why not take advantage of this turnout by creating our own event to better study and understand their alternate forms and abilities? We could use the distraction to research or gather materials as well, such as the flora I spoke of, or some of their 'inkjars'. The way they are created makes very little logical sense at first glance, and if they are as easily formed as I think they are, they would also be easily tampered with--"

Startled out of her note-staring by the doctor's voice, Mimsy straightened and gave him the slightest of smiles. She could hear her pulse rapidly echoing in her eardrums (and the distinct sound of Svensyl teasing her for it) and struggled to think of an appropriate response through the racket. He had approved of her proposal mostly!

"Thank you for the recommendation, sir. I will pursue that option as long as it proves fruitful. If we happen to stumble across any data that implies there is a method more effective, I will gladly turn that information over in a full report."

She looked like she might want to say more, and she picked at one of the paperclips for a few short moments before finally summoning the courage to do so.

"If you have time to spare...if I may be so bold...I would be honored to meet with you sometime to hear your ideas on a few topics." The paperclip-picking increased exponentially, but she was definitely done talking this time.

For once, she found herself glad that Dwight spoke of her. Unfortunately, she was too elated at the promise of more research that she failed to imagine just what he might have said.

Rin froze in her seat at the discussion of flora. The shock in her face evident before with a loud whump her face just planted into the table in front of her. This was the same thing her request was going to be on. But... ugh, now she looked silly for nothing. She didn't even bother to stand as she squeaked out, "I just wanted access to plants to make... materials that might be effective on fear... like, you know. Medicines and potions... But I was specifically hoping to work on the transport of and safe keeping for such research." She whumped her face into the table again and wanted to cry. Maybe it was less embarrassing not to have anything. Or maybe to think far more grand such as a space... thing...