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These were the times Before was glad that, provided he kept his mouth shut and he didn't move, he was practically invisible. Things between Aria and the new-faces and the old-faces were getting tense and the former Lifer dealt very poorly in these sort of situations. Actually what he wanted to do right now was start the damn mission so he could get it over with. Mostly because the Life Division's Head was joining them.

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And just like that, Before was no longer happy to be pretending he was a Lifer again. How does that man do it? Ruining a person's happiness without having to be there like some sort of omnipresent force of nature? Either H was, or Before's happiness was just that easily ruined. That was a possibility too.

Speaking of ruined happiness, Before wasn't quite certain what to make of Rin's attitude. Sure seeing her direct it at Rep had caused an Angel's chorus to play in his head but seeing it directed at a fellow Misty of his? And one who, despite prone to bout of PDA with Marcus, he actually kinda liked?

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So he sort of positioned himself to be relatively near the Lifers but if one was observant enough, he was actually gravitating towards the Mistys, Unconscious show of solidarity and support for his team as it was, Vanna thought it was definitely a huge step from yelling out YAY MIST. Good to see that Before didn't want to get transferred again.

Before turned to Clerise, volunteering the information to the Lifer so that Aria could continue, "We have stations all over the world. North Pole's one of them."

Condescending? Was that how it had come off? Cass looked to the other Intermediate trainees with a silent inquiry as to if this was the case or not, clearly not inclined to fling any s**t around herself. What had to be said had already been said. Still, she had to pity her boy for having such a..special..member in his division.

Cass shrugged nonchalantly, dismissing it entirely.

Still, Bix's sudden contribution made her smile ever so slightly.

"William." Bix said with a completely dead serious tone. "As your Sun division superior, I'd suggest putting a zip on it. This is what they call a briefing. And you lot, all of you," he looked all the 'lambs' who were running their mouths. "Haven't shut up for more than a second to give our leader a chance to even give you all mission specs. You're lucky she's even deciding to share. It's more than some will offer you. Until you can earn your place, you are sheep. Little lambs. You listen and you follow and you inevitably fail. That's how it works. Even if you think you did well, guess what? You probably suck. So shut it and listen."

Just outranking someone gave Bix enough balls to put the newbs in their place. He did it to the hatchlings when they came around (*coughOttocough*) and he'd do it to this jerksquad too. Did he just tell them they all would fail? JEEZ he was sounding like Caelius.

"Sorry Aria.." Bix looked sheepish, only to the Mist head, before he shushed himself and leaned back again.

Aria arched an eyebrow at Rin. "What, did you assume that because I only gave my name and rank I could not even begin to comprehend a more complex sentence? Were you expecting my full name, weapon name, rank, how long I've been here, number of monsters and people I've killed? Are you even aware," Aria continued, "That your remark to Cassandra was an act of insubordination? Oh yes -- those other trainees do rank above you, and they are your superiors. A remark like that in the future can get you benched or placed on shittier missions, should you even be offered another in the first place."

"You now belong to Deus Ex. You will listen to your superiors or face the consequences. As such, I would like to thank you and, William was it? Yes? You and William for volunteering to scout the perimeter of the outpost once we arrive."

"Bix, thank you. You did not speak out of line. Now," Aria pulled out her cellphone and frowned at it before putting it away. "As that little exchange took up some of our time, I fear I will have to be brief. Your mission is to the North Pole, yes." She nodded towards Before who had answered Clerise's question for her, "At roughly 400 hours yesterday morning we received a transmission from the hunters stationed there. They were attacked. We will be going in to investigate and look for survivors. As the base sustained damage, each division will have a different role. Your superiors will debrief you on your individual missions."

She paused, glancing towards Gale and Madison. "As there are currently no Death division hunter trainees, I will be assigning some Mists to assist you. Dillon and Sydney, report to Gale and Madison. They are the two with scythes on their coats. As Mists, you will be expected to fill in any role as needed. As such, you will gain some hands-on Death experience. As Life and Sun both have only two, I will be assigning mentors. Sasha please report to Before, and Clerise please report to Robert. Jordan, please keep a close eye on William, and Bix please mentor Infinity."

Aria pulled out her cellphone again and glanced at the clock. "In about ten minutes, please report to the training field. Bring your standard gear kit." Her eyes flickered up and glanced at the assembled trainees in disdain.

As Rep spoke up, Aria glared at him. "When I asked for questions, I did not expect stupid questions. Thank you for volunteering to clean the Life cages once we have returned from mission, providing you have survived. All of you are dismissed."

Rep actually kept his mouth shut despite the rather dubious responses he was being dealt, still aware of Bix's order, propping his chin up with a hand.

As far as punishments went it was somewhat /more/ of a threat to him that he'd be lumped with Rin for a portion of the mission than that he would have to clean some cages. Of course he had no idea what the life cages /contained/. Still you'd think there'd be women on the island able to do cleaning s**t, then again most of them were wannabe men, so the place was probably horrible.



He reminded Tracey he had pretty much no regrets on that front, he said what he thought, it wasn't his fault they wanted meek scared little children when he was a man. And it wasn't his fault either they hadn't had the foresight to define what kind of questions they wanted to ask.

He wasn't sure /how/ to feel about Jordan being allocated to mentor him, the first thought was he could have done a lot worse for himself, the guy seemed reasonable enough, if a bit stuffy, like he'd never learned how to have proper fun and s**t. This flaw could potentially be someday rectified, so it wasn't even that big of a deal, he could live with it.

Thank God that's over
<>

The tension in the room before Aria's final briefing had been most uncomfortable to sit through, and had he had any questions to be asked, well, he would have rather not by then.

North Pole though.
<>
Dressing warmly and preparing for the North Pole are two very different things.

At that point, the trainee was beginning to realise this place wasn't really the type for spoon-feeding. And that the superiors could choose to withhold vital information just because they felt like it. Which inevitably led him to the conclusion that as trainees, they were not worth very much. That did wonders for his self-esteem.

“What do you reckon we should bring?” came a question addressed to Sydney. North Pole certainly put a few other things into mind on what he would definitely need, but better consult someone else to see if he'd missed anything. Given how well prepared she seemed, it was pretty safe to think she'd know what to do. And honestly, better ask her than anyone else ... their superiors didn't seem very friendly.

Ice Queen

When Sasha was given the order to report to Before, Sasha rose to her feet. She gave Robert's arm a soft pat before turning to Clerise so that she could draw the redhead in for a quick hug - after all, there was no need to be unfriendly. They were all in this together, right?

"Please be careful." Sasha's lips were tilted with a soft, worried smile.

That being said, Sasha reached for her pack and hefted it over her shoulder. Promptly bee-lining for Before, she stopped in front of him and gave him a huge smile. Sasha remembered him from the room with the pods - she distinctly recalled him dropping some cookies before the woman named Ariane had scolded him. Sasha knew how it felt to be taken to task, but she also knew that it was often necessary.

"Before, sir? I'm Sasha. I was told to report to you," she finished lamely. Of course he already knew that - he had been there for Aria's instructions, after all. "I look forward to working with you, sir."

Nona was sulking outright.

<But I wanted the other one.>

What?

<The other boil. This boil looks like a ghoul. That sort of thing has always unsettled me, Sasha my dove. Why are we stuck with this ghouly-boil?>

Quiet, Nona. I am certain that Before is a nice guy.

<Nice? Boring, my sweet. Nona likes her men to look as men should.>

Oh my god, Nona. Please behave.

<Such big hands.>

Sasha was too busy turning bright, bright red to reply.