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 Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 9:00 pm
Sam had had very few actual interviews for jobs, but she wasn't nervous. Her intelligence wouldn't allow it. What did she have to fear when she was clearly competent in the areas that would impress any practical business man? For heaven's sake, she rode a monstrous centipede and barely got a scratch. This was nothing before and even less than nothing now. Nevertheless, it was important to establish some form of working relationship, for when the cavalry arrived (and surely they would), it would do her well to have connections.
That and, well, the truth ring had not been a good place to begin cultivating it anyway. Sam was still confused as to how the ring worked, but it had impacted Lysander and Roswell in particular with those...personal admissions...So she had to show that she quite literally could not care less what issues lied beyond the workplace. Merric seemed more laid back, perhaps easier to win over. Pandas, she remembered. Hopefully he wasn't so full of sloth.
While arranging the interview, she offered to barter for the ring to prove herself, and she wore it as promised as she sat down at the makeshift desk. She nodded slightly at its craftsmanship before speaking. "Thank you for giving me the interview."
Like they weren't stuck on an island in an increasingly hopeless situation.
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Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 6:24 am
Between Merric, Roswell, and Lysander, Roswell was the only one who didn't wear glasses. This was a cause of concern for him, because although in many ways they could make do on the island, new eyeware was not something he could conjure up. But, of course, they also had two eyes, which was generally more than he had. Although they were coping now, what this and other difficulties stressed was the need for some numbers in their group. All of them were relatively new to the organization, and if things went on for too much longer, they were at a disadvantage as far as physical power and social influence. Easy pickings.
In the short term, Roswell had made do fashion-wise, arranging his layers inventively across the days to give an impression of different outfits. Nonetheless, it was beginning to wear on him. Some stubble was peeking from his usually immaculate jaw, and his hair was completely out of order, twisted from seawater and in need of brushing. Normally he styled one side to curl teasingly over one side of his face, with enough flair that it hid his bad eye and torn ear, but the styling refused to behave, and for now he had it all humiliatingly pushed back, his dead and creamy bad eye sitting uselessly in its socket.
Still, he gave Sam a pleasant smile. He had conducted a number of interviews on Lysander's behalf, but since they were doing it together, for the most part would be deferring to the other two.
"I wish that it were under better circumstances, but nonetheless, we're all very pleased to be meeting with you."
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Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 1:47 pm
Lysander was looking a bit worse for wear himself, however in the case of the tall man he had apparently taken the time to sit and braid every single inch of his hair and was now sporting several very very long braids which reached almost to his knees. He hated it, but if they were going to be here any length of time then it was important to care for his hair. The only thing worse than braids was white guy dreadlocks.
Lysander didn't care as much about keeping neat and more often than not he went shirtless, developing a rich tan, turning positively swarthy in the sun without much sunburn at all. Preserving his shirt meant that for this occasion he was able to look about as neat and tidy as it was possible for him to be given the location.
"Yes. Very pleased." he followed on from Roz's introduction. "We are going to have a very important corporation one day, because we are going to be choosy about who we bring on board. There is too much disorganisation, we will fix that, we will find out what is going on and if need be, a way to escape and get back to civilisation." he smiled pleasantly. "The first question is a fairly traditional one. What do you know of us? What do you hope to achieve and do you wish to join, if so, why?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 6:41 pm
Merric was used to a certain way of living, and while that certain way of living didn't necessarily mean riches and fancy things, it did, at least, mean clean, proper clothes and more than one dress shirt to go along with his dress pants and generally businesslike attire.
It did not mean having to fashion clothing out of leaves and trying to make sure that his glasses weren't broken anytime soon, Merric's own pale hair was swept back away from his forehead, face a little red in the bright sunlight. Unlike the others, he didn't tan, and generally went straight to burning, so he was wearing a lot of miscellaneous things artfully (sort of) arranged, in order to prevent that exact thing from happening.
Sam was, from what he could tell, a very capable young woman. Rather than bombard her with too many questions all at once, Merric let Lysander ask the first ones, offering Sam a pleasant smile that he hoped was reassuring, and also trying to make sure the leaves didn't slip off of his head in the process.
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Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 9:30 am
"Very little," Sam answered. "I remember something about a business venture which, coupled with your answers from before at the campfire," she nodded to Lysander, "intrigued me. Although I imagine producing anything pharmaceutical will be difficult in these new surroundings, given that past connections are all severed in order to join."
The fact that they wanted to escape, though...She wasn't sure how she felt about that venture. It wasn't as if Deus would simply let a person go, knowing where they were (vaguely) located and being bonded to an incredibly powerful weapon. But she knew better than to open her mouth about that particular topic.
She continued briskly, "Still, I believe a venture between Life and Death hunters would be ideal. In any unknown location, information is key. Prior to coming here, I was close to finishing my first year in a doctorate in veterinary medicine. I had also been doing investigation into odd happenstances in my area on my own time. While my studies haven't quite prepared me for the supernatural, I'm confident in my ability to learn and adapt, and I am trained in some self-defense. I also have a near perfect memory which has served me well over the years."
Sam paused.
"I forgot myself. Samuila Sokolov, but Sam or Samantha is fine," said the woman who had, almost eerily, not moved an inch since sitting down. Not quite rigid, but certainly upright.
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Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 1:39 pm
"Oh! You're Death!" Roswell said, surprised. "I confess, I thought we were in the same division. I've heard there was supposed to be some competition between the two divisions, especially where information was concerned."
He'd gathered this from a lot of derogatory snickering around the water cooler. He told himself that this was entirely silly, because the divisions were as far as Roswell was concerned, arbitrary, but some deeper part of him noted the difference with distrust.
"Thomas Roswell," he introduced himself. "And yes, to clarify, Mr. Astoria's skills are in management, and although he of course has a professional familiarity with his team, customers, and product, he can not and does not personally produce pharmaceuticals." He continued to smile politely. He clarified this in case Sam had contacted them with the hopes of joining a drug dealing venture. It was the smile of someone who was used to turning down drug dealing venture applicants.
Mostly from his brother.
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Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 2:06 am
Lysander listened to what Sam had to say with polite interest. Help was hard to come by on the island but it would do them no good at all to start taking on people who weren’t trustworthy and right now he wasn’t sure where he stood with their new companion. Sam had come to them, which was a major fact in her favour, but she had also overstepped a boundary once already as far as he was concerned by prying into Roswell’s past, a fact which hadn’t sat well with Lysander then and still didn’t sit well with him now. It was a risk as he saw it, someone who was willing to place knowledge above the importance of social standing was someone who could potentially do so in any given situation. It spoke of something in the person which stood by rules so long as the rules fitted what they want but who was willing to ignore them when something they deemed important came along. Perhaps she would be different in the company of co-workers or friends, but right now he had nothing to inform him that this was the case.
“It is like Ros says.” He nodded. “I didn’t make the medicine myself, we hired a lot of very skilled individuals to do just that for us, and things going well on the island I like to think we will gather our own group of skilled individuals to do other exceptional things. Things that are perhaps a little extracurricular, a little outside what they want us to do. It needn’t be pharmaceuticals, it could be anything at all, and I’m sure we will find no end of potential avenues with the correct talent on board, all working towards a mutual group benefit.”
He shrugged his broad shoulders. “And we are certainly told that all connections are severed to join whatever this is, but I find myself both reluctant to believe it and willing to forge new connections as the need arises. I still have a lot of numbers of a lot of influential people, and though I might be dead – if that is to be believed at all – they are most certainly not, and no one said I needed to tell them who I am. I am sure there are other people new to this place in the same boat.”
“Having a vet on board will be useful when we get horses.” He said, as if horses were simply fact, without consideration or comment as to where these horses would come from or why they’d need them. “And investigative skills are a plus, memory is also obviously very useful in a world where our means of recording information can be withdrawn at any time.”
He leaned forward a little. “You are certainly very qualified Sam, in many ways. But what we value most of all in our small venture is what we like to call a social fit. Now I’m certainly not saying you need to hang out with us outside of work hours, I’m not saying either that you will be forced to collaborate with others when you’d prefer a solo endeavour. But what I am saying is that upon joining us there is a certain obligation to loyalty, our collective interests above the interests of Deus and the commitment to help one another no matter what. This means respecting boundaries, respecting the comfort of others in the group and generally being willing to rearrange your priorities. If you cannot commit to that then perhaps this is not the venture for you.”
He glanced along the beach. “Everyone else outside our small organisation is, however fair game.”
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Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2017 10:03 am
Samulia Sokolov was a name that Merric instinctively tucked away for later remembrance, as well as the notation about veterinary medicine, because it meant another scientific mind, like his own. It pleased him, especially considering that he was quite aware that Lysander and Roswell were not exactly the most experimental of people (not that that had bothered him yet). He was even more curious about the idea of her being in Death Division; a possible opening into understanding another faction.
"Merric Cassel," he added, with a sideways glance at the two men beside him before he let his gaze move back to Sam. She was extremely...proper.
He wasn't sure if that was the right word. Stiff? No, that didn't seem right either. Merric was still trying to figure it out, but nodded along to with what Lysander was saying about their own group of skilled individuals and mutual group benefit.
He was going to fastidiously ignore the horses comment, mostly because privately Merric wasn't actually sure how that was feasible, but maybe Roswell had a horse-getting ability that was so far unseen.
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 6:52 pm
She had casted no aspirations as to where Lysander and his assistant slash one-sided fan with a past lied on the business totem pole. Even with the ring's information behind them, neither man seemed the type to dabble personally in drugs. Those always had a certain appearance, a mannerism or tic that gave it away. And even if either of them or Merric did dabble in such things, she highly doubted the business could continue as it was right now, with their low status and accompanying restrictions. While the gentlemen were interviewing her, for Sam, this was just as much her interviewing them.
There was pride very evident, she thought, most in Lysander, seconded in Ros by the nature of their partnership. Merric remained polite and didn't assume a secondary role so far, deferring to the other two in silence, in that glance, and in the nods; it didn't give much to observe. She wondered, then, how long Merric had been in their company, in both senses of the word. Had they met at that orientation? Before? If the former, maybe they weren't as picky as Lysander was stating, needing only common sense and a willingness to be subordinate. Hell, it might have all been a facade, a means to keep control. After all, they were trapped on an island for many days, and yet here they were, with the trappings of civility: a desk, a would-be office, a job interview, and at least one employee pandering to the boss. Lysander was also assuming a lot with bringing horses to the island, for Sam had read the trainee's pamphlet and knew the island couldn't sustain non-Fear based life for very long.
So...A man who wanted to supercede the organization's control for his own wants and needs, but who also stated that the group's goals as a whole would be adhered to. A man with a checkered history, not wholly known but rather interesting skills, and who seemed to be The Party Face. (A term from Kammy she had integrated into her vocabulary.) And a man she didn't know much about but who seemed pleasant enough and had some...thing for pandas. All men, all in Life. Even though she had only had a short time with her division before being whisked to the island, she had been informed about the subtle social divides between the five groups. Not to mention she was walking into an already formed triad.
But then, Sam liked challenges. Why else would she impose the ring around herself? (Assuming it honestly worked. She still wasn't impressed with its work on herself.)
"I can happily adjust," she said. "I've shadowed employees and been in groups before, though I'm far more used to doing the work myself, yes." She paused, glancing down at the ring as she twisted it. There was the compulsion to say more. It hadn't been evident before, because she had been willing to give her verbal resume. Perhaps this artifact had some power to it after all. She almost smiled as she thought of the possibilities.
"Boundaries are very important to me. That being said," she turned to Roswell with a nod, "I apologize for interrogating you like that, Mr. Roswell. One of my drawbacks is that I can become obsessive with learning about something. I've been told I can be too intrusive; it's something I want to work on.
"But I have to ask." She looked to all three as a whole, the first sign of actual emotion showing in the crinkle of her brows. "What are you intending to begin here? Entrepreneurship? Re-entry into the pharmaceutical sector? Or is this group still burgeoning and therefore not clarified its purpose beyond helping one another?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2017 5:04 pm
"As far as this island goes, survival is, I think, a very good start. But I'll be the first to admit that nothing here makes any sense. Do you know, the trees we used to make this office grew back overnight? Resources, then, are...replenishable. I assume. The most valuable commodity here is trust. We'd just like to have a bit of order," Roswell said, a little desperately, "I think everyone would respond positively to that. Once we get back on the island, well,"
he waved a hand, "it would be nice to have some professional friendships, wouldn't it? Expand our network? I'd consider helping each other to be a walking before we can run situation. Until we have a better understanding of the situation all four of us have found ourselves in."
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Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2017 3:47 am
Lysander listened intently to Sam and finally spoke, his tone a little more serious than usual.
“My intentions as of now are very broad, I am not about to commit myself to a plan of action without a comprehensive idea of where I find myself. I’m not one to rush anywhere for anything. Pharmaceuticals are a lucrative business but only in a place where they are in permanent demand. On the island they seem less important, shields rely only on runic energy from what I’ve heard. So the rules are different. I have no goal at present other than to research, understand and form a business plan to go forward upon. As Ros says, survival is important, order is important.”
Life division’s symbol was a tree and even if their stark trappings didn’t reflect that, he could. People mistook him for someone who was chronically workshy when really he needed to know something was worth it before he’d invest his energy in it. There were a lot of things you just really didn’t need to do in life. He could lay down his own roots and take his time just like the symbol, and could live just as long in doing so.
“You’ll be getting in on the bottom floor so to speak, any contributions you make will be valuable and weighted.” That was if she didn’t decide she was better than them and suited for higher things. “I think what we have between us has the potential to ultimately really go places. There aren’t many cohesive groups within the organisation that I can see, they seem to actively try and spread discord and isolate individuals.”
“I’m not a scientific person, not like you or like Merric, but I am not stupid enough to think anyone can get anywhere without people of your respective mindsets, my aim is to simply give you guys the space and respect you can use to develop and employ your skills while handling whatever links we might need to afford you resources and manpower.” He smiled. “We will all benefit in the end.”
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Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2017 4:53 pm
She wasn't quite sure what they were experiencing here specifically fell under Deus property traits, but it had been curious. All of this was. The reset might have affected some negatively, but to Sam, it was ripe with possibility each day. Consequently, it gave her a lot of time to consider it all, some of which she now used to fit this odd little group into. It wasn't the long pause she had before, but it was thoughtful nonetheless.
"So." Her tone was brisk, secretarial. "No goal evident until we better understand our surroundings. Fair enough. If no-one else has elected to do it, I can make a schedule. No use in dawdling if this organization truly does reward work. Or at the very least keep the minutes for this meeting."
There was an assumption there, like the job interview was over. Here she would have pulled a notepad out, but...well...
"With that in mind, I need to know more about each of you so I can suggest what we each focus on," Sam continued. "Cover more ground, meet back up to discuss, move forward from there. Does that sound good?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 8:47 am
Merric had been listening in silence to the exchanges going back and forth; observing, rather than speaking, because he much preferred to see how things played out than interrupt and have the flow of conversation disrupted. Sam's straightforwardness sometimes bordered on a little too blunt, but she was, overall, seemingly quite capable in a lot of ways.
"It would be good to have a sense of order," Merric put in, once she had finished. He gave a glance towards the other two, his brows raised. "Especially considering that there are too many things happening around here that we have no control over. I would much rather be able to focus on the things we can control, such as our little endeavor here."
Sam's question - that wasn't really a question - had his brows furrowing now, Merric's fingers folding together in his lap. "A little about us? What sort of thing would you like to know?"
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