Welcome to Gaia! ::

Delilah was, of course, oblivious to what Jade was doing behind her back, simply sitting at her secretarial desk with her work desktop ... along with a nearby laptop open, with a textbook open next to it, notebook nearby with notes about public relations scrawled into it.

A topic she had quickly discovered she didn't have too much interest in, herself, but it was something she figured she should know, all things considered.

When she noticed someone was approaching her, she very quickly shut the laptop and pretended to be doing something important.

(But really, there was nothing important, there were no more appointments to schedule, and she didn't have any more phone calls to make, so really she was certain she was fine, but she should at least look like she was trying to be a secretary--)

She beamed as she was expected to towards her manager, but her facial expression froze a bit when she was actually prompted with what it was.

"Oh, what?"

That was a question Delilah hadn't been expecting, for sure.

"Okay."

What had she done wrong?

Delilah stood up and brushed off her Secretarial Skirt (it was her only black pencil skirt, she figured it made her look the part, so she wore it every day when she came in). The computer was quickly locked, just in case, and she carefully closed her notebook and textbook, before joining Jade on the other side of the desk. Why was she needed downstairs? Was there a reason why Jade needed her down there, or was there just some kind of debriefing? What had she done wrong? Why did she feel like she did something wrong?

Mildly anxious but attempting to keep it out of her expression, Delilah twirled a curl around her finger.

"Lead the way!"

"Okay," replied Delilah, attempting to keep some of the nerves out of her voice, as she ducked her head and followed along behind Jade. What could she want? What was she needed in the basement for? Had she not kept up on her quotas well enough between everything else? Had she been talking to too many people on the other side? Were her reports of what she was doing not up to snuff? Did she need a scolding? Who else was down there? Was anyone else down there? Would she have to answer to anyone else? What would they expect of her?

Would she have to--

It's nothing bad, I promise.

Okay, okay, okay.

Nothing bad.

Her form relaxed a little bit, even as she continued to brush off her Secretarial Skirt just a little bit. Perhaps it was compulsive.

Delilah was shaky on her feelings these days on a couple of things when it came to Jade--mostly mired around the mess of how she had gotten there in the first place--but Jade had never given Delilah a reason to mistrust her. If Jade said it was nothing bad, then it was nothing bad. That was that. It was just a simple trip to the basement. Maybe she was being looped in on a new responsibility, or something, though she wasn't sure why they'd choose her for that--

What was it, then?

Delilah stepped into the elevator and waited for Jade to enter and for the doors to close securely before she voiced her thoughts.

Or at least, she voiced a question.

"Should I henshin up, or?"

Not yet?

"Okay."

Delilah took Jade's hand as it was offered, squeezing it just lightly. She didn't want to seem clingy, or anything, but she appreciated the contact. She appreciated it for what it was: comfort. She needed to calm down. This would be fine. She hadn't done anything wrong. It was nothing bad. Jade had promised it was nothing bad.

Delilah followed Jade towards the unoccupied room, letting go of her hand as they headed towards it, not wanting to look too clingy around those that were around her. Couldn't make a bad impression, especially if she was possibly going to see someone. The last thing she wanted to do was make them think she was weak or couldn't somehow handle herself or maybe was maladjusted because honestly, she was fairly sure she was maladjus--

A cat?

Delilah ventured closer, admiring the small bow and the little top hat.

He had a star on his head, too. How cute.

"Oh, are you a guardian cat?" asked Delilah, curiously, not having actually met any before. She had seen some things about them in the Databases, of course. "You're very handsome! Can I pet you?"

Delilah couldn't help a small noise of glee when Theodore agreed.

Despite that, though, she nodded politely, and made sure to keep her little pets and scratches to the chin area and the cheeks. It, at the least, kept her hand away from his hat. If he seemed to be displeased by it, though, she would shift her attention accordingly.

Help her? Delilah turned her attention to the side to look at Jade -- oh, not Jade, General Marcasite now. Right. She had said not yet. This was a powered thing. They were in the basement. Why did she need to transform? Why did Delilah need to transform? Why did she need to hand over her pen? What was Theodore going to do to her pen? Was he going to break it? It had been a while and it kind of felt like Delilah was just spinning in circles sometimes, wondering why she was even there and what any of the point was, wondering if she was really being of any utility, wondering about her own position as someone who had no memories and--

Oh.

Delilah's pets to Theodore all but stopped as she found herself unable to quite process what any of that meant. Promotion? She was worthy?

Did she want to be worthy?

Of course she wanted to be worthy. That meant she was more accepted. That meant she had more responsibility. That meant she was trusted more. That meant that she had a bigger group and maybe a bigger amount of control, but then, there was a reason why Stillwaterite--Sedna--felt she had to leave. There was a reason why Marcasite said since you've joined us. She hadn't always been part of the Negaverse. Was it wrong to be deeper into an organization that forced her there?

She shook her head out of her spiraling thoughts.

Couldn't afford that right now.

"Oh!" Delilah let out a quiet laugh that was probably a little more nervous than she wanted it to be, but she moved on from that as quickly as she could. "I ... that's better than I thought it would be, I guess," that excused it, right? Delilah fumbled around to pull out her pen, turning it over in her hand, before reciting a quiet, "Nembus Power, Make-Up," and replacing the farce that was Delilah Samson with another farce, Sailor Nembus.

And then, she took her pen, handing it over to the very handsome guardian cat he was still so cute.

"So what does it mean?" asked Nembus, turning her attention to Marcasite. "A promotion, I mean."

Oh no, the kitty growled at her! Dammit, what was she doing wrong now? Nembus' form slumped a bit when she heard the growl, but she didn't say anything about it directly, eyes trained on her general.

What did she think it was going to be?

Nembus decided that she wasn't going to answer that question, instead opting to let herself be distracted by the appearance of a strange orb. What was that? Was that the thing that was supposed to upgrade her? Make her more powerful?

More responsibility, more freedom, more abilities ... it sounded like a lot. Probably too much for her. The idea of having subordinates of her own distinctly chilled her. Nembus barely knew how to function as a living human being. She couldn't imagine trying to coach others. She couldn't imagine trying to encourage those in fresh service of Metallia when she couldn't even quite justify what she was doing there. Not that she had a choice in the matter, apparently--

Nembus held out her hand, taking the crystal from Theodore.

She wanted to ask if Marcasite thought she was really ready for this.

She didn't.

"I like the sound of more freedom," offered Nembus, quietly, as she pulled the crystal closer to herself. "Not sure I really want subordinates, though."

That seemed like an easy enough way to explain her hesitance, especially because it was the truth.

And with that, not letting any further questions come, she pulled the crystal to her chest.

And she screamed.



It felt like it lasted too long. It felt like it was too short. It felt like it was winding her, like it was tearing her from the inside out, like she was striving for something with her very being. She didn't know what it was.

It was after a minute that she let out a shaky gasp, stumbling forward, dropping what she was holding unceremoniously.

And then she grabbed onto the table before she, too, dropped.

Nembus was shaking a bit when Marcasite cradled her, partially taken by surprise by the sudden presence because she had been alright just against the table, but--

"Yu-," Nembus gulped down some air, "yeah."

That wasn't... comfortable.

Why did it hurt?

It sounded like this promotion was a good thing--but was it?--so why did it hurt?

Nembus opted to bury the question down--not the time, not the time--and instead fiddled around so she could summon her henshin pen. It was almost as if she was on autopilot when she did, pushing it out towards Theodore the moment she managed to locate it. "You needed this, right? The pen?" She knew he needed the pen. Why did she make herself ask?

Calm down, Nembus.

Super Sailor Nembus.

It sounded nice, sounded important. Sounded worthy, maybe. More worthy than she deserved for her service to Metallia, maybe. Perhaps she shouldn't question so much. It was okay she was where she was, right? She was doing her duty. She had most everything she wanted. There was a fancier pen in front of her, now, that meant more power, being held by a very proud cat with a top hat...

He was still quite cute.

Seeing Marcasite dehenshin brought with it some level of relief, and Nembus let her new outfit melt away back into the outfit Delilah had been dressed in, a nice blouse with her single Secretarial Skirt. She brushed it off, instinctually, nervously. "It's okay. Pain's over now, right?"

... At least, that pain was...

If Theodore allowed it, she lifted her hand and resumed petting him, like she had gotten distracted from before. His fur had been soft, and he was so cute... "Thank you. I'm glad you trust me with this."

Was she?

Not now, not now, not now...