All of the talk here belied the dreadfully mundane nature of day-to-day operations. No amount of gawking at the files on some new Phenomena nor any number of dramatized accounts of battles in the field could drown out the hum of a room full of servers or dim the stinging light of an overhead projector. Some of the agents here could give fishermen at a pub talking about the one that got away a run for their money with how they spiced up their accounts, but those tales did nothing more to dull the tedium of turning in paperwork and sipping an early morning coffee than a lemon peel would do to mask the scent of a decaying fish.
For her, though, that mundanity was pleasant, actually. This far from home, she couldn't help but welcome the familiarity. At the end of the day, she had a normal office job.
xxx
"To conclude, I have three recommendations. One, minor internal reorganization. A small team trained specifically to deal with dimension-hopping Phenomena will be much more effective than pulling elite agents from other projects." The light from the projector fills her eyes as she speaks, bringing out their red shine. Standing at the front of the room, the woman - Isadora - commands the attention of her colleagues, extending an arm and pointing to a graph next to the bulleted lists. "Secondly, cross-dimensional searches should be restricted to a limited geographical area. Of the few Phenomena that you've apprehended in another dimension, all but two of them were found less than 30 kilometers away from the equivalent location they warped from in this world."
"Third," she continues, stern and focused, "you need to begin properly cataloging other worlds. A systematic way of recording and describing various worlds will streamline briefings." A brief pause, and she lets out a sigh, finishing off and clicking a button on a remote, turning off the projector. "That's everything".
There’s a light bit of applause from the head of the room. “Well, thank you for the information, Isadora.” says the man there. He stands up and takes her place as she moves aside.
Agent Dawson, one of the top-ranking members of the Paranormal Containment and Research organization, looks over the other agents who had been sitting through the presentation. “I believe we can even take one of those suggestions now. I’ll be assigning Agent Ryn, Agent Wetherby, and… let’s say Agent Eden to the new team. Starting today, you three are to focus entirely on cross-dimensional Phenomena…”
Some rising up and shuffling about ensues, the new team of agents exchanging glances and comments on the new task before them amidst common post-meeting awkwardness. After a few moments, someone finally takes the initiative of being the first to make for the exit, opening the proverbial floodgates. The meeting room empties out quickly, Isadora ultimately the last to leave, heading out quietly to work through some paperwork.
It's quite some time later in the day when Isadora emerges again, settling down in the on-site lounge, easing herself into a seat with a drink in her hand, taking the sword strapped on her back and leaning it against her leg. Most agents didn't bring weapons with them to the lounge, but, then, she did have a few peculiarities about her, ones she typically waved away by citing her status as someone contracted with the organization and not a proper employee.
"Give me the day's updates," she says to the agents gathered round.
It’s a pair of agents today, specifically. And one of them looks surprisingly cranky compared to the other.
“Well. Thanks to you, now I’m starting over.” Agent Wetherby states, clearly irritated.
“Oh, hush~” comes the reply from Agent Katya. Apparently, Agent Evangeline had been rumored to have an eye on Katya, and when someone like Evangeline looked, you listened. “It’s been fine, been fine. Finally arranged for that weekend trip into the city.”
"It could be worse." Isadora shrugs, unmoved by Wetherby's grumbling. "You have the same job, same agents around you. Starting over means starting with nothing to your name and nobody around you." Wetherby usually was the first to grumble about some change, she had learned since coming aboard. This was no surprise.
She seems to take a keener interest in Katya, though, even setting her drink down as she responds. "Don't get too caught up with the gambling," she lightly chides. She'd managed to get over to Vegas for a weekend, herself. It was so close, she had figured she might as well experience what it had on offer. The end result? Doing everything on the cheap for about a week afterwards. "You've never wanted to save up your time and go anywhere further off? The flying city - Olympia - I'd never imagine someone would have a sight to see like that in their world and wouldn't want to go."
“Hmm.” Unable to argue that point, Wetherby lets it lie. “Well, as long as you’ve saddled me with these tasks, why not give me a head start? You can tell me about your world, that’ll be one down.”
“Oh, Olympia. I’ve considered it, but it’s not about the sights for me.” Katya says, as she reclines a bit. “It’s about the act of reminding myself I’m not just a drone. Living here on base… I understand why we need to do it, but sometimes it eats at me. So I go to a normal city full of people and remind myself why I do this, and that it’s not all there is.
And if I saved up for the long getaway, I’d probably be too full of cabin fever to enjoy it.”
"Getting away from here feels normal, does it?" Being here brought her some sense of normalcy, but, well, she'd only be sticking around for so long. Someone like Katya, with all the years she had ahead of her at this place, well, yeah, it wasn't hard to understand how that kind of thing might be important to her. Even so, missing out on seeing a flying city? Really? "Maybe there's something to that. The work here is pleasant, but I don't see myself sticking to it." Her hand moves down, Isadora tapping her fingers against her weapon as she thinks.
"Let's see… My world…" She draws a deep breath as she shifts gears, pondering the matter of where even to begin. "The very basics begin with the Zoofights Corporation. The group fell apart unceremoniously, leaving behind their legacy of brutal fights and an audience eager for more. That was an unstable state of affairs. An entire city descended into violence - the City of Beasts. It was a dangerous place, and that danger spread. For most of my life, the world I was from wasn't exactly safe. Changes came within the past year - things still are changing - but don't be surprised if you find you still aren't trusted by most there. Staying on your guard was a necessity for survival, and old habits resist change."
“Tch. That sounds like a goddamn breeding ground for Phenomena. Ughhhh, of course it’d have to be like that. And we already got outclassed when it came to the last alternate dimension invasion.” Wetherby says, Katya rolling her eyes. “What, do you think we could have contained Dark Matter? We couldn’t have.
I think you could have a long-term career here. You’ve got the talent people look for. Who knows, maybe they’ll want backup in Glasetera - I know the Phenomenon called the Lady of Chains is definitely there, and there’s supposed to be at least two other confirmed Phenomena we have to locate.”
"Glasetera, hm?" She settles further back into her seat as she considers it, picking her drink back up and guzzling it down. She'd heard about an agent sent up there, a highly skilled agent by the name of Evangeline. She could have probably had reams of info on her by now if she had wanted it, but, well, what reason did she have to inquire about her? There was one piece of information she had heard that interested her, though. "That's where Agent Evangeline is, right? She's the one that works with a Phenomenon, the former agent taken over by the Red Shoes?"
“Yeeeeah.” Wetherby says. “Using gear derived from them is one thing, but an agent controlled by one..”
“Oh, shush.” Katya says. “We’ve seen what Agents controlled by the Red Shoes are like. Agent Carmine might be using them, and might be much different, but she’s fundamentally still Carmine and not the Shoes.”
"She's less risk-averse than me," Isadora responds flatly. "I wouldn't be able to focus with an arrangement like that. I'd watch my back constantly if I were her." She makes absolutely no secret of her disapproval, shaking her head before throwing back her last swig of booze. "Nobody's so elite or so skilled that they can't get caught by surprise. She's going to get herself killed." It almost sounded like this place needed more agents to go up that way. It couldn't hurt them to spare a few backups. Who knew what might happen to Evangeline? It'd almost be worthwhile to meet the woman and ask her directly what made her think she could trust a Phenomenon to cover her - almost. "I doubt it," she continues, finally picking up with Katya's original point. "They only want me here for the cross-dimensional work. Unless they have a Phenomenon up there that came in from another world, I can't see them sending me. Besides that, the cold's never agreed with me. Send me to a sauna instead. I can take heat and humidity."
Wetherby just cracks a smirk at Isadora backing him up, while Katya shakes her head. “I feel like if we try to stay with the basics alone, we’ll just fall further behind… but that’s another discussion.
The heat, huh? So that’s the real reason you’re here, I see.” Katya says. “Not that I can blame you. I’m glad they gave it to Evangeline - if there’s one person who’ll tolerate anything, it’s her.”
"There are perks to the facility being here," Isadora says simply, starting to rise from her seat. A few agents could hang around here for hours at a time, but, as she saw it, short visits were best. There was always something else to be done. "She's survived this long. She must be doing something right." Eventually Evangeline's luck would run out, but she did have to have some genuine skill, too, to have made it this far. "We'll be moving fast, Wetherby. Be ready to keep up," is how she ends things off, taking up her weapon and heading on her way.
Still a whole night to get through, and already she was buzzing with ideas for the new team, huh? Popping something into the microwave wouldn't exactly be much of a distraction. Maybe she'd just turn in early tonight and get up and get to work early, too. It was going to take some effort to whip this group into shape - a head start sounded good, she decides as she walks off.
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