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A row of suits set up behind a semi-circular desk up front. Torches spewing oddly-colored flames illuminated the room. The air felt clean, but not necessarily sterile. The movement of bodies and chatter amongst the assembly should have been a lot louder than it was, but the walls and carpet seemed to muffle much of it. Swivel chairs behind the wide-paneled stand sat dignified as executives found their seats. Some looked like they were clearly far from home, and a few appeared to be way past their due date: reptilians passing death-glares across the room, an exceptionally beautiful woman exposing a neck tattoo stating 51/50, a scrawny old man whose stride was graceful; how they all ended up in these jobs would have been questionable anywhere.

But, this wasn't just anywhere. This was Sopor. More importantly, this was Galea.

Those on the main floor were even more bizarre. There was a little less than one-hundred in attendance, with stragglers still making their way inside. Some planted themselves in luxury leather seats, and others, mostly those who did not fit, opted to stand along the walls. It would have looked like a mob trial if this motley crew was bound, but they were all here to get paid. Some dressed for a professional event, and others looked like they walked in off the street. None of the superficial seemed to effect anyone present. Everyone knew the only reason they even got to see this room was because they were qualified. This heterogeneous mixture of beauty and repulsiveness, decency and crudeness, were some of the best Sopor and its surrounding star systems could offer.

Front and center, staring down the middle of the aisle parting the main floor, sat a handsome man. There seemed to be some distortion around his eyes. It wasn't that one doubted they were there, but more like none could really draw focus onto them. It appeared that this man was well aware of his condition, and all in the room could feel his gaze pass over them.



A handful of the other executives seemed to scribble something behind the low shelf atop their joint desk. Unlike the rest of them, this man had no microphone in front of him. At another glance around the room, there didn't even appear to be speakers.



Some ass-kissing chuckles erupted from the front of the room. He spoke in a friendly tone, but his facial expression looked like it was etched in stone.



The man got up from his seat, exposing his tall stature. Slowly, he made his way around the desk and stood before his audience.



In almost an inverse fashion, his tone became more serious as a smile crept over his face. As he spoke further, he relaxed his demeanor and paced within the pocket of the desk.



He spoke passionately. There was a fire within him escaping. He was animated.



At last, he gave a deep sigh of relief. His shining face scanned the room, clearly pleased with a hint of eagerness.

Skyline Galea, Sopor
Galea Maejor Resort
Executive Conference Room
Left Central Seating Area, Back Row, Aisle Seat

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In the polluted sunset light of the conference room's torches, Alice ran her tongue over her teeth as she locked eyes with a particularly striking near-human synth dame four rows over. Her advanced polymer case was shining beneath the formal business button-up that she continued to pull at. Her gaze kept meeting Alice's before falling quickly, only to rise again and meet Alice's static-plagued globes.

Alice took a deep breath and turned her gaze from the synth to drop back into listening, sheathed blade on her lap continuing to poke the elderly man in the business plugsuit next to her. Her brow furrowed as much of the business and administrative jargon flew over her head. Her face lacked features aside from eyebrows and a pair of eyes. Waves of digital snow and minute chroma noise rippled over where she should have had mouth and nose, and the silhouette of her skin wavered with VHS crosstalk.

The nature of her contract was... vague. Her purpose on this new job was something she needed to inquire about but the prospect of being able to do the work she loved for someone in such a position of power excited her. Already, she was beginning to envision her duties as an elite bodyguard for the upper echelon of society, or as captain of her own private security firm. The income prospects made her little heart race.

The meeting of the suits and the scum ended promptly, the many in attendance beginning to shuffle and move from their seats. Alice had risen, ignoring the yearning electric stare from the synthwoman to push her way through the surge of people trying to exit.

She had a burning question to ask her new employer. Something that her boss could answer to her right now.

"Bossman! Got a question. This contract we got. If I'm working with you now, what do y'want me t'be doing? Bodyguard, all stuck to your side-like? I'll make sure any hand y'shake does it under my cutter, easy. Just say th'word."

Skyline Galea, Sopor
Galea Maejor Resort
Executive Conference Room
Rear Right Standing Zone

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Taleste was paying attention to this speech, but only retained anything that was of interest to her, which wasn't much of it. All she gathered from this is that her new boss had an agenda that didn't concern her, and many of the people around her were aliens. She could have guessed that much. In fact, it was fair to say she was only a handful of the new employees who were actually born on this planet.

Throughout the speech, the male crooks surrounding Taleste sneered at her, gave low wolf whistles, stared at her cleavage, and occasionally put their hands on her. Every time they did, she glared at them and they stopped. She was no threat to them, but they didn't know that. Most people hired here were ruthless killers. All she had to do was act like she was the type of person who will cut off your hand if you try that again, and they believed her and backed off.

By the end of the speech, she had stolen money from every crook standing around her. That was why she had opted to wear this distracting vest, despite the air conditioning in this room making it rather cool and making her wish she was wearing something a little warmer. After all, what she'd taken was small change. She'd rather be warm right now. She just had no love for aliens who come to this planet and take the most prestigious jobs. Then again, that's the luxury afforded by reputation, and Taleste knew she had the skill for such a one. She just needed the opportunity, and this job was going to give it to her.

The people were clearing out now. She made her way over to one of the segmented floating palm trees adorning either side of the door out, and stood with her back to the wall, letting everybody file out. Probably to go and get drunk. She'd leave last, behind all the rich guys in suits. Now they'd probably be carrying round some decent cash. And they wouldn't find her waiting there suspicious. She just wanted to talk to the boss, if they asked.

Skyline Galea, Sopor
Galea Maejor Resort
Executive Conference Room
Rear Left Standing Zone

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The hall in which he stood was filled to its brim with wretch’s, scum and villains; a lower class of people. Tye allowed his red, cybernetic eye to scan the room in quick fashion, something he was not a fan of doing with his implants only really being there out of necessity rather than by choice. The large group before him were armed to the teeth, most with some sort of sword or gun. Callahan dropped his gaze to his bandage wrapped fists and a smile curled upon his normally stoic face. He cracked his knuckles in satisfaction, they may have fancy things but nothing was more personal than a fist to the jaw. Nothing more testing of a man’s true nature. Tye had not formally dressed up for the occasion; as his usual attire was generally smart casual anyway, a nice white shirt, usually stained with blood, a black button down vest and pants. His eyes flickered to the stage as his new employer began to speak.

Callahan was under know delusions as to what he had been contracted to do, it was something that he had been paid to do for most of his life; he was going to be paid to hurt someone, that’s just what he did. Still, regardless of the fact, this new employer did seem impassioned, more so than most. He must be desperate to reach his goal for him to assemble such a cabal of dark characters as his own personal work force. The man was bloodthirsty, a feeling Tye could spot from a mile away. It was a feeling he himself was born with on Mars. It was feeling that probably most of the other savages in the room with them all knew so well.

With the session concluded, people, if you could actually call them that, began to file out of the room, no doubt to get drunk or get into a fight. Silently, Tye wondered if any of those men and women would finally be the ones to test him, he doubted it somehow. To hazard a guess, most of them would be dead from infighting within the first month of the insurgency. Even though most were leaving, Callahan remained. He knew that their employers words could easily sway the men but it would be his quiet actions in the presence of others that would show the Brutal Artist just what his new boss was about and just what exactly he had planned.

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Ethan had chosen a seat next to an aisle to limit the amount of people he had to interact with and give him a quick exit once the conference was over. He wanted to spend the least amount of time rubbing elbows as possible. There were so many thugs turning up that the place was officially a powder keg. However, he assumed that they were all here for money, and that at least would keep them in check. He was wearing his work suit.



With a swipe of his finger across the arm, he activated the smartglasses. He went to turn on the jamming signal, but then got a message that his wifi and signal were already jammed.
"Well, atleast my new boss isn't incompetent." he thought.

For the next few minutes he listened to the boss's speech. He was foremost looking for blind spots which could make his job more risky. The following are some of Blaine's thoughts:

All life strives for power... dominance... whether it be over their own life or those around them.
Power over oneself is innate, your born with it. The kind of power he talked about striving for is the kind of power that goes out from oneself. Power over others...

here are too many heads of this world, and they're all blinded by their own selfishness.
What could this mean? No doubt the full truth will be revealed later...

I had plans to raise the undesirables of this city to the middle class and bring some depth to this city.
"Philanthropy out the barrel of a gun... well that's a new take on it..."

A strong society is built on a capable populace, and what easier route to greater dominion over our neighbors than through grassroots loyalty?
Well, that was something Ethan could agree on. Would this mans leadership turn out to be anything other than a lie? It would be entertaining to watch...

Instead, he made the executive decision to prolong his term and installed his brother as his Vice Chair.
"Naughty."

They will demand preservation of their power, but I will not give it to them.
"Well, entropy's against them."

but at least for now, it would seem your political biases are non-existent.
"We'll see about that."

You've been able to train your abilities outside of the depressing Sopori system, making you dangerous and unpredictable to the content.
"So, everyone here is from outside sopori?" He took one more look around the room at the diverse collection of cultures and styles that had been coaxed into an alliance. The people he would be working with... His eyes rested on Tye Callahan. But he didnt know his name yet.
He thought . "Theres a tough one. he'd probably jack up my ass if i let him get close enough. Luckily, no one ever does."

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Soon after Janus concluded his speech, much of the audience began to make their way out.

First night in? Comped drinks? Can't blame 'em.

The few who did stick around weren't the usual suspects. They weren't the suits he had become accustomed to seeing, but he couldn't wholeheartedly call them trash. He saw a handful approaching him, quickly trying to overtake one another, while a few stood around silently, either waiting for the crowd on either end to thin or merely to observe.

"Bossman! Got a question. This contract we got. If I'm working with you now, what do y'want me t'be doing? Bodyguard, all stuck to your side-like? I'll make sure any hand y'shake does it under my cutter, easy. Just say th'word."

He looked to a somewhat familiar face. He recognized her from her file. Alice Springstein? Springfield? It didn't matter. He retained enough of her profile for this meet-and-greet. He was just glad she had the moxy to get a head-start. A friendly smile crept over his face in response.



From her presence, he could sense an almost carefree aura. Alice seemed like a joyful soul that reveled in perpetuated chaos. As they conversed, he scanned the room. His eyes wandered between the question-and-answer routine that goes with these events. Around him, he saw a very damaged, physically and psychologically, man, as well as airy thief exploiting her opportunity. Both made relatively little noise as the room cleared. He also spotted a very intelligent, but possibly naive, Earthling. From his composure, it seemed he was passing a lot of judgment, and by the look in his eyes, he had probably not partaken in much active violence up until this time.

As everyone retired to other places around the resort, a few seemed to have the patience to stick around. Although it was customary for the host to make their exit after the last of their guests, this batch already saw themselves as employees: putting in their discipline to not leave until their boss had.

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"You'll be doing a lot of things. I, personally, don't need a body guard."

Alice's silhouette crackled with noise the color of a dead TV channel. It took a moment for the words to register. Her purpose was in question and the only one that could rectify it was the man in front of her.

"It'll be more like errands. My biggest problem right now is my debtors... and another list of suits who need some nudges, if you get what I'm saying."

The mention of errands make Alice's mouthless face roll with a buzzing wave of chromatic afterimaging and blurring. She liked money and she liked work but she didn't like playing errandgirl. Luckily the sly mention of suits and their need for 'nudging' perked her up again. Her eyes seemed to flash, as if changing channels.

"Shiny, bossman! Now this sounds like my kind of work. Smack 'em 'nd stack 'em, just like back home!"" She chirped, fingers of one hand twiddling on the scuffed and dirty handlewraps of her blade, like a manic flute player. Her raincoat, tanktop and baggy cargo pants tucked into combat boots combo didn't help her look the part of a clean-cut mercenary. The baseball cap emblazoned with the 'Big $ Mama' logo helped even less. But nonetheless she was excited enough to have it show in her very being.

"...and meet me in the lobby in 30. There's a party not too far from here. It's not really fancy or anything, but it wouldn't be such a bad thing for me to show up with an entourage."

She snapped away from her excitement for long enough to catch the last part of the order, and looked back to the others with smiling eyes.

"Ohohoho, y'got it, boss. I'll wrangle 'em real good for ya."

Alice snapped a salute, turned on her heel and goose-stepped away in almost satirical fashion. She took an at-attention stance in the immediate middle of the dispersed group.

"Alright, chummers. Y'heard the man. We got 30 minutes 'til wheels up. Get primped and preened. We're playin' posse tonight."

Skyline Galea, Sopor
Galea Maejor Resort
Executive Conference Room
Rear Right Standing Zone

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Taleste was only half paying attention to what her new boss was saying, and half looking for easy marks among the emptying room. Most of these suits either gave the impression that stealing from them would be a very stupid idea, or were very tightly guarded in the presence of such riff-raff. This was definitely a different country to the one she came from. It was far rich, and far more dangerous. Taleste had to trust in her boss just as much, if not more, than trusting in her own skills to stay alive. As for her co-workers...trust was a strong word. 'mutual respect and distance' might be a better philosophy there. She definitely wasn't going to steal from them. An enemy cut from these dangerous aliens would be one deadly foe.

In a conversation with one of the weirder aliens, her boss had indirectly given her her first order, and it was something she was familiar with; being a posse. But this time, she wasn't just pretending to be a dangerous thug. She was pretending to be a classy dangerous thug. This would be a true test of her acting skills, and she also needed a nice dress. She gave a thumbs up to the weird alien who's just relayed the order like a parrot. 'Please tell me she's not going to be a brown-nosing middle management type,' she thought to herself as she turned and headed out the door. 'I hate those pricks'

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Skyline Galea, Sopor
Spektrox Plaza
Glitz Boutique

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On a shopping street ten minutes away, Taleste had found a nice dress shop. After trying a few dresses on, she found one she liked; a grey dress that was the right amounts of classy, promiscuous, and a little bit punky on account of it's buckles. It was perfect to catch some eyes and keep them there so that their brains would see the 'punky' vibe her facial expression, hair and the buckles would give to the ensemble and think 'she looks like she could be trouble'. She ran her electronic lockpick over the tag to de-magnetize it, waited until nobody was looking (including the rotating security camera), and then just walked right out the door, pulling off the tags and disposing of them in the nearest bin.

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Skyline Galea, Sopor
Galea Maejor Resort
Lobby

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Taleste made it to the rendezvous with two minutes to spare, now dressed in her new, illegally acquired apparel. She hadn't changed her boots. She wasn't going to sacrifice practicality for fashion. Besides, they matched her hair aesthetically.

Skyline Galea, Sopor
Galea Maejor Resort
Executive Conference Room
Rear Left Standing Zone

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Tye remained silent as his new employer and one of his new co-workers talked. He was not involved in the conversation but overheard it quite easily. It was a big room and sound travelled. The one he now knew to be called Alice approached the centre of the what was left of the new contractors and began speaking. Apparently those who had stayed behind were going to be spending the evening with the boss. That should be interesting, they had thirty minutes to get themselves correct and meet in the lobby. Tye wasn’t one for a party but it was a chance to maybe stretch out his recent upgrades.

Callahan had no reason to change, as he was generally always dressed in a relatively classy manner, his black pants and waist coast matched his white shirt. He placed a pair of slick black gloves over his fists and some dark glasses to hide the glow of his red eyes. They had a half hour, so the Brutal Artist just needed to kill some time. Turning on his heel, he left the hall without a word and headed off into the coming night.

The neon drenched resort could be mistaken for urban beauty but Tye knew better than that. Beauty it was far from. Low lives and thieves were its populace and he was wading through them like muck from a swamp. Walk down the right back alley and surely something would be there. Rightly so, Callahan was approached from the darkness.

“Give me your creds”
“…”
“You deaf? Give em to me”
“…”
“I will fucking cut you”

“….wanna fight?” It took Tye less than a second to headbutt his would be mugger to the ground. He reached down and stuck his fingers into the attacker’s mouth and began to drag him deeper into the darkness. He tried to bite down but Callahan’s steel bones caused his teeth to break. This was no challenge at all, a waste of time. There was no point in trying to work with this mess, so Tye simply lifted the mugger from the ground and impaled him on a bit of sharp fencing. If this was the best this place had to offer, the Brutal Artist might need to re-think his contract.

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Skyline Galea, Sopor
Galea Maejor Resort
Lobby

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Eventually he found his way back to the resort and to the lobby where he was to meet his “posse” and their employer. As people began to arrive, Tye remained stoic and off to the side; greeting them all with a simple:

“Evening”