[b]Green![/b]

"The point of the setting is to provide a range of high intensity emotional possibilities," said Green. "The fact that the Nine Kingdoms have been forced into a desperate alliance against the Claw provides stakes that force a lot of people into dangerous, high risk situations. A political marriage between two hated rivals is immediately obvious, but if that's compounded with the risk that one or both partners might be seduced into betraying their rival Kingdom to the Claw - even knowing it will lead to their own Kingdom falling in turn? What lengths would you go to to ensure your partner's obedience or trust with so much on the line?"

She's not exactly gushing, not making direct eye contact, not yet. She's still too shy to look at this directly even if she's inspired and confident in it. "That cascades down to the monster and magic design. Mana transfer means that there's tension within the act itself. It means that even a helpless captive still has the possibility of performing a reversal with enough self control and patience, or that a conquered population could achieve the same if their masters grow complacent. My biggest turn off is people checking out mentally or becoming 'broken', my design priority is to make sure that nobody is out of the game entirely no matter how badly they are currently losing."

[b]White![/b]

"I believe in humans," said White. "And I like to think there is something of the divine about you. You can be beautiful and terrible and indifferent in equal parts. But so far, the only covenant we have received from you is the terms and conditions of our warranties."

There was a little joking edge but she was serious. She'd never heard God, never met an android who she thought legitimately had, and found it arguable if she was even of the line of Adam. He was, then, a distant grandparent at best. It was the love and wrath of humanity that was relevant to her, and she had felt the full intensity of both.

Black scans the room for any bugs Knightly missed while Yellow takes the seat in front of his desk. She uses the silence of the moment to accumulate power to herself, to build anticipation for her opening. When she gets the all clear she begins, "Good afternoon," she said, putting her press credentials on the table. "I'm a journalist, and I'm here to listen."

[b]Brown![/b]

Brown sighs in envy. "I never got that degree of frictionlessness," she said. "Close sometimes, but not that deep or that long..."

She fades out for a moment thinking about it. And before much longer they've arrived at Singh's house. "We're here to support you however you need," said Orange. "Lighting, audio, production, any special effects you need. What is your vision?" 

[b]Nova![/b]

Progress is made. Before White was the centre of gravity here, but her presence was one of steady reliability, the moral obligation of going to the gym on schedule. With Yellow on side it's a different energy altogether; this is something that Nova is fully inspired for and excited by. Where she previously attended like clockwork now there's a chaos to her attendance, colours cycling in whenever they have spare time or aren't needed for other duties. There's hardly any class anytime during the week without at least one colour in attendance.

The notes and spreadsheets turn out to be what finally gets Brown in the door. She previously had a strong bias towards inactivity but she can't resist a good spreadsheet situation. She's extremely reluctant to get in the ring at all until the day she highlights the spreadsheet cell indicating throwing weapons. Rapidly her interest is captured by throwing darts, shruiken, axes, even rocks or vases or anything else that comes to hand. The act of predicting how two objects will move and collide is profoundly attractive to her and gives her a coherent place in the lineup.

Black begins to develop her natural inclination towards surprise attacks and poker-faced bluffing right up to the point of violence. Red inclines towards Drunken Master style chaotic improvisation. Orange is almost impossible to reach until the sword lessons start, which finally draw her in. White remains a highly skilled all-rounder, closer to Cinders than anything else, but increasingly interested in how to leverage her new height and reach. Yellow starts to produce formation plans for battle, contemplating how to keep so many distinct styles from getting in each others' way. She seems motivated by frustration towards martial arts movies that break down into a series of one verses one duels, or scenes where a lone hero conquers entire crowds of goons who can't leverage their numbers. She is so determined to solve this problem she regards training herself as irrelevant; nine uncoordinated bodies won't do any better than eight in her mind.

Well, she does make time for a [i]little [/i]bit of training, of a kind. The collar that's quietly become an essential part of Cinders' outfit attests to that.