[center][h1][b][color=e73d25]The GER[/color][/b][/h1][/center]

[i][sub]Euryale System, Sarpedon, Capital City Of Hesperia, Outer City Industrial Region, ???[/sub][/i]

[hr]

He wore a long, hunter green, and long-sleeved formal jacket over the top of his underlying clothes, with three bars of differing colors (and one that had a pair of gold stars upon it at that) arranged neatly on the upper left side of the chest. It was secured down the center with a strip of hunter green cloth, with a light gold trim neatly found along all of its edges, upon which five large, light gold colored buttons were gleaming and visible and each bore the sun-like insignia found upon the republic's flag as they kept the jacket closed and secure upon his torso. A similar minute flair of lighter-hued gold was likewise to be found upon the (in this case) simple and otherwise unadorned hanging epaulettes on hous shoulders, with a similar shade and border of light golden trim on the ends of his sleeves as well before they ended in a pair of hands covered in formal black dress-uniform gloves. A formal military hat/cap was worn upon his head, being a similar hunter green color, with a red stripe around the midsection of it that had a noticeable but thin light blue border on top and below it. In the center of the hat's midsection was a round light golden circle of metal attached to the hat with the sun-styled insignia of the GER's flag also emblazoned upon its shining front as well, and underneath the formal black brim with light golden laurel leaves on either side of it would shield the eyes of its current wearer from the lights above his head as he walked down the short hallway. 

Of all places to be sent to in order to bring word by his superiors, a particularly outfitted Autdoll Corporation R&D Facility wasn't the first place he had imagined. At the same time, however, it acted as one of the two 'offices' of the legendary "First Seat" of the Oligarchs proper. Man was said to be an eccentric sort of person, had founded the company even, but had stepped back from its formal operations after taking his seat among the Oligarchs. Still stuck around to tinker with ideas and parts and such, however, from the sounds of it. He could understand needing a hobby, he had tinkered with old bots himself growing up before joining the military and sometimes these days with his kids, but at the same time that wasn't the part that made him feel slightly odd about things. Indeed, it was the supposed age of the one the Senior Master Seargant was coming to visit, as ordered, that brought him some level of curiuosity and questioning in the first place. 

It was said the man was centuries old, though his lack of most forms of public appearance in a general sense made it feel strange and thus made his age in turn somewhat more doubtable (facts aside) in comparison to those among his other six 'compatriots' who seemed to enjoy the limelight and attention from the public or put themselves out there more at least. Sure the first three were known as "The Immortals" for rather good reasons, and he had met the Second Seat before while hearing about the Third Seat from a friend, but not many got to say they reported to the First himself. But given the situation, and his understanding that the First was a scientist of sorts, Senior Master Seargant York felt it made a fair bit of sense that the First had become involved in this matter. Apparently by unanimous decision among the Oligarchs, given his particularly legendary age and potential to help grasp this rather old-world problem they now had on their hands, he was dipping into a couple of matters.

The Olgiarchs had certainly picked uip involvement in current events overall, though, in a general sense. The Fourth had come to help organize the defensive array from the start, as well as drum up morale and coordinate potential diplomatic efforts with the First on this matter overall, while likewise the Third was involved in the matter of "possible foreign technological analysis" and similar things and the First was to be involved in that as well. It made him wonder, even for a moment, if the old and longstanding faint rumor that the First himself was perhaps some kind of A.I. or something of the like was true. Like, some kind of pre-Gateways sapient secret A.I. project that had been installed into the colony ship and provided support across the centuries or something. Hmm. 

Even so, York's arrival at the facility had seen him welcomed by the presence of the black and grays-splotched combat uniforms of the Oligarchic Guards upon arrival at the front security gate alongside the usual security guards protecting the grounds. It meant one thing for sure, and that was that the First (or any of the Oligarchs) was most certainly here. He'd been vetted through after a proper scanner trip in his car, which had confirmed both his authenticity as 'the real him' and if anything dangerous was in the vehicle. Etc. Standard high security procedures, in this case done by portable scaners not normal to the facility it seemed. He was familiar with their presence at military facilities in the more permanent sense and likewise in big-political-figure-involved venues where such security was set up proper for events or such as well. Etc. 

Now, however, two of the Oligarchic Guards were escorting him (after picking him up on the ground floor) down a long, blue-floor-tiled and white-walled hall on the fourth floor while heading toward the proper head office space of the R&D Facility. Side offices of this 'management level' of the building were seemingly either closed, due to a lack of presence there or use currently, or were in some state of being used by the staff and managers as the flutter of formal work attire and bodies (and the odd repair person or janitor/janitor bot) moved about their routines. Yet the presence of pairs of the same Oligarchic Guards dotted every so often down the hall wasn't a surprise either in this case, though it seemed to be ignored as part of the background by most in this case. Was their presence that normalized here? He raised an eyebrow for a moment, catching the eye of a frantic-looking lab-coat-wearing woman looking in his direction, before a soft sigh escaped his lips and he turned his attention back forward. He seemed to get a glance or two from those moving about more than any of the stationed guards did at that. 

Though for things to be running like this with a big figure such as one of the Seven Oligarchs being here? It still felt odd to him all the same. Peculiar, even. But given what he had been told of the First before being sent here, it was making more and more sense now as he was being escorted along. The guy was eccentric, driven in his work and tinkering, and while called an 'oddball' for his hobby of pitching in with the company he himself had founded but left formally was also noted as being 'one of the smartest people in history' to him by his superiors. 

*zzt*

A faint noise at the edge of his hearing. The sound of welding something, all the way up here? Perhaps he was just hearing a bit of repair work from a nearby office. But, ah, perhaps not now that he looked ahead of he and his two escorts (one in front and walking behind him) as they approached the end of the hall. The silent Oligarchic Guard in front of him stopped in front of two large double-doors that lied before them, before which two more Oligarchic Guards seemed to man them. The one to the left looked at him, then at his escort, and put a hand to an obvious earpiece before lowering it again to rest on the side of the firearm in his hands. The two door guards would then reach over to the door handles, pulling the polished wooden double doors open in a seemingly drilled and synchronous manner. 

York, internally swallowing a mild mental moment of nervousness while keeping his best poker face on, looked in side as the guard in front of him stepped aside and gestured for him to enter the office. He nodded in return, before stepping properly inside.

The head office itself was a rather spacious room with a very high-up roof at that, with fancy wide cylindrical lights with a bloated spherical midsection hanging from equally-spaced spots of the white ceiling to light up the room rather comfortably overall. Meanwhile the smoothly-designed floor in turn was lined with a comfortable but perhaps trip-resistant and likely fireproof red carpeting, velvety in its color, while the walls were lined with smooth wooden bookshelves and said bookshelves had a few small amenities like decorative (real or fake he didn't know)plants of green or more bluish colors and so forth interspersed between to break it up a bit and more of the same white wall color the facility seemed to like sporting in the managerial areas sitting above them. A polished wooden rectangular table with six formal chairs sat in an open spot to his left visibly as well, one which seemed as if it was made to host small meetings in the head office proper with its likely built-in office conference holoprojector at the center ready to be used in calls or for presentations or such like things. Meanwhile to his own right a smaller round polished wooden table sat with a singular but seemingly much more plush and comfy chair at it, as if made to sit and enjoy a nice lunch during one's break or while doing overnight work on some fancy mobile office-use holocomputer. 

The impressivness of the furniture, light, and other such qualities aside, most of all, at the back of the room, underneath three incredibly talls windows with pulled-back velvet-red curtains to let the golden light of day in, was the biggest thing. A huge and more widely rounded-shaped office desk, made of the same shade of polished wood as the tables and other chairs and bookshelves it seemed, with ornate golden trim on its edges and along certain spots for flair. Yet on its top surface he could glimpse the occasional scratch or such to his left (to the right of whoever was sitting at it) from tools or such like. Otherwise a more advanced-looking holocomputer sat more to his right (the left of whoever was sitting at the desk) already active and turned on and ready for use....or already having been in use perhaps. Meanwhile in the center of the large, the more widely rotund-shaped desk had a chair in front of it for guests to sit in and behind the desk-....yes. This was the person he'd been sent to report to formally for this matter. Or rather, had been requested to come report about in-person in this case? 

While he felt usually the messaging and encrypted channels were the normal, he would make a salute as what seemed to be a man in a spinning chair at the center of this huge desk turned around to look at him. 

[hider=The Man (Big Picture Warning)]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/jHF2fxu.jpeg[/img][/center]

[/hider]

[color=gold]"Wir freuen uns, Sie bei uns zu haben! At ease, mein dear fellow, und please come sit und relax for but a moment for our business today. Und it iz a beautiful day indeed too, ja?"[/color] 

York would lower his salute once more, stepping ever tight and formal in his movements yet still despite accepting the invitation to sit in the chair before the man. When he sat, then, the man offered him a handshake, one which York would reciprocate in turn...hmm. Tight and strong handshake the man had to be sure. Something he'd not expect of, well, a non-military person he supposed. 

Even so, this was the spitting picture of the First that he'd been shown to let him know who he would be speaking to in this case. His short, blonde hair was certainly combed well enough it seemed, and he looked human outright for the most part despite his rather pale skintone. However, behind the somewhat uniquely-designed glasses on his face, his eyes seemed to radiate the same sense of inviting yet business-worthy calm and collection that seemed to act as if nothing was wrong and things were always on-schedule or to-plan. A presence that in part made him feel somewhat more comfortable on its own, even down to a pleased-looking but formal little smile on his face, aside from....er, well, those eyes of his.

Those eyes of his were unnaturally yellow, and something about them otherwise seemed to carry....something uncanny in them, he felt, that both felt familiar and yet left him unable to pin down the particular memory. As if those eyes of his were running more calculations than the latest supercomputer and could likewise stare into your soul, or hell even the void, and not blink or bat an eye even once at it as if it was a matter of any consequence. Could look a demon back in the eye with those, perhaps, and intimidate it into compliance if need-be. Yes. That felt like the right way to describe it to some extent in the moment here. But the initial cordial question about the day was enough along with those eyes of his to leave York feeling a small lump in his throat even while oddly almost relaxing a bit at the same time.   

[color=89CFF0]"I-It is, sir, though I've heard rain is expcted here and around the capital tonight."[/color]

The right side of the First's mouth seemed to perk up mildly for a moment, perhaps in amusement, before he spoke again and leaned back somewhat in his chair to a normal position. 

[color=gold]"Ja, you are right. Zumtimes zhe sun comes up, shinink brightly and warm before zhe storms arrive both vith regards for zhe weather....un een life as vell for zhat matter, hmm? At zhe same time, zhe opposite can also be true, no?

Ah, but where are mein manners? I vill not keep zhu here long, Herr York, but may I also ask if zhu are hungry after your early and sudden flight here from off-world?"[/color] 

[color=89CFF0]"I am fine, sir, but-"[/color]

A mild grumble from his stomach would interrupt his words all the same, leading to York clearing his mouth as the First's smile grew even a tiny bit more than before. 

[color=gold]"Ah, I vill send zhu vith a snack und drink for zhe flight back. I insist~"[/color] the First said, tone somewhat teasing yet pleasant even as he would suddenly nod to a guard out of view and York heard the resulting sound of the office doors opening and closing in quick sucession, [color=gold]"Do not vurry about it. Now zhen, to business. I vanted to hear zhis matter in person, so zhey sent someone to tell me vhen zhe arrangements were ready. Zhat is zhe message you have brought to me, yes?"[/color]

York gulped, before nodding back at the First in turn. Hadn't even had a chance to try to deny the gift, but...well he hadn't even been able to eat yet before coming here. Such was the nature of bringing this message. 

[color=89CFF0]"Yes sir, the arrangements you speak of are complete. The widened defensive array you requested is fully in place under the direct observation of the Fourth, and he wished me to tell you that the diplomatic vessels are also prepared with the additional analysts, particular Old Earth linguists you requested, and sensors you requested go aboard them. The envoys are being shuttled to their prepared military vessels as we speak, and the start of the diplomatic missions should begin in earnest soon thereafter. Project Gaia is also on schedule to be loaded onto the ESS McNamara, as you requested, as it helps escort the Sol diplomatic vessel in addition to the rest of its escort.

And...ahem, he passed on the message to tell you, and I quote, 'The favor I owed you is now most graciously repayed, but Three isn't very happy about the change in sensors but giving him the monkeys' probe after neutering it is keeping him from doing more than griping more about it at least.' End quote."[/color]

The First would chuckle for a bit once he finished speaking, before letting out a small but satisfied sigh of his own and leaning farther back in the chair in a more casual and relaxed manner now. 

[color=gold]"Wunderbar! Zhat clunky old cog should be satisfied vith zhings for now...zhose sensors he vanted vould be seen as too 'invasive' perhaps in zhe diplomatic sense. Zhe ones on zhem now should suffice until vee understand zhe greater political situation. 

Ah, but iz zhat all, Master Seargant?"[/color]

[color=89CFF0]"Yes sir."[/color]

The First would sit back forward once more, taking back on a more formal posture before extending another hand to shake York's own. 

[color=gold]"Ausgezeichnet. Zhen zhat vill conclude our business. Thank you for comink, Herr York, und your snack und drink should be waitink and ready to go vhen you return to zhe entrance of zhis building. Und if zhe Fourth asks you anyzhing about zhis visit, zhen would you tell him vun thing for me?"[/color]

[color=89CFF0]"Sir?"[/color]

[color=gold]"Tell him zhe suprise for zhe Second for zhe next meeting should be arriving at heez doorstep by zhe end of zhe week. Nothink too extreme, but he can call me back himself if he vishes to know more.

Zhat is all~"[/color]