genessia | Action

Entry tags:

Action | Audio

Action | Outside the Bay | Midday

Broad shoulders and grim expression trained on the hologram as it begins to repeat itself for the third time cast a striking and imposing figure. With each successive repetition of Weiss' holographic address, Clay looks more angry, his eyes become harder and something like unease settles into his shoulders stiffening his stance as though he's prepared for some sort of attack that never comes. After the third replay of her recorded message, he turns his head to the stand of pamphlets, finally something beyond grim dissatisfaction gracing his features: confused concern. He takes them easily enough, shoving them into the back pocket of his jeans rather than reading them, except the one referring to Genessia City. That one he opens fully, to the map, visually associating his location with the indicated one on the folded paper.

He reaches into the front pocket of his jeans, pulling out the key that had been in the box he'd been left and then looks up in the direction indicated on the map.

"Free room and board's never good." The statement is made to himself rather than anyone else who may be around, though the latent telepathy he's been graced with will alert him to anyone walking up (unless their minds can't be detected that way) and he'll turn to regard them. There's a pistol in a shoulder holder under his left arm, within ready reach if he needs it, and from the look of him, he knows how to use it.

Audio | Open

(A few hours after he arrives, Clay decides to go ahead and address this Network. Normally, he'd have taken the time to get the lay of the land himself, but Earth, his Earth, has a very set way of doing things, something to build on. This place? "Starting at Square One" didn't exactly capture it.)

I'll cut right to the chase. I get there's a bunch of us trapped here. I get there's no way back, at least apparently. I'll bite for now. So, show of hands: who's been here a while, or who's been here for a bit and got some info, they'd be willing to share with a newbie?

Also, the name's Young. Clayton Young. So, what are we dealing with here? Aliens? Covert government experiments? Give a guy a hand.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"That depends on the type of castle, I guess." He almost caught himself asking if she meant that literally, then decided at the moment, he didn't want to know and moved on. "No. I passed through a few times, but...you know...military stuff doesn't really let you sight see much."

And he left it at that. If she wanted to know more, he might be inclined to answer, he might not. "Clayton, and we'll see about that, Belle."

"You were a solider then." She stated curiously, giving him an opening to tell her more if he wanted too. She knew that most men didn't enjoy reiterating their time in service; it was always dark and unpleasant. It made her think instantly of Gaston though this man seemed far more intelligent than him.

Belle continued forward, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Yes. We'll wait and see Clayton."

She lead the way and pointed out the few locations that were useful, such as the employment office which had a listing of available jobs he could look at. Belle didn't mind being helpful if she could.

"Something like that." It was easier to explain than to say he was a personal hit squad for a psychopath. He was trained as a soldier. It was a good enough explanation as any. He wasn't about to elaborate, though.

His crystalline blue eyes sharply noted the locations as she pointed them out, nodding at each and calling to mind the map he'd seen briefly as he did so. It was a grid, easy to plot even mentally. This place, though one of five, wouldn't be hard to remember.

"So, how long have you been here, Belle?"

Something. The word made Belle curious though she allowed for the topic of conversation to slip away in favor of something else.

"A little over a month I believe." She didn't count the days but she knew that her time in the temporary housing was coming to it's end. Belle shifted the basket on her arm before continuing.

"There are those who've been here for years. I've been looking into the details as well." She trusted others but she wasn't foolish enough to take their word alone.

He nodded, glad for her to let the conversation move on, and raised an eyebrow at her answer.

"Just a month, huh?" And he nodded further at her commentary. "Mean's you've got a leg up on me. Found out anything interesting?"

"A bit. It might be too much to tell you all at once and given that our backgrounds and situations are different you might be looking for specific details that I've over looked. If you'd like, I can share my notes with you." She had a small collection of notes that she'd been gathering since her arrival.

Belle had hoped to find a connection between everything she'd heard. She didn't think that anything was a coincidence.

"I would like to keep them with me but you're welcome to stop by and read them. I can make tea if you'd like." She spent a great deal in her small lodging so she'll most likely be home when he wanted to look over her what she'd gather. "I add to my research daily."

You know, he wasn't surprised this young woman was offering tea. Sharing notes was a plus, but he had a better idea. The cars zooming around the streets as they walked to their destination proved one thing to him, at least.

"I could make photocopies of them if you want, get them back to you. There might be some stuff you overlooked. I don't know what your background is but 'intelligence gathering' doesn't sound right."

Belle felt her expression soften. "Well, no but I have gathered what intelligence I could." It was a playful joke, switching around his phrasing. She didn't know what a photocopy was but the context in the sentence gave her enough to guess.

"I'm not sure about photocopies but I'm not against it. Would it be alright if I came with you?"

He looked over and down to her as they walked, a slight smirk touching his lips. "Hey, don't...feel bad about it or whatever. I just...trained for it is all."

And his eyebrows rose at the next comment. "Yeah, I, uh...guess you wouldn't, huh? Uh, yeah. You can come."

Belle turned to look up at him, her expression and countenance shining with confidence. "I will not feel bad for who I am." She spoke in a patience voice though Clay, of all people, will be able to hear the stresses in her tone. He'd be able to pick up how often she's had to say phrases similar to her own acceptance.

"Have you been able to guess about where I'm from?" She asked easily, her clothing was simple and given the state of their situation its easy to guess that she's from a place with little technology. "You're very perceptive."

"Thank you."

"Somewhere in the country, I'd guess, even if I hadn't pegged you for French yet. Western Europe." He shrugged off her commentary. He'd always been observant. "Yeah, I guess. It comes with the job."

"It's a bit of a comfort." She looked up at him with an even gaze. "You're the first to notice." Her accent was notable though Belle realized that she might be the only one from her country here.

"Perhaps." Belle spoke as if she knew more than she was saying.

As they approached the cheap housing she pointed to a small room on the ground floor. "This is my room. I'll grab the notes quickly." Belle assumed that this was something he wanted to do with some urgency.

He nodded as they were nearly what must be the commons. "You ever heard of the United States of America?" That would tell him a lot about what time period she may be from.

He nodded again when they arrived. "Take your time. I think we're both stuck here."

Belle shook her head. "Not by that name I'm afraid. Sometimes I feared there was nothing outside my small town." Clay would be able to tell from her inflection alone that she didn't much care for how small her town was.

"At least for a bit." She agreed as she disappeared.

Belle wasn't gone long. She placed her basket down, where her books would be safe and then moved to grab her notes. Belle wasn't distrustful by nature but she kept her notes in the small kitchen, under her silverware. Once everything was in hand she met Clay out front.

"I'm ready."

Clay nodded when she returned, noting the amount of notes she and pulling out his map in an effort to find the place he'd mentioned to her in the first place. If all else failed, the Library should have a copier. "What about the British colonies? Ever heard of those?"

"Very little." Belle will admit that not very much reached her small town. There was talk of a war and while it was clear who the enemy was, it wasn't clear why they were fighting. At least, not to Belle. Then again, most in town wouldn't talk to a woman about war, and many in town didn't like hearing Belle's opinions on the matter.

"The British settled in many different places. I do not know them all."

He nodded. It gave him more context on things she may or may not know. He found the place he was looking for on the map and headed in that direction, confident she'd end up following.

"Well, I'm from the New World, I guess you'd call it. We got tired of Britain's taxes and decides to make our own country a couple hundred years ago. It's worked out pretty well."

Belle followed at his side, her strides confident and her head up. She found his statement curious and it prompted further questioning.

"Oh? And what is it like in this New World?" She knew that she was most likely overly romanticizing it, Belle couldn't help but day dream a little, but she wanted to hear more about it. What was this world like and who were the people who lived there? If they were like Clayton then they were certainly more impressive than her small town.

Jesus. Explaining America to someone who barely knew it was a colony...it'd be better to just get her a book on American history. "Well...we don't have a king. We elect a president every four years. We can talk about him, even if we don't like 'em. It's...democracy and freedom. That's, ideally, what the new world's like."

"I see." She tries to hide her smile. "Democracy has been around for awhile but I'll make a point to look up America history. You'll find that the library has books from every world and in many languages."

She looked over at him as they walked, wondering what sort of world he must be from.

"It's a boring read, but if you're interested, go for it." At least in comparison to other countries who have thousands of years of history to read through. "We've only been around a few hundred years. Pretty young on the world theater."

"I'm sure I can learn something from it and it'd be a break from what I'm currently reading." If it was such a short history then she didn't think she'd have much trouble catching up on it.

"It sounds young. I loved reading about Rome." What little she could read of it. "There are so many places out there. I'd love to see them." Paris was the place she wanted to see most of all.

"Everyone can, just stay away from text books." He rolled his shoulder in a shrug. "They like to leave things out."

He nodded at her comment. "It is young, in the big picture anyway. But we get by. Pretty damned well, actually. I don't know much about Rome." He paused for a moment, noting street names and taking a left. "When I was...serving, I spent a lot of time in China."

"Yes but with enough source materials you can sometimes weed out the truth." She comments with an easy smile. Through out history books have always been written by the winner of a war. "And I can always ask you." At least until he tires of her questions, Belle thought with some disappointment.

"Rome lasted for over 2000 years and fell very slowly from within. It is said that there is no empire that can stand the test of time." Her eyes brightened. "I don't think I know very much about China. I'd love to hear about it. If I were to travel the first place I'd go is Paris. Since that's where I was born."

Clay laughs at that. "I can't say I know the truth, either, kid. I went to school in America, after all." He shrugs. "You know, the winners."

"What, because Rome and Egypt didn't?" He shrugged. "I guess that makes sense." He nods. "I hear Paris is nice, but I've never actually been there. China...China's a whole different world, and little worlds inside it."