Post by Warrior on May 17, 2022 13:09:48 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/d3oYlzz~png
~ Gigamerican Consulate (Electopia) ~
Just like its Netopian counterpart, this facility provides many different legal services for visiting or resident Gigamerican citizens in a foreign country. As with its other locations, individuals of a certain clearance may utilize an issued space within the building to safely Pulse In to the Cyber World so that their unconscious body is not susceptible to physical attacks. All consulates aren't identically the same, but they all provide the same basic features so that they can universally support their clients.
Higher-grade Pulse Transmission ensembles exist here than the portable versions that its current occupants would normally carry around, providing additional protection for them in the event of deletion or sudden power outage while Pulsed In.
-
Just like its Netopian counterpart, this facility provides many different legal services for visiting or resident Gigamerican citizens in a foreign country. As with its other locations, individuals of a certain clearance may utilize an issued space within the building to safely Pulse In to the Cyber World so that their unconscious body is not susceptible to physical attacks. All consulates aren't identically the same, but they all provide the same basic features so that they can universally support their clients.
Higher-grade Pulse Transmission ensembles exist here than the portable versions that its current occupants would normally carry around, providing additional protection for them in the event of deletion or sudden power outage while Pulsed In.
-
Faith Nymphra took to this space alone, having originally planned to regroup with Jacob Rayner and Cherish Pele at the consulate in Netopia but recently deciding that it was better if she returned to the action sooner rather than later. Still, she felt it was best that she check up on them since they hadn't spoken in quite some time.
" ... "
The PET's ringing tone repeated for a short time as she initiated a video call, until at last Jake's face appeared on the monitor once he had finally picked up.
" Well well, haven't you been hard to reach lately! I was beginning to think you were avoiding me. "
Jake smirked on the other line; having not heard any of her corny quips for a while, perhaps he had found himself starting to miss those.
" I could say the same. You've missed quite a lot while you were away. "
" Well I could say the same, too! I'm just glad you and Cherish are both alright. "
She didn't see or hear of Cherish yet, so Jake knew that was his cue to verify that concern before continuing.
" She's been in a good mood lately, to say the least. "
" Mmm? "
Her suggestive expression made him immediately reconsider those words, lest he entertain Faith's ambitions for the two of them.
" Not like that. It seems NIA finally softened their judgement and let her back onboard. "
" Wait... what? "
Her playful expression looked shocked suddenly, and Jake's own was confused now in response to that.
" I earned my position back onboard, you mean. Don't look so surprised, Faith. "
The monitor automatically adjusted its zoom until it was able to capture Cherish Pele in the background as well -- looking like she had just gotten out of bed because, well, she had.
Faith gave another suspicious glance at the sight of that, harkening back to her jocular innuendo from just a second ago, but the simultaneously rolling of both Cherish's and Jake's eyes at the unspoken question dispelled all uncertainty of what the scene looked like and what it actually was.
" Grow up, Faith. "
" Grow up yourself, young lady. "
Her stern attitude came to the front now, picking up from where they had left off just before that brief segue.
" NIA's spent years blacklisting you. As far as they're concerned, you're a terrorist and an insider threat -- and now they're suddenly just completely fine with letting you back in their ranks? You don't see any red flags in all of that? "
" I. Earned. Their. Trust. "
Cherish was approaching now, coming closer to the PET they were talking through now that Faith had pressed her buttons.
" I was their prime candidate for preventing an invasion on the digital, physical, and electromagnetic fronts. And I performed quite admirably at my assigned tasks, if I do say so myself. "
" Cherish! No red flags?! "
Cherish looked offended now. Perhaps she'd expected Faith to be proud of her accolades and perseverance given the circumstances that were stacked against her -- the way she'd overcame her seemingly impossible obstacles to still grab hold of her dreams -- but clearly Faith was just tunnel-visioned on the politics of the situation.
" Netopian pride, Faith. Of course you wouldn't understand. "
And with that final quip, Cherish aggressively marched away from the display to go about her own business. Faith just remained in thought for a second before Jake re-positioned the screen back onto himself to continue their own dialogue.
" Childish. "
" Cut her some slack. She's lived on her own since before she was finished maturing. "
" A decade ago. Who's side are you on? "
" Jacob. I'm a tad on edge. Let's just get back on track. "
" No need. I've come across Centurion and Armiger; they've filled me in on everything in Sharo. "
" Good, then I'll straight to point: these New Forces are very, very dangerous. I don't want you or Cherish getting involved with all of this any more. "
" ... Come again? "
" I'm sorry, Jake. It's not that you did anything wrong, I just don't want you two getting hurt. "
Now even Jake looked offended as he paused for a moment to process that. Did he show that much incompetence?
" I think you don't want you getting hurt. We've been handling ourselves just fine, Faith. "
She looked upset for a moment; she expected insubordination from Cherish, but not from the always-obedient Jake. She lightened up quickly though, moving on to the "gently pleading" tactic that'd usually work when she needed something of him.
" Please, Jake. "
" I'm on military assignment. I couldn't abandon that if I wanted to. "
" Assignment to investigate. Which you've been doing and can continue to do. I'm just saying to avoid any conflict and let me handle this. "
There was more silence for a moment, but begrudgingly, he finally replied.
" ... Okay. Don't you need to hear my findings, still? "
Faith looked relieved, showing gratitude of his compliance in her expression while replying.
" I'd love to, but I need to go ask a secretary if she knows anything more about NIA's sudden acquisition of Cherish before I lose track of where I last saw her. Just email that to me, and see if you can't rein that naive girl back in before she gets herself into more trouble, would you? "
" I doubt she would listen to me. "
" Just try. I'll have this all sorted out in no time -- keep each other out of trouble, you hear me? "
" ... "
Jake nodded and hung up the call, leaving Faith staring back at her own reflection in the now blank PET screen.
" ... "
"This is for the better", she'd tell herself. While those two would certainly be helpful assets in the fights to come, risking their well-being wasn't something she could bring herself to do, knowing everything that she did now.
She only feigned unconsciousness while she was in Psyche's Lab -- or more specifically, she woke up much sooner than she indicated to him and Genesis -- seeing the full presentation of the encrypted disks rather than only part of it. That wasn't a fate she would ever put them in the crosshair of, and keeping them out of the situation prevented them from being used as leverage against her, should they get captured or attacked.
One final tasking was left before she went on her way: uploading the chip that Everett had given her to restore her primary PET's data. While this meant that The Colossus' Core would be restored in its digital form as well, she knew she'd still need those fragments from Rosso, Nero, and Blu to make further progress on their situation. The Colossus was a much lesser threat than crossing the paths of any of those members without the knowledge of how to combat them -- another necessary sacrifice for a greater cause.
With everything in order, then, she'd need to regroup with the others before she'd fallen too far behind to track them anymore.
(( Cherish -> NIA HQ Ruins ))
(( Warrior -> NIA HQ Ruins ))
(( Faith -> Element City ))