Late week 51: Open office hours

It has been a while since Ace had been in this building, and longer still since he had an office. It took a little time to clean the place up and make it presentable. Tidying the surfaces and making it more comfortable. The simple desk that came with the room was replaced with a more expensive one and nice and comfortable chairs were arranged facing the desk. As people entered the office they would be faced with Ace sitting behind his desk, which was festooned with various datapads displaying weapon blueprints, vehicle plans, stock tickers and various mission briefings and misc information. Three chares faced the desk, each ready to receive one of the new members.
The walls were bare, at the moment, apart from the large weapon cabin ate along the left hand wall, displaying a verity of well made weapons, some WF and some not. Most were light weapons, with well made Cougars and machine pistols on display, along side some laser weapons and a machine laser. A plasma carbine sat among rifles, assault and sniper, with the centre piece being a Heavy white and blue weapon with 'Eroz' branded on the side. The bottom of the case was lined with grenades, both heavy and micro, and ammo of all types. The overall effect was of an artistic arrangement that anyone who appreciated weapons or art could enjoy.
Standing in the back right corner of the room was the vaguely humanoid shape of a Y&S ME6 Centaur droid, painted in adaptive camo rather than the default silver and only slightly blending in with the walls.

Ace worked as he waited, typing away at several pads while his internal PC handled more complex calculations. He was dressed in ArmourCyne fatigues cut as a dress uniform, rather than his usual field pattern, his Artefact Black Cougar visible in its holster.

Hugo had spent his first week Seoul-searching. He had found a few good bars, an awesome hang out, even met a few people, but he felt a little.. strange. It was hard, not being able to speak the language, but also exciting, exhilarating, exhausting. But the idea of actually having some idea of what he was doing in his brand new high-paying job would be good.

The nuke had changed very little since Ace had last saw him. He had new clothes which actually seemed to fit well, and looked fairly good on him. His hair was a little longer, he looked a little thinner, but he was still massive, muscled, and laid back. He knocked on the door once and froze when he saw Ace. He blinked, and then gently smacked himself in the forehead. "Madre de Dios, I knew I knew his name! The fresa! You're the people I met at the convention!"

Ace heard Hugo coming down the corridor but continued to look busy as the larger man entered the office through the already open door. He did look up as Hugo spoke though and raised an eyebrow at his choice of language.

“I’m hardly young enough, Agent Zumisimo. I must admit I was surprised too when I saw your name on the roster. Come in, take a seat, make yourself comfortable.”
Ace’s tone was jovial, but sharp. It was clear from his body language, in a way more obvious to those who knew Sign, that he was talking as a CO to a lower ranked officer. He gestured to one of the chairs as he spoke.

Hugo, who already had good posture and a careful manner, straightened even more immediately, making eye contact with Ace. His hand immediately rose. <<Gunnery Sunnery Sergeant Hugo Zumisimo. Reporting for duty.>> Despite Ace's words to get comfortable, Hugo had a hard time on the plush chairs. He took a quiet look around the room, trying to suppress a smile. "My apologies, sir. I just knew I knew Agent Ji's name from somewhere, when I saw it on the email." <<Recall poor on intel.>> He gave in, grinning, and replaced his hands gingerly on his knees. "I had no idea you, I mean, we were the people I met. Is the lady with the mask and the little guy with the sharp face here too?"

Despite his Federation upbringing, Hugo spoke simply, with the sort of accents and looseness that were associated with the disputed territories. There was no way he had ever grown up in or even near a spire.

[[The following conversation takes place in a seamless combination of English, Spanish and Sign that I can’t be bothered to differentiate.]]

While Ace’s brief gesture Signed “At ease’ there was a brief darkening of Ace’s features at the passing mention of Xu, which passed. “Agent Tansai is accustomed to wearing a mask.” There was a brief pause and then he continued with a slightly glassy expression. “Agent Xu.. is no longer with us.” He focused once again on Hugo before a brief glance down let him identify a Datapad, which was promptly handed to Hugo. “Here is the current Agent list, along with rank, profession and specialism. For your information, of course, it doesn’t leave this room.”

Taking the list in his massive hand, Hugo began to look it over, large fingers sliding up and down the screen. He mumbled to himself in the Spanglish of their homeland, saying things like "A lawyer?" and "Really? I would have sworn the fresa used heavy weapons, he's a natural." and "Subspace??"

Despite his comments, he read everything thoroughly, engrossed for a few full minutes.

Silvia approached the office that seemed to be Ace's with some caution. Meeting the other new members of Oracle was one thing, but one of the veterans? Something different. She still wasn't even entirely sure how she had got this job. However, as she approached, she could hear the tell-tale tones of Hugo muttering something in a language that wasn't quite Spanish. At that point, she almost turned back, but instead took a deep breath and knocked on the door before opening it.

"H...hello?" she said, "I'm Silvia. New here. You're...Ace, right?" Her nerves were showing through in her voice. She looked over to Hugo. "Hey. You here to talk to the experienced guy too?"

Hugo turned his head as soon as Silvia spoke, face breaking into a grin. He was dressed in new clothes from the last time she saw him, and seemed more comfortable. "He's ex-Fed, like me, so he understands Spanish," offered the huge agent, waggling his eyebrows a little. "In fact, there are two. Someone else named Cobra, looks like she does vehicles." He gestured to the little pad in his hands. Ace noticed immediately Hugo seemed to relax a little more with Silvia around, obviously feeling more comfortable int he presence of someone who wasn't Fed, ex or otherwise.

Those who knew Ace well would expect a large smile to form on his face as the new person came to his office door. To those in the room his continued neutral expression meant nothing but the expression of an authoritative and slightly intimidating higher ranked officer, although it did soften slightly at the obvious nervousness of the new Agent.

He gestured towards the second of the chairs and was about to speak when Hugo pre-emptivly interrupted him. He shut his mouth again and waited for Hugo to finish. When he had he carried on with the statmenet he was about to give.

“Agent Tsukuda, come on in and take a seat.” He was a little confused as to why the fact that he spoke Spanish was so noteworthy, or why the two of them were speaking in it, but that wasn’t his concern at this time and they seemed to prefer it. “I was just talking with Agent Zumisimo, but it is not a private meeting. I’m glad you could make it.”

"Um...right, okay," Silvia said, speaking in Spanish with a smile of thanks directed at Hugo. She moved over to the chair next to the huge Agent and sat, slightly gingerly. "...Was there something in particular you wanted to say? Or was this just a general greeting thing?"

Ace nodded curtly. “Straight to the point, I see. Nothing wrong with that. I wanted to talk to all of the new starters for a few reasons. One is general greeting, yes. I think it’s important to get to know something about people you are working with, especially in our line of work. I also wanted to be available to answer any questions you might have, mainly about what we do and what you role is I expect. I remember what it was like to be new and it was confusing for a while before I worked everything out.”

Ace addressed his comments to the two of them, even with Hugo engrossed in his Datapad. He waited until he had his fellow ex-WF Agent’s attention before carrying on. “I also wanted to give you a few things that you. A Welcome Pack, if you will, of things that you might find useful on missions. There are one or two things that are really invaluable in what we do, and I wanted to make sure you had them.” As he was speaking Ace reached under the desk and pulled out, one at a time, a pair of moderately sized and identical Mule-Tech bags. Each personally labelled bag was placed on the desk in front of its respective Agent.

"I...thank you." Silvia seemed somewhat taken aback by Ace's generosity, but was nodding at what he was saying. "I...I will have a few questions, yes. I don't think they've told us much yet," she added, with a glance at Hugo to confirm. "I mean, I spoke to the CEO, but he was quite...tricky to talk to." With that, she opened the box to take a look at what useful items Ace was providing her with.

Hugo seemed must less interested in the data pad since Silvia entered, but that might have been because he carefully read it all. He nodded while Ace talked, brows raising at the mention of a starting pack. He took the bag only after Ace finished talking, and measured its weight carefully in his hands. "I didn't even get to speak to the CEO. I was just made an offer I couldn't refuse. The offer said my talents would be useful."

Hugo looked to Ace for answers... Before becoming curious and unzipping his bag, as well.

The Mule-Tech bags were a lot lighter than they appeared they should be, especially considering what was inside them.

The Mule-Tech bags are all Anti-Gravity enabled, Heavily armoured, Waterproof, X-Ray Proof, Fireproof, Acid resistant and contain both an ID chip lock and a standard lock. Inside they contain.

1 x tactical assault shield
1 x covert shield
3 x reflexive shields
10 vials of Devilfish
10 med-packs
5 nano-res packs
A bunch of AV bugs
10 Invisibility fields
Five cans of ITE paint
Two cans of scout powder
Armoured Balaclava
Several rolls of Tex Tape
Level 5 stealth Process chip
A slip 'TOTALLY REGISTERED' (tm) credit chip.
A datapad detailing the local area, including the exchange. In which is information on good places to live, eat and breathe. It has the details of a tailor in the exchange who will make armour and clothing with all the trimmings. It also contains contact details for the members of Oracle, with Ace’s fairly predominant.


Ace sat and watched as the Agents looked through their new belongings and waited for their responses. "Also feel free to take any weaponry you want from the racks. I'd recommend some of the knock out weapons and flashbangs. We try not to kill civilians where possible."

Silvia was silent for a few moments as she searched through the contents of the bag. Then she raised her head to look at Ace, a rather strange expression on her face that mixed awe, puzzlement and disbelief.

"Are you sure...?" she began, then shook her head as she looked over at Hugo, who appeared to have the same stuff. "I mean...how much money do you make here? I mean, I know it's a lot, but...this stuff is expensive. Really expensive."

Hugo methodically began examining the contents of the bag, taking out and holding each object in the light. While Silvia talked he nodded, holding up a tac assault shield. His eyes widened as he turned it on. When it appeared to be working, he flicked off the switch, mouth opening in disbelief. He dropped the shield back in his bag, and pulled out the slip chip. "I-is this slip? How much is on it?"

Ace looked to Silvia as she spoke. "Its yours. Trust me, it might seem expensive now but after a few missions you could afford these things yourself. I know what it's like being new on missions here and I would have appreciated something similar when I joined. You can keep the bags, too."

His reply to Hugo was spoken plainly without any hint of showing off or trying to impress. "One hundred thousand credits. To buy housing, cloathing, vehicles. Anything you think you need."

"Uh...right, okay," Silvia said, still seeming somewhat nonplussed by Ace's generosity. And then her brain caught up on the figure Ace had just stated. "I'm sorry, what? You're just giving us a hundred thousand?" The disbelief was clear in her voice. "I mean, that's...that's..." she paused and did a mental calculation, "three year's wages!" For some reason, there was undercurrent of anger in her voice, although it didn't seem to be directed at Ace. "And you can afford to just...hand it out? As well as the stuff?" she continued in accusing tone, and then paused as she realised just what she was saying and flushed with embarrassment.

Hugo looked from Silvia to Ace to the chip in his hand to Ace to Silvia's accusations to Ace to the chip to Ace to the chip to Silvia turning red with embarrassment to Ace to the chip to the chip to Ace. And then he began to laugh, a low nervous chuckle at first that quickly rose to a man uncontrollably hearing the funniest joke of his life. He leaned back in his chair and gulped down air, eyes closed and tears forming in the corners. "O-one hund-hundred thousand.. credits!" He wheezed, face lit up with delight. He gently bumped Silvia with the back of his hand, not quite able to control his strength and whacking her with a little bit more force than was needed. "H-he's joking, bella, he's joking!"

Behind the desk Ace reached into a drawer and pulled out a credit chip reader, sliding it along the desk towards Hugo. "I'm not joking, Hugo. Check for yourself." Sure enough when checked the chip contained exactly 100,000 in registered credit. "I expect you will make about that after your first real mission."

"I'm not sure why you are so angry, Silvia. I think this money will do better in your hands than mine. Do what you want with it. What do you want to do with this money?"

Scoffing, Hugo pulled out his phone and rejecting the chip reader. His large hands dwarfed the screen, but he worked it with some speed. He smirked at Ace as he ran the credit checking application. His eyes turned down. His face paled. Wordlessly, he turned the screen to Silvia where she could read it little numbers "100,000¢".

At this point came a knock on the door, followed by Shinobu opening it. She appeared much as she had earlier in the week, though she was wearing her suit properly this time. "Hello, mind if I come in?" She noticed Hugo and Silvia had beaten here there, and seemed very surprised by whatever was in those bags, but once again the conversation was in Spanish and Shinobu couldn't follow. "Hey, hi, have I missed anything important? Does the last person to arrive have to go poke the CEO's wolves or something?" Ace had a lot of guns around the place, which wasn't that much of a surprise given his past with the WF, but it seemed that there was more to him given the other newbies' reaction to whatever he'd said or done.

The fact that Shinobu was speaking in English was a little surprising, given her background corp. It was at this moment that Ace realised what Hugo's comments before about language had meant. None of them were speaking Mandarin, the language Ace was most used to speaking these days, and clearly these Agents had all interacted before. There were clearly a language problem here.
As Ace considered this inwardly his outward expression was welcoming, but still with an air of being in charge. Which he was.

"I'm glad that you could join us Agent Kisaragi. You haven’t missed anything important. I was waiting until all three of you were here for that part. Take a seat." He gestured curtly to the last remaining seat as he pulled a bag with Shinoobu's name on it from behind the large desk and put it in front of her. "This is for you. A few things I think you will find useful. A welcome gift from me."

Still silently, Hugo gestured to the TOTALLY REGISTERED chip in his hand, and then tilted his phone a little more so that Shinobu could read it, linking the two so she understood why he was utterly gobsmacked. Once he was sure Shinobu had seen, he turned back to Ace, mouth open.

"..." That was a lot of money. Seriously. Add on the value of all that equipment, and Ace had spent a crazy amount of money on them. The question, of course, was why? Wanting to equip new colleagues was one thing, but this was certainly above and beyond the call of duty. Just what was Ace Nizky's angle?
"Thank you very much, this... this is very generous of you," Shinobu said, playing up her surprise to net a moment more of thought. Wei Xu had given the impression of internal politics and connections being a big deal in Oracle and while the words of a dead man only went so far, he had been with Oracle for nearly a year. Perhaps Ace was trying to curry their favour, make sure they were in his corner if he needed them. Or perhaps he was just a talented idiot with too much money on his hands. "I don't have the licenses I'd need to have some of this, the nanotech and drugs. If you want me to have those, would you mind holding on to them a bit longer?"