THE KAMPFF - Week One

[al2955]

the pygmalion. . . ONLINE LOGGING YOU IN . . . KAMPFF week one Once you manage to get into your room, you'll notice that AL-2955 is waiting for you. She appears in the corner, 'poured' from a statue much like she was in the meeting room. After making sure you saw the additional page on your tablet, she implores you to head towards the chapel, where four others await you. It's time to get to know your fellow Kampff. kampff rulebook taken info cards

Comments

[refactor]

[ So far as Jack is concerned, this? This is perfect, so much as this weird situation could be perfect. Seeing that he has a title like Master Chief is obvious, because who else would get this kind of title? There's still a lot that he doesn't understand here, and even more that he doesn't trust in the slightest, but this is at least a step towards answers. Possibly. If nothing else, it sounds like a good time, but that part he'll actually (surprisingly) keep to himself. ]

Well, well, well. Looks like we won the friggin' lottery, huh?

[ aka, sup guys this is your master chief (unfortunately) ]

FINALLY I CAN TAG JACK

[erythristic]

If by "lottery", you mean "the chance to be the killers the others won't be."

[she says it dryly, pushing up her glasses to look at Jack. what a strange man already, but she can't be upset that he actually may be on board with this, without the moral quandary of should we or should we not.]

sparkles

[refactor]

That is ex-actly what I mean.

[ Jack definitely doesn't seem to be bothered by this prospect at all, but if you had overheard some of his conversations in the last few days, that might not be the biggest of surprises... He does give Grell a once over himself, but it's more to take in someone that he's going to— Well, working with, he guesses. ]

Whether it's a good or a bad thing, hell, it doesn't really matter, does it? It doesn't seem like our resident AI or whatever was inclined to ask. Or, well, I'm assuming.

[erythristic]

The same as she asked us to be in this project?

[chosen. that word had been used. it implied something careful about it.]

I'd say it does matter slightly. The rules mentioned "special privileges." If that ends up damning us all - then it's a very, very bad thing, sir, if you'll excuse the pessimism.

[it's not as though she hadn't paid attention to that voice, hadn't heard his words and was lining up information in her head - she just had a face to go with it now.]

On the other hand. You heard some of them. Refusing to understand reality.

[the ones who thought being indignant was enough to save them. who thought they could just refuse, and it would all pass them by. stay inside from the snow falling down to stay warm, and it's like it never happened at all.

people would freeze, ignorance or not.]

[refactor]

Excuse? Yeah, sure, I'll excuse it, but only because I'm going to say that's probably realism.

[ He smiles like he's joking, but it's hard to tell whether he's actually joking or not... ]

But think of it this way: would you rather be just one of any of those other morons? Since, yeah, like you said, they're real slow on the uptake. I mean, some of them don't even think they're on a freakin' space station, which, duh, of course we are. Or would you rather just have those special privileges and at least get a different view?

[ Jack shrugs, though he does look to wherever the nearest of those odd jars is. ]

Though I also figure there's more to it than "hey, if everyone else is really opposed to murder for some reason, you're up." Just a guess.

[erythristic]

[she's keeping to herself that she was one of those who didn't think they were on a spacecraft until the AI had explained it - it was just so unlike anything she'd encountered before.]

That, I don't doubt. But if she's up for speaking, I don't even know if she'll tell us what that is. If she can't tell us why we were brought into this, then why would she tell us more?

[she shrugs, and the seriousness changes into something lighter, a cloud blown away from the moon.]

Yet, reasoning or not, I'm not going to raise a fuss about being recognized special and elevated above the masses.

[if she'd been holding a book, this would have been where she closed it. as it is, she ends the program that had held open the texts she had been browsing on the stand.]

Jack, wasn't it?

[refactor]

Probably not. Gonna take a wild stab in the dark here and say that it probably can't, since AIs kind of suck like that. Those things are usually just an interface for some kind of database, so you don't have the read permissions, you're screwed.

[ He shrugs, but the technical side is a bit boring, so he puts more enthusiasm into the rest of what he says. ]

Buuut, yeah, see, that's the kind of attitude we need. You're on my team? That's what I'm looking for.

[ He nods, both to affirm what he says, and also to confirm her question. ]

But yeah, Jack. Handsome Jack, technically, but eh, who's keeping track? [ he is ] You're, uh... Grell. Right?

[nowyewseeme]

Pffft!

[calisto covers her mouth with her hand, trying to hold back her laughter. mostly out of habit, since they're all in the same boat here - what are they going to do if they judge her to be too callous, kill her?]

I'd rather have won money than murder, but it's not like I'm not used to either!

[in a way it's almost a relief, getting to if not let her mask down at least show a few cracks.]

[refactor]

[ Jack raises an eyebrow as Calisto tries to hide her laughter, but considering it comes with a twist of his lips into a smile, it's probably easy to guess that Jack approves. ]

You know? I can't even lie, that's pretty fair. Since I mean, as someone rolling in both, the first one at least comes with fewer dry cleaning bills. Like, man, I have a whole budget set-aside for getting blood out of my clothes? Like, damn.

[ jack fucking chill for like five minutes, jesus ]

Aaanyways, no need to hold back on the laughter here, sweetheart. Pretty sure it's safe to say we're all in the same boat here, so go ahead, let loose.

[nowyewseeme]

[well then. in that case, she doubles over, clutching her sides and whooping with laughter until tears come to her eyes.]

Ahaha! Ahahahahahaha! Thanks for the permission, master chief!

[the use of that hilarious title just gets her to laugh harder, but eventually she manages to calm herself back down to talk, wiping her eye with a finger.]

Bloodstains are annoying to deal with, aren't they? Whoever signed us up for this group should definitely be compensating us for our clothes and our time. I usually don't kill people for free, you know!

[refactor]

[ Now that's the kind of enthusiasm he likes to see! Jack laughs with her and beams, since this bodes well for their little project, doesn't it? It does in his head, at least. If you have people that aren't cool with Murder on Team Murder, then you're probably going to have to murder them. That would totally suck, since they've kind of got a limited supply here. ]

Therrrrre we go, way better.

[ Actually, if she were older, he'd probably hit on her, but, no, she's like half his age. Jack may be a genocidal maniac, but he's not gross. ]

But, hey, nice. Contract killer, or just in it for the love of the work? [ jack stop ]

1/2

[nowyewseeme]

[all traces of amusement suddenly drain completely from her face, the transition from laughter to seriousness almost eerie in how abrupt it is. she stares at him coldly, her chin tilted up and her lips curled in a disgusted sneer.]

Excuse you? I'm a defense attorney. My job is to protect the innocent. I simply can't stand the idea of murderers being allowed to get away with their crimes and pinning their acts on innocent people.

[then her lips twitch.]

2/2

[nowyewseeme]

[she grins and winks at him. jack might find the age gap creepy, but calisto once casually flirted with a thirteen year old girl, she's got zero problems with this.]

Little bit of column A, little bit of column B. Killing's not my main line of work, but I've got no problems with it when it crops up from time to time. And if you ever need advice on how to get rid of evidence, I've got plenty of experience there.

[refactor]

[ Did she just wink at him? She definitely just winked at him. Oh, god, the murder thing is really hot, but...??? No. No, he's not even going to think about this, so he just ignores the wink completely, since Jack is not actually as smooth as he likes to pretend he is. ]

Oh. Uh. Then this is slightly awkward, because I've heard about, like, "legitimate" justice systems, but. Yeah, we don't do that on Helios. So it definitely doesn't happen on Pandora.

[ He waves his hand as a sort of grateful gesture, but also one that's dismissive. ]

Sooo, offer's appreciated, but we don't really do evidence. Kinda just shoot someone in the face and hope they were the guy you wanted to kill.

[ borderlands is a simple like that ]

[tayu]

[FANCY SEEING YOU HERE okay no she's not in the least surprised that he got picked to murder people, like.

That just.

Duh.]

Well, it can't be that surprising with what they know about us.

[Like in those info cards................... not that Tsukuyo's too ruffled by people calling her out on being an assassin once upon a time because that's just kind of her thing.]

[refactor]

[ yeah if jack's presence is a surprise, clearly you haven't talked to him for more than five minutes, probably... ]

[ But surprisingly, that does get Jack's humor to lessen slightly, since that idea is something that Jack dislikes more than a little. It's not what she meant at all, but when she brings that up, Jack can't help but be much more aware of the mask on his face, much like being aware of your own breathing once someone has pointed it out. ]

Yeah, that— That part is kinda creepy. Fits with the theme we have going here, but.

[ He waves his hand vaguely ]

Now that you mention it, we do kinda have an assortment, don't we?

[tayu]

[Here, or in general... well, it's true either way.

There are a ton of different weirdos to choose from.]

The lawyer's the most obvious one.

[insert lawyer joke here.]

Otherwise... we probably won't stand out too much.

[A beat.]

Aside from you.

[refactor]

[ Jack takes that as a compliment, and it shows with his expression quite clearly. He looks distinctly proud of himself, in fact. ]

Yep, that's me, ol' Handy J, always standing out in a crowd.

[ Sometimes Jack just says things without fully thinking them through, and as such, he definitely didn't mean to just call himself something that sounds like a handjob. Good job, moron. ]

But seriously, I get what you mean. Gonna have to hope that it'll be the "so obvious that there's no way it's actually him" angle.

[tayu]

[Look..... she can't be a Gintama without making the requisite penis joke.]

Better than never standing at all, I suppose.

[lewd.]

Or you can just be the first of this group to die. [SORRY JACK NO HARD FEELINGS.] ...But try not to. [She guesses.]

[refactor]

[ Because the dick joke is unintentional on his part, he also misses the innuendo she makes, how sad... But it's fine, because her comments after just get him to smirk regardless. ]

That's a possibility too, sure. But that would suck for all of you. I mean, I die? You're all screwed.

[qundercover]

[Bull doesn't seem all that concerned - maybe not happy about the situation, but certainly not all that upset either. Rather relaxed, really. Murder, intrigue, weird companions? Part of the job.]

Lottery? Nah. Lottery is random, this group right here is skill set. And good looks.

[refactor]

[ The more he talks to the people in this little group of theirs, the more Jack is content with this situation. If he's going to be a leader, he sure as hell would rather be leading people with like minds on the situation, whether that's murder or, just, you know, the important things. Like good looks. ]

You know, I wasn't gonna say it [ yes he was ], but you definitely onto something there, cupcake.

[ Welcome to Handsome Jack. He's really fond of his nicknames, and especially if they're ill-fitting... ]

So, the second one is obvious, but how about the first one? How does this sound to you?

[qundercover]

Someone had to point it out, took on the burden. Let me know if you need me to lift anything else.

[Bull's got a buddy back home with a penchant for calling him "Tiny." He's used to the whole ill-fitting nickname situation. He even sort of likes Cupcake. It's cute. He's got nothing against cute.]

What, the murder? If the price is right, I got nothing against it. Been known to smash a few heads in my time.

[refactor]

[ Jack nods approvingly as Bull explains, since that's more or less what he had been hoping. He crosses his arms comfortably, and to himself, he's also glad that this guy didn't object to "cupcake." That's a good sign for him being a dude that he's less likely to kill. ]

Yeah, gotta admit? Did kinda get that impression. Because- Well, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say you get this a lot, but you do totally look like a guy that could smash in a few with your bare hands, pretty much.

[ He lifts a land lightly as if to calm any offense that might come up, but he doesn't think that it will. ]

Hope that's not rude. More a guns guy myself, but hey, I've got a lot of respect for the "smashing" variety, you know?

[qundercover]

[Bull just laughs - loudly, awful cheerful for a guy who just got told he's part of a murderin' committee for murder specialists. How could he possibly be offended by someone recognizing his obvious talents. He flexes his pecs once, just for fun.]

Yeah, you make a lot of money looking like the smashing guy in the mercenary scene. Bare hands is just showing off though. Got an axe for the the real business. Much faster, less wasting time trying to get through armor.

[(What the fuck is a gun???) He's fine if Jack just thinks of him as big guy who smashes, really. Good old Bull, dude who just smashes.]

So, Boss, you seem like a guy who gets shit done. You got any ideas already for this?