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Orta     If someone is going to join the League, it makes sense to make their way to where the heart of the League is supposedly based. One can hear about it, and watch it in action, but it isn't quite the same as seeing it with one's own eyes, not to mention meeting people outside of the context of a tense, high level diplomatic exchange. It's somewhere to start from, instead of being dropped in.

    A lighthouse is then a perfect place to start. Visible from miles and miles in the air, it doesn't take Orta long from out of the warp gate to locate it. Riding on dragonback, so high up as to be a black dot against the blue sky, she has plenty of time to acclimate to the rare chance to see the ocean, or at least /an/ ocean, up close, never mind in a calm and crystal clear state.

    Nearing the cliff the giant shark tooth tower is set on, the Dragon begins to circle down, dropping steeply and swiftly in a smooth spiral on the ideal thermals that rise from the water, until wingbeats are audible from the ground, and dust kicks up a somewhat excessive ways from the most obvious entrance.

    The Dragon itself looks around like a secret service agent, scanning the cliff edge, the sky, the water, with quick movements of its prehensile neck and amber eyes, as well as other means. Orta herself lingers on its shoulders, seemingly reluctant to get off, and only staring at the tower in front of her. "Do you think this is it?" she asks the beasts out loud; a reassuring formality. It responds with a hiss like crackling microphone static, and a look back over its shoulders towards her.
Corona Arclite Did someone mention security/welcome wagon? Okay maybe not in those specific terms, but the topic did sort of come up with someone coming to the Beacon and looking to land. So Corona ambled out to take a lookseedo for herself... but doesn't get farther than watching more what Orta rode in on than anything else, one hand on her hat to keep it from being blown off by the robotic beast's downdraft. "Who'd a thunk it'd be another large mechanical dragon." Clearly she's seen this sort of thing before.
Taro     Taro has been accused of not getting out much. A habit of his that shows all signs of continuing. Though arguably the past few weeks spent putting out fires (figurative and literal) at home have been ample reason to not be overly social. That said, it's been pointed out to him that he ought to at the very least put in an appearance here. And so between shuffling one crisis off and shuffling another onto someone else's desk, he freed up some time to make the journey here.
    Surely someone has created a map by now, preferably one in digital format, which he now uses as guide. Labs...labs....research library (a place to visit later)...conference rooms...landing docks...dragons...what? He turns in the direction of the conveniently placed window to better see what he glimped out of the corner of his eye, and his brow furrows. "Mm. Interesting." Idle curiosity bumps the thought of visiting the landing dock to a higher priority, and so he heads in that direction.
Staren     Staren was there, too! "Another?" he glances at Corona, his coat and bandana fluttering in the wind. "Do you see a lot of mechanical dragons? Ah, I guess we've seen one, huh, that lava one..." he mutters, as he looks back to Orta. "Welcome to the Beacon of Progress, miss."
Crys Gattz Crys didn't look too well she didn't look like she'd slept well recenly but shew was trying to put on a good face of it really as she would go to meet up with Orta and eveyrone else who were arriving.

"No honestlty I don't the only other I think off hand is Thainel?" She notes but she does look wary her ears droop slightly and she pulls something out of her photone trap it looks like a thermos which is likely full of coffee which she starts to drink for a moment.
Orta     Orta has the total opposite response as Corona; to Corna, even. Seeing the fox woman walk out onto the pad she had been instructed to take, Orta remains up on her mount, and stares like she'd just seen someone with a second head greet her. She stares for quite a while. Well past the threshold it starts to become rude. It's pretty clear where her eyes are going too.

    She talks to Staren instead. "He's not a machine." she very firmly insists, reaching into a makeshift saddle bag, drawing out a bundle of deli meats she had hoarded from the meeting at the Iskandrian senate, and tossing it into the air, where the Dragon immediately snaps on it like a shark. She follows suit by unwrapping a sandwhich that is probably stale by now, munching on it quietly. Outdoors. On the landing pad.

    "Can we go inside?" she finally asks, looking to the giant tooth-tower. "What kind of monster did you find this from? Are there any other bones? I want to see."
Corona Arclite Corona Arclite flicks an ear. "Huh. He sounded mechanical. Muh bad." She doesn't seem to take much offense at being corrected, or being stared at for that matter. Probably use to it by this point. Then nods to Crys. "That's who Ah was thinkin' of, yeah."
Staren     Staren's not exactly normal either -- the ears and tail are now clearly real and not just eccentric additions to his armor. He simply nods at Orta's assertion, and her question of whether she can go inside. When she asks about the monster, he stares at her blankly for a moment, and then says, completely flatly while holding his hands out at 180 degrees: "The fish was this big, you should've seen it. But it got away."

    After a moment, his affectation returns to normal and he adds, "We supersized a shark. When it lost this tooth we made it too big to live -- we managed to shrink it back again, slightly, but it swam away." After another moment, he adds, "Sharks don't have bones, they have cartilage, anyway." Her ecto gets a file transfer request as he offers video of the event.

    Staren gestures for her to follow as he heads for a roof access door.
Taro     Normal is extremely relative around here. Taro appears human at least, facial stripes aside. That would be him striding up the corridor toward wherever everyone else gathering once they've come inside from the landing pad. Quick assessing glances, sorting out those he has seen before from those who he has only heard before from those he knows not at all. His eyes narrow at Staren when he's noticed, but he keeps it only to that. "Good evening," he says politely, without a smile but with a deep nod of his head.
Crys Gattz Crys Gattz says "My mistake then look the only 'dragons' I have experiance with are few. Other than Rhapsody's family have tried to eat me or do insane things like become the god of all dragons by killing the current one." She looks sheepish as she sips at her coffee and seems to feel a bit better.

"I'm sorry for the mistake and I'm sorry about that." She also eyes the meat for a moment and looks liek she might want to get something to eat.

"A shark, and no I'm afraid it's off somewhere now...shrinking back down I think?"
Orta     The obvious question of what exactly a shark is, is preempted by Staren sending files to her brand new, completely free ecto. Orta looks to the device wrapped around her existing bracelet and tugs it open, figuring out the playback function quickly, and staring with fascination at a clip of the underwater animal. It's questionable she's ever been swimming. Questionable that sharks exist anywhere in her world, actually. She leans especially close to the display once the super !growth-ray science starts happening, seemingly in danger of falling off her ride, but finishes it without incident.

    "Is that the kind of thing you do here? With an animal that big, you could feed a thousand people. Why did you return it to normal?" Finally, she smoothly dismounts, tapping onto the landing pad on bare feet, and leaving her fingertips lingering in contact with the Dragon's weird, scaleless neck, where it makes a dull electronic warbling, and picks up on something unsaid, following after her on its alien-looking bone-spur/hoof things.

    Yes she is going to bring it inside, or maybe it wants to follow her inside. Unless the doorway is really small, it can manage it by ducking its head and folding its wings.

    The two of them quickly run into Taro. Face paint isn't all that unusual for a lot of tribes, and his clothes stick out less than hers even, so Orta doesn't seem to give him much of a second glance, only having to look up at him, being shorter than everyone here but Corona. "Good evening." she replies after a brief, analytical pause, sounding more like she's repeating it back than expressing the sentiment. "Everyone here is part of the League, right? Are you all from different countries? None of you share anything in common."

    Perhaps stating the obvious, but also perhaps taken for granted with people adjusted to the Multiverse. The Dragon snorts in his direction though, as if picking up something amiss. Orta's hand drifts back to its head, though there doesn't seem to be any need to pet or calm the thing. Instead, she very abruptly turns her attention to Crys. "There are other Dragons? Where are they? Why would they want to kill you? Did you make enemies of their riders?" Her line of questioning is suddenly much more intense in tone.
Corona Arclite "Dunno, Ah wasn't here fer that." Corona tucks her hands in her pockets as she follows, tail flicking back and forth behind her. She doesn't have much to say while others are explaining the giant shark thing thanks to Staren's video, but she does bark out a laugh at the query about countries of origins. "Diff'rent countries? Miss, we're from entirely diff'rent -worlds-, same as ya an' yer big friend there."

She doesn't really know Taro much yet, but gives him the same cowboy tip of the hat that is her standard greeting. "Evenin' to y'too."
Staren     "We considered using the shark for food, but... I don't know. Saving it just seemed like the thing to do. We can't study it as much if it's dead. But then it got away... We didn't return it to normal, we just made it slightly less big so its size would stop killing it."

    Staren gives the dragon a curious look as Orta brings it inside, but eh, why not? As Taro arrives, Staren just looks slightly awkward, still not having figured out how to interact with the android.

    Instead, Orta has questions to answer! "We are from many worlds. As for dragons, there are many /kinds/ of dragons. She was referring to machines in the /shape/ of dragons built as weapons, but... in the Multiverse, there are many kinds of dragons." The ecto is sent pictures, unlabeled: Plato, Spike, the dragon K'vaasa became when visiting Equestria, Niv-Mizzet, Rhapsody, Seith, Kalameet, Parthurnax.
Taro     "Different universes would be more accurate," Taro explains. His gaze tracks upward, eyebrow arching at the dragon following Orta like the loyal companion it no doubt is. He's not going to make any objections, though, so long as the creature can fit comfortably. "Some of them more unusual than others." Since Staren's already stepped in to answer the woman's rapid-fire questions, he'll let the man do just that without adding his own commentary.
Crys Gattz Crys Gattz looks to Orta for a moment.

"There are all sorts of dragons on various words. Some are people, some are just very dangerous animals it honestly depends and I'm afraid not all have riders." She does get Orta seems to be very intrested. "I can tell you there is a dragon who works with the league and she'll be easy enough to meet her when she's around she just busy tonight, I think. As for that? Yes it's a blender of thousands of world beyond anything you might expect."
Orta     Orta has an odd question for Corona. "Does it makes a difference? People all across the same continent can be completely different. They can look different, speak different languages, live in different places, use different tools and animals, eat different things, worship different gods, have different laws. Isn't it strange to decide you're from an entire world instead of your people's culture?"

    She leaves it be at the answer Staren has given, but her faintly troubled expression says that she still has reservations about leaving an animal that giant be. The barrage of different images has her attention again. She swipes through them, pausing only briefly for consideration for each. "Most of these don't look like Dragons at all. Why are they all called the same thing? I think they're supposed to be built. Maybe that's the difference." she /thinks/?

    Orta's particular Dragon leans in reeeeaaaal close to Taro, such that its horn is basically an inch from tapping him on the head, with its eyes flickering over his face. Orta taps it on the shoulder. "Stop it. He's not going to use them. He's on our side." It makes an unintelligible noise of what is probably assent. For looking like a living thing, it doesn't make many familiar sounds.

    "Dragons are supposed to be dangerous, and they're supposed to be smart." Orta affirms Crys, holding onto the implied capital D in the face of all these weird looking pictures she doesn't like. "They're supposed to have partners too, otherwise they can't fulfill their purpose." Get with the picture girl. "You said she works here? Do you all work here? Can I see?" Orta starts leaning around Taro, trying to get a look further inside.
Corona Arclite Corona Arclite blinks a few times at the questions about countries, and then about the different dragons. Then leans a bit closer to the others, holding one hand up alongside her muzzle as she murmurs, "Ah reckon this one ain't quite grasped the scope of the situation just yet." That's about all she can make of the way Orta is talking about things.

Lets see, how can she put this without coming off sounding rude and disrespectful to a newbie that's not up to speed yet. Which doesn't really get her anywhere, because she's terrible at this sort of thing. So in the end Corona just hffs softly in frustration as she folds her arms. "Tech'cally Ah'm lit'erally from an diff'rent -planet-, up thare." She uncrosses one arm far enough to point straight up at the sky. "So, no offense, but yer continent comparison is a bit on, how do ya say, the small side."

Other than that, she'll leave this to the people that are better at talking and explaining things.
Staren     "We are from what we are. Your world affects your culture, somewhat. But saying we're from different worlds wasn't a rejection of our home communities -- just an aknowledgement that there can be even greater differences than within some worlds. In the Multiverse you can encounter types of technology, magic, or forms of life that simply didn't exist /anywhere/ in your home universe."

    Staren shrugs. "A lot of words are used in different worlds to refer to similar but not entirely the same things. Like dragons. On your world it means one thing. On other worlds... other things. Whether a dragon breathes fire, or is intelligent, or can fly, or walks on two legs, or... well, it can all vary."

    Staren scratches his head. "I haven't had much to work on here yet, just some computer crystals, but... with the holidays and all, I haven't spent a lot of time analyzing them yet. I'm hoping to bring in a consultant who I have reason to believe can do it in a fraction of the time it would take me, anyway."
Taro     "Sometimes a planet or world, or even a universe, is enough to distinguish one's origins. It's choosing simplicity over accuracy." Taro pauses there, as he finds the dragon's face uncomfortably close to his own. His expression barely changes, just a faint downward tug of the lips and a certain coolness in his eyes. Not a staredown, not aggressive, but not submissive.
    If the dragon would notice, he doesn't smell human, or organic at all. Faintly mechanical-electronic.
    "It would be best to assume that what is true for your homeland is not necessarily true anywhere else," the android priest advises. He breaks his gaze away from the dragon, then takes a half-step to one side so that Orta can look past him. "Neo Arcadia has no dragons like yours. Or if we do, no one has enlightened me yet." Deadpan humor, or he might be serious. "There are some reploids that have taken on a dragon-inspired shell, but that is not the same thing."
Crys Gattz Crys Gattz says "I work here yes, I tend to be cleaning crew for things like those bugs. I'm quite adpet at fighting hostile xenoforms like that. I'm not really one of the brainy ones." A small strange thing hovers up to her shoulder and just hovers there almost seeming to look at the dragon and Orta as well.

"When Rhapsody has a moment, she's a guild master of a resarch and development guild called the Izzit."
Staren     "Wait, your world has reploids?" Staren asks, before he can think about whether it's a good idea or not.
Orta     Orta pretty much shrugs. Not literally, because she doesn't seem to have that gesture down, but it feels that way. "I don't know much about my own world. There are so many places I haven't been, and people I haven't seen, that I don't think I know if it should be strange if something exists or not. Maybe there are Dragons like this one across the sea, and I just don't know it." She jabs a finger at the weird, white, tentacled one with iridescent wings. Probably not like that, no.

    "I'd like to find out, some day. Everything is going to be new no matter what though. I know that." Naive, perhaps, but committed to not being overwhelmed. She's been soaking it up pretty well so far, if the past couple of days are any indication.

    If Taro has the facilities for detecting it, it definitely seems like the dragon isn't sniffing him at all. If anything, his body is being subject to hard radar and infrared identifications; sophisticated ones. Maybe ones that are being tagged. It starts following after Orta the moment he steps aside, wanting to see the interior of the Beacon more badly than she had let on with her reserved and wary tone.

    "So you're a Hunter." Orta says to Crys, for the second time in three days, completely correct by ironic accident. "It's an important job. Everyone appreciates Hunters, except the air fleet. Is that why you took the dead Naynd's back? Are they here?" Orta then pauses, glancing back at Staren, and squinting faintly. "Does a fire-breathing dragon drown if there's no fire around?" It looks like she's calling bullshit on some kind of fantastic fib, like he's trying to con her into looking like an idiot.
Corona Arclite Corona Arclite hffs softly again. "Ah reckon Ah'll leave the rest of this one to y'all. Ah gotta go check on thin's back home, make sure no one else's tried messin' with the clocktower." Again she briefly tips her hat, this time to Orta. "Nice meetin' ya." As confused as she is. But they were all at that point at some point. Straightening the stetson back out on her head, Corona turns and ambles off to get back to work.
Crys Gattz Crys Gattz Says "Yes, I am a Hunter that's entirely correct. I make enough to get by on off it. As for the dead ayand? I'd say to study it honest but I'm not a brainy sort really. You sounds like you have the right sort of mind to be a resarcher Orta." Crys grins seemingly honesly as she's asking questions right? That's what the league is about at it's core. Why does this happen?" She looks to COrona for a moment "Right you take care, don't let the damn molemen cause more trouble."
Taro     In which case, Taro's complete electromechanical nature is no doubt obvious after those sorts of scans. Most of the heat is concentrated in his chest and torso, incidentally.
    His gaze follows Orta and her large companion as they walk past him, and he moves another step to the side to let the latter pass. Along with anyone else in this impromptu gathering that follow the pair.
    Corona gets a polite nod as she breaks company. Staren's question goes unanswered.
Staren     "It's good to keep an open mind." Staren replies, as Orta wonders if her own world might have dragons like Seith. He just blinks at her for a few seconds when she asks about fire-breathing dragons, then he gets it. "I'm sorry. Some dragons have the ability to make fire inside them and exhale it as a weapon -- such dragons, or other creatures with that ability, are oft referred to as 'fire-breathing'. It generally doesn't mean they require a constant inhalation of fire to support their metabolic processes, but I wouldn't be surprised if /somewhere/ in the Multiverse there are indeed creatures that breathe fire in that sense."
Orta     Orta somehow seems mildly relieved as Corona leaves. Not out of anything specifically directed to her, mind, but of the general diminishing of the crowd of people around her. "Naynd." she firmly but politely insists to Crys, perhaps a little unfair considering how incredibly weird her accent is. "I don't know. Do you think so? I've never really tried research before. Not with books. Most of what I do is fight, and gather, and help people where I can, but it might be good to do something different."

    Staren stops getting the stink-eye when he pitches a less silly sounding explanation. "So they use fire as a weapon. Like acid or poison or bullets. That makes sense, if you can get close to your enemy." Orta pauses to consider. "Or prey, if they're animals. It might be nice to have the ability to start fire whenever you want, without any tools." She glances to the Dragon, almost expectantly. It huffs at her. "It was a thought." She checks with Taro. "Where does this go? What is inside?"
Taro     It's Taro's turn to load a file into Orta's device, in this case the same map he'd been using. "I arrived here only shortly before you, not long enough to have fully explored. I live and generally work elsewhere."
Staren     Staren nods. "I haven't spent much time here yet... as an organization, the League is just getting started... it hasn't even been around for a month yet. Parts of the Beacon are still under construction... I've looked around a bit, but like I said, I've had almost no occasion to spend time here yet. I have my own facilities at home and am quite comfortable there... I'm sure that as time goes on and the League picks up more projects, I will have more to do here but for now... well, I guess the main thing on my plate is analyzing those creatures that attacked when we visited your world."
Crys Gattz Crys Gattz says "It's new to be honest we'll need all sorts for various projects and people who can cler out things in combat are just as useful. After all someone has to do the heavy lifting and deal with when things go bad in the lab, right? That's what I'm here for at least." She also eyes Taro for a moment as she looks at him. "I'm an inch away from being a hobo with a chainblade honestly."
Orta     A map. That's extremely useful. Orta had considered the ecto would be capable of positional tracking, but just outright seeing a map in her hands is an experience in of itself. Maps, especially good maps, are something she is used to being extremely rare. Even those used by Imperial navigators aren't often all that good much outside of their usual territory.

    "I see." says Orta, considering for just a moment. "Then that's perfect." she concludes rather brightly. "If the League is new, and this place is new, then my being new isn't as much of an impediment. We can all be new together." For once, she actually smiles. It isn't as frosty or strained as one would expect for her demeanor. It seems . . . surprisingly natural.

    "If you need to know anything about the Naynds, I can tell you some things. One of the things I know a lot about are the things that live out on the frontier, and deeper into the Continent. I see creatures more often than people. Some of them we have to stay away from until we can find the right gene base, but the habits and abilities of species are important for any kind of traveller."
Staren     Staren smiles and nods at Orta's comment about mutual newness. "Here. This may help, too." He pulls a pair of glasses from his bag. "It's an extra display for the computer. This way, when you're trying to find your way around, for instance, it can just... draw an arrow on the floor, sort of. That kind of thing. What's a Nyand? Oh, is that the bug monster things? You mentioned they're descended from ancient weapons... I'm hoping that by studying them, we can learn more about ancient technology... as well as manipulate the system the beacon called them by, to develop devices that repel them... or even control them to help your people."
Orta     Glasses are weird. Orta puts them on anyways. No doubt she has perfect vision, but it dosn't take a genius to figure out where they go. She looks through the lenses for a second, tests the AR function, and then lets out a quiet "oh".

    "I see. It's like when I ride the Dragon, or use my gun. You have these things too?" She absently rests her hand on the weird, circular, triggerless handle of the shelled weapon at her side. "I don't think they interfere. They feel strange to wear, though." She takes the glasses off then, folding then and hooking them just into the space of external sash cinching her top around her waist. "If you don't mind me staying, I can tell you all about it."
Staren     Staren nods. "I have an implant in my brain that has the same effect, yes." He taps the side of his head. "Sure. Let's look for a comfortable spot to sit and talk... do you want any food?" he starts to head further into the Beacon.