Scene #9236: Elsewhere, At The Apex...

Owner	Pose
Yuuki Kuran	There are many processes for entering the Concord. The most common is the open application, featuring the storied 50% incineration rate. Most Partners followed the path of lateral open application, Partnership, and then debut in 'society' with a first showing setting their place in the multiverse backed in marble and gold. The Concord, just this week, had begun its latest flight of fresh Partners and with a desire to show face and meet the latest hopefuls from interested parts of the Multiverse Yuuki took part. Others would learn that only the very select few, for better or worse, were plucked to the Director's office and given a drink from her own glassware when they reached their orientation. Some hopefuls for the Partner program would get their applications in late, and have already debuted. Some hopefuls had their applications pre-flagged for personal review. On the first floor of the Elysium Apex, Petra Soroka - Partner Candidate, was brought to one of the deluxe conference rooms for Partners and outside guests. She might remember the way, having been there before (as just-Petra, a million years ago), or it may all be a confusing bustle she needs direction and assistance through. In any case, she has every resource to reach. . . EARLIER, Yuuki Kuran sits at the head of a small conference room table. On the credenza besides is a fresh pot of coffee, an iced bottle of white wine, a cork-opened bottle of red, twice as many glasses as there are guests, and a bagel bar with the most perfectly rich lox platter and artful piles of seasoned schmears. Besides the Director, at her place, is a tall glass of side-clingingly red wine. At the floor next to her chair is a wastebin. On the desk is a paper application's top page, and a brass flip pocket lighter. Yuuki, in a cream-tan sweater with snowflake white patterning, a black turtleneck top, and a pair of bat earrings. Around one ear is a curl of a metal rose that accents the side of her head with a live-seeming flower. Her hair (here) is shorter, trimmed down to a just-past shoulder length with a frill hairband overtop. Drawing out a coin, she looks at the application. "Let's see -- heads, you win. Tails, you shred." '-=<FLIP>=- Yuuki Kuran flipped a coin: Heads!' Flipping the coin with her eyes closed, Yuuki aims to catch it, realizes she's about to catch it tails-side down after a few rotations, and lets it clatter to the table instead. Where it lands on its edge and starts rolling across the conference table. Getting up and grumbling, but not wanting to spoil the flip, Yuuki hops up out of her seat and walks around towards the other end of the table where the coin rests, as annoyingly flipped back among office chairs... Heads up. Yuuki rises, coin in hand, and presses the door-mounted intercom. "Reception, please send Petra to me downstairs. Thanks!" When Petra eventually arrives, she finds Yuuki back at the head of the table, spinning a coin on the dark table-top. "Priscilla likes the lucky ones. Do you think you're lucky, Petra?" is the first question, even before Petra sits down - right on entry.
Petra Soroka	A week ago, in one singular act, Petra managed to lose all four places that she could call home simultaneously. Lobotomy Corporation wiped away and remade, and Cinder's room inhospitable even if it hadn't been; the one warpgate that connected to Hydrochoeria destroyed; finding her apartment in ruins while walking through District 12; and the teleport circle inside it that would lead to Lilian's manor broken even if she was welcome there right now. Every place where there could be a bed for her and some collection of comfort objects, gone, leaving Petra with just herself and her mech in the wide, wide multiverse, just like she was two years ago. The Beauty of Ash isn't the Ekanamsha. It might be large and safe to contain herself in wherever she is, but it's not the perfectly sealed and self-sufficient brick of apathetic civilization that Petra could use to wall herself off from the world before. Instead, settling down in the woods to rest in it after leaving the Library is more like a deer curling up to sleep, exposed yet secure, with starshine captured in its million hardlight facets. It's different, and besides the literal, superficial connections that Petra has more than enough time to make in her mind, it doesn't feel like a reversion back to that time at all; she's just too fundamentally different from back then. PHONE: Lilian Rook says, "But I mean it's obvious you're never going to be as strong as I am individually. That's fine. But with all those people there, all those answers, everyting I didn't have, the only thing you could think about was 'I can bear worse', and you shut down and dragged everyone into your vortex of putrid misery until they wore down before you." PHONE: Lilian Rook says, "It can't stay that way. If that's what you have to offer then I don't want it." PHONE: Lilian Rook says, "You didn't make a mistake while trying to use strength; you didn't try to use it at all. You leveraged the one thing you were used to having always had." Or so she'd hope. Whatever Petra might wish for herself or poetically relate in her narrative, personal development isn't a one and done deal of self-annihilation and reconstruction, cleansed with fire and purified by violence to attain enlightenment. She's inarguably a better person than she was before. Fighting a war on behalf of someone she loves is a noble act in her perception, whatever Rita might think, and both from her basic principles up to her relationships, the battle within Lobotomy Corporation's final days was a kind of ideological medal to be proud of. But her methods.... PHONE: Xion says, "And it hasn't been made easier by the way you fight. The part of you that might have to die here is this way of fighting - this dirty-bomb style of yours. Being 'better'... Maybe you and Sougo should hang out more. Kamen Rider might help you with your applications of force. I... can't take that sorry, because I know you'll do more before you do less. I'm already putting off dealing with the damage until after this war is over. But you'll..." Ache-pain. "Have to be better than this." PHONE: Xion says, "You might lose for a bit, but you're not weak any more Petra. And your heart has always been painfully strong." So then, it can't be a relapse, because it's too close to being one already. Letting herself drift off from the wreckages of 'home' like so much carbon ash, loitering in the margins of oblivion until the hound is whistled for again, isn't acceptable, precisely because it's her instinct. For all the work she's done, there's inertia Petra has never resisted, parts of herself left unexamined, and questions she's long put off.
Petra Soroka	And so.... Petra is here in the Elysium Apex, dressed in a knit sweater vest over a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbow, with jeans. She's never been one to dress particularly professionally, but if she'd been inclined to make the choice to do so anyways, it was taken from her by recent events along with her wardrobe and jewelry; and though she could've worn her Lobotomy Corporation corporate suit, that isn't how she intends to present herself today. Still, though, the mental map that she uses to navigate the Dorado is Angela's, not her own, despite her previous visits-- since even those are better remembered through Angela's eyes, anyways. The fact that her own formative memories with the Concord revolve around Yuuki Kuran from years before becoming an Elite would be enough to make her nervous about the upcoming interview, and the step that it represents, but she also has the shared lived experience of a Concord Partner for years already. From an unremarkable child in an auditorium crowd on Io, to a retroactive memory parasite invading individually and factionally private circumstances, Petra is acutely aware of the parasociality in how she views Yuuki and the Concord as a whole, but has no way to sublimate those feelings into anything useful while waiting. She fidgets with a lollipop stick in her mouth rather than a cigarette, because while Lilian is smoking her way through the cartons that she took off of Petra, Petra is trying to ease off her habit. When she's called down, Petra wracks her brain for the best way to present herself in the interview, but all the time in the world couldn't get her to a satisfying answer before she has her hand on the doorknob. At the very least, secondhand locational and personal familiarity keeps her from being intimidated or noncommitted while opening the door into the conference room. "Do you think you're lucky, Petra?" "I don't think I'd be here if I wasn't." Petra blinks in mild surprise at the unexpected question rather than a polite greeting, but the answer rolls off her tongue comfortably. Partial response given, Petra finishes closing the door behind her and sitting down in the chair allotted to herself at the table, hands folded in her lap. "Looking back on what had to happen for me to get here, I can think of a thousand ways that an unluckier me wouldn't have gotten this far. So, I guess, I either have to believe I was lucky, or I deserved it, and I kind of disagree with that second one on principle." Petra, who has been murdered nearly triple-digit times, who just experienced a million subjective years of the same torment that drove her best friend insane, at the end of a brutal war she waged against the person she loves, during which her girlfriend died, as the latest punctuation point on a life primarily defined by an overshadowing doom that litters her past with misery and broken hearts, must be lucky. After all, she is here. "Hi, Director Kuran. It's good to see you again."
Yuuki Kuran	Yuuki had, truth be told, been in interviews for most of the day as two whole selves, taking meetings all over the Apex. Some people merited the awe of the true 'apex' of the Apex; other people merited looming meetings with a dark queen and a question of initiation. Busy as a minder of people and the great home she built, Yuuki took a personal interest in all the Partners of the Concord. She had an Interview style. Sometimes, with the last minute applications, she flipped the coin herself. Other times. . . she was allowed to use her discretion. "No." The short-haired Yuuki agrees, standing to step around the table with a flip of the coin to catch it. "You wouldn't be, without luck. But 'lucky' can mean many things. And you..." Yuuki, shorter than Petra, looks up slightly with her faintly-lit red-brown eyes and offers her open hand, framed by ruffle of wrist. In it, heads up, is the golden coin she flipped - a butterfly on one side, and a scythe on the other. It seems custom - and is, but the Dorado is always striking new commemorative coins and Yuuki can have any kind she likes. "Look like you need a break, Petra." Yuuki had seen the Supervillain Simulation, and cheered for the full ending through Exigent Serenity nearly killing several members of the testing team. There, she had seen Petra. Yuuki had now read the reports produced by Angela regarding the Lobotomy Corporation incident, seen some of the logs, and had Aido help her review others. She had to ask Aido about some of the medical concerns brought up by Flamel Parsons. The discussion ran through the morning. There, she had seen Petra. Parasocial relationships were part of knowing people. Yuuki's with Petra left the vampire queen with questions. However, 'Hi, Director Kuran. It's good to see you again.' Smiling up as she offers the 'lucky break' of the gold coin rather than handshake, Yuuki adds a slight nod. "Hi, Petra. It's good to see you again too." She replies, even-toned and softly appreciating the gold of Petra's eyes with her own gazing-reds. Coin taken or refused, she carries on, gesturing to the food. "I appreciate you trying your best to be here. Refreshments? We don't have any paperwork to go over - If I accept you it's on a body of work that speaks for itself and pleases several of my Partners. If I reject you, it's on a body of actions taken that also speaks for itself, and my Partners will understand. Really," Her serene step about chairs brings a hand to ride the tops of the plush leather backs and drift a touch along them as she returns to her seat -- and the different glass of red on the table for her. A little pick-her-up, after a long day. "You could say your fate rests on this conversation -- no pressure, of course, I'm sure you're ready!" The laugh is genuine, but, she knows that Petra doesn't process fear or pressure the same way, and so, legs folded and glass held and enthroned in her executive chair at the end of the table, Yuuki favors Petra once she sits down with a businesslike neutral. Her diction around long fangs is practiced-perfect. "Lilian Rook isn't my Partner, yet. Why do I want you?"
Petra Soroka	Petra laughs dryly, and a little embarrassed. It takes her thirty seconds to discern whether the coin is being offered or merely presented, which seems almost hesitation-free when she ends up accepting it (pinched, around the edges, to delicately avoid overly familiar hand contact). "Eheh... I guess it's obvious, huh." Petra always had very particular feelings about family, and for the most part, they were so pathetically needy that even she couldn't help but recognize their leakiness. To be a 'ghost' taking advantage of a successful and happy Family is a known position even before she experienced dozens of memories of Yuuki's affection towards her Partners, and so she's highly primed to expect a much colder introduction than she receives, specifically because she's hoping for the opposite. One of the worst things Petra can be is 'forwards', when it comes to family, so even something as simple as matching her energy with a 'good to see you' is a weight off her shoulders. It being the Concord is intimidating as a known factor. It being her 'sister's' 'family', as well as the paternalistic caretaker of Petra's own, other, ex-family, is intimidating on top of that. Being aware of the newfound 'family resemblance' in her eyes is another thing to be slightly anxious about, but it's more of a positive than a negative. She has to assume that Yuuki knows at least the majority of the details of Lobotomy Corporation's war, not only because nearly everyone involved was Concord, but because the Second of the Concord definitely wouldn't allow that kind of blank space in her own knowledge when interviewing such a... multiversally infamous candidate. So, it's like a little pre-adorned proof of her worth and ideals, branded on her face as sororal scars. "Um, I'll have some coffee, at least. Thanks." Eating in an interview is a terrifying prospect-- what if she gets crumbs on the table!!-- but with a current lack of nicotine, both the chemicals and the emotive gesturing opportunities are needed. "You could say your fate rests on this conversation -- no pressure, of course, I'm sure you're ready!" "Yeah." Non-stammeringly, both in terms of the complicated past dichotomy of Petra Soroka, and her readiness to discuss it. Once she has her coffee, Petra wraps her hands around it, gradually easing in to sit against the back of the chair rather than stiffly sitting away from it. She could, really, use a break. "... I think most Partners you'd ask about me would have plenty to say in both directions. Maybe besides Angela and Doctor Eggman, at least; but besides them, even the ones I get along with pretty well, like Sougo, Woz, and Kukuru, would find it pretty easy to fill up a 'cons' column. I know I'm not really a-- I'm a bit of a 'cursed weapon'." "I'm not... here for Lilian. If you mean 'where my loyalties would lie', then I think you know that Lilian has mine, but from what I've heard," In memories, and from Zero himself, "Not hating her is kind of a prized trait in new applicants. Haha." "So, yeah, if it's not for her, then why me?" Petra takes a sip from her coffee to collect her next sentence. It's kind of pleasantly rigid, all things considered, to be interviewed, like she's being scrutinized under a microscope while carefully modulating how much 'Petraness' she's expressing. "I've been basically an external contact of a bunch of Partners for years now, between studying under Doctor Eggman and being Angela's Captain at the facility, and then you probably know my mech is from Applied Ontology too. I'm not applying through any of them, but... it still matters, a little bit, because I've been on the periphery of it all for a while, so I've seen the way stuff works, here. And that all means that you could pretty much count on me supporting your Partners without needing to do any work supporting me, ahaha, but...."
Petra Soroka	"I recently had to come to terms with the fact that I'm kind of strong. When I first, uh, showed up in the Sector in the Watch, I was pretty pathetically weak even though I might have been better at killing people back then, but a lot's happened ever since getting dropped by them. There's a lot of Elites active that listen to me, and a lot more that would if I needed them to. There's been plenty of lives, and multiple worlds, that were changed by things I did, and when pressed, I'm totally capable of standing my ground and defending those choices." "And I'm, um... not really used to that, yet. I don't think I've been acting like I'm strong, and that makes me kind of-- clumsy and less effective than I should be. And there's plenty of ways I want to see the world be different, so I want to change that." Angela's curse might be unbearably boring for her, and debilitating to Petra alongside her for those million years together, but with the frantic and disorganized way Petra's mind works conversationally, it's incredibly helpful for putting her words together. Being able to get all that rationale out is a huge boost to her confidence, enough to get her wondering if some sort of voluntary time curse toggling should be an option she should look into, and she manages to smile at Yuuki even though she's plainly exhausted and haggard. "So you want me because I'm powerful, resourceful, and even when it comes to other Partners' projects, I'm dedicated enough that practically no one's managed to stop me. And I want you because I know enough about your community to know that you're the ones I need to do all that better."
Yuuki Kuran	A large portion of all the interviews was intended to make the prospective members step outside of their comfort and their baked in answers to be hit head on by a real question they can't deflect. Why them? What do they want? What are they offering? From what speaks within you, what's important? Why's that here? Sell me. Make me believe. Give me something to believe in. Yuuki waits for her answers while Petra gets coffee, leaning on one arm of her chair and taking a slow sip of wine. The last interview for the day, with all the others concluded, and this one was extra special. "I don't know any more what's obvious or not, really - but I've done this for a while, and I have a bunch of people help read reports and stay on top of things with me. And that coin? I'd like it to be that lucky break for you," But Petra already knows exactly what sorts of Partners would speak up for her, and against her. Yuuki led with the idea simply because she wasn't interested in the support of a whole society of Elites when it came to Petra: she was interested in Petra, who while being 100% Petra was 99% Angela, and Angela was known and Partnered already. Elsewhere, an interview finishes, and there's a shift in animation as Yuuki can pay more attention solely and specifically on the sole woman before her. 'Not hating her is kind of a prized trait in new applicants.' Yuuki leads with a smile, in time with the joke, and toasts the sentiment with a little sip. "Yes," She agrees, exhaling amusement into glassware. "Zero's had to make something of a rule of it. Support of her agitates some of our members. Ones who are also in need of self-betterment, but, one flaw or another isn't a dealbreaker. Sometimes we invest - sometimes we take risks. We play all the angles, so, we always win. Which is why we're here, Petra. Because you don't just want to win - you have to win. This isn't comfortable for you, is it?" Yuuki puts her wineglass down, and spreads out the single sheet of paper that Petra might notice is the same she submitted, with any of the same mistakes and minor corrections she had made. Tapping it, Yuuki pushes it an inch forward on the table, towards Petra. "This is a contract. It's not one way. You want to become better, and you know through us you'll have the support you need and the absolute authority over your own projects to get it. But in return - you'll not be simply yourself any more. You'll be our Partner. And you'll have wanted it. And you'll have asked me for it." And many more things, along the way. 'You'll be our Partner' circles an immensity of meaning. Yuuki watches Petra drink coffee. Concern, for a moment, and interest, moreover. "I have an Ivo Robotnik, and he has whole fleets of people who'd be an elite in his name. So..."' 'If not for her, why me?' indeed. 'I recently had to come to terms with the fact that I'm kind of strong.' Red meat of a topic has Yuuki leaned forward. 'I don't think I've been acting like I'm strong,' "Ahh." Yuuki agrees, sitting back. "You understand strength, now." Pleased, for the implicit praise. "So, then, tell me. Name three ways you'll make 'the world' different. If I like at least two, you're hired."
Petra Soroka	"We play all the angles, so, we always win." A familiar refrain, that's never been said to Petra before. She's heard it from Yuuki to Angela, and Yuuki to Dianna, and Yuuki to White, just like she's heard Zero's bemoaning of the continual feuds with Lilian both to herself and in a radio band she doesn't have access to. Family, but estranged. She nods, and when Yuuki slides the paper towards her, Petra unfolds a hand from her lap and places it on the table, looking down at the application she'd filled out just days before on a table in the Library that came into existence just for her to sit at it with Angela. "I don't think I've been 'simply myself' for a really long time-- even before Angela, I mean. ... Before Lilian, too. I've kind of, long since grown up past being obsessed with independence, or whatever, but I guess I've been so aware of that, that it looped back around." Petra sighs and tries to cast her memory back in time, attempting to temporally place an event that came before the vast and world-changing thing that defined her eternity of a month ago. "I don't think anyone is just themselves, factional or not, which makes this sort of thing that much more important, since I know it's... I mean, not to be offensive or anything, but a contract with my soul." "So... it's not comfortable, because I'm not stupid. I'm making the choice to hand you a fragment of my 'self' and color it black and gold-- er, another, different, black and gold-- and, um, that's not something I'd take lightly even if I've put a lot of thought into how I'll be better for it." "I think..." No matter how she constructs it in her head, it doesn't feel right to say 'a year ago'. "It was the Cyber Core recruitment fair in '32. I was there, with--" Cinder, "... Lobotomy Corporation, when I thought about it for the first time, seriously. The kinds of things that the Concord really was, and what it offered, compared to the kind of, um, myopic view I had of it before. But even a perfectly clear idea of what it was like wouldn't have done much for me before that, because what got me thinking was how much my own priorities and methods had changed that yours started sounding like they made sense to me, back then." Briefly, Petra diverts from serious, structured question-answering, to share the story anecdotally, because Angela had internally remarked at the time about how the event was a little funny, and so that's how Petra remembers it now. She taps her thumb against the table and takes a deep breath, easing up in the presence of the Director a bit more. "It was kind of funny. I was there to recruit people, even though I wasn't part of the Concord, and then even funnier when Sougo started talking to Aidan about how the organization really works. And I was listening and I was thinking to myself, obviously that idiot isn't going to understand anything about asking the Concord for help; he won't get anything about the exchange of loyalty for bigger ambitions, or taking more care to look out for the people who can look out for you, or anything like that, he just wants some stupid evil power-up from the big evil mafia. And then I had to think, like, you know, I'm always talking like that too nowadays." "I have an Ivo Robotnik, and he has whole fleets of people who'd be an elite in his name. So..." After all that, Petra has to mumble under her breath, not as a real argumentative point, but a factual necessity. "Sure, but I'm the best one, though."
Petra Soroka	"So, then, tell me. Name three ways you'll make 'the world' different. If I like at least two, you're hired." Just like that, being a Partner is right within Petra's grasp, and the suddenness of realizing that the interview is nearly over makes her jolt a little. It excites her in a way that's hard to put a pin in, but she has plenty of time to narrow it down and obsessively comb over her feelings for their origins. After everything, after a dozen leaky conversations with Persephone and Kukuru especially, the 'belonging' in reach is abruptly dizzying like water after a drought, all the more sweet for being earned. It's a difficult question, though, and not because she doesn't have an answer. A slow breath in and out gives her ten minutes to collect her thoughts and rein her emotions back in. "So... I don't think I would be a typical Partner. Not that I mean I'm asking for a special exception, but... I'm not going to be the Demon King of Time or the greatest supervillain in the multiverse or rewrite physical law to be subject to human emotions, or anything. I'm not really the kind of person who has a big, grand... Magnum Opus, I guess. Everything I do has some root in someone else." "I want to get Angela out of the Library so she can live her life. If that means fighting another war against the City, then I'll do that, and I want to do it better than I did before. I want to put myself around better people and better support structures, so when someone crops up for me to crush and make the world better for people I want to help, I know how to make it so it doesn't cost so much just for them to wield me. I have a hanging promise to help assassinate Rufus's dad. I think, if I was the first person hired to the Concord, I'd be worthless, but..." "I've expanded the Eggman Empire before, and I've still got the equipment on Hydrochoeria to keep up the narrative crucible of supervillainy, and I know enough about your facilities to want them too. I've fought a war for Angela, and I'll do it again. I'll fight for Applied Ontology, Sapient Heuristics, and I'm a roboticist, and a researcher, and more than anything, I want to expand my record of the ways I've, like, concretely improved the world for people I consider 'family'. There's nothing I hate more than stasis." Petra lets out a breath, a little agitated, and takes another drink of her cooled coffee to recover. "I know that's not really a normal answer. But I think the way I change the world is by being a... force multiplier against inertia."
Yuuki Kuran	Petra understands, perhaps, more than any other Partner candidate - certainly more than the kind Yuuki had seen today - what signing the paperwork means. The selection process brought people far less accomplished than Petra into the fold, so why not her? The questions were never about her accomplishments, from holding the Multiverse's attention hostage from her flying city or being the most notable Elite in the sector save, perhaps, Lilian Rook herself. To speak nothing of Angela, who had moved from one of the Concord's investment strategies - owning the power company of a whole 'world' was a tremendous opportunity - to one of the Concord's major members through her fleet of Agents. The suit-and-tie style of the agents evoked the black and gold of their patron, and that went noticed. Now, it was not Ivo Robotnik's brilliant protege. Now, it was not the top agent of Lobotomy Corporation or Angela's sister. Now, it was not someone hawking the wrong shade of black - suit, and not marble - at a career fair. 'I don't think anyone is just themselves, factional or not, which makes this sort of thing that much more important, since I know it's... I mean, not to be offensive or anything, but a contract with my soul.' Now, it was Petra. And she understood the paperwork she had submitted on her own behalf and merit. If she did, it might not have been considered: Like Petra had already realized, she didn't have that much to offer in terms of supporting Concord projects as she did already. Bought early, what she was bidding for was. . . Color of cloth. Yuuki laughs softly at that, happy - teacher-pleased in a correct answer, relieved at being met where she was making a step. "Not at all, Petra. You're right - and I don't mind open honesty. If I'm particularly interested in being first-name basis members of a Partnership - a family - then we should be able to be honest with each other. We do a lot to make sure everyone gets a similar idea, and it's people like you we're looking for." Yuuki's flow is paused by a mouthwetting draw from her wineglass, enjoying herself, pleased at the progress. If there wasn't need to negotiate, and the interview beyond these few questions was a formality, why not move quickly? Lucky and capable, Petra was impressing Yuuki with her growth towards a goal already - that important seed that the Concord would nurture. This, she could work with. '...he won't get anything about the exchange of loyalty for bigger ambitions, or taking more care to look out for the people who can look out for you, or anything like that...' "No. Few do. It takes people at a certain point in their growth to look at what we offer, consistently, and look at what black and gold can offer them. A reality, understanding that while only you can surpass yourself, it requires others to support you. I had to learn a kind of shamelessness about myself, and I'm glad to see you've come to find your own desire to be strong for a reason." After all that, Petra mumbles under her breath, and Yuuki's grin splits wider and toothy. She caught every syllable, and. . . She doesn't hate the proud ones at all. 'Of course you are.' Mouths the Director, sharing the moment amusedly. She can believe it - she's seen the results. And. . . "I'm not looking for the typical Partner. I know you won't be." Yuuki 'reassures', though there's the faintest note of impatience she quietly expects to give Petra momentum like the side-crack of a whip just for the sound. "I asked for three things, Petra." She comes to, after a moment to put down her glass and stand. "And you've given me. . ." A dismissive gesture of her hand. "A meal to pick at. I don't mind, but it isn't what I asked for."
Yuuki Kuran	Sweeping up hand, Yuuki takes up the lighter and rolls the flip open, doing a simple nimble-fingered trick around the body before clicking it open and thumbstriking the roller, to produce a wicked jet of flame. "Angela needs help, but will get it. Rufus requires force, and will receive it. And you. . ." Yuuki stares at Petra, through the heat-haze of the flame, and there's an eternity where time is marked unfrozen by the minute flickers of lighterflame. Then, mercy comes at the roll-up of middle finger knuckle, and the light rolls closed in recapture of the hand around the closed object. "I think I understand what I'm buying. You didn't offer me three things - only two. Fighting for what you agree with and aligns with you is nothing. But creating a world where you're a reliable cost to pay for victory, and one dedicated to our victory - and improving the world away from a state of stasis, I think, is two fair offers." While she settles with her little show, a faint shooing gesture with her fingers brands a bat-wing stamp onto the coverletter page of her application, curling a few signature flourishes into the approval line. Without touching it with heat, the only 'burn' appears to be a remote signature-signing from the Director herself. "I founded the Concord with Priscilla because we both understood that 'forever' is truly a very long time to spend alone and still. I'm interested to see how you address that." Sitting back, Yuuki curls her fingers together over her lap, elbows to chair, and smiles contentedly. "Show that to anyone at the Orientation desks and they'll issue you a card for the day. After orientation, a personal assistant will be assigned to manage your integration with our support network. And, Petra?" "I'm glad you sold to us. I think you made the right choice, even if we were also the obvious one."