Scene #9785: Repsionic Factor (3)

Owner	Pose
Flamel Parsons	http://files.at.decompressed.space/KtoHP3Q5 The Psychogate Conferences have been underway, now, for weeks. An extensive regulatory framework was hammered out, the Psychic Shared Investigation, Operation, and Networking Act. They bikeshedded that shit to hell and back. There's rules you could use to shut down every psychogate, and rules you could use to make all of them open forever. They could be constrained to one region of the multiverse, or spread everywhere. They could be strongly patrolled by containment and investigation forces, or they could be anarchically free. It all depends on who's appointed to actually execute the dense policy. Battle-lines have been drawn. The key strategic points are simple: The appointment of the Inspector Astral (focused on safety and access limits), the appointment of the Psychologist General (for military presence), and the appointment of the Secretary of the Subconscious (focused on study and encouraged access). Only Elites have the psychic durability necessary to take, and hold, territory in those strategic points. --- Around the Inspector Astral, the Free Thought Association (paranoiacs of all stripes, attending only via screens, holograms, and other telepresence) are putting up barriers of barrages of questions about history and policy concerning mind control, while the aged suited Apocalypse Commission operate hit-and-run raids on other subfactions and challenging Elites with ruthless disaster scenario knowledge checks. The Foundation and the Paladins as a whole have a strong presence in this zone, able to freely bog down or permit any forces as they move. The Secretary of Subconscious is an appointment that the Concord and some of the Psychonauts have rallied around. But it won't just be a matter of getting through them; the eclectic Free Psychics League are juicing themselves with all sorts of filiboosting stimulants and politicogenic substances, and the anomaly-hunters of the AIAIAI (Association of Institutes for Anomalous Investigation, Analysis, and Immurement) have been relentless in their bureaucratic, recordkeeping, and similar expertise, to make anyone moving against their interests struggle immensely. The Psychologist General has major rallying from the Watch, as well as from the now-revealed Psychonauts auditor faction. Watchdog groups of all kinds, such as the Cirrus-Marine Revivalists, collect around its valuable strategic resources and position, but so do war-hawks like the Neo-New-Washingtonians. Subfactions with strongmen have wound up here too, loosely organized into the Golden Regents Inevitability, drawn by the charisma of the head of the Psychonauts auditors. --- It's a perfect hell on earth. The wounded bureaucombatants struggle to survive in poorly-organized tables in the bar of the bowling alley, trying to drink away the draining agony of harsh questioning. Clerks and aides are screaming on their blogs as they charge headlong into merciless machine-copied filing requirements. Any meal taken in the cafeteria, in the nearby restaurants, anywhere but absolute privacy, is an opportunity for a ruthless ambush. Every opportunity to advance comes with hard-fought retreat and inevitable counterattack by other coalitions. Men weep openly in sociopolitical trenches, holding pendants that carry photos of loved ones, smeared in the ink from fresh photocopies. The hearings for nominations have been going for two weeks of grueling, horrible massacres; territory is gained and lost just as quickly, ideological emplacements are bombed ruthlessly day and night by realpolitik maneuver. If you are still here, you have been through at least five sixteen-hour hearings and lived to tell the tale. The multiverse's various lanyard types will remember this as a tragedy for a hundred years and will be lucky to have enough un-resigned hands to raise mournful monuments to their lost.
Team Timekeeper	This is Vertin's favored battleground. The only one where she has an upper hand, and the only one where she can work magic. Indefagitable, charismatic, deft in her political switchouts and promises, emotionally impenetrable-- the Timekeeper is a terror on the bureaucratic battlefield, a fortress and champion both, in all of her skinny five-foot-two glory. In practice, this is more accurate than it seems. Vertin's main strength in the drawn out debate is her unshakeable cool demeanor, and acting as a rallying point for rhetorical safety can draw more support than actual rhetoric ever could. Starting out with a reasonable bloc of supporters in the first place-- the only person to both play the sides of the Free Thought Association as well as the Watch-aligned Watch-dog group, not to mention Regulus and Ahn-- she is a roaming cloud of psychological stability in the Motherlobe. Thus, her plan of attack is the same she used to build Team Timekeeper. Like a vulture, she, with her neutral smile, pleasantly even voice, the Suitcase and a helping hand up, cruises around the fields of dead and dying to take them under her wing. Shy delegates clustered alone in corners of the cafeteria, breathlessly awaiting their execution, instead get Vertin sitting beside them and opening up her own lunch, to performatively eat as pair to shield them from their anxiety, chatting them up about the Foundation's position all the while. Aides cradling their overworked posting fingers are talked to face to face, rather than screen to screen, while she holds an icepack to cool their palms. She offers water to her own opponent in filibusters. She proofreads the opposition's arguments. Eventually, this tactic will whittle down those willing to oppose her, until she can get a private seat at the bar with the enemy generals and decapitate them with a frank conversation about public approval and compromise. For now, though, she's still in the trenches. Vertin's pushing for Kramer and Katz as her two primary nominees, leaving the position of Psychologist General as an open slot to compromise on for those former two to get through. There's several nominees she doesn't know at all, and though she's done what research she could into them, her stance isn't so firm that she won't allow herself to budge when it comes to achieving her other goals.
Rufus Shinra	Rufus does not have psychic powers or juiced up meeting drugs. What he does have is institutional knowledge! Specifically he got onto Shinra Corporate's Giganteams with his burner account and asked for everyone's best tips on surviving long meetings. That, and dirty tricks. Starting with bribes. None of the subfactions here get directly bribed, of course! That'd be too obvious. No, the camp followers of these bureaucrixotic warriors that get targeted by shadow dollars. Couriered deliveries of office supplies run late. Coffee machine decaf and regular get swapped. Hotel bookings get moved to the rooms next to the ice machines. And perhaps most dastardly, via a surprisingly small amount of cash slid to engineers in various computer companies, mandatory updates get pushed for all of your electronic devices. Yes, even your little presentation clicker thing. Do you have the right cable to update your presentation clicker thing? Do you even know how to update your presentation clicker thing? Well, now it refuses to work until you do, and your big presentation was supposed to start fifteen minutes ago. Meanwhile, Rufus digs in deep to weather the storm of bureaucracy. Truthfully, he's not as experienced as he pretends to be - his position as Vice President at Shinra Electric Power Co. doesn't really have any power or responsibilities, and thus he'd managed to keep his meetings there to a minimum. He has to rely on Ocho Revo to replenish his sanity between meetings, calling in a rush order to write and voice-act some new paralogues and then push up the timetable for the big back-to-school Fall banner so he can make some pulls on that. "All this can be over," he reminds people, acting like he's in better shape than he looks. "If you just support me for Secretary of Subconscious. I've already got enough support for it anyway, confirming me here is practically all just a formality."
Camellia Remnants	"Lotus. I'm finally going to do it." "You're going to move out?" "No. The other thing." "Kill yourself?" "Yeah." "Well don't do that." "I can't take this. It's never going to get better. Why bother? It's all just pain and paperwork." "Okay but actually don't." Anh isn't really sure why she stuck around. Her arriving the last couple of times was already stupid. She was dressed for business and then played bowling. Then she came back to bowl and was stuck in business instead. She only has, like, two and a half nominees at best. She only picked Petra because she likes her and Argalia gave her the idea! She thinks Kramer is a totally swell lady! She also felt pretty bad about the idea of burdening her with this any longer! If Hiromi is suggesting Nika and Petra is her friend then maybe that's okay too? But she's never met her! Anh wanted Rita on there to counterbalance Petra a little, but now she's finding out they had a big falling out?! Who the fuck is Asakura Riku?! And how is Rufus Shinra still here after nominating himself?! "You're a survivor. You're born for it-- whoops. It's in your nature. You toughed it out because toughing it out is what you're good at. Think of all those times before! It's in your nature!" "I guess. Maybe that's right. But, why here? How did I even get stuck toughing it out?" "Well, that's just because you're a little stupid." "Hey!" "Do you see me laughing? I'm just being truthful with you." "You could at least say I'm just too kind-hearted or something!" Unfortunately for her, it is a little true. Her body and brain remember how to push her limits in ways she hasn't since . . . well actually only since the Motherlobe. Her weird, understated stubbornness about how she doesn't want things to be is an endlessly resetting little noxious landmine under one in six topics. When pushed much too far, she retaliates with the total multiplied damage aimed at her via the brutal tactic of 'I was actually there and everyone would probably have died if not for me and listen here you little shit because I'm the one who was willing to hand-crank power an electric radiator all night because nobody could be bothered' and so forth. Her mind for forms, figures, dates, names, and deeply boring trivia is like an iron trap. Her social defenses when someone isn't being pushy and annoying are wet tissue paper. She has gone running back to Vertin several times before, confused. Her teammate is both an asset and curse, creating random shellings of misbehaviour and thick smokescreens of distracting bullshit in heated crossfires, sometimes helping, sometimes really not.
Hiromi	Hisako is really getting run ragged -- rather, she isn't being given chances to run around at all. She has to keep sitting or standing and talking to people or listening to them talk all day. Running laps would be far less tiring. Day after day after day... Finally, this far into the process, her prayers are answered, and Hiromi has arrived in person. Hisako disappeared for a while right before that, but she's looking a lot better now -- even if Hiromi is still, for the most part, letting her speak. ...barrages of questions about history and policy concerning mind control... A legitimate concern, and one for which telepresence is, against the Archwolf, a mostly valid defense. Heavily filtering images and communication from her reduces most forms of mind control she passively generates, as well as entirely blocking the active mind control she wields without enormous levels of restraint. It's not entirely innocent because it's not entirely unconscious, but her personal understanding of most matters in existence is that she is or should be in charge of them, which makes her far more free with directing mind-altering forces at people than someone with a more standard-human socialization might be. These effects are fairly straightforward, shifting perceptions of authority and in one's sense of that authority being rightful or legitimate. Against some people, this has no discernible effect, but its effects on someone initially viewing her as a foreign aggressor is both subtle and dramatic. She can be the idol of all patriots of every origin at once. Hiromi herself is as unyielding as stone. She listens, but it's hard to say what gets through. She speaks rarely, and is perfectly understood in ways that are difficult to put into words. Hisako is very, very different. She's continually animated after her break, speaking and listening and nodding along and entirely wearing her heart on her sleeve. Everyone with a little social awareness can tell when she's excited or concerned or politely bored. So long as her background is taken into account, pushing her toward one side-goal or another compromise isn't at all difficult -- and if she were here alone, that'd be it for her. She'd have yielded already, perhaps entirely unaware of just how much ground she gave. As is, however, she does push for Oreshnika's nomination. It's not a usual proposition, but Psychonauts leadership are already aware enough of Nika to see some benefits, depending on who else gets into the running. Against the Free Psychics League and AIAIAI, it's dogged determination that will break through. Against those of the revivalists and war hawks who are interested enough in the topic, it's an appeal to Hiromi's own authority, suggesting a level of backing to satisfy any strongman group. Against the Free Thought Association alone, Hisako's cards are less likely to cut it on their own.
Camellia Remnants	Anh has spent meaningful time trying to run around and root out Rufus' bribes. Lotus has spent a nearly equal amount of time encouraging him to make more of them. Once she started building up a resistance to the coffee, Anh asked Lotus for the 'harder stuff', and got knows what that is, but it's making her jittery and irritable and it's working. Past a point, she's started going on a tear about why they aren't implementing ranked choice voting like she asked for, and why there aren't Vice positions to make people shut up and accept second place with. Rita remains her Psychologist General pick, but only waveringly. She is willing to cede that one to anyone who isn't an incompetent war hawk. She is firm on throwing her support behind Petra for Inspector Astral. As for the, Sectetary of the Subconscious, she intends Kramer, but spends most of her time with 'Seriously? Rufus? For this?'
Angela	Roland is spending most of this venture thinking really loudly that the Psychonauts should really just like take Argalia out now. It'd be better for everyone. Trust him. Dude's a maniac. Please. But he acts stoically faced in the face of all this. He'd probably agree with whatever Vertin wanted if it was up to him, but it's not up to him, he's just trying desperately not to reveal his own deal to anyone outside of, like, hoping someone will just take Argalia out back and psychonaut him until no longer being a problem. Angela is actually feeling a little guilty for snapping at Sarracenia earlier but she's not going to tell her that. She also has to try and get on the same page as Argalia who doesn't seem to care for her despite arguably being in her camp and is using her presence here to justify his own. "I have no desire to enter a conflict with the Timekeeper." Angela told him. "Miss Angela," Argalia says patiently. "I understand your loyalty to Director Lilian, but are we not kidding ourselves here? We have an obligation to the Concord to ensure the Foundation's reach onto this committee is as minimal as we can make it." "Tch...in the end it probably won't even matter, the nature of the Psychonauts..." Angela says. "Besides, I know for a fact Carmen doesn't want to take a political position and even if she did, her ability to even communicate is limited. What is your true goal? Is it just to throw your weight around in the multiverse?" Argalia shakes her head. "Ah, I had forgotten how unfamiliar you are with the world outside your Library. Well allow me to make clear one matter--there is no corner of our world that some Wing hasn't tried to or plunder--or successfully manage it. All we want is for the Psychogates to be in the freest hand possible. You may trust Vertin--" "I don't." Angela interrupts. "--But do you trust the masters behind anyone in the Foundation?" "Okay okay--" Roland rubs at his forehead. "Look who do we think would be least bad then?" In the end, they can manage to agree to Petra because they all think she hates the Psychonauts and end up pushing hardest for her for the time being, with Argalia making his case that she is someone who has a strong base of support and is capricious enough to not be easy to 'game' by outside forces, while Angela has Roland take her to Rufus. "Rufus. I am considering giving you my support as you are a former employee in good standing and friend. But this is important enough that I cannot rely entirely on my past associations and general trust in you. Tell me seriously, will you get bored of this and move on or will you take the role you are given and work at least as hard as you did for me as LobCorp?" But Argalia isn't done being tricky, as he's bombarded by the various Psychonaut factions, Argalia asks them for HELP so that his SUN can speak to them. He hasn't moved against Vertin's picks just yet but it's probably only a matter of time.
Rufus Shinra	> "Tell me seriously, will you get bored of this and move on or will you take the role you are given and work at least as hard as you did for me as LobCorp?" Rufus folds his arms, and then looks around to make sure they're not being listened in on, before turning his attention back to the Angelatablet. "I don't want you to misunderstand me, Miss Angela. I have my own goals here. My own incentives for gaining this position. One of those is advancing the Concord's interests, but I have other aims as well." "But that does mean I'm not going to treat this like a joke. So if you need a promise that I'll take this as seriously as LobCorp, or as seriously as my goals at Shinra Electric, then yes, I'll make you that promise."
Flamel Parsons	The Timekeeper's efforts to gather up those with less means and shelter them in her cloud of stability are precise in their effect. Want a few dozen clerks, aides, secretaries, and other suchlike after this is done? Trick question, Norma Natividad, a Junior Psychonaut aide who's been a bit excessively cunning and wound up playing too many angles and crashing out, now lives part-time in the suitcase, and you can't un-pull a new event four-star that you've pulled. It was a whole thing, like four days of pulling her out of a death-spiral and detangling a bunch of intrigue she put herself in with the FTA while she was working with the Watch, and then burned out before she could detach herself. But does it give her the leverage she needs? ...Actually yes!! Hooray! It got her a strong position for Katz, and the beginnings of a strong position for Kramer! Leveraging her many recruits gave her so much institutional know-how, and recruiting Norma wound up with Vertin having a ruthless mean-girl lieutenant to rile people up to push through problems their previous allies cause. Now it's a matter of defending Katz at the Inspector Astral position... Can Kramer be advanced through the barrage of hearings she's going to have to get through to get the Secretary of Subconscious position? Rhetorical bombs are falling, and while Vertin was able to cover an advance and get her team to hold Inspector Astral, she hasn't secured more than an angle of attack on Secretary of Subconscious and she has no way to put fire down at the Psychologist General without over-extending her team's supply lines. And the bigger problem is that Rufus has wound up taking his position there STRONGLY. Pushing Kramer's nomination there, though, is Ahn, whose ability on offense is matched only by her fragility on defense. While Rufus' sapping tactics prevent anyone from holding a position against him, it makes it a bit hard for him to defend too. He'll need a defense tactic, and given Vertin and Ahn are both advancing forces onto his position, he'll want it soon. By which I mean, in a matter of days, because this is taking place over such an agonizingly long conference. Still with both forces at the Secretary of Subconscious being so offensively oriented, it means that Hiromi's efforts there crash in as a third-party invader just brutally, demolishing defensive lines of coalitions, committee-appointments, and secret agreements the very day they're drawn up. Secretary of Subconscious is looking like a terribly contested position, and it takes the Free Psychics and AIAIAI quite a bit to resist falling under Hiromi's sway immediately, backed by the Psychonauts who had rallied to the position. Angela's defensive social structures (and telepresence suchlike) mean that her competition in SoS zone work great to back up Rufus, but is one person's defenses alone enough? Rita is getting slipping into the Psychologist General almost by default; with how tense, how heated, everything is at the other two target zones, an effort to place her there is fragile but uncontested efforts. --- Flamel is here. It's been so much fighting, he's lost any chance of getting a nomination through, for anyone he in particular. He was already fighting from a tough position as the instigator of the situation, so when asked for help from Argalia, he's rather plain about it. They're taking cover from frequent shelling in a very rarely-used storage area, sharing lunch. "If you're looking for a project to get someone a mic who doesn't have one, I can put something together fast! It has to be someone who's going to push the Secretary of Subconscious to be someone good for future study and extraction though. I'll get some of our channelers on it if you can really promise me that..." He'll get a hearing for that special SUN-one. But it had better break this massacre at the SoS, otherwise there's going to be far too many retirement letters for anyone's victories to be worth it!
Team Timekeeper	So, buckle up. Aligned with Anh on one nomination in Kramer, she spends most of her focus on ensuring that Anh doesn't get wiped out by someone talking infuriatingly nonspecifically at her, or lured into a psychic trap that would take her out of the fight entirely. Just when Anh is about to be requested into a meeting hosted by Rufus's supporters, where she would've been the only one arguing against the entire room and placed up at the head of the table for everyone to stare directly at, Vertin slips through the door just before it's closed to endure it with her. The result is very little progress on either side, but at least Anh isn't subject to a conference room full of people staring at her alone to provide rebuttals to the most minor and inconsequential details that they're pretending to take deadly seriously. After it's over, Vertin sighs and readjusts the Suitcase in her hand, keeping Anh company for a little bit. "I'm not certain Rita has the support necessary to reach the final round of nominations, unfortunately. While I'd trust her with the position, and I see the value in having her much more grounded political perspective here, I think the environment might be too hectic for her to even make progress as a comparative radical to force other candidates to cede ground. Could I convince you to back the Foundation's nominee with me in her place?" Next, Vertin must attempt to grapple with the bizarre out-of-left-field political entrant of Argalia, and his nominations. For some time, Vertin tries to argue about what she knows of Carmen from Watch reports-- what very little she knows, because of Carmen not being a physically extant being in reality-- before coming to the realization that being an insane psychic ghost isn't a disqualifier from the Psychonauts, and in fact some of their best employees are psychic ghosts. Instead, discarding Carmen's nature, she stakes an entire meeting on the dangers of overpermissiveness in a first holder of a title, describing the failures of the original Psychogate project as an example of the kinds of change that needs to happen in order to rein in established permissions, compared to the ability to feel out the position and grow that a more restrained candidate would bring. She concludes the presentation by asking whether everyone would like to repeat this entire political ordeal again in six months, to a resounding call of dropping their support for Carmen. Next up is the boulder that breaks the tides of the debate floor that is Hiromi. Vertin does not actually have a problem with Nika as a candidate. In fact, as of earlier today, she's become highly supportive of Nika as a candidate, through Lilian's connection with her. Unfortunately, she just can't support someone she doesn't know anything about, and whose public record is entirely nonexistent. So to Hiromi, "Hello, Archwolf. Now that we've got a moment, could you share why you've nominated Nika? Her status as a 'godling' aside, what makes her suited for it?"
Camellia Remnants	Anh is great at getting wiped out talking infuriatingly nonspecifically at her! The total collapse of society put a stop to that right quick! Her every day now deals with strictly tangible things (feelings excepted, and vague psychological problems she should probably have looked at decades ago), so these people largely doing nothing at all like that for most of every day is the worst! Vertin sliding in to catch her has earned her as a devoted supporter! For the most part. She already liked her quite a bit, but now she views Vertin as her compatriot in combat. This also makes her very easy to argue down off the position of Rita. It bums her out a little bit, because that was the one that was going really well (why does it seem like nobody is paying attention to that Kind Of Really Important Position) but being on the right side feels important now. "You mean the Katz lady? I don't know . . . I don't know who that is. I've never met her or anything. I mean, I'll give you that--" "You just noticed you didn't ask Rita!" "Oh. I'm. Hnnnn." "A little--" "Lala lalala not listening!!" She does, actually, end up teaming up with Vertin! She does vastly better with two people together than one. Crazy. Who'd have thought that? Certainly it has nothing to do with her taking cat naps on Lotus' lap and being fetched drinks out of the vending machines by sneaky shoplifting vines. Her terms, however, are arguing against Rufus; at least out of the godforsaken Secretary of the Subconscious! The one about moral guidance and study?! About not beng a dummy and letting some random guy bribe their way through?! Hello?! Anh is, also, funny enough, not immune to mind control. When Hiromi walks in and starts making the position in contest against Rufus way hotter, Anh blithely falls into attack V with her. Vertin sounds like she likes Nika! And Hiromi is the Wise Wolf! Plus, it's not Rufus! Her dogged support of Petra allows her to cozy up with Argalia, and offer to consolidate with him on Petra for one of the positions, but-- "Why Rufus though? He showed up here with, like, oil rigs and frakking gear before! He was going to mine mind-oil! And where was he when everything blew up?!" She goes on to repeat this ten times in the next two days.
Rufus Shinra	Rufus gets stressed. In a fit of deferred anger, his anonymous account leaves a three and a half star review on Ocho Revo, kicking off a fresh wave of incorrect conspiracy theories. As others advance on his position, he reaches deeper to defend himself, pulling out on particular forbidden dark technique. It feels dirty and underhanded, even for Rufus Shinra, but especially after talking to Angela he feels serious enough about this to use it, just this once. "The initial Psychogate incident? It's not as bad as people say, you know," he puts forward during one sub meeting, forcing a two hour sidetrack to make people establish that it was in fact that bad. "It wouldn't have gone as badly as it did if not for outside interference," he adds, putting the onus on someone else to prove that there wasn't outside interference. "The part in the report? That's metaphorical, not literal." "We already decided on this topic? Well that's not what I remember." "Obviously we're all aware of the Gastronauts and their manipulations in this regard." "Has it really been proven by science? Was it triple blind rigorous control group peer review science?" Everything that can be called into question is called into question. Everything that can be semi-believably misunderstood is misunderstood. And everything that can be outright lied about, without it splashing back onto Rufus, is outright lied about. Directly denigrating specific people is avoided, but there's a wide open field of other topics to hit with enough effort. And it doesn't stop. It keeps coming, whenever Rufus feels threatened, and then for good measure it keeps on coming after the pendulum has swung the other way. It keeps coming, and it keeps coming, and it keeps coming, and it keeps coming, and it keeps coming, and it keeps coming, and it keeps coming, and it keeps coming and- ------------------------ \| LIMIT BREAK: \| \| GISH GALLOP \| ------------------------
Angela	Argalia finds an unlikely ally in Flamel, Elena doing her best to disguise the fact she wants to just sink her teeth into everyone here because that might be disqualifying, she isn't sure, frankly, at this point and is less sure of it with every little misadventure this political argument has reached but she's not going to risk the plan for anything like that. She does mutter though, "I'm the only one without lunch it seems." ''--To be someone good for future study and extraction though. I'll get some of our channelers on it if you can really promise me that...'' "Flamel, we are not so different are we?" Argalia smiles. It doesn't quite reach his eyes, but he isn't lying either. "Naturally, I'd prefer nobody be in charge of the Psychogate at all, but if people must be in charge then it ought to be someone like that. And I'm certain our Sun agrees..." As he gathers up the channelers, Angela gives a nod to Rufus. "Understood. The Secretary position seems to be a hot competition, but I will do what I can to ensure you get ''a'' position." Roland has failed to get people to murder Argalia for no readily apparent reason and he's trying to not have a heart attack by the stress of this situation. He's having PTSD flashbacks here. But eventually, the channeling results in a connection being formed through five psychonauts joining hands and summoning a spectral form of what looks like to be brown haired woman with her hair pulled back into a ponytail, a little red bear crunchy holding it back. Her vibrant red eyes are the most immediately apparent aspect of her physicality though, such as it is, because she is actually pretty normal looking otherwise. She's wearing a labcoat, a brown button down shirt, and a black miniskirt. Her legs kind of fade out before they reach the floor. "Oh my!" Carmen says. "It's been so long... Hi honey!" She waves at Angela who covers her face and pretends not to know her. "Wow so many people here I just don't know..! Oh is that Roland?" She smiles at Roland who turns his head away and pretends not to notice her. "Anyway, as I've been asked to share my chief concerns I wished to say--Oh!! That's Vertin!" She leans against the Psychonauts that have summoned her to stare at her. "Wow...! Look at her, Argalia!" Argalia looks at Vertin, then back to Carmen. "My Sun?" "Ah, sorry, ahaha." Carmen laughs cheerfully before easing back. "Nobody told me how cute she was... Vertin hit me up if you're ever in my neck of the woods, we could talk about so many things..." She makes a phone with her hand and wiggles it to the side of her head. Then she gets serious.
Angela	"Hmm...Angela wants those three, but Argalia wants those three...Ah well, in that case, I'll say who I want." "Nika should be Inspector Astral. She knows about game design, so she would encourage limitations while having gameification to make those limitations feel not particularly stifling. That's an important element I think you all are forgetting, once the limitations that are enacted feel like limitations, people will naturally want to break them. Whomever is this Inspector Astral will need to be able to enact responsible limits while disguising them appropriately. Personally, boo to limitations! But it's not my Psychogate, so do whatever you'd like. But I feel Nika has strong potential, if she's willing to take the job." She smiles. "As for Psychologist General, the person who is most adept at settling philisophical disagreements would be Petra. I agree with everybody, I love Petra, she's incredible, even though she doesn't like me. But I'm still voting ofr her, because she makes my daughter happy and it'll be cute because she isn't even here, it'll be a nice surprise!" Then she turns and looks to Vertin once more before adding, "As for Secretary of Subsconcious...Mm... I was told to pick someone who would be permissive. Argalia made that promise, and I do owe him so..." She thinks for a long moment and then snaps her fingers. "Oh! How about Lady Arcana? I haven't met her, but I think she'd find it a joy and would fulfil those criteria and she must be so heartbroken at all the mistrust directed at her lately. Besides, our goals more or less align don't they? Yes! Lady Arcana. I have too much lore so Lady Arcana because nobody has to know her lore." Angela says, "I'm still voting for Rufus for Secretary. He said he would take it seriously so I believe him." sourly. "Your mom kind of scares me." Roland mutters to Angela.
Hiromi	Hisako even becomes more powerful as more fall to Hiromi's influence. She doesn't feel too bad about being in the middle of mayhem, but having more 'allies' around makes her measurably more comfortable and confident. Getting mind control whammied into it has no bearing on that matter since that's perfectly normal -- rather, better than normal, being the way the world should be instead of the way it usually is -- and right and just. This better equips her for being a still-animated but calmer persuasive force, excited in mostly productive ways and more patient with people taking forever to say nothing. There's still an awful lot of conflict. She doesn't think she likes Argalia, but it remains hard to say why. She doesn't like Rufus, and it'd be easy to say why if he wasn't also a Concord partner, and therefore outranking her. Hiromi isn't saying anything about Rufus directly, so... it must be fine. 'Corporate interest' is, coincidentally, a fair summation for a lot of the issue she takes with both Shinra and the City, and also not how she'd put it. Talking to people who are asking questions is easier. Like Vertin! Hisako's perfectly happy to talk to the Timekeeper herself, and preferably while Anh is there, but Hiromi's the one who was asked, as the Archwolf. 'Her status as a 'godling' aside, what makes her suited for it?' "You see these people, here. Their needs are many, their words are wind. You see them divided, every two walking a different path. They will weigh, mire, drag. They <corrupt>. One to guard their interests must guard against this. <Oreshnika> can do this. One with roots in humanity, yet unbroken, able to stand <above> can do this... agreeably, slowly. Far quicker if I take their <necks>, but this, I allow. For others to grow." "There is, um, also the matter of her True Speech. Someone who will deal with many different kinds of people, who may be dishonest, benefits a great deal from this. She can speak to the land, too." Hisako wasn't asked, but she read the pause after Hiromi spoke as invitation, correctly. "It would help her with any of the three positions, wouldn't it?" The target of that question is unclear, but Hiromi gives a slight nod.
Team Timekeeper	"You mean the Katz lady? I don't know . . . I don't know who that is." "Right. That's why I'd like to introduce you." Vertin was prepared to debate longer about Rita, but that turns out to be unnecessary. Instead, she graciously brushes past the fact that Anh nominated someone who wasn't aware of her own nomination, has no personal inclinations towards bureaucracy or the Psychonauts, and very likely isn't even informed of the existence of the Psychogate project, to focus on more actionable things to help Anh form a better decision. "I believe she arrived this morning to give a talk to some of the overly conservative members of the Apocalypse Commission. If we catch her before she leaves, I think you'll be much more comfortable with the decision." "One with roots in humanity, yet unbroken, able to stand <above> can do this... agreeably, slowly." This is somewhat of a suspicious argument at best, and actively opposed to the Foundation's interests at worse. Listening to Hiromi, though, it sounds really reasonable! Hiromi's authority on the topic is amplified by Hiromi's authority in general, lensed through Lilian's familiarity with Nika and Vertin's distant connection with her via the conversation she had with Lilian about the Storm, to make Nika seem like a plausible-enough candidate. Moreover, that particular tone of 'above'-- interpreted best as 'outside, and in competitive opposition to'-- humanity, represented by the Foundation, is Vertin's own function as the leader of Team Timekeeper, so the endorsement feels appropriate. It's not as though Vertin is advocating entirely on behalf of the Foundation. Having someone in power whose position puts them at odds with the Foundation's ethos, and is connected with Lilian, feels like it makes the overall ecosystemic balance of power healthier. Vertin nods to Hiromi. "Thank you, Archwolf. I'll take that under consideration." Hisako clarifying that Nika could be supported for any role makes the decision even easier-- Vertin has no stake in the race for Psychologist General. "And I assume Kramer has your support already?" "Anyway, as I've been asked to share my chief concerns I wished to say--Oh!! That's Vertin!" Seeing the ghostly woman form, Vertin glances in her direction just before she's visible to anyone else, and then seems surprised when other people actually react to her being there. "Carmen?" Being addressed makes her eyes widen slightly and her grip tighten around her Suitcase. "... That voice...?"
Team Timekeeper	Oh no. No, no, no. Not Arcana. Surely not Arcana! Vertin was momentarily stunned by the faintly-familiar voice from her time in the City, but spirits and voices like this aren't rooted in the same kinds of material reality that we worldly sufferers are, so a little bit of batshit insanity has to be expected. Vertin immediately mobilizes as much psychic support as she can in a wave of defensive barricading to prevent the idea of Arcana entering this organization from even crossing anyone's minds as legitimate. She directs the clerks and aides she's gathered to print out 'THE DEBATE IN A GLANCE' summaries that unilaterally exclude Arcana from even being listed, she has Norma start gossip and seed complaints about how overcrowded the nominations for Secretary of Subconscious already are and how no new nominees should be accepted, and asks Anh to make a few more impassioned speeches about the difficulties they all struggled through during the incident in the Motherlobe to highlight how dangerous unrestricted, or even hostile, use of the Psychogates could be. For her part, she tries to defuse Carmen by ceding a different position to her. "Carmen, I understand your perspective, and I think you have some good points. I'd like to suggest Nika takes the role of Psychologist General instead, as a compromise. Hiromi supports her as well, and without much contest for the position, I believe that she could be practically guaranteed if you and I join forces in advocating for her. Does that sound reasonable?"
Flamel Parsons	IN THE HEARINGS FOR SECRETARY OF SUBCONSCIOUS... Hiromi is starting to make lots of headway with the Secretary of Subconscious, with Ahn falling into formation with her efforts. That means Ahn's sway goes behind Oreshnika, putting Hiromi's complex and Ahn together in a dense cluster of high-offense mid-defense against Angela and Rufus, who are incredibly defensive and incredibly offensive respectively. Could Vertin keep Kramer here? It quickly is becoming less and less tenable, though that offers plenty of opportunities she's starting to take advantage of elsewhere. In comes Carmen. Five Psychonaut experts are working on Flamel's project, hands raised in the middle of a hearing chamber and focusing together on astral tech to bring someone in. Anti-necromancy contingents among the Psychonauts, which is most Psychonauts, are running constant scans to make sure this has nothing to do with actually bringing someone back from the dead -- even a seance is shifty business. It takes a while before it can kick into overdrive, and it sacrifices quite a bit of the City's standing, but the hearing progresses: Many of the freer, more liberal sentiments lean towards Carmen as an expert on this topic, who has done huge amounts of work on it before and is demonstrating it live. They're willing to work with her on the front lines. And while her nom for Psychologist General is starting to nudge Petra into the political space even more, there's some balking at the Secretary of Subconscious. What few members of the voting and meeting body are willing to hear the suggestion, fewer of those are willing to believe she exists to begin with, or to risk pissing the Foundation off and getting locked out of some of the leading committees. Still, this is reinforcing Nika's slowly growing position, and boosting the terribly ascending prospects of Petra. Still. Petra is being split between Inspector Astral and Psychologist General, and so is Nika. Those two positions are more and more likely to get decided by who's willing to commit fully to one in one and another in the other! And fewer and fewer people are willing to go against Rufus. His ruthless offense is just too much! People are starting to lose any sense of morale against him. It seems more and more like this isn't about if he'll get a position, but whether he'll get the Secretary of Subconscious position or wind up shifted to one of the other two. The results of his gish-galloping cavalry charges litter the cafeteria in despair at the end of hearing meetings; clerks sob gently, tear their lanyards off in humilation, and wander into the woods never to be seen again (that week).
Hiromi	'And I assume Kramer has your support already?' <Yes.> That didn't require words, apparently. Her attention is taken up by the highly unusual appearance of Carmen -- someone of whom she is actually aware, if only by dubious fame. Hiromi's expression toward her is difficult to read, as usual, while Hisako's is very clear. Carmen supported Nika (good), pushed Petra (positively inclined), and also Arcana (undecided). Overall, this is a positive development, but one overlaid with questioning confusion and concerns. Hisako's inclined toward supporting Anh both in general and against Rufus, specifically, but the multi-front battle is getting confused about which way she should be running first, the more people enter the nominations. She was focused on supporting Nika over Rufus, but now--
Team Timekeeper	There is, also, a final card Vertin can play to try and settle things her way. Kramer looks like she's losing, Katz has significant support but no passion that could overcome the forces of personality pushing Petra's presence, and even though Nika looks like a clear victor, Vertin can't feel particularly proud of getting that nomination through when she didn't even start in support of her. So she comes to Rufus, with a suggestion. Tired from days on end of debates, mental health triage, paperwork, paperwork about debates and mental health, paperwork about paperwork, votes to decide the timing of conferences for discussing the timing of voting, Vertin sees the deadline closing in. Rufus is, at best, an ally by circumstance from their time in the Motherlobe together, but although she feels the same trepidation about his worst impulses that Anh does, he's exactly the kind of guy that the Foundation has long since learned to compromise with. "Hello, Rufus. Care to join me for a drink?" He's encountered at the bar in the bowling alley at some point late in the day, when the clerks and politicians that fled to the bowling alley to hide from the conference rooms reached the critical mass to turn the bowling alley into yet another conference room, and then reached their limit on that too and fled home. Vertin orders a sweet, colorful cocktail and sits down at the stool, temporarily alone in the bar with him. "I'm aware that you're interested in the Secretary role primarily to position yourself at the technological and political forefront of the usage of the Psychogates, as a business owner. You've gathered quite a lot of support, but it's not acute enough in that campaign to guarantee you that specific position, and I imagine you're much less enthused about the others, if Nika were to oust you by majority consensus." Vertin takes a sip of her cocktail, Suitcase on the bar. "I'd like to propose an alteration to the electoral system that would benefit both of us. With your diffuse support, my allies, and the Foundation, we ought to be able to pass it even at this late stage in the process. My proposal is that the runner-up in each role, who doesn't otherwise win the nomination for a different role, takes a vice-position to assist the person that wins." "If you're willing, I'll cast my support behind you, as long as you campaign for Kramer as your running mate. With that, the support for Nika in the Secretary role would fall enough that you'd be guaranteed the exact position you're looking for, while she would end up elsewhere, and Kramer would be your Vice-Secretary. Does that sound alright?" Unspoken but obvious is that this all but guarantees the Foundation's finger in the Psychogate leadership as well. Katz's position might not be strong enough for the top vote, but she's stable enough to achieve second at minimum, and she's not up for any other position besides Inspector Astral.
Camellia Remnants	At one point, Anh has to be restrained from leaping over the table trying to kick Rufus' ass. Not for any of this actual goals, but for saying 'it wasn't that bad'. Lotus applauds and does not actually help. In fact, she starts parasocially orbiting Rufus and trying to pry about what the Incident was really like, since Anh is so unreliable about it. There actually is no ulterior motive. She's just using his claim as a pretext to waste his time living vicariously through him, since she slept (hibernated?) through the entire ordeal. The result is that Anh gets so mad about this that she can't think of anything intelligent to say about rival agencies nor really recall the earlier talking points; all of her ironclad conviction comes down on 'It sucked and it was literal and people got hurt' over and over until that one point is ceded. And Lotus is so annoying to blow off and also still wearing Anh's undersized hand-me-down shirts. She doesn't know what's going on with Carmen! That's scary! Her familiarity with the City is the place that turns people's souls into fertilizer to literally grow tomatos! The way Argalia talks to her is creepy! Who is Arcana?! Isn't she a bad guy?! An inordinate amount of time trying to make a hashtag anyone but rufus coalition gets her nowhere. Everyone is either tired or bought, and she isn't very charismatic when she's upset. Only when she's the most focused person in the situation. She ends up later nodding along with Hiromi like a brainmelted simp, Anh jumps on Hisako's point with "Right?! Don't we want the person who can tell truth and lies and stuff on the ethics position?!" about someone she has no mental image of. "Why are you all being so stubborn about this anyways?! What does, like, anyone else have to offer there?! At least Katz would have the Foundation's checks and balances--" talking points coached in by Vertin, if not explained to her at length by Katz herself when she tracked her down. "--against someone screwing around, and Kramer has the Psychonauts' ethics behind her! But, like, I think this is the really important one?! Can we not have mister oil rings in the military position or something?!" 'Impassioned speech' is something easy for her to do about the solitary subject of 'the reality everyone has to survive in when some jackass fucks it up'. She gets so up in arms about it ('it' technically still being Arcana, but extended to Carmen, and Rufus only sloppily, by proximity) that she spills over and starts making things about the global apocalypse she's most familiar with, going on bitter tirades about the choices made by people who would be least affected by the consequences and the gruesome mass deaths that resulted, given literal decades of miserably stewing retrospective to research them. Hammering on that the Psychogates could do something similar, given the situation in the Motherlobe scaled up, comes only after she's thoroughly upset everyone with documentation and research she had to bring from home, so she can show pictures and figures (the only solid material she has, being rigorously documented either by someone else or over years on her own). With her other two picks looking pretty okay, it amounts to a last ditch attempt to kick any possibility of Arcana, Carmen, Rufus, or anyone especially rich and/or intangible and/or possibly a goddess? Out of the specific role of Secretary. If she has to deal with them being somewhere else, then so be it.
Angela	''That voice...?'' "Mm?" Carmen quirks her head. Then her eyes focus a little more. "Oh--that's right... We've talked before haven't we?" She is so intrigued by Vertin she can't seem to bring herself to defend her offer of Arcana too stringently. "To be able to talk with me without the agony of the heart opening yourself to me... You truly are a special child... Are you truly free from the River's--from Time's Flow? Can you see it, the myriad of possibilities, as you walk atop the water rather than within the current? You are as water rained down from a Star, wishes of the world are heaped upon you, but what is truly your wish, Vertin? Is it truly such a cautious path forward? It is not recklessness, when you live amongst the torment of the unchanging cruelty, one that even The Storm struggles to wash away, it is a desperate need, a cry begging wishes of Stars because they cannot imagine the freedom and joy they deserve any other way. To take this path before you, is it even possible to chart the course? I don't want your Star to dim and--" She notices Angela, she sees her looking away--uncomfortable, conflicted. She sees the faint horror in Roland's face. She sees the exultation of Argalia who has ceased arguing at all as he forgets his own goals in basking of the Voice, just in this moment. Carmen remembers something. Two children she failed to protect. "Vertin... Please be careful. The City would ''mine'' you if they knew. Don't let the Foundation do the same. I beg you..." But Nika is put forward as an option over Arcana. That passion that threatens to overwhelm the will of others pulls back, the Temptation of the Voice remembers when it was human. "...If you really don't want her, then I won't get in your way. Nika then. I believe she could be in any role. I will remove my suggestion for Arcana. Petra, Rufus, Nika." She doesn't state her reason for Rufus but it might literally just be because he wants it. "But if my daughter ever asks you for a room of safety..." Carmen seems to remember this is a little confusing so she clarifies, "If Lisa ever comes to you, please be gnetle." Angela nods to herself, like something was quietly confirmed for her. "I have no objection." Her hands spasm from barely contained emotion. She stares at Vertin whenever she is in view, but it is no longer a look of distrust so much as one of loneliness and unhappy realization.
Rufus Shinra	There's one very long, impassioned post on the Ocho Revo subreddit, ranting about how the developers have utterly ruined the game. Everyone assumes it's someone doing a bit. > "Hello, Rufus. Care to join me for a drink?" "For a drink with a girl with a hat like yours? Always." > "If you're willing, I'll cast my support behind you," "Mmm." He sips. His drink of choice is a gin, because he saw a neat commercial for it. "That works out quite well for me. I get my position, I'm willing to work with Kramer, I get the overt if temporary support of the Foundation in front of quite a number of people. At least," he adds, glancing around. "Those who haven't gone mad and run off into the woods." "You do realize, though." He takes a sip. "That I'm a little shit?" He examines his glass, not making eye contact with her for the moment. "I've been handing out bribes like candy. I've been sabotaging everyone every opportunity I can. I've stalled, lied, exaggerated, begged the point, engaged in pedantry and sophistry, and a dozen other terrible no good bad faith methods." "At every stage of this I've pursued what's been convenient to me at the cost of being awful to other people." He looks up and back over at her finally. "And my punishment for being the worst person in this entire building? Is you handing me my victory on a silver platter with trivial concessions." "You've reinforced to me that all of this worked. I'd do it all again. I'd do it all fucking again in a heartbeat. I'll probably be even worse and open the next time, just to see how far I can push things." He puts down his glass and extends a hand for her to shake. "Deal. Pleasure working with the Foundation."
Team Timekeeper	"Can you see it, the myriad of possibilities, as you walk atop the water rather than within the current?" Something about Carmen makes Vertin incredibly uneasy, and not in a way she can brush off casually. Speaking to a 'Voice' isn't anything new, but one that others can see is unusual, and one from another world no less-- that still, despite all of that, seems to know much more about her than Vertin herself does. "I don't consider myself to be above anyone," is her uncertain answer, as the rest of Carmen's musings flow around her. At the very least, Arcana is retracted in favor of three people that Vertin could at least tolerate, even though she's thrilled about none of them. "Thank you for your words, Carmen." . . . "For a drink with a girl with a hat like yours?" "Are there others?" It's not even that bad of a time, to be sitting and drinking with Rufus. It's not as though Rufus is a difficult person to understand, and the relatively intimate circumstances of the bar make for a calming conversation in comparison to the chaos of the rest of the day. The sweet cocktail drains away at a steady rate, as they chat. "That I'm a little shit?" "Naturally." Vertin sighs after another swallow of her drink, propping her elbow up on the bar to face Rufus. "I've been hedging my guess on whether you're acting as a businessman or as a bored and wealthy heir for some time, but I suppose that decides it. Unfortunately, your money spends regardless, and I'd even rather have you in the position than someone worse, or someone I don't know." "And my punishment for being the worst person in this entire building?" Her expression hardly budges at his long-winded self-excoriation, instead sipping through her straw until it gurgles in an empty cup. "Were you hoping to lose, Mr. Shinra?" "If you're testing the world for its inbuilt limitations on bad behavior, I can personally reassure you that they are few and far between. What you have to watch out for instead is the inertia that follows, as things settle into place. I do plan on making things difficult for you still, you know." With her drink finished, Vertin nudges the empty glass towards the inattentive bartender, and puts down enough cash for both of their drinks. Swiveling off of her stool and grabbing her Suitcase, she turns to leave with the parting words, "Be seeing you, Secretary."
Rufus Shinra	"Mmm. Be seeing you, Timekeeper." Rufus waits until she's left, waits until he's reasonably certain he's alone, and then he grabs his half-full glass and hurls it against the wall of the bowling alley as hard as he can.
Hiromi	At some point, when it's clear that they're not going to be able to get Rufus to back down even while causing this much trouble for him, Hisako takes the opportunity while she's a moment in one of the smaller conference rooms, the other bureaucombatants having filed out, to rub Anh's back, commiserating. "There really are too many humans who let themselves be corrupted by currency." She says it a bit like it's a foreign problem, but just a bit.
Angela	''I don't consider myself to be above anyone.'' Carmen sighs. "Your kindness is a knife." She shakes her head. "I have said my part. I wish to return to a Voice now." And so the Spirit of Disttortion fades away. There's certain truths she can best tolerate while dead. She and the rest have engaged in the politique they are willing to, and the only one in Angela's group who seems happy about where things seem to be going is Argalia, who gives Roland the biggest shit-eating grin. Roland pretends not to notice. In truth, he's uneasy about putting a CEO anywhere near this thing, but that's business as usual at least and in the end, it doesn't change anything for him. The future can be other people's problems.
Flamel Parsons	Vertin goes through everything necessary to get runners-up in the process to. At this late in the process, with so few bureaucombatants left in the field, it's hard to bring new technology to bear and change the face of lawfare. But a coalition between the Foundation and Rufus' well-established power-base certainly manages, given how they control the highest powers through bribery and the lowest losers through kindness. With that done, Kramer as a runner-up role to Rufus manages to sail through the Secretary of Subconscious hearings in just a few short days, leveraging nearly universal support for one or both nominees. That leaves the Psychologist General position held by Oreshnika because of her tremendous support from a wider coalition, and supported by... Rita?! Through purely residual support from Ahn's early-weeks hearings?! And, of course, nominated, reviewed, and appointed literally entirely on name value and historical expertise, Petra Soroka winds up the Inspector Astral role, backed strongly by Chairwoman Katz as a firm Foundation foothold. The final reviews and hearings are only for show, after a certain point. Many don't even need to attend. But on the final day, withered and exhausted men shake hands, broker their desperate peace, and nurse their egos that have gone past wounding and simply been dismembered at this point. The sun rises over a shattered, ink-stained battleground, where men slump over worn and torn folders, expended laptops, and suit jackets and ties discarded like damaged armor. The policy will be forged soon. For now, the fight for the three thrones is finally finished.