As I see everyone speak between each other, I feel less aprehensive. Presentations have gone relatively well, and they are even making a few jokes. My hopes for this team rise, as they seem to get on better than my first team.
I nearly rejoin the group, when a voice is heard in the Cabin.
"Milarqui? Are you there?" the voice says. It was, undoubtly, the voice of BJ, my boss.
"Yes, I am here, what's the matter?"
"We noticed that your new team lacked people with the ability to control a ship, so we are sending you a pilot."
"Is it Jade?" I ask. The woman was also quite the nice girl, but the last I had heard she had decided to stay living in one of the Hibernia alternates.
"Yes. Well, not exactly Jade."
"You found an alternate Jade?"
"Yes, but, well, this alternate Jade is quite different from the one you already know. This one comes from Earth 4891."
I was not familiar with that number. "What's the problem with 4891?"
"This Jade is a cyborg."
Huh. Did not expect that at all. A cyborg. Well, there goes someone that could be used for infiltration. Though, if this cyborg alt-Jane is a pilot, then she is not going to be going out of the ship much. And it might work for their advantage if the team ever goes to a world with cyborgs. Either way, it is not too bad.
"Very well. When is Jade going to arrive?"
"Should be about to." A small bell sounds, warning me about the docking of a shuttle. "That should be her. She already knows the way towards the meeting room."
"Well, thank you for this. Hope she is good at her job."
"She is, believe me. Over and out."
BJ cuts off the call, and I open the gate so that the docking shuttle can get inside and leave its passenger. A second bell tells me that the shuttle is leaving, and I close the gate behind it.
A few minutes later, the door to the meeting room opens, and the rest of the team meets its new member.
"Jade?" Takashi asks her. She turns to look at him.
"Do we know each other?" Jade asks in slightly clipped tones.
I choose this moment to rejoin the group. Not sure of how Takashi will take this, since he knew the other Jade.
"Greetings again. I am glad that you have already presented each other. And, about our newest arrival, this is Jade, and she comes from an Earth where people graft themselves with cybernetic augments. And Takashi, I know what you are thinking, but, no, this is not the Jade we know, but an alternate Jade."
Takashi seems to deflate a bit at that. Hmm. Interesting and curious.
"Well, Jade, I am glad that you are already wearing one bracelet, because I want to show you ladies and gentlemen about the ship plans. Mike, if you don't mind?"
"Sure, man!"
As the screen goes white, I see the others are a little surprised. "Don't worry, that's the ship's computer Mike. He is a very advanced AI, but he is quite nice. At least, he is if he doesn't catch a virus."
"Come on, man, that was only once," Mike says, "and the firewall destroyed it in the end, remember?".
"I do, but I'd rather not have to go through the same thing again," I reply as the ship plan appears on the screen.
"Takeshi, you already know this, so there should be little problem. The others, please pay attention."
I then start to explain to them the layout of the ship. I am glad that, at least, the bosses made some reforms to the ship, and now did not require a power plant to keep working. One less thing to worry about for whomever became the mechanic.
"As you can see, right now it is quite small, but when we finish this mission, if the bosses regard you as ready, they will install a Multidimensional Expansion Pack, and you will be able to expand the ship's interior as much as you need."
"Now, the mission. Mike, a map from TL-966243, please, centered on Ajaccio."
"Coming!"
The map appears. It is a satellite photo, taken a few days before. There is much smoke over several parts of the planet surface.
"We have been told that this world has been beset by a terrible plague, called Revenant. I think some of you may have heard about it or something similar. Basically, this plague, when it infects a person, if they die for any reason they revive, but they are dead on the inside. They become animals, only bent on feeding on any living being they find. The only reason it travels between worlds is because the acebees use it as a weapon, to weaken worlds and make them more prone to accept their demands. Normally, if the world is advanced enough they manage to stop the plague and quarantine any infected person to prevent the expansion of the illness, but this time, they used it early enough to prevent an easy cure, yet late enough to make it easy to expand far in the world.
"We have a mission: in first place, we must aid the French Remnant, which is right now the only surviving nation in all of Europe. It is limited to a few places, but they are still strong enough to resist the Revenant hordes. Then, we must capture a Revenant alive and tying it so that we may determine what is the cure. Finally, we shall spread the cure everywhere. It will certainly be chaos as all the Revenants finally die, but it beats the whole thing.
"Now, better if you go sleep. Tomorrow, we travel to your first mission. Get ready!"
OOC: Well, I've made it faster to ensure you get as much info as possible in the least possible time.
Now, you have six actions, which will have to last until the morning after. My suggestion is that you do 2 actions, sleep, and then use the last 3 actions before beginning the mission.
Hope you liked it. Have fun!
