(( ──── ★. aion !! ─ o&a

[sammy,]

( ──────────────── ★. watching your requiem on screen,
gather 'round for the final scene !! ─────────────────── )

[sammy,]

xxx..x
──── ★. the space-time continuum is collapsing. weak points crop up daily - and with them,
evidence of other worlds, other universes. people are stepping through archways in 17th cen
tury france and coming out in 21st century london. for obvious reasons, this is a big problem.
luckily for the blissfully unaware public, a taskforce was put into place in order to solve the iss
ue, to stem the bleeds of these danger points and cope with the things that the crumbling cos
mos. these secrets, great in their numbers, lie behind the heavily guarded walls of porton dow
n, wiltshire, england. whether the team can figure out the reasons behind these damages and
solve them before the world descends into chaos is a question of chance. ──────────────

[sammy,]

xxx.....x
──── ★. recruitment to porton down is dependent on the attributes a potential member disp
lays. a lack of familial ties is preferred, but not mandatory (so long as the so-called 'applicant'
can think up a damned good excuse as to how exactly they're getting so much money workin
g in the back end of the cotswolds), their skill set, personal intelligence, and species status. t
he recruitment process takes place through a series of intense interviews. if an individual is su
ccessful, they will proceed to a vigorous two-week training course. if they are not, their mind i
s wiped and they are taken home. the brigadier is not picky when it comes to age - if a teena
ger or otherwise misplaced specimen displays valuable skills, they are taken on as a field appr
entice. additionally, alien life forms are considered of great use to the cause, so long as they c
an maintain a humanoid front for the duration of their workdays. outside of the intelligence br
anch, field operatives are required for the neutralisation of threats, retrieval of objects, and g
neral duties around the base. all in all, aion is almost permanently actively looking for membe
rs who can provide additional insight into the issues that appear to be snowballing out of cont
rol while remaining staunchly secretive. members live on base in assigned flats with basic nece
ssities. provisions are made for victims of the time stream to prepare for recruitment or to eas
e them into twenty-first century life. ───────────────────────────────────────

[sammy,]

i. all of tess' rules apply ii. somewhat literate, please keep repli
es at least three lines long and refrain from text speak iii. post
all forms/ooc chat in the discussion iv. realistic faceclaims onl
y, please v. drama is encouraged vi. please include basic perso
nality/traits & history in forms vii. alien characters are allowed
but limited. do not make them too overpowered viii. please inc
lude your character's role in their form. available roles are visib
le in the 'characters' post ix. include special skills/powers in yo
ur form x. writing in third person is preferred ────────────

[sammy,]

the brigadier [1/1]:
alekall padrac . male . immortal . pansexual . alien . sammy, . form

second in command [0/1]:
name . gender . age . species . sammy . form

scientific advisors [3/4]:
warren hall . male . seventeen . homosexual . human . outlandish. . form
baker ammon tarek . male . thirty-one . heterosexual . human . brookhiser . form
isiah shepherd . male . twenty-three . homosexual . human . hexcrush . form
name . gender . age . sexuality . species . user . form

medics [2/4]:
milo bates . male . thirty-one . bisexual . human . dami . form
jennifer colfer . female . twenty-nine . bisexual . human . genesis_ . form
name . gender . age . sexuality . species . user . form
name . gender . age . sexuality . species . user . form

tech specialists [1/3]:
reserved . wildsight
name . gender . age . sexuality . species . user . form
name . gender . age . sexuality . species . user . form

intelligence/researchers [3/4]:
laina jenson . female . homosexual . human . ~stories untold . form
cecil blackburn . male . thirty-seven . questioning . human . olyve . form
veronica taylor reese . female . twenty-nine . heteroflexible . human . chevreuil . form
name . gender . age . sexuality . species . user . form

field operatives [4/5]:
audrey 'a' walsh . female . ~mid thirties . pansexual . chevreuil . form
elliot barker . male . twenty-seven . bisexual . human . olyve . form
john doe . male . unknown . bisexual . alien . hexcrush . form
ashley milano . male . thirty-four . heterosexual . kveykva . form
name . gender . age . sexuality . species . user . form

apprentices [4/5]:
alastair ‘deano’ deane . male . seventeen . bisexual . human . sammy, . form
marley boone . female . seventeen . pansexual . human . genesis_ . form
valerica dimir . female . thirty-one . heterosexual . alien . kveykva . form
freya carter . female . seventeen . pansexual . human . indigo' . form
name . gender . age . sexuality . species . user . form

other (people who have slipped through time etc) [unlimited]:
amanda 'mandy' olsen . female . twenty-two . chevreuil . form
faustus a. regulus . male . thirty-three . homosexual . human . sammy, . form
jesse bose goodnight . male . twenty-three . bicurious . human . brookhiser . form
matthew wood . male . twenty-one . pansexual . alien . indigo' . form
broadway . agender . n/a . . asexual . alien . kveykva . form

[sammy,]

( ───────────── ★. now, you won't live after such disaster
you're a lot full of smashed up cars !! ──────────────── )

[sammy,]

bump / mark

[sammy,]

( *:･ﾟ✦ ) xx❝xx𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐤𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐜 ！！ x─────ix ★
x──────i ii the brigadier. iii alien. iiii tags: all. ivi briefing hall,
cafeteria

the morning had risen on porton down rather unimpressively. a blink-and-you'd-miss-it sunrise, the shift from frost-dusted fields to grass saturated with dew. anyone would have believed that the world was setting up for a day that would go down in the books as 'uneventful' - but the brigadier was not just 'anyone'.
the calendar that he kept by his sleeping quarters - a small, pull down bed in the corner of his office - told him that it was the eighteenth of january, which meant that it had been ten long and arduous years since the beginning of his tenure with aion. looking back, it had seemed like a walk in the park - the odd device here and there, falling from one nook in a different galaxy to a cranny in their own - and now, it was beginning to feel nothing short of real. a real threat, a real problem, one that, if he was to be honest with himself, he was not certain of the nature of. could one find an enemy in time? in what was persistent and permanent? was there someone - something - behind the curtain, controlling the show like a twisted ventriloquist? these questions did nothing for him. he let them go.

the monday briefings had been a staple of his work at aion since he could recall. often enough to check in, but not too overbearing. alekall was a big fan of that. as much as he respected the work that his subordinates did to help him with his assigned task, he didn't feel it necessary to look over their shoulder as they performed the duties that he did not have the power to complete himself. they knew what they were doing. if they didn't, they'd ask. someone else, hopefully. he was busy. he wasn't sure what exactly he was supposed to busy with, but he'd find an excuse to sate his mental drive. there was always something to be getting on with.

after a brisk shower - unnecessary for his hygiene, but necessary for waking himself up - he dressed, styled himself to a scrupulous extent, and walked out to the briefing hall. there were a few faces that he caught on the way, but not many. the cafeteria sent wafting smells of human foods, delicacies that he admired for their tantalising and decadent flavours, promising breakfast after the meeting was over with. time ticked from nine to half-past. the gentle tone of the bell to attention beckoned the members to park themselves in the seats parallel to him. no time to prepare, but the brigadier was alright with busking it.

once everyone had filtered into their seats, he cast a quick, sweeping gaze over the room. "good morning. happy monday," he boomed, not really for purposes of introduction, but rather to garner their scattered attentions. "as we know, things have taken a turn for the worse. i don't think there are any surprises there. the doomsday clock ticks down." his eyes widened a little, as though to push his point, and after a moment of quiet to let the words settle, he continued. "chronon energy levels have skyrocketed in a band around the south. there have been reports of extraterrestrial objects arriving from fishguard to ipswich. monitoring at this moment is key to ensuring that civilian speculation doesn't get out of hand." his brow furrowed for a moment, barely noticeable, but there nonetheless. "fourteen disappearances in wiltshire alone, some with collective memory loss regarding the individuals. i'd like the medics, field ops, apprentices and our time slippers working on figuring out whether they were wiped by time or simply by wish to disappear. their details are on the public drives. try not to make scenes of yourselves. if it's necessary, go out and talk to some of them. but, please -" a grimace. "don't start waving your guns about. we are trying to run a relatively secret operation."

four groups assigned, he carried on. "science, tech, and intelligence, you're on the sightings. any strange objects, any unidentified flying objects - we can't rule anything out until you can classify them all as 'ravings of lunatics' or 'real threats'. and keeping an eye on the chronon signatures. if anything is even an iota amiss, you tell me. is that clear?" an expectant look out to his little crowd. "if you're new, come into my office. we can have a chat. or you can figure it out for yourself. just... get on with something, right?" that was that. "alright. breakfast calls. you're free to go."

he waved off the little crowd, making his own way to the cafeteria. there was not much by way of human delicacies that he found truly benefitted him, given that he had capability to generate his own glucose and energy store, but black coffee had become a bit of a guilty pleasure that he allowed himself indulgence in in the mornings.

( *:･ﾟ✦ ) xx❝xx𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐞 ！！ x─────ix ★
x──────i ii apprentice. iii human. iiii tags: all. ivi briefing hall,
cafeteria

deano woke with a bit of a start. it had been a long time since he had had a proper night's sleep, but the little flat he had been given the keys to allowed his tossing and turning to go without too much complaint from outside sources. the privacy was appreciated beyond measure, and perhaps one of the only things that was keeping him around in the facility. well - that wasn't entirely true, but he did like to let himself believe that he was an apprentice purely by choice, rather than a result of the ultimatum that had been thrust upon him.

he didn't make much effort with his appearance, donning the usual hoodie and rubbing a glob of hair wax into a barnet that, upon a glance in the mirror, would definitely need a bit of a cut sometime soon. he was just thankful not to be wearing the shirt, tie and-blazer combo of his old sixth form - or, conversely, prison scrubs.
drenching himself in unhealthy amounts of lynx africa was a habit that he had not yet kicked. it was part of him now, an integral aspect of his identity - the miasma of 'adolescent' that announced itself before he ever managed to. with five minutes to spare, he sped from the housing block - a nicer way to say 'barracks' - to the main base, noting the chill in the air but not yet bothering to pull his hood up to protect against it.

filing in with the rest and sitting in a seat that appeared to be free, he harboured no shame in completely zoning out when the brigadier began to speak. if there was something important to note, it would be repeated at breakfast, he figured. a part of him wondered whether he should have more respect for the man that had swept in at his darkest hour and given him a purpose, but another still had an ingrained resentment for any perceived authority figure that dared tell him what he should have been spending his time doing.

that was where his mind wandered to, in the end - the outside world. what he would have been doing had aion not taken over his life. crime, probably. delinquency, definitely. he itched for the part of his training in which he would be able to show his proficiency in breaking into and hotwiring old cars. of course, it wasn't coming, but he held out for it to be added to the syllabus. it was an essential life skill. he had used it many times. there was no reason not to teach the others.

something about missing people - deano's head rose, eyes widening for a moment, before dipping it back down again, allowing himself to be captured by the daydream once more. more disappearances. they shouldn't have hit him in his chest so squarely, but they did. more people forgotten. it put a bad taste in his mouth.

he stood when they were dismissed, music to his ears, and began the shuffle to the cafeteria. the smell had not gone amiss - fried rubbish, that was what he would have hazarded a guess on, and it was certainly welcome. preemptively, his mouth watered at the thought of bacon, of eggs, of fried bread that dripped with grease. when he was proven right, that today was finally the 'fry-up' day, his heart soared. he must have died in the night and gone straight to heaven.
wasting no time in piling his plate high and scurrying to the table reserved for apprentices, he dug in, practically groaning at the much-missed taste of black pudding.

[འབྲོག་ཁྱི]

╱╱♞ ╱╱╱ 𝘼𝙐𝘿𝙍𝙀𝙔 ❞𝘼❞ 𝙒𝘼𝙇𝙎𝙃 ╱╱╱ 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙁𝙄𝙀𝙇𝘿 𝙊𝙋𝙀𝙍𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙑𝙀
╱╱ALIEN / CALGARIAN ─ LOCATION BRIEFING > CAFETERIA ─ TAGGING MILO ─ MENTIONED ALEKALL, ALASTAIR ─ WC 1,679

The morning light swept over Porton Down as a small, nondescript car rolled past the gates and down the paved road. Almost before it came to a halt by one of the buildings dotting the fence-lined fields, both of the back doors popped open nearly simultaneously and two techs wearing civilian clothing jumped out. They circled to the trunk and carefully gathered something round and heavy bundled tightly in layers of cloth. Another woman clad in a lab coat appeared from the building, and together, they began transporting the thing inside as the front passenger side of the car unlocked and a combat boot emerged as it propelled the door open.
indentindentAudrey hauled herself out of her seat by bracing an arm against the frame of the car. Her left was held tightly against her middle to keep it from moving too much, and as she made the effort to stand, a bright red rivulet of blood appeared from underneath the sleeve of her leather jacket. It rolled down the pale skin on the back of her hand before reaching a knuckle and dripping to the pavement. One of the techs with a shredded and dirtied sleeve slowed and turned to watch once the car had sped off, but Audrey shook her head and nodded toward the doors of the research facility, and they disappeared inside. She glanced at her slightly blood-stained watch to note the hour — she would have time for a shower before the briefing.
indentindentIn the early hours of January 18th, Audrey had been awoken by an urgent ringing inside her Aion-assigned living quarters. It had been an enthusiastic tech specialist, who had told her that their unusual team of three would be sent on a simple retrieval mission not far from Porton Down itself — unusual since the first field operative they had offered it to had decided to dodge an early morning by letting the techs know that Audrey owed him a favour and wouldn't mind tagging along in his stead. She didn't owe him a favour, in fact, he owed her a favour, but she didn't mind the assignment.
indentindentThe course of the assignment had gone in a way that could only be described as "standard", up until Audrey had lead them to the extraterrestrial object, which had appeared inside a residential street around one in the morning and burst a pressured water pipe, resulting in a mud-filled crater in someone's driveway. Having spotted the object lodged in the dirt by the shattered pipe, one of the techs had forgotten protocol and jumped right in. This had activated some sort of a security system in the object, or possibly a misfire of a feature that had not been intended for defense. The sharp edge of the metallic panel that had lifted from the object had torn into the tech's arm and caused him to tumble face-first into the open concrete pipe. Had the other field operative not passed on an early waking, Audrey would not have been there to take over the tech's injuries, which had allowed the mission to resume as intended. Damage was expected when it came to the field operatives — the tech specialists were not meant to get injured.
indentindentIt was nearing twenty past nine by the time Audrey had finished flushing out dirt from the wound, which carved a nasty path around a forearm already littered with scars, and stood in fresh clothes with her hip propped against the edge of the bathroom sink. She wouldn't have time to stitch it up, so she would have to make do with a few adhesive strips, and maybe she could flag down a medic after the briefing. Her sunglasses would cover the cut on her brow and the purpling shadow underneath her eye that the tech had gained by slamming his face into the edge of the water pipe.
indentindentThe path from the barracks was lined by fields of grass peppered with early morning dew. It was January on earth, a winter month before spring, she had learned, but she imagined it to be summer on Calgaris — although it would be impossible to know for certain, just as the scientists of Aion had told her that her home world was beyond locating for their technology. And she couldn't blame them, considering she hadn't been much of a scientist herself on Calgaris, rather than a subject of science and a subsequent soldier. Yet were it summer on Calgaris, the sun would have have burned away the dew not long after rising, but the heat would soon be tempered by a shroud of clouds drifting low above the pale fields and blue-tinted rock formations. The Aion sleeping quarters — which others had stopped referring to as 'flats' around her as it had taken her a walking tour to understand it was not in reference to a level surface — were hardly barracks in her mind, considering the barracks of Calgarian agents waiting for their turn off-world had consisted of practical rows of cots hidden away from the easily alarmed citizens. The latter also applied to Porton Down, and Audrey understood well why the average citizen might sleep better at night without the knowledge of what went on behind the gates.
indentindentThe bell drew Audrey to the briefing hall, which was filled with the static buzz of electricity that needled at Audrey's senses, and combined with her throbbing arm, she opted to remain near the door and follow Padrac's briefing from a standing spot. Most of the relevant Aion staff already sat in neat rows, their eyes and ears trained on the brigadier — most of them, she thought as her eyes swept over one of the newer apprentices. It didn't take a lifetime of human observation to understand his mind was in some other place, but she could empathize with this. Finding out about Aion must have constituted a major change in his life.
indentindentPadrac's briefing happened to align with her thoughts from the walk to the hall. They needed to maintain a sense of security in the minds of those outside Porton Down while they worked to understand the failing space-time continuum. It seemed Audrey would be spending her day looking into disappearances. The brigadier waved them off, and considering their dismissal hadn't been preceded by anything more urgent than their work tended to be on a usual day, Audrey allowed the murmur of the dispersing crowd to guide her towards breakfast. The crowd eventually clustered into smaller groups and the buzz of their presence melded into the chatter of the cafeteria. She found her own seat at the table of a few other field operatives, including the man, Marco, who had off-loaded his pre-dawn assignment on her and now chose to pay her back by offering her a penitent cup of coffee.
indentin"Rough night?" he asked with an amused smile playing on the corner of his mouth and gestured at her sunglasses before bringing a forkful of scrambled egg to his mouth.
indentinAudrey briefly pulled the sunglasses down the bridge of her nose to show him the damage. He grimaced in-between bites of food.
indentin"Again?"
indentin"Again," Audrey concurred, aware he was referring to the black eye she had only gotten rid of no more than a few weeks ago.
indentindentNearing the end of breakfast, as people began to leave and the tables in the cafeteria slowly emptied, Audrey stood from her seat to take her own leave, when a group of three apprentices — most likely about to be late from training — barreled around the corner of another table. They swept by Audrey, but one of them, whose attention had been focused on reciting a list of potential consequences for tardiness to his buddies, snagged the toe of his boot on the leg of a chair. Audrey reached out on instinct to grab him by the back of his shirt before he could plant his face against the cafeteria floor. Once he had regained his balance, his eyes widened almost comically as he looked back at the rather stony-faced field operative who had saved him a trip to the med bay, until he seemed to remember that he was going to be late and fled the scene in a chorus of mixed 'thank you's and 'sorry's.
indentindentThe other field operatives chuckled as they pushed their chairs back under the table and headed for the doors. Audrey simply shrugged her shoulders, but the movement sent a new twitch of pain through her forearm. She pulled back her sleeve and reached her fingers to probe at her makeshift first aid, and her fingertips were glistening with fresh blood when she pulled them away. The adhesive strips had given out. At the sight, Marco released an exaggerated 'again?' and thrust a stack of largely clean napkins into her palm. As Audrey wiped her fingers, she could hear him shout something about medical emergencies being a boring excuse for missing an investigation into multiple disappearances. And frankly, Audrey would rather work one-armed than miss out, and filling out paperwork in the med bay would likely take far longer than it should, but then again, bleeding out in the Porton Down cafeteria would be an embarrassing way for an Aion field operative to end up on medical leave.
indentindentAudrey looked at the people still sitting in the cafeteria, until her eyes landed on a man with neatly combed brown hair. She was certain he was a doctor of some kind, and believed his name to be Bates, but she hadn't seen him spending much time in the med bay. At least not whenever she had been there. She made her way over to his table rather unceremoniously, even as she could feel the blood slowly seeping into the sleeve of her shirt and causing it to stick to her skin.
indentin"Could you do me a favor?" she started in her accented English. "Or it is not really a favor, since you are a medic, but I thought it would be polite to call it a favor, as you are having breakfast."

[harrington]

((i need 2 make a nice header for warren,,)) - location ; barracks > briefing > cafeteria - tags ; none atm...

warren’s always been a stranger to punctuality. when the golden haired boy arose from his slumber, the sun had already risen into the sky an hour prior. warren often found himself sleeping in, - it saved him an afternoon nap later on, - but today was monday, which meant morning briefings. begrudgingly, warren made his way from lying down in a heap of blankets he called his cot to upright and what he liked to call “ready enough.” his hand wandered to his chin while he made his way to his bathroom. as his fingers stroked his light stubble, warren found himself once again appreciating the finer things in life: access to basic hygiene. as the minutes ticked by, warren found himself nicking his face twice, once on the chin, and once on the cheek, soon before running just the slightest bit of product in his hair and brushing his teeth. for someone who hadn't been to the dentist properly for over five years of his life, you'd be surprised with how nicely he cleaned up. warren slipped on a pair of jeans and a white shirt, shouldered his brown jacket, and rushed over to the briefing hall to hear the brigadier speak.

warren found himself sitting close to the front of the hall, not too close, but close enough that he could pick out individual stray hairs on alekall's jacket. as the brigadier spoke, warren remembered with slight contempt at his first mission after his promotion; there had been an sighting of an unidentified flying object down in salisbury by one of the locals. excited for his first encounter, warren buzzed with excitement the entire way. as they arrived, it soon became apparent that the man that called for assistance had not, in fact, seen a U.F.O., but instead was concerned about a weather balloon that he had seen in the area days prior. false alarms happened far too often - more than warren would like to admit - still, warren followed orders without much complaint. as the meeting wrapped up, warren made a mental note to himself that he was on assignment today, sightings it seemed. easy enough, warren thought, maybe he could even bring the endurance.

warren's mind wandered as his feet took him to the mess hall. the smell of the cafeteria was always indescribable; a mix of sauce, grease, meat... warren imagined it was what like a school cafeteria smelled like, even though it had been nearly ten years since he had last attended. plus, that was just elementary - the higher the education, the better the food got, right?

as warren made his way to the table he frequented, he passed by the apprentice table. there were a few faces he didn’t recognize - new recruits, he imagined, - but the majority of the table was filled with teenagers he had worked with before during his time as an apprentice. while it felt strange to be the same age as many of them there and to be of a more... well, if warren had to put it bluntly, “official” rank, it did put him at ease to not have to sit with them for his every meal. the table was often one of, if not the loudest in the cafetorium. warren thought himself lucky to finally be away from all the noise.

warren approached his table, made himself comfortable, and plopped down. he took a good long look at all the fried food before him before stuffing his mouth with carbohydrates. good eats.