@clarke.griffin

[strove]

Thank you to Yalena for getting us sorted. [Sort of sorted. Sort of.] Now that we've arrived in New Tokyo and we're stuck inside for a little while, I think we should talk about some new changes that we're facing. I can't be the only one.

But first: a good number of us are here unwillingly, but we have to wait until we're fully prepped before we can go anywhere. Heading outside in these temperatures while unprepared could cost you your life. We all hate being trapped somewhere. I think that's pretty well-established. We also hate having to do anything or be anywhere when we didn't ask for that to happen. At least it doesn't seem like we were drugged, though it wouldn't hurt for Katelin and I to take some blood samples to confirm that. We'll have to store them until we get back.

As for the changes in your lives: have you noticed any? For instance, apparently I'm a lab tech at Giles Bell. I tried to set myself up for a new internship there that I could get easily, but I got ... elevated. Or hired beyond that? I'm not sure what the right terminology is here. Has anyone else noticed this? Or had it happen to them? I got permissions to take leaves from both of my jobs. And no, I'm really not prepared to work as a lab tech. I don't even know the first thing about setting up gels.

As a bit of a personal request ... does anyone think we can make pancakes in the small kitchen here? I have a craving for them. I've not really had cakes of the "pancake" variety before, but I want them now. And if you think we can, can you make them?

[This last bit is Loki's fault.]

Comments

@leo.fitz

[retravel]

Thanks to Yalena and yourself, Clarke — congrats. I'm sure Kat can send over the required reading. You'll catch on quick. However, it may be prudent to see if local Morningstar agents can test the samples. Not sure a bag of bloodwork will breeze through customs, unless our new Head of the Committee for Customs & Border Protection Policy, @margaret.carter, has divergent advice.

[ he's very tired of this reality warping nonsense... ANYWAY. ]

Check the UN website. They've made some updates.

[ he posts a direct link to the anti-Morningstar page, with the charming, wee submissions box for reporting suspected agents.]

@margaret.carter

[revlon]

[ God. That's a mouthful. ]

Mr Fitz is correct. Back when this trip was in response to a monster attack, I'd toyed with the idea of bringing samples back with us but decided the risk was too great. Travel is strictly regulated in this world and if straying from one's itinerary is enough to face consequences, what more the transportation of biological specimens without a permit? We're here for search and rescue and we can't be caught doing anything but that.

But if the local chapter of Morningstar is unaffected by the storm, we may be able to utilise their resources. I had planned on liaising with them, anyway, so once we're settled I'll reach out. We're here for at least a week, which should be enough time to collect and test samples.

@rey.nolo

[forcevisions]

Congratulations.

[ That's ... confusing and unexpected. She's good to cough up her blood samples and all, but ??? ]

Any idea how becoming head of a committee happened?

[revlon]

Thank you. It's a surprising development but not entirely out of the blue — I had done work with that committee in the past as a clerk and was fully brought on board as a secretary after the September arrests.

[ To replace an arrested Morningstar agent. Now it seems she's been appointed the position that missing agent must have been angling towards (and one she had been, too, but not like this). ]

But according to my records, I've held my present position as committee head for far longer than that. I couldn't tell you how or why.

[strove]

Thanks for your insight. Most of the border control that I'm familiar with involves territorial disputes over much smaller swaths of land.

[revlon]

You're welcome. We all come from different walks of life and we're all still learning how this world works. But if we're to remain under the radar, especially with the UN treating all suspicious activity as Morningstar business, then we have to play by their rules as best we can.

@kylo.ren

[warfares]

Congratulations on your promotion.

And the insight is certainly useful. I confess, I hadn't considered the difficulties involved in transporting the samples.

[revlon]

Thank you.

And that's quite all right. As I mentioned to Ms Griffin above, we're all from different worlds with different rules. But my position in local government notwithstanding, I do have prior experience with the transportation of sensitive assets and artifacts across borders. The paperwork was extensive then, even with the proper — [ military ] — clearance. But with this world so intent on recovering from decades of ecological damage, one can't blame their caution for what can go in and out — including people.

@prom.argentum

[mercurio]

i'm still tripping over the whole monsters situation changing to storms or whatever

[revlon]

You aren't alone in that. It's quite a drastic change — more so than any promotion at work.

[ Except for Ardyn's. Because that's absurd. ]

There are no records of any other megacity being attacked. And no records of such an extreme weather event, not for at least a century, according to news outlets.

@ojiro.juniper

[deicider]

Whoa. Raise your hand if you're responsible for that one.
I wonder what else has changed with them.

[retravel]

That makes two of us.
It's quite unsettling, if we're only noticing the publicly documented shifts.

[ @god why are they always fucking with spacetime ]

@rey.nolo

[forcevisions]

If they're putting in the effort to stamp Morningstar out, it's because we're more of a threat. It's good news.

[retravel]

I'm afraid it's not as simple as good news or bad news, Rey.
Being perceived as a threat doesn’t mean we are one yet. The majority of our agents are noncombatants trying to go about their daily life while aiding others. And as you know, our chapter of Morningstar suffered considerable losses in the raids because of said efforts to stamp us out.

If this is indicative of increased scrutiny and hastened pursuit from the UN, we have less time to get back on our feet than we thought.

@keith.kogane

[secondnature]

I think you're right, but we need to check first.

[strove]

Sorry. I think this is where my lack of knowledge about this world and similar worlds may have led me to believe it's fine. We would have needed a way to chill it even if we got it through customs.

Do you think Morningstar will help?

[retravel]

Don't worry at all, Clarke. We're lucky Carter's been working toward her position for some time now and can speak with authority.

[ Ardyn's a surprise, to be sure, but Peggy's been on the government since she got out of the safehouse. She deserves this, even if the mechanics of the changes to this universe worry him. ]

I do. Carter was already planning on rendezvousing with the New Tokyo branch to establish a relationship between our chapters moving forward. Hopefully, we can work together on this and more.

@max.guevara

[revvedup]

[ ceiling max is reading up on all of this, including the separate offshoot conversations. ]

an official form for snitching and everything, huh?

[retravel]

That seems to be the idea. Apparently, we're "a danger to the world's prosperity."

[ BOLD OF THE UN TO ASSUME THEY AREN'T THE DANGER!!! he sends her a news article decrying the unrest and ingratitude of the UNC2 (Mars) colony, with a reminder that the Venus Riots led to much trouble and suffering for people at large decades prior to this. Why would the colonists threaten the peace this way? Don't they understand that the UN gave them a better life in the stars? ]

Background reading shows that UNC2 has become a hotspot for activism, including pro-Morningstar sentiment. Colonists are wearing the logo and everything.

[ ft. blurry photos from conspiracy boards. thanks, internet. ]

@kylo.ren

[warfares]

I suppose it was only a matter of time before they decided to take this step.

[retravel]

You're right, of course.
And historically, it's the first step in a countermarch.

[ the same way HYDRA started hunting subversives. ]

@jon.snow

[998]

This is as bad for them as it is for us. It'd be easy enough to for us to report their people, turn them against each other. This must be a sop to fearmongers or else they're desperate and stupid. Either way they're like to see more petty grievances than information they can use.

[this is the sort of thing bowen marsh would propose to him, or that he'd have to stop stannis's men from doing.]

@margaret.carter

[revlon]

The United Nations is thorough and so is their army. You make a good point, Mr Snow, and I imagine they have contingencies in place to prevent a witch hunt. Everyone's personal records are accessible so secrets are difficult to keep in this world; if there's a pattern to be found in one's day to day life, there will be a trail for them to follow.

I've seen this tactic employed before. [ By the Germans during the war. ] I think the best course of action is to determine precisely what they'd flag to determine a person is a credible suspect or threat.

[ It's why she sought to work in local government, why her overall career trajectory is aiming for the UN. If she's on the inside, she can see how they're thinking and, hopefully, move Morningstar and the displaced a few steps ahead. ]

@keith.kogane

[secondnature]

I think we need to know why they didn't go for this in the first place. Something changed.

I think Rey might be right. They're worried that Morningstar needs to be stopped. They're really finally worried.

[retravel]

I wouldn’t consider the recent raids to be indicative of indifference to our presence until now, but I take your point regarding shifting tactics.

Perhaps they’re measuring public opinion in addition to seeking out insurgents.