of governments and men | closed rp

lullaby

Friend PM Trade

rohze found the current state of her mind to be slightly hazy; up late writing pages for the recent trainee at work. she gazes through the window of the jet train, her breath fogging the glass and casting a translucent cloud over the dusk of the city. the ride gives her just a few moment's rest before the hustle and bustle of her work, and it was enough to give her the go : go straight to the coffee room . after placing her papers and bag, she beelines to the break room and makes a cup of dark joe, and she reminisces in the silence . the soft waft of coffee beans, the humming of the ac, slight clacking of heels in the background. she didn't realize that the heels turned into the room, the door closing softly behind them, and her boss standing right there . it took a few seconds before she opened her eyes and saw the anger , felt the air turn cold . " enough slacking off, you have business to attend to . " with the state of her boss's attire, rohze could only assess that they spent the entire morning looking for the elf . they placed a file in front of rohze and explained, briefly, of a new case that needed looking into . rohze places their mug down and skims through the file and noticed a few words that left a horrible feeling in her stomach ; technology, science, corruption . if there was a bad day to assign rohze something with magic, today would be the day, especially if connected to the technological advancement of the city . she pretends she read more then closes the file.

at this point in time, her boss had calmed considerably and was making their own serving of coffee . they shared more details to rohze ; be careful, they warned, but rohze had already seen herself out. she got ready for the trip and made sure her branches were covered before exiting and entering the train again, off to the observatory outlined in the file . she decided that it was best to read the file in depth on the ride there, but the words soon bored her to sleep.

@xvz

xvz

Friend PM Trade

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@lullaby:

the evening sun set the study alight in an orange haze, dust speckling in the warmth as xavzaphir shuffled a few more pages of his manuscript. quarks in motion: an analysis of the fifth newtonian substance across the axis of time. his long white hair was tied back in a high ponytail, and he swept the loose trails behind his pierced elven ears. adjusting his rimless eyeglasses, he decided it was time for a break.

xavz put down the papers, stood up from the dark leather chair, and stretched his slender, lavender-grey build up and outwards, letting out a deep sigh. it was his third year at the observatory, after his research assistantship, a year as a research fellow, and now, as a young adjunct within the observatory's academic arm. the yearly term had just ended, and he had a few more weeks of solo research before any summer assistantships would begin. he paced around the office, stretching his arms and upper back, walking past walls filled with books, dark leather and olive spines lining the mahogany shelves, the gears in his head winding down. it was a thursday evening, dusk approaching soon. he had spent most of the week in the lab, but dedicated thursdays in his routine to focus on publications. if he can finish this draft by next week, he can meet the deadline for ICQAR—the international conference on quantum alchemy research⁠—without too much stress. he hated staying late. one more paragraph and he can call it day, he tells himself. i'll do it after this break.

a mug half filled with herbal tea⁠ sat tepid on the desk, floral petals brewed hours ago after lunch and promptly forgotten about when the researcher reimmersed into his work. xavzaphir nestled the mug into his hands, using his junior magic to reheat the white jasmine and rose by transferring heat through the palms of his hands.

he sat down by the bay window, hot mug in hand, leaning against a dark green velvet throw and staring out into the sunset. the first moon, barely visible, was starting to emerge for the night. as if telling the sun, my shift is starting, get some rest, i'll see ya tomorrow. the second and third moons would join their night shift companion soon.

the observatory was far away from the rest of new velic, the nearest city hub, and reachable mainly by the west metro train⁠—it was the last stop on the green line. it had to be distant from the life of the city, to avoid the light pollution from their dusty urban neighbor, smogging up the night sky. xavzaphir watched as the west metro, far in the distance, rumbled left to right across the track and into the city, tracing the pink horizon line with its dark shadow. he took another sip and returned to his desk, flowers in his mouth.

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lullaby

Friend PM Trade

@xvz:

she knew nothing ; gladly her comprehension allowed for rohze to skin through and catch the high and low points by the time the train had opened the doors . in a race against time and however long it may take to walk to the front, she read more about the research facilities in front . by the time the sun had set , her pages ran out of words to give and the observatory loomed above her . she took a minute to scan the perimeter of the building before walking up to the security check in . producing her government id was quick enough ; the guard only took one second to connect a pre-bloom rohze to the currently spry elf with an ensemble of reds .

there was an immediate disconnect when she entered the space and the soft click - clacking of computers , ticking of clocks , and rumble of moving cleaning carts rushed her ears . there were few places rohze could currently go, and she chose to escape the atrium into the office side areas to find some form of intellectual life . the students here kept their heads down into their books and only a few words stood out about their studies . a few letters popped off that caused rohze to slow into as stop; in the title of the paper details research on matter of sorts. when leaning over to learn more , someone had walked towards her and bumped her back, causing her filed to slip slightly from her hands .

readjusting and moving on, she made her way 'cross the linoleum to find someone open and free . it took about a minute before lavender ears peeked past a corner and then the frame of a young elf . she runs up to him, possibly on his down-time considering the cup in his hands and the soft smell of warm tea . " you there . yes . " a beat, wondering if her purpose should be revealed or if she should hide it under the guise of learning more . " do you ... work here ? or , rather, could you help me learn more about this place ? "

🖤

xvz

Friend PM Trade

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@lullaby:

xavzaphir stood deep in thought. dusk settled into night, and he was hovering again by the window, letting his mind roam free, eyes catching with nonchalance the occasional train passing through the darkness. the three moons hovered above the tracks. next week the council heads would meet to discuss the annual research budget, determining which departments would be prioritized for the coming years at the alchemist's council school and observatory.

two years ago a bill was passed, stating that it was allowable by velic laws for the state's military to explore research into weapons of mass alchemic warfare—a practice long condemned by the international committee of universal rights. the clause was quietly introduced into a larger bill allocating budget for public research funds and carefully worded to obscure its devastating nature.

in academic alchemy circles, however, researchers caught the change and mobilized to protest the bill. in the face of public backlash, the council school issued a public statement condemning the clause and its deceitful inclusion. but the statement was superficial at best, an empty promise to assuage the protesters, and the council continued to accept the government’s public research funds with little further regard.

a year into the bill, the council's research budget had appeared to nearly double based on internal speculation, yet the public fund allocation and tax receipts did not reflect this increase. it was rumored that the council school was receiving shadow funds from the velic military, the two institutions conspirators in the development of warfare alchemy. of course, the council’s paper trail remained sparkling clean.

due to his fellowship contract at the time, xavzaphir was legally bound to silence over the bill and the council’s affairs, and he was too scared—no, too cowardly—to violate its terms, essentially blacklisting him as a researcher-alchemist so early in his career. hopelessly xavzaphir had watched as his colleagues, some tenured, were quietly defunded and let go. the controversy soon died, largely ignored by the media and publicly framed as a niche minor drama among the academic community.

xavzaphir was resigned to his silence but obediently continued his research. he knew why they kept him around: his work on quaternion motion could reveal the key to alchemizing chemical antimatter, the last piece necessary to prove the theory of multiversal inversions. researcher-alchemists around the world were on the brink of a massive breakthrough, and the council wanted—needed—to be the first. in theory, he should be generously funded for the next few years, at the very least. but where those funds came from, and what confidential projects the excess funds were disappearing into…

a hesitant voice broke his concentration, and his eyes regained focus on the sylvan figure emerged in red. a prospective research fellow? or was the wood elf here for one of the summer assistantships?—he must have missed the memo about her early arrival. she looked… lost, but trying hard not to show it. sympathetic, he offers her a languid smile.

“um... sure." he responds in a low voice, trying not to disrupt the quiet working atmosphere. "are you here for the summer research assistantship? cuz we usually give a tour during orientation, but that’s not for another two weeks or so. i’m xavzaphir, i'm an adjunct research professor here”—shifting his mug to his left hand, he extends his right to greet her with a handshake—”what do you need?”

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lullaby

Friend PM Trade

@xvz:

rohze worked for years underneath the science and warfare branch of her company . they collected data and monetary collections from the government and dispersed it into the research centers as it sees fit . one of their clients is the building she stands in now, the question was whether the funds are being used in the ways required. from the looks of it, education was covered, but the money runs deeper and involves a complicated branch of newer warfare .

despite her lack of knowledge with the sciences, rohze was informed of the bill proposed by the branch she works with, and even had to edit a few of the clauses herself . she knew where the research was going but with the increase of protests and conspiracies, the bill held little hand over the laboratories it wanted to reach . they withdrew, and rohze and the army she worked with had to go more discreet in the way they handled public funding . remembering the past few years caused her headache to come back, and it was apparent to her that her sleeping schedule would make this visit quite difficult .

rohze focuses on her task by mentally leafing through the catalog of information. the summer apprenticeship was made to cover the newest developments with magic and technology, but also go through current foundations . this is an.. okay start, something to work on . the elf shoves her files into her crossbag, effectively keeping the file out of sight and away from prodding eyes . she returns the smile, and nods with an enthusiasm matched for someone here to study in the summer . " yeah , i go by ro . it's nice t' meet ya . " her hand meets his before withdrawing . " i came by to get a feel for the facility . " her eyes roam around the walls as if she's taking it in for the first time . they linger on the doors, trying to view the life within them and what they are labeled. " and to see the items i have to read up on . "

🖤

xvz

Friend PM Trade

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xavz felt flustered. he didn’t realize she would be arriving so soon. at the tail of a long work day, he was worried he wouldn’t make the bright first impression he wanted. having a good relationship with his research assistants was important to him, as mentoring was one of his favorite and most rewarding parts of the job. well, it’s happening, just do your best, he tells himself. i’m sure we’ll get along fine.

he lets out an exhale and brushes the top of his hair back towards the ponytail, smiling a little sheepishly. “i’m gonna be honest, i didn’t realize you were coming today. i must have missed the memo, sorry about that! i don’t have anything prepared for you… we normally have welcome packets and everything but i haven’t actually, uh, haven’t actually made them yet…”

“but i mean, that should be fine, i mean you’ll get them in two weeks.” i’m rambling now... “umm i’ll be giving everyone a full tour of the facilities and an intro to working in the lab. i mean, during orientation. we can just walk around for now though, i can at least show you how to get around and like where the bathrooms and cafes are,” he offers, friendly. "i know it's late so i'll keep it short, but you can look around some more tomorrow."

he walks her out of the study, so at least they can talk more comfortably. he wasn’t sure what she meant by “the items,” and perhaps he could have caught that something was amiss, that rohze knew something he didn't, but in his fluster the remark passed by without a second thought. he leads her along the long white corridors under fluorescent lighting, with floor to ceiling windows on one side facing a courtyard resting blue in the night. through the glass, a few sun-powered lamps lined the dark outdoor walkways.

during the day, the observatory’s halls beamed bright with sunlit rectangles stretching across the white vinyl. the open windows faced exclusively inwards, maintaining the institution’s privacy while offering a relaxing view of the inner courtyard: kept and grassy, white benches shaded under the trees, a small artificial pond xavzaphir often sat near, fond for the turtles sometimes found stacked together in water.

“the observatory is really nice during the day, you should give yourself some time to explore this week if you can. we can cross through here, i’ll just show you the lab and the archive since that’s all you probably have access to for now anyway. i have to show you the courtyard, of course.” he pushes open a glass door by its metal bar handle and gestures for rohze to follow him into the dark blue.

the three moons dance in the pond. strolling past, he points to one of the benches by the water’s edge, a sleepy fig behind it. “that spot is perfectly shady at noon,” he shares with a smile, hoping to build rapport with his newly arrived mentee and help her feel settled in to her new position.

next, they stop by the lab—xavzaphir does some handwaving, assuming she’s worked with everything before, here’s a state-of-the-art antimatter synthesizer, only two exist in the world and the other one is in geneva, i’m sure you’ve used one before though right—and the archive, a secure repository for the observatory’s past and current work, stored physically and digitally.

“remind me again which project you’re here for? there’s the synthesis project, that’s the one where we’re synthesizing antimatter into a physical tablet; umm there’s the space measuring one”—he gestures vaguely—”the stability one, you know, the stable compound thing; and there are some other open projects…”

he felt unprepared. normally he re-read through all of the assistantship applications before orientation so that he could remember names to faces, and what everyone’s backgrounds were like so he could provide a more personalized learning and mentorship experience. walking through the observatory with ro, however, he couldn’t remember anything from her application. her research interests, previous publications, the lab she was visiting from... all blank. he was hoping it would come to him eventually. unfortunately he was going to have to do that awkward dance of trying to figure it out without revealing that he had no idea.

“oh what did you think of the stability genesis paper? i'd love to hear your take!” it just came out earlier this year and has been all the rage in the academic alchemy world. maybe if he got her opinion he could figure out if her background is in chemistry or quantum. “i mean i know it’s kind of overhyped but honestly i loved the section on multi-time, it was so clever how they measured multiverse effects using antimatter volume. what’s your experience working with multi-time been like?”

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Forums Role Playing of governments and men | closed rp

lullaby

xvz

lullaby

xvz

lullaby

xvz

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