I'm The New Guy [Cecilia/Jackie]

Joseph wondered why he bothered coming back in here. The last attempt was a complete waste of time with just Takeru. That guy might have been a Cadet. But he really didn't feel like one, maybe he was just some kind of loser in the bottom rank. It was only a first attempt at the day. Maybe it was busier at night? He hoped so or else this would just be another waste of time better spent elsewhere before he was deployed off for another patrolling job.

Jackie quietly leaned against a wall, thinking. Honestly, after the Mission he had completed earlier in the day, he could stand some actual combat. Gathering information was swell and all, but he needed to grow stronger, and he doubted her could do that by asking random people about cell phone Apps. He was mildly curious about what the Website was like, but pushed those thoughts into the back of his 'mind'. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he saw Joseph. "Oh...hey." He greeted a bit awkwardly, standing up straight. "...how have you been?" Jackie decided to go the polite route.

As Cecilia listlessly stared forward at the doors to the classroom with blank eyes and a dull expression that oozed ennui, she internally admitted to herself that she should have taken Sera up on the offer he made back during the debriefing. Having heard some minor but unsubstantial talk of new recruits that piqued her interest, she was quick to volunteer for the task of distributing supplies to them and the other few groups going out to patrol that night but that was long before the cruel reality of the job's specifics had come to light. There were new faces, sure, but they came and went practically without speaking a word to her; she had been hoping to get a better understanding of her peers and foster some camaraderie given they'd likely be fighting together soon enough, however, it seemed they had no interest in pleasantries and wanted to cut straight to business. Not that she could blame them for that per se, if anything she blamed herself, though that didn't change the fact that her night was steadily devolving into an uninspired mess of voluntary grunt work.

Staring down at the assortment of medicines and equipment, the pink-haired girl would rhythmically drum her fingers against the pitch-black desk for a few seconds while silently hoping someone would enter through the door to shatter the monotony of idling away the time. This continued for a little while longer until she released a disappointed sigh and indignantly tore open a bag of chocolates she brought with her then proceeding to snatch a handful of candies out of it. Only after stuffing them into her mouth and languidly swallowing them did someone else enter the vacant classroom.

She'd stare at him for a few seconds and begin to move her hand to beckon him over, though she'd stop in the midst of the motion at the sound of a greeting offered by another unfamiliar man. Had he been there this entire time? Whatever the case, she wouldn't interfere with their conversation uninvited. At least for the moment anyway, there was no point in interrupting it.

Action:

When he finally entered Class Zero, he noticed Jackie also arrived. He was some weird guy, but Joseph figured he didn't seem too bad. At least he wasn't a complete bore like that Takeru guy. It didn't hurt to at least try to get along with him and create connections to utilize in the future, since there were worse peers to get to know. "Hey. I'm trying to get used to the whole Cadet stuff. How about you?"

The Cadet walked up towards the pink-headed girl who was waiting for him. As she waved, he also acknowledged her existence with a nod and smile. She seemed utterly bored out of her mind, Joseph could sympathize with that as he began to take the items from the box. It was great that the Cadets got some form of support like this, going on missions and even patrols seemed to be a challenge for newcomers like Joseph and Jackie. He motioned Jackie over to begin divvying up the spoils before deigning to address Cecilia. "Thanks for the stuff. Do us newbies get this free stuff usually? Or is it an one-time thing?"

Item Gained:

Item Given to Jackie:

"Same pretty much...trying to process a few things from earlier in the day. This city gets weirder by the day." He gave the pink haired girl a quick look. Well. He could be pretty quiet once he had settled down in a spot. He wouldn't quite say he had


or anything like that, he was just...decent at not making noise. "Well...this is certainly more than I could afford for our last patrol." Jackie took the items he was handed. "Thank you Miss...um..." He rubbed the back of his head. "...Yeah, what Joseph said." He didn't want to be rude, but he honestly had no clue what this girl's name was.

He liked the color of her hair though.

At first, Cecilia would stare down at the table with a dumbfounded blank look on her face. She didn't immediately realize that her wish for some sort of substantial human interaction had been granted and her face would light up with energy previously locked away once it dawned on her. Looking up at Joseph from her chair, she'd shake her head side-to-side nonchalantly. "It's not a regular occurrence. But," the Cadet offered a reassuring smile to her peers, "if there's anything you need then just ask your superiors! We've all got the same objective, so we're obligated to help each other out as much as we can. Plus you'll usually get equipment and cash after most missions anyway." While she wasn't sure when the next major assignment would come out, it'd no doubt prove lucrative like the others had. The government took care of those who served it and the more successful a soldier was the more reason there was to invest in them. After all, victory was expected of them thanks to the competence of Class Zero as a whole, and at times (frequent times mind you) it was difficult to imagine any other possible results.

It took all he had to not grimace. This guy was a ball of positive energy that it almost blinded him. Looking at this guy was searing through his eyeballs and yet to look away would be detrimental to his relationships with other Cadets no matter how foolish they were. Admittedly it was nice to hear that they were rewarded for a good job. An incentive to ensure the Cadets were giving their 100% to the their work. Joseph actually admired that. People just didn't want to do anything unless it directly benefited them and it showed. "I've yet to be in any serious missions, so I can't really say anything yet. But I'm looking forward to the workload. Is there a ranking system within the Cadets, Cecilia?"

Jackie shrugged. "The job's gone okay so far. Really, I've just gone patrolling once, and had to do some investigating around town. Nothing really harsh yet...though I bet that'll change after I've been here a while." He offered. "Overall, though, it's just good to be able to help protect the city...it's kind of something I've wanted to be able to do for a while." Well, less wanted, and more needed to do. Deep down in his programming, there was a drive that even his newfound personality couldn't bring itself to ignore. "...still! It's good to hear that we'll get rewarded the more we do! We can use that stuff to make our work count more. To me, that makes all the simple jobs now worth it.

Cecilia nodded in understanding at their response. It was rational to think like that and she could respect that way of viewing it, but she didn't have much to add in the way of her own thoughts. She'd just have to wait and see what they were capable of for herself. Either way though, she was sure they'd be fine; the previous recruits she had worked with were all able to carry their weight and if these guys had already been patrolling than that was already some experience for when they'd have to deal with domains, so she wouldn't linger on the topic and would instead spend her attention elsewhere -- specifically, the comment Jackie followed up with. Fervently nodding in agreement with the sentiment, she'd flash a toothy grin in approval.

"I can understand that for sure. I joined up for the same purpose, a lot of people did." She spoke with conviction. There wasn't any nobler cause than protecting others. As far as she was concerned, it was a desire every Cadet should have, and one she saw all around her in her peers. Maybe that was just her projecting herself onto them, but a suggestion like that would only make Cecilia scoff given what she had seen so far.

"Cadets are divided into three ranks. There's class three, class two, and class one: three's above any rankless Cadets, two's above three, and one's above two. Technically there's also the class zero rank, but last I checked His Majesty is the only one under that as of now." Looking over her shoulder to confirm its location, she'd point to a small screen embedded into a wall in the center of the room. It was relatively unassuming, certainly easy to miss if you hadn't seen it before, but the neon red light emanating from it otherwise made its presence loud and clear. "You can check the lists over there whenever you feel like; you scroll through it like a tablet until you find the name you're searching for. Right now you guys probably aren't listed, but that'll likely change soon. I got put into class three after my first mission and just recently I got pushed up to two after my second... That might be because of the nature of the missions I was sent on though." In a blatantly false show of humility, Cecilia gave a sheepish laugh. Bragging aside though, she genuinely wasn't sure how fast Cadets usually ascended up the ranks. At the very least there probably wouldn't be anyone reaching the top anytime soon (and if there was then she was determined to have it be her).

It almost made him gag on how chummy these two were being. Joseph unfortunately wasn't as altruistic as the rest of the Cadets. He wasn't a hero. Just some guy who wanted to crawl his way up to the top and lord it over the dumb sheep below him. The Cadet intently listened to Cecilia's explanations and nodded after hearing where they were placed. If anything, it proved to him that the Cadets was an organization built on actual results, and this was where he embraced it. Maybe this place wasn't going to be that bad after all.


That's it, bow your head and wag your tail like a good boy. Get them to like you a little, that's how connections work.

Jackie nodded, thoughtfully. Honestly, he didn't mind how long it took to rise through the cadet rankings. As long as he could help the city, he was fine doing 'Grunt Work'. Obviously that couldn't be the same for EVERYONE in the cadets, but Jackie didn't mind. He smiled a little. "It'd be nice if we got to work together someday...but I guess we'll just have to see where it goes! If you have some free time, feel free to stop by One in the Chamber in Suzie-Q! I wor-...well, I guess now I kinda just live there? I haven't really tended the counter since I joined the Cadets. Either way if I'm not here I'm probably there." He offered to both parties.

Joseph's sycophancy would work like a charm as she beamed, nodded, and flashed him a thumbs-up. "Leave it to me! I'm sure you guys'll get the hang of things in no time." She'd casually assure them. It felt a bit odd being referred to as ma'am considering that the guy seemed to be older than her and that she had only attained her position of authority recently, but not in a bad way by any means. For a brief moment, Cecilia had to wonder if Maria and Athena felt similarly when they were addressed so formally. It was a thought which swiftly slipped from her mind however.

"One in the Chamber, huh? I think I've heard of it before." It was in her home district after all; she had never visited it in person, but she had seen advertisements for it and heard the chatter of people who appeared to be its regulars. Still, she wasn't exactly sure she'd be going in there anytime soon... It wasn't like guns themselves made her uncomfortable per se, but she knew she wouldn't get much use out of a place like that as of present. Hell, she didn't even really carry her side-arm on her, if only because it essentially amounted to deadweight for her. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind Jackie. I live in Suzie Q too, so it shouldn't be that far a walk." At the very least she now knew where to look if she ever wanted to find him.

"Thank you. We hope we don't let you and the Cadets down," Joseph replied with a calm and easygoing demeanor. He almost smirked at how easy it was to bait Cecilia with his words. Dumb impressionable kids, they were easy targets if you knew the best words to say and when you had the shroud of niceties hiding your intentions. These halfwits had something to prove and they adored positive feedback. At the same time, they were malleable once a tight grip was on them. Joseph looked forward to using this disgusting saccharine-like sweetness of a person in the future and perhaps make her the object of his future derision and cruelty. The Cadet glanced at his watch and noticed the night was beginning to wane dangerously past the agreed time.

Jackie nodded. "See 'ya later then! And thanks again. This stuff should make it way easier than last time." Jackie nodded. With that said, Jackie then frowned. "...go on ahead Joseph, I still have one more thing I need to pick up. Heard about it when I went on my last Supply Run...I should have tried grabbing it sooner, sorry." With an apologetic sigh, Jackie then left with one last waive.

[Exit]

"I'll see you two around. And no need to worry about me, but I'll keep it in mind." Cecilia didn't want to stall them any further and wouldn't attempt to. She had a hunch that the rest of her shift wouldn't be nearly as personal or eventful, but if nothing else she was glad to have gained some understanding of the newer recruits. Bidding the two farewell, she'd return to her previous routine with the hope that she'd get to see what they were capable of in person sometime soon. Respect might have been too strong of a word this early, but if nothing else she felt confident in her sentiment that they were promising.