Capital Building

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jezabelle was in pretty high spirits when she stepped through the large glass doors that separated the air-conditioned lobby of the capitol building from the muggy heat of the rest of the island. Dressed in a short-sleeved white dress shirt and little black tie with matching black skirt she had her hair done up atop her head, looking quite smart and professional. She held a folder of papers in both hands as she approached the reception desk.

"Pardon me." She said softly. "My name is Jezabelle Sherlock. I'm supposed to be starting my new position today. I was told to see someone at the desk to arrange a security pass."

[Narrator]

The man looked at her papers, then looked back down at his terminal. "Very good, miss. Just a moment, I'll bring up your... hmmm..." He frowned, keying something else in. "I can't find your file in the office pool. Could I see your appointment papers again?"

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"Oh, of course." Jez opened her folder and flipped past the first two pages, carefully pulling the papers from the stack and handing them to the man. Though outside she remained quite calm and cheerful inside she was beginning to panic.

[Michael Asters]

The man took the papers and looked them over. He looked back at the computer, searching for her file, but was obviously growing more dubious of her position. He even went so far as to give Jezabelle a suspicious look as he picked up the phone, calling her number in.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez rocked on her heels slowly while holding the folder in both hands in front of her skirt. She knew she hadn't done anything wrong. What was the day's date? She wasn't late was she? Doubts started to fill her mind and compounded with every passing moment.

[Narrator]

The man on the phone seemed surprised at something he heard, blinking as he set the phone down. "Ah, Ms. Sherlock? I'm sorry about the confusion. Your assignment was transferred, and it was too recent for you to have gotten any new paperwork. If you'll just give me a moment, the new papers should be arriving soon. I'll get your security clearances set up while we wait."

The man began quickly preparing her access cards while they waited. A few minutes later, a courier arrived, handing Jezebelle her new assignment papers.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jezabelle looked a bit relieved but still upset. Transferred? Great, she was probably going to end up working in some basement with a bunch of IT guys who made the Blob look anorexic.

"Thank you." She said to the courier with a well-practised smile. When she opened the papers her smile faded slowly while her eyes followed the letters intently.

"... I think there's been some sort of mistake." She said softly. "This says that I'm... the personal assistant to Lord Cassiel."

[Narrator]

"Yes, ma'am," the courier answered. "Lord Cassiel's office is being reestablished in the capital. He spent most of last night putting in transfers to staff his cabinet."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez stared at the papers for a moment longer before emitting a high pitched squeal, jumping in place and shaking her fists in front of her. It echoed around the spacious lobby a bit, breaking the mumbling background noise that was the daily grind. Once she'd calmed down she cleared her throat, fixing her glasses and tucking her blouse back into her skirt, a bit of her hand hanging down over her face.

"Ahem." She said softly, fixing her tie. "Which floor did you say I was to report to?"

[Narrator]

"West wing, third floor, suite C," the courier recited automatically. "Once your security clearances have gone through, I've been instructed to escort you up there."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"Ah yes, of course." Jez patted her hair a bit, trying to put herself back into a more professional state. She kept glancing at the receptionist, barely able to keep her excitement contained.

[Michael Asters]

The man behind the desk finished her pass, handing her the card that declared her name, department, and her security clearance. Then the courier led her through the halls and up to suite C.

The suite had a handful cubicles adjacent to a small waiting area, with a door leading into the main office. In said office, doing his best to ignore the various workers getting the last bits of furniture re-arranged in his previously vacated office, Cassiel sat at his desk. He didn't even glance up from the papers on his desk when they entered. "Thank you, Spectrum," he said, "You can go, I'll get her situated myself."

He seemed to finish up a memo, which he slid into a folder with the rest of the papers, then looked up at Jezabelle. "You must be Ms. Sherlock. I'm glad the last minute changes didn't throw things off too much."

[Ria Larsen]

Ria walks up to the desk, her footfalls heavy even in soft-soled shoes. She's wearing a little bit nicer clothing today, but still pretty loose and casual looking.

She smiles at the receptionist, and leans on the desk, without doing it any harm. "Hey. I was told to report to Lord Cassiel."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez remained perfectly silent while Cassiel did his work.

"Yes Lord Cassiel." She said respectively. "Not at all my Lord. This is an unexpected honor."

[Michael Asters]

"Thank me after you know you can spend a week on the job without hating me," Cassiel chuckled, setting the folder aside.

Meanwhile, down in the lobby, the receptionist was looking over Ria's papers, which had been delivered to her house that morning. "Ah, yes. I'm showing that Lord Cassiel is seeing someone right now, but there are instructions left for your arrival." Spectrum, having just been dismissed from Cassiel's office, reappeared in the lobby as the receptionist prepared Ria's cards.

"Ms. Larsen, I've been instructed to take you to the Accolyte offices to get you fitted for your uniforms and to get your training regimen set up. Lord Cassiel will meet us there."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"Yes my Lord." Jez said, arms still straight and holding her folder.

"My Lord, if I may ask... why was I selected for this position? Surely there are others better qualified."

[Ria Larsen]

"We have uniforms? Okay, but it better have a high tensile strength or be pretty loose on me. Otherwise it's going to be rags in the first hour."

[Michael Asters]

"There probably were," he said, leaning back in his chair, and motioning for her to sit. "But I decided I was going to take my new staff from the new hires, find the suitable ones from the personnel files, and hire my staff that way. I wanted someone who didn't have any habits I'd have to train out of them, conflicting loyalties to other departments or supervisors, or hidden agendas that run against the work I'd have them doing. Among the files I found, your file said that you were intelligent, responsible, and motivated, in addition to having a power that will probably serve you extremely well in this job."

_______________

"Your Accolyte uniform, Ms. Larsen. Unstable molecules, extremely durable. I think you'll find it suitable. If you'd just come with me?" Spectrum answered, as the receptionist handed her her security card.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez sat down and listened, looking a little bashful at Cassiel's praise. "Thank you my Lord, that is most flattering to hear you say." She crossed her legs, hands held in her lap as she did her best to look professional.

"I guess that does make sense. I can see how having an assistant who can be in five different places at once could be beneficial to someone with as busy a schedule as yourself."

[Ria Larsen]

Ria follows along where she's asked to go, wondering just how skanky the uniform is going to be.

[Michael Asters]

"Well, the power was a nice bonus," he admitted. "Mostly, I noticed in the transcripts of your interviews, there were quite a few not-so-polite questions about your parentage that were brought up. If you could get your internship in spite of someone who clearly wanted to make it difficult for you, then I think you're sharp enough to do a good job for me."

"So, shall we go over your daily duties, beyond the usual 'whatever I tell you to do' part that could come up at any time?"

______________

Ria was led into the east wing, to an office on the first floor. It was currently unoccupied, as the Accolyte office, not being an actual government office, was often empty if there were no appointments.

"If you'll step into that booth, the scanners will fit you for your uniform," Spectrum said, indicating a glass booth in the corner.

[Ria Larsen]

Ria steps into the scanner, lets it do its thing, and then steps out.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"If my parents really mattered then they should have been the ones interviewed, not me. I just didn't see how the questions were even relevant so I just didn't let them bother me. If it was that much of an issue then they would have their mind made up before the interview."

"It would probably be for the best, my Lord." Jez said. "Unless you're rather busy with something. I just want to do my best."

[Michael Asters]

"They really weren't relevant," he said, sounding dryly amused. "At least, in this office they weren't."

"All right, down to business. Unless I'm extremely busy, I come in at seven and leave at five. On any given day, barring special assignments that require special hours, you'll come in a half hour before I do, and you'll leave a half hour before I do, unless I tell you to cut out early. When you get in, you'll organize my messages, go over my appointments, and make sure that everything fits and nothing conflicts. I need to know what my day looks like as soon as I get in."

"You're the face and the voice that people get before they get to me. As such, you'll be polite to everyone, but not let anyone push you around. And when I say anyone, I mean anyone. Any assignment I give you, I'll be giving you my full authority to be doing what you're doing."

He stood, motioning for her to follow as he started out of the office and into the hall. "The first few days, there's probably going to be a lot of busy work. That'll change. When it does, you'll probably wish it hadn't. Now... on days that the schedule permits, there will be at least three hours of your schedule dedicated to an Accolyte training regimen. Do you have any prior training I should know about? Self defense, martial arts, anything like that?"

____________

"Very good, ma'am," Spectrum said, logging the measurements. "Your uniform will be ready tomorrow. Now... I need the details of your current power levels so that we can get a training schedule ready for you. Lord Cassiel keeps his Accolytes, he says, to act in his stead when he needs to be in more than one place at a time, but they are still a part of the Genoshan Defense Force."

[Ria Larsen]

"My current power levels? I'm a university student. I'm also made of beryl. I have some hand to hand training. Oh, and I'm strong."

Ria picks up a steel coffee cup, and closes her hand around it. The metal shrieks in protest, but is bent inward. She puts the crushed cup back on the table. "I've never tested how strong exactly."

[Michael Asters]

Spectrum nodded. "Well, we'll be testing that over the next few days. We'll need to have an idea of how strong you really are if we're going to give you a workout that will actually exercise you. Don't worry... we've dealt with just about everything by now, we're good at it."

[Ria Larsen]

"I imagine so. I just don't think exercising does anything for me. At least, physically it doesn't. I don't have muscles. Maybe my strength is all mental. Meditation might make me stronger, it's something I've talked over a little with the family doctor."

[Michael Asters]

Spectrum made a note of that. "We'll have to study that to see. If strengthening isn't an option, and you're right, it very well might not be, we'll just start you with situation training."

[Ria Larsen]

"So I'm being trained to be a commando? I thought I was going to be a PA."

[Michael Asters]

He chuckled a bit. "Well, I wouldn't be worried about storming any buildings. However, in the event of an emergency, Lord Cassiel is generally one of the first called to respond. We've learned through experience that those closest to he and Lord Exodus need to be versed in the skills that would help in a situation like that. First aid. Rescue procedures. Like I said... situational training."

[Ria Larsen]

"Hmm, that makes sense. Alright, where do I go for the training?"

[Michael Asters]

"The Accolyte's training compound is in in a bunker just outside the walls around the Capital. Lord Cassiel will give you your training schedule. Apparently, all of his new staff are going to be going through training during lulls in their work during the first few weeks on the job. Like you said... you're a university student. We're not trying to make a soldier out of you."

[Ria Larsen]

Ria grins. "Good. I'd make a terrible soldier. Too contrary. So, what's on the agenda for the rest of my job today?"

[Julia White]

After getting her pass from the front desk Crossfire makes her way to the Accolytes office, trying her best not to look too giddy about being here.
Entering the office she nods at Spectrum and Ria.

[Michael Asters]

"You're late," Spectrum said unconcernedly as Crossfire joined them. "Step into the booth to be measured for your uniform."

[Ria Larsen]

Ria flashes her diamond teeth at Julia. "She's rude to me too, it's not just you."

[Julia White]

"Great. Now I feel much better." she says as she steps into the booth.

"Name's Crossfire." she says to Ria as she steps out of the machine after it's done measuring.

[Ria Larsen]

"Ria." She offers a crystaline hand to shake.

[Julia White]

"Hello Ria." she says, taking the offered hand. "New recruit too, huh?"

[Ria Larsen]

The hand is smooth, and cold, but surprisingly gentle in its grip. Ria manages a firm handshake without ever making Julia feel like she was being crushed.

"I guess so. I got in an argument with Cassiel and here I am."

She looks over at Spectrum after getting tsked at. "Lord Cassiel, I mean."