voice; un: stargirl

[bossily]

[There’s the sound of rustling paper before Clara’s voice can be heard giving a harsh Sssh! to someone that’s there with her. There’s a lot of things she needs to say, and is in a hurry to get them all out. Which means her usual clipped accent is a bit more fast paced, just out of excitement at sharing some information that she hopes is useful.]

Right, so Kakashi and I have been working on infiltrating the Seventh Circle. And we managed to successfully get in.

[”We”. He did all the work to get in, she just dug up some info for him to use to get the job done. She lets out a shaky breath, trying to control her excitement. She’s got to be calm and clear with the actual information.]

The Seventh Circle is massive. At least several cities worth of land, if not more. It seems as if everything outside the Arch is part of the Seventh Circle, and it also looks like there’s a stretch of uninhabited land that ends at an ocean. There’s four labour camps here, each one beneath a dome and large enough to be its own city. We were able to gain access to the records of people who have been sent into the camps and who have been…removed from them, but the primary issue with using this information is every prisoner isn’t exactly listed by name.

[There’s a pause, giving time for all of that to sink in before she continues.]

Two of the camps are dedicated to engineering. The first seems to be putting out all the new technology that the First Circle makes good use out of. But there’s also human experimentation going on here, trying to come up with a solution for atmosphere sickness.

One of the camps seems responsible for growing plants. I think they’re dedicated to trying to create anything that will withstand the planet’s atmosphere and acidic rain. We found Alexandra Reman held prisoner there, along with one of our own.

[If this were a video, there’d be a pointed stare at Itachi coming from both Clara and Kakashi right now.]

She wasn’t particularly interested in speaking to someone dressed as a guard, for obvious reasons. And despite our best efforts, we weren’t able to track down any mention or trace of her daughter. We know that she supposedly fell ill, but…well, we were hoping to find anything related to her still existing. Anything more we could use besides mention of freckles and her age.

[It’s with a disappointed sigh that there’s the sound of more papers shuffling. She’s got to go through her conspiracy notes to remember the last part.]

The camp that’s furthest out in the restricted area is strictly dedicated to purifying water. They’re trying everything they can to get rid of the infection that showed up in the water. I think it was mentioned that this camp was the site of an earthquake that happened some time ago, but we’re unclear how true this actually may be.

Anyone else that’s looking to get into the Seventh Circle should be mindful that the area is heavily guarded. Every skyscraper and building has guards inside them. The guards patrol frequently, at least every ten minutes. And when I hacked into the security feed, I was only able to have access for a matter of seconds before the holonet was locked and armed guards came charging toward my location. The area is heavily guarded, and getting back in likely won’t be easy as I’m sure they’re increasing security after the incident that recently happened with the Fables and their broadcast.

Your safest route inside will likely be to impersonate one of the guards, and ensure that you take the band worn around their wrist. It will get you access inside. However, to step foot into the labour camps you have to pass a retinal scan. So unless you’re able to identify a guard to impersonate that has clearance and you’re able to figure out the most ethical way to make use of their eyes?

I’m not sure it’s safe to try.

Comments

audio | un: silent

[callada]

[Yo he's impressed, good work team. He'll just not mention how briefly excited he was by the mention of an ocean.]

Sounds like this government, for all its human rights failings, is organized and well-intentioned. These people are having to undertake some extremes to keep themselves safe and fed. While I'm sympathetic to the Fables, I'm worried that any major disruptions in their system are going to result in catastrophe for an awful lot of people.

[bossily]

Thing is, I'm not sure how much of this is going to go to the people that need it the most. I think most every advancement that's successful goes straight to the higher ups in the First Circle.

[callada]

Right. It's a distribution problem driven by inequity. Like I said, I'm sympathetic to the revolution's presumed cause. It isn't right that there are people starving while the First Circle has everything.

In an ideal world, they'd convince the government to shift resources to those who need them, and pay workers for making those things rather than enslaving them. Realistically, those changes don't actually happen without a lot of people making sacrifices they don't want to make. There's going to have to be a compromise, or there are going to be a lot of deaths. Maybe both.

Anyway - that's philosophical. These people probably have been pushed beyond the point of being helped by philosophy. It's just the sort of stuff I think about.

audio; un: mccoy

[homeostatic]

...God Almighty.

[bossily]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. But at least we know now what's there.

[homeostatic]

Hell of a silver lining. Are you still in the Seventh Circle?

( text | un: butcher )

[cheapbastard]

chatted with someone who used to work out there and they pretty much said the same shit. mentioned exploding collars on the prisoners and no hazmat suits for the employees so no one's really safe out there.

guy thought he was doing a good thing but all the shit they make there only goes to the richies. and they've done nothing to fix the planet.

( kind of a shitty thing all around, really. )

[bossily]

That's exactly what I was assuming was happening. They're not going to help anyone. They're too busy saving themselves. And I don't want to say that it's our responsibility to step in and save the people here, but we can't just walk away when we know these things are happening. Can we?

[cheapbastard]

dunno.

it's a pretty big fuckin' task all things considered
and i doubt saving everyone is possible.

they'll be collateral damage.

audio; un: nightmoves

[ruinously]

Wonderful. Is this the part where we fuck up the whole planet then leave it to rot?

[bossily]

Pretty sure it was rotting well before we ever arrived.

[ruinously]

Touché.

[ He still likes it here tho ]

audio; un: mafioso

[essenceofdeadlybeasts]

An earthquake? [Welcome to home. No, but more importantly:] Sounds suspicious. What if the Orb had something to do with this earthquake? Unless they're common in the area, which it doesn't sound to be the case, it could have been related to the Orb. [a beat] What could have caused this global destruction on such a scale? Did the people really do it to themselves or did the Orb have a part to play in it?

[He's shaking his head on the other end of this recording. After a short moment, he continues.]

Either way, if we're going with the idea that the Orbs tend to come from under the ground... like they buried themselves thousands of years ago... [comet fragments from when they split maybe?] ...could this one have been found in that area? Maybe if we know where it was found we can figure out who took it and where.

audio, un: Ambus

[legalcy]

The earthquake was catastrophic - according to what I found written in the history books. This is what upset the planet's plans to ensure secure plenty of resources for all of its citizens. Apparently, 400 years ago, the governments of this world sought to protect the remaining resources from private hoarding and distribute that equally. That plan had to be overwritten due to said earthquake, leading to what we have now.

If your theory is correct, removing the Orb will remove any disastrous factors that may hinder the rebuilt society.

[essenceofdeadlybeasts]

Those in charge write the history books... [Who knew how accurate that info was. But Zhao isn't worried about this planet's history except if part of it could reveal where the Orb is.] Not that it matters what the government did or didn't do before the calamity. Four hundred years ago isn't that long if we're going by Orb standards. I think one of them was on the planet over a thousand once? So... it's possible.

I don't know that it will actually solve anything if we remove it. That's just wishful thinking. From past experience, it doesn't really work that way. We'd probably have to make a deal with it to fix this planet.

audio;

[bindsthedead]

Our very first mission involved dealing with an orb-caused disease. It wouldn't be impossible, but what we've learned so far suggests that orbs do not act on a large scale outside of bargains.

[Which would mean that the orb's been affecting this world for a long time.]

[essenceofdeadlybeasts]

If we're going with the theory of them being found underground then it's possible they crashed into the planets years ago. Something like that could have a ripple effect on the world, right? Cause earthquakes.

Hell, I don't know. I'm just spitballing. It's probably due to a bargain like all the others. I wouldn't be surprised.

[bossily]

The orb could have possibly been here that long. But humans do a wonderful job all on their own destroying the planet. I'm having a hard time seeing any influence of the orb in any of the camps. When the wrong people rise to power, they don't need an orb to influence them to make decisions like the ones we're seeing here.

[She's having a hard time connecting all the pieces. Details are coming out, but putting them together is proving to be confusing.]

audio; un: Sabriel.Abhorsen

[bindsthedead]

If everything they're trying isn't working...

Clara, do you remember the plague from the first mission? How it didn't respond to any of the local medicines or magic? But Newt and I were able to come up with a cure using Charter Magic and the power the orb gave So-Yeon.

In any case, I'm in the militia. If you need me to, I can try requesting a transfer, and see what they'll give me access to.

[bossily]

I'm not sure if transferring to anything inside the seventh circle is going to get us closer to the orb, though.

If that's our primary purpose in being here...I don't know if we should be meddling in what we found in the restricted area. Not just yet.

text ↪ un: 朱 (private to clara+kakashi)

[blackfire]

（ hm.

kakashi is the only person who would have been able to notice him without being noticed necessarily in turn. he thinks back over the last few days, to the faces of all those he has seen among the guards, and lands on a few probable suspects. curious. ）

Who did he impersonate?

un: 009720

[shumi]

you could have told me that you were already on the inside

( watch this bitch not answer his question. )

private to the ninja boys

[bossily]

[From across the room, Clara looks over at Kakashi. Then back at the text over her earpiece. Then back at Kakashi. The wheels are starting to turn.]

I never said he was the one doing the impersonating.

[But there's a reason he must have assumed it was Kakashi. She had very intentionally said "we" the entire time as to not out what Kakashi can do. But now she's suspicious that Itachi knows more than he lets on. ]

Text. un: Kirigan

[cruelyethuman]

How were they listed, if not by name.

[bossily]

A series of numbers.