Zelda listen to Silver's speech with attention, except toward the end where her smartphone ding, signaling a message, reflexively the teen check it out, she quickly type back a short sentence and stow it away. She end up missing part of Anya's questions but judging by Silver's reply this is not the place for serious talk, looks like an informal meeting, where the big boss introduce the nanny. "if we cant talk about that then...how about you Serena? you have our profiles, you know us, but what about you? where are you from? are you married? do you have childrens? zodiac sign? favorite movie? how were the late 1900s? what do you do when you are not soldiering?" She briefly turn to face Emiko "and, i have to ask, is that their natural color or have you dyed them? " gesturing at the Japanese's hairs "they're beautiful, really, fit you well, i so wanted to dye mine blue but dad said no "

First off, who spells Laser (it's actually an acronym that's become popularized, so it's only ever spelled LASER) with a Z? With Serena, italics are traditional spoken emphasis, and with bold, she's actually dropping her vocal range from her normal resonant soprano into lower tones, a trick she picked up dealing with low-ranking military males in the US military. When she gets LOUDER, I'll use capitals so you all can understand. In American parlance, she is speaking from the diaphragm and "putting bass in her voice" when using bold notation. And yes, there are situations where she will use italics, bold, and yell in CAPITALS. We are not there yet, as she tends to be rather calm and inflect and play with her pitch to get attention rather than yell...unless she's TRULY furious.

I'm Australian so its close but i'm also WESTERN australian and most of us have a pretty posh australian accent, people have asked if i'm english when i go over east.

I myself speak the queen's tongue, true English. None of that bastardised stuff with Zs. Like Lazer.

I haven't met enough native English speakers to be able to recognize accents, maybe 4 or 5

Yanks always making things difficult lol That said i should also point out i suppose the Emiko has more of an UK/general European accent to her English than america. My thought were that her english teacher was from northern europe/scandinavia

Clearly it's the yankee accent🤣

Hey Prestar, i just have a question about Serena's dialogue. I'm not quite sure i understand the emphasis marks. There is a lot of bold but also italics and normally i would read Bold as a volume emphasis, so like "Watch out, the door is about to explode!' so 'door' is said LOUDER (caps is another way i'd read volume). Italics is usually force, like 'You better watch our or that door will explode...' where 'door' is more forceful. (Italics are also often used for internal thoughts but obviously not in this case) So when i'm reading the dialogue to me its got a lot of volume emphasis "As for other PILOTS and EVANGELIONS' and i'm not sure if thats what you're intending or if you're using it instead for importance markers to draw attention to the word in the sentence. Because the way i'm reading it in my head feels like how Shatner would do dialogue with lots of ups and downs and stops after forceful words because of the way italics are mixed in. I figured i could just ask what you're intending so i can read it properly.

Serena looks Anya in the eyes...well, again as much as a pair of mirrorshades can look anyone in the eyes...and speaks calmly. "What I've said already is self-evident to anyone with access to NERV personnel. The Support Capabilities of NERV London is something I will discuss in a more secure environment than here. As for other Pilots and Evangelions, not only do I defer due to to security, but that is a question better aimed at Commander Heather, as is your question about the Entities...in a more secure environment." Serena raises an eyebrow and shrugs, indicating she's willing to have the conversation, just not right now, and she is serious about asking the Commander.

Sorry to hear that. Stay safe.

And I will reply Sunday or Monday as I am currently on the coast getting smashed by a storm in a flooded guesthouse room.   Love a trip away

I will reply tonight, but I'm going to defer to security and Comnander Heather due to the facts of an unsecured location and the fact that I as a Player don't know enough to functionally answer Anya's questions about most of the NERV assets and Entities.

The image of a 13 years old girl asking for a strong black coffee made me laugh, very funny

Although not fully sure what to expect, Anya is content to follow the lead of the two superiors as she would be more used to the training. She would order a strong black coffee, being slightly tired from the flight still, and a full English following the recommendation.   "If we and the Evangelions are limited military assets, is NERV London equipped with any support capabilities? - And If I may ask, how many other pilots and Evangelions are there across the other branches of NERV?" Anya would pause for answers, before asking the next question. "What can you tell us about these entities?"    

There are three now.   Sure I posted this earlier, maybe I dreamt it. But the last player accepted has been afk and zero response.

wait a second, have we lost a player? are there three or four pilots?

I think the whole game is going to be a lot of 'can i trust what this person is saying'  

That's good, however I fear it will be hard to be honest in a group of spies, everyone is lying/hiding something. I do like Serena ooc, it's just that she and Zelda are kind of opposite

Serena is trying to be honest. Since she sees everyone as being stuck together in a military unit, she does not intend to lie to her subordinates.

Funny you said that, you made it clear since silver first speech that she wasnt the top choice as OD, that would have been Zelda unfiltered opinion(but calling silver unqualified in front of the commander is too foolish, even for Zelda, maybe she'll complain privately) So the OD is a spy too. Edit. If shooting start out of Evangelion Zelda will flee lol  

Serena looks Zelda as much in the eyes as possible when one half of the conversation is wearing mirrorshades, and speaks in a calm, deliberate manner. "You are the most important military asset in several hundred kilometers." Serena pans her head between the three Pilots, including the other two Pilots, including them. "You three are the sole operators of the Evangelions assigned to London, the only weapons so far found able to reasonably effectively fight the Entities. You three are literally irreplaceable. I can be replaced by Commander Heather or Vice-Commander Broome, or probably even Heather's Assistant Josh Stand, in a real emergency. Commander Heather has a back-up in the form of Vice-Commander Broome. All the Department Heads have clear lines of succession." Serena takes a breath. Serena then continues, continuing to look between the three Pilots. "There are no back-ups for any of you. So that is why, Zelda, so much precaution and security is being taken with each and all of you. You will each have a security team, as well as a supervising Pilot Protection Division, led by Greg Wheatly, who I believe you all are scheduled to meet. The intent is to be as low-intrusive as possible while still ensuring your security. I'll tell you straight up, and if you want to get an override from Commander Heather, go ahead, I certainly will not take it personally, but if it comes to your security or your voluntary personal activities that Security thinks are a risk, I will side with your security. You're military assets now." Serena sighs, pinching her nose, before looking back at the three Pilots. "Which, when I raised my right hand and swore to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies foreign and domestic in Nineteen-Ninety-Two, I certainly didn't think I would leading a unit of child soldiers in giant mecha to save London. So, I'm not going to try to micromanage your life, Zelda. But there will be military training. Basic levels of fitness, Evangelion escape and survival drills, real-life fighting skills, which I'm given to understand carries over due to the nature of how the Evangelions work, that sort of thing. In return, I will back you in reasonable requests for recreational activities, dates out, good food, and do my damndest to let you live a normal life while giving you the skills to survive whatever comes to kill you, giant mecha problem or human problem. There are, from my understanding, already groups opposing the use of Evangelions by children, and there have been attempts on other Pilots. Hence the security. I could be mistaken. I've been playing catch-up trying to drink from a firehose as a last-minute replacement for the last Operations Director, just like you all are replacing the last Pilots. Unlike you all however, I barely qualify for my job and am playing catch-up. I'll be honest, I intend to do my best, but I'm not ever going to be a conventional Operations Director. I come from the wrong military background for that. Questions, comments, further concerns from anyone? Ask anything not classified. We have to live and work together, you have a great deal of latitude about what I will answer with all of you." Silver's head swivels between the three Pilots. Captain Serena Silver Wounds: 13/13 Ego Barrier: 35/35 Fate Points: 3/3 Fatigue: 0 Insanity Points: 0  

@Neopopulas You would laugh your ass off to see Captain Serena Silver's Character Sheet. She is an excellent example of her background, and fits her background story great, but really is one of those "grabbed first person meeting minimal requirements and with appropriate clearances and stuck them in assignment" as an Operations Director. She makes a pretty good spy, though. If shooting starts outside of an Evangelion, hiding behind her is a perfectly appropriate response until she gets you all trained up.

Silver's speech give Zelda bad feelings, she can immediately tell they will have problems, to her the captain seem a control freak, one who mark tightly, a stubborn bulldog that will make her espionage mission.... complicated, Zelda will need to be as slippery as an eel. Zelda pass on the breakfast, she follow a diet. Serena has encouraged them to speak, it take Zelda a non trivial amount of willpower to not express her unfiltered opinion, annoying their nanny on the very first day would be a mistake. "i do have a question" she say, both at Silver and Heather, who will answer is indifferent to her, as long as someone answer. "armored humvees, guards, escort vehicles, constant radio communications, always on alert, armed security at our arrival, our OD who talk about pilot's security and the...strange...idea to give us military style training...I wonder, are you aware of other threats to NERV or specifically to us, beside Entities?" And then she fail to resist "also...a concern, i dont like it when people try to micromanage my life" she say, specifically at Silver.  

Emiko Wounds: 0/12 | Fatigue: 0 | Ego Barrier: 35/35   A quick look at the watch on the inside of her left wrist and she nods. She ends up taking the suggestion for breakfast and though her English is unmistakably accented, shes clearly well trained in the language. Once everything is said though she is slightly at a loss, she's not entirely clear what sort of situation this is, if this is casual or official and with so many high ranking positions in the same room she's being cautious about how to proceed.

Stats will become more open as the game goes on, so don't worry too much Neo. Especially in combat, after about a round or two people will likely know everything they need. I have just remember, I am away on a trip from wedensday even till sunday. Meaning I won't be able to post IC, but will be able to OOC on the phone. Thankfully, this is very much a chat scene, so you guys can easily take the thread forward without me as you see fit.