[A Machine for Sins] Prelude: Friday Night At The Office

Victor crossed his fingers and made space for the new arrivals. "Victor Shuler, Artist, and I'm shading into the art historian role for this project."
 
"Indeed," Jason replied to Missy's observation, sipping once more at his own coffee. It was certainly better than the crap that was dished out at the hospital. "Although, I'm unsure why they require two doctors."
 
He takes the artists hand and give’s it a good genuine pumping, “a pleasure to meet you Victor, and while I don’t know exactly what art we shall find given the range of evolving historical periods covered in one sight, I am sure that we shall unearth something.”





"Indeed," Jason replied to Missy's observation, sipping once more at his own coffee. It was certainly better than the crap that was dished out at the hospital.


"Although, I'm unsure why they require two doctors."





This might make him sound like a know at all, and God knew he wanted to avoid that, but perhaps it would be a good way to bridge the gap of not knowing anybody. “It is recomeended that for every every five members of an excavation team, that one medicialy trained individual be on hand, although Barbar (1989), has regularly stated that two is sufficient, especially if one is trained in emergency care. He and others have said that is also ideal to have one trained in biochemistry as well.”





‘Now Paul did you deliver that like a big enough book wirm or what’
 
Jason looked from Missy, to whom he had been speaking with, to Paul, an eyebrow raising. "Oh, well, that answers that then," Jason said, trying not to sound too mocking. It was apparent, everyone here seemed to be for their intellectual knowledge but he couldn't help but think abou something Know-it-all Paul had said.


"Excavation team?" Jason asked, grasping for more information. "Have you already been told this?"
 
‘Saints of heaven preserve you Paul Thomas Agious, you’ve done it again. abbatis, accommodo Stovatvono erro sum Aztanzo artificiosus .’





“You know that didn’t come out the way I intended it to,” honesty, may not always be the best policy, but if you are going to drawn, you might as well make yourself comfortable while you are doing it. “ sorry by the way for interjecting myself into your conversation like that, a bad habit I’ve never quite gotten rid of. It’s easier if I am relatively sure that it’s a personal conversation, then I know when to keep out, settings like this it’s not so clear you know.” Paul reaches up and scratches the back of his neck before return his hands to their original position with fingers interlaced.





‘Row with it or be blown by it, which shall be it be Paully boy.’





“Now, returning to your question, when I was contacted by Mrs., Nora Bates, the nice lady from Yorkshire, contacted me about my experiences and my knowledge with jointing lines and the like, she mentioned that I’d have a good time working along side an archeologist. Well, I take that, take the history of the site we are going to be at, and take the relative composition of the room; we’ve already have two medical personnel and an are expert, and I’ve not met everyone yet, and I arrive at the conclusion that this is a historical related affair. Either restoration, preservation, or a combination of the two. I could be very wrong, wouldn’t be the first, or likely the last. Still you asked, and I ventured an answer, that’s all.”





Paul finished this all with the slightest of nods and a smile, slightly broader than the one he’d been wearing, the man’s way.
 
Missy listened to Paul quietly as she leaned against the wall and nodded when he finished. "That does seem to make the most sense, but I wonder..." She sipped meditatively from her cup, "Who is sponsoring this? Unless things are wildly different here than at home, aren't historical preservation societies usually close to broke?" Nodding to the expensive alcohol sitting on the table and then at Dr. Ross, "I know how much I'm getting paid, and I hardly imagine that they'd pay Dr. Ross or y'all any less given the sheer amount of education you have. That's in addition to having to acquire the Complex itself. And then any equipment and whatever is needed to refurbish or maintain that beast means this is a very expensive project. Does anyone else think it's a little odd that Chieron seems to have such bottomless pockets?"
 
Jason listened, continuing to smile, but he was getting a litle nervous with so many unknowns. "Actually, does anyone know anything about Chieron? I can't say I've heard much of them."
 
Cedric stood quietly at the coffee maker, his eyes staring down into the dark surface of the fluid in his mug. He took a sip, a jolt of bitterness washing over him as a result. Not bad, but nothing special. As he stood, listening to the others speak, he pondered his role in all of this - left completely unmentioned, but hey, the pay was pretty solid, all things considered. Considering his long-term inability to remain unnoticed, Cedric found a seat at the table. Taking another sip of his coffee, he took in the bitter taste for a short moment before offering a curt introduction.


"Name's Cedric. I work in private security."
 
The music



again, rather abruptly, and the volume drops.
Shortly thereafter, a woman you'd be reluctant to guess as thirty, with dark eyes, skin, and hair - and a slight smirk - enters the room.


She's dressed in a smart, navy jacket, pencil skirt, and low-heeled boots, and most importantly a name tag she's in the process of tucking into a pocket.


"Good evening, everyone. I'm Nina Cole, and I'll be directing our expedition."


Her tone his cheerful, accent that of the Queen's English but with hints of the East End.


"Everyone is here, yes? Good, very good. I've read your dossiers, so don't worry about going unrecognized."
 
Missy set her coffee on one of the coasters and waved slightly to the woman and spoke in a similarly cheerful manner. "Good evening, Ms. Cole. A pleasure to meet you. I assume we'll be clearing up some of the details of this generous-yet-vague job?" She smiled politely and tucked her hands into her front pockets.
 
Jason gives a smile to the director and couldn't help to turn the gesture into a smirk at Missy's question, as he sat back into his chair and finished off his coffee while waiting for the answer.
 
Nina smiles, and crosses to the coffee pot as she speaks.


"Yes, it has been a bit vague, hasn't it? Sorry about that, the old fellows can be..." she gestures, as if in exasperation, towards the ceiling.


"It's simple, though. We go in, survey, study, catalogue, maybe a little collection. This will take at least a couple of weeks, at most a few months. I assume you all know something about The Complex, yes? Personnel did send you some documents?"
 
"A little, yes. Parts of the place are older than dirt." Marcus says, sipping coffee to hurdle the stares coming back. "That is, is there anything in particular you're wanting to find? Place is a bit big for simply six people to catalogue and all that, no?"
 
She nods.


"It is, which is why it'll take us time. You're being paid generously, yes, but paying a bigger team would be beyond our resources. One thing we'd like to find is justification for a bigger budget, any useful texts or documents, and information on some of the odder facets of The Complex."
 
"Such as? I know of the Keep and something about there was a church here once? I'd be interested in plumbing the depths of the old sanitarium. Partial hobby of mine." Marcus chuckles. "It's all very exciting! Certainly better than my current work."


Something to be proud of, maybe.
 
"I imagine there will be plenty of 'odd' information to find for the building, given that the Complex is nothing but one giant architectural freakshow," she began ticking off fingers as she recalled what she had read. "A church, an asylum, a slaughterhouse, a boarding school, a hospital, a retirement home, and then a theater?" Missy made a face, "Sounds like all the settings of bad horror movies rolled into one. Will you be opening it up as a museum or something after we're done?"
 
Jason couldn't help but chuckle at Missy's comment, thinking something similar himself as he read through th documents that were sent his way. He wasn't really a fan of horror films, truth be told. It wasn't the blood, oh no, it was the generally poor standard of first aid that seemed to be missing from every cheerleader or jock in the scene.


Although something else crept unbidden into his mind, something that the Director had said.


"You said a few weeks, months maybe. Will we be sleeping on site or coming back out in shifts?"
 
"Well, it's a long drive. The plan is to camp, as it were, in one of the more intact sections - likely the boarding school."


She grins at Missy. "And yes, if it doesn't bear out as a decent historical museum we can always host Halloween events there."
 
A lot of information had just been confirmed, and a number of additional questions raised. They could have lowered their pudget, and increased their team sizeably, by making several changes. They could have, worked it more through a by-system grant, assuming that they hadn’t thought of that two late, or that the others applying didn’t have something better on the menu. At least his team was smart, they’d already picked up on a few of the problems easily enough identified. Time to through his ten cents in.





“is the site all ready receiving some sort of power? Or will a secondary need to be set up?”





He had brought along his modified portable for the areas that were too badly damaged for central routes, and the thing could serve as primary, while the small alternator could serve as backup. Still he couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that this wasn’t some sort of set up, or maybe it was because he couldn’t figure out why she was putting her name tag away, instead of putting it on.
 
"We'll be bringing out a generator of our own, but there should be sources still functional inside. There's a maze of bombshelters and other structures underneath The Complex, and the hospital definitely had an emergency power supply of some kind."


She leans against the back of one of the couches and sips her coffee.


"We'll be starting with the school - should be quick, easy, and comfortable. I'll be assessing step two during that time and may ask one or two of you to examine some of the other structures."
 
A preliminary investigation, probably a REC 1, or 2, by the sounds, maybe something more in depth, but there was no way to be sure at this stage. Power sources were being brought in, which meant he could use his as backups, if needed. Now, why couldn’t he just shake the feeling that something wasn’t quite right about this entire thing. From the sound of it though, he could easily bring his portable tea maker, he never quite developed a taste for coffee, which so many other professionals drank with such zeal.





He decided to keep his mouth shut for once, a postive thing for him, and just listen.
 
Missy laughed at Nina's comment before wrinkling her nose at the words 'camp out'. She sighed at the mention of electricity, "Thank goodness. Dare I hope that there will be running water? Also, when are we heading out? That is assuming that we're heading there as a group."
 
"We'll go tomorrow, and yes, there will be running water. A few of the technical staff and a security guard are already waiting for us."


She looks out the window, grimacing.


"In tents, the poor sods."
 
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