tushanshu_logs | Sonja February Catch-All

Entry tags:

Sonja February Catch-All

Characters: Sonja, Jack Frost, Zatanna, + OPEN
Date: Month of February
Location: Welcome Center, Midnight Hotel, other parts of the city
Situation: Sonja Volunteers at the Welcome Center, and misc
Warnings/Rating: n/a

A: The Welcome Center
True to her word, Sonja showed up the next day at the Welcome Center to help with whatever Jack Frost or Zatanna told her needed doing. She'll also be around helping out if anyone else drops by the Welcome Center.

B: Midnight Hotel Lobby
Sonja has a room on the third floor and spends a fair amount of time in the hotel.

C: Misc
Sonja makes regular circuits of the city, making observations, meeting people, trying to immerse herself in Kedan culture and make herself visible. She hasn't been asking for permanent jobs, but by watching how businesses operate in the various sectors, occasionally she might make suggestions on how to increase efficiency, or to on how to arrange products to better draw customer eyes and other marketing advice, in exchange for small goods or services, but mostly goodwill. She's not getting many bites quite yet, but its a long game.

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Did someone mention a long game?

Gene's been seeing Sonja out and about, much as he's been out and about trying to gin up support for his solution to the Palace problem. Politicking is exhausting, honestly, but he's trying to be diplomatic, no matter how impatient and irritated this makes him.

And in all his talking, he still hasn't met this Foreigner yet. She's a newcomer, and reasonably quiet, but different from how Alayne is quiet. Alayne is always trying to make herself small; Sonja seems to be observing.

So he approaches when they find themselves in the same tea shop. "Hey. Don't believe we've met yet. Sonja, right?"

"Ah, that's a change," Sonja said. "I guess my name is starting to get around. Not sure how I feel about that."

She politely bowed. "And you are Gene Kahn, I think. Tony mentioned you."

Don't feel bad, Sonja. Gene's making it his business to know who's who.

But he smiles a little, shrugging. "It's not so much that your name is starting to get around, it's that Tony is a chatterbox." Where's the lie, though?

"I'm glad I made an impression enough for him to remember. Well, unless it was a bad impression, then I'm not glad. Did you want a seat?"

She gestures at the chair opposite her. She had a kettle and a half-filled cup next to her, and an illustrated book in a language she couldn't read.

"It's difficult to make a bad impression on him. I wouldn't worry too much." When she asks, he blinks, as though a bit surprised to be asked. "Sure, I wouldn't mind." He takes the offered seat, glancing at the book she's attempting to read. "Any good?"

"I feel it would be dubious of me to claim objective value of a book that I'm only looking at the pictures of. But they are rather captivating images."

She hands the book over to Gene. It's a tiny leather-bound book with vellum pages. Every few pages are intricate illustrations - one of a maze filled with monstrous humanoids with cruel implements, another of a marching army, another of a boat.

"The images are a bit non-sequitor to try to put together a narrative on anything but wild speculation."

Gene laughs a little. "That's true." He peers at the images, careful not to touch the illustrations directly. "The illustrations are very well done." Though he can only guess at the story they're telling - if indeed they're all telling the same story.

"Would you like any tea? I'm rather boring, so I just ordered some green tea. It tastes a little different from the Sencha back in Yellow Comet but its close enough. Or you can just order something different," Sonja added, a bit too quickly. She didn't want to assume.

"I'd hate to impose. Inviting myself to your table and then drinking your tea? How rude of me," he says with a smile. "But you did offer - and I'm parched." He takes one of the cups and pours himself a measure of the tea. "You come from a place called Yellow Comet?" he asks, genuinely curious. An odd name - but then, he supposes that New York is an odd name too. What's so new about it, and how different is it from Old York?

"The greatest nation in Wars World," Sonja said, totally sincerely. "We have holdings across three continents, soldiers without peer, incomparable history and culture, and the greatest... well collectively me and my father are the greatest rulers of the land."

Sonja immediately regretted her words. She shouldn't be nay-saying her father to strangers, even if they were in some strange parallel universe.

"Well," Gene said, sounding duly impressed. He's no stranger to having pride in where you came from and your family. "I had no idea I was speaking to a ruler. With you, me, and Sokka around, we may yet stand a chance of making something of ourselves."

"Any friend of Sokka is... probably as confused as I am," Sonja said, jokingly.

Edited 2015-03-05 01:12 (UTC)

"Don't look too surprised," Gene said, laughing a little. "Turns out he actually has a fair amount of political experience. Sort of."

"Let me guess - half-president of a country?"

Wow, Sonja had actually gotten to a point in Tu Shanshu where she could actually joke about a mutual acquaintance. Progress!

"So tell me about you. Are you another mechanical engineer genius like Tony?"

"You'd really have to ask him. He tells a hell of a story." But he smiled a little at the joke, or what sounded like it.

The smile mellowed into something a little more self-effacing when she asked him about himself. "Oh, no, nothing so lofty. But diplomacy's in the blood, sort of. And I've been trying to navigate our relations with the kedan families...with variable success."

"Oh? Any success with Zanru and Tu Yuxnu?"

She thought for a moment.

"Also, you wouldn't be able to tell me the story of Tony's lab, would you?"

"More success with Zanru than Yunxu for the moment, I'm afraid." Yunxu reminded him too much of Zhang, in a number of ways, which was partially why his displeasure with the way the palace demolition had shaken out caused Gene to lose approximately no sleep at all.

"I think that's a story better told by Tony, but I can give you the basics. What do you want to know?"

That lab had some memories associated with it, for sure. Some bad ones - like the time they'd woken from their blackout to discover the slaughtered hatchlings - and some very, very good.

"Tony seems very hesitant to broach the topic at all. All I know at this point is that he had one, and now he doesn't?"

Sonja had gathered that the lab was the 'Stark Industries' one in the Metal Sector, and it was effectively owned by Zanru. Most Kedan either didn't know or didn't care about the specific timeline of events. It seemed like it had been taken over when the foreigners had disappeared during the dreaming.

"Ah. Yes. A sore subject for him. Apparently the kedan operate under a 'finders keepers' rule when it comes to property law." He was trying to keep the tone light, but not having ready lab access was driving Tony up the wall, which meant it was driving Gene up the wall.

"That seems rather ungrateful, considering you guys got rid of Malicant."

"Yes, many of us thought so," he said, raising an eyebrow. "For the most part, though, we seem to be adapting."

"So how did Tony build it in the first place? What's stopping him from doing the same thing again?"

Gene frowned a little. "He didn't build it. At least...not this one."

He sighed. "There were two other Tonys here for a while. Older ones. Thirties, maybe, or early forties. Anyway, one of them built it before either of us got here. And it seems Zanru thinks that Tony's claim to it isn't valid just because his name graces the building." Privately, he had to see her point. Not like he'd ever admit as much to Tony.

Sonja was far more put off that there were multiple versions of someone showing up in Tu Shanshu??

"Are there any plans to take it back, like there seems to have been with a skeleton and a Bentley?"

"None quite so overt," Gene noted. But he was part of a Foreigner movement to dig out their niche in Keeliai again. "We'd like to have it back in his hands - or even just guaranteed steady access - but that won't happen overnight for certain."

"What's your plan of attack?" Trying to change the culture of Kedan was a bit of a slow-moving one as far as getting access to the lab again.

Gene grinned - though in truth it was more like baring his teeth. "None I'd discuss in public. You'll understand, I'm sure."

"Then we'll have to meet again someplace more private."

A beat.

"Just to be clear, I meant that I'm interested in hearing more about the lab. That wasn't any kind of romantic overture."

Dammit, did saying that make it come across that she was just being Tusndere, cuz she really wasn't interested. Oh god what if it was a tsundere thing and she just didn't know it since a lack of self-awareness was a defining trait of the tsundere archetype???

Gene stared at her for a moment, then laughed a little. He can see why it may have come off that way.

"Don't worry," he said sincerely, "you're not my type. But yes, I'll tell you all about the lab and the other thing. When are you free?" He picked up his mug of tea and had a drink, smiling at her over the rim.

"Uh, lets see... I keep my schedule pretty full but I can be flexible..."

She pulls out her phone and checks out her schedule. "I try to get a few hours at the Welcome Center most days, generally I walk a circuit through the sectors, and its back to the Hotel."

"Sometime in the evening, then?" he suggests. "I try and keep my early evenings free."

He looks at her phone, a little surprised. "I must admit, I'd like to know how you keep that thing's battery from dying."

"Tony," Sonja said with a smile. "He rigged up a converter within a couple hours of him talking to me, although I don't know where he gets the power from. The battery lasts for days at a time on lower power mode and no network connections."

"Evening should be fine."

"I'd ask him to fix mine, but..." The battery on his own phone had run out a long time ago, and he hadn't really missed it all that much. "I don't think it's worth it, for me."

"Great," he said, smiling. "I'm usually found in the Hotel. If you can't see me in the lobby, Anton will probably be able to direct you to where I am."

"Sounds like a plan." She politely put her hands together and bowed.

Jack's already at the Welcome Center when Sonja arrives, perched rather casually on the edge of the desk instead of, you know, a chair like normal. "Hey," he greets her. "Right on time, that's great."

"Thanks, I pride myself for punctuality," Sonja said.

Now remember Sonja, you've kind of already half-freaked out both Jack and Zatanna, so you have to play it extra cool. No creepy overanalyzation, no rude comments. Keep it straight, keep it pleasant.

"So you said you needed staff? I can't imagine there's enough foreigners that come by to justify someone sitting at a desk, so what else needs getting done?"

"Not anymore," Jack agreed to Sonja's observation about not needing full time desk staff. "It might be hard to imagine, but at one point we were arriving in batches. It wasn't uncommon to get five or ten new Foreigners all at once."

He gestures for her to have a seat if she wants. One bare foot curls absently around the hooked staff leaning against the desk as he talks.

"As for what else, I've been thinking of setting up a few places in each Sector, like noticeboards? Where new arrivals can pick up basics like a map, without having to cross the city. Especially now that whatever brings us here is dropping us wherever it feels like. Any suggestions for some high traffic areas in each of the Sectors where those might be good to put some up?"

Sonja pondered a moment.

"Inside or outside the gates are the most obvious place - inside, I think, in the interest of security. Is there any kind of Zoning authority in the sectors that would object to the posted signs? Vandalism by the natives might also be a concern since they'll be unattended."

"The city is the largest landmark visible from just about any place on the turtle, and any foreigner will eventually make it there. I wonder if we might try putting smaller signs outside the city, however - not maps, just instructions and some basic information. The city name, a brief summary of how they've gotten here, instructions to go to the Welcome Center. A little bit less reliance on asking locals whats going on, or waiting for animated skeletons to give you the what's what."

"Before, the Palace handled those things," Jack said thoughtfully. "Emperor Eshai actually got me the permit to have this place in the Central Sector, it was restricted building area because of it's location."

He points to the far wall, where two modest plaques are on the wall. The first one dedicates the Center's founding to Pepper Potts, and the second is in memoriam to the Ironwood Emperor Eshai.

"If anyone's in charge of the zoning now, it's probably one of the Families," he finished, before he chuckled.

"Oh, you met Skulduggery too? Yeah, he's interesting."

"Water Sector should be easy. We'll probably have to talk to Yuxnu to get signs put up in Fire and Wood. Zanru for Metal. Earth might be the hardest, since there's no singular authority that can grant permission, but many that might object.

"Do you have a person in mind that can design the maps, and where we might procure the materials to create them?"

The maps would have to be pictures only with no text. Something universal that didn't rely on cultural symbols. That was gonna be tough.

"Earth Sector is where a lot of the tradesmen are," Jack answered. "So we should see if there's some kind of union there, and ask the person in charge of it."

He shook his head at the question of the maps. "Haven't got anyone to draw the actual maps yet. I can give whoever it is the aerial layout accurately enough, but drawing's not really my thing. Do you know of anyone?"

"Printing should be easier, there are kedan printers who did the information brochures we used to have," the spirit tapped his fingers on the desk thoughtfully. "I assume they'll still accept juulan if we gave it to them, but who knows."

"Zelgadis has drawn some maps of the surrounding area. He can fly too, so he already has the aerial view. We'd want to simplify the maps down so that detail doesn't confuse newcomers, but it shouldn't take too much with Zelgadis' map and your kedanese printers to get these things reproduced. I can go try and track him down.

"...the Earth sector tradesmen may be more willing to support our project if we give them the contract."

Jack looks genuinely surprised. "Zelgadis can fly? I didn't know that. He's been here almost as long as I have, too."

He nods at her suggestion for a contract. "What'd you have in mind for one? Price, length of term, that sort of thing?"

She was pretty sure? He had a funny way of falling out of the sky with a burst of air if he didn't.

"I'm not entirely sure what a fair price would be. Might worth doing some recon. I can handle that."

Jack would definitely have counted that as flying, and made a mental note to revisit some of the more tenured Foreigners, just in case.

"Would you? That'd be great. We'll also need to find out if it's cheaper for us to come up with the supplies like the papers, or just buy them right through the printer's as part of their cost."

Despite his naturally flighty nature, the spirit actually could be organized.

"I'll get right on it."

She took a bow and started heading towards Earth Sector.

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Sonja February Catch-All

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Two tsunderes walk into a bar...but it's not like they like it or anything! Baka.

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