The pink haired woman spoke with an unexpectedly strong accent, not difficult to understand, but a bit of a surprise in a galactic environment where most people strove for neutral accents. If she had a language issue, it was in the flavorful nature of her vocabulary. It was, however, nothing Karana hadn't heard before. The amphibiod introduced himself with a good deal more politeness and attention to detail than most of the others, although Karana wasn't sure if 'Master Thief' was a memoir of arrogance or of a language barrier. He seemed polite enough, anyway. She wondered, idly, what he had stolen. Karana would have to speak with him at some point and discuss thievery. She wasn't against stealing in the slightest, so long as it was done properly, without leaving a trail. Karana wasn't particularly interested in the physical aspects of stealing, but she was exceptionally good with paperwork. If Mr. Werpet was intending to steal things, she thought it would be good to offer her services in preemptive accounts reconciliation.
The blonde girl seemed much more concerned with her mechanical counterparts than her interpersonal ones, quickly detaching herself to address her personal concerns over the handling of her equipment. Karana made a note of it, as it was likely that Miss Lionfang was a bit of a tinkerer - Karana would have to determine if she was the sort of tinkerer who was incredibly good at engineering, in which case she might be of assistance in some quiet off-record upgrades to Karana's own Equity, or if she was the sort of tinkerer who mostly took things apart to see what they had done, in which case Karana wanted her as far from Equity as possible.
Miss Lionfang preferred 'Viv,' and Mr. Blackwell preferred 'Morgan.' Informality seemed to be the predominant streak in the group, Karana noticed. She would have to mirror that for better cohesion. The Silwin was Chellis, and Karana was intrigued though not entirely surprised when Mr. Blackwell drew her aside to speak to her privately. The implication, of course, was that there was more going on than would be immediately apparent at the surface, and that a natural empath would pick up some of the undercurrent. Mr. Blackwell was intelligent to nip that one in the bud and make sure the stories were straightened out and keep Chellis from using her natural abilities for speculation.
The android - Karana thought it likely that's what he was, although cyborg was also a possibility - seemed the more abrasive type, with danger-seeking behaviors that led him to target the unstable-looking Shade, likely attempting to provoke a reaction. He would need to be carefully managed, lest his impolitic probes create dissonance. He'd started smoking a cigarette, which was a very strange habit for an android and a filthy one for anyone else. Karana disapproved the behavior with a mildly judgmental glance, but said nothing about it for the present time.
The group was herded into an elevator, in which they 'just so happened' to bump into the President of the Hub, by some coincidence taking exactly the same elevator at exactly the same time as the rest of the group. That little 'chance' encounter had no doubt been scripted well in advance, and Karana thought it likely he had been waiting within the elevator since they'd gotten on board, probably watching a recording of their initial disembarkment. He, too, seemed determined to be casual, although Karana thought the thanks for the service they were to provide was a bit off, riding the line between grateful and desperate. The Hub, perhaps, was not so perfectly stable as it would prefer to be thought of. She would have to shift a few stocks around.
Miss Lionfang seemed determined to make eager conversation, spilling inquiries one after another with little chance for more than cursory answers to trickle in. Karana deflected the one aimed at her with a polite smile and a calm, "I should certainly enjoy getting to know you better in a later setting, but I hardly think this is the arena for an airing of my personal vices. Let us say that determining them shall be left as an exercise to the enquirer for the time being."
It was not so long a ride, and the chime sounded as the elevator arrived at their destination, a conference room indistinguishable from the thousands of conference rooms Karana had been privy to in her lifetime. The President displayed himself in a seat, Karana took the opportunity to maneuver herself into the seat at his left, a silent bit of politics and power play, though she didn't address him directly, instead watching the rest of the team assemble, and glancing up at the opposing doors as they opened, revealing a blonde woman who addressed them as the ubiquitous Commander, and lay a file on the table.
Karana sat up in her seat, keeping her gaze on solely Commander Chernova, without the slightest look at the man beside her. "Is there a reason for Mr. President to have such a vested interest in this venture?" she asked, making it quite evident the question was asked of the Commander. The underlying inquiries, of course, was Why is he here? and Doesn't he have better things to be doing? and If this is a Black Ops mission, shouldn't he be distancing himself from it politically rather than sitting in on the meeting?, and, again, emphatically, Why is he here?"Before I begin, do you have any questions?"
