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One Small Step for Man [Calliope/Ehefra]
Sat May 18, 2024 4:29 pm
Calliope R. SchwarzmannDirector, Albedochiffren
If there was one invention Calliope loved more than anything right now, it was the Autopen. It may not be the fanciest of things, but it was handy for the myriad of documents she had to sign. Few documents these days carried her actual signature. It might be disfavorable if someone found out that the letters of condolence she signed were done with a machine—but how was she expected to sign those and process the various transfers and the requisition forms and and and. The list of things that required her approval was staggering in the aftermath of Africa's final battle. And so too grew the list of things she had to do.
With the final letter of condolence sent out the previous week, Calliope's schedule was clearing up enough for her to check in on the department she needed the most right now. She had summoned the administrator of the Steingruft to her office in order to gauge where developments were currently and where they were headed. There were, of course, other things to determine as well.
Calliope's secretary announced the arrival of her guest. She flipped a concealed switch and the Autopen rotated into the desk. After answering the secretary to allow Ehefra in, she steepled her hands and fashioned her same smile. "Thank you for taking time to meet, Administrator Kleinmund. Please, have a seat." She gestured to a pair of black suede barrel-shaped chairs across from the large desk she sat behind. "How are things in the Steingruft?"
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Re: One Small Step for Man [Calliope/Ehefra]
Sat May 18, 2024 4:49 pm
She was glad she was not this woman.
That was the initial thought process that went through Ehefra's head as she stepped into the woman's office. She could already see it in her. From the look on her face, Calliope had the look that she fucking hated more than anything to see on someone's face. Someone who had been buried in paperwork. Didn't these people have actual in person work to be doing? Or MEETINGS to be had? A brief glance at the woman's desk had Ehefra wondering just how much time the Direcvtor had spent in this office. But perhaps she was just overreacting. She was a bit on edge about that shit thanks to a recent encounter with another Director.
"No problem. I know things have gotten pretty busy lately, but I have plenty of time when it comes to stuff like this." She assured the woman, glancing at the chair she had been directed to. She made her way over and stood infront of the chair, briefly considering just standing, before ultimately sitting in it. Beeps poked her head out of the inside of Ehefra's jacket, before simply going back to sleep inside her inner pocket. Having deduced that she would rather sleep.
"Things are going well. I admit, I was a little surprised at the state of it when I first entered my position. Was less of a division and more of just a fancy office I guess. But with some work, a bit of rebranding, and rennovations. I think that the success has been pretty immediate." She asserted. Naturally Ehefra having taken over the division had resulted in some considerable changes. Certainly, there were some more....old fashioned ideologies about technology and such when she became Administrator. Study, sure, but not much innovation. Something she had very quickly remedied. In addition to renaming the department and restructuring, the department had not only become much more active, but had become very integral as well. Ehefra's own inventions derived from her unique powers alone had extensively improved the department's ability to collect and process information.
She gestured to the woman's own personal console.
"I know you've probably already seen plenty of the reports. But I sent tou an Overall Report this morning to your Secure Mailbox. A general overview of ongoing Projects, including the installation of the new Training rooms in the Silbern and the City of Lights, as well as the Data collected during the Africa Conflict through the use of my Tracker Bracelets." She noted. The structural stuff she'd been applying to the City of lights ever since she joined the Vandenreich. But the Bracelets were a new addition. Initially designed to collect data on Liltotto Lampert while she was ....developing her unusual abilities. A numebr of other volunteers and Steingruft Field agents with the bracelets had been able to collect a large ammount of data on enemies that engaged with Vandenreich forces, as well as data on the abilities of the Vandenreich operatives themselves.
Data which had, among other things, Revealed that one of their Shinigami Operatives had an Inner Hollow they had not informed their superiors about. Admittedly a last minute addition to the report, but one that was worthy of mention as Ehefra had also included some concerns about the interaction she had with the young man in question.
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Re: One Small Step for Man [Calliope/Ehefra]
Sat May 18, 2024 8:44 pm
Calliope R. SchwarzmannDirector, Albedochiffren
Calliope moved the thicker stack of papers far to the side so she could better see Ehefra. Eye contact was good. It let Calliope judge the person—what was that. It was only for a moment, but Calliope swore she saw something poke out of Ehefra's jacket. She blinked and continued the restacking of papers. If it happened again, she'd bring it up. But for now, it was something to be cautious of... whatever it was.
Calliope nodded along as Ehefra spoke about how things were in the Steingruft. As conversation turned towards the present, she slid down the long list of electronic documents she had until finding Ehefra's—it was the forty-eighth message attachment from today. She glanced over the figures at first. She was more interested in what Ehefra was saying rather than what was written. "I have to say I am impressed with what I've heard of your accomplishments. And just here," she gestured to the screen, "I can see why."
"Expansion of training facilities is an excellent idea with how short-staffed we are on capable fighters." She began looking at some of the data samples in the report from the tracking data. Of course, the people she was most intrigued by weren't there. She'd have to find that data herself—if it was even available. Despite being a Director, some things were hidden from her. She didn't have to look to know. It was just common sense. "I hope that my little prioritized projects haven't caused you much disruption." She, of course, was speaking of the Kojima ARMOR that had seen moderate success in the Africa conflict—albeit with some issues due to cooling in the hot desert environment. "From one engineer to another, I'm sure you can understand the urge to see your pet project in action as soon as possible."
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Re: One Small Step for Man [Calliope/Ehefra]
Sat May 18, 2024 9:12 pm
Ehefra gave a nod of her head as she watched the woman pull up the file, perking a brow slightly. Ah. Well alright, she would have hoped that the woman would have called her here after reading it, but that was fine she supposed. "Thank you Ma'am." She noted softly, though at the mention of the woman's allocation of resources, Ehefra couldn't help but smile calmly. "Not at all. Truth be told, the majority of my projects have been handled by volunteers and drones. I've been encouraging members of the Steingruft to pursue their own projects so long as they garner approval of their coordinator or higher depending on what resourcves they want and the nature of the request. I've been pretty self sufficient outside of a few members who show an interest in my work. Honestly most my of work has been focused on infrastructure. I'm not gonna lie, I really was only tangentially aware of the project..... Beeps?"
She glanced down, and a little swiveling noise escaped her jacket as her companion Cube floated out and then hovered over the desk. After a moment, she pinged and a little holographic display of the design showed up. Specs, capabilities, and blueprints. Huh, seemed kinda ...rudimentary. It seemed mostly mechanical compared to what she was used to working with. However, she didnt look into it. She knew a lot about cirtizuing other peoples work, but this was also her boss, so she simply let Beeps settle back down into her jacket.
"I admit, that kind of project is outside of my expertise. In any case, was there anything specifically you wanted to speak with me in regards to?" She ventured, after all she hardly imagined this was just a normal performance review.
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Re: One Small Step for Man [Calliope/Ehefra]
Mon May 20, 2024 12:11 pm
Calliope R. SchwarzmannDirector, Albedochiffren
Calliope knew she had seen something in the jacket. A fascinating little thing. It seemed a little too technological for her tastes, but some might find it useful. Ehefra reminded Calliope of another program director back from her government work days. That person would definitely have found that thing useful. If nothing else, it would have kept his hands free for him to keep gesturing about. He was someone she had once admired, but looking back, Calliope would have hated being his boss. Hopefully, Ehefra would be a bit more manageable...
"Yes, there is." Calliope steepled her hands on the desk. "As I mentioned earlier, the Vandenreich is nearing a critical tipping point—where our sphere of influence is starting to stretch our response capabilities. Yes, we do have our strong soldiers like Director Armstrong, Administrator Arant, and many of our personnel... but the threats are getting bigger while our numbers are shrinking. To add to that, we're having to respond further and further away from this atoll." As she spoke, her index fingers would extend to one side or the other—but never directly at Ehefra. That was until she directed the conversation towards the Administrator. "I want your people to start working on ways of enhancing our response capabilities. New weapons, better armor—the form of the enhancement doesn't matter to me. The Vandenreich needs a perk-up, and I think the first place to start is the kitchen." So show me what you can cook up, Ehefra Kleinmund.
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Re: One Small Step for Man [Calliope/Ehefra]
Mon May 20, 2024 12:44 pm
Ehefra's brows raised ever so slightly and she couldn't help but be a bit reminded of something she herself had actually been concerned about. However, she couldn't help but be a bit concerned about the woman. She took a gander at the schematic itself again. It seemed so...bad. As a matter of fact.... hadn't she put something together with that arrancar boy that would function similarly , but without all of that shit this thing put out? Hm. Her eyes shifted from Beeps, and then back to the Director. Weapons? Armor? Enhancements?
"I admit that I'm a little...confused. Our sphere of influence doesn't have much to do with armor and weapons. If you have enough troops to secure three territories, and have five territories you need to protect. Gearing up your men won't do anything for those spaces you dont' have the manpower to handle." She murmured softly, folding her arms.
"Not only that, but that sort of development isn't within my area of expertise. But I think some of my newer Steingruft have a bit more experience in that area. I'll see about putting them to the task, though I hope you'll excuse me for focxusing my own attentions elsewhere." She noted sympathetically. As amusing as it would be to learn about that kind of shit, she'd be better off delegating that work to the experts she had on staff.
Though certainly, Calliope wasn't the only one thinking about their compatibility as Subordinate and Superior.
"Director. IF you don't mind me asking, why exactly did you take the position of Director?" She gestured toward the projection of the woman's most recent pet project. "While I don't qute understand the function it's supposed to fufill, I can recognize that you're passionate about it coming to fruition as a benefit to the vandenreich. You have the kind of passion for your work that I'd expect from one of my Steingruft. And I can only imagine working on it has been chipped considerably by being director. So what stuck you here?"
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Re: One Small Step for Man [Calliope/Ehefra]
Mon May 20, 2024 2:06 pm
Calliope R. SchwarzmannDirector, Albedochiffren
Calliope's smile tightened. Ehefra had come to the same conclusion with different math. The fact was that gearing up for soldiers they didn't have was a problem. A new assault rifle wasn't going to take the place of a well-trained team. She needed something that would make it where fewer soldiers could hold the same position—or, more radically, something to replace the soldiers they didn't have. It wasn't too far of a leap to go from one to the other, and she imagined eventually Ehefra would come to a similar conclusion if she worked on the projects to come. "I understand. Everyone does have their specializations, and I'd rather the best people be put towards this."
As Ehefra continued into asking a direct question, Calliope's smile tightened in a different way. Unlike before where there was an underlying sense of joy of the conversation, this smile turned plastic. It was the same kind of smile she put on for foreign diplomats. "My, asking quite a personal question, aren't we?" She sat back in her chair and let the plastic drop. There wasn't a smile on her face—and even the hint of one from before was gone. "What do you do when your country—your homeland, your employer—is invaded and subsequently overthrown by a force of unimaginable evil? Do you fight? If you dislike the invaders, of course you do. It may be in small things such as 'forgetting' to stamp a ration card so a family gets the food they need to survive, or it may be as large as organizing a resistance and fighting a guerilla war. And then you'll continue to fight—maybe because you hope you can restore the order of things, or maybe it's just out of fear of getting caught by the new regime. While you're fighting, you'll find allies. They'll make the fight easier, and, eventually—hopefully—they'll help the right side win."
"During the latter half of World War IV, I acted as a liaison between the U.S. government-in-exile and the Vandenreich. It was never something I'd be able to put into a resume, but it was a good job. Now with the government mostly re-established, any liaising should be more official, and the unofficial liaison from the war is not someone the current administration wanted to promote." Calliope let out a very short and inversely deep sigh. She sat back straight and then gestured to the office around. "Thanks to my connections here, I knew the Vandenreich had an opening. I put my name in the proverbial hat and was offered the position. My work in the government sector really set me apart from the competition I hear."
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Re: One Small Step for Man [Calliope/Ehefra]
Mon May 20, 2024 2:36 pm
Ehefra nodded her head slightly at that and let a hand rest on her hip.
"The matter of our forces won't be a problem for much longer. The future is where attention lays most comfortably. Regardless of the loss of forces we endured as a result of Africa, we've also seen an increase in applications. An entire City destroyed, and a massive section of a country rendered unlivable. And even more area is now much more dangerous than it once was. The Remnants of Vastime for the most part are relocating. Civillians torn from their homes. Soldiers and Guards seeking somewhere they can put their skills to use. Thanks to the Vandenreich's considerable presence in Africa, many of those individuals are finding their way here. We are, presently, experiencing a loss of manpower. But I believe in the coming months that will be compensated for by the flood of new recruits. Not just willing fighters, but people saved by us who feel that we represent something they want to be a part of. In that vein.... training is much easier to divy out than finite resources like weapons and armor." She stated plainly. She seemed awfully knowledgeable about preparing people for battle for a Researcher. But then again, if Calliope had taken the time to look into Ehefra's file, she'd have plenty of informationa s to why that is. She was, after all, once a wandering teacher for Quincy.
That tightened expression promptly relaxed Ehefra,. and her own smile grew so much more sincere. "We will be working together for quite some time. My purpose in the Vandenreich is to bring out the potential of every able bodied soldat. That would include you." She stated simply.
Even so, she couldn't help the look of utter dissapointment on her face.
What, her old job meant she didn't have a ladder to climb so she took a job with the Vandenreich? Was being a Top Dog more important than her passion?
Probably not. There was, in fact, likely more to the other woman's story. But the fact of the matter was that Calliope didn't speak about the why. She had chosen to divulge the 'How'. A choice that as it were, simply reflected badly on her character from Ehefra's point of view. But she kept such thoughts to herself.
"I can't really say I can understand any of that. My father wanted me to have a job like that. But what I wound up doing was wandering Malaysia for several years until I heard about the Vandenreich and came here. I uh.... kinda know that I come off a little rough around the edges, so sorry about that. Not an expert at playing nice. I had to be mean to my students or they wound up as hollow food. So for that, you have my apology if I'm coming off as disrespectful. With how busy we've been, I havent' been able to work on my manners s'mucha s I'd like." She reached up and lightly itched the back of her head as she made her concession. But all the same, she remained more or less calm. Something perhaps a bit annoying for someone like the Director who enjoyed seeing people squirm.
"So. Got any questions of further requests for me?"
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Re: One Small Step for Man [Calliope/Ehefra]
Mon May 20, 2024 4:48 pm
Calliope R. SchwarzmannDirector, Albedochiffren
Ehefra had misunderstood part of Calliope's explanation, but it was to be expected. Ehefra didn't seem to be one who enjoyed the politicking of the upper echelons. It just cemented part of Ehefra's character in Calliope's mind. There was a connection between the two—there was a passion that drove the both of them. In the end, their passions would likely take them to the same destination—a stable Vandenreich that could protect the living world. But what route they'd take and what the destination looked like... Well, that was not for today.
"Manners are the hands holding the knife in the back of truth. One of my professors in college told me that, and I find it to be quite relatable. People will dance around the topics they want to discuss all for the sake of politeness. I just so happen to enjoy that dance—both observing it and participating. And I find the most interesting part of the dance is when the record skips a beat—when someone who doesn't dance steps onto the floor. I like seeing how people react when the beat is off to their carefully-planned dance."
Calliope would never admit that she was a good person. She'd fail the polygraph if she claimed to be one. She just acted on behalf of the good side. "So don't apologize for lacking finesse. Even a brick has its uses outside of a foundation." There was a hint of warmth in the smile she wore then. But it soon faded as she continued onto another conversation. "You said your latest work focus was on infrastructure, correct? What do you know of the City of Lights' construction? And what are your opinions on where the city is located?"
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Re: One Small Step for Man [Calliope/Ehefra]
Mon May 20, 2024 5:23 pm
Ehefra made a bit of a face as the response, but maintained something of a smile. Well that was a pretty long winded way to say 'Dont worry about it'. Still, she supposed she should at least be glad her boss wasn't taking offense.
"I mean, I have the blueprints. And truth be told,. I have a meeting later today with the Grandmaster in regards to the subject. Well... among a lot of other topics" She stated calmly, itching behind her ear before gesturing to Beeps who promptly gave a few trills before swiveling. "If you're really interested in it, the reports I sent to your console include those points in particular among them." She stated simply. "I hope you don't mind, but uh, I'd rather not get into the subject. As it's a lengthy one, and I'd rather not get carried away. The notes cover it well enough." She noted softly, standing upa s she did so.
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