Ladies and gentlemen, your mayor...

[bathymetric]

True to the word of the random pieces of paper next to your desks, at exactly 1:30PM New Rapture Standard Time, there's a chime on all radios in the whole area - and there are a lot of radios. Both the portable radios you've all been issued and speakers all over chime before a pleasant woman's voice calls out to all of you, slightly tinny and distorted.

Greetings, prospective citizens! Please make your way to the lobby for a personal address from Mayor Fontaine! Presented by Fontaine Futuristics, where we bring your present into your future!

Upon everyone's arrival into the lobby of the hotel, several televisions set into the walls light up with:



Until, after a few moments, the screens flicker and cut to the face of... someone, in silhouette, just like the rest of Rapture. There are no features to make out, though, as the top of a huge leather armchair raises above their head.

Mayor Fontaine is watching.

When the Mayor speaks, the speakers seem to have trouble getting it out. There's heavy distortion and static over it, but the voice seems clear enough - male, from the sound of it, and slow and purposeful. A thick Bronx accent, for those of you with a New York to compare it to.

"So. Welcome to New Rapture. I got some things to say, but I'm gonna bet if I just open the floor to questions they'll come up and it'll save us all some time. But to cut a couple off at the pass, so to speak: yer not leaving, this is real, et cetera. Now, ask me some questions, would you kindly?"

Comments

2/3

[bathymetric]

[Just as your mayor makes a calm retreat from this conversation, a sharp, metallic screech seems to answer him from... somewhere. Everywhere. It rattles the chandeliers, and as they settle, it almost seems like nothing. Until you see it, suddenly clinging to the side of a stone column, watching the lot of you under a deep red glow.

It's a figure clad in some sort of diving suit. The crimson light in the helmet flickers once, twice, then turns to a stark yellow before they release their sole grip on the column and leap to the ground with a metallic thud and splintering tile. Gravity, it seems doesn't appear to be an issue.

They rise to regard the group in full, tall and thin and wired like a predator eyeing down their prey. You'd think they're about to strike.

Instead, they reach up to that helmet and twist at it. Pressure valves release. Restraints unlock. The yellow turns to green...]

3/3

[chemicalromance]

[And the helmet is pulled away, revealing the pale, young face beneath it.]

Hello, everyone. [This woman speaks in a light British accent, even-tempered.] I will be the assistant working with the mayor, as well as all of you.

My name is Eleanor.

[kninja]

[At some point during that entrance, Obi jumped to his feet and sank into a fighter's crouch, despite having no weapons at hand. Even now that she's revealed herself and is speaking calmly--even though she's a kid--he seems wary.]

You always introduce yourself that dramatically?

[chemicalromance]

[She's not a child, at least. But she's certainly barely an adult.]

...No. I guess not. I was considering just how to introduce myself, and it felt like a good idea at the time.

[vholran]

A mere child?

[ He feels kind of insulted, though the fact she seems able to move that heavy diving suit is notable. ]

[chemicalromance]

Not quite, mister Igniseri.

[She rolls with it.]

My days as a Little Sister are far behind me.

[howveryglib]

[...

what the fuck.

that's a baby. he kind of tenses up when the robot suit shows up but that is a baby.]

...

I see.

[chemicalromance]

I would hope so.

[She cradles her helmet, fingers drumming against the glass.]

I'm here to assist with any questions you all might still have. I'll also be staying in one of the Helios executive suites for the time being.

[pairtner]

Are you working willingly with him, or are you as much of a prisoner as the rest of us?

[Aiba really doubts there will be a sincere response but you waste nothing by asking. You never know what you will get]

[chemicalromance]

[She nods slowly.]

Yes, I'm willingly working with the mayor to oversee your stay in New Rapture.

[hotpaprika]

[He is baffled when he sees such a gentle young woman show up, and a part of himself wants to give her the benefit of the doubt but.

He is painfully well aware of how people can seem nice and then gleefully torment you.]

Tell me your dark motives for working for such a monster.

[chemicalromance]

[In some way, she's just as baffled to look at him. Or maybe that's a trick of the light...]

Loyalty. That's all there is to it.

[allatonce]

[She's mostly just been watching everyone else yell at Fontaine, but this?]

Fuck, why's she hot?

[chemicalromance]

[She glances downwards. Her hand flexes. She looks back up with a perplexed look.]

I haven't conjured any fire yet, so I don't know for sure what you mean.

[bootyhunter]

[unfortunately there's just a lot of agreeing on dandy's end here butt nobody needs 2 hear that]

[hellaethics]

[A reasonable person would take in the knowledge of "hi, I'm working for your captor" and the insanely creepy diving suit and rightfully read the situation as having many, many red flags.

Jason Mendoza is not one of these people. The moment she says her name his expression brightens and he raises his hand to give her a wave.]

Hi, Eleanor! You've got the same name as a bud of mine!

[chemicalromance]

[In an almost... amused way, she raises a hand from her helmet and wiggles a few fingers.]

Indeed... Mister Mendoza, I presume. Unfortunately, I am not an Eleanor you know.

[giddyundertaker]

[ Goodness, kid. He was about to regret not being armed. Still, she does seem curious. ]

Ello, Eleanor... [ What a curious tone he's using. ] Quite the entrance you made there.

[chemicalromance]

Hello to yourself, as well. [She'd curtsy but... She's not the type.] Would you rather I'd come down in the elevator?

[specialyellthing]

[The diving suit is enough to make Zinda tense, and she gets ready to fight. Unlike some of the others, who had more traditional stances, Zinda's is more... barfight-with-a-bar-full-of-marines than any kind of martial arts.

But then the helmet comes off, and she relaxes, just slightly.]

Ellie. [She says it suddenly, like someone addressing an old friend. A few who have been issued nicknames from Zinda may recognize the tone and attitude from when she spoke to them. But to anyone else, it might as well seem like she actually knows this girl.]

What exactly does the ol' grouch got you doing, as an assistant? Throwin' you down here with the dangerous riff-raff? Not very gentleman-like.

[chemicalromance]

[Her head lists to the right, just slightly, at the nickname. Her expression gives no regard to it yet.]

The mayor is aware what I'm capable of. Naturally, I've been sent here to oversee you all during your stay here. I will be something of an intermediary between you all, as well as doing whatever announcements are needed from here on.

[inaclearing]

Eleanor, hi.

[Yikes! That's a whole-ass teenager!]

Wow, you can climb really well in that suit.

[timegazer]

[So. This has all kind of been a Lot, all be told, and Adaman's certainly a lot more tense as a result of all of this, granted--but seeing Eleanor down here...somehow, seeing someone as young as him, as young looking as those galaxy kids...

It doesn't put a good taste in his mouth, all be told. But none the less, Adaman raises a hand in greeting.]

Eleanor, then. To what end are you put down here for? Are you simply assisting in his stead, or is there something else to this?

[He's trying not to waste time here, really. To the point.]

[fuckingguy]

Hi, Eleanor.

[ We're all civilized here! ]

This assisting, what does it entail, precisely?

[prompocalypse]

[Penelope notes the very different response that Eleanor got with expected amusement, then cocks her head, her eyes measuring the other girl for all her worth.

She is pretty, Penelope will admit that. She's not the type to just announce it for all to hear, though.]

Hello, Eleanor. [She crosses her arms.] I'm Penelope Everpetal. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but well, the circumstances are what they are.