Thread: A New Crisis ~~ Erotica Maxima and SV

SOLDIER. Such a bothersome project... Really, making super-human operatives, living weapons, to take on the jobs that the Company didn't want the world to know about. To the public they were the line that kept them safe, the benevolent knights in shining armour, that kept the monsters-in-the-dark at bay. Heh... What they'd say if they knew that the ones keeping them safe from monsters, were hardly better than monsters themselves? But, the general public could never know... the Company had too much at stake, too much invested to allow that kind of information to be released. No... They'd rather throw away personnel and resources than do that. Life was a quantifiable number to the higher-ups in the Company, and quite often, that number was rather low. There were only a few rare cases where an employee's life was weighed heavily to the Company, and usually that was the life of an Executive. Gracelyn Hawthorne was not an Executive, but she guessed that her life was worth something to them. She smiled to herself, knowing that she was kidding herself. She knew that if they had to get rid of her, they wouldn't blink... Though she was privy to more information than most in the Medical Department, that was more or less on account of the fact that she was floater, transferring between the Medical Department and the Science Department, her experience as a Bio-Engineer being valuable to both. She knew some of the details about quite a few projects that the Company had been running, but never too much, never enough to be a liability. She was always careful to only glance details, and never delve too deep. She'd seen what had happened to too many of her colleagues who'd asked too many questions... People that knew too much had a nasty habit of turning up dead. Unless she worked in a board room, she knew she didn't have enough value to the company to let live if they thought their secrets might leak from her. She guessed that was one of the reasons they were sending her out to the field. She'd read the report, or at least the actual report, not the garbage they generally give to the Rooks. This wouldn't be the first time she'd been put out on field work, she'd done her fair share of work with SOLDIER before, though usually it was with Second or Third Class operatives. She was honestly curious to see what a SOLDIER First Class was capable of... She'd read the high-level overview of what had been done to them, and the theory to it all was reasonably sound, though highly risky. She knew that there was a high percentage chance for rejection of Human-Materia integration, so those that manage to survive were generally considered highly valuable to the Company. She guessed much more so than she was... She guessed that if push came to shove, the Company would want to make sure their little 'investment' was protected, long before they would consider the life of their Med-Tech. As the announcement came in from the PA, telling her that they'd be arriving in Costa Del Sol in five minutes, Gracelyn rose to her feet. It was probably a good idea to get outside, maybe feel the sun... Well, not that she couldn't use it, really. Most of her time was spent inside labs, pouring over microscopes, waiting for results from DNA analysis, running test after test after test... It wasn't a life she objected to. It was comfortable, it was reasonably easy... But if she had to admit, she did often miss the thrill of field work. What she didn't miss, was being outside, getting dirty, and all the running... There always seemed to be so much running. And trying to keep up with a SOLDIER, regardless of their class, was always a serious pain. She sighed as she made her way up to the deck, and felt the hot sun shine down on her raven hair, her hand coming up to cover her face, as she drew her sunglasses out of her shirt, slipping them over her eyes. The coastal city of Costa Del Sol was a giant party zone for the rich and influential. The beach was picturesque, the weather was almost constantly hot and clear, from what she'd heard, surfing here was some of the best in the world. There were more bars and hotels in Costa Del Sol than there were just about anything else, the entire city practically designed to cater to just about any number of tourists and parties. As Gracelyn looked though, she had to admit that it seemed rather... Dead. She couldn't really see anyone on the beach, the streets she could see looked empty, even the harbour looked forlorn and lonely. The ShinRa ship pulling in was about the only one there, aside from a few smaller boats, probably owned by locals. She shook her head as she turned to retrieve her things. Working as a field operative meant that she didn't really have the luxury of travelling with luggage. All she had with her was what she was wearing and a satchel that she had slung over her shoulder, which held her tools and a few medicines that she thought she might need. Anything else that was required for the mission, she knew the SOP was procure on site. Not that she minded, she did get a reasonably well funded account for any purchases made during a mission, which was definitely nice. She just knew that if she was going to buy something, she'd just have to think of a good excuse for it first... Accounting were meticulous, if nothing else... Coming down the pier, Gracelyn let out a long breath, she'd only been in this place for no more than a handful of minutes, and already she was getting tired of the heat. She was fair-skinned girl, and didn't tan too well... That didn't mean she didn't enjoy the surf or the beach, but she did so in moderation, or at least with a fair amount of sunblock and a big umbrella. She knew that she was supposed to be meeting her SOLDIER at a local hotel on the beach. All she had was a heavily redacted file, about the only information left after all the heavy black lines was a name, a picture and her body measurements. Gracelyn had to say, her mental image of the woman she'd be working with was delicious, but she had to keep in mind that she'd probably have to be careful... After all, she'd probably be able to snap her in half if her hands wandered too far... Still, risks were meant to be taken! Walking into the hotel, she thanked whatever higher powers were out there for the advent of shade. She made her way over to the counter, the gentleman on the other side looking reasonably bored, standing at attention when he saw a potential customer, all smiles and welcomes. Sorry to disappoint, but I'm here for Riven. She said, pulling a small photograph from her pocket and holding it up. This woman. She should be staying here, and I'm supposed to meet her. Could you tell me where she is? The man looked heavily disappointed, but told her that she was usually down at the beach around this time of day. Gracelyn thanked the man and sighed as she turned, heading out the door and into the sun again. She guessed that if she burned up too much, she could always dive into the water to cool off... Not that she really had anything to swim in... She looked down at her figure and wondered if there was a nudist policy on the beach... Not that there was anyone to see anything, from what she saw. Down on the beach, it wasn't all that hard to spot her target. Her previous assessment was pretty accurate...The beach was mostly deserted, and the only person in sight was a pale-haired woman lounging in the sun, in quite an appetising looking bikini. Gracelyn raised an eyebrow, and the corner of her mouth turned up into a tightly controlled grin, as she made her way down onto the sand, wishing that she thought to bring sandals or something. SOLDIER First-Class, Riven, I presume? She called, as she made her way over, the sand making her progress a little slower than she'd like. She stopped as she stood over the woman, her shadow cast over her body, her eyes, behind her shades taking in her figure with the kind of hunger you'd see from a starved hound. She gave herself a mental shake and smiled. Professor Gracelyn Hawthorne. I'll be your Med-Tech for the time being. She took her shades off and grinned, holding her hand down for Riven, The pleasure is all mine, by the way. She said, her grin widening a little more.