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Daycycle 107 [ September 11 - September 17 ]

daycycle 107

[Sept 11 - Sept 17]

Early Morning [0800 - 0900] — All Troubleshooters Report for Duty

Morgana LeFey and Isabelle Lightwood, have been selected for today’s mission. Details are below:

‘Your old-issue PDCs are being replaced with the new model, yet again. Here are two protypes that we need tested. The range of tracking should be increased by 25% from the last model and the lie detector should be more sensitive to partial truths. Test them and write a thorough written report and turn it into R&D by the end of the day.’

Please debrief the computer on the status of your mission by the end of the Daycycle here.

Morning & Afternoon [0900 - 1600] — Service Firm Positions
All Troubleshooters not assigned a mission should report to their Service Firm for their daily duties, unless specifically assigned a different shift.

Evening [1600 - 2200] — Citizen Improvement
All Alpha citizens are encouraged to better themselves through Alpha’s wide variety of educational, entertainment and cultural opportunities offered each evening. Attending these sanctioned events are not mandatory, but is highly encouraged by The Computer. Citizens choosing not to take advantage of these opportunities, have a growing number of other options available to them in how to spend their hard earned credits and free time.

Tonight’s event will be at 1900 in Alpha Complex Art Gallery and will be hosted by the Alpha Photography Society. Tonight we'll feature a gallery of our member's best works at the museum. (The current trend in Alpha art is a binary black & white approach to art. Enjoy!)

Alternatively, word of the final Alpha Boxing Championship run by Free Enterprise is spreading fast. Alpha Special, Ronan Lynch has fought and won against two of Alpha's most formidable boxing champions to date. Tonight he goes head to head with Julio Casey who beat his last opponent so badly that he had to be replaced with a new clone. The final fight will take place in an unused battle bot arena in the R&D sector this evening at 2000. Bets are being taken by Free Enterprise and officials have been paid off to ensure that the fight won't be interrupted by IntSec.

Alpha Curfew Restrictions
All Alpha citizens should be in their quarters within the Wagon Wheel by 2200, unless they’ve been given permission from a GREEN or higher clearance level citizen. Sleeping Aid gas is dispelled each night in the Wagon Wheel at 2200 to assist citizens in getting a productive sleeping period.

Confession Booths
There are hundreds of confession booths available around Alpha Complex if a citizen would like to communicate directly with the computer. Please use these confession booths to report mission statuses, report treason or terrorist acts, unregistered mutants, confess your trespasses against Alpha Complex, request propaganda or speak with Your Friend, The Computer, at any time.

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It might not've taken that long for Izzy to see Clint emerging, but on his end this process had taken forever. Whatever all this was. Clint still wasn't sure he hadn't been drugged and kidnapped somehow - well, he'd definitely been drugged, which he didn't like. He'd been taken (reconstituted? whatever) somewhere he didn't know, which he didn't like. And he'd been told in no uncertain terms that it was now his job to serve some insane robotic overlord without asking questions doing remedial shit to keep a population under what was essentially mind control. Which he really didn't like.

Basically, Clint Barton was a prime candidate for being put through the extra-rigorous indoctrination process.

He spent the first playthrough of that godforsaken movie trying to break out of the room, but it was too well-constructed and he didn't have any tools for the job. Second playthrough he tried to dismantle the vidscreen (though he didn't go so far as to smash it), with the same problem. Third he actually paid attention, cataloguing everything it told him not for indoctrination purposes, but because knowing more always gave you more opportunities, the fourth was for fact-checking, the fifth for cover, and the sixth for convincing them he was "convinced" and that they wouldn't get any trouble out of him now. His memories were a little fuzzy even after the drug had worn off, but that sense of self he still had told him he'd only played by the rules when he chose to - he wasn't going to just give his loyalty because someone or something commanded it.

But he'd seen what happened to some people in the past who'd gone overboard with flouting regulations, and this place seemed even worse. Maybe he had just refused to cooperate with government regulation, but right now he was trapped inside the machine itself, with no obvious way out. Best to bide his time and figure out how to crack it open from the inside, like a chick hatching from an egg. Or something like that at least.

So when he stepped through the door, pile of stuff in arm, he mostly looked worn down and neutral, maybe a little annoyed, but overall pulled together. He spotted the hand waving at him, a young woman - too young to be stuck in this, really - trying to get what he presumed was his attention, and he glanced back at the shamrock drone next to him that was already turning to go back through the door, delivery made. He shrugged - no big deal to him - and started up the hall to someone who actually looked alive. "So, you the committee?"

Izzy could tell pretty immediately that this tour was going to go incredibly different form the one that she'd given Elsa. Honestly, this was probably going to go different from her own to. She wasn't sure what exactly she made of that, but the....shadowhunter, yes, she was a shadowhunter even if not here...anyway, she was up for the challenge. Isabelle Lightwood never turned down a challenge, especially not when someone like Steve had put their trust in her.

"Sure am, but you can call me Izzy. I answer to that too." Izzy joked, doing what she could to bring some personality into the mix as she offered him her hand to shake...if he wanted to, anyway. She could remember just how much she'd needed a friendly face and someone that didn't remind her of a robot. Part of her wasn't actually sure that the GREEN levels that weren't Steve weren't robots...or maybe androids was the correct term?

"I'm here to give you the tour, answer whatever questions you have that I know the answers to, and generally help you get a feel for this place." Izzy elaborated on why she was here with confidence...just like she put confidence into everything she did, whether she actually felt it or not. That was what her duties boiled down to, anyway. Steve had put them differently, of course. And part of her duty was to make sure he understood what was expected of him tomorrow, and to fill him in on the down-low too.

She couldn't tell him that particular bit out in the open, though.

"So, you up for it?"

Steve was a guy you just wanted to do your best for. He was someone who tried his best and made you want to be the best you could be, like some sort of benevolent dictator. Whenever Izzy mentioned Steve (and, to be fair, specified which Steve she was talking about since that wasn't an uncommon name), Clint wouldn't be at all surprised about anything she - or anyone, really - did. The Captain was a natural leader, after all.

Clint took the hand she offered, still not exactly warm and friendly but at least attentive and not roaring his head off or kind of going crazy. Small mercies, right? And after that whole process which he assumed she was familiar with, it wasn't like most people would be jumping up and down with joy to be where they were doing what they were told to do. And since she did seem alive and with a personality, he wasn't opposed to contributing his share to the conversation. "Clint - Clint Barton. But maybe you knew that already." He had no idea how this welcoming committee thing worked, after all.

Still, orientation tours weren't a new thing to him, so he nodded and glanced up and down the hall they were in, cataloguing everything he saw even if it wasn't obvious. Search for holes to exploit, look for weaknesses... And a shrug. "Something tells me I better be."

So far, Izzy decided, so good. This guy obviously wasn't Elsa and her approach definitely needed to be different with him, considering that fact. That was no problem for her. Plus, it seemed as if so far she had a relatively good handle on things. She had some information that she'd get to relatively quickly, for his sake. He didn't need the caring companion that the blonde woman had, but he could definitely use the information, the tour, and the logistical points that the welcome wagon had to offer she was sure.

Izzy's handshake was firm and confident, which was kind of the shadowhunter's default. Once she'd given a firm shake she released his hand. "Nice to meet you, Clint." Izzy gave a smile, which she followed up with a shake of her head, curls shifting with the movement. "I didn't know that, actually. I get a ping that a new arrival is here, but never a name, unfortunately. So, I don't get all that much preparation." Izzy figured open and honest was the best way to approach this. Of course, she had to choose the time and place on the delivery of some of that open honesty, but that was due to the nature of this place.

Izzy couldn't help but lift an eyebrow at the way that Clint answered her question. "It definitely pays off in the end, I promise." Izzy commented, remaining vague because she knew that she couldn't tell him that he'd want to know what she had to say off camera at the end of the tour. She couldn't help but watch him because he reminded her a little bit of Alec in the fact that he seemed to be taking in everything around him; then again, it could just be an after effect of the cloning process...it was hard to tell. "Right now we're in the Technical Services sector. It breaks down into three distinct areas: cloning services (where you came from), medical services, and then the garages where all of the vehicles are kept and serviced. I work in medical services." Izzy offered the information easily, gesturing in the direction of medical and the garages as she spoke. "All of this is on the western edge of Alpha Complex. There are five distinct areas total including this one. "

Izzy moved, looking back at Clint to be sure of his position. "North is armed services with the armory and training facilities, east is research and development, and south is power services...which keeps this place running and apparently has a nightclub, or so I've heard. People work in each of these sectors, you'll find out tomorrow morning which you've been assigned to." Izzy spoke factually, not sure that Clint was a facts guy, but figuring he needed it either way.

"At the center of everything is the Wagon Wheel. That's where we're heading and it's also sort of the hub of this place; it's where people live and it's where we eat, at the Commissary." Alpha Complex definitely was still taking some getting used to for Izzy, personally. The fact that everything was artificial wasn't exactly easy to transition to. The walk out of cloning services and the Technical Sector was a hallway that led out onto what, for all intents and purposes, appeared to be a street...complete with artificial night sky and crowds of busy people. Even the buildings are bright, but it doesn't quite measure up to what Izzy thought of New York, personally. It definitely seemed to be modeled after the big city, though, with a mixture of a few of the others all over the world. "There are subsectors between each of the main ones like this."

It didn't escape the back of Izzy's mind that she was taking the exact path that Steve had taken her on. "Any questions so far, Clint?"

Clint's first instinct when landing in any new situation was to get the lay of the land, and this time the "land" was willing to provide a tour guide of sorts - so why not pay attention to her? Sure, he didn't trust her yet, but he trusted her more than others around because she at least seemed to have something in her to trust and not a soul made out of mechanical gears and computer chips. What she was saying may have been prepackaged to some degree, but he was listening to it all and storing it away for later, and so far all of it was so basic that it pretty much had to be true. No sense lying about where the basic living quarters were, after all.

He followed her down the hall as she talked, about half a step behind her and to her left, keeping his dominant hand free in case anything happened - not that he was sure what would, but being prepared was second nature to him. He didn't interrupt as she talked, but when they stepped out into the "street" there was a definite pause in his step. Sure, it looked like New York, mostly, but he could swear there was the shape of a building from Paris down the road, and Moscow further on - and something about the "sky" was... strange. It didn't have the depth that the real sky did, didn't have the ...well, "soul" was the best word he could come up with. It was a fascimile, and one that was kind of unnerving because of how relatively close it was. Uncanny Valley for something not actually alive.

But deal with it later, follow now. He pushed forward, looking down from that weird not-sky, shaking his head at her question. "Way too many, but nothing that I think you know the answer to."

"Unfortunately, you're probably right about that." Izzy responded with a bit of a shrug; there was too much here that she didn't know, even though she wanted to. She knew that she wasn't the only person here that was unhappy with the status of things here. Derek had definitely rang out as someone who wasn't content with the way that things were here. She'd encouraged him to make his own way, but that was definitely easier said than done. And she understood how he'd become so sour in this place.

Izzy, though, just wasn't the kind of person that could let herself get there.

The shadowhunter's grown used to not only the lights and the adverts for the Bouncy Bubbly Beverages, so she ignores them as she walks. For the second time, she can't help but feel thankful that the place isn't a mess like with Elsa. The poor girl had been beyond overwhelmed with the state of things mixed with being fresh out of cloning. "At the Wagon Wheel you'll be roomed with a group of other people, most likely." Izzy offered, she felt like preparing him for what his new living situation would ultimately be was for the best.

She was focused on what she needed to tell him as opposed to her surroundings. Plus, she'd promised Steve she wouldn't focus on any of the posters of him that were on the way to the center of Alpha Complex, but they were there. The various faces of bachelors were plastered on the walls, and there in the midst of all of the posters was Steve. Izzy walked passed all of the posters without drawing attention to them, or taking much of a look at them, focusing instead on the rundown. "At 0800 we report for duty and missions are doled out there at the Wagon Wheel. That's where you'll find out where you've been assigned. From there we report for duties. Most evenings there are events set up called citizen improvement that are supposed to better ourselves." Izzy didn't particularly think any of the Citizen Improvement activities were particularly great thus far, and though her tone suggested it, she didn't make any overt comment about that fact.

For his part, Clint was pretty certain that anyone with a modicum of individuality wouldn't be too happy here. He'd encountered cults a few times in his career with S.H.I.E.L.D., not to mention the whole brainwashing thing he'd personally experienced, and so far what he'd seen of this place reminded him of those two things more than anything. Keep your head down, obey, the dictator/leader/whatever is always right, everything done should glorify the cause... all of that was, sadly, way too familiar. He'd always been on the outside looking in at the cults, though, never trapped in the middle, so he couldn't just cut and run like he had in the past. Not without supplies, equipment, and a better lay of the land. Maybe he could get his hands on a map somewhere...

He was going to make some comment about the rooming situation - why in groups, was there any discretion in terms of ages and sexes, or something like that - when his eye was caught by something it had skimmed over the first few times he'd seen it. A poster, a well-put-together but garish poster at that, on the wall, red and yellow contrasting the almost black-and-white effect of the photograph. The "street" and hallway before it had been littered with the things, different color combinations and words, but always with the same basic message of "Most Eligible Bachelor" with a name and a number. Nothing to concern him, so he'd dismissed them until two specific words caught his eye - a particular name. Clint stopped completely in the middle of the "street," staring at it, at first just because what the hell that was Cap and then because oh. my. god. It had happened. It went and happened. Girls wanting to throw themselves at Steve wasn't anything new but now he's on a damn list for it.

This just might have been the greatest thing he'd seen since Nate was born.

"...Is this real? This a real thing that's really happening here?" he asked, eyes fixed on the poster and not on Izzy. She might even think he hadn't heard what she'd been saying, which he had, but this was so much more important Izzy you have no idea. Clint Barton had found a target.

It took Izzy about a full moment before she stopped and had to turn around so that she could come back for Clint. She'd promised Steve that she wouldn't make his poster a stop on the tour, but she'd never promised that she wouldn't address it if it were brought up, after all. Plus, there was the fact that this entire tour thing was a lot more routine and monotonous when the person seemed to be ready to just take in whatever facts you needed to get to them.

Elsa had been more emotional. Izzy had thought it'd be easier if she could just deliver the tour, but at the same time...it reminded her a little too much of the brother that she missed. Alec'd be the sort that would just take it all in, soaking in every detail that he was told and that he could observe along the way. Clint reminded her of that, just a gad.

Brushing that thought to the side, Izzy grinned a little bit, unable to help herself. The question wasn't expected, so it was a nice break from the boring facts of this place. Plus, it did give her a bit more of an impression of Clint beyond the fact that he seemed like her brother, strong and silent when it came to some things. "It's real, yeah." Izzy grinned, amusement playing on her face. "They were put up a few days before I got here, apparently. Steve was pretty embarrassed when I noticed his on the way to the Wagon Wheel." Izzy reached out to tap the poster in question. Did Clint know Steve? He was pretty damn focused on the poster, from what she could see.

"He was my tour guide when I got here. You have him to thank for the welcome wagon, actually." Izzy admitted, her smile confident, watching to see Clints reaction. "These posters are in other places periodically throughout Alpha Complex too." She elaborated with a bit of a shrug.

It was part and parcel of the life he'd led - there was information that everyone needed, and it was best to get it as fast as possible. Some of it could likely save your life. In theory, if the Computer only woke people with military or military-esque training, they'd probably have a lot fewer problems with the orientations.

Not that Clint was being a problem right now, far from it really, but he was slowly starting to grin. He still absolutely didn't want to be here, not at-fucking-all, he wanted to be home with his wife and kids, but this was a little distraction that was more than welcome. At least for a moment he was able to focus on something besides the fact that he was apparently trapped in a machine he hated.

"I bet he was. Always was before now." It hadn't passed anyone's notice that Captain Steve Rogers, US Army, was basically a perfect specimen or masculinity. Women had practically thrown themselves at him in the past, something that he was obviously uncomfortable with, but which was, admittedly, very funny to someone not Steve. Clint was sure amused. "And that sounds like something he'd do. Did he rip any of them down yet?"

Oh yeah. Clint definitely knew Steve. Izzy didn't have any doubt about that fact now.

So, she couldn't help the grin that pulled at her face. It was nice to see one from Clint too, honestly. It was a vast improvement from the stone-faced default he was keeping up with before. It was, at least, much easier to connect with, anyway. Steve was a humble guy, which was pretty easy to tell even without knowing him extremely well already. "So you know Steve, then. That's interesting." Izzy smiled, finding that interesting. And yet another small point behind the idea that the glitches were actual members.

People that knew one another wouldn't show up like this, knowing someone, if they weren't real. Izzy couldn't help but laugh, though. She hadn't seen Steve rip any down. "I honestly don't know. With the rules that are in place here it could potentially be treasonous." Izzy offered with a shrug. "If he did, though, it was before I got here and didn't bother to share it with me." She couldn't help the impish grin on her face.

She liked Steve, and she found him amusing, so adding more behind what she already knew about him through another person was definitely not so bad as far as Izzy was concerned. This also meant, though, that Clint would probably appreciate meeting up with Steve as soon as possible too. If Steve hadn't formed the welcome wagon he would have met up with him already. Even Steve, being a GREEN level, didn't know who was coming in when they did. "I'm sure Steve'll be happy to see a familiar face, though. You can actually reach out on the PDCs to him too." Izzy introduced one of the items he'd been given, in part, still trying to help give Clint the information that he needed for this place.

"Even if he didn't yet, I'd lay even money he wants to. He hates attention like this." There was no point in saying yes, Izzy, he knew Steve; she'd already figured it out. He didn't quite understand why it was interesting, but he would soon hopefully - that kind of connection she was thinking of probably wasn't the sort of thing she wanted to share with the Computer likely listening in. Clint's own paranoia would agree with that. He needed to find "blank" spaces in the surveillance ASAP or he'd go stark raving mad.

Izzy was right in that he'd like to meet up with Steve quickly, but for the moment that could - reluctantly - wait. Seeing a familiar face was definitely going to be a plus, and now he was wondering if it was just Steve or if other people he knew were around, but it wasn't necessary to survival. Learning everything Izzy could tell him about this place, figuring out where the rules could be bent or even broken, places he could slide through the cracks - that was what he needed to be concentrating on, and so he reluctantly pulled his attention away from the poster and back to his guide, making a note of the item she was gesturing to as he started to walk again. He was mostly back to neutrality and his listening/absorbing mode, but there was a slight, very slight, edge taken off that wariness. Having something to laugh about didn't solve all - or really any - of the problems that just being in this place caused, but at least it was something else to focus on. "What else can you tell me?"

Izzy wouldn't take Clint's bet, mainly because she happened to agree with him, so there was no way she was going to oppose him in any way on this particular thought. So, the young woman couldn't help her hint of a smile. "I believe it from what I've gotten to know about him." It was good to know that people didn't change. If Alec, or Jace, showed up they'd be the ones that she knew; she wasn't holding hope that they would show up, though.

They couldn't focus the entire introduction and tour on Steve, though, no matter how amusing the powers were when you'd met the guy.

Moving back in the direction that would take them to the Wagon Wheel, Izzy thought back to where she'd gotten off-track. She'd given him the majority of the welcome already thus far. The major points that she had left to hit were to show him how to use the PDC and some extra pieces of information. "There are only two more spots that we need to hit on the tour and just a couple more pieces of information, really." Izzy warned Clint as she leads him into the Wagon Wheel (even if it's not quite aptly named considering it's a cluster of buildings, not just one). Just like she did with Elsa, and like Steve did with her, Izzy pauses in the center of the place, so that all of the different levels are visible. "Welcome to the infamous Wagon Wheel, Clint." Izzy gestured upward, making sure that nobody was going to bump either of them. Izzy had to fight back her own sense of awe at the sight of all of the different floors and the central elevator bank that each floor connected to.

"This is 'home base' here, so to speak. The Commissary is the 15th floor and the 11th are where all of the RED levels live, so that's the floor we're on." Izzy explained, giving Clint time to take in the view and process the vast amount of space in this place

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Daycycle 107 [ September 11 - September 17 ]

daycycle 107

[Sept 11 - Sept 17]

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