"Well, we've all gotten our introductions out of the way." Sarah cleared her throat, trying to find the words. She could not imagine a more diverse group of people if she tried. Criminals, killers and regular Joes trying to work together to save the world. It sounded fantastic. "I'm sure there are plenty of questions, all of which will be answered in time as best I can. Some of them you can find for yourself in the Ark - I don't claim to have them all."

She leaned forward and looked around the table. "For now, though, our first order of business will be to find out exactly who is targeting us. The kind of people who know we exist are the kind of people we'd be hard pressed to find, so for those of us with the means, I'd like to ask you to help reach out through your respective networks. Ferret out whatever information you can while I do the same."

She looked around at the rest of the group who came from less violent backgrounds. "As for those of us who have been relatively unmolested in our lives up to this point... I understand not all us gathered here have been using our abilities fully or trained to do so - the Ark has all the equipment, facilities and information you'll need to get yourself acquainted. I suggest arming yourself at least with a knife or pistol at all times."

"Which brings us to the second order of business - the Ark itself." She began, picking up a stack of boxes and passing them around. "These were left for us in the Ark, created by Dr Blackburn himself. They're communicators and your way into the Ark. Through these communicators, we can keep in touch and make sure each member of the group is safe. They operate on their own discreet frequency and run extremely advanced encryption, so we should be rather safe from any means of eavesdropping. Still, I'd make sure not to lose them. The Ark itself is accessed through the basement of this building, designated a technology research lab containing experimental technology."

She stood up, and stepped towards the elevator. "If you all will follow me, it's time to see our birthplace."

---

The ride down to the facility that was the Ark was fairly dull - all Sarah had to do was show them the button to press on their communicator in order to move the elevator down to the hidden basement level. It took no more than two minutes for them to arrive at the door.

"Welcome home." She commented with a sense of purpose as the doors slid open to reveal a vast tunnel sloping downwards. She stepped forward and revealed the floor was actually a moving platform as rails slid up for the occupants' protection once everyone was on board and she hit the green button at the side to move them along. "The Ark was built under the entire city, and this is its only entrance. There are service tunnels and the like, but they've all been sealed shut after the place was automated. Alice is looking into expanding a few exits for us in case we need to get around quicker."

The main area of the Ark was what Sarah called the "hotel lobby" of the place. She had since converted it into a common area cum living room of sorts, the vast open space set up with displays, tables, couches, chairs and the like. "This was the main lobby, but I've repurposed it into our meeting place for now." There were signs pointing directions to different sections of the Ark or laboratories. Right in the center was a giant display big enough for a convention to read off it.

"This place was built to support around a few thousand staff, but of course since we're so few, it means each of us has a villa's worth of space, at least." She pushed a few buttons on the keyboard before the display and a map came up. "The staff facilities are down the corridor to your right - gym, swimming pool, showers, makeshift bedrooms. We could all live here, of course, though if you have other arrangements or wish for accommodations that get more sunlight, nothing's holding you back. You'll still have your own personal room here, of course - just for gear and equipment that you don't want people finding. Each room has its own terminal with access to the Ark's database, so feel free to dig around and look for your answers, I'd be lying if I said I was done looking through it all myself."

As Sarah highlighted each location - the respective area on the map lit up along with the route from the main lobby. Hangar, armory, maintenance workshops, refuse, agricultural space, fortified test areas, training rooms and the like. She saved the reason why they were all here for last. "Finally, the room where we were all created." She finished, as a door on their left marked "C1" slid open to reveal another corridor.

Sarah led the group into the labs, past the gestation pods they had each been conceived in, past the conference rooms and shelves of petri dishes before she stopped and let them take it all in. "Well, that concludes the tour. I suppose all that's left to do is get to work."

It had been quite a drain on her to play the tour guide and leader while the rest learned what she only recently found out for herself. She was eager to get a break, and knew they would need time to make their choice, gather their belongings and regroup. "I don't presume all of you will be ready to take this step, so take the rest of the day to make your choice, gather your thoughts and your possessions and we'll meet back here tomorrow morning. Whoever chooses not to show will not be judged. There are vehicles in the hangar if you need them, and should you require a place to live on the surface, I'll arrange for you and provide the address via your communicator."

She sighed, an action unbecoming of a woman who had just gathered these strangers on her whim, but she was beyond maintaining appearances at this point. "I'll be keeping an eye on things here, just for tonight, in case any of you do run into trouble on your first night here. If you need me, you'll know where to look."