Psyker Landshark

Qualia: Mission Sub Rosa

Valeriya Zhukova

Did...did Lucretia not understand what she meant? Valeriya blinked in mild surprise as the German girl seemed to not understand what she was getting at. After a moment, she decided to just go with it. Forget it, then. If Lucretia didn't know what she was talking about it, it wasn't her problem. She'd learn about the birds and the bees eventually.

Now that she was done unpacking, though, there wasn't quite much to do for the rest of the night besides sleep, was there? There was the option of breaking curfew to start scouting around the campus at night and get the lay of the land, but two factors told Valeriya that would be a poor idea, at least for tonight.

First, there was a good chance that the staff would be far more vigilant on the first few nights, before routine and lack of excitement set in. There was little point in not patiently waiting for a better window in which to sneak out.

Second, all that dancing earlier in the evening had worn her out somewhat. Valeriya was in very good physical shape, as befitting a trained spy, but dancing was still a good amount of exertion. No, if she were caught or if something untoward happened, it was too much of a risk, as tired as she was.

So with a mental shrug, she started pulling out some more comfortable clothing to sleep in from her just-unpacked garments, briefly glancing over to check on what the German girl on the other side of the room was doing.

Cacophony Concord

Amulak al Acturus (Stanislaw)
HP: 2370/2370 MP: 5040/5040 SP: 460/460
Character Sheet

Well, Mags and Raime got to the point he'd wanted to make. What to do? What side to take? Amulak knew what he wanted, but as for whether the others would go for it, that was up in the air. Still, might as well try if they were all making their cases now.

"I think you guys know what the fuck I want to do. Very obvious, yes? Take Mora-Sho side, go PvP hard. However, I do not want to be dickhead that breaks up group. If you guys want to do merc work, I will do merc work and join Mora-Sho some other way." Hopefully, he'd get want he wanted. Realistically, there was no chance in hell.

Amulak turned his attention back to the conversation, joining in.

"Africa, huh? When you visiting Poland anyway? Come to Krakow, we get drunk." He turned to Leif, flipping him off right back. "Anyways, yes, dumbass, you can change classes. Build multiple off each other. You grind how much and not realize this?

Qualia: Mission Sub Rosa

Valeriya Zhukova

Well, if nothing else, the end of the ball had been a splendid diversion. Valeriya was more than certain she'd cemented herself in the minds of more than a few boys and girls among her peers. Perfect if she ever required connections for one issue or another. Or if she just wanted a different bedmate for a night. Not that the two were separate, of course.

Her assigned quarters were...interesting, to say the least. Of all the possible options, a British-style castle wouldn't have been at the top of her list for a place to live. Still, she couldn't complain. It certainly beat her quarters back when she'd been in training at the Ministry.

Valeriya's roommate was even more of an unexpected occurrence. What were the odds that she'd be sharing her quarters with one of the more notable students of the lot? And an utter brick wall in social terms, at that? Still, like with the quarters itself, she supposed it could be worse. Lucretia didn't seem inclined to be the first one to speak, so Valeriya supposed she'd have to be the one to start setting ground rules.

The Russian hadn't brought too much luggage with her. Well, most of her materials and prototypes were already shipped to Bermuda's armory. So all she really had to unpack were clothes and the tools of her trade. Once those were squared away, she decided it was high time to make some attempt at socializing with the German. At least she had a better handle on the girl's personality, now.

"Lucretia," Valeriya approached from across the room. "I thought it best if we establish some boundaries considering we'll be dorming together. I doubt we'll have many issues most of the time. I won't bother you, you won't bother me, though feel free to if you wish. At night, though..." She paused, thinking of how best to phrase this to a thirteen-year old before deciding to simply be blunt.

"Occasionally, I may invite other students into the dormitory and into my bed. Even with the partition, there may be some noise at night, and I apologize in advance should that disturb you. If it's too much, I'll make an effort to use the rooms of others instead. And I'll likely be doing so half the time regardless. That's all, really. Any objections?"

She paused, smirking as a thought struck her.

"Of course, you could always join in, if you were so inclined."

-FV-

The only reason Jin-Sun didn't intervene was because he could see from the wind-up that the attempted punch had absolutely nothing in terms of power behind it. God, how the hell were this kid's parents raising her? It was like Kyouko, but worse.

So instead, the cyborg just sighed and took another sip of orange juice as Victoria finally took her seat. As weird and mildly annoying this situation was, he still owed it to Mason to be polite to the kid. Therefore, Jin-Sun simply pretended nothing out of the ordinary had happened, and nodded in response to the girl finally answering his question.

"Okay, cool. Anyways, good to finally meet you, Victoria. Pick whatever off the menu, our treat."

Qualia: Mission Sub Rosa

Valeriya Zhukova

Well. Bang danced better than Valeriya expected for a cripple. Still, she could see that he was tiring. After just one round of dance, Valeriya disengaged herself, favoring him with a slight smile as she made a quick excuse to leave. After all, she wasn't looking to kill the boy. Another round of that might as well have him collapse, from what she could see.

The Russian engineer snatched another glass of all-too-weak wine champagne for herself, looking around for somewhere to sit and keep herself occupied. She could continue to go after her target, but being too pushy might just tip him off. Best to lay low for the moment. But where to sit...ah.

The only table near her with available seating just so happened to be occupied by one von Konigsmahne. So with no better options and without further ado, Valeriya took a seat at Lucrezia's table, resting one leg on her knee as she took a swig of bubbly.

"And here I thought they said Germans have no sense of joy." Valeriya remarked, taking note of the slight smile on Lucrezia's face and following her gaze. "So what strikes your fancy more, then? The music, or Herr Steiner?"

Cacophony Concord

Amulak al Acturus (Stanislaw)
HP: 2370/2370 MP: 5040/5040 SP: 460/460
Character Sheet

Honestly, the last few days had been a blast. The massive surge in levels they'd all gotten from taking out so many gyunin at once meant that Amulak was a decent enough level to start being a contender in PvP. And boy did he dive straight into that shit. Outside of kicking back and relaxing with Ames and the rest of the gang at the inn when he could, he'd just been going ape in arenas.

"Hey, asshole!" A jovial voice cried out, not particularly hostile despite his choice of words. "You queueing up tonight?"

"Fuck you, and maybe!" Amulak called back to a familiar face. He'd gone up against that one a good few times in the arena, and they'd developed something of a friendly rivalry as a result. "Friends calling meeting, might be questing tonight instead!"

"Lame. The only other necro in our bracket isn't half as fun to go against. Well, don't let me hold you up then. Get going, pussy."

Amulak flipped the other PvPer off in response as he left, continuing to make his way towards the designated meeting point. That was the other thing. Apparently all that PvP meant he'd started making a name for himself. As much as Amulak wanted to outright join the Mora-Sho, he didn't want to ditch his friends. In terms of the current conflict, only Klein was really interested in the Gakui-Re, but it didn't seem anyone else wanted to go Mora-Sho. Which meant that even past this war, any future wars would be troublesome to deal with if others found out he was questing with rival clan members. What a pain.

As they all met up, Amulak found himself about to voice the same question that, unbeknowst to him, Ames was about to as well. But before either could say anything, they were cut off by...a fucking motorcycle?

Well, at least Russ finally deigned to get his ass online.

"Look who it is!" Amulak called out in his exaggerated, game-assisted Slavic accent. You know, despite the fact that he spoke English at a more than proficient level. "World-traveling gigachad finally get ass online at decent hour! I still say bullshit you actually traveling. Probably stay in Thailand and pay for ladyboys." He chuckled, giving Russ a good ribbing as he was used to. "Is Stanislaw, if you can't tell already. How does shit be so far? Enjoying game?"

Qualia: Mission Sub Rosa

Valeriya Zhukova

Truth be told, she doubted she'd ever get used to this. For an orphan girl from Siberia masquerading as a prodigy adopted by lesser nobility, the trappings of the rich and powerful were still somewhat foreign to Valeriya. Only on the inside, of course. Externally, the blonde engineer merely gave off a bored-looking stare as she followed after her tour group.

Even as Valeryia did as best she could to blend in and not stand out overmuch, she still marvelled internally at the sheer opulence of the facilities. Even the dorms were better than anything she'd ever slept in, including the manor of the boyars she'd been actually inserted with both to establish her cover and to reinforce how to act in her assigned role. The idea of a 10 pm curfew was hilarious, though. And she was probably going to violate that sooner rather than later. For her mission if nothing else. Hopefully, whoever she was bunked with would both be tolerable and not ask too many questions. She could work around either or both not being the case, but why ask for hardship if one doesn't need to?

___

God, how were her fellows getting drunk off this literal piss water? Valeriya gave a dissatisfied grimace as she knocked back a glass of rose that was too light and too sweet to be dubbed alcohol. Hell, she doubted there was anything stronger here than red wine. Still, best not to get too drunk at any time here. There were appearances to maintain and secrets to keep. Nonetheless, Valeriya supposed to herself that she should begin socializing. Best to blend in first and make sure her cover was secure before working in earnest towards her assignment.

Fortunately, Valeriya had taken full advantage of the dress rooms and rentals to switch into garb more appropriate for high society. Tonight, she wore a simply-designed, yet high-quality long silk dress dyed red, with exposed shoulders and arms. Slightly scandalous, but well-crafted enough and just tasteful enough that she wasn't outing herself as some sort of slattern.

A quick glance around the room gave her at least one conversation starter already. She smirked slightly at the...well, she couldn't really tell what nationality he was just from a glance. Definitely from the Middle East or the southern parts of the Orient. Still, good to know someone else couldn't quite stomach the literal grape juice they had on offer tonight.

Valeriya sidled up beside what she didn't know was a Mughal, letting a light, casual smirk stay on her face.

"I see someone else here cannot stand this...fruit juice either." She remarked in Chinese tinged in a moderate Russian accent. While her Latin was perfect, Valeriya's apparent command of the trade languages was...less so. She could certainly tighten up her diction and lessen her accent, but there was little need to here. Frankly, it would be more odd to see an Occidental this young speak both of the common trade languages with near-native pronounciation, even though she could.

"Back home in Russia, this would be regarded as barely worth of being called alcohol. I take it your homeland also prefers stronger beverages?" She inclined her head towards the boy slightly, her smirk softening. "But where are my manners? Valeriya Zhukova. A pleasure."

___

Mentions: @SgtEasy

Qualia: Mission Sub Rosa

Valeriya Zhukova

Valeriya Zhukova
15 | Female | 5'5" / 165.1 cm | 112 lbs / 50.8 kg
Holy Russian Tsardom | Technologism | Electroartifice

Background:

By all rights, Valeriya had little place in her current position compared to all the noble lineages and respected bloodlines she was surrounded by. She was born a girl of low birth in a newly-established industrial town in Siberia, and only the hand of fate delivered her into the clutches of one of Imperial Russia's least-known agencies: the Imperial Ministry of Intelligence.

An accident in the factory Valeriya's parents toiled in rendered the girl an orphan when she was barely three years old. Not two weeks later, erstwhile """relatives""" from out of town sauntered into the local orphanage and pulled her out, taking the young girl all the way to Moscow. In truth, these were agents of the Ministry pulling in more fresh blood to be raised in the Tsar's service. Valeriya became among the first batch of imperial agents to be raised from a young age to be spies and Polymaths abroad, as the Futile War had shown that Polymaths were ever more essential towards even intelligence work, and that it was best to reel them in young before such trifles as familial loyalty or ingrained learning created unwanted traits in potential agents.

Thus, she spent her youth being taught the arts of Formula and fieldcraft. What none expected, however, was that this girl from the ass-end of Siberia turned out to have, at the very least, a true knack at being a Polymath. By the time she was a teenager, Valeriya was at the top of her class among the Ministry's youth, and so she was to be given the crucial assignment to be inserted into Bermuda. A cover was established for her background, and her genuine achievements granted her recognition enough to legitimately qualify for entrance to the Academic Island. For Tsar and country. God save the Tsar.

Field of study:

Among Technologists, Electroartifice refers to the use of Formulization to craft works powered by and utilizing electricity. In Valeriya's case, she specializes in personal tools of war: arms and armor alike. Her education in history impressed a single theory on her that became applied to her Formula: the tactics of old had been on to something. The problem lay in the tools. In order to match the Egoists of the Orient, the equipment used by the Occident had to be on par.

Valeriya's Electroartifice revolves around two primary projects: powered armor to match an Egoist's speed and strength, and a weapon to surpass their durability. Some would say that this was too much of a division of resources in otherwise separate fields. Valeriya would respond by saying that one wasn't complete without the other. And so were revealed her two works: electromagnetic railgun firearms to harm Egoists where mundane equipment couldn't, and armor using electrically-powered servos to increase the wearer's agility and might.

Of course, Valeriya doesn't promote her achievements in public as being anti-Egoist technology. Rather, she claims to simply wish to usher in the next generation of weapons and armor, regardless of target.

Organization: Imperial Ministry of Intelligence

Character theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2DBeby7ni8

-FV-

"What?" He shrugged at Iphie. "I need something to kill time with besides wrestling reruns. And don't actually do that, would you? You'd probably get me banned once the servers detect it."

Fifteen minutes of idle conversation later, Jin-Sun eagerly started digging into his waffles, his hologram generator maintaing the illusion that he was just shoveling food straight into his faceplate instead of lifting it and showing his face. Man, did he love crappy diner food. Though it did lead him to wonder where exactly Mason's granddaughter was. After all, a good amount of time since the given meetup time had passed now. Seriously, did she get lost on the way-

One teenage rant later, and Jin-Sun found he probably had his answer. Christ, he hoped this wasn't Mason's granddaughter. Bit of a fucking brat, from first appearances.

"What they said," Jin-Sun shrugged, playing it cool as he took a sip of OJ. "If we can't defend ourselves, we've really got no business calling ourselves the Final Five, do we? Anyways, I take it you're Mason's grandkid? Sorry we started without you. Take a seat, yeah?"

Qualia: Steampunk Spies, School Life Scandals, and Eldritch Spice

Edited in what Valeriya's power armor looks like. Yes it's the Kerberos armor from Jin-Roh. Blame Rodey.