On the subject of the team name - Zell's encapsulation of her thoughts, along with the agreement of others, made her smile. 'Second Chance' now not only sounded better to her ears, she was certain that it suited them quite perfectly.
"Thank you," she said to all, with a small nod.
She stood in silent audience to James' explanation of their current predicament, only stepping forward to show him support when he was losing his cool.
"...The commander told us we needed to bring it to the closes guild branch and sent us in this direction but on the way here we were ambushed by some fuc-!" As he paused and took a deep breath, MacKensie placed a hand on his shoulder supportively.
Once he was done and Lucy gave her take on the cube, MacKensie's thoughts were drawn back to the bigger picture of this land. The war. The Witch Queen. She and her friends had no idea the territorial battles that must be going on all around them. All she knew was that they were in the central part of the continent. Where the Witch Queen's forces were was unknown - possibly east, if the attack at Hommas' eastern gate was any indication. But this cube... this cube that was unknown to even a staff-member of the worldly Adventurer's Guild... maybe it really could be as revelationary to the war-effort as Commander Vadim had postulated?
One moment, the cube was the most important thing in her mind... the war, the most important thing. But then her priorities were slingshot into the opposite direction upon hearing about the Source Comm service... and the message.
"I have a funny feeling whatever's on that message in the Source Comm has some kind of answer for you." She wide-eyed looked at Lucy.
"You and me both." She wide-eyed looked at Zell.
Answers? Answers about why they here?
How they were here? Perhaps a way to go back home? MacKensie's heart-rate doubled as she imagined being able to return home, the day before the flight to Japan. Being able to yell and scream and force her team not to go to the Olympics. Sabotage the entire to trip to save them all from that terrible tragedy. The fantasy was so overwhelmingly ecstatic, it threatened to break her down into tears. Much of everything else was hard to hear, from that point, barely catching the information as she struggled to keep her composure. Adam's questions only added guilt to her mix of emotions, as here she was, willing to throw away her promise to Vadim for a chance to go home - to hell with Mytheria.
Adam: A young man as straight-laced as MacKensie had always been, showing her how she
ought to act. What an individual, indeed. His willingness to put aside everything for a solid answer about the cube they'd promise to safeguard, made her already-high respect for him grow another notch. Whether he noticed or not, as Lucy put the envelope down in front of the Druid, MacKensie held a fist to her stomach as she smiled at him in admiration. Adam: trustworthy to a fault.
Her composure regained (after what was perhaps the tenth wild mini emotional rollercoaster she'd been on since arriving in this world) MacKensie recollected what she could of the information that had just been divvied out regarding silver and gold contracts. It seemed Lucy was confident that they could handle a gold contract, and the desire to see that Source Comm message was enough to make her speak up.
"I also think we should take a gold contract," she told her friends (minus Zell and anyone else who'd disappeared in search of alcohol - not that anyone could blame them.)
"We have business at the Academy and a promise to keep to the town of Hommas. This must come first. And we must take an evening to - how you say - decompress? Find a hotel or something? Mentally, I think it would help." Then her tone and expression hardened.
"But I feel in my bones that this message in that computer is so important for us. And I wish to see it as soon as humanly possible. Zell is right; we are all stronger than before. Much stronger. I know this. And after going through The Mazy Hillocks, I feel I am ready for anything now."