The start of the kido train. (Closed social)

[Wycliff]

Wycliff took one last look around his office as the hour hand on the clock ticked over to show that it was now three P.M. in the afternoon. While he was a captain, he was also one of the newer ones and one with honestly the worst reputation. While gossip was a big part of it, it was also due to his laid back attitude when it came to work. However there was one thing that he wanted to get done ever since he had the opportunity to do so and now there was only one real obstacle to get it up and running.

He needed the help from squad 12, more importantly he needed the help of the captain of squad 12. While he himself had never been in squad 12 he had heard the rumors of the rather eccentric individuals that were a part of it. Still in all those rumors one thing was clear, at the very least the captain of the squad was more than a reasonable person. So here Wycliff was sitting in his office waiting to see if Aramis would actually respond back to the request for a brief meeting. The two had never formally had a conversation so he wasn’t sure that the other captain would respond, much less actually help him, however it was a risk he needed to take, if he was going to bring about changes in the rukongai.

[Aramis Tezuka]

"An hour of your time is an age for the mayfly." Aramis Tezuka said as he was suddenly in Wycliff's office. He hadn't used the door, and there'd been no trace of the use of Shunpo. He'd simply... seemingly materialized, stepping out of the shadows in one of the room's corners. The Captain of the Research and Development division was in his usual, slightly off-kilter attire. A Captain's haori over the traditional Shinigami uniform, albeit with the sleeve over his left arm nearly half as long as normal, and the sleeve over his right arm barely having enough material to cover his shoulder. His rapier-type Zanpakuto was sheathed at his hip as per usual, and his spectacles were in order... unlike his hair which was little more than a ragged green mop atop his head. Deep bags under Aramis's eyes spoke to far too little sleep, and his pale complexion spoke to an equal amount of sunlight. He was holding a golden stopwatch in his right hand, briefly taking in the surroundings of Wycliff's office. A slightly pungent smell hung in the air around Aramis today, suggesting he'd been working with formaldehyde extremely recently.

Aramis wasted little time striding up to Wycliff's desk. "Requested Squad 12's assistance on a project. Will hear your proposal. Is only appropriate, due to your status." There were other things Aramis might have said, but the Captain had become gradually known for a brusque nature at times. As it stood, Aramis didn't know much about Wycliff, besides what had been provided to him through reports from his subordinates. Aramis, of course, kept basic tabs on all the Captains, having documentation of their more well known abilities as well as several officers in the division spending a decent part of their work day theorizing how to potentially neutralize such abilities in the event any of them turned against Soul Society.

"Do not have time to waste. Be brief. Many projects that require attention." The Captain added. Pale green eyes to match his hair stared balefully at Wycliff. There wasn't any malice or irritation in them. But neither was there any particular warmth. One might say they were a scientist's eyes? But that might have not been entirely accurate. They lacked the scientist's passion. It was like staring into the eyes of a hawk. They were studying Wycliff. Analyzing and breaking down, on a conceptual level, every minute action he made. It wasn't out of a desire for knowledge, out of concern for a threat, or anything like that. It was simply because to do so was simply natural to do so. Second nature, as it were, for Aramis's eyes to take in, and his mind to disseminate what it noticed.

[Wycliff]

To randomly hear a voice and then the sudden appearance of Aramis was unexpected would be an understatement. Wycliff had know that the captain of squad 12 was odd, but he had never expected the man to not use the door to enter into the office. Wycliff hadn’t really paid attention to what Aramis had said at first, still trying to get a grasp on the fact that apparently his office had been entered by strange means. Still once Aramis made it clear that he wasn’t really waiting too long Wycliff ran a hand backwards through his hair as he got his thoughts together.

“Thanks for coming, wasn’t too sure ya would actually hear me out.” Wycliff’s eyes were hidden by his sunglasses, which allowed him to look over Aramis, from the messy hair, the tired looking eyes and the pale skin Wycliff assumed that Aramis hadn’t slept, or gone out in the daylight in a while. “Guessing ya haven’t been to the rukongai in a minute have ya?”[smear:FF0000][/smear:00FF00] Whatever answer Aramis gave wasn’t important, it was the location that held importance. “Listen, I don’t know what goals ya have, or what ya care about, but I do know that research costs money. I’ve got something in mind that’ll make cash for both of our squads, as well as helping out the rukongai.”

Wycliff hoped that the possible monetary incentive would be enough to get Aramis’s help. While he waited for Aramis to respond Wycliff would take out from a drawer in his desk several photographs of different locations in the rukongai. “I want to build a railway system in the rukongai, powered by kido users.” He would wait a moment before continuing on speaking. “Once we get it up I’ll get squad five members to man and power it. Connecting all of the rukongai with a railway system will help out with several things, first of all it would make dealing with hollow outbreaks easier, transportation in the rukongai would greatly increase meaning the poorer districts would start to see some costs of goods lower. Lastly, while not something it can do, I’m sure ya can whip something up that can scan and detect spiritual energy so we can get recruits we’d normally miss.”

While these were some of the reasons why Wycliff wanted the kido railway system up and running another major reason was as a training tool for all shingami. If the requirements to operate it were low enough they could use it to help train other shingami as well as station still hurt and recovering shingami there to fully recover before sending them back to the front lines. Another way to add in more recovery time without being down in manpower. “Not all the details are hammered out, but what do ya think, will ya help me?”

[Aramis Tezuka]

Aramis eyed Wycliff quietly, unfazed by his startled reaction. ”Request from Captain requires response until further precedence of requests determined.” He replied in the same rapid monotone. As far as the Rukongai though. ”Correct. C+. Have delegated task of overseeing sensor construction in Rukongai to trusted officers.” He answered.

Wycliff continued, promising financial gain and assisting the Rukongai in doing so. ”Noble endeavor. Wise to provide financial incentive. Have other projects with financial incentive. Assisting Rukongai citizens; admirable, but low priority during wartime.” Came the measured answer. But Wycliff came more prepared than Ken’ichi’s report of the man might have indicated. Aramis took the designs from Wycliff in his right hand, and examined them closely.

”Manageable in theory. Intriguing project. Will confer on the matter. Potential for rapid deployment of military assets in addition to Wycliff’s proposed purpose. May help advance priority. Issues presented— high risk target for enemy combatants both for infiltration, and renders passengers vulnerable to attack. Armoured plating potentially mitigates risk, but would slow train. Problematic. Fine balance required. Problem is solvable. Infiltration concern more problematic to manage.” Aramis mused though whether he was actually talking to Wycliff or just thinking out loud was up for debate.

”Second proposal. Sound in theory. Very possible. Already deployed sensors throughout Rukongai. Sensors are designated to detect non-Shinigami activity. Changing primary function to identify new recruits, possible but I’ll advised. For protection of Rukongai and Soul Society, detection of enemies is preferable. Could include requested feature, without compromising primary objective, but time consuming. Standard priority.” Aramis replied.

”Will note any objections now. Otherwise, note any further requests.” Aramis stated. Apart from the flicker of his eyes as he processed the various issues, advantages and minutiae of Wycliff’s request Aramis had stood unnervingly still during questioning, clearly practiced at staying immobile for long periods of time.

[Wycliff]

Wycliff studied what Aramis said about the project, the way the man spoke was a bit off putting and strange making it a bit hard to understand how he felt about the idea, however Wycliff did get the feeling that Aramis was okay with the prospect of it. “Security is an issue, I ain’t gunna lie to ya, tho I was thinking of using the train as a rehab for injured shingami, easy duty and keeps em busy and not in squad 4. Obviously we’d put in place a rotation of fully healthy shini.” Wycliff wasn’t one to work right after getting hurt, however he did know that plenty of shingami didn’t like simply resting in a bed after being injured.

“Having extra shingami in the rukongai would also make the gangs less able to act freely, I’d also make the rukongai people feel more safe as they’d see more of us, two benefits that we’d gain.” Wycliff was trying to find ways to make the train more desirable. “I was thinking ya could add the sensors to the trains, not the best but it could alert when someone with spiritual power enters the train or comes by it. That and some kinda monitor system base maybe inside of the gotei that can’t be attacked by intruders so easily. That way ya could shut down a train if it got hijacked.” Wycliff wasn’t really sure what else to say to Aramis about the railway system, he just hoped that it would be enough to move forward with the project.

[Aramis Tezuka]

Aramis's eyes continued to dart between the page and Wycliff himself. "Staffing currently irrelevant. Peace of mind in Rukongai irrelevant. Tactical advantages. Relevant. Resolving security concerns. Relevant." Aramis responded brusquely. After a few more reviews he finally placed the papers inside his Haori. "Will discuss matter with colleagues. Personal specialty does not align with task. If convinced feasible. If convinced good use of time and resources. Will begin production." Came his follow-up replay.

It was relatively apparent that to Aramis, this was a business proposition and nothing more. Another item on his agenda, no more or less important than any other. Though his phrasing and nature didn't relay it very well, he was taking Wycliff's request seriously, but as with many other situations, Aramis rarely used more words than absolutely necessary to get his meaning across. The fewer words he used, the faster he could get this meeting over and done with, and the faster he could move on to the next item of his agenda. This was not even intended as a form of disrespect-- indeed, Aramis likely could not contemplate it as such. Merely that as Captain of the Twelfth, he had a lot of things on his plate, some of them potential security breaches. With a laundry list longer than even the fastest Shinigami in the Seireitei could accomplish in a day, Aramis was all but forced to keep things concise and quick. To resolve any item as quickly as possible. That wasn't to say he wasn't thorough, but in most cases, he would have to delegate the task of being thorough to an adjutant like Ken'ichi or Erika.

"Will take into consideration." Aramis concluded, standing slightly straighter, and turning as if to leave, pausing only a moment to glance over his shoulder, fixing Wycliff in his peripheral vision. "Further requests? Leaving if not." He stated, the light of Wycliff's office glinting off of his spectacles.

[Wycliff]

With everything said Wycliff smiled, it seemed that while Aramis was a bit cold and distant the proposal for the train would go over and the development would start soonish. To say that Wycliff was happy with this development was an understatement. “Naw, nothing else can come to my mind. Thank ya for actually taking the time to talk to me. Don’t think most of the other captn’s care much for me ya know.”  Wycliff let out a slight chuckle as he said that and scratched the back of his head. He wasn’t expecting for Aramis to say anything to it, no it was more of Wycliff being nervous and insecure with his own position.

“Oh wait, before ya go I got a folder for ya for the train. I found someone in my squad that kinda knew about this stuff before they became a shini. I asked them to help draw some basic blueprints, I really can’t make heads or tails of it, however I think ya might be able to.” Wycliff went and grabbed a rather hefty folder and extended it out towards Aramis. “If ya have room in ya squad think about taking them in. I could see their eyes light up when they were drawing and planning this stuff.” Wycliff held a solemn look across his face as he spoke. “I’d rather they do something they love rather than keep’n them here.”

“I know all too well being forced to do something ya hate...” Wycliff’s tone was soft and held a sense of longing. With that he knew that this conversation had gone on too long and that they both had something else to do. What Wycliff didn’t know is that the person he had draw some blueprints for the train had gotten a little too excited and included a feature to combine the trains into a massive robot that could only be piloted by captains. Who knows if this would be something that Aramis would include in the final product, however if it was, it would be a total surprise to Wycliff.

[Aramis Tezuka]

Aramis took a cursory examination of Wycliff and his office as Wycliff thanked him for his time. "Assessment inconclusive. Is appeal to other Captains important?" He asked of the Squad 5 Captain. In any case, Aramis prepared to leave, but Wycliff stopped him, handing over a set of blueprints. "Will be useful. Or not. Starting point at least." Aramis looked at Wycliff. "Send details to reception with 12th Division. Rarely turn away recruits." He added, but watched Wycliff with his steady monotonous gaze.

"Then why do it?" And with that, Aramis flicked Revenant out of its sheath, the weapon slicing through the shadows in Wycliff's office. The 12th Division Captain stepped into the darkness and was swallowed up, disappearing from view. And then there was silence. Aramis had disappeared as quickly as he had arrived.

[Kitai Yoru]

Wycliff: 11 Paragraphs, 10% bonus

Aramis Tezuka: 13 paragraphs, 10% bonus