Chatterbox: Inkwell

The Variables: Solo write! 

The chief scientist of East Gate Institute for Research of the Mentally Ill was having a terrible day, and he looked like it. He had just returned from a day of salvaging operations and had absolutely nothing to show for it, apart from a highly possible fashion the world was going to end.

“Well, Chief?” The blue hologram floating across from him asked without much hope. “What are the results?”

The chief scientist stared blankly out of the window of his office into the dark night of the outside world. The only source of illumination in the room was the dim yellow glow of his desktop lamp that dragged shadows all around the furniture like petals of a black flower with a golden center. He found himself sorely wishing for the comforting feel of a good meal under his belt, which he hadn’t had for the entirety of the day. “Do I even need to say?”

“If not for me, at least for the record, chief.” The hologram said.

The chief scientist sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. “Disaster." He began reluctantly. “The entire escort… gone. Vaporized, you could say. Their trail simply vanished. If it wasn’t for the charred trees around the path we might have thought that they had taken another route. No sign of the core.”

The hologram was silent for a few moments. “What about Eclipse? Vulcan?” It asked, finally. “They can’t have vanished without putting up a fight.”

The chief scientist shook his head slowly, his eyes still closed. “Not a trace.”

“Our last C-classes lost, then.” The hologram sounded defeated, the last spark of hope dying in its voice. “This can’t be true. This was everyone’s last chance. Something-Someone must be messing with this.”

“We might have lost the battle, but we haven’t lost the war yet. You know what this failed mission means, don’t you?” The chief scientist asked in a low voice, suddenly sitting up and fixing the hologram with an intent gaze. “How long do we have left to prepare for plan B?”

“Two years and a half.” The hologram murmured after a moment of hesitation, averting its eyes to the floor. “The Barrier completely decays in one and a half, but if the Royals listen to the Ministry and keep patching it up, we could buy another one, at most. There will be hostile leaks though, and they’ll only grow in number.”

“I’ll put that at three years for us to prepare.” The chief scientist said, a determined glint sparking in his eyes. “Worry not about the leaks, we still have enough staff to keep them under control. What I want to see is a reliable training program on my desk tomorrow, understand?”

The hologram raised its head in incredulity. “A program? Chief, we don’t even have enough people-”

“I have new recruits on the way right now.” The chief scientist said firmly, planting a fist on his desk. He was a completely different person from the fatigued figure slumped in the chair a few moments before. The topic at hand had reanimated his vigor. “I applied for their relocation from the Ministry this morning. They’re all talented, the best of the best, quick to learn and eager to practice.”

“Chief, this is a gamble.” The hologram worried. “If we start from scratch, we’ll never be prepared in time for Cloudburst no matter what training program I devise. And what about our plans for the future? The Institute does not wield its former power in the Union anymore. We’re weaker. A new unit won’t make much difference.”

“We were never starting from scratch.” The chief scientist said, flourishing two documents from the depths of a drawer. He pushed them over to the hologram. “Have a look and see if we're fighting alone.”

“Well, if that’s how it is…” The hologram began after it had read both papers twice to be sure it wasn't dreaming, a small smile appearing at the corners of its lips. 

“Assured?”

The hologram nodded briskly. “I’ll have that program planned out before six in the morning.” Then it shook its head with a weak laugh, realizing how fantastical its words sounded. “Three years to build a force to save the world, Chief. Only now do I understand why you once said that you had a plan for everything.”

“It’s hard to tell which one of us is mentally ill.” The chief scientist said, carefully replacing the documents into the drawer of his desk. It was the unofficial motto of the Institute. “All geniuses were half-crazed beforehand. If we can’t be geniuses, then at least we can be crazed.”

Without warning, the door to the office burst open. The chief scientist’s secretary stumbled in, glanced at the hologram, then at the chief scientist. “The new recruits have arrived, chief. What should we do?”

“I’ll see to them.” He said, rising instantly. To the hologram, “Come along as well. I’ll brief you on the way.”

-------Welcome to my first solo write, everyone! I'm really exited to start this thread. Due to the length of this introduction, character submission forms will be posted after the thread comes up. Feel free to join using your CB name instead of charries. (I shall not be taking AE's or Captchas, sorry) The first four characters submitted will be elected to be leads, while latecomers may have to be side characters. Rest assured that I shall try to give each character their time in the spotlight though! Also, one person per charrie please. (Side characters may take a long time to appear, but they surely will. Please be patient, and have confidence in the knowledge that Zealatom will not forget their existence, ever.)

In addition, I'd like to introduce something new: some NPC-characters in this solo write can be customized by filling out special forms I'll be calling Identity Cards* that shall be posted sporadically as the solo write progresses. For now, there are three up for grabs: The Chief Scientist, The Hologram/Administrator, and The Secretary. (Hence why I wasn't too descriptive in the intro.) They shall all be disclosed along with the normal character forms in the follow-up post. 

*Identity Cards can be filled out as soon as they appear, even if character submission is closed. Also, just as a small reminder, try not to hoard all the Identity Cards for yourself <3 Lastly, thank you all for joining The Variables! Everything shall be explained in due time.