[Semi-Open] Getting down to business

[periphrasing]

Who: Peridot, the engineering team, Lambert, Steven, Amethyst, Lapis, uh… Anyone else who has CR with any of the engineering guys and can justify crashing an engineering related meeting.
What: TEAM MEETING! Lambert wants to build a training/obstacle course and practice area, and Peridot needs all hands on deck because she has no idea what she’s doing because she values all of your opinions.
Where: Supervisor trailer #9, AKA Lapis and Peri’s Gem Cave.
When: Some misc. evening between Day 92-98
Warnings: Nah.

Notes: The meeting is the reason for the gathering, but there will be time for people to chatter amongst themselves and kick back with some snacks or whatever, so this will be a mingle style log. In other words, feel free to post your own top levels so you can get to know your fellow repair/effects workers! I’ll be posting my own top level for the main meeting thread, which will be a free-for-all with no particular tagging order.

------

Peridot’s instructions, given to each and every one of her subordinates over radio, are very straightforward: Mandatory meeting tomorrow night, at her trailer, 8 PM sharp. She’s cryptic, when pressed, about the reasons for calling such a gathering so suddenly… All she’ll divulge is that they have a new project to work on, and she needs everyone to come together and collaborate. You’re all encouraged to bring “your favorite human snacks, or whatever,” to share with your coworkers to promote maximum synergy and cooperation. Peridot won’t eat any herself of course, but she’s given to understand that shared food generally results in higher moral among organics.

The chosen meeting place is, of course, her personal trailer in the Supervisor’s Grove, which despite all appearances on the outside, is more than large enough on the inside comfortably fit everyone on the team and then some. The interior itself is rather elegant, and it seems like it could be luxurious... but it’s obvious that neither of the gems who live here really understand how good they’ve got it, or appreciate the amenities they have access to. There’s all kinds of junk strewn over nearly every surface, and weird contraptions that don't seem to do anything other than move or make noise are rigged up to the ceilings and the walls. There's also, FOR NO APPARENT REASON, a gigantic stuffed rasta banana propped up in one corner? It can probably be used as an extra seat if you're not too horrified by it. Otherwise, you may have to move a meep-morp or two off of a chair in order to make yourself comfortable.

Lapis and Peridot's pet Pumpkin is also here, and will gladly smother you with affection if given the chance. Finally, for the comfort of her extremely nervous wimpod, Stumpy, Peridot has respectfully requested that all Pokemon either remain in their pokeballs or be left behind at their respective trainer’s trailers for the duration of the meeting.

Comments

[periphrasing]

Peridot's grin is back, and she beams excitedly at the rest of the crew, hands resting easily on her hips. "This is our chance to contribute something big to the landscape of the carnival, instead of just fixing the same broken down machines over and over again. I mean, that's not to say that fixing things isn't fun in it's own right, but. This is a pretty big deal! Right, team?"

[mirrortide]

"I'll pass." Lapis, you aren't even part of the team, you're a performer and this doesn't even concern you to begin with. "Sounds like a pain."

[stillwinningthehardway]

Practical concerns are Scout's forte. "Yeah, but do we have anything we can even use to move a lot of heavy stuff? If it's not just something casual we really need some walls to scale. And pits."

[starseedling]

"You can do it!!" Steven says, cheering Peridot on in sharp contrast to Lapis's total lack of interest. "This is gonna be so cool!"

[fragileandsoft]

Greg's not sure about this whole idea, but Steven's cheers encourage him a tad. This could be fun, couldn't it?

"I've got my van. It can carry a good chunk of the equipment."

[anti_nonsense]

"I don't do heavy lifting," Rita chimes in unhelpfully.

She shrugs and continues. "But I suppose I can design and put together a few things. Can't have the people who're supposed to watch my back getting soft, or anything." It's not a particularly interesting project to her, but she can see the merit in having well-trained allies around. And Peridot does have a point... designing and constructing things from scratch makes for a pretty appealing change of pace.

[whattaprick]

"We mostly improvised on a mountain trail," Lambert shrugs. "Nearly broke our necks on the ice in the winter, half-drowned in the river in spring, sweat all the water out of our bodies in summer, and slip on moss and lichen in the fall. The idea was that you practiced one way to run it until you could do it in your sleep, then you made up your own challenges as you got better." He says this all very matter of factly. Witchers called it the "Killer" for a reason ...

"I can talk about some of the equipment we had for combat practice, but that's just to give an idea of what I'm used to. If you've got something that works better and you can build it, I'm all ears."

[periphrasing]

"We can easily find an alternative to doing the heavy lifting ourselves," Peridot reassures everyone, flapping one hand like she's literally waving the concern off. "More to the point: I'm... still not sure I fully understand the purpose of providing a course which is that punishing, but if that's what's necessary for your purposes, I'm confident that we can come up with something every bit as deadly as described! More deadly, even."

[stillwinningthehardway]

That sounds like fun, but Scout holds up a finger.

"The medical tent will hate us forever if we make something deadly, or even with a really high injury rate, and force people to run it," she says firmly. "And they'll be right to do so. Challenge is great but you know, most people don't have the discipline to start right on the highest difficulty. We need different grades."

She starts counting things off. "Paths, sure, but shortcuts too, so it can be endurance or just focused. Walls or steep inclines to climb - some ledges, some rope, sometimes just a slick surface, 'cause hooves and feet and claws all climb in their own way. Water or mud to wade through. Taught ropes and poles over things to work on balance, and the easier end there isn't hard to figure out."

[mirrortide]

"If someone is dumb enough to start on the highest difficulty and get hurt it's their own fault." Again, Lapis has absolutely zero horses in this race, but clearly comments from the peanut gallery are vital to the success of this entire operation.

Not.

"Is any of this really going to help people get better?"

[whattaprick]

"Good ideas," Lambert says, nodding at Scout, then shrugs at Lapis' question.

"Like Scout said, that's going to be a matter of discipline. You get what you're willing to put in, and that's not up to me unless someone asks me to train them." He doesn't want to get yelled at by the medical team, sure, but he's also nobody's mom. "I expect to see all the nightrunners out there using it. If someone else wants to learn, or just build up their endurance, we can assess where they're at and help figure out something for them to do, get them someone to make sure they don't break their necks."

There's no real way to impose exercise on everyone, even if, say, the Ringmaster demanded it.

"That's why I came to you. I know the kind of equipment I'd need to stay on top of my form. I don't know about anyone else." He pauses, considering. "Oh, and on the subject of moving things around, I've got a horse that can drag ten tons. In case you need that."

[periphrasing]

“…Well that certainly sounds useful.” She doesn’t actually know what a horse is? But. Anything that can drag that much weight is bound to come in handy.

“Anyway, we can easily program some difficulty settings into the higher tech areas. For the people who really want a challenge, I’m thinking lasers. Lots of them.”

[anti_nonsense]

"Lasers? Now we're talking." Rita leans forward a bit in her seat, cupping her chin as she pictures it. "I suppose I can put together a few fire-based obstacles as well." She says I suppose, like she's going out of her way to do them all a favor, but that smirk on her face betrays how much she's going to enjoy it. "It should be trivial for any fighter worth his salt to dodge a few fireballs here and there."

Did somebody say something about safety? Rita didn't seem to hear.

[fragileandsoft]

Greg winces. "Always with the lasers and fire..." He taps at a tusks. "I don't think I'd be a big help with that stuff, so I'll leave the higher level stuff to you guys. I bet even people outside the Nightrunners can appreciate having a good place to work out, though, so it's worth putting some energy into it." It's come up a fair few times by now, hasn't it? "Leave the basics to me."

[periphrasing]

Peridot perks up, and addresses the whole room, gesturing to Rita. "See, Rita gets it! I like your energy there, pal," she says, grinning and giving her the double finger guns. Then she turns her attention to Greg: "Greg. Truth be told, I find your lack of ambition rather disappointing. BUT. I suppose there's something to be said for knowing your limits, so you should at least feel proud about that. We absolutely will leave the basics to you."

It's a compliment.

[whattaprick]

Fire-based obstacles sound a little extreme, but you know what? Lambert'll take it. He'd bitched about his training at Kaer Morhen the whole time he'd been forced through it, but he can't deny it's come in handy.

"More people around here could use exercise," Lambert shrugs. Who cares if that sounds rude, it's the truth! "Everyone's got to start somewhere."