[Naveta Lejori]

The trip to Harmonia was about as comfortable as every other time she went to a new region.  That is, it was extremely uncomfortable.  The last thing Naveta wanted was a record saying where she was going and when she left, so she's never actually purchased a boat ticket in her life.  This trip was no different.  If anything, hiding out in whatever barrel she could find was a bit more uncomfortable than usual because her hair was wet due to the Origin recruiter dragging her back to their apartment to wash her clothes and get her to bathe.  She didn't really understand why it couldn't wait until she got there, since it hadn't been THAT long since she last cleaned up, but they were quite insistent.  Once the boat arrived, it was just a matter of waiting for a good moment to sneak off the ship and make her way to their headquarters.

The city proper was about what she expected.  With the help of a hooded sweatshirt to conceal her hair and face, she didn't really have any trouble blending in.  A glance suggested that the concentration of academics had gone down since the city's founding, but that happened with pretty much every city.  In the end, the planet had a lot of people, but very few researchers.  The amount of businesses and forms of recreation suggested that this place had largely finished its evolution into becoming a normal population center, perhaps with more academics than usual due to the nature of the island itself.  That was good, it basically meant having the best of both worlds.  She probably wouldn't have to go without anything she really wanted, and she could probably get access to some of this research if she was so inclined.  

When Naveta arrived at the headquarters, at first she wasn't quite sure if it was the right place.  She knew that it would be disguised as a normal business, but she was almost impressed at how well they managed to pull it off.  Almost.  Soon, it became obvious she was in the right place, but it was done in such a way that it would be difficult to notice if the person didn't already know it was there.  Clever enough, it would be a reasonable place to lay low for now.  She wasn't prone to working with any one particular group, and would generally work with anyone that would fund her research and wouldn't get her killed, so this kind of place was unusual for her.  Even if the people looking for her managed to track her to Harmonia somehow (which would be difficult on its own), given her history it would be even more difficult to track her here than usual.  For the time being, she was content.

The inside of the base was pretty nice too.  Living here would be a lot more comfortable than the shitholes she was used to living in.  It had all the advantages of living in the more...questionable side of town without any of the downsides.  She probably wouldn't have to worry about getting robbed either, which was nice.  All Naveta had with her was a small messenger bag with her laptop, a few changes of clothes, some of her tools and some cash hidden in it, so there was no need to figure out where her room was just yet.  Naveta oped to just flop into one of those comfortable looking chairs, lounge a bit, and take in the sights.

This was almost starting to look like an actual good idea instead of the best option in a bad situation.  Now she was just curious to see what kinds of idiots she'd be forced to work with.  That could easily make or break how well she'd do here.

[Santos "Shadow" Almaz]

Santos had done it. He had trained his pokemon and caught two new ones. Candle was on the verge of evolving. Santos had completed the requirements of the recruits to actually be considered as a grunt for Team Origin. He sent a text to the recruiter saying that he had completed his task and the recruiter told him to go to the Origin Hideout.

Santos entered into the Origin Hideout with a smug grin. He looked at what would seem like a young woman lounging around. He scoffed "must be a new recruit or something" He thought. He didn't have time for her. It was time for him to earn his promotion. He pulled out his PDA and typed on it sending a text that he had arrived for his promotion.

[Naveta Lejori]

It was Naveta's lucky day, by some definition of the word.  Some guy walked in after just a few minutes of her sitting around.  She figured she'd at least have to pull out her laptop just to stop herself from being bored to death, but no, here they were.  The face he had when he walked into the room said it all.  She expected to hate pretty much everyone because that's how it always worked out, but she could already tell that this guy was going to be extra intolerable.  The real question was whether or not she hated herself to actually engage this guy right now, or whether she should just wait for someone else.  Well, in the end everyone else probably wouldn't be much better, so she might as well just get it over with.  It was important to see what kind of people she would be dealing with after all.

"Hey there newcomer!  You're looking pleased with yourself."

He specifically came here, then stopped and sent a message, and didn't continue on.  This implies that he needed to be here somehow, so hopefully he was unlikely to leave just yet...again by some definition of the word.  Judging from his body language, this would be just as annoying to him as it was to her, so that was some consolation at least.

[Santos "Shadow" Almaz]

"Newcomer?" Santos muttered in surprise. He then looked over to the woman who spoke to him and smirked "nah I think you're the newcomer here. This is my hometown and you look like you're fresh off the boat but insults aside. I'm reporting in from a completed mission so naturally I'm pleased because completing this mission more or less make me one of the team." He chuckled then hummed as he studied the woman something about her seemed off. "So what do you call yourself, me I go by Shadow."

[Naveta Lejori]

Now it was time for the ultimate question: what this guy a genius or an idiot?  It could be so hard to tell sometimes, but that response was just so out there that she really wanted to believe that he was just genuinely dumb.  From just one brief response, she knew that he was from this city, rather attached to it, and easily offended, all for one off-hand comment about him entering the room.  Plus, he openly admitted that he was basically no one important by saying that he was just accepted into this ring, meaning that before now he was just as disposable as she was now.  And he volunteered that without her even having to pry for it.  This guy couldn't be for real right?  He was just pulling her leg right?  Seeing what she would say right?  It was a tactic that she wasn't really good at, but knew a lot of informants who used it to go info by talking to people instead of via computers and stealth like her.  When he introduced himself she let out a loud snort.

"Yeah, and I'm Fleshrender, lord of chaos," she laughed.

She laughed for a moment, but then looked at him again.  He said this completely straight-faced, even after being somewhat offended.  Her laughs gradually stopped, and her expression turned into something that more resembled an awkward combination of pity, horror and indigestion.

"Oh god, you're being serious aren't you?  Uh, well in all seriousness then, you can call me Curie."

Confirmed idiot then.  He looked young, she went through a similar stage, this probably wasn't some masterful plan to get her to let her guard down.  Naturally, she would still have to be careful JUST IN CASE, but she wasn't all that worried anymore.

"So I gotta know.  Is everyone here a total fruitcake or is it just you?  Oh, and I'm not going to be expected to come up with an emo nickname am I?  Fleshrender sounds great and all, but I'd like to keep my dignity if at all possible."

[Santos "Shadow" Almaz]

Santos chuckled as she introduced herself first by an obvious fake name and laughed her head off but then realized that Santos was being serious and truthful and stopped laughing and introduced herself as Curie

"Curie. Good name, easy to remember." Santos stated as he filed an ID for the woman and seemed to ignore that she was laughing at him for being so emo like edgy. The facade was working and that was all Santos needed. "and no you don't have to come up with an 'emo' nickname and I don't know if everyone is a 'fruitcake' like me because honestly I haven't met anyone else. You're the first 'recruit' I've seen in the same place as me but that's not saying much."

This woman sure knew how to throw insults but Santos always took the words of humans especially corrupted humans which was what this woman was starting to sound like with a grain of salt. Team Origin most likely needed her skills for something but Santos had no plans on getting to really know her. He could feel Candle burning in her pokeball. She didn't like Curie or whatever this woman was really named but there was no reason to turn hostile against her after all they were on the same 'team' for the time being but Shadow had a lot of plans when it came to Team Origin. He was going to complete their missions earn the rewards from those missions and call it a decent work day. It gave him something to do and for the moment kept him out of trouble but he was sure that was going to change. He would cause trouble but make sure to keep his name and face hidden in the shadows to not draw suspicion and act like a normal teenager when he wasn't working. To him this was just a job to get money and get people off his back about dropping out of the academy. The Academy had too much influence in this city for Santos liking and everyone was just rolling with it. He wouldn't be surprised if the Academy and Team Origin had the same leaders or ties to something bigger then both groups. Oh sure that would amaze a lot of people on the academy side but not for someone like Santos. He had a very poor view of humanity in general. Get someone enough power and they'll use it to control the masses somehow. Sometimes they were smart about their power and used it to better the world but more often then not they did it to line their own pockets or gain something that they shouldn't be gaining. Anyway Santos was becoming to quiet and thoughtful for the facade to be maintained so he decided to say something edgy

"Look I'm far from the guy you should be talking about what the team wants from you all I know is what they wanted from me that's all." Santos stated "I'm waiting for my contact and then I'll be on my way."

[Naveta Lejori]

Naveta put her hands behind her head and leaned back.  Her eyebrows went up, her face looked forward, and she looked at this Shadow guy through the side of her eyes. 

"Uh huh.  So, what do people not come through here or something?"

She expected a degree of discretion, but if they were all expected to live in one place she didn't think it would be quite that strong.  Excepting the bosses and possibly some of the higher ups, but that hardly counted.  She could believe he was just inattentive, but somehow she figured there was more to it than that.  If she was lucky, maybe most of them worked solo and she wouldn't have to put up with people.  That seemed to waste any advantages there were to forming a ring like this, but what did she know?

When he spoke again, she laughed at little.  The poor guy was trying so hard to be polite, maybe she shouldn't be so hard on him.  She was pretty stupid when she was young too.  All in all, she preferred not to remember what she was like in middle and high school.

"Oh, you poor thing, it looks like you're stuck with me for awhile longer then and I'm feeling chatty.  I guess I'll get to see first hand how responsive these people."

[Santos "Shadow" Almaz]

Santos hummed "Indeed, usually they respond pretty quickly by text messages and such and my contact was pretty punctual when we had our face to face..." His voice trailed off "but there are worst things to waiting."

[Naveta Lejori]

Naveta just blinked slowly a couple of times without otherwise changing her position.  He didn't even bother to answer her question, how disappointing.  He wasn't just going to randomly clam up on her now was he?  Sure, she was using him to get a general first impression of everything, but she wasn't even really prying that hard.  It wasn't really her forte.

"Ah, well I can appreciate that.  It always sucks when people expect you to wait for them," she stretched and yawned before turning back to Shadow proper, resting her head on her hand while her arm rested on the back of the seat she was in.  "Looks like you understand that, you look like you're about to piss yourself in excitement over there."

She was exaggerating, but it was close enough really.

[Santos "Shadow" Almaz]

"yeah, because I've actually made the cut this time." He scoffed "I'm finally moving upward and I've got a lot more to look forward to."

[Naveta Lejori]

Naveta waved her free hand dismissively.  "Yes, yes, we've established that part.  Congrats and all that.  What is it that you're looking forward to?  It must be preeeeetty exciting."

Her voice was flat, deadpan and with an underlying tone of sarcasm.  She was pretty curious though.  What exactly what were these people promising their front line fodder?  She figured her case was pretty special given her own circumstances, so hearing it from someone that was probably more normal would be interesting.

[Santos "Shadow" Almaz]

Santos huffed "I'm looking forward to continuing to grow in power to become someone who people look up at and curse my name for beating them. With this promotion I gain deep access to more resources to enhance my strength and maybe even a mission with big pay and other rewards." It was for the most part true. Santos was looking to increase in power so that he didn't feel weak and intimidated. He hated feeling like a coward.

[Naveta Lejori]

Naveta stared and blinked slowly once more.  Eh, it was a pretty basic answer, and not one she understood personally.  The idea that joining a Mafia would earn you power and respect was a pretty silly idea in her opinion.  If anything, more people would probably be trying to take that position for themselves, or annoyed that someone else has it rather than respect them.  All stuff like this earns people in the end is hatred and insomnia.  He should figure that out soon enough, and if he didn't, well it wasn't her problem.

Though that answer did tell her one more thing too.  Not only was this guy arrogant and obnoxious, he was incredibly boring too.  It was becoming increasingly obvious to her that she was way too sober for this conversation.  Oh well, she tried, and learned a little bit at least.  Hopefully the rest of the people she'd be forced to work with would be more tolerable.

"Well, if they're pretty fast at getting back to you, I suppose I should get out of the way so you can do...whatever it is you need to do," she grabbed her bag and started heading to the dorm area.  "This conversation has certainly been...enlightening."

[Santos "Shadow" Almaz]

Santos huffed "I'm sure it has." He walked over to one of the other couches and sat down. He was done talking with Curie.