Striped Negotiations, Part I - RPLOG
From Flexible Survival
Participants
Date
16/12/2017
Log
The village is surprisingly quiet despite the usual crowds of tigers watching over the most recent going-ons with great interest, surrounding the firepit with a wide, wide berth between them and it. This seems to be to give a comfortable level of room for the various representatives of Zephyr, RSX and the Prometheans, each of whom have turned their eye to the village after its emergence. Zephyr has a particular interest in both the mutants and their locale, not least of all because their particular neck of the jungle seems to teem with planar energies not dissimilar to those in the Temple nearby. RSX is almost always interested in studying and opening communications with peaceful tribes, though the presence of the extradimensional energy is a plus, and the Prometheans are ever eager to assist the wayward or otherwise in-need wherever they may be. The Big Lady, the giant tigress in charge of the place, regards each and every one of them with a wary eye. It is more the expression of a concerned mother than that of a skeptic. She has an entourage of shamans sitting on her shoulders and in her cross-legged lap, each one decorated in a probably excessive amount of trinkets for accessorization and somewhat ragged, richly embroidered robes. Finally she speaks, her voice a bit on the loud side of things despite her soft tone. "Please introduce yourselves, representatives."
Rokarion decided to wear even lighter armor for his second visit to the village, a wise decision to avoid going as red as a tomato. The poodle boy stood up and gave a respectful nod to the Lady. "We have already met, madame. Rokarion, and I am here to represent the K9 unit." He said as he sat back down, eye shifting from the large tigress to scan the shamans sitting on her shoulder.
The first trip she had made out there, Mokou sat... attempting to be still. It was of some manner of success, her simple shorts and tee seeming only as stiff as usual. A glance was offered back up to The Big Lady, the little fennec attempting to smile. Introducing themselves... A gentle sigh fell from her lips, the lass rising for but a moment, nodding with care back to them. "My name is Mokou. I am here representing the Promethians... and myself." She sat back down, brushing her tail out of the way before looking back up to them. "Thank you for... allowing us access to your tribe, even if only this..."
The skunk beast has been listening quietly, which by itself would mark him as an outlier for his species even if wearing clothing -- a hideously colourful pair of shorts -- didn't already. "Doctor Narwen," he says, gesturing towards himself with a forepaw. "Here for Zephyr as a scientific contractor, and for myself as, like, really, really interested in the local field strength. Pleasure to meet you."
Lilac smiles at each in turn as they introduce themselves. The cowgirl-lamia looks up at the Big Lady when her turn comes to introduce herself, and offers her a deep bow before looking to the others. "My name is Lilac, and I am here to be an ambassador and mediator for the tribe, and to ensure that their interests are sponsored by someone from the outside." She looks up at the Big Lady again, waiting for her to speak.
As absolutely terrible as Phosphorus is with diplomacy and general sort of people problems -- she's already made first contact with the group of tigers on the last expedition, and thus has been giving a stern warning to 'not muck everything up' and to make sure to 'not kill everything like you usually do'. Always getting pidgeonholed, this panda. She rolls to her feet, and does a little respectful bow, actually having come along in a dress uniform. Specially modified to be a bit more airy, so she doesn't literally cook. "Good afternoon. We have also already met. I'm Phos, an operative of RSX. I will be representing them, today."
The Big Lady regards each with a nod in turn, a respectful bow of her head given to Lilac. "Thank you once again for acting as the bridge." She smiles broadly at the group before her, rubbing at the light fluff on her chin in a brief moment of contemplation before she continues. "Let us begin by laying out each of our goals clearly. I will start. What we require is a means of gaining assistance with repelling the kaiju threat looming on our borders at all times, and emergency help in the event of total disaster. We would also like to open basic trade with outsiders. I do not want my people to go without if something is to happen to me. Now, with all this said," she says, leaning in a bit emphatically, "Neither do I want my people to become dependent upon yours to thrive. We do not want quick fixes in a bottle that only you can provide. We do want mutual cooperation. Don't give us fish. Do teach us to fish. I hope that is abundantly clear. Now! Your turns." She makes a broad gesture to the agents, making the pair of shamans on her shoulder wobble a little. They grumble.
Rokarion looks at each of his temporary colleagues as they each introduce themselves, "Well, just reiterate I have also come due to my personal interest in your village and culture." the poodle have already stated that once before, but it was better to be safe than sorry. "Regardless, the K9 unit is simply an organization that provides safety to those who need it. We can always provide manpower for both combating the kaiju threat and for emergency relief." Rokarion then paused as he gave the shamans another glance before carrying on, "We are not expecting anything in return really, K9 just wanted to make sure that your village will not be taken advantage of while you begin interacting with the outside for the first time."
The little fennec turned those sail-like ears towards the Big Lady as she spoke, only a touch of a flinch running across her expression. Twas a bit bold of a voice after all. But, their request made and their statement clear, Mokou quietly waited. Rokarion's statment was akin to her own, but she made it regardless. A different phrase after all. "Promethian's goals are clear with this. We wish to provide that sort of aid that you request. To empower you to better serve and sustain yourself. We seek to... further that relation. To give you the ability to support yourself away from us." A faint smile rose to her lips, the lass gesturing a bit vaguly. "It is our intent to provide you with the ability to handle yourself, and when more than that occurs, that we shall attempt to provide help for you. In hopes that... should it occur, you would see fit to do the same."
Narwen considers for a moment. "Lady, you asked about our goals. Zephyr'd like very much to study the resonant energy here and, close second, to be able to harvest some of it. It's like-- like you have a river flowing through here. Put a water wheel in," he says, making an enthusiastic circular motion with his paw, "and Bob's your-- I mean, Roberta's your aunt. For that they'll need equipment, workspace, access to bring in supplies, and to bring in a small team of scientists and technicians. You can absolutely insist they teach your people about what they're doing; you won't get to quantum field theory overnight, but it'll help. And," he adds, dipping his head, "they also want to help make sure you're safe. Zephyr often gets a bad rap, and they sometimes deserve it, but they do actually care about helping people survive, especially pockets of civilisation. They pulled me out of a hole when they didn't have to. But they'll probably want to do it in the most, uh, cost-effective way possible. Which'll mean short-term help and logistics, sure, but mostly training and equipment." He flashes half a smile, trying not to bare too many teeth. "The metaphorical fishing rod."
"Us in RSX, we are small in number, ma'am. Larger than the K9, I would say, but far smaller than either Zephyrs or the Prometheans. But, we do not hail from Fairhaven -- we do so, from Woodfield. It's more dangerous, there. The monsters are more vicious. They look more like humans, but act less so. We are smaller, but we are strong. I believe that I can offer some of our Operatives to act in both a defensive capacity and in a... educational one. Offering training, support -- teaching you how to work tightly, together, a formidable force." Phosphorus speaks, doing her best to project her voice clearly, keep her words in order. These were things that she truly believed, in a way -- there's more than a hint of passion tinging her voice. "I'm sure you are... tired of hearing speeches at this point, Lilac, Madame. But I assure you... well, we don't want to ruin your culture, I feel. The operatives we send... well, I'll talk to them. We'll do our best to preserve who you are. This comes first. Eventually, we'll... well, like Zephyr, we'll want to investigate the energy source. But that's a bonus, not the main goal."
Lilac sinks down into her coils as she listens to each of the other representatives speak. She smiles at Rokarion's words, nodding at his last sentence, and at Mokou's continuation of the same sentiment. "Hm.." She listens to the skunk and panda with slight more reservation, and speaks up on her turn. "As for me, the Big Lady already knows this but in the interest of full disclosure, I have a very personal stake in ensuring that the folk of this village are not undulyt taken advantage of by outside parties." She smiles slightly. "What our friend from RSX has said is paramount. Preserving the culture and unity that keeps the Big Lady's tribe together should be in all of our minds." She looks up at the Big Lady, now arguing for the other side. "But my personal stake also inclines me to agree that, while we must ensure the tribe is not dependent on outsiders for survival, there is a great deal of necessary protection and knowledge to be gained from engaging in trade, diplomacy and knowledge exchange. The wild kaiju are not the only threat out there, after all." She looks at Narwen, wiggling her nose briefly before adding. "But it must absolutely be done with respect for the culture and hierarchy already present in the tribe."
The Big Lady shifts uncomfortably, forcing another chorus of quiet complaints from the shamans. She nods a little slower now as she listens, glancing aside once the agents have said their pieces. "I see." A couple shamans on her legs tug at her fur a bit, and she scoops them into her palm to lift them to her ear. They speak too quietly to be heard from down there, but the Lady seems to hear it all, setting them back down soon after. She furrows her brows in deep thought and concentration. She addresses them in order of speaking. "Rokarion, while the concept of an additional fighting force to call upon is very tempting, I would ask that you also show our warriors your ways. As Lilac has stated, the exchange of knowledge is as important as the protection." Her eyes settle on Mokou. "I am only faintly familiar with the Prometheans, and while the extension of your hand is appreciated, I need to be sure that your ideologies will not be pushed upon ours, or that they will conflict. I understand some Prometheans take some quiet distate to what they perceive as inequality, and we have had... troublesome, if rare elements among the male youth with misconceptions about fairness. Could I truly rely on the Prometheans in the event of an attempted coup?" The other tigers seem intensely uncomfortable with that idea. She turns now to Narwen. "Doctor Narwen, your offer is a very double edged sword... On the one hand, I have no doubt that you would be more than capable of what you claim and would pull through with it. You have no reason not to. However, I and my people have concerns about tapping into the primal forces that be, especially in such an industrialized manner that might disturb the land. To the same effect, your offer of training is very tempting, but I hesitate to accept equipment we would otherwise be incapable of reproducing ourselves. I am not opposed to a compromise, however." Her attention now turns to Phosphorus. "You're saying all the things I want to hear, I'll admit, and what you propose sounds potentially very mutually beneficial, but as I understand- forgive me, it's been years and my memory can be foggy at times- was RSX not partially responsible for what happened to the outside, like Zephyr? I'm not saying I don't believe you, mind, but where do the ideologies of RSX and Zephyr differ significantly? As far as I know, it is only a matter of degrees of bluntness." Seems the Big Lady's not actually a native of the island!
Rokarion nods his head slowly before standing up to establish better eye-contact with the Lady, "Of course, we will gladly offer training in return. I simply did not begin with that because I would not want to presume that we have anything to teach you in fighting Kaiju, but we will strive to share any of our knowledge with your tribe." With the poodle finished, he turned his head to glance the other members of the group before looking back at the Lady, "That being said, I would also like to warn you to be careful with whatever offers the big three are suggesting." The poodle smiled, "First, you are correct about RSX. They are as responsible of this disaster as Zephyr, and while their representative's goals sound noble, RSX yearn to the old days and will not simply leave your people be, they will try to change your culture to fit theirs eventually. As for Zephyr, a double-edged sword is an understatement. Each honeyed word from Doctor Narwen's mouth is also filled with poison. Zephyr does not aid, only profit. What they want is simply to exploit your people, they will not simply help you to get on your feet. They will always find excuse to keep you dependent on them, or worse if you resist. Take that from a former agent working for them." With his piece done, the poodle sat back down.
"Honeyed words? Seriously?" Narwen rolls his eyes. "Lady, you're right to be cautious. In your place, I would be too. But you asked what Zephyr wants and, well, there it is, the unsweetened truth. And, being realistic, there're hundreds or thousands of villages or bands of survivors throughout the country, desperate for help. Most of 'em don't have an interesting energy field -- and most of 'em don't get an official visit from one of our groups, let alone four." His eyes flick to the representatives on either side, easy to spot from where the big tigress is sitting, not so obvious to those next to him. "The compromise I'd suggest if it was me is to agree to let Zephyr send in a science team to study it, but hold off on deciding whether they can develop it until you see how it goes -- no more than, I dunno, ten kilowatts average and a hundred kilowatts peak draw power? But, tricky part for you would be how to make sure they were sticking to pure research," he adds, running a forepaw through the fuzz on top of his head. "I mean, we'd know, but how to prove it? Do you have anyone with the background to keep an eye on the team?"
Lilac raises an eyebrow at Rokarion's words, and quickly looks to the other representatives for a reaction. She tightens the mass of coils that form her base to stand a bit straighter, and smiles amicably. "Now now, while I do agree we should all be careful and cautious, we should also remain respectful of all parties involved." She looks over at Narwen. "As a former Zephyr associate myself, I know the Company's internal workings well enough to understand nothing is ever as it appears, but more than our respective sides, we all represent the outside world before the Big Lady and her tribe." She looks to the Big Lady and adds. "Big Lady, the K9 representative speaks some truth. Zephyr is a company concerned with profit first and foremost, but in that statement is also another truth, they won't cause harm just for the sake of causing harm, and they won't cause harm if it means losing access to the source of profit, either." She looks at Narwen, and smiles. "We just have to ensure the exchange is profitable for both sides." She pauses, then adds. "I'm not sure if there would be anyone in the tribe with the background to know this already, but I believe they could be taught. The people here are primitive by our standards, true, but they are also clever, cunning, and very quick learners. And they know more than any of us do, thanks to the Big Lady's guidance."
