The Shade:
As the bearded man in the grey suit shook his hand, Michael remarked,
"A pleasure to meet you. The Shade. And you would be?..."
Embarrassment flashes across his face before the enthusiasm bursts through again keeping the handshake going, "Sorry, Ulysses, Ulysses Manus. I'm the CPS special council assigned to the NMHC." Possibly realising that would mean little to a general audience he lets you have your hand back and apologetically clarifies, "I'll be the barrister* making sure those you catch get their due sentence."
The Home Secretary seems to think this is insufficient and goes further, "Ulysses is being characteristically modest.Behind the scenes he will be doing more than just that. He was terribly helpful in sorting out the legalities of the legislation we rushed through parliament to make all this happen so it is fair to say the commission would still be a whitepaper without his hard work. Naturally that made him the only choice to sit for the CPS on the regulatory board, probably no one better understands the ins and outs."
The PM, who otherwise seems to have a general air of slight detachment despite the unusual characters and occasion, light heartedly interjects with, "I certainly don't understand much of any of it," which causes gentle laughter amidst at least the government crowd. Minus of course the glowering scruffy smoker.
Mo'in Laggo:
Brought, again, out of his thoughts by the waiter, Mo'in refused the beverage as he said, "it's astounding that on a planet so filled with water people prefer to drink the effluvium of a plant's reproductive organ."
Caught off guard the waiter promptly offers you a selection of fruit juices instead clearly not having actually understood what you meant.
If you are silent or refuse the young man seems to panic and speculatively offers you just water but can't help throwing in the option of sparkling or still.
Adaptrix:
Moving down the line as the hands are offered.
Hello I'm Miho. I assume we will be told why we were called?
Your question finally gets an audible reaction from the scruffy smoker even if it was just a derisive snort. With naked mockery in his voice he replies shortly, "Why, to be heroes of course."
Adamant:
Adamant shuffled through the receiving line, her large hands dwarfing many of the government officials she was being introduced to. Ashley tried hard to remember all of the names and faces, though it was questionable how much she would retain. The statuesque blonde greeted the various government dignitaries solemnly, trying to stick to "Yes, Sir." and "I am, Sir." while answering any additional questions as directly and quickly as possible.
You get particular attention from the PM who uses both hands to clasp yours in an almost paternal gesture and says, "I am so very pleased to see you here. You are a credit to the nation Miss."
Adaptrix:
Moving to the scruffy one in black and holding out her hand, You get a greeting too, even if you dont want it.
When you approach him he returns to silently looking at you and makes no move to take the proffered hand. Once again the Home Secretary steps up to introduction duties with a sigh though clearly annoyed about it this time, "This... is Peter Wisdom. He is the
current Director of MI:13 which runs the Special Detention Service and will be taking a
backseat on the commission."
It's clear from tone that there is no love lost between the Home Sec and this Peter Wisdom, at a guess you would say no one here seems to be comfortable with him and he obviously is intent of being hostile. The implied threat from the Home Sec's choice of stressed words appears to completely fail to have an impact on Wisdom who keeps smoking.
*British for lawyer
((Interpreted the order of things slightly for better flow in my replies))
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:03, Sun 01 Sept.