Johannes Volkner bid farewell to a normal life. Seriously, he had managed to summon a Spirit, but she was some British woman he'd never even heard of. He coughed lightly, nodding in her general direction as he tried to get past his own initial fluster.
"Right, a pleasure to meet you. I'm Johannes Volkner. Er, should we go get you some more proper clothes? We do keep a large stockpile on the station." The quartermaster’s was one of the many rooms all candidates had been expected to memorize the location of before boarding, he could get her there quickly to get some actual clothing.
The summoning array would likely have given this 'Jill' the basics of the circumstances of her summoning -- It had become a staple in summoning Spirits after one too many mages summoned one with no idea where they had arrived, and paid the ultimate price. He didn't dare to turn his back on 'Jill' just yet, though. Being of the Gevurah classification, she was supposed to embody strength and discipline, but also possible instability, and the boundaries between sanity and a lack thereof. She seemed normal enough now, but until he figured out what made her tick, she could be a threat at any moment.
"Oh, well, okay! Um, you summoned me t' fight, right? But, I should let you know, I'm actually just a midwife. The only times I handle a knife are to cut umbilical cords!"
...Was this girl useless? Or was she lying to him? Even the way she had quickly responded when he was thinking about her combat attributes seemed entirely too coincidental. Still, he would have to turn and leave the room sometime. He put his trust in the idea that she, like anyone else, wouldn't suddenly stab him in the back, as he took off his sapphire-lensed glasses. Leaning into the retinal scanner, he heard the characteristic chime as the door opened, and he walked out, telling Jill to come along to the quartermaster's. Many Spirits had some form of 'artifacts' with them upon initial summoning, items deeply related to their past life if they were living, or their domain if they were a nature spirit, but they wouldn't be summoned with any other clothing or weaponry. The shawl placed over the initial golem vessels helped to preserve the basics of modesty, but it was best to hurry up and get some actual clothes on each Spirit, generally of their own selection.
He couldn't help but wave to Wilhelm, who he'd seen again in the halls as he passed by. He had summoned a Spirit who seemed to be a tall man in a samurai's armor. Johannes felt a pang of jealousy at that sight. The differences between their summoned Spirits were obvious, and it didn't help that the Spirit Wilhelm summoned seemed to be of the Tiferet classification, which presided over unity, compassion and charisma. The natural classification of great generals and diplomats. He could possibly have even summoned someone like Oda Nobunaga, or Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Once Jill had gotten herself dressed, and stepped back into view, Johannes couldn't help but notice her selection. A light, somewhat tight brown dress with a long skirt, modest overall. She'd clipped her hair up in a bun, and had at least given herself two knives at her waist. She still didn't really look like a fighter, to his eye, and it was unlikely someone summoned into her class would be a mage of any kind, but maybe she would be useful in the field. Maybe. Either way, as they walked back to his quarters to make sure his door worked, and figured out a couch or something for her to sleep on, he decided to press the issue.
"So, if you can't fight, what are you good at? There had to be some reason you were the Spirit I summoned. There's an element of random chance, but the metaphysical impact of the mage performing the ritual also matters. Are you secretly a mage yourself, Jill?"
She blinked once, and then twice. "No, do I look like a witch or something? I'm good at basic surgeries, and tailoring, but that's about it. Um, I can bake well on a budget, too."
He was thoroughly unimpressed by her words.
Sitting down at the one desk all Heliopolis callers were given as part of their room furnishings, he finally took off his large coat, laying it over the desk and examining it. Thankfully, it had held up well in the onboarding process, and the wand he'd created, Bellende Hunde, was intact and still in its holster. And given that his glasses were perfectly fine, that was all of his magical items accounted for and more-or-less combat ready.
"So, whatcha doin'? If you need me to help sew up, I don't mind. I can't really help with the-" Jill motioned with her hand a few times at Bellende Hunde in its holster. "Mage stuff, though."
Johannes sighed at the presence over his shoulder, and shook his head. "It's all mage stuff, Jill, don't worry about it. I'm a rune mage, and I'm pretty good at making magical items. This coat, for instance, has an array that protects not just the body, but the mind and spirit as well. And my glasses have a small array that lets me see through fog and darkness - That's why they're carved from sapphire, even though it's more expensive and looks tacky."
A light 'Ohhh' could be heard over his shoulder. "And the wand? If you can do magic, do all mages use wands?"
He went silent for several seconds, before deciding to just get it out of the way. "No. Most mages can cast spells directly with relative ease. I have a... It's something of a magical birth defect. The term is Magical Aberrancy. In my case, my magical energy can be considered 'heavy', it flows very well but it has issues flowing outside of a solid medium. So, for instance, I couldn't cast a curse, or a fireball, in the same manner that another mage could. Most rune based mages can project runes directly onto the air with their magical energy, but I need to carve those runes directly into something first. Bellende Hunde here helps to alleviate that issue, by converting magical energy into light and forming it into a specific rune for me."
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Surprisingly, not only did she silently allow him to explain, she actually seemed to be following along. He heard a light rustling, presumably her taking a seat on the bed, before she spoke up. "Then, you said most rune based mages? That means there's mages that don't use runes at all, either?"
He nodded once, as he took Bellende Hunde out of its holster, looking over the thin, stout wand. None of the runes he'd carved into the stick of ash seemed to be defaced or scratched up. "That's exactly right. Runes are what's called a 'foundation', Jill. In essence, they're a replication of something someone did ages ago, which people kept doing until the fabric of the universe itself began to accept it. Alchemy, Kabbalah, many mages cast using different foundations, but some mages find ways to practice magic without even using one at all."
The room was silent after that for several seconds. At first, he thought that perhaps Jill was just internalizing the explanation and lecture he'd given her on the basics of magic. After the time stretched beyond thirty seconds though, it was obvious that something more was going through her head. "Did you have a question, Jill?"
"Why? I mean, why don't mages help people? They keep themselves hidden away, right? Even now, you're on the moon as part of some secret war project thing, instead of helping all the regular people down there. Down on earth. Isn't that dumb? Do mages not care for all of God's children?" She was looking down, trying to hide her face and no doubt some pretty hefty emotions as she pleaded for at least some kind of answer.
Flash of Inspiration panged at his mind as she spoke. This was important to her, if he said the wrong thing, it might damage any future relations between them. Given that she was his assigned Spirit and there was no guarantee he could gain access to a new one, given the limited magical energy access on the moon... No, even without that, it was only right to put her at ease, wasn't it? He slowly turned his head back to look at her, and her face was clearly distressed. Perhaps the very idea that magic was real, and was kept away from the world as a whole, was hard for her to grasp. Maybe she was too good of a person for Heliopolis's mission, as a whole.
"A lot of them don't, but that's not why. If mages as a whole showed themselves to the rest of humanity, it would turn out for the worse. Think about politicians. Kings and soldiers and armies. War is already a terrible thing, and the elite already steal away from the many. Now imagine what would happen if those same elite were fully aware of mages, and started to buy them out. To promise them riches and even more power over their fellow man in exchange for using that magic to benefit the corrupt."
His expression darkened as he posited the scenario. It was already something close to home, and he couldn't help but think back to his childhood. The screams, the maids rushing to clean up Jessica's blood after each operation. When he remembered where he was, he noticed he was shaking, and Jill had started looking at him with worry rather than distress for herself. He'd let himself get caught up in his own head.
"What I'm trying to say is, if mages stopped caring about trying to keep magic hidden, it would become a tool for the elite to become even worse than they are. Ordinary people might see some gains, but ultimately those with power would only grow more powerful, and more evil as a result."
Jill didn't seem convinced, but she eventually nodded, at least not raising an objection to the idea. "Well, in any case, I haven't seen any kitchens around here. How can we actually go and get something to eat, Johannes?"
He glanced at the time, noticing that it was still a few minutes before they needed to leave for the scheduled briefing, but far too close to the time of that briefing to enjoy a meal at the mess hall. Slipping his coat on, he stood up, deciding that it was best if they simply arrived early. "We'll be able to get some food after the initial briefing. We're here to work, after all, not to enjoy a lovely vacation and meet new faces."
She pouted lightly, but pushed herself off of the bed, walking out of the room with him. A few turns later, and they were in the large office room at the north end of the complex, ready to join the briefing. Johannes had initially planned to ask Jill to sit out, as he was fully unaware of why she was in the Gevurah classification, and what hidden dangers there might be in letting her around a larger group of people, living and Spirits alike. But, at the same time, if she got triggered by something and went ballistic, he would at least be there to stop her, unlike if he left her out of the briefing to roam free instead.
Upon arriving to the office room, Johannes glanced around. At the head was the well dressed, short haired Director Solar herself. To her left, Wilhelm and that samurai had taken seats, and to her right was Daedalus. Standing behind her was that woman he'd seen during the onboarding operation, and now that he had time to get his bearings, he could recognize she was Thoth, or at least the one who had introduced herself as Thoth during the initial interview process. Down the line, there was a man in pristine white clothes who seemed to want to be anywhere but here, a young asian woman who looked ready to leave at any second, with presumably a Spirit beside her in full knight's armor, though the spirit seemed to have a wolf's tail coming out of that armor. He wanted to ask, but didn't step out of line to do so.
Beyond them, a figure in heavy armor that reminded him of something a bomb squad officer might wear, and beside them a tall, voluptuous woman with red hair and nothing on but a tight leather shawl. He was trying to avoid staring, when he heard Jill grit her teeth behind him, and glanced back to see her hand on one of her knives. Shit.
