Mr. Cade's Office
"Looks like we need to clear some things up. Firstly, our presence here is far from a formality. Your citizens are still disappearing, and a Xenomorph hive was confirmed to be present on the planet, even if it is supposedly destroyed now. Secondly, my men will likely not step foot in this city unless necessary. Even if they do, they are unlikely to scare your citizens any more than the fact that you're willing to bet their lives just to satisfy your own sense of pride. Thirdly, I will report whatever it is that I find, which I believe will probably not be nothing. Finally, while you may be the proprietor of this city, you, and your superiors for that matter, are still a civilian. As such, you have no real authority over this operation. All the same, I do understand, and I hope that you do as well."
This response was interesting, to say the least, and actually brought a bit of a smirk to Mr. Cade's lips. This one was a bit more direct than the usual gutless bureaucrats that usually were sent to darken his doorstep. This one just walked right in, smelling of the Corp., and wasn't going to budge. Dutiful, respectable, admirable. And completely oblivious that he was being led around by the nose. The sort of naive one could only breed in the USCM. This one might be trouble, but for some reason that only made it more interesting.
"You're a very by-the-book sort, aren't you? I can respect that...."
Cade spun back around, to face the Sergeant Major with that semblance of a smirk still on his face.
"Alright, we'll play it your way. Yes, a hive was confirmed, but confirmation of it's eradication was also given. Yes, citizens are disappearing, but for a city this size, that's unavoidable. Do you know how many missing individuals are reported in places like New York or L.A. back on Earth? Close to one hundred. A day. Today, I have eight, eight people which my law enforcement are already hard-pressed to find. These can be attributed to workplace hazards or simply skipping town. Maybe even local crime, some areas of this city are nearly impossible to fully police without invoking martial law. No Matter the cause, surely this count would be much higher if there were a hive, wouldn't you agree? And surely some traces of them would be found by now. My best men have scoured the darkest recesses of Elysium and found nothing....."
Mr. Cade reclined back, closing his eyes and giving a light scoff.
"But I suppose there isn't much I can say. We all have our orders, in one form or another. So, for the purposes of your superiors, consider me begrudgingly cooperative. Find what you're looking for, and then depart. Now, if you'll excuse me, Sergeant" he emphasized, not-so-subtly insulting the man by "forgetting" the second part of his title, "But I am dreadfully late for a meeting. My secretary will show you out. Wouldn't want you to get lost, would we?"
There was no hiding that last bit. Hell, like there was a way to hide any of it. Mr. Cade stood straight up, pulling his PDA out of his suit-pocket and turning towards his overview of the city, a clear signal that he was no longer acknowledging Bill's presence here. A clearer message couldn't be given with a teleprompter: Don't let the door hit you on the way out. This had taken much too long already, and he knew the reclusive, some might say excentric, Dr. Langford only got more irritable when she was kept waiting. As soon as he heard the door close, his thumb tapped the surface of the pad and an image of an extremely bored Botanist, rhythmically clicking a pen, flashed onscreen.
"Dr. Langford. I am incredibly busy this morning, so let's keep this brief, shall we?"
His monotone voice was that of his usual business-first demeanor. These reviews were tedious, but necessary. Best be done with them.
The Jungle
Sensors under his skin sent signals to his central processing units, voicing various data feeds which all translate to the same thought. It's raining, and I'm wet. Yay, life. Gary's hand smoothed out his drenched, synthetic hair, continually grumbling at his assignment. Whiskey never saw much excitement. It's not that they were not reliable or anything, it was usually because they.... uhhhh...... yeah. His boots sunk into the non-terrestrial muck, which seemed to be slowly trying to devour him from the ankles up. It's consistency marked it as mostly red clay, with a slightly higher concentration petroleum than usual, making this just shy of being a freaking tar trap. On the plus side, I bet if you drilled down far enough, you'd hit oil. Huh.... wonder if there'd be a finder's fee?
Even with all his improvements over the organic human body, the mud still made movement a fun experience. Thank God for suction-sealed boots. He eventual schlunked his way through the crowds of rushing marines as his facial recognition scans picked Lance Corporal Jackie Owens' face out of the collage of troops. In his head, he went through incoming orders for squads. A lot of them weren't suppose to be broadcasted, but like that ever stopped him? Besides, I had to find something better to do, Whiskey was assigned to civilian detail. Dealing with uptight snobs all day? Boring! So what have we got here? Echo? Nope. Foxtrot? Uh-uh. Oooh! 'Delta is to respond to a missing security team in sector 23'? That's a good ways away, but hey, beats civie babysitting. Good luck with that, Delta. This has adventure and mystery written all over it.
"Heyo, Owens! Got some S&R orders for you toons. Up for a nature walk with your bestest buddy android?"