Snippet #2687389

After waiting for a little while, the room had eventually filled up with more people who were willing to risk death for nothing more than a symbol of defiance towards the Ventrus and a chance at some trinkets. "Of course I suppose that's half my job as well..." Angela thought to herself about the latter. A giant of a man nearly as big as Chamber had joined her in the corner, and it was a little unsettling for her. He didn't speak and it was impossible to make out his expression due to the helmet enclosing his head. Eventually the interested parties had gathered and a Cyber Edge in armor began laying out the terms for the mission that seemed to favor Styx.

After he had delivered the Styxian terms of the agreement, another Cyber Edge gave a counteroffer. The fact that the Cyber Edge who Angela assumed was the Charon Representative was so young surprised her; the Cyber Edge introduced herself as Ascelina couldn't have been more than a couple years older than Angela. This revelation stirred some wistfulness up in Angela at what could have been, but she brushed it aside- after all the past was no longer relevant.

So far the negotiations seemed to be going poorly from Angela's perspective. While the two parties had mutual agreement on most of the points, they still clearly held some distrust towards each other and this tension could destroy the entire expedition if it was not remedied in time. If the expedition ended in disaster there was a good chance it would result in either death by the Ventrus or death by failing to fulfill her orders, which would lead to likely exile in the frozen wastelands-a punishment tantamount to death. She allowed the two Cyber Edges to finish speaking before she finally raised her hand and spoke up.

"Sorry to interrupt but it seems that this negotiation seems rather tenuous at best if we operate under such mistrust; it could lead to the death of all of us in the Machine City." After waiting to make sure that she had the attention of the representatives at the very least, Angela continued.

"I'm Angela Liborum from Cocytus, through I guess I'm technically from Phlegeton as well. Due to the disappearance of Styx's closest operator in the Scrapyards, the elders of Styx have accepted me as a contractor operator for the mission. If Achero-I mean Charon falls, Lethe will likely fall soon after and that would open up a direct route into the North. If driving the train and supporting the mission will help prevent a loss of life for what's left of the human population, I'll forgo my share of the reward and salvage. " She gave a glance at the armored Cyber Edge to confirm he got the message; she was technically a sanctioned contractor who was no longer in it for the money, so now he would have less room for objections. In this situation both Cyber Edges would need to tread carefully if they focused only on profit; instead they'd need to give at least lip service to the survival of the recruits or else risk losing some of the recruits, which gave Angela a potentially higher chance at personal survival.

"Therefore it would be in the best interest of all of us to work together instead of being overly suspicious of each other. I'd like to suggest that we split anything beyond miscellaneous scraps 50-50 so everyone has an equally vested interest and no one feels like they got the short end of the stick. Not only that perhaps we should try and do more than just share route decisions Lady Ascelina. We'll all need to be on the same page so as many of us survive as possible. After all the more people alive, the more likely we are all to survive and the more salvage we can bring back home, right?" After short cough through her mask, she decided to conclude her own version of the agreement.

"Essentially what I think would be optimal for all of us is that we split everything 50-50, and watch each others back instead of being all secretive and independent. This maximizes everyone's stake in the expedition and should keep more of us alive. Of course this is just my opinion but I hope there is some consideration for it." Angela respectfully dipped her head towards the two and waited for their responses. However, as a precaution she rested her hand near the pistol strapped to her thigh in case the armored Cyber Edge decided that someone from Phlegeton voicing their opinion in Styx was too much of an insult to bear.