The Egg of the Nori IC

[Mary Sue]

Six Weeks....

Six weeks traveling on the S.S. Stardarter and they battled rough seas, raging winds, and several severe cases of sea sickness. The Stardarter's crew of 30 plus 6 scientists battled the elements as they tried to get their sea legs. All under the order of a man who was known only as "The Boss".

Captain Gerald Klien paced the ship's conference room as he waited for the exploratory team to arrive. Sitting at the far end of the table, a thin woman in a white blouse and black pin skirt twirled her blonde ponytail. Her french manicured nails tapped her clipboard.

"You're going to generate enough momentum to rock the whole ship," She said. Captain Klien waved his hand at her.

"We're nearing our destination. The team has to be briefed. Where are they?" He stared at his watch impatiently.

The woman smiled and shrugged.
"It's been a busy trip," She said.

"I told them six weeks ago before we embarked, that I wouldn't tolerate anyone being late," He replied and stared at his watch again.

[Mr. Rope]

Seth Hiram gently pushed open the door to the conference room with his cane, nodding his head to its occupants as he did so. He was unable to greet them properly, however, as his single functioning eye was currently focused on the screen of his phone, on which he was diligently tapping away with his thumb. Given the appearance of Seth, one would imagine that whatever he was doing on his phone was rather important and boring. As it happened, he was playing Tetris.

Today, Seth was wearing a light grey pinstripe suit over a white shirt and blue tie. His cane, officially used to compensate for his blind spot, was clutched at its midpoint by his left hand- the opposite side of his blind eye. As he entered the room, Seth did not look up from his phone. Whatever they'd been called down for might be important, but it was most likely going to wait until the other five arrived. Despite his attention belonging entirely to his game of Tetris, Seth still carried a dignified air as he felt his way to the nearest seat with his cane. Having dedicated a large portion of his life to playing this very game, the historian had adapted to multitasking: Things that required little effort and one hand or less were things he was now able to do while arranging blocks on his phone.

After taking a seat, Seth glanced up from his phone for a split second, then went directly back to his game.
"Captain. Ma'am," he muttered after a few seconds. "I trust this won't take horribly long. I have things that need tending to." This statement was not a complete lie, if you considered trivialities and arcade games from the 1980s to be 'things that need tending to'.

Seth smirked as he cleared four lines of blocks, as it failed to change his score: He'd reached the maximum score a good ten minutes ago, while scribbling down a few notes to himself on a piece of paper. It was rather fortunate he did so, too, since he no longer remembered what he'd written.

[The Bartender]

"Excuse me, sorry, I'm sorry... damn, I'm late! Oh... Sorry!" Magdalena Magiroti shouted as she ran throught the corridor and hit some other crew members. She was late from a meeting she didn't know about, or to be more precise, she had forgotten about it. She had a head like a sieve but that was only good so she could use the her moemory without thinking about something else.
Now she was running toward the conference room of the ship... of which name she had forgotten and tried to cause as less chaos as possible.
Magdalena had taken this job because of the... what was it again... Adventure! Yeah, adventure and also the possibility for field work which she didn't get that often. She hadn't gotten many such jobs during her short career as a biologist but this was maybe the most... strangest and also the most mysterious one she ever had... until now.
She stormed into the conference room and shouted;
"I'm so sorry for being late..." She took out her notice book and scrolled throught it and then went forward;
"Er... Captain Klien. Was it right? I'm not quiet good with names you know. I tend to forget every name I hear right after hearing them. I'm only good with science but I still fortget everything. I'm so sorry for talking this much sir. It is just when I get nervous I tend to talk so much and I just forgot the meeting and... I'm so sorry." She said and sat down on the seat furthest away from the captain.

[Imp]

"Late as usual. I expected as much from such a crew who aren't as devoted to their work like us." Malcolm motioned his hand towards the Captain and the blonde woman to incorporate them. He didn't appreciate the others being late as this appeared to be a serious assignment. Then again, anything filled with mystery held some serious value to it where as going to conferences were just a waste of time.

"Who else must impose on the mission with their lack of punctuality?" He looked over to the woman next to him. Malcolm was obviously quite cold to just about everyone who wasn't hiring him. He actually found it amusing he was one of those given the RSVP for this unique assignment. It wasn't too often that he was offered a trip to investigate ancient ruins as he always had to invite himself.

He had hoped after receiving the invite that it would advance his career a bit. Actually, he would do whatever necessary to ensure it did since his lab research had been offering nothing to the community for several years now...

[Zak]

Yet another restless night. Johan found himself sleeping in late into the next day to make up for the lost sleep of the night before. It wasn't the fact that he was on a bobbing, rocking ship in the ocean. Johan actually found that relaxing. But it was his usual insomnia, paired with dreams of maleficent intent that kept him awake at night. It didn't happen to him every night, but the night before was one of those nights.

As he finally pulled himself from his bed and sat up, rubbing his eyes and running a hand through his hair. He felt rough. Though the meeting time was drawing near, he took time to clean up, get a shower and put on some fresh clothes before finally heading off.


The door could be heard opening in the meeting room as the young engineer walked into the room, nodding to those which already sat inside. "Hey all. Sorry for running late." He said nothing else, just apologized for his tardiness and walked over, taking a seat towards the opposite end of the table where a thin woman sat with a clipboard. Johan glanced over at her, and offered a slight smile and a nod as the woman looked back, though the appearance of the woman confused him. Fitted skirt. White blouse. Manicured nails. This was an expedition, not a vacation. The engineer just figured she was going to stay on the ship.

With that decided, the man turned his attention to the Captain. Eager to see what the game plan was.

[Mary Sue]

As the group gathered the Captain dimmed in the lights and the woman reached for a remote on the table and turned on the over head projector.

"Approximately two years ago, a plane flying reconnaissance over the Pacific Ocean, took images of an island that had previously not existed. Even more disturbing, were the structures that the camera picked up."

The images the plane had taken appeared on the screen behind the captain.

"The Boss has looked into the island, and he believes it to be the mysterious island of Noribani...a city that ancient people said belonged to the Sky People. Aliens." The Captain cleared his throat uncomfortably at that notion.

"The Boss has hired you, as the best in your fields, to determine if this island is a place that was simply lost to the sea and is just now resurfacing..or if it's... something else."

Sensing the Captain unease, the woman took that moment to stand and address the group.
"Because we don't know what to expect once we land, there are some protocols that must be followed. You should have received a packet with these protocols, but in case you hadn't read it the main ones to note are that we are not staying on the island at night. Everyone MUST return to the ship. And we don't want anyone exploring alone. You MUST remain in groups of at least two." She looked around at the scientists in the room as a deafening metallic whirr signaled the boat propellers coming to a stop. She smiled.

"Looks like we're here. Gather what supplies you wish to carry with you. You'll embark in an hour." The Captain said. "Dismissed.

[Imp]

An island that suddenly appeared? Sounded like faulty camera equipment to Malcolm the Unmoved. 'Structures don't just randomly appear within less than a year. Especially one with archaic ruins' the scientist thought to himself. But he thought if this is what he has been called out here for, Malcolm proposed he would assist in the investigation.

Cleaning the somewhat dirty sunglasses, Malcolm let the other members carry on with their business, fetching their precious gadgetry. All he needed was a notepad, pen, and his camera. Such items were already on him at that time.

"An hour will suffice. I have all that I need on me at this time and will be making my way on deck. Please don't take too long, everyone. I hope an hour will be more than enough for all of you."

To alleviate himself of the hindrances of the group, Malcolm made his way to the deck to eye the prize that had surfaced.

[Mr. Rope]

Seth's phone fell from his hand as he heard the announcement. He chuckled lightly as he looked up at the captain.
"...Aliens, is it? I'm sorry, but if that's what we're chasing, then I'm not the one you should have invited along."

With a sigh, Seth retrieved his phone from the ground, noting with dissatisfaction that his game had been lost in the time his phone had spent out of his hands. "I'm actually rather interested as to who this 'Boss' fellow is. In my experience, gentlemen who refer to themselves like so tend to have... unfavorable motives behind their actions."
Pocketing his phone, Seth exited the room, casually twirling his cane as he did so. An hour? How much equipment do these people think we're carrying? Honestly, everything any one of us needs is available on any conventional smartphone.

After wandering around aimlessly for a few minutes, Seth made his way to the deck of the boat, humming the tune of the Safety Dance as he walked. On the deck, he caught sight of one of the other members of the team. Between his uniform black attire and heavily tinted sunglasses, Malcolm's appearance was one that Seth felt was trying very hard to be either mysterious or intimidating. Still, he'd earned some respect from Seth through his ability to not be irritating.

"You know," he began, twirling his cane ever faster as he walked around Malcolm. "You don't strike me as one to go trekking across the ocean purely out of a whimsical fascination with aliens. What is it, then? Fame? Money?" Seth abruptly stopped the movement of his cane, gripping it so that it pointed directly at Malcolm. "...Power, perhaps? I'll admit, it's crossed my mind. An island simply snapping into existence in the middle of the ocean? There has been more than one prophecy about such a thing occurring, and I'm not just talking about these 'Sky People'."

[The Bartender]

"Approximately two years ago, a plane flying reconnaissance over the Pacific Ocean, took images of an island that had previously not existed. Even more disturbing, were the structures that the camera picked up."

"Two years ago? If this was already known information, why first now? Something as amazing as possible extraterrestial life-forms or even remnants of it would be a world sensation! Why would someone wait for so long, and more important, how could someone keep this a secret for so long even thought we live in the 21. centuary? There are so many cameras in our orbit that someone should have seen an island with unknown structures on it? Is this "Boss" trying to cover it up? Has something happened here before, something like in the film "Aliens vs. Predators"? Are there monsters who want to eat us or use us as their incubators? If so, I won't be going there! I'm too smart and young to die yet, and for such a lousy reason! I need more information!" Magdalena shouted, standing up from her chair and dropping the clipboard in her hands. The papers in it flew all around the ground and Magdalena began quickly to gather them, trying to keep them in right order.
"I'm really sorry... I will get my things and leave as well... just a moment." She began to panic and just gathered the papers in her hands and left the room...

[Mary Sue]

The woman arched her slim eyebrows at Magdalena.

"The military kept it confidential for some time. According to what we think we know, they were trying to determine the islands suitability for a naval base. We don't know why they decided against it, but the Boss acquired the information and has asked us to do a more in depth research as the military left the island untouched...." She paused as Magdalena stood up and dropped her papers. When she appologized and left the room, the woman stood up as well and turned to the captain.

"I suppose I shall get ready as well. I want to see the ruins with my own eyes," she said.

The Captain waved his hand dismissively, and the girl walk past him and out the door, her heels clicking on the metal floor of the ship.