>>5807434“A bit stupefied” begins to describe your thoughts. You've never seen anyone from Asia, or anyone from outside of Europe for that matter, so you've had to rely on what you've heard or read to imagine what they looked like. And you've mainly heard that they were a small folk. And what's more is... you're noticing a lot of non-Finnish people in this organization, not just yourself. Guess people go where they are needed, but are not enough Finns are up to snuff?
The woman approaches, and gives a gentle but short lived smile. “Hello,” she speaks in a very slow, struggling, but nevertheless clear and enunciated English – a common multinational tongue of the old world kept alive through modern international necessity. “Miss Jarnafeldt?”
“F-Fiona Jarnafeldt, yes!” You stammer a reply, craning your neck up to meet her gaze. “Are you Sumika?”
The tall woman nods. “Nonoka Sumika, Stormwatch Operator. Welcome. How are you feeling?”
What to say, what to say - honesty? Honesty. “I'm feeling a lot of things! The train ride was fine, but this is my first time in a city like this, so...”
Sumika lifts her head and loses her gaze elsewhere. “Oh, I know the feeling. I was raised somewhere quiet, too. I remember coming from my mountainside home to Akihabara, a city back home. The stimulation can be overwhelming at first, but you get used to it with time.” Returning to the present, turns to get moving. “Come, let's take you where you will be staying.”
You follow her outside, where a bus is parked. Numerous other new hires are already seated with their own operators and agent tutors. The two tutors offered you sitting next to other hires. Sigrun is engrossed in a lengthy explanation, while Lalli seems rather distracted from the recruit he's accompanying, looking out the window. Sumika has to crouch heavily in order to traverse the rather compact vehicle, but thankfully for her the seat and the one beside it for you are quite accommodating for her stature.
She seems quite gloomy. Hoping to shake off anxiety on yourself, you offer a polite question. “How about you? How do you enjoy Level... 4? What does that even entail?”
Hearing that, she sighs and replies plainly. “The perks are nice, but recently... there's a reason so many positions here have opened. And I have not felt very good about that.”
… Ominous.
>Ask about what has been happening to cause a bus full of openings.>Prod further about the benefits of being a L4 Operator - it seems like a high-end position.>[Write-ins] 