The time was the beginning of the University Term. The place was Babylon Five... sorry, Southampton, England. All characters were moderately new to the area, Dandelion having been there the longest and owning a plant-overgrown cafe in town.
The characters (at this point Bernard, Burdock, Dandelion, Francis, Nathaniel, Zebediah) were all requested to attend at the Civic Centre at 9pm, to attend a meeting. Dandelion showed up early to find a room with table, chairs, and agenda, and decided to make it look happier, so she put a glass of dandelion wine and a flower in front of everyone's places.
Zebediah considered being absent-minded and forgetting, but was reminded of his dissonance conditions by the GM, so trotted along. Everyone, in fact, turned up. Nathaniel put his flower in his wine and transferred both to the next place down, stowing his "large bag that goes *clink*" under his chair. Burdock occupied said next place, drank both glasses of wine, and there was happy Servitor-of-Novalis-type chitchat. Francis looked out of the window, and felt good about the law and humanity.
A loud tweedle in the Symphony, and Marc arrived, junior attendant carrying something bulky in tow. He called the meeting to order, and everyone took their seats. A round-the-table introduction had Francis being a shade slow to give his Superior, and Nathaniel being a touch rude. Still, Superiors are above petty vengeance. They do it wholesale later.
Marc explained the mission. Two companies were having a summit meeting elsewhere in the Civic Centre, and Marc is determined to have the meeting succeed. The one possible spot where things might go wrong was if their food was late and sparked arguments. They were expected to order pizza: the characters would be safeguarding the food's arrival, and making sure everything went smoothly. Misa (Marc's attendant) would be accompanying them with his Device, which would make sure the pizza stayed warm and safe. (Francis : "What if they decide on Indian?" Marc : "We have run a number of projections and expect pizza. However, I would hope that you could handle the situation.") Burdock suggested that they try putting pot on the pizza to make things more peaceful. Marc gave him a *look*. Dandelion wanted to put flowers in the room, but Marc said that there was to be absolutely no overt interference with the meeting.
Marc left, saying he'd be back at midnight for a debriefing. There was some discussion as to what to do. Misa notes that Marc has put a van (outside) at their disposal for the evening. It was decided to (a) have a couple of people go sit in the discussion area, and (b) to have Bernard the Seraph of Jean go tap the phone lines in a Techno way. He did so, listening in on a number of interesting conversations. Francis and Burdock went to sit in the observation area. Francis got in easily, but Burdock (in tatty student gear) had to fast-talk and claim to be a student representative observer on a business course. All three of them heard the pizza order to Domino's, a pizza place nearby. Francis decides to stay behind to keep an eye on things: the rest all head out to the van, which the two Malakim have occupied. Zebediah was going to drive, until the GM commented casually on his last Earthside assignment having been in Charlemagne's period. Zebediah said that he drove nice and slowly, in his Morris Minor. At that point Nathaniel grabbed the wheel and took charge. All except Francis headed off in the van to Domino's.