Emile and Bebo

Not a moment too soon, Steinn came in, with his fraccions Irene and Issabelle on his arms. Dr Cornelius was not too far behind. Paying attention to no one in particular. He dropped the girls arms, "Go mingle with the little "spirit police" girls. Cornelius, keep an eye on them." His underlings playfully saluted him and wondered off. Steinn pulled out his jug and took a swig. He didn't really feel like doing the mingling, let the others mingle at him.

A door opened off to the side, and walking through it was the not so often seen Captain of the R&D division, actually joining the festivities. Whether he was here out of duty or personal pleasure, nobody knew. He had promised the unseated members of his squad a short break from their work, and he did need some more information, so killing two birds with one stone and getting a drink or two worked out in the end for him.

Dressed in the same style as his gigai, with an additional black suit jacket, Alexander almost immediately walked over to the open bar and poured himself out some whiskey, then went over to find an empty table away from everybody else and sat down, quietly observing the people at the party. He already knew the other Shinigami by memorization, so he made no mind of them. What immediately caught his attention instead were the Arrancar in the room.

These Espada...they were still Hollows. Hollows that the Soul Society would very likely have to battle in the future, despite the wishes of those who sought peace. For that reason, Alexander could not ignore the potential threat they posed. Placing his drink on the table, the Captain then raised one of his wrists slightly and booted up the Specimen Locator attached to it, which he had cleverly disguised as a simple fancy watch. Taking out a small notepad from inside his jacket, he began furiously scribbling down notes on said people, based on what the small screen told him.

Steinn saw some Nerd walk in, go straight for the booze, sat by himself, and started doodling. "My kinda guy!" Steinn walked over to the Squad 12 Captain and sat at his table. "Evenin', the names Steinn." He took a swig from his jug and stuck his hand out to shake.

Not very phased by the interruption, the Captain merely turned towards the large brutish man as he turned off his locator with a quick flick of his wrist and put his notes back inside of his jacket. He supposed, for appearance's sake, he could shake the man's hand, and so he did. Very brief though.

"Yes, I already know. Steinn Geirson. Quinto Espada. Height, six foot eight inches. Weight, three hundred and forty-five pounds. Current soul age, seven hundred and twenty years. Current residence, Las Noches. Occupation, Leader of the Exequias." He flatly remarked, like a scientist reading off a list of chemicals. He then turned his head slightly to take the first sip of his drink as he raised it to his mouth.

"I never understood the stodgy scientist bit. Why is it so common!? I mean, I do a bit of science and engineering myself, but you don't see me being soooo....blah." Steinn sat in a bit of huff. He had to admit, he saw the outcome of this guy being a fuddy duddy. But still, he rudeness!

"You know, its polite behaviour to give your name at a greeting as well." Steinn stared the man down whilst drinking his hooch. All of the rudeness!

Ignoring the man's comments about his behavior, Alex placed his glass down onto the table.

"I know of you, but you don't know me. Surely the Arrancar's information of the Soul Society is not so lacking, yes?" The captain said with a bit of a smirk. He could tell he was getting on this guy's nerves and it gave him a sort of small pleasure to mess with him.

"Alexander Releigus." He stated, before raising his glass and taking another sip. "Tell me Steinn, are you here only for the alcohol, or did you come for another reason? I have to be here, but you Espada do not."

"Alcohol can be obtained anywhere, and I'm under the belief nothing is better than something you make yourself. Be it alcohol, machines, anything. Why buy or take what you can create." Steinn's eyes glimmered with purpose. At the tick about the Espada's information network he twinged. "Our Guy in charge of information is kind of a weirdo. I don't care for him, so we don't speak much. And as for why I'm here, consider it security. How do we know that this wasn't a trap? I'm keeping the girls safe, or at least, as much as I can." The nord ran his fingers through his hair, "But all in all, its a Pleasure Alex." He raised his jug to the shingami and took a swig.

Simply nodding to the Quinto's greeting, he placed his glass down for a second. "If it was a trap, I believe it would be obvious by this point." Alexander responded to Steinn's statement as he took another sip. It had been a while since his last drink, and as he had said, he had to be at this Ball, so the Captain figured why not enjoy himself.

He then elicited another small smirk as he looked towards the Espada. "Then again, would it?" Alex could tell this guy was a straight shooter, so he was having a bit of fun.

"We ran over the scenario at home. Either way, the smart play was to come, so it doesn't quite matter." Steinn swirled his drink, "Anywho, Alex, what do you do. You seem to know all about me, so talking about myself seems quite pointless. All I know is you are Captain of Squad 12. Perhaps you could enlighten me a little." He could tell the man was smart and calculated, and Steinn thought he heard Dagon say something about Squad 12 having something to do with science, but it doesn't hurt hear it from the horse's mouth.

"I see. It would certainly have been foolish to arrive without discussing it beforehand." Alex remarked to Steinn's first point, swilling his drink a little bit before answering his questions.

"For what I do, well, I suppose you would find out sooner or later from your friend. I head the Research and Development Division. While not responsible for all of the technology you see in Soul Society, I've had my hand in developing quite a lot of it." The captain remarked. He wasn't about to divulge his secrets, but it didn't hurt to be honest in this instance.

"AH! Quite the important man I'm speaking to. I like to consider myself a machinist. I always liked fiddling with engines and mechanical things, even made a sand boat to traverse around Hueco Mundo in style. I've come along way since getting high on stimulants and charging people with an axe." The large man laughed at the stereotypical berserker image. Steinn leaned back in his chair trying to think of more friendly banter.

Interesting fellow, this Steinn. To Alex, it was a bit strange; Why would the Espada freely divulge his personal life towards someone he just met, nonetheless someone who could possibly be his enemy in the future? Was he really that carefree? Well, nonetheless, the Captain decided to entertain himself some more and continue their conversation.

"Seems you were a Viking in your past life, then." He said with a slight chuckle, taking a sip. "Norsemen who raided in the Early Middle Ages and were particularly bloodthirsty. Explains why you would became a Hollow, anyways." He remarked.

"I would ask what types of machines and equipment you use, but you seem to me a guy who is adept at jury rigging things."

"Seems that way, I wandered the human world searching for the sea for many years before I gained the clarity to return to Hueco Mundo. I assumed I died either at sea, or near it anyways, can't quite remember, as you know, its been a long time. And the transition from soul to hollow isn't known for being seamless." Alex seemed to be humoring him. This was good. Even though they were enemies to a certain extent, if one day they fought, he wouldn't want any hard feelings.

"And whats wrong with Jury Rigging? Being able to make something work beyond the prospects from which it was originally designed takes ingenuity and creativity. That said, I do work with proper machines. Things that are crucial, such as the engine of a ship, I like to make from scratch."

"Nothing wrong with it. I just could not imagine an Arrancar being able to field a high tech laboratory in the middle of Hueco Mundo." Alexander replied frankly, setting his drink down on the table.

"You do have a point, though. As the humans once said, necessity is the mother of invention." He remarked. Perhaps this man was more clever than he looked, if he could create a mechanical engine from scratch. "I don't like to use engines or anything gas powered if I can help it. Too many parts that can be broken too easily. Pollutant too, though I suppose that isn't a problem where you live, being a desert."

"We have our home. Just because hollows are generally uncultured savages doesn't make us the same. We are capable of anything you Shinigami are, and sometimes more." Steinn stared him down while he drank. Finishing off the jug, a large Ostrich shaped hollow in a suit jacket walked over and grabbed the jug. "Thank you Cornelius." Cornelius sqwaked and walked off to do bird things.

"I suppose you do have me there. Hard to pollute something as vast as Hueco Mundo, not that you could really tell if you did." Steinn paused before moving on, "That's the point of building an engine by hand. If something breaks down, any mechanic worth his salt would know what it was that was wrong. Besides, being in the spirit realm gives us access to some things that work better than the rudimentary machines of the human world."

"Well, I'd be interested in seeing that for myself." The Captain responded with a bit of a smirk to Steinn's comment about how capable the Arrancar were. In truth, in his previous calculations he had surmised that the two forces were about on the same level. Perhaps that was why he worked so hard to constantly push the limits of Soul Society's technology. A simple tool like the Bow and Arrow changed the face of warfare forever, after all, and Alexander constantly strived to replicate that. He raised his glass and swilled it a bit, before taking another sip.

"You have a point in a way, but what happens when you cannot jury rig the parts you do have available? Knowledge without a way to apply it is useless, wouldn't you agree?" He remarked. Most people would be perplexed by the fact that an Ostrich had just appeared and handed the man another jug of booze, but Alexander wasn't perturbed in the slightest.

Seeing as Steinn had fallen asleep or something, Alexander merely shrugged and stood up, taking his empty glass with him as he walked back over towards the bar area to refill it, this time mixing the whiskey with some coke. Taking a sip, he then sat by another empty table and resumed taking his notes on the individuals at the party, logging down their ranks, ages, heights and weights etc.

While it was a party, the Captain saw no reason why he couldn't get some work done. After all, being knowledgeable was in his job description.

Steinn awoke at the sudden departure of his drinking fellow. "Bwuh!" He said shaking his head. He looked around at the party, everything seemed to be going well. The large man was tired for some reason though. Maybe he was just getting old. He wandered over to the Primera, "Keep an eye on the children Levi, I'm goin home to nap." he gave the primera a pat on what he would assume is her rump, just below the small of her humanoid back.

"Come along Doctor! You too girls, time to go home." His fraccions formed front and center and they went on their way to the Party barge for a siesta.