My Internship With The Necroconsortium

[Endboss Empress]

You need to impress them with your extensive knowledge of instant noodles and how youre excited for a chance to eat them.

You decide the food conversation still has some legs to it, and break out the trivia.

"Yknow, I hear they've just got unlimited instant noodles at HQ. All the flavors." you say. "I guess some big shot researcher won't do his all-nighters without a steady supply. He got so tired of sending interns to buy more that he just bullied the higher-ups into getting the stockpile." This factoid causes the dangerous man to let out a low whistle.

"Damn, every flavor? Nice." he says, obviously impressed. "Back in my settlement it was three flavors every month, one cup a day."

"That's standard, I think." you add. "I hear they use a literal number generator to determine which settlements get which flavors. I used to pray at the end of each month for Krakenink Surprise to show up again."

"Gross." he concludes, though he smiles lightly at you. "But then, I love the Marinara Motherlode flavor, so I guess I'm a big ol' hypocrite."

"I'm gonna eat nothing but Lithospice Delight noodles and gain thirty pounds." The foxkin announces, tone only half-joking. "And it'll be worth it."

The manager gives you all odd looks.

"This is a really depressing thing to be excited about." she says, tone pitying. You immediately decide that this is a person who hasn't experienced the glory of a piping hot Johnsonton Quiknoodle, and resolve to teach her what she's missing out on.

Suddenly, shutters slam over the cabin window, and the door locks with a heavy click. Phlogiston lights fizzle to life overhead as you begin the diciest part of the journey. Even the heavy shutters fail to keep out the groans of the Grazing Fields' hordes, though they reduce the deafening din to more of an unpleasant rumble.

Outside, the undead swarmed, penned in by arcane wards, sustained by supply drops of whatever viscera the Reanimators couldn't make use of. The train was itself warded, but too much noise from anyone could be enough to draw the crowd's wrath, and not even an HQ Train could fend off all the nightmares outside.

"One last thing..." the manager says, voice lowering to a whisper. "What's everyone's names?"

"Alex." the foxkin says, drawing a battered game console from within his carry-on.

"Thorpe." The dangerous man says, leaning back and closing his eyes.

"Ozzy." you say.

"And I'm Ingrid. I look forward to working with you all." she adds, shooting you all a beaming smile before opening a notebook and beginning to scribble away.

Now began the waiting game. You had three books to read, and based on distance, only enough to read two. So, what's your plan?

>THE DISCIPLINES, a formal guide to the three primary "fields" of the Necroconsortium's research
>FIELD GUIDE TO NECROLIFE SPECIMENS, which covers the primary forms of undead you may expect to encounter
>THE LITHOHISTORIA, a history of the Necroconsortium and brief overview of its leadership