Session Start: Sat Aug 26 13:05:48 2006 (H-1) [April 6, 2039 - 1000 local time] [H-2 SIS offices] With the attack on the brewery, Anemone was quite pliable and allowed the team to take her into "protective custody". Her ultimate fate is still up for some debate, but that may not end up being your decision. And then, there was paperwork. Being in the middle of a seeming terrorist attack, much less one perpetrated by a Lady, makes for a lot of explaining to do to the other agencies. And a good amount of ducking the media coverage as well. Eventually, though, Royal was able to find time to politely invite Anya in for a conversation about the recent events in Ningyo City. And much to everyone's surprise, the Ningyo accepted. [session start] * Eliza knocks on the main door to the offices, then sticks her head in. "Excuse me?" * LadySnow put in a search into her PDA about the powers used to attack the brewery to see if it matches up to any known magical girls. She also checks it against the powers used in the parking garage to see if the same powers were used there as well. * PrincessRoyal looks up. "Yes, Eliza?" * Lord_Fate has managed to find a chair to lean back in, one leg propped up on a convenient table or similar surface with the other sprawled out in front of him, foot resting on the floor. He's sipping an energy drink this time. Ooh, is it her? Your visitor is here, ma'am. * LadyTwister looks up from her snack of donuts (not real American ones, but still) and coffee. "Mrph?" Yay! Ah, yes. Thank you. * PrincessRoyal looks around. "We'll have her in... hm." * Eliza opens the door the rest of the way, and water seeps into the room in a thin sheen on the floor. Your waiting room is a garage? What sort of division is this? * LadyDestiny looks up from a book she was reading to see the guest. Upon the guest's arrival, she puts the book away so that she doesn't seem rude. * PrincessRoyal raises an eyebrow. "Good morning, Miss Anya. Thank you for coming." A low-budget one. *grinning, possibly joking* * LadyTwister looks down, and stops eating for a moment. "We're a bit unique, I guess you would say." It's a really nice garage though. Twister, may I have a donut? * Anya looks around the big room. The conference table obviously meets with her approval, but you can see her sniff at Lady Snow's wall of posters. * LadySnow frowns a bit. She worked hard on that. Would you like any refreshments? * LadyTwister wings a donut Fate's way, no-look. No, no, coffee is a bad idea if I'm not in the water. I think there's still some coffeecake in the fridge! Mm. * Lord_Fate catches the flung donut on one finger. A ringer! "Thanks!" Anytime. * LadyTwister seems more focused on their guest than anything, but mostly out of curiosity. * PrincessRoyal moves over to the head of the conference table. "As you know, there are a few questions we'd like to ask you about matters pertaining to, among other things, that unfortunate incident that caused the garage to be closed...you remember meeting us there?" Yeeeeessss... at least you've opened up the bottom half, but when can we have our garage back? * Lord_Fate clicks his tongue in his throat a bit, subvocally activating Wyrd's recording and analysis functions to focus on this interview. Do you know what happened there? * Anya looks around pointedly, searching for a proper Ningyo chair. * LadyTwister seems to not quite get what Anya's looking for, and gives Royal an 'any ideas?' glance. * PrincessRoyal spreads a hand blandly. "Not my department. It's for H-4 to decide." * PrincessRoyal remains standing, ignoring Anya's looks. "Yes, would you be able to give us any information regarding those events?" * LadySnow notices her looking around and puts in a request with her PDA to have the secretary bring up a Ningyo chair. * Lord_Fate smiles quietly at the unspoken jockeying for position. * PrincessRoyal taps in a cancellation order for that request. * LadyDestiny sips her tea, watching the event unfold. I'm not exactly sure why I would know anything about that. Really? So you had no knowledge of any possible transactions occurring around that area? * LadySnow pouts and types in, [Why?] * Lord_Fate yawns negligently, and drinks more soda. He types in to Snow [It shows who's in control.] * Anya sneers. "I don't do business in parking garages." * PrincessRoyal taps in, [Rather, it shows we have no reason to treat her like a guest until she starts cooperating. We can go to the whirlpool in the locker rooms if she starts feeling like being a bit more loquacious.] And you wouldn't happen to know anyone who would? * Lord_Fate responds, [I've not had a relaxing swim in ages.] I don't think so... What exactly is this about? Your highness. * LadyDestiny taps in, [The guest probably is going to be more rude if we keep communicating like this. People don't like to think people are talking about them behind their backs, and this isn't exactly a subtle means of communication.] Just a bit of a poking-about for useful tidbits, really. Odds are you probably know something that seems minor to you, but we'd like to hear about. ^One man's trash^ and all that. [I thought that was the point?] * LadyDestiny sighs. [Yeah, why waste time having her tell us stuff we already know?] * Anya wiggles annoyedly in the air, readjusts her hair-textured tank-top, and situates her purse back onto the curve of her rump. * PrincessRoyal flicks out a picture of Mashimo and shows it to Anya. "Do you recognize this man?" Look, just tell me what the hell you want, and I'll tell you what I want, and... What's his name - Mashima? With Harvest Wind. He's been trying to sell me some rent-a-cops. And have you been buying? Or, perhaps, communicating with him for any other...transactions? The Chamber hasn't decided if we want to pay their price - HWGC is top- dollar, in all senses. And I have sent a few people his way... that's what the Chamber is for. Who? Ah, but not everything one does is for one's official job. *drinks more soda* Heard of any unusual requests, by any chance? * Lord_Fate munches on donut. Yum. ...you're holding Anemone, aren't you? So you know I sent her his way. So then you do know why we wished to speak with you. Anything you'd care to tell us about that? * LadyTwister grabs another donut and nibbles at it, keeping an eye on Anya's posture. * Anya shrugs. "Someone wanted some covert couriers. He's the best source for that I know - which isn't a compliment to him, since I don't know very many." [I can't believe I make you guys all these delicious treats and you're eating donuts...] Of course not. More importantly, we're wondering who -else- you aimed her at. [What, Chi? Twister got mad at me for hogging your puffs earlier. I still think she ate more of them than I did.] ...what? Do you know what she wanted covertly couriered? * Anya scrunches up her face in a what-is-he-talking-about sort of way. "I've helped hook her up with some investors, but this was about the only specific thing she ever brought up with me." No. I mean, I can sort of guess, but I don't know for sure. * LadyTwister idly looks down at her PDA, and rolls her eyes. "The guess works." * Lord_Fate briefly looks ill, but covers it by chugging the last of his soda. So... you're saying that that delivery was what blew up in our garage? * PrincessRoyal raises an eyebrow. "You weren't aware that was a transfer point?" No, and in fact I'm going to have some harsh words with her for using it that way. ....really. Hm. I mean, daaaaamn. Do you know who she was getting it from? You Ladies haven't even told us what the contaminant is! * LadyDestiny continues to idly sip her tea. She doesn't really have any useful questions, so she's just sitting there, observing people's body movements and how they correspond with what they are saying. Hate to sound all mysterious, but all things in time. No, I don't know who she was getting it from. Miss Anya, how familiar are you with the CoC's international partners or associates? I... well, we don't have international partners per se. We do try to get international investors that visit T-E to drop by. Many? Anyone with money. Well, lots of money. But yeah. Does the name "Bo" ring any bells? No... do you have a picture? * Anya is twitching her tail around now, and has crossed her arms. It's obvious she's really starting to get annoyed. [Are we offering her refreshments? I'm about to ring for another soda, so am wondering if we're being openly rude still or treating her like a guest yet.] What did Anemone say? Bodica? ... Hey I said her name right! Uh. Which meeting? * LadySnow checks her notes. We believe she was a European. * Anya reaches behind her and pulls her PDA out of her purse. She may have been accompanied by a Belgian gentleman. [I already asked her when she came in, remember? She said no.] [I was looking for when she said the meeting was...] Dorsal, search records of COC functions from the last six weeks for a female guest, European or Western, name starting with B. [Just checking.] *has Wyrd ask refreshment people to bring in another soda. And any one tray of treat stuffs that are left over from Chi's cooking this morning. If any* Dorsal? *giggles* * Anya cocks her head to one side. "Oh, that does sort of ring a bell..." * LadyTwister raises an eyebrow at 'Dorsal', but says nothing more. She's still busy looking at Anya still. "Hm?" Cute name. Wyrd says he'd like to meet your EI, if it's free later. If you could give us whatever information you have on her, that'd be super. I don't let my EI out on his own, especially not with H-2 EI's. Hold on a second... * PrincessRoyal snorts, still standing and leaning against the table. Can't blame you. They might get the digital equivalent of sloshed and start rearranging people's personal information for the hell of it. * LadyTwister smirks, trying to lighten the mood some. Wyrd's not H-2, but fair enough. * Anya looks down as the PDA pings. "Hmmm. No. No. No. No. Okay, yeah." * LadySnow peeks at her PDA. That's her. Can Dorsal take one of your screens? Ooh use mine! * LadySnow holds up her PDA. * PrincessRoyal makes a "go-ahead" gesture. * Anya taps the PDA, and a wall screen behind her lights with the image of a woman. * LadySnow starts searching all the databases she can on the woman. * Lord_Fate has Wyrd working on similar things already. Oooh. * PrincessRoyal 's eyes narrow as she studies the image. * LadyTwister looks at the woman, idly scribbling at her own PDA (on a personal notepad screen, of course)---looks like she's restocking on Stateside goodies. "Lessee here..." I remember her, though I didn't really meet her. She gave her name as 'Boadicea". I remember her mostly because I thought she had on the thickest- looking makeup and... most sheer hose that I had ever seen. * Lord_Fate quirks an eyebrow and suppresses a snigger. Do you remember how she came to be at that event? * LadyDestiny taps a few notes into her PDA before tucking it back away. Was that the only time you ever met her? The screen shows a woman in a somewhat-striking business suit. The resolution isn't high enough to really catch her makeup, but below her knee- length skirt her legs do appear red. The suit is dark red, over an almost- black, silky mockneck. She has leather gloves on which match her shirt. That's... something. She has a similarly-matching hat as well, a poofy thing with a short brim which her black hair is pulled up under. Hmm... I wonder what she's covering up. * LadySnow adds girls with oddly colored skin to her search parameters. Very little, I'd say, Lady Snow. Skin damage, maybe? She seemed friendly enough. She came with a Belgian guy I met on a flight from England. She spoke Japanese with an English accent, but with a strange, sort of guttural lilt to it. Do you have any recordings of her speaking? Never trust anyone who speaks Japanese with an English accent. *spoken with an intentional, self-mocking increase to his English accent* I thought I heard someone mention she was Irish, but... We don't record sound at these meetings. Maybe an attendee might have something, but not us. I see. Who was this "Belgian guy"? Other than someone you met on a flight from England, that is. He owned a brewery or ten, and had some money. I figured he might invest or partner with some of our brewers, so... Guttural lilt... hm. * LadyTwister files that away in mind and on PDA for later research. Could you transfer us his name and details, please? * Anya taps at her PDA, and the local network pulls the data in. * Lord_Fate leans back still further - dangerously close to toppling over backwards - as he tries to think of what languages might lend a guttural lilt to an English accent. In particular, if Irish or Scottish would do it. So how many times have you met with them? I met him twice, and she was just at that meeting. Well, it was a social, not a meeting. Now, are you going to explain what all this is about, and why one of our businesses was trashed by a Lady yesterday? Or am I going to go back to the NCCOC and tell them just how rude H-2 is being? * Anya looks pointedly at the chairs. Again. [See? We should've just gotten her a chair...] Hm... well, that's something. [Think she's played enough ball?] You know how budget cuts are. Um... I'll request a chair for you, if you like. [Just give the word, and I'll poor on the gentleman's routine. Until then, I'm going to lounge here.] Is there anyone else at the party you know she talked with? * LadySnow again requests a chair be brought up. But let's continue this discussion somewhere a little more...comfortable. * PrincessRoyal leads the way back into the locker rooms. * Lord_Fate lets his chair fall forward, front legs landing on the floor with a small 'bang!' as he smoothly rises to his feet. * Anya raises an eyebrow, but follows. * LadyTwister rises as well, grabbing one last donut along the way. Mademoiselle? *offers the Ningyo his arm on the way out* * LadySnow follows too. * Anya ignores Fate. * Lord_Fate shrugs and follows, unphased. * LadyKiss slowly gets up and follows. * LadyDestiny finishes her tea before following the others from the room. So um, how long have you been doing the CoC thing? About twenty years, though I've only been in charge for eight. It's a good job - you get to meet people, and help them make friends. Sounds like fun! So you're taking me to the showers? How special. Not exactly. You kinda get to break in one of our few job perks. Well we thought you'd be more comfortable. And stuff. Heh, one of the few, indeed. As has been said, we're rather low-budget. ^^; * PrincessRoyal leads the way into the room with the whirlpool and gestures towards it. "Unless you'd like to go back outside." Ooooh. You do know how to treat a Ningyo right. So do you know anyone else she talked with at your social thingy? * Anya stashes her bag at the edge of the pool, then leans forwards to half- dive in. She arcs back up to the swirling surface in just a second, smiling. We try. *smiles* A good whirlpool is like the best thing you crazy humans have ever invented. We have our uses. I hope one day we are saying your beer is the best thing you crazy Ningyo's ever invented. *Smiles trying to show friendliness.* * LadyTwister smiles a little as well, finishing off her snack. I think digital video is pretty cool too. I don't really know - I figured she was just, you know, female companionship for the brewer guy, and she acted like it around him. I see. Interesting. What was the name of the company he represented? ... couldn't be muscling out competition. That's not an angle... Now, I had all of our brewers there to talk with him, but I don't know who else, or even if this Bo person stuck with him the whole night. Can we get a list of the attendees pretty please? * Anya grimaces. "Can't we have a little privacy? I'll get it to you." So... what really did happen Saturday night? Of course, we just want to make sure another incident like the parking garage doesn't happen again. You wouldn't want that on your conscience, would you? How can I regret it - other than the parking problem - when I don't know what the incident was? Well, Mashimo's men, the Belgians as well as several Ladies lost their lives. Mm. As you may have guessed by the decontamination crews present when we first met, the incident also involved biological...agents, so to speak. And radioactive ones... * Anya blinks. Radioactive!? We were as shocked as you are right now, trust you me. Some sort of dirty bomb? Anemone wouldn't be involved in anything like that! Whatever was really happening there, I think she was as much a dupe as anyone else involved. But. We can't be sure, yet. Hence, why we need the information from you. * PrincessRoyal inclines her head. "So we have reason to believe. Preliminary investigation does not place her as a suspect." Wow. No wonder you're going crazy. Mm. Another nice addition to this mess is--you mentioned the attack yesterday? So far it seems the only person that really knows what's going on is this Bo person. And then... someone tried to eliminate her? But that someone was a Lady. Wow. Indeed. And you can guess how much we have on that individual. * PrincessRoyal looks decidedly disgruntled, behind her bland exterior. Whatever was the real goal, it involves very powerful individuals willing to go to extensive lengths for it. I, uh. Uh. Wow. Obviously, this makes us concerned for even those peripherally involved. * Lord_Fate looks at Anya significantly. * Anya pulls at her hair, her face twisting as she tries to figure out all the angles. So is there any other detail you can think of that would be helpful to us? So you see, it's as much for your protection as ours that you help us out as much as you can. Right now anything that springs to mind, even trivial things, might help I wish I could. Bombs are really, really bad for business. Would you like us to arrange some protection for you? I have some contacts who would be capable. Boadicea... well, she just sticks in my mind as a nice person for some reason. I remember liking her, which is weird because I universally don't like the trophy floozies executives bring in. * Lord_Fate nods, but doesn't say anything. * PrincessRoyal grimaces, either at Anya's statement or Snow's--it's not too clear which. Was it because of anything she said or did? Or just something you got from being near her? Just the impression I got. * LadySnow notes that in the list of powers to search for. Anemone said the same thing. As for protection... well, there are some Matriarchs in the CoC. If they can't keep me safe, then it's pointless anyway. So as far as you knew at the time, she was more this Belgian's trophy than an independent investor? He didn't introduce her as a businesswoman, just, 'and this is Boadicea.' One name, no title, no background. Her only given reason to be there was as his companion. ...hm. Interesting. Maybe she was something other than a trophy... just a matter of finding out what. * Anya thrashes her tail happily in the pool. * LadySnow avoids getting hot water splashed on her. It's so warm in here... * LadyKiss frowns a bit. "Did she talk to you? At all?" I can spread to word to keep an eye out for her... I'm not so certain I want to tell anyone there was a bomb. No. Really, no. Just to say hello. She was watching the guests then for something. * PrincessRoyal inclines her head. "We're not certain we'd like you to tell anyone that, either." She gives a grim smile. * Lord_Fate takes off his shoes & socks and rolls his slacks up above his knees, and sits on the edge of the whirlpool, dangling his legs into the water. "Ahhhhh." It would get out. It would be Bad For Business. Which is Bad for everything, in the end. Oh, we're well aware of that, and wouldn't want for it to happen. You can hear the capitals as the Ningyo enunciates that phrase. We wouldn’t want anything to be bad for business. So... is Anemone in real trouble? Other than the assassination attempt, I mean? Legally, with T-E, you mean? Well she is guilty of a crime either way... That remains to be seen. You friends? Ultimately, that's not for us to decide. * Anya nods. "Smuggling of unapproved biologicals, I would guess?" * PrincessRoyal nods. As for the other...we don't believe she's involved more than as a dupe. For now . Friends might be a stretch. Friendly acquaintances. My job is to stick up for the Chamber members. Like her. * Lord_Fate nods. "Professional friends." Honestly, the decision to take her in was made as much for her safety as for what she did. * Anya pulls herself half out of the pool and sits on the edge. We look out for our neighbors, after all. In any case, I hope we can work together reasonably in the future. My job is to fight for my members, though. Equally clearly, whoever's behind this would not object to an outbreak of Ningyo-MG hostilities again. All the more reason for neighbors to look out for each other. *smiles* Our job is to protect everyone. Including your members. We understand. Of course, we wouldn't want to hurt relationships. * Anya slaps her fin against the water. "Oh! While I have your ear, which way were you all thinking of voting on the Ningyo City self-incorporation?" * PrincessRoyal smiles blandly, an appreciative glint in her eye. "I haven't decided yet." * Lord_Fate exchanges a glance with his sister. Since I moved here just recently, I haven't read up on it, but I probably have a few pamphlets in my room. It was just a historical accident that Ningyo City formed across two districts, you know. If we could incorporate as our own city, we could eliminate a lot of the duplication of services that exists now. We would still be a part of Tokyo-E, the nation, but not a part of the Tokyo-E the city. And suddenly, T-E is a kingdom comprised of two cities, instead of one? *seems amused* Talk about expansion. * PrincessRoyal 's smile thins as she remembers the circumstances of said "historical accident." Me... I look at it this way. Let bygones be, and let's move ahead. I'm a progressive servant of the Queen of the Earth, after all! Yeah, but wouldn't it be better if we were all one big happy family? I don't think it's a good way to spread togetherness if we all split up... Well, togetherness extends beyond borders. It's just having a place where the ningyo can define and refine their culture. Sure, there're a thousand Chinatowns in America that haven't done this, but with the ningyo it's a special situation. * LadyKiss nods. "That would be a good boost to the Ningyo of course." A more interesting question would involve representation, rather than self-incorporation. Well, I don't even know what proxies all of you are with. But think about it - we already function as one because our infrastructure needs are so different, and it just makes sense to make it official. * Lord_Fate shrugs. "At the moment, I'm my own proxy. The idea that I'm a legislator is still...new." Is that a predatory gleam in Anya's eye? You're not sure. Yeah, but isn't it better for us to work together? If you need someone to explain things, please, call me. Okay! Thank you for all your help. We have your number and stuff. * Lord_Fate smiles. Is it that of a hunter setting a trap? Nah. "Thanks; I'll keep that in mind." Will do, will do. I will call you when I have all the information in front of me so you can inform me what they have wrong on it. If you think of anything else for us on the NC garage transaction, do call us. And so the meeting ends mostly amicably. Anya wanders out, dripping a little and mildly pleased with extracting the truth from the two-legs. Lord Fate is still toweling off his feet, though, when the main doors are flung open. Hi Shihei-sama! *waves brightly* * LadySnow moves to see what she wants. What can we do for you today? * Shihei-san marches into the room. Today she has on a white suit, though that only makes her look more emaciated. 'Morning. Or is it afternoon, now? Why hello there! * LadyTwister waves to Shihei, all smiles. Your duchess wanders in behind her, though for once she's not even transformed. She's wearing a pink leather jacket and jeans. No, not pink jeans. Good morning. ... and lo and behold! To what do we owe this special honor? Ah, hello. *pulls on socks* Hey, Mina. Your highness! What an honor! *bows excitedly and moves up to shake her hand* * LadySnow can't help but bounce as she greets the two. * Sakura lets Snow shake her hand, but moves on to the conference table. Ma'ams. *She bows in greeting to both, bowing deeper to the duchess of course.* I hear you had a guest already this morning? * LadySnow casually tries to draw her attention to the big Sakura poster she has on the wall amidst all the other posters. Did she have anything useful? Yup! Yup! * Sakura is so not looking at the posters. * Lord_Fate stamps his shoes in place on his feet, and finds himself a chair to lean back in. * PrincessRoyal nods and smiles a bit at Sakura and Shihei. "What went wrong now?" * LadyTwister pats Chi on the head idly, before she takes a seat and kicks her boot-clad heels up. * Shihei-san grimaces. * Sakura smiles. ... geez, boss, you make it sound like you know bad news is comin'. We haven't gotten any traction on the attack yesterday. The trail goes dead at the canals. There's no match for the power that was used. This is a surprise? Literally, the Lady was shooting lava at the building. Very hot lava. I've been involved in this business too long not to think so, Twister. * LadyTwister grows serious quickly. "Well, that's not good. Unregistered Lady. Wonder where from." Did Flare do that? Lava -and- depleted uranium. This gets even better. Lovely. Flare... * Sakura blinks. "Heh. No, she just burned things real good." ...at the time? Hmm. Why does everything have to have hot attacks? You know, there is one match for this power. Really? Who? Oh? * Shihei-san hisses. "Sakura-sama!" * Lord_Fate leans forward. "Do share." I wanna hear this myself. * Sakura reaches over and noogies her deputy director. It's so incredibly unprofessional-looking that it's almost cute. * LadySnow giggles. * Lord_Fate smirks at Shihei-san. * PrincessRoyal snorts. "Out with it, Sakura. Please?" * Shihei-san puts on an aggrieved expression, but her shoulders shake like she's chuckling. Her Majesty. The Queen could do the lava thing. And maybe the uranium thing, but I'm not as sure. ... But... She wouldn't. Right? ...I doubt that's the case at all though some one may be trying to frame her highness. A lousy job of it. Her *MAJESTY*. Doesn't compute, at all. By all accounts, Her Majesty could have done far more and without making such a mess of it. * LadyTwister seems pretty unable to even think in that direction. Of course. Her Majesty. Well, I'll have to check the times, but the Queen should have been on the plane back from New York when that happened. Does that mean there's another Queen? The Queen of the Sea. But I don't think this is in theme for her powers. ....Prince. Or Princess...but E--Her Majesty would have known better. Should know better. What it means... is that something weird is going on around here. Damn weird. You're a princess, but you can't do this. How would the Queen 'know better'? Not *a* Princess. So... anyway. How are things going? * Lord_Fate is openly confused, studying Royal. I'll explain later. * LadySnow idly has her PDA check the image of Boadicea against that of the Queen. * PrincessRoyal makes a face at Sakura in response. They're... okay. I'm just kinda confused now. It seems to be an open question - pointed mostly at Royal, but for the whole team if they want to respond. Coming along. Not as nicely as I'd like, but since when is that a surprise? We're doing super! I think we're really close to cracking this. I think. Boadicea looks nothing like the Queen. Well, they're both exotically pretty, but not in the same way at all. * PrincessRoyal gives a tiny, nearly imperceptible roll of her eyes at Snow's comment. * Lord_Fate shrugs. "Your soda supply is running low. But this is an interesting job." It looks to me like you're running out of leads. Tell me about it. They'll strike again. We'll trace them then. Leads are thin, but something's bound to come up. ... or someone else could die. Whoever's behind this, this was only a first step. They're gathering resources for something big. * PrincessRoyal rubs her temples. "Tracing's been damn inefficient in this case. Too defensive." Yeah, but that means we're getting close, doesn't it? Snow, you're an optimist. Thank you! * Shihei-san really does snerk this time. We just need to isolate a few likely targets. And then tag the hit men while we chase them. A cold trail heats up when there's a tattle-tale in the hideout. But we don't want them to strike again though. * PrincessRoyal curses. "If I'd been really thinking, I would've ordered in squads to watch over the perimeter when we went in to talk to Anemone. 20/20 hindsight, Princess. * Sakura twinkles. "Reminding you of the old days, Mina?" Next time we go a-calling, do so. Ooh, old days. What happened? ...we should have something similar set up here. They might figure out where she is and target her and those investigating. You've read the books and seen the movies, Chi. At least twenty times. You *know*. * PrincessRoyal makes an "ugh" noise in response. "The indigestion sure is." Yeah but it's so much more exciting when they tell it! * LadyTwister shakes her head, sighing. "I know, I know." That never goes away in this department. * Lord_Fate is up and pacing around, and, if there's a whiteboard or similar, idly drawing tactical plans on it. But that's what makes it so much fun! Sure doesn't. Speaking of which...what day is it today? * PrincessRoyal bleaghs. * LadyKiss takes a deep breath listening to every one. "It is more complicated then any one wants to admit but Princess Royal is leading us through it." Doesn't your PDA have a clock? Oh, right. ...nope, I haven't eaten yet. Anyone up for brunch? Brunch sounds perfect. Brunch does sound good. Ooh we could go to the store and I can get stuff to make us sandwiches! * PrincessRoyal mutters to herself/her PDA. "Gotta keep tabs on that Belgian. And Anya. And here too. In case." That'd work, too. * PrincessRoyal eyes Sakura and Shihei. "That all you had to say?" Would you like to have lunch with us, Duchess-sama, ma'am, your highness? Look, I know we tossed you all together in a hurry, and you've done a good job so far of bulling through the parts of this conspiracy that you could find. But things really aren't supposed to work this way. What things? ... what way? * Lord_Fate messages Royal, [If you like, Destiny and I can pay a visit to that Belgian, and see what he knows about Boadicea.] You've had no time for team-building, for training... for evaluation. * PrincessRoyal nods. "Now, that's for sure." But we're already all super close friends! * LadySnow gives a big hug to whoever is nearest. That sort of thing usually shakes itself out after one or two combats, Duchess. No, Fate. She's right. * Lord_Fate takes the hug stoically. You're the boss; first time with a permanent team. Things have just been too up to arrange something like that. Is this like that thing where they make us stack chairs in an office? * PrincessRoyal eyes Sakura. "Unless you're planning on finding a way to justify giving us a couple of days of break?" We're going to pull you guys back for a while. Don't worry, I have several mission on tap for you, but they're a week or two out. I think we'd need chairs -to- stack. *jokingly* ...aha. ... vacation time? Ooh we can go to the beach! * LadyTwister grins wide. ^Sweeeet.^ * PrincessRoyal grins. It grows very slowly and very ferally. "Oh, I doubt we'll have time for the beach." ...I'm gonna need fatigues, aren't I. Hiking? You all were a little too exposed yesterday in Ningyo City - that is the media got a little too good a view of you. Not your fault, but we want to keep you away from that side of the investigation while the newsies are still swarming. Oh maybe we could go to the Aquarium. * PrincessRoyal nods at Sakura, ignoring Snow for now. But we were saving people! Why do I have the sinking feeling that we're going back to boot camp? No, it won't be vacation. General Royal has discretion, of course, but I suspect I know what she has in mind. Boot camp? Nothing so simple, I'm afraid. Show and tell, Mina? * PrincessRoyal actually sounds cheerful about it. She glints at Sakura in response. * Lord_Fate eyes his sister and looks nervous. Ooh I have lots of things I can show. Can I bring my collection? I might have to borrow a car... * LadyTwister audibly gulps, looking between Sakura and Royal. She doesn't like the looks of this one bit. Also, this isn't public yet, but tomorrow is an all-Hierarchy thing in the House of Ladies. The Queen wants to address the House about the meetings she had in New York. * PrincessRoyal 's voice goes bland. "We'll need lots of space, of course." ... Oooooh. * LadyKiss presses her lips together. "Are you upset with how we have been handling things so far?" Do we get to go? * PrincessRoyal blinks. "Really, now." Yeah. Security will be normals-only tomorrow. This always shoots the whole day. ...I'll let Kari give me the cliffs-notes version. If it's about what you said it was about... Sounds like it'll be... a day. Someone should stick around here to keep an eye on our 'guests'. No, no, you've done fine. This is just trying to get your group on the normal track. That's what Haga and his crew are for, Fate. * LadyKiss bows her head. "I had hope we handled it okay." Even so, Princess. *quite obviously looking for an excuse to skip the House thing* H-2 and H-3 can follow up on the stuff you've tracked down. If there really is a Lady off the reservation in town, we'll be calling H-1 back in. Mmm-hmm Exactly like old times. What if there's more than one? * Sakura doesn't smile as she says that. Then there's more than one that needs killing. ... We're supposed to kill them? * Lord_Fate pulls out Omen. "And that, I'm sure, we can handle," he says, resting it point-down on the floor. * PrincessRoyal grimaces at that. "Exactly, indeed." But but... We do what we have to do, Chi. Can't we just capture them and put them on trial? * LadyTwister doesn't sound very convinced, unfortunately. * PrincessRoyal groans. "Deja vu, all over again." Chi, what do you think the people will do if they knew a Lady was doing this? We need to keep it quiet or some of your favorites might be hurt. There's a long philosophical argument about that, Snow. The short version is, it's kinder to just shoot them. But... *eyes start to water* That's not nice at all... I mean Ladies have done bad things before, haven't they? * LadyKiss gives Snow a small hug. "It won't be nice to drag them through that either Snow. Sometimes the best thing to do is make it quick." * LadyTwister pats Chi on the back, shaking her head. But... that's why we have laws and stuff... Suck it up, Snow. That's what H-1 does--the nasty crap no one wants to soil their hands with. So... we're bad people? * Lord_Fate puts the sword away. No, Snow. We stop the bad people. Efficiently. But we're lowering ourselves to their level! No such thing, Chi. This isn't cheating on taxes, Snow. This is rebelling against the Queen, and killing civilians. Not much room for happy endings. [end session] Session Close: Sat Aug 26 16:46:57 2006