Assets and Aspirations
This drabble is preceded by Chain of Command.
Another summmons. Great, Vizzya thought.
Another being shoved into a car with a bag over his head, another long wait. Another march-like escort to the elevator of… whatever lobby this was, and dread in his stomach the whole way up.
Was it entirely necessary to go through all this?
… Who was he kidding. Of course it was, if she was involved.
He was shown to a different door than last time, and the expressionless guard motioned for Vizzya to enter. Upon doing so, he's met with a dimly lit room full of other faces he's never seen before. Six of them, and they sit around a table. Except for one standing in front of a large whiteboard, anyway.
All eyes are drawn to the troll standing in the doorway.
Vizzya lowers his head some and enters, moving to take a seat- his interruption quickly dismissed as someone else speaks up.
"Do continue, Becker." said a familiar voice. Vizzya quickly recognizes it as La Padrona herself. Same imposing stature as ever- he's been told to try and relax some since the last time. However, he can't help but try to analyze everything happening in the room.
"Right…" this 'Becker' begins again. "As I was saying, we lost contact with one of our ops who was taking a job in Civitrecce. Originally, we were just going to mark them as lost. Their orders were to self-terminate in the event of capture. But with the recent news, as you've seen… there's no real way to know for sure."
"We're requesting that Excelsa keep an eye out for updates regarding the city. And for you to keep this from Diamond for as long as possible."
Another character at the table interjects. "Oi, Diamond's your superior, ain't she? Don't you think she oughta know about her hopes and dreams gettin' crushed?"
Becker sighs. "It wouldn't be… conducive to our efforts in Chirannajit, Filghe. You of all people should know that the last thing we need is Diamond going on a tantrum."
Padrona raised a hand, and the two fell silent. "I have to agree. Diamond needs to be kept on track if we're going to make a better foothold in Bharat. She knows as much, but it's better not to have distractions."
Becker nodded. "Then that's all from the Millicent Group as of this moment. Excuse me."
As Becker went to sit down, Filghe sighed loudly and stood up herself. A troll in quite the frilly outfit, Vizzya notices. A pastel pink, lacy, old-style dress with numerous bows and ribbons sown in.
"I GUESS it's my turn." She starts, moving to flip the whiteboard over to the other side. Another troll, at the table shuffles over to connect their phone to a projector on the front. A slideshow begins to display, showing charts of some kind.
"Filghe, reporting in for Khar-men-diin. And I am happy to report, that things have been on the up n' up since last sweep. Especially with the breakthrough we've had lately with 'psi-jump.'"
"Last time we were here, I told you we were working on making the drug more stable. As you know, subject zero's ability to significantly boost psionic output didn't have the same side effects as our re-creation."
Vizzya has trouble reading the charts as they go by. It's hard to really discern what they're trying to portray, aside from cost analysis on the group's expenses and test results based on varying factors. But he supposes that they're mostly just meant to show that they're making progress.
"Apparently. That's because we weren't getting the full picture." Filghe continues. "We've found that a protein in subject zero's blood acts as a stabilizer for his psionic gland, which ever so slightly changes his psionic signature. The difference is hardly noticeable, which is why we never detected it before. But results speak for themselves."
"Fourty percent crashout rate, and only two percent of those are lethal- which is down from seventy and fifteen. As far as we can tell, it's doesn't cause dependency on the drug nearly as much as it did before. Not gonna break the bank to replicate this protein, either. Not with Tiger Eye's own psi."
Filghe pauses for a moment. "So, in layman's terms, psi-jump is going pretty well. But we're expecting some push back from a couple possible rebel insurrections over... conditions, as well as the fleet and a couple of our rivals getting into our business. They shouldn't really be an issue, though."
"Unless someone gets into the lab," Becker mumbles.
Filghe turns to glare daggers into him for a moment, then huffs. "We've already came up with workarounds for if that happens. Which is unlikely, so shut your fucking trap."
Becker rolls his eyes.
"Anyway," Filghe continues cheerfully. "That's all the new stuff we have to report. Business is the same as usual, otherwise." The troll then curtseys and moves to sit down.
Vizzya just sits confused. Why exactly was he supposed to be here again? Did Padrona want him to be a part of this? She never said anything about preparing something for a meeting.
He looks across the table to see the old blueblood looking at him intently. But before he can say anything, she speaks up.
"Good work then, the both of you. Your request's been acknowledged, Becker- but it looks like we may not know what to expect with a whole city just up and disappearing." Padrona hums.
"But now, I'm going to turn your attention to our friend here," she says, gesturing towards Vizzya. "I didn't have time to make a separate meeting with him, and I figure it's as good a time as any to show the new Pearl handler to you all. Whenever I decide on a next Pearl, anyway."
"Go on. Introduce yourself." Padrona says.
Vizzya stands, moving towards the end of the table where the other two had given their reports. He holds himself very formally, folding his arms behind his back.
"Vizzya Esselm. I was the head administrator of Excelsa Luxe, overseeing its guild and general business."
Filghe snorts, mumbling. "Wow, so polite."
Though, she is quickly silenced with a stern look from Padrona- who continues. "Excelsa was responsible for a rather important part of our business. Until I decide on a new pearl, I need to be made privy to everything going on there."
"So, give me a sitrep. I've read all the documents you've handed over so far, so I'll ask questions once you think you've covered everything current."
Vizzya cleared his throat. "Right."
"We've mostly recovered from the last incident with one of our… assets. Oceanview is back up and running smoothly, and the Black Pearl Lounge is rebuilt. Currently, we're working on finding previous staff and frequent patrons to invite them back-"
"And what in your right mind makes you think any of 'em are gonna come back after that stunt?" Filghe starts again. "That asset of yours took down a whole building, everyone in it, and part of the block it was on, too."
Vizzya turned to face Filghe. "They'll come back because hardly anyone there survived, and knows what happened. The running story is that a rival guild is responsible for the incident. We didn't piss anyone off, they did. If anything, our patrons are more concerned with finding who broke the code- especially with a bounty being put on their head."
This answer seems to satisfy Filghe, as she falls silent and sits back in her chair.
"So. This will include those bouncers, correct? The anonymous one and the rust." Padrona asks. "Can you be sure the latter one won't be causing issues? I heard plenty of her track record."
"They don't know anything." Vizzya confirms. "And I'm fairly certain there'll be no problems with her."
Padrona hums. "You'll be held responsible if any arise. Understand?"
Vizzya nods. "As I was saying. We're going through the process of hiring for the front, then reopening to the public. Aside from that, our reconnaissance in Selatak and Chirannajit has been fairly fruitful."
"Chirannajit powers are somewhat unstable- ever since Chromatic activity withdrew from the city, the top three groups seem to be fighting over what little territory they had. It should be relatively easy to take advantage of the situation and claim some land, as well as do some business."
He pushes his glasses up before continuing. "Unfortunately, Selatak is at a bit of a standstill. We've only been getting rumors about what's causing it, and other rumors about an 'embodiment of death' roaming the streets."
"Embodiment of death?" Becker asks. "That's quite the name to give someone."
"It is." Vizzya says. "But we don't know much about it yet. Trying to make any headway with the mayor and clowns breathing down the neck of the city would only make already tense matters worse."
Padrona hums again and closes her eyes briefly. "Agreed. It's not like Excelsa has much business there to begin with, so it can wait. But I have a couple more questions for you."
Vizzya's brow furrows. "I'll.. answer to the best of my ability."
The blueblood lady smiles, leaning back in her chair. "Good. Now, with this 'Moxie' character I've read about in our files. Do you think she's worth any work?"
"I'd… have to say the matter's complicated, ma'am." Vizzya starts. "From what we know, she's too much of a wildcard. While her handiwork is certainly nothing to scoff at, I see no reason she'd want to work under another organized group besides on contract."
"Trying to force the issue, or even take her out for whatever reason, may also prove difficult. And cause trouble with some others."
"I see. Something to keep in mind, then." Padrona says. She reaches into a pocket on her shirt, pulling out a small notepad to flip through. She stops on a page, seeming to skim it before turning her attention back to Vizzya.
"There's one other loose end I've looking into as well, but haven't gotten much of anywhere with- it's strange. Do you know about a young blueblood girl by the surname of Impett? In our records, it shows her as having been a personal guard for Nacre."
Vizzya does his best not to tense up, or show any feelings on the matter- but the pause before him answering is all too noticeable. "She was hired under that guise, yes. But she knew about the workings of Excelsa."
"She left a little over two sweeps ago. Something about lineage obligations she couldn't avoid anymore."
"Noted." Padrona says, slowly standing from her chair. "Far be it from me to try and fight the empire when they really want something, I suppose. I bet that poor thing's off in some far flung reach of the galaxy over, by now."
"Well. That was most informative." She says, putting a hand on her hip. The expression on her face falls back into a cold, stern frown.
"I believe that covers everything for now. You're all dismissed."
