Honor and Money

[albatross]

"I know it sounds easy to seduce a married woman, only they can be very discerning. The mayor's wife was definitely more challenging than getting information from the FBI and the fire department." Tiger's father smirked, "Fakir worked for months and accomplished nothing."

Fakir doesn't seem remotely taken aback by the knock on his skills, or at least it doesn't show on his face. Servers emerge from one of the sets of door carrying champagne flutes on trays. They wind through those standing. Tiger takes the champagne and orders a whiskey from one of them and he disappears to get it.

"Now that we are all introduced, lets have a seat, I'm sure you must have been on your feet all day." Tigers father says, playing up his roll as host. He winks at Jeckle as she shows a little shoulder.

Tiger sits at her father's left hand, there doesn't seem to be any assigned order, but the Minotaur's henchmen spread out. Although they do keep to about the first twenty chairs, avoiding sitting too far from their boss.

"Before we get down to business," the polite demon says, "I am eager to hear of your battle with the Pilgrim."

"Of course," Tiger responds. "He tracked me down and came alone. He believed that I would assist him or provide him with information. When I refused, we fought. I could not match his skill with guns, but his research on me seems to have been ill informed. He disarmed me, but when he got close, I killed him."

"With your bare hands?" Fakir interrupts, shocked.

"Yes." Tiger says flatly, her voice tightly controlled. "He must not have set an anchor, or something happened to him, because time didn't change."

Tiger's father leans back in his chair, co0nsidering this. The servers insure that everyone has a full glass at their disposal. Tiger's father stands and raises his glass. "The Pilgrim, whose name has never been known to us, was the last of his people. As their protector, he wasn't able to save them, so he pursued us across worlds and time. He was without question our most deadly foe. His gun was fastest, and he had mastered magic well beyond most human comprehension. I have never had a finer opponent, and I honor him in his passing. To the Pilgrim." He raises his glass.

All of his minions, as well as Tiger and Patriot also raise their glasses and drain them.

Tiger's father sits down. "Now to business."

Servers bring trays loaded with fancy appetizers from around the world, bread with artichoke dip, cavier, sushi, and an amazing variety of cheeses and fancy breads to place them on. Everything is artfully done.

Tiger fixes her father with a steady gaze, "How much is the Labyrinth bringing in?"

"Around 856 billion a year." He responds happily.

"Time remaining?" Tiger asks.

"Oh, this vein will run dry in about nineteen months." Her father is delighted.

"The margin?"

"Almost seventy percent," he answers.

It comes out to about 948 billion dollars in profits.

"Well," Tigers father continues, "now that you know the numbers I'm sure you'll need at least a few minutes to come up with more questions, so why don't we have a little dinner?"

The four servers approach bearing huge platters, family style. They place large trays of lobsters stacked high, entire bowls of salads, large bottles of wine, champagne, and whiskey. Racks of ribs and bowls of potatoes mixed with bacon and also put out.


O.O.C.: In case Charger wasn't joking, the "partner" reference is a rank, like in a law firm, rather than a relationship... There are a few cameras and microphones in the room, they are patched into the kitchen to insure good service.

[Dome]

Dante refuses any alcohol and asks for spring water. He decides to eat some ribs with potatoes.

As he listens to Tiger and her father speak he does some calculation in his head and realizes that he was right. The profits to the demon father are almost astronomical, and with nothing to offer him, they are spinning their wheels at this supposed "negotiation."

[tag]

[albatross]

The woman closest to Kris, the one named Nan, reaches near him to grab a bottle of wine and asks casually, "So how did Omega Shield convince you to sign on with them?" While she is dressed conservatively, she still looks amazing, and Kris has to wonder if her appearance is entirely real or some sort of magical disguise.


Across from Dante, Bell smiles. "You're from the district right? Does the mayor really want to force all the criminals out of the Labyrinth? If I were mayor, I'd want them all contained. What do you think? If you could change one thing about Century Station, what would it be? Bring back the science and industry? Go back in time to stop Bloody Monday?" Bell sounds genuinely interested in what Dante thinks, as if he is trying to learn something about the city. It occurs to Dante that although Tiger's father may have been involved with the district for a while, some of his minions might have other assignments in other times. Or maybe the relatively new apprentice just started recently.

Dervish asks Patriot about his military service, and soon the two of them are talking about terrorists they have killed. The difference being Patriot killed his in the line of duty, while Dervish must have collected substantial rewards for his kills. It is hard to imagine what it must cost to hire a time traveler as a hitman. Still, Dervish's dislike of terrorists seems genuine. Perhaps something in his past, or perhaps Tiger's father just can't stand evil without material gain.

The devastatingly handsome man next to Wind Chill doesn't say much. His name is Fakir, she recalls, but he seems content to watch and listen for now. One of the servers does approach Wind Chill and ask quietly, "Would you like anything in particular?" The woman is practically whispering, and Miranda notices that only some of the servers ask for special orders.

Beside Jeckle, Ivan mumbles, "Sorry about the fake message. If we had known you were with the Captain we wouldn't have sent it. We don't actually know where your brother is right now. I'm sure Fakir or Dervish could find him if you like?"

The woman closest to Charger, named TS, merely smiles at him and listens to the others conversation.

[Renekin Skywalker]

"Well, no, I meant that the door was not locked." Charger says. "Where's the fun if you don't get to crawl through the ductwork?"

TS seems to have much more in common with Charger than would seem possible. However, she was not really foremost in his mind.

The excess was Tiger's father's plan. Tiger had said Charger only needed to be polite and, quite frankly, getting caught up in this show was only going to cause them to lose their guard. Anyways, she was paying him to keep rest safe, but then, safe might mean rescuing that poor Danté from that chatty girl.

They're good enough as a team, and maybe on their own, he thinks, watching everyone get paired up with someone. This wreaks of a set-up. As the waiters come by, he asks for a glass of orange juice, not wanting to drink at a time like this.

On the outside, his posture is that of a business man and his boss was their boss's daughter.

[Dome]

Dante smiles as he is addressed. Before speaking he wipes the edges of his mouth with his napkin and considers the questions. In response he says, "I was from the district a long time ago. I haven't lived here in years. Honestly I have no idea what the mayor is thinking. I only know that Omega Shield was hired, and I was sent here with this team to complete a mission."

Again he pauses this time taking a sip of his spring water. "As for changing the past, when first asked that question, who wouldn't jump at the chance to do something like that and change this or change that. However, if that same person sits down and thinks about it logically, why would they do such a thing, because they think it should be a certain way, or they wish it was different. My parents always told me to be careful what you wish for."

[tag]

[Mierin]

Miranda takes a little bit of food, enough to not appear like she is rejecting what is offered and smiles politely at the server. "I'm fine, thank you." She eats quietly and listens to the conversations going on around her.
(tag)

[dakota]

With his initial champagne emptied, Khris switched to his more accustomed drink of choice, smelling the twelve year old single malt before taking a sip. with a sigh "Ah" as the whiskey warmed his palette, he smiled politely at the woman called Nan, " The same reason I suspect many people in my profession join larger group." He shrugged as he began to pick at his lobster tail, then smirked," the money was right at the time, and there wasn't much of a health plan doing piecework." Though Nan was far from hard on the eyes, he couldn't hwlp but have his attention wander to the head of the table occasionally as he ate

[albatross]

As they are eating, the Pilgrim's gun is brought to the table, all cleaned up and placed in a black holster. Tiger takes it from the server, stands, and offers it to her father.

"Oh," He says thoughtfully, "I think he would have wanted you to have that. A fellow gunslinger. And of course, someone who wasn't me." She nods, and straps the gun on her right hip, letting it hang loose and sits back down.

A server approaches Charger and asks him if there is anything he requires, again quietly, and he doesn't ask everyone.

Across from Dante, Bell seems even more interested in their conversation. "You are right, wishes are dangerous. So what about the present. What would you work to change?" Bell takes a swig of champagne.

Next to Wind Chill, Fakir seems to notice her when she responds to the server, "So the Captain is your leader? I heard stories about her of course, she was always in some military or other training. Always wanted to be an officer." Fakir doesn't seem to be trying hard to make conversation, it is almost more of an observation, but he keeps eye contact with Wind Chill just to be polite.

Nan keeps her focus on Kris for now and asks, "So why pythons and a dragunov?" She inquires about his choice of weapons.

[Renekin Skywalker]

Charger politely waves the server off, having his juice, and watches the world around him. If I die of hunger again, it won't be the worse thing to happen to me. He thinks slowly sipping the juice. Mostly, he's watching how the Father's men are interacting with the Captain's. Who's trying to do what to whom.

[shiivster]

*Jeckle turns her head to look at Ivan briefly. the hollowness in the look flickers once to reveal an intense pain and then its gone as she shrugs. 'he'll show up when i least expect it. he always does"

*she picks at her meal and seems interested in a few things about the table. she isn't trying to be offstandish .. but she's busy recording the various comments about her and the responses. she may not get all the facial expressions, but the words and the tone is what she's focused on this time.

*she remains quiet and observes instead. having nothing of importance to put forward now, she watches and observes. safer that way, or she would be tinkering and building something out of boredom.

[tag]

[Mierin]

Miranda nods with a polite smile at Fakir and replies "She is the leader of our group." She decides to not tell him that she's been working with the group for all of 5 minutes and really doesn't know anything about Tiger. She continues eating politely, listening in on the conversations going on around her.
(tag)

[dakota]

Khris shrugged, " When your da is part of a low end cell on the outskirts of Belfast, you take what you can get. At the time, the Dragunov was the best thing out there, not to mention thos big fifty cal rifles weigh a ton. I may upgrade someday if I find something I like. And the Colts? just what I got used to I guess." He suddenly occured to him that though they knew what his weapons of choice were, they were safely tucked away in limbo where they could not touch them. To prevent a self satifying grin, he took another drink.

[shiivster]

*while jeckle could pack food away like any trucker when given the chance, she holds back at this meal. that is the one secret that isn't really known about her, unless they've been tracking her for years.

*eating is a distraction for her, when she's recording. thus she seems to be eating more than 2 bites of anything places in front of her. she's sipped at the various beverages and then set them down and didn't touch them again. she likes her Coke cola, but doesn't ask for one as she observes the chatter.

[tag]

[albatross]

The kitchen staff is amazing, mostly due to their observation cameras. They manage to keep everyone's drinks filled, whether they are having bottled water, orange juice, or anything else. The servers don't offer anything that isn't ordered, with the exception of the bottles they have placed on the table, and they don't suggest food to anyone.

Near Jeckle, Ivan quiets down for a minute, allowing Jeckle to think and observe. The young apprentice was obviously hoping for a reaction, and Jeckle's nonchalance leaves him little to follow up with.

Fakir nods in reply to Wind Chill's curt assessment, seemingly satisfied with her response. He goes back to watching the other conversations for now, though he leaves his body turned slightly towards Wind Chill - he isn't shutting her out non verbally.

"Sure, they are good guns, I bet the Captain approves," Nan says to Kris with a grin, knowing that Tiger has always insisted on revolvers and sturdy rifles like the dragunov. "I wouldn't ever go with an artillery piece like a 50 cal, but what about some of the newer weapons? Lasers are silent, with good range. There are lots of other high tech ranged options too. And the Heckler & Kock MP7s are decent up close."

Tiger and her father start conversing in Vietnamese, talking about how she joined Omega Shield after she was separated from her father's team. Her father assures her it was a good time for her to strike out on her won, and that he will hold her shares until she decides to retire. She says nothing about her shares. The also chat about her job at Omega Shield, her father listening with rapt attention.

[Renekin Skywalker]

Suddenly, as if realizing his opposite was there, Charger asks TS. "Have you been with this outfit long?"

Also, 1000th post!