[closed] a man inside a room is shaking hands with other men

[alittlesweptup]

Date & Time: Present, early evening
Location: A nondescript building at the heart of New Exsilium.
Characters: Caesar Silverberg, Wayne Malloy, Roslyn Small, Mike Ehrmantraut(?), Luke Skywalker, Munakata Reishi(?), Charlie Cutter, Cockroach Collette and the New Initiative
Summary: A group of Transports meets with the New Initiative to gather intel on the UE in the current timeline.
Warnings: Minor swearing, political intrigue
Notes: To encourage the resolution of this log, there's no posting order. Be considerate to your fellow players, but don't hesitate to tag around them!

Say what you will about this new version of the Initiative - they at least knew how to do the underground rebellion bit right. While Lowell had set up the meeting, Charlie (and presumably no one else) knew any of the details until the day of when a young woman came knocking on his door and rather curtly informed him that he was to follow her if he wanted to do business. Shrugging into his coat, Charlie followed. Any questions he asked along the way were politely, but firmly rebuffed.

Which is how he finds himself being smuggled through the bloody front door a nondescript building in a bustling (relatively speaking) neighborhood of the capitol and into a moderately furnished front room. The Initiative woman leads the way through to a comparatively barren side room, marked for its spartan furnishing of only a large table with a number of chairs. There's a fire crackling away in a fireplace with a bowing mantle, but it's all a bit grim.

The woman doesn't stay - allowing only a simple "Wait here," before sliding away and closing the door behind her. Charlie doesn't take a seat, but rather busies himself with anxiously stoking the fire with the poker laid across the mantle. He should've kept out of this, he thinks.

It isn't long before his associates (not, he reminds himself, partners in crime) arrive in intervals, escorted by similarly tight lipped men and women of various shapes, ages and sizes. Charlie greets the lot of them cheerfully enough - handshakes and easy grins - but once the last of the Transports arrives, he finds himself trying to keep from pacing as the minutes stretch out and no one else - certainly no representative of the New Initiative - enters the room. Finally, he stows the fire iron and takes a seat at the table.

"Well, hopefully they're not planning to make an example of us, eh?"

Comments

[initiatesnpc]

Stoker does indeed accept Wayne's handshake, and his grip is one of those overly tight ones that dares the other person to react, delivered with a stony face. The two men lock eyes with each as they're introduced by Caesar, and by the end, Stoker nods.

"Take a seat." Unspoken, let's get this over with. Stoker follows his own advice, and he and Key take the two chairs set at the head of the table. Once he's settled, he adds, in not a terribly accommodating tone, "Now, what can we do for you gentlemen."

Collette will find other bodies in the building; most of them are armed, and all of them are wary. None of them have their attention focused toward the room, though. It would suggest that this isn't a trap situation, but rather a defensive one. You never know when the UE might order a swift strike, and the presents of Transports in this building lays exactly no fears to rest.

[alittlesweptup]

Charlie sits back down - purposeful to keep from being abrupt and therefore slightly awkward. "Right." And here's the reason why he's better at being courted - business like this shouldn't be hard, but he's never played it much from this end of things. Independent contractor is, in a lot of ways, an easier gig than this.

"Look, we know you've got no reason to trust us any farther than you can throw us. But if we're going to do what needs to be done - what both of us, I think, want -, then it'd be better for all of us if we started working together instead of pissing upwind of one another. Which means we need information from you; we're willing to negotiate something in return for it."

Straight shot, painfully to the point.

[commentboxtroll]

Once again following suit, Caesar returns to his own seat. He does sit somewhat straighter now, more attentive than before, but not nervously so. He's observing for now. While Charlie cuts straight to the chase, he isn't willing to step in quite yet to suggest what exactly they can offer in return for the information.

First he wants to see their reaction to what's already been said. In all honesty, it was probably expected. Why else would they be here, if not to try and strike a deal of some sort?

With how tenuous the relations between the groups are, however, he isn't about to jump in assuming that.

[initiatesnpc]

There's a second where the younger of the two looks resentful — petulant, even. But he smooths it over in the next breath and sits still and calm, back straight. No, it isn't surprising, not in the slightest.

"We'll need specifics before we can agree to anything," he says flatly. "What are you looking for?"

[permit]

Silence until spoken to seems to be his prerogative tonight, as unusual as it is coming from someone like him.

Still, he understands there's the bare minimum to work with, and common courtesy dictates that he should at least go through the motions of what it means to be a member of an engaged audience. And so, the bow of his head comes easy when he's introduced; so, too, does the standing, the sitting, the waiting, and the watching. There's tension in the room thick enough to be sliced through with a knife, and the fact remains that there's no trust here, nothing more to work with than the fear of uncertainty and a group of people too guarded to have the 'conversation' this was arranged to be.

As much as he appreciates Charlie's precise efforts and straightforward demeanor, it's difficult to distract from the way the man fidgets nervously, from the slight clumsiness accenting his lead.

"As it goes, we've the same objective," Reishi offers, in the softer tones of a man with more tact and an awfully keen knowledge of how to use it. "And we're up against the same enemy. What we are looking for essentially lies in what information you might be willing to give."

At least he knows better than to attempt a smile. He's intentionally vague, composed and unhurried; if they need to rush, then perhaps the Initiative should provide a ten minute warning. "In this, we hope to find the best way to stage a counterattack, so to speak -- without getting in the way of your progress in the meantime. What better way to achieve this, we thought, than by ensuring that we're all on the same page."

A pause.

"Or as close to it as you might permit."

[initiatesnpc]

"Gotta admit," says Key, shifting to a more comfortable slouch in his chair, "feels kinda like..." He squints, glancing at Stoker while he fishes for the words. "'Dunno, seems like somethin'. Nevermind that, lost the thought. Guess my better question is...besides the obvious, who's all in on this? No offense, but y'don't seem like an incredibly organized bunch."

[crocodilesmiles]

The cockroach getting a sense of the building notes how the other occupants she's running across are not focused inward, per say, but on alert for something. It's not difficult to guess at it being the United Earth, given the lack of other large, imposing organizations to come down hard on this group, but she still carefully scuttles closer to a few people, trying to hear anything they say.

[alittlesweptup]

"We're not."

Which is blunt and probably more honest than he's entirely certain is good to be, but he'd rather the ball in their court than his. Comfort is about control and Charlie'd much rather give them some element of it to begin with - makes people more willing to work with you when they think they've started on the high ground.

He makes an impatient gesture to the other Transports surrounding the table - they're a small, sloppy mismatch of a delegation. No one in their right mind would've picked these people to do this and it's not worth pretending otherwise.

"But in this case, that's working in our favor. If we do something, they won't have a choice but to fall in line."

[commentboxtroll]

Charlie can speak for himself, as Caesar would have gladly picked himself every time. He isn't exactly interested in the role of delegate, but he is a little more suited to it than most other Transports would have been.

"And because between those already here, we'd be able to get the ones who actually matter on board with a plan," he adds, trying to give Charlie's statement a little more definition.

It isn't a lie, not really. There's still a ridiculous chunk of people loyal to that bald old man for some inane reason or other, while he himself has a few aces up the sleeve he can pull out if necessary. The others, well, like he'd been thinking before, he didn't know them well, but if they were here, they might have something yet.