Corporate Hostilities

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TennyoCeres84
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Re: Corporate Hostilities

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"Heh, I didn't know selkies had their own signature foot pitter-patter," Aislinn chuckled. "But yeah, it's me, Aislinn McConmara," she announced.
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Karl the Mad
 

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Re: Corporate Hostilities

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"Marianna Jameson," Mary explained for Tom's benefit. "Hong Kong expat, semi-retired vampire hunter, and part-time urban situation instructor for the others. I've also been teaching them the nuances of Special Response, with mostly positive results." Obviously she couldn't go as hard-core with them as her instructors back home had with her, but she felt she'd imparted a thing or two that would keep them alive.

"More pertinent to today's situation, I am also the president and American CEO of Hardy & Jameson's Exotic Exports," she went on, smiling a little to herself. "I called Archie because of some recent attacks against Alkaev Robotics, which my executive team feels may impact our company sooner rather than later; we're a major shipper and supplier for them, after all."

She took a small breath. "Archie could tell you more at this point, I'm sure. The point is, I need help and I'm willing to pay. Although at the moment I think we're still working out if this fall under Shield's jurisdiction, am I right?" That was mostly aimed at Archie, of course.
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IamLEAM1983
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Re: Corporate Hostilities

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"We do municipal work and don't exactly accept payments," confirmed Archie, "as those would be illegal, but your calling us could be considered as a source of information, miss Jameson."

Three chimed in. "We asked mister Romanov to double-check on his Russian holdings. Insofar, nobody's gone for his Moscow facilities - but I'm not surprised. We're in the post-Putin era and the Russians were quick to elect a Karthian in-office. The people have it up to here with how corrupt things used to be, so they're lashing back pretty hard. Most corporate holdings West of China are airtight: underground factories, worker sites sealed with biometric scanning, hourly check-ins and even mandatory medical tests. Everything to prevent another Kiev from happening."

Tom interjected. "We were asked to inspect one of the drop-off points for Alkaev's freight shuttles. I sensed nothing except the sort of mean joy you'd expect out of thugs looking to get their jollies on the cheap. My sources in the Pit indicate no business transactions took place and that no hexes were levied towards Alkaev itself, much less mister Romanov. No exxagerated versions of Murphy's Law seem to be in effect anywhere."

He clicked his tongue. "Well, anywhere except the Buck estate, but that's to be expected."

Bucky could almost be heard shrugging. "I asked around, couldn't get a straight picture out of anyone in the Commission. Nobody local seems to be affiliated.
- Considering," added Archie, "we've asked of Katherine Starr that she look through recent local transfers of bulk quantities of capital. If a newcomer in the business sphere is to be expected, preparatory actions are to be expected - including the injection of resources into temporary fiduciary accounts. Consider it as a company being mid-transit, essentially, from whence they came to here, in Hope."
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Karl the Mad
 

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Re: Corporate Hostilities

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"...damn, guess you guys were already on this," Mary said, half to herself. "Well then."

She had nothing better to do right then. "I may as well drop by in person," she said as she pushed up to her feet. "Make sure the helipad is clear, Archie, will you?" She figured it was up to her to check in on Jenkins, but she still didn't want to do it alone.
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Re: Corporate Hostilities

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"Oh, it is," immediately reassured the Clank. "Young Nami had to take the shuttle out for inspection. Routine stuff, for the most part."
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Karl the Mad
 

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Re: Corporate Hostilities

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"Very good," Mary replied. "I'll drop by my place to change and see you lot in, say, an hour? Air traffic willing, of course." After the usual good-byes she killed the connection and strode purposefully toward the old chopper. "Arnold, I'm taking the bird for the night," she said into her wrist unit again, "let ATC know, will you. Headed for my place, and then Holden Hall." Unscheduled flights were common around Hope, but Mary liked to think she was polite enough to let the right people know when she took to the air.

"Roger that, Jameson, safe flying," came the reply as she was strapping herself in. A quick pre-flight check, all green of course, and she switched the big engines on, letting the deep spooling-up sounds speed up until they filled the whole world. Well, from her perspective anyway. Then it was up and away, the old instincts kicking in as the bird was subjected to minor air turbulence and she adjusted accordingly. She knew the skies of the city well, both from a pilot's perspective and her own adrenaline-fueled chase view, yet she still couldn't resist a hint of sight-seeing as she swooped through the air to her private apartments.

After landing on the roof she went down, deliberating on the way about what to wear. The obvious choice was her usual "armor", but why not switch things up a bit? She hated being predictable as much as she hated wearing too much, which was a lot. Her mind was made up by the time she got to her wardrobe, and she pulled her leathers on and slid into the boots and gloves that allowed her full use of her transhuman nature; over all that she pulled a tight black halter top over herself, and stepped into dark patterned cargo pants. No point sliding her sword into its usual spot yet, since she was getting back into the bird directly. A quick nip of whiskey for her nerves, and she was headed back out.

A short flight later, and she was coming in to land at Holden Hall. "Incoming, Bagley," she announced, even though the former genus loci had his own body now and probably wouldn't respond. Old habits, and all.
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Re: Corporate Hostilities

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To her surprise, Bagley did respond, the voice sounding tinnier than usual - probably due to her own helicopter's noise.

"Conspicuously Undesignated Aircraft Piloted by Miss Jameson," he snarkily said, "you are cleared for landing. Do please remember to follow the usual guidelines, miss - if not for us, then for the other aircraft passing through the local airspace. As capable as you may be, I do believe you would find midair collisions to be unsavory. Food for thought, madame."

While he wasn't connected to the mansion, his audio processing hardware had still been updated with firmware that allowed him to patch himself into local aerial communications. He'd heard her as if she'd been standing next to him.

The hour had passed with the gang assembling everything they could on the recent troubles, Three going through his own stack with a sigh. "And here's the part where we finally get to confront the local illegal augmentation market... At least it's less freaky than pissed-off Fae or squid persons."
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Re: Corporate Hostilities

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"No kidding. Hopefully you wont' have to worry about some crazy cyborg muttering the Black Speech," Aislinn said, sighing. "All we might have to put up with is heavily augmented strength and speed," she muttered. "But that's the way the job goes."
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Re: Corporate Hostilities

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Archie pursed his lips together. "Not every Transhuman has Nami's perspective, just as I've met the occasional Clank who was still quite far enough away from losing himself while still presenting a rather problematic outlook on life.
- And my body's old crew," reminded Shamus. "How's Yoshi, by the way?"

Blinking, Archie remembered to fill the others in. "One of the Kitaiteki I disarmed in the early years of the Meiji Era soon fell into pathetic levels of disuse. His Californian descendants took him in and placed him in hospice care. Yoshi Sanchiro, the Steel Peacock, is someone whom I must make a point to visit once every so often. James Sanchiro is his great-grandson, and he's taken to emailing me with regular updates," he explained, sighing. "Advanced dementia had already settled in the last time I'd seen him. Now he leaks oil over his bed covers and rarely remembers to chew his food. He has regressed to childlike levels."

The spy let a bit of morose silence stretch on for a few moments. "The family is considering euthanasia. They would open his chest casing, disconnect his phylactery and then purposefully shatter it. It seems to be a matter of some debate, and I was only one of his former opponents. One small cell within the family appreciates my input, the others deem me an unwelcome guest.
- Was he one of the problematic sorts?" asked Three.

Archie scoffed lightly. "Oh, quite so. He posessed eight limbs when fully deployed, six of them were entrusted with a katana. He had always been more of an emotional fighter than a tactician, a small man quivering with lust for battle and further chances to prove his valor. Near the end, battles in and of themselves served no purpose - bloodlust alone spurred him on. He was practically feral when I faced him, in those days in which Gorobei Iwata had owned Shamus' body. I sliced off four of his limbs and later had the remaining stumps disconnected outright. His tail housing was removed and his hands were replaced with blunted grasping hooks. I took every precaution to ensure he would never be able to wield a blade again.
- And he just fell apart from then on," deduced Three.

Tom crossed his arms. "Are there any local precedents?
- Oh, there's always the occasional dispute involving a haughty cyborg and an organic, a cyborg and an Automaton or cyborgs and Transgenics... For the most part, ending with a file with the constabulary seems to be enough of a deterrent for all those who are lacking perspective. You'll find the unavoidable idiots on the social networks, of course, but they seem to be almost universally derided. Positive Transhumanism has more traction, with several people believing that their augmentations allow them to act in an increasingly moral fashion."

Three shrugged. "Mary could tell you more, but I'd say you could compare Transhumanism to worshipping Belial - just without damnation as the end-process. You're sacrificing parts of your natural anatomy to become a better person. Ideally, that is."

Magnus grunted thoughtfully. "We've all seen how hazardous this can be..."
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Re: Corporate Hostilities

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Aislinn could only refer to what she had seen or heard of. "That's for sure. It varies from person and depends on their individual security in their humanity," she replied, then remembering something. "Oh, I received a package that had my custom theriomorph bodysuit in it, similar to the one Crystal has; do you think I'll need to use it? Or not?" she asked, hopeful. She and her siblings had been requested to have ones fitted to their bodies and pelts, and the garments had cost a small fortune to have made. She thought she might as well wear it, if possible.
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