Gainful Employment, part 2 ((Attn: Ginnie / Invite Only))

Waiting for the message beep, Alec thought about the difference between his polished, professional meeting with Simon and his disasterous social meeting with Ginnie. Wondering which tone would ultimately win out in the long run, Alec almost missed the pickup...and the fact that he was now talking to a real, live Ginnie.

Ah...er. Hi Ginnie...this is Alec. I think Simon forwarded my files over to you, so I was wondering if you'd like to meet about the proposed project back at the lab? I'm already here, so no rush. I'll be working late, after all...

Once outside the Thai place Ginnie pushed the hold button and spoke into the little phone.

"Hey Alec! It's great to hear from you. What's up?"

She nodded along as he spoke



she thought it was sweet that he sounded nervous to talk to her. She wondered if he was had been expect her viocemail, that would explain it.
"No, no the lab won't have anything we need. Meet me at my rooms in the Domicile in like ten minutes, I have to walk back to Duibne and get my car. It doesn't take me but a few minutes to get from there to home. See you then?"

Fair enough - I'm already here, so I'll pop down when you're registered on site. See you soon.

Wondering what to wear for his first "formal" meeting with Ginnie, he opted to play it casual based on her tone. "She seems like she's one of those that is informal until business is rolling...might as well stay comfortable." Looking down, he frowned at his somewhat oily shirt and gloves. "Well, ten minutes is enough time for a shower and a change."

Stripping down, Alec walked through his workspace living room and into the storage area of his apartment, which would, in normal arrangements, have been the master bedroom. Heading into the bathroom, he inspected his scars to ensure all of them were closed - he was in a mood for white this evening, and red spots wouldn't do at all. Chuckling to himself, Alec mimed an imaginary conversation between Ginnie and Simon in his head. "Yes, and then the klutz showed up in red polka dotted clothes for a business meeting!" "Hm...perhaps we should have roomed him on the secure floor with Godzilla." "Yeah, not long until he's completely off his rocker and gnawing on it."

Looking a bit at his color, Alec realized it had been awhile since he'd really fed deeply. He'd have to address that soon, as well. "No good getting back in the lineup if you can't even eat regularly, after all. Never know when you might need that extra energy in the field."

Stepping into the shower, he turned the cold water on all the way and washed quickly through. Stepping back out, he dried off with a towel and then a blow dryer, making sure all of the moisture was gone. Heading back into his "room", he slipped on white tube socks, white boxers, white slacks, a white belt with a silver buckle, a white longsleeved undershirt, a white fitted buttonup, a white corded bolo tie with a silver clasp and thin white leather gloves. Looking at himself in the mirror, he ran his fingers through his hair. "There we go. All nice and shiny since we'll be staying in."

Looking over to the terminal, it seemed he'd timed it almost perfectly. Ginnie had entered the premises three minutes ago. Slipping on his white pumas, he headed out, making sure the auto-securing door was indeed secured behind him.

Ginnie jogged the distance back to Duibne and hurried her way through the maze of the building to get to the parking garage. She was fairly certain it had taken four palm scans and at least two retinal scans to do it. She arrived at the Domicile seven minutes after talking with Alec, giggling over the reactions of the two pedestrians she'd nearly hit.

She pulled four cases from her back seat and trunk. The heaviest two, she attached shoulder straps to, and made her way to the elevators.

She bumped along the hall to her room, and let herself in. She set the cases on the table and headed to her room to change, shrugging out of her jacket as she went.

Walking the halls, Alec paused, having remembered all those scenes from every movie where some guy showed up on some woman's doorstep and sniffed his hand after breathing on it. Going through the motion, he wondered what it was for...it wasn't as if you'd be able to smell the condensate on your hand after you'd already adjusted to it completely, anyway, barring month old haggis or washed up sea life, and then you should just KNOW. Rolling his eyes, Alec continued on toward Ginnie's room. "Must be one of those confidence builders - 'yes, I'm wearing a fuzzy cummerbund and a lace cravat, but dammit, I can't smell my own breath - I am Adonis Reborn. Silly humans."

Arriving at the proper location, he stood for a moment. Completely unsure what might be waiting for him on the other side, he did the only sensible thing. He had a momentary panic attack. "Dude...what if she's got her house all arranged around her work and there's explosives and guns everywhere...oh. Well, that means she's crazy in the same way I am. Guess that's a pretty good worst case scenario." Feeling better, he raised his hand to knock, then realized he'd probably already tripped the proximity and loitering sensors and that she'd already be headed this way.

Ginnie was shrugging out of her shoulder holster when the computer panel in her room let out a chirp at the arrival of someone outside her door. She stepped to the panel and pressed the intercom.

"Come on in Alec."

She heard the door open and close. She'd left her bedroom door open a crack so she'd be able to speak through it. She crossed to her bed, and began to unbutton her blouse.

"Make yourself at home, I'll only be a minute. There's some wine in the fridge if you wouldn't mind pouring us a glass."

She called out as she tossed the shirt on the bed and went after the fly of her pants.

"Corkscrew's in the drawer by the dishwasher."

Alec loosened up on his senses a bit, listening for the sounds of the refrigerator. Finding the electrical hum of its cooling systems was quite easy, even in the spacious layout. Listening for any other directions, Alec proceeded to the kitchen when he heard a strange rustle. Stopping, he listened a bit more intently. Looking around, he realised it was the sounds of Ginnie in her room...his skill had improved a bit. As disastrous as it could be from time to time, he was pleased. Listening for a moment longer, he was aware of the sound of the fabric of Ginnie's pants being kicked off. Blushing, and feeling a bit of the voyeur, Alec reigned in his hearing lest it paint sonic weaves of anything more telling than an anklebone.

Heading to the kitchen, he studied the layout for a moment in light of what he knew of Ginnie. After grabbing the corkscrew, he opened the cupboard where she kept her best glasses...then realizing he didn't know the precise type of wine, so couldn't best select a glass yet. Opening the fridge, he was greeted by both the small light and the sight of the wine in question - a red with an unfamiliar label. Opening it, he discovered that it would likely be an earthy, full bodied wine, so he selected her wider opening glasses to promote aeration, bringing out its flavors. Decanting it to the first third, he re-corked the bottle and replaced it in the refrigerator. He then closed the cupboard and looked from the kitchen out to take in her decor.

Ginnie found a green cami-top in her drawer and a pair of low-rise kaki shorts that to her delight hit just two maybe three inches below her backside. She pulled the tie from her braid and ran a brush through her hair to pull it up into a pony tail. She stepped out of her room winding a black scrunchy around her hair.

"I just ate so I'm not hungry but if you want something I think I ha..."

She looked up and the sight in her kitchen made not only her words stop but her hands and her heart as well. She cleared her throat and blinked several times.

Her hands remembered to finish with the scrunchy and she grinned at the man in white holding a wine glass for her.

"I have some cheese and crackers if you want them."

Standing up from his slight lean on her counter, he took the glasses in hand and walked soundlessly across the room to where she had halted inexplicably, mid-sentence and looked at him in a completely unfamiliar manner. As he wondered whether or not leaning on the counter was some sort of horrible social faux pas, she started speaking again, negating his need to ask about the nature of his error.



Smiling, Alec extended a glass to her, bowing slightly from the neck.

I am content for the time being. Thank you for your hospitality.

Looking at her choice of clothing, Alec thought he understood his botch - it seemed he was quite over dressed for a casual business meeting. He took a mental note - "Meetings in Ginnie's apartment are casual even when on business subjects, so casual dress is expected...um...at least if it is just one-on-one." A blush crept a bit up his neck when he realized his eyes had lingered a bit on the pleasing lines of his boss' legs during his short memorization. Altering his glace to cover it up by inspecting his glove, he winced internally. "And then she shot me. Hm...well, actually, she isn't packing right now..." At that point, Alec's blush made it up to the ears. Taking a quick sip of the wine, he returned his thoughts to the matter at hand.

Ah. So...hi.

"Well, not the most eloquent thing in the world, but at least it was solidly inoffensive, so that's a step up for this evening. Good job, guy. You might get out of here without injury yet." Forcing the blush down, he made eye contact.

'Well hot damn, I've embarrassed him. Nice move moron.' She took the glass from him and broadened her grin. She had to bite her lip when his eyes lingered on her legs, she wasn't sure is she wanted to laugh or jump him. Though jumping him would probably scare him off, and she needed him.

"Hi, yourself."

She reached up and ran a finger down the collar of his shirt.

"You clean up nice, slick. I thought that thing at the ball was interesting, but this...this I like."

She crossed to her dining table and began to push papers into a pile so that they had room to work. 'Now if I can just behave myself for the evening all will be well. It's not like I'm hard up or anything, but it's rare to get fresh blood in here that's so yummy. Shut up Gin, you're starting to sound like Ellis.'

She wrinkled her nose at that and continued to push papers around.

"Might as well get started." She smiled at him over her shoulder.







((ooc Comparison to Ellis is pure speculation on my part and may very well get me killed. *snerk*))

Going stiff for a moment as Ginnie stepped in to him, the theatrical slap he was expecting somehow morphed itself into a gentle finger on his collar, running down his chest. The momentary shock of confusion prevented the blush, as did the explanation.



Surprised at the revelation in light of his earlier guesses, Alec was unsure how to proceed along that vector. Smirking, he said

Ah...I wasn't sure. My intention when we decided to meet was to come casual, but I was covered in oil, so I decided to go the other route. Somewhere along the line, I forgot the whole casual thing. From your initial reaction I'd thought you were a bit confounded by my choice of clothing. I'm glad you approve.

Watching her cross to the huge pine dining table, Alec pondered a moment. "Well, it seems that any form of prediction you've had about Ginnie has been completely incorrect. Usually you're better at it...best start paying more attention to cues and less to..." Blushing a bit, he swirled his wine in the glass and inhaled deeply, following her across to the table.

The table was clearly her primary workplace. Covered in drawings, schematics, potentially dangerous objects and an array of data, this was clearly where her brain set up shop while at home. At some point, careful study of the layout might lend greater insight to her thought processes...but for now he should pay attention. Starting with the easy tells during interaction and working from there became his new game plan.

As Ginnie leaned over the table to shuffle some papers, Alec got his first clear tells...though they weren't new ones. As the hem line on her shorts crept up correspondingly to her bending and reaching across the table, more of her smooth, pale legs peeked out. A blush climbed up his neck in equal value to the climb of her shorts. "Well, she's certainly not shy and knows how to use her assets on members of the opposite sex." Pulling his attention farther forward, his blush began to clear as she looked over her shoulder at him.



Smiling, Alec moved to the table, an inch off of her left shoulder. Looking ahead at the sea of someone else's work, he waited for his next cue that would direct him to the pertinent parts of their incoming discussion.

Alright. Let's do this.

She finally managed to get all of her papers into a stack and set them on the computer desk behind the table, she'd sort them all out later.

"Now, I only have your employee file, but I assume you know enough to do what I need."

She turned again and picked up one of the four black cases she'd brought up with her. She pushed it onto the table, opened and pulled out several file folders in multiple colors. She liked bright colors in her work, so she put them in the only place available, folders.

"Ok, here's the deal. I control the blackmarket gun trade in the city. I have access to things that would make a marine shit his pants. I've lost a lot of ground to that goddamned Hillman and his band of flunkies. So far I've managed to locate and remove all of the moles in my network. Problem is, my network took a nasty nasty hit. So I have to rebuild. That's where you come in."

She took the case off the table and pulled another up, opened it so that it lay flat revealing a very detailed replica of the city, made to collapse into the case and pop up when opened. It is equipped with lights and can be used as a mapping system, by showing red lights when depressed.

"I'm going to show you where I need to get in and you'll get me in. It is going to be a great risk to your life Alec. I can only give you so much protection, I need to know you can shoot before you get shot." Her accent had mellowed quite a bit, she'd found over the years, that Americans take instruction better when her accent is less strong, so she damped it down, to make sure Alec would get everything she said.

Noting the vibrant folders, Alec wondered how much of Ginnie was reigned in by the passion for her work. The colors declared a certain vibrancy in a matte black or steel blue world. Interesting. "Black market gun trade? Well, that's some pretty heavy action right there. Ah...first question."

Ok...first question...who is Hillman? If we have a file on him and his assets I'll have a better idea of how to interact with his organization.

Looking at the city grid, Alec smiled. Right there, for all to see, was the beating heart that was Nachton. In just that glimpse, he already knew the most lucrative locations for plying his trade, industrial espionage and feeding. The wonderful toy could even map layouts of control. He'd have to get one of those.



Ah...well, shooting isn't my strong point, but I can do it...it dawns on me that I should give you an example of one of my supernatural skills, as it might not be in my file. Watch me carefully.

Walking away from Ginnie, Alec walked to the far side of her living room. Extending his senses to the maximum, he timed his passing on the back side of her couch in conjunction with the moment when her inhalation and blinking would match, knowing that would give him an additional 1/10th of a second over a standard blink to hide. At that precise moment, he crouched, blending with his environment miraculously well, despite wearing the gleaming white. Expecting her to continue her surveillance of the couch, he pulled a mint from his pocket and flicked it low into the wall in the opposite corner. Standard thought processes would draw 15-20% of her attention to the sound, rather than to what she was planning on watching since she would be listening intently, as well. Sliding soundlessly in the opposite direction, Alec propped himself low against the wall reentering the dining room. Listening intently to her breathing, it sounded as if she were still facing the area of the couch, leaning a bit to watch that area of wall where he'd sent the mint. Focusing his energy on his blending, he moved around the wall, to the far side of the table from her, behind her. Reaching soundlessly across the table, he picked up both glasses and moved them away from her likely arc when she turned around. Smirk in place, he stated quietly

And I'm wearing white right now.

Leaning across the table, he handed the wineglass back to her. Smiling sweetly, he stated

I try to avoid firefights where possible...and I'm decent with nondetection and misdirection.

Ginnie spun and blinked several times. She'd heard of this, but had never actually seen someone do it. It would be very useful in her trade, very useful indeed. Her respect for him grew just that much more. She took the glass from his and grinned.

"Neat trick you've got there, slick." She took a moment to think while she sipped her wine. She had several prototypes that he could use, if he'd carry a gun-like weapon that would enable him to shoot from the shadows and remain unseen. She was also going to need to see him shoot and maybe give him a lesson or two.

"That's alright, we can work around your aversion. What about hand to hand combat, can you hold your own?"

She pulled a few of the files from the pile and opened them so that the front flap overlapped the back half of the file revealing only the mug shots and full body snaps of each man.

"I ask, because these are some of the men we'll be dealing with. Nasty dudes all of them."

Considering for a moment, Alec decided to spill it all.

Well, the fact of the matter is...whatever happened at the time of my change...something went wrong. I'm faster than standard fare, but I was in life as well. Strengthwise...I didn't get much of an augmentation when compared to most of the rest of our kind. I heal very quickly, as long as I've fed up, but that isn't unusual. The entirety of my human memories became inaccessible, but all of the skills I've developed and all of the things I know are still in there...just buried..and accessed almost instinctually now. No social aspects came through the change - all of that I've learned in the last four years. The supernaturals I've developed are truly amazing senses and the blending that you've witnessed.

Blushing slightly, Alec continued.

The increased perception was actually what went wrong at the dance. I was cheating a bit, using the extended perceptions to mesh the tapestry of sound that our dancing created with the music when the alarms went off. My world kind of exploded...so it can certainly be a weakness as well. Since it is controllable, it usually isn't an issue.

Anyway...combat training-wise...well, I'm quick, but don't hit so hard for our kind. I compensate by fighting as dirty as possible and using...um...substances...against my opponents if necessary. In a fair cage match, just about any of the Tacharan will be able to take me, though, since we all have the same training and I'm lower on the strength scale. Shooting, I'm about median, but that is without augmented sight. I may be more accurate now.

I hope this won't be too much of an issue...but if I do not fit the needs of the team, I understand.

Ginnie quirked a grin at him. If a team was two people, then they were a team. Ginnie had always worked alone, but she needed skills she didn't posses and Alec did, so she would use him, in more ways than one if she could get the balls up to do the dirty little things playing in her mind, but that would just have to wait.

"Dirty fighting is the only kind I know. I never took the time to learn martial arts, they always seemed so hokey to me. Not to mention, I've never seen a fair cage match, even between Tacharans." She winked at him and set her wine down.

"Alright, slick, your my team. I'll supplement you with advanced weaponry where I can, the preservation of your life is up to you after that. Let's get down to the nitty gritty, shall we?"


She added a few more files to the ones she'd opened previously, and then pulled several more to her.

Snickering a bit, he replied

My ultimate fighting move that I always wanted to try was to spit stomach acid in someone's eyes after getting pounded in the gut. It sounds like you wouldn't gross out if I ever get a chance to do it, so we should be square.

Raising his glass, Alec rolled his eyes and toasted to Ginnie.

Damn...do I I know how to talk to women, or what? To stealth and big guns!

Taking a mouthful, he washed it around his mouth, tasting the history of the wine. Swallowing, he looked back at Ginnie, game face back on.

Ok. Detail time.

"Ok, I'm going to give you a lot of information and you can take it home and digest it. You have two days to be ready to make the move on target one. Beyond that how you prepare is your deal." She pointed to the personnel files she'd laid out.

"These are the men and women that are either adversaries or contacts in major cities with in the US. You don't get my foreign contacts yet, or my inner city. If I give them up to you the first night I lose all the trust I've fought for. Study these files and become intimate with them. Learn their weaknesses, you may very well be called on to use that dirty fighting against them."

Ginnie pushed a purple file and a blue file toward Alec

"Full details of targets one and two." She turned her head toward her computer. "Personal computer, on." The computer on the desk behind the table began to boot up.

"I have two goals for target one. The first is to get inside. The second is to find out what in there is mine, what should be mine, and find out why what's not mine isn't. Only then can I bargain with it."

"Good afternoon, Ginnie. Password please."Came the pleasant male voice of her pc.

Ginnie grinned at Alec.

"Don't worry I'll change it later. " She lifted her voice toward the computer.

"Jay. Jay. Jay. Eee. Tee. Seven. Seven."

"Thank you. How may I be of service?"

"Transfer files Operation Alpha through Operation Epsilon to the personal terminal of Alec Devereaux. Authorization Ginnie Luath One."

"Authorization confirmed. Transfer commencing."

Ginnie turned back to Alec. She was in the zone and had a lot to tell him, but she figured it would be best to give him a chance to ask questions if he wanted.

"That transfer is the blue prints and other scematics of the buildings for the first five targets. You will have approximately two days between hits. So...uh, do you have any questions so far?"

Quickly scanning through the contents of the folders, Alec could think of dozens of ways that these folks could bolster their security. They seemed to be focusing on the fear factor of large numbers of firearms and the inclusion of people not afraid to use them in the least. Most looked to have a token alarm system, but nothing even remotely up to par for the course. If he'd been human, he imagined he would worry about the men with guns. Since he wasn't he was a bit worried about the potential pain, but had little fear of getting captured.

Unfortunately, it looked like a couple of places had guard dogs as well. They generally complicated things, but would not be an issue if they missed his scent, and he had a few new toys to try. That balanced the lack of effective electronic security measures, but it didn't cover the inclusion of cameras, so working around that would be in order. Perhaps coordinating it so that he could cut grid power to their areas while Ginnie took out the generators? Hm...probably best to do that in reverse, or to rig remote cutters to do it - teamwork didn't make sense if you weren't on the same job.

Most of these places are well armed and staffed, but their physical and electronic security measures are woefully inadequate. Since these will be humans staffing in each location, I can pretty much walk right by them and take whatever we need. These locations with the dogs might be a bit more problematic, but I've got some toys to...distract...any dogs before even entering the site.

Intel on camera placement would be useful before we move, but we can always just cut power and generator before hitting them. How worried are you about advanced warning for the other sites? Is there a decent communications network between cells, or are they pretty much isolated for internal protection?

It looks like this will be quite doable on short notice, but there might be bloodshed. As long as a little mess isn't a problem for you, we can probably start with this treasure chest almost immediately. The only places they could have rigged a hidden camera are on corners under the eaves - anything else would stand out. There are no areas for dogs, multiple crawl entrances and the electrical layout is pretty shoddy, so there won't be enough light in that office area there, which is where the info is likely to be stored. The only way this one could be any easier is if they all went to lunch at the same time and left the front door unlocked for us.

Smiling, he looked back up to Ginnie.

We'll also want to talk about getting your bases of operations secured or moved to places where folk like me can't just walk in and steal all of your files if necessary. That'll take a bit longer, but since folk like me are hard to come by, and tend to shy away from large munitions deals, we probably don't have to work on that right away.

So...if some of these go easier will we be able to accelerate the timeline? Or should we stick to the schedule? Looks like there is plenty to do.

"Well, ok" Ginnie hadn't expected that and it threw her off a bit. The last guy she worked with was very quiet and said as little as possible. She liked having someone that would voice his opinions. It would keep her on her toes. She wondered what else he could do to keep her on her toes. Chuckling she refocused her brain to the task at hand.

"The computer files have all of the camera locals and all of that. My goals inside have little to do with their files. I have all of that. I'm an excellent user of our resident hackers. What I need is what's not on file. I need in the warehouse portions of these buildings, for the most part. One or two of them, we'll be cleaning out. I use Mercs for that, you just get us in, we get the stuff out.

"There will be no advanced warning from other hits, these people do not communicate with each other. They each think they are autonomous, but in reality, I own them, they just don't like to remember. We get to remind them of that."

She took a sip of her wine and tried to think of the best way to answer his last question with out hurting his feelings. 'Might as well be your usual blunt self Gin.'

"My timeline is mine, Alec. I have it for a reason. If you're ready to go before I am you get to sit and twiddle. This is more than just recon. I have an "empire" to rebuild and you rushing things will do nothing but make it collapse down around my ears. Make yourself a liability, slick and I'll kill you myself."

Her face had taken on the hard coldness she usually reserved for the mongrel race that comprised her network. She hated to threaten him. He seemed like he knew his shit. If someone screwed this up it sure as hell better be her. Not to mention, threatening a guy was not a real good way to get him into your bed.