Distraction and Observation (Manifesto)

[Tan Li]

LI was more than happy to follow along and when Nhysa was situated in her new perch he wrapped himself behind her and nestled up against her ear. "I think, that is for me to know and you to find out when we retreat to our own darkness tonight." He would follow her wherever her path lead as long as it lead back home to either of their beds.

[Edwin]

Eddie allowed Rhi to attend to her business, agreeing to stick around to make sure she was okay both before and after her business. It was an easy enough gig, and once again good practice. Rhi went into a private booth to accomplish whatever business would happen in a place like this. It made Eddie curious as to what it was she did. What kind of business was done in a club such as this?

Eddie kept an eye on her booth, keeping close enough to be in earshot in case Rhi should need him. He understood why she would be on edge. Someone did try to drug her. Under normal circumstances, Eddie would guess the drug was an attempt to take advantage of her, and that would likely be the end of it. The mystery lady, who still remained in her high vantage point, hadn't seemed to make any more moves against her. She seemed a lot more interested in her movie star boyfriend.

Eddie took another look at Rhi's booth and noticed a darkness surrounding it. He couldn't see into the booth anymore. The hair on his neck stood, and briefly his eyes went to the mystery lady, but he had no clue if it was her or not. With channeler's around, this could be part of what they could do. For all he knew, it could be someone in the booth obscuring their view from prying eyes. Still, Eddie couldn't dismiss the possibly of danger. Until he had more information, he had little he could do but prepare. His primary concern was Rhi, and if there was some supernatural magic thing going on, he would be best suited to respond to it near Rhi. In response, he moved closer to Rhi's booth.

[Legione Sumus]

Omar Tarek

Women in positions such as Bode's representative were an oddity in Egypt where most of the country followed the faith of Islam.  Their tenants could be strict regarding such things. Even though Omar was a Muslim, he understood people would have different values.  The woman in front of him may have been scorned by many in Egypt, especially in public, but here - things were what they were.

Omar's apathy for the whole situation melted when the artifact itself was brought out, replaced by curiosity. It was a unique piece for sure. "A Piece of m'Antinomian"  was what is what advertised.  Still the artifact was almost a work of art in itself. Omar leaned in slightly as Lucian began to work with the puzzle box and eventually unlocked it, revealing a silver tube.

There was organic matter inside - and it was a receptacle of knowledge. The advertisement said that it held the secrets of would-be gods. Lucian authenticated that it was indeed what Bode had said it was. Curious.

When Lucian turned towards him, Omar did have questions. He wasn't sure they fell in the purview of what Lucian was paid to do or not, but he felt he should ask, just in case. "You say it should be performed by the items owner? Does it have some sort of tamper prevention device that would be a danger to my employer? Does the device somehow know who "owns" it?" Omar knew, as did Giovanni, that the piece itself was stolen. This would be a potential concern to any buyer. "And how would one, access the knowledge inside?"

[Nesrin Aziz]

Nesrin continued to watch the rep for his reaction as Lucien examined the Key. She was relieved to see some stir of curiosity in his stoic demeanor, not because it meant good things for her prospects, but because it brought some humanity to the stone of his expression. She’d seen dead-eyed men do terrible things without so much as a blink. And no one fishing around the dark web for godhood paraphernalia was likely to be charting high on the morality scale. Even Nesrin’s ability to coerce, should the defense prove necessary tonight, had its limitations – she could only work with something that already existed. If he was truly as unfeeling as he seemed, she might not be able to protect herself from him. And she still had to get safely out of the club.

It stirred her nerves. It also made her thankful for Eddie.

She listened to the Archivist’s reading as though he only revealed the truth she already knew. But the auction description had been almost entirely to incite a reaction and attract a certain type of bidder  – in reality all she really knew about the Key was that the Emissary wanted it back badly enough that Zigzag had been scared for both of them. What was shared she filed away with interest – intending it to be her first payment to Wicked. Knowledge sounded enticing. The idea of organic matter not so much, not after what Zigzag had said about hosts.

As the Jackal’s man posed his questions, Nesrin’s brows rose. She was layered in confidence like it was armour. Between them Lucien paused naturally, his gaze lifting from the Key to ascertain whether he should answer. She ought to refuse. The Key was what she implied it was – that was what mattered, at least so far as the auction went. All Nesrin needed was to push the interest into a bidding war, and Jackal wasn’t currently the front runner – but with a whet appetite he’d fight for it. She needed to work quickly, and not risk the Archivist revealing something that might ruin the Key’s mystique. Or worse yet make it an untenable investment.

Problem was she wasn’t in this for her bank balance. She was in this for whatever opportunity she could grasp. And right now the heat felt more like thrill than real danger, even with the attempted spike on her drink. In the moment she found her own curiosity the more powerful motivator – she wanted to hear what the Archivist might know, even if she might regret the Jackal’s representative hearing it too.

“Do you have an answer?” she asked.

The Archivist smiled. He still held the tube in his hands, and he peered down at it through his spectacles as he spoke.

“With the amount of time we have, I can only read back so far,” he explained. “I can tell you that since the item was removed from its predecessor, it has not been opened. In my professional opinion it would seem unlikely it is without failsafes. However, I can read nothing that would confirm for you either way what those might be, or even if they exist. Every instance it has been opened, so far as I can read back, has been without incident – the mechanism for this is as I showed you. The sensors here, see? It is because of the matter inside that I will not recommend opening it for the purposes of demonstration. I could not tell you how the knowledge is accessed, just that there is a transference involved. Something is removed, and something else returned in its place. It's possible, therefore, that the piece will only have one use in it. Outside of the m’Antinomian, at least, its secrets may well be unique, and singular.”

[Legione Sumus]

Omar Tarek

Omar watched as Lucian turned to the woman, asking her permission to answer his questions. Omar supposed this had to do with the neutrality of the meeting.  He then waited until the woman answered and Lucian gave his response. 

Omar had to admit. The man was a professional. Not only did he know his stuff, he worked in a professional manner. I’m mar had no question that the man was telling the truth. The Archivist had a reputation to uphold, and in his business, reputation was everything. He doubted Lucian would do anything to diminish that.

Omar nodded at his responses, receiving them earnestly. This would be enough for Giovanni to go on. Whether or not Giovanni decided to go for the artifact was his business, not Omar’s. The questions hadn’t been necessary, only ones he thought his employer would want. Perhaps that would gain Omar some favor in the eyes of the Al Janyar leader. 

”That should suffice for my employer,” Omar said. ”I have no further questions. Does this conclude our business?” He asked, including the woman in his gaze as well as the Archivist.

[Nesrin Aziz]

At the affirmative from the Jackal’s man, the Archivist politely inclined his head, and offered the Key back to Nesrin. She caught the faint amusement in his eyes, though his tone was perfectly civil as he asked, “I trust I do not need return the artefact to its housing?”

She swallowed the sly smirk which threatened. Whether Lucien’s abilities were real or not she did not actually care, she only needed the gold-standard of his reputation – other people trusted him. But she realised then that there must be some actual truth to it – for he’d apparently understood that she hadn’t actually managed to get the Key out of the puzzle box before tonight. Instead she only accepted the items back into her possession, and thanked him for his time.

Now that they were done, she was keen to get the fuck out.

Because once they were both beyond the Archivist’s hospitality, Nesrin didn’t trust for a second that the Jackal’s man with his stony poker face would play fair. Roles reserved, she doubted she would either. She stood, smoothing the red fabric at her hips. The Key had already disappeared, the gesture one of distraction. “A pleasure, gentlemen.”

The Jackal's man knew how to access the auction, should his employer wish to further his bid. She didn’t smile, and she didn’t hurry, though her heart was pounding as she made her exit.

A disorientating darkness threw her, though only for a moment, before the club’s lights returned outside the booth. She wanted to look back over her shoulder, a little chilled by the strangeness, but didn’t. Instead she glanced for Eddie. She had every reason to think he’d keep his word, but if he hadn’t, she wasn’t planning on hanging around.

[Edwin]

Eddie was keeping watch. Since the eerie fog had rolled in over there meeting, Eddie’s guard had been raised - even more so than it had been since the attempting dragging. His eyes were on the entrance as Rhi exited, and he moved towards her.

”Everything okay? Business done?” he said, giving her a slightly disarming and encouraging smile.

”Business done,” she said, her tone flirty. She looked genuinely pleased to see him.

Eddie smiled, turned to walk beside and slightly behind her in more of a bodyguards posture. His eyes moved, keeping track of things in the room, eyes flicking towards the woman and her movie star companion, keeping tabs on her location. He placed a hand on her back, guiding her.

”How would you feel about taking our night to another locale,” he said, wanting to extract her from this club as soon as possible. ”some food, a coffee or tea perhaps?” adding the last to make her not think he had ill intentions.

((OoC: with Nesrin))

[Nesrin Aziz]

He was there in a moment, and Nesrin’s smile was a genuine light up of expression. Not that she couldn’t assure her own swift exit, but it was nice to have that added layer of security. And all the better when it smiled at her like that.

The best cons contained an effortless blend of actual truth in them, and she had not been lying about mixing some pleasure with her business – which absolutely was concluded, at least for tonight. “Business done,” she repeated in a silky tone as he pressed a guiding hand to the small of her back. She didn’t resist; she was keen enough to leave, and it saved her having to fabricate a reason. Something small had changed in Eddie’s demeanour though, and she wondered if he’d been given additional cause to worry while she’d been in the booth.

His clarification made her glance at him in amusement; it seemed he really was a gentleman, a rare enough charm, and one which tempted her with the urge to unravel whatever desires lay underneath. Her gaze lingered on the cut of his jaw. He was busy negotiating them an exit, and if his being a soldier made him a little dull for her usual taste, watching the concentration of his craft was a seduction of its own.

Letting him dictate their direction through the club, she leaned to press an intimate whisper in his ear. “Your place sounds good to me, Eddie.”

She was feeling the high of having walked out of the fire unscathed. A small victory, given all the potential trouble in her future, but Nesrin lived by the moment. She wanted the invitation, and didn’t see why it couldn’t be enjoyable for both of them, though if he actually insisted on nothing more than coffee she wouldn't press his sensibilities. Either way she couldn't think of anywhere safer to spend the night.

[Nhysa]

When Nhysa laughed at his tease it sounded almost like a purr. She rather wanted to lead Li there now, except a job was a job – even if this one was all just part of her cover. Far below them Edwin Dean stood an attentive sentinel, still casually blended in with the club’s glitz. He knew they were up here, and a confrontation might have been interesting, but not particularly bright on his part. Neither did he intrude despite the thickening darkness that obscured his woman in red from view. Client privacy was as important as their safety. Instinct was something you couldn't teach.

If this had been anything other than recon, she might have spent some time discovering who was in the booth with the woman. But Manifesto and its ilk could keep those secrets tonight. By the time the woman in red emerged, Nhysa watched only long enough to ascertain which exit Dean was going for. By now she’d observed enough to know it’s what he would do.

Physical reflexes were the only thing left to test, and she didn’t want Li caught up in that. “One more task, and then you are mine,” she told him with a predatory smile. Then she slipped away, the shadows folding around her.

[Tan Li]

Li watched as Nhysa slipped away. It would be a good night. He made his way downstairs to the bar to wait with a simple wine to sip at. And without the girl on his arm people came up to him. They weren't outright fans but they talked and commiserated on his last lost role.

He was nice and polite and waved off advances. It was nice knowing people remembered him. Though it was also a plague, but he'd wait for Nhysa and entertain the masses.