[closed-ish]

[onemind]

CHARACTERS: Lexa, Sam Alexander (+mental connections) + Adetkunbo, Sheena Frey
WHERE: Concordia; Beta Block Lounge
WHEN: DAY :33, Midday
SUMMARY: A nice chat over brunch.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary.

There's nothing about the Beta Block high rise to distinguish it from its neighbors. Like most of Beta Block, it shares a commercial lower half and residential upper floors. Floran, cheerful enough about her escort duty, leads Lexa and Sam up the powerlift through the commercial levels to the midway lobby - the last floor the commercial lift has accessibility to.

"There's a private lift, but it requires a bunch of security. This is much easier," she explains between bouts of small talk. Crossing the gleaming lobby, she waves to a young woman at the secutiry desk and then buzzes them into the residential elevator with her ID. From there, Floran, Lexa and Sam ride the lift all the up to the high rise's top floor where it opens out into a small rooftop restaurant. There's an artifice of simplicity here, a casual air to the outdoor furniture and how the waitstaff are dressed that might be easy and comfortable if it weren't a special-guests-only brunch joint.

It's a little late for brunch and the place is either winding down or just curiously empty. Floran leads them out onto the terrace where only one out of a handful of tables has anyone at it: the now-familiar Adetkunbo and a woman beside him who matches the public appearance files of Mind Life's Sheena Frey.

"Good luck," Floran whispers. She gives Lexa and Sam a thumbs up, waves cheerfully to the two at the table, and then disappears back into the restaurant.

---

((OOC Notes: This is the IC meeting between Lexa, Sam Alexander, Adetkunbo and Sheena Frey. Remember that while only two hosts can be present physically, it's completely possible to threadjack via mental connection. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ping them in our direction via the usual means.))

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Comments

[onemind]

[There's a flicker of something like impatience in Sheena's expression. Her brow furrows momentarily, the corner of her mouth pulls and then she smooths both away like it's a habit to do it. Honestly? It probably is. She's spent a lot of time in front of cameras.

Beside her, Adetkunbo clears his throat. He's clearly on the verge of interjecting--]

Look. [Sheena's tone is clipped.] If you want to help out Mind Life, you can volunteer with a local chapter. Do a fund raiser. Petition the block council for reformation. You don't want to see another bombing? That's really noble of you. Neither does most of the city. The difference is Mind Life is pursuing peaceful avenues to legitimize android life in the city in the eyes of the organic population so instead of thinking 'I don't want to stand too close to an android because it might get blown up', they think 'I need to protect this android from violence because it's a person too.'

I appreciate that you want to help. We could always use volunteers. But I'm not sure why you felt you had to talk to me to do it unless you actually had some kind of insight or plan and so far I haven't heard either.

[adamance]

[It occurs to Lexa that this is precisely why the hackers had seen Mind Life as a noble cause, but without much progress. The hackers are useless in their own way, too afraid of saving their own skins to act on what is happening in this world. But this is another side of righteous nobility that she doesn't like. That doesn't mean that she doesn't understand it. Let it be clear that she knows—in the link between her and Sam, even if she says nothing, the face of a woman surfaces in her mind. The name that comes with it is Luna.

A true leader can see that some callousness is to be expected. A true leader understands what might come of it. And otherwise, someone has to be dedicated to their cause. She had saved Luna's life because she understood that she bowed down knowing that she could not be their people's commander, but she also shunned their ways.

Lexa's lips twist downward.]

This is not a matter of volunteering. You are blind if you think something hasn't changed here. We are working to get to the bottom of it, but it will be much easier with your knowledge and support. Who are you seeking to convince? People are too afraid to see beyond their survival at this moment, and putting a stop to the violence is the first step to what you want.

[As for a plan, she hates revealing all of her hand, but she understands the (rather frustrating) necessity of it.]

Our officers are currently looking into Ven and Saffit, and possibly more. Without violent intentions. [These are public figures.] We want to ask questions.

As for my other proposal, it is something that will show humanity that people can evolve even as technology. I'm the first Host of it. But we haven't yet replicated it so that all the people of this world can see its value. By bringing people and androids together as one thing in the end, I believe we can further your cause. But right now, this technology that my people are working on will only feed into the present fears. We need to work on diminishing them. If you think I'm lying, we can find a scanner to see the implant in my body. It fuses with my central nervous system. [Becca is present near the forefront of her mind, helping her with the terms, and has been since before this meeting.

They just need to remake the Flame first.]

[headinjuries]

[ This is an arena beyond Sam's experience, a kind of responsibility he's never had to take on. His responsibility for people's lives begins and ends with the crisis or attack of the day, and while he sees plenty of things wrong in the world when he looks around, knowing how to change them is something that feels far bigger than him.

But he'd started watching a lot more news once he got into the superheroing business, because suddenly it all felt much more relevant. There were things he could do something about, and the ones he couldn't - well, he started hearing a lot more of them while looking for the rest. He's gotten used to seeing so many movements and people spinning their wheels and failing to get out of the ditch they were stuck in. So he's inclined to agree with Lexa's conviction that something has to be done, even if it's something difficult.

(And he's curious about that woman, but this isn't the time. He's not sure there is a time; there are plenty of surface thoughts he knows the rest of the nest has seen, but that he hopes fervently that nobody ever asks about.)

He doesn't interject, this time; Lexa's the one with the solid plans, and there isn't really much for him to add to that. ]

[onemind]

[A quizzical look flashes across Sheena's face, but before she can say anything, Adetkunbo pointedly clears his throat and manages to successfully jump in. Officers, he thinks. That's a strange word.

Maybe they're undercover public security. Wouldn't that be funny?]

I think what Sheena wants to know is what information you think she or Mind Life has. I'm not going to say I know everything she does [beside him, Sheena sniffs] but I'm not sure she really has anything you don't. Yeah, there's someone who has a bigger vendetta against androids but that's nothing new - it's just someone with a longer reach then the usual suspects, right Sheena?

[She nods, frown settling.] That's right. We've been doing triage, not investigation. We've got our usual stable of political enemies, but I doubt any of them are blowing up gaming parlors. No offense, Kun.

[Kun-Kun shrugs, unfazed, and closes the menu he's been using as a makeshift shield to distract himself from the conversation being bandied back and forth across the table.] I don't know anything about tech like that though. Sounds like an Ahtaliah Ven thing, honestly. [A beat. He glances to Sam who is, after all, very very young.] --You're not security, are you?

[It feels like a silly question to ask, doesn't it? 'Hey are you cops?']

[headinjuries]

[ He's pretty sure that between everything, they're suspect enough anyway that trying to keep up a cover story is kind of pointless. ]

No, we're not.

[ Well. He's kind of a cop, for a defunct peacekeeping force that probably doesn't exist in this universe anyway, but that's not exactly the point here. ]

We're not working for anybody. [ It perhaps depends on how one defines working, but Sam's never thought that was the right word for the nest. It's not like they're getting paid, after all - or even compelled to be particularly helpful. More like they're in agreement to work with the nest. ] And we're trying to watch everybody.

[ Because the problem could start anywhere. He'd be the first - was the first - to say that they had a very big problem with Public Safety, after all. ]

I don't mean to put down what you guys are doing, I think that's important too. But it's like - it's not gonna get better if all anyone can do is keep putting band-aids on it. We're trying to get to the bottom of the rabbit hole. It'd help you guys get the message across a lot better if you don't have so many roadblocks, right?

[adamance]

And what we're developing is something that I would rather not trust to Ven. The parlor wasn't the first bombing. [It occurs to her (and this is a thought that relays to Sam) that they might be able to look into what caused the bombing in both locations. Has a link been found? That will have to be looked into later.] I believe that you're the only people with the foundation and integrity to take what we have and show that people are no different from androids. [If they do it peacefully.

The problem, and this relays back to what Sam said, is they need to pave the way. There is no path, only the potential for fear.]

Right now, we find it difficult to rule out any suspects. If you're so certain, we'd appreciate the ability to cross some names off our list.

[onemind]

[Sheena's mouth narrows to a thin slash before she busies herself with taking a drink from her water glass. Not for the first time today, she wishes she still drank.]

[From Kun-Kun:] Ven's a good guy. Or you know, good enough I think. He's about the company, but he's got his head screwed on pretty straight as far as I know. But if you're really so uneasy... I don't know - Sheena, do you have tech people who could look at this thing?

[She shrugs, attention still pinned to Lexa and Sam.] Sure, maybe. But I'm not sure we have any connections for implementation. [That's officially out of her wheelhouse, thanks.] But-- [And that's crisp, a little grudging and a lot uneasy but she's saying it anyway:] I might be able to get you some information about the people we know to narrow your list down a little bit. I can do that much for you.