DAY :048 | DO THE CREEP

[onemind]

CHARACTERS: All
WHERE: Concordia, Misc.
WHEN: Day :048 - :050
SUMMARY: Seek and destroy; the hosts follow up on the three suspects identified at Saffit's fundraiser. One of the three eventually leads somewhere significant...
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary.

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((OOC NOTES: This is the catch-all log for characters following Aytac Devin, Kusuma Ming and Kalup Aquila. Feel free to use these characters however they suit your threads - we'll jump into modjack when and where we can! At some point, we'll highjack one of your threads to direct it toward plot relevant information, but until then don't hesitate to go wild.

If you have any questions, drop them over HERE at the calendar questions post.))

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Comments

[erbier]

( No. )

[ A simple answer, not so much authoritative as impregnable, there will be no other response. ]

( Either of our methods divides them. You should assist me so that we are able to corner them both. )

[howtoget]

[ Petre, perfectly disguised as a woman who would not permit her emotions to show through, sneers only in thought. Ilde should be able to receive the sentiment without being even slightly bothered by it; Petre gives her a look of contempt through dark sunglasses and calmly reaches for the drink again. One sip, and it clacks lightly on the saucer again.

One would never guess this was a demon without any control whatsoever on his impulses. Such were the advantages of a shape-shifting ability that allowed him to be someone else in more than just appearance. ]

( And how the fuck do you suggest we do that. )

[erbier]

( Kusuma Ming's business is security. We must make her feel secure. Slip in amongst her guards, and then she will think there is nothing to fear when we have Fahima Hanne introduce me. We can remove all the other guards, with your protective watch, and the women won't know how alone they are. )

[ Ilde pushes it aside how much using the shapeshifter for her own means horrifies her, instead focuses on something equally as terrible: preying on a pair of women as if they are mice and she is a falcon. Leave them nowhere, nothing, no one to hide behind. Strike. ]

[howtoget]

[ It's bad enough that Petre does not like to be told what to do, but having it come from Ilde of all people makes him seethe. The only comfort is Ilde's own reluctance, her fear. A spoonful of sugar does make the medicine go down. ]

( She's supposed to come meet me here. How do you propose to organize this shit without the real Fahima. )

[erbier]

( We have time. )

[ If they need to try again tomorrow with a revised plan, then Ilde doesn't care. She's going to take care of these women and then maybe, just maybe, they can finally return to the Station with all their comatose companions. ]

[howtoget]

[ Another purse of Fahima's lips, bringing out a device that she'd use to stay updated. Perhaps contact Ming. ]

( So, what. I just blow her off? )

[erbier]

( Something silly. You've met a friend, you're going shopping together.... )

[ It comes to her idly, but then she realizes something else and stops. ]

( No, stay here. Tell Ming that is your plan, for later, or for tomorrow. Then she will not be surprised when I am introduced. )

[howtoget]

[ There's a pause. For once, Petre is considering rather than just sticking to whatever he feels like doing.

He supposes he can compromise with that. ]

( Fine. I'll talk to you once I figure it out. Bye. )

[erbier]

[ Ilde backs off then, her coordinates from Pidge had led her near to here, so she is going to make sure she keeps the real Fahima out of the way. Keep them separate while the ropes are wound around them, a trap that will abruptly pull tight when all the pieces are in place... Maybe she will kill two birds with one stone and begin this game of introductions, pull Fahima away to talk about some private content for her feed. When she mentions it to Ming, the story will be familiar already. Yes... She's beginning to see the shape of it.

But first, Kusuma Ming and a Petre in disguise have a date for drinks. Ming is an imposing woman with a stern face, and even for this outing she has at least one guard following along after her. At least one that can be readily seen, anyway, there may be others lurking up and down the street... At least one is good, Ilde would approve. It lets Petre see what their uniforms look like well in advance.

Ming is frowning down into a small datapad as she approaches, greets her partner in a distracted manner. ]

What are you drinking?

[ More an idle tone of maybe she too could use a drink, rather than one of accusation. ]

[howtoget]

[ There is absolutely nothing to be nervous about. Maybe if someone less arrogant than Petre were doing this job, worried they wouldn't be able to follow through as soon as the first mistake was made. Petre doesn't remove the glasses when Ming sits down. They are both quite cold with each other, it looks like, because they know well what a private relationship looks like. That's why Ming chose Fahima, because Fahima doesn't need her. They simply fit together, in more ways than one.

There's no empathy from Petre. Just instinct, one that he follows through with. ]

The same thing I always drink at this hour.

[ A fondness that only these two women would read in one another. ]

[erbier]

[ Kusuma gives a faint, sharp little smile, the distracted amusement of familiarity. It's a good answer on Petre's part, leaves the answer to her imagination, and in fact she replies, ]

Of course. [ A few more taps on the data pad before it is set aside. Kusuma straightens her hair absentmindedly as she gives the Fahima lookalike a long thoughtful stare. They're together for a reason, the appreciation for the form is not unexpected. ] No, I'm not ready for a drink.

[ Drinking in public could hardly be such an icy, controlled entrepreneur's favored past time. Too many things to go wrong, privacy to invade, mistakes to make. She reflects somewhat irritably on how uncharacteristically drunk she had gotten at the fundraiser and it makes her brows pinch, a brief expression of annoyance, exasperation. ]

Have you eaten?

[howtoget]

Not yet. I was waiting for you.

[ He removes his sunglasses, setting them down with a slight purse of his lips, like he's just as aware of Kusuma's behavior during the party. One the real Fahima disapproved of, as he's sure her partner would assume. But they've been through and covered up worse scandals. As long as Kusuma doesn't try to reminisce on any of them, Petre should be fine. ]

[erbier]

Perfect.

[ It would't have been the first time she'd kept her waiting so long that Fahima ate without her, or vice versa. Busy women, busy lives. She waves over an android to take their orders, going back to her datapad then, continuing to conduct a bit more business before their meals arrive. She asks a few distracted questions as she goes. The fact that she is not entirely listening to the answers is a boon to a shapeshifting imposter. Are we meeting so and so for dinner, what was the name of that play they'd gotten tickets to, etc. In this idle small talk is the question most important: ]

What are your plans for this evening?

[howtoget]

[ He pretends to be occupied with business of Fahima's own, though she and Ming apparently don't cross wires when they're together. Business apart from pleasure, or something like that, always composed, always sure of themselves.

And as the perfect opening arrives... ]

I was going to have dinner with a friend, but... she cancelled a while ago. [ He clicks his tongue and sighs lightly, showing the kind of disappointment that would leave a young and inexperienced employee thinking it's the end of their world. (Miranda Priestley reincarnate.) ] We'll just go shopping tomorrow. [ A small wave of his hand. Who cares. ] I imagine you'll be busy.

[erbier]

Hm.

[ All the response that 'dinner with a friend' gets. Fahima, by dint of her profession, has an exceedingly active social life that Ming feels disinclined to fully monitor. There just aren't enough hours in the day for all of the media editor's social calendar. So she doesn't ask which friend, and doesn't even really react that it has been cancelled. She is certain Fahima will find something to do with herself, or she'll come home and perhaps they'll do something else. ]

Tomorrow? Yes, appointments all day.

[ Like most days. She also does not ask to be introduced to this friend. She meets any of Fahima's friends if her lover deems it necessary, or they meet them at a social event, there's no call to ask. What will be will be, on that account.

Their food arrives and Kusuma sets aside her datapad once more. ]

I read the feed's piece on the fundraiser, this morning. [ She says, stirring her food with a utensil as it cools. ] It seems fortunate we left early, what a debacle.