4966/Classified: Sacred Security

Classified: Sacred Security
Date of Scene:	01 January 2017
Location:	Ad Coelum
Synopsis:	Heinkel Wolfe finds herself recruited into Public Security, the Paladins' wetworks division.
Cast of Characters:	992, Heinkel Wolfe (Dropped)

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Sigrun Stem (992) has posed:
Heinkel received a form alerting her to a special opportunity, a form that was very sparse on details but very high on insistence that this was very opportunity itself was classified and that no further details would be forthcoming unless Heinkel spelled out that she knew she could not discuss this opportunity with anyone, and signed this fact.

After agreeing, a few days had gone by, and then an invitation to a classified meeting in meeting room 1.69 aboard the Jus ad Bellum at thirty past noon on the first of January. From the outside, the room looks identical to any other meeting room aboard the ship.

The inside is different, there's a lot of hardware and artifacts that seem to be monitoring things, and a half-circle table with high-backed seats surrounging the curved side. On the other side, a single wide and high-backed seat is turned away from the entrance, hiding the occupant from view, except for a single gloved hand holding a quill.

The quill writes, and an impossibly pure voice repeats the phrases in a tri-tone melody, without regard for the content of those words. "Welcome, miss Wolfe, to the headquarters of Public Security. Let me be very clear, on paper, Public Security does not exist. We're a top secret division, and members are selected for a variety of skills, but most importantly, their discretion and their faith in proper procedure."

"Do you understand?"

Heinkel Wolfe (Dropped) has posed:
  The timing seems to have been perfect all the way around. There were plenty of places that Heinkel Wolfe could have been when the summons had arrived, but as it so happens, she had literally just walked in the door when it had reached her.

  Barely had she had time to shower, change into something less covered in ghoul gore (the ravening hordes apparently didn't stop for New Year's Day), and promptly left for Ad Coelum.

  So it is that the priest comes shuffling into the indicated meeting room, hair still damp, sunglasses very slightly askew and tugging crisp white dress gloves into place. She's wearing her usual -- cassock, overcoat, combat boots; and the addition of what looks like a clumsily hand-knit scarf draped around her neck. An unlit cigarette dangles from her lower lip.

  That artificial-sounding voice brings her to stare, somewhat blandly, at the chair and its protruding hand with a quill.

  "Vell," Heinkel mumbles around her cigarette, "that's not so different from Vatican Section XIII. It vas a classified division until three veeks ago, so..." She shrugs, audibly, heavy overcoat rustling; something in her pockets jingling to the tune of spare ammunition. "Ja, I understand that, but..." Her head tilts slightly to one side. "Vhy me?"

Sigrun Stem (992) has posed:
"I am well aware of Vatican Section XIII and its purpose." The voice sounds as the hand writes, and then the hand waves briefly towards a whiteboard that's beyond the chair this mysterious person is in. A quick image appears of a vampire, then it fades and is replaced by an image of a dragon, followed by a fat cat businessman, and finally a king in an iron throne. Then this is replaced by the Paladin logo.

"Your skills and background mean you are likely well-suited to our mission, as is your personality profile. I'll be brief." The quill is writing again, the same weird artificial voice speaking. "The Paladins exist to maintain Law and Order, but we also exist to ensure Law and Order does not get corrupted or abused by those who seek to turn it towards their own end. There are many Paladins diligently working to prevent this, but sometimes this work falls short."

"So in times where this work and the Law fall short, Public Security exists to pick up the slack. If a criminal escapes prison one too many times, we are there to resolve the problem. When people take it upon themselves to take advantage of a flaw in the law, and resist efforts to correct this, we step in." There's a brief pause. "And we do so with as little of a push as necessary."

"Do you understand?"

Heinkel Wolfe (Dropped) has posed:
  Slowly, the priest folds her arms, frowning around her cigarette as that voice explains itself. There's not even a way to tell what gender the speaker might be. The words are spoken too crisply, the inflections and timbre too perfect, to be the work of any human voice. One supposes it could be the voice of an angel, but Heinkel hardly expects such a divine mystery to present itself in one of the meeting rooms of a starship.

  Some distant part of her brain is still trying to wrap itself around that fact; 'a starship.'

  Heinkel narrows her eyes at the displays that show themselves. Vampire. Dragon. Businessman. A king on a throne of iron. The latter three hold little recognition for her, at least as relates to real things that she has to deal with on a daily basis. Well, maybe the businessman. She's thoroughly tired of writing and filing expense reports--

  "Hunh." Breaking herself out of her mental rabbit trail, she arches a brow. "So ve're the cleanup men and vomen, the vetvorks who ensure that the spirit of the law as vell as the letter ist held up. I guess I can understand that. In a vay, that's vhat I already do. I... 'solve problems.' Vhat's it to me if its' for Iscariot or for the Paladins?" Heinkel spreads her arms in a shrug. "I understand and accept. Somevon has to do the job, ja?"

  Her arms fold again, and she grins around her slightly crumpled cigarette. "I resolved myself to that a long time ago. Doing this kind of vork so somevon else vouldn't haf to. Iscariot's agents are damned; vhat's a little more sin on the pile?"

  Silence falls for a few seconds.

  "Aside from the obvious issue of secrecy, vhat's going to be expected of me, going forward?"

Sigrun Stem (992) has posed:
The chair turns around to reveal Sigrun, without her mask in fact. "Welcome to the team." She speaks herself, instead of the magical quill she had been using, "I knew you would accept." There's a confident smile, and she pushes over a few more sets of paperwork, "Fill these in, sign and then hand them back to me." She starts with, and then she leans back in her chair.

"How we work is simple. We're all Paladins doing regular work as expected of us as Paladins. At times, you will be scheduled for a meeting in this meeting room, that means there's Public Security work for you to be done." Sigrun explains quickly, with little concern, "At such a time, you will be briefed on the mission. You will be expected to follow the mission parameters and resolve the problem in any way you see fit. Generally, you will be working with others. All this work is top secret, and cannot be discussed outside of this meeting room without the permission of myself, mister Fairfax, Mister Ness, or our replacements should any of us leave our posts."

Heinkel Wolfe (Dropped) has posed:
  When the chair swivels around to reveal who's sitting in it, Heinkel arches her other brow, until both of them disappear into her ragged bangs. It's not the appearance that does it for her, since she's never seen Sigrun without her mask, any more than Sigrun has seen Heinkel without her sunglasses -- it's the voice. She can hear every nuance, every little nuance of frequency that stamps it as the voice of Sigrun Stem.

  Heinkel's mouth twists into a crooked smile around her crumpled cigarette, and she raises her hands, clapping heartily, the sound muffled by her gloves.

  "Vell, vell. Congratulations, Fraulein Stem. I don't get fooled so vell too often, but you got me."

  Her arms fold again, and she steps closer to the desk, tilting her head down to eye the paperwork when it's indicated. She half-skims the papers as Sigrun explains.

  "Hunh. So, ve're the 'in case of emergency, break glass' solution to vhen the law ist being abused or loopholes are being exploited that may be dangerous or damaging. Ja, I'd be happy to do that." Paper rustles as she turns a page, head briefly tilting to show she's looking at Sigrun as she reads. "May be that Section XIII vas doing that kind of vork behind the scenes, but ve do haf standards. Ve don't attack things that don't go after innocents first. Ve also do things as quietly as ve can. Or did. Now, ve haf public image to keep in mind, too..."

  "Ach, sorry. I'm rambling. I understand. All very hush-hush; I can understand that, too." Heinkel flips another page, before patting at her pockets, yanking her coat open, and rummaging around in an interior pocket for a pen. She eventually finds an example, the metal bar on its cap somewhat tweaked (and is that a bloodstain on it?).

  Popping the cap with her thumb, she leans down to sign, movements quick and efficient, and entirely practised. "So, if ve can't talk about Public Security at all, if ve haf a problem ve need to address regarding, say, mission specifics, vhat do I do to get in touch vit von of you who has clearance to talk about it? Some kind of signal?"

Sigrun Stem (992) has posed:
"Thank you." Sigrun smiles and listens, and then the paperwork is done and she takes it back for filing. "You send in a request to use this meeting room through normal means, and you will be told when a meeting has been scheduled." She explains succinctly, "At which point, it's the same thing. Do use this only if necessary, I'm quite busy and I prefer to keep my time focused on the work that needs to be done."

Heinkel Wolfe (Dropped) has posed:
  "You do vhat you haf to do. Iscariot is the same vay. I vasn't raised by the church like my partner or Father Anderson; I vas recruited, und I vas given a choice." Heinkel shrugs as she tucks the pen back into her pocket, sliding the papers across the desk to Sigrun and buttoning her coat back up. "I accepted, because if I lit a match to my own personal salvation, vhat vas it to me? Same here, really. I get the impression this ist about as dangerous und self-sacrificing as it gets... und I'm okay vit that, really. Somevon has to do it. Might as vell be me."

  To the rest, she only tilts her head slightly, before inclining her head in a single nod. "Ja, that's fine. Good to know; I can understand vanting to keep the calendar open." She stuffs her hands back into her pockets. "Anything else you needed from me vhile you haf me here?"