Scene #8581: Corporate Dealing

Owner	Pose
Angela	Angela has invited Remee to Lobotomy Corp to discuss some manner of deal regarding the Kana? Remee? Petra? Angela just wants to try and do something nice for her friends, to lessen in some small way the borderline infinite problems presently stressing them out. Angela does not actually know the literal truth of how much they are dealing with, only the emotional truth. Rose (LC) meets with Remee at the warpgate in Control and leads Remee to Angela's office. She may, or may not, recognize the presence of another Wolf somewhere in the Safety Department. Nevertheless, Angela's Office is actually closer to Control so it is a short trip. "Here you go," Rose murmurs. "I'll be outside if you need anything." She says it like she thinks she might damn well be here for her protection. Maybe she is. Rose doesn't have the most faith in the leaders of L-Corp--Angela included. Angela's office is adorned with many screens, all presently glowing faintly but not tuned into anything. Angela is seated on a long desk. A stuffed bear is on one corner of that desk. There is also assorted reports stacked neatly nearby. There is a chair behind the desk but none in front of it, and Angela is seated on the edge of the desk itself, one leg crossed over the other. "Welcome Remee Halycon. Has the staff treated you properly?"
Remee Halcyon	Remee has dressed nicely for this. Business formal, in a color that would complement her fur - if she had it out, which she doesn't right now. As she's lead in, her vision drifts a bit, generally towards the direction of the other Wolf. She's not making a direct line of sight through the walls, and she's not intensely locking onto it, it's more... just general curiosity, in something in this direction, for some reason. Maybe Remee doesn't fully understand it herself. "Thank you," says Remee politely, nodding politely to Rose. With that, she heads inside. "Angela... I actually don't recall your full name or title, is it just Angela?" says Remee in response. "And please, just Remee is fine. This is our first time meeting face to face, isn't it?" She pauses for a moment, looking around. No chairs on this side of the desk. Ah. Angela is one of those kinds of managers. Remee's fine standing, anyway, or at least that's what she tells herself. "The staff's been quite polite, really. You have them very well trained," she says. "So... you had me intrigued. You asked me first if I would defy expectations, and then if I would give up the Kana..." "... Not to you, but back to the Paladins. Or to just, remove it as a factor, from the Dame Commander's life, as a favor to her. Is that about right?"
Angela	Angela says, "Miss Angela or Lady Angela is the most usual form of adress around here. Depending on your preference, either is fine." She suspects Remee will use Miss, of course. Is Remee colorblind, she wonders distantly to herself but ultimately she nods to just calling Remee, Remee. Is Angela one of ''those'' kinds of managers? She might be. In truth, Angela is unaccustomed to having visitors but she ultimately has settled on not putting one in the office. This is her space and she feels she does have to exert some authority over this space when in the multiverse she is akin to a newbie. "My official position is Secretary, but I do not believe anybody uses that as a title." She isn't actually the Manager. But, well, Remee isn't wrong to consider her role here to have many--not all, but many--of the responsibilities of one regardless. "I am glad that the staff treats you well," Angela says sincerely. "Discipline is an important part of working here though, of course, not all are disciplined but at the very least they should not trouble my guests while they are guests. There are rules of hospiality, after all." ''So...you had me intrigued.'' "I don't want it," Angela says of the Kana. "I have no use for such a device. My preference is that you would turn yourself in to the Commander and submit to whatever conditions she imposes upon you, respectfully, but unless you are willing to do that--" She waits a moment to let Remee admit that she is willing to do that but (lets presume) ultimately says, "But in a world where I must temper my desire, making the matter of the Kana an easier thing to deal with for her--is about what I can ask for. I imagine the Dame Commander is more upset about the Mass Murder, of course, along with other elements that I best not dwell on but, well, we live in the world we are in."
Remee Halcyon	Remee doesn't speak up at first, when Angela gives her a pause to so. But after she's done talking... "Ah ha ha... I am very certain that if I surrender myself to the Dame Commander, I won't be seeing the light of day after that," says Remee. "I have things I need to do, and things I need to see to personally, so that's not really an acceptable outcome. Even in the best possible outcome, I'd still be expected to sit still in a cell for years, wouldn't I?" "I hope you can commisserate with me on that, Miss Angela. Nobody likes being trapped in one place." "Plus, I am also very certain Petra would take the opportunity to try to kill me, and I'd like to not let her have another opportunity." "As far as the Ekanashma, it was always a means to an end, and not anything personal." Remee is a pretty good liar. "If you feel that strongly for the Dame Commander, Miss Angela, then I'm certainly willing to listen to what you'd like to offer."
Angela	"What a pity," Angela says, though she does not clarify what exactly. Angela does not know what Lilian would do to Remee, frankly. Prison for years without sun? Possible. Prison forever? Maybe. But what Lilian actually elects to do is up to Lilian. It's not an Angela problem. Doing something for her is the Angela problem. ''Nobody likes being trapped in one place.'' Angela can commisserate on that at least but she does say, "I can." Angela says. "But of course, there is a difference in earning a prison sentence and being born in a prison, isn't there?" She shakes her head. "But I digress." She doesn't comment on Petra killing Remee, at first, but then she does actually, after thinking about it. "You were friends, weren't you?" A means to an end, not anything personal. Angela doesn't have any sort of advantage when it comes to reading lies from truth but Angela doesn't buy it--Petra already pointed out why. "Be honest with me, Remee. Or at least be honest with yourself." She needles her fingers together, resting both hands on her lap. "If you do not face the fear, you cannot build the future. It is not ''my'' catchphrase... But that does not make it a lie, Remee." She tilts her head thoughtfully at Remee. "If it's a means to the ends, what is the ends you seek, Remee?"
Remee Halcyon	"... Yeah, we were friends." Remee crosses her arms. "Then she was a bad friend to me, I was a bad friend to her back..." Remee says 'bad' with the tone clearly meaning 'shitty', but she doesn't use such language. "She's the one who decided to end it. Up until recently, I would have been willing to start back from scratch with her, if maybe she'd just apologized for that." All of that part is true, at least from Remee's point of view. But... "I'm over her. She's not over me." Also the sky is green and Remee has a bridge to sell Angela down in the Quilt. There's another pause. Face the fear. Build the future. "... I mean. Okay. Maybe we're not entirely over each other." Remee crosses her arms tighter. "She's a lot of... of her, to get over." "I do actually need more power, though. The people I'm up against aren't the sort to listen to... well, listen to anything but power and violence, really. That, and some way to operate in outer space. Which, the Kana was just convenient enough to go after for both of those."
Angela	"I would not be over her either. Not for a long time." Angela admits. And maybe that's partly why for her confidence that Remee hadn't been entirely forthright about how it is. She seems willing to accept the understated alternative that Remee puts forward. Is it more than that? It could be. Angela understands the need to mantain some sense of pride, though, so she doesn't press further. "She is such a fierce defender that any absence of her is sure to be keenly felt. Certainly, I thought well of her because she helped me help the Dame Commander--but then she...stood up for me in a way that I do not believe anyone else ever has. I have to treasure that." Maybe if Petra had just apologized... in Angela's opinion, Petra apologizes plenty--but perhaps not always for the right things. Still, an ended friendship is harder to start up again than it is to just start from scratch. "Power. Power I can provide. A means to survive in space, I cannot." Angela says. "It won't be a space cannon. What exactly do you need such power for? I admit -- I am not entirely sure what the Watch truly fights for. I am new to the multiverse, but in a lot of ways how I expected these orgnizations to act proved to be pure imagination on my part."
Remee Halcyon	Remee looks skeptical at Angela singing Petra's praises. She doesn't comment, though. And then as to why Remee needs power... Has Remee really not explained this to people? No, she hasn't, she realizes. She's told the Watch plenty, but hasn't exactly talked about her past outside of the faction. And she still needs to meet with Berislav to get the whole story off her chest, sometime. "My family aren't good people. They've gotten power and money by doing a lot of awful things. They shouldn't be allowed to keep either. And they've kept on doing awful things, with the money and power they already have. If you want all the sorted details, I can provide, but let's just say there's a lot of skeletons in closets." "... A few years ago, someone on our house staff was caught stealing. Taking a little bit of money off of the top. It wasn't even all that much. But my aunt investigated, and everyone on staff who'd taken anything they shouldn't have... got chased out into the woods behind our house and killed there. It was a bloody night." "That was, really, what woke me up to it all. There were people on our house staff I liked. People I knew personally, and weren't just random drug dealers being pulled from the local prison or..." She trails off. "I mean, you know. There was a lot that was going on that I knew about, but I was young, and you don't really make the connection that it's wrong until it's- anyway, I mean." Remee clears her throat. She's getting off track. This isn't about rehashing and defending her part in actions from years ago. "That's when I realized that, you know, this wasn't right. And that there wasn't really anyone that could make things right but myself." "That's what I'm fighting for, that's why I need more power. To stop my family. I'd like to get them to listen to me, to try to stop what they're doing on their own, to start trying to make amends for what they've done, but I need to stop them either way. Maybe if I'm strong enough, I can get them to listen. The alternative..." "... Well, we've already dealt with one of them so far. But that's the stakes I have right now."
Angela	Angela looks back to Remee but refrains from going on about Petra at this point. She has grown accustomed to the idea that she may be the only person in the multiverse who has this kind of trust for Petra. That's fine. She has heard even from Petra's own lips that she was not always kind, that's fine. Is it possible that one day Petra's own beliefs as to who matters will change? Possibly. She'll worry about that then but--she thinks Petra is doing better, actually, and even believes in it. If it turns out her faith was misplaced, well, she's endured it before. She can again. But she does believe in her. And so... Remee speaks of her family. Angela nods a little. Plenty of employees come from similar backgrounds. People from the Nest who realized what it takes to survive in a Nest and grew disgusted with the dark side of the City, darker than what is just on the surface. "The banality of evil," Angela says as if quoting something. "So you wish to take over or destroy your family," Angela says. She certainly doesn't care one way or another. "While the Kana may be suitable for spaceflight, I cannot imagine it would be good as a weapon to target your family with. It does not seem ... subtle? It would be difficult to fight them without collateral." She nods to herself, thinking it over. "I will make the following deal then. I will give you a set of EGO Gear. WAW level. Particularly resilient against physical assault--Straight from our own Big Bad Wolf." Angela says. "Some training may be required but since you are a 'Big Bad Wolf' yourself, I imagine you will bond readily to it. Alternately, I can provide some employees to assist in your hunt. I have a few with proper gear." "In return you will--politely without any snide commentary--return the Kana to the Commander. I won't ask for apologies you would not mean." "If you try to be cute about it, I will release the Woodsman." Angela says. "The Gear is to be used only against your family but you may hold onto it until you either control the family or you've destroyed it. Is this acceptable?"
Remee Halcyon	"Ah - no. I'm not going to hand the Ekanashma back over to the Paladins," says Remee, standing back up straight. She'd gotten a bit less formal, less businesslike, when talking about her past and her family. Now, it's back to how she was when she entered the room. "That's non-negotiable. Ishirou was examining it when I arrived. Even if I was fine with that, I do not think my factional allies would look kindly on me handing it back over to the Paladins, either." "The... EGO Gear. What's WAW level mean?" Remee presumably gets the tier list. "That... should be fine. Would be fine, but I'm trying to help my allies, too? If you're going to mandate targeting restrictions, I need a blacklist, not a whitelist. If you want me to not use it against the Dame Commander, that's acceptable."
Angela	"Oh?" Angela asks. "That is too bad then," She uncrosses her leg. Perhaps it is for the best. As much as she'd like to help, it is ultimately not her business But she is willing to answer Remee's questions about the EGO Gear. "Ah, WAW is our second highest threat level of Abnormality--we use a similar designation for the EGO Gear." Angela explains. "I would be willing to negotiate a blacklist, theoretically, but it seems the very basis of a negotiation here is flawed. Perhaps I ought to properly discuss it with Miss Petra in any case rather than making such a move on a lark." She presses her hands together. "Maybe after such a discussion I could offer another deal. Or not. I'll have to see." She dips her head. "Regardless, I will hold no ill will over simply failing to agree to a deal. No harm, no foul. Thank you for coming, Remee. It was an interesting discussion. Maybe we can make a proper deal another time."
Remee Halcyon	> Perhaps I ought to properly discuss it with Miss Petra in any case rather than making such a move on a lark. Remee makes a bit of a face. "You should..." "... no, you know what, you should talk to her. See what she thinks. At minimum, it'd be a courtesy to her, since she's important to you. Personally, though, I don't think she'll surprise me." "We do seem to have an insurmountable difference in what we're willing to offer and accept," says Remee, nodding in return. "Still, I appreciate the offer. And the attempt at talking things out. The bar has been set... incredibly low, lately, but you've managed to clear it where it should be at." "Till whenever I run into your agents again, then, Miss Angela," says Remee, as she turns to go.