kokyreforest | Gotta get a boss table for the boss chair

[ The target is Jacob Lane, a business man working in the fashion industry. Sources indicated that a portion of his profits were going underground to an anti-NEXT organization and that he might be a gatekeeper into that group. It's a trusted source of information. Ivan had a previous mission shapeshifted into a model in a runway show. (A... lingerie runway show much to Ivan's displeasure, only mitigated by the fact that it was someone else's body doing the modeling and not him.)

If they wanted to take out Lane, it would have been easy to do, but no, Ouroboros has bigger plans. They want entrance into that organization and names of more from the group. Lane is due to get brand new table for his large office, where he also entertains small groups. Possibly not all fashion and business related.

Pao-Lin is part of the table delivery, as is Ivan, to see if they can locate where important files may be stored for later retrieval. However, once they got wind of a possible meeting after, the plans changed. Why waste a table on a NEXT Hater when they can not only get the information they need and get a very nice table? ]

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[ It's a good question. How has Hagelberg avoided being found out all this time? mister Jake should have been clued in at the very least. Maybe there is a reason why they've been caught so unaware. ]

Where are they? Are they back from their "errand"?

[ He slurps up some chow mein, continuing on this train of thought. If Hagelberg has some how avoided Mister Jake for a long time, it's possible she could keep information from him... ]

Not yet. Katya's looking after Castillo for now. [Katya is a NEXT with the power to mentally bend certain kinds of metal -- useful for detaining people.] She said they'd be back in about an hour.

[She can hardly wait for Kriem and Jake to come back. They'd surely know how to handle a situation like this. For the meantime, though, at least there's food.]

[ Frowning, Ivan puts down his chow mein, sticking his chopsticks into the mass even though it's bad manners. ]

An hour... Hagelberg might find out about Lane's death within that time, and we might lose her.

[ That can wreck havoc on their organization. Hagelberg could expose all of Ouroboros' secrets. Even if she doesn't, they'd lose her and her connection to Project Palmtree.

He is, of course, working on the assumption that Lane was telling the truth. They have too much to lose if it's true, and on the chance that it's not, then he'll just have to deal with Hagelberg being angry at him. ]

[Pao-Lin will be the last person to complain about bad manners. In fact, she says her next words through a mouthful of food.]

Well, if she goes missing during that time, we'll know if Lane was telling the truth or not. [She's never liked Hagelberg personally, so she's not sad at the prospect of the woman being gone. She's more worried about the threat to Ouroboros if Hagelberg is a double agent.] Let's at least get these papers organized so we can get them processed. [She reaches a hand back for the briefcase, opening it with her non-greasy hand and pulling out the papers within. Procurement is their specialty; deep analysis belongs to a different division of Ouroboros.]

[ But the Project Palmtree connection being lost because Hagelberg bolted...

Ivan doesn't even know why such a thing is important, but Pao-Lin's right that they need to get the paperwork organized. Their are a few hard drives deep analysis will have to deal with as well. Ivan reaches over and takes a stack of papers. ]

I'll work on sorting this bunch...

[ Two sheets in, Ivan pauses, clearly confused. ]

... Is that a flyer for a book signing by Sky High?

[ He doesn't know which part surprises him more: that Lane would have a flyer for a Sky High book signing or that Sky High wrote a book. The book is probably twice as long as it needs to be. ]

[Pao-Lin smirks a little.]

They might have been planning to demonstrate or protest at that, probably...but it would've been funny if Lane was secretly a Sky High fan. And if Sky High had given him his autograph without realizing what a NEXT hater he was.

[Irony: Not quite as delicious as Asian takeout, but it's up there.]

[ Speaking of Asian takeout, Ivan picks up another mouthful before shoving the chopsticks back into the rest of the food. ]

He could tape himself lighting it on fire to the horror of viewers. He was too rich to sell it on auction.

[ Then he shrugs. ]

I'll set it aside to see if there's anything else connected to it. A lead or just something tucked in.

[Pao-Lin nods, a little absently.]

It might be connected to Project Palmtree and why it involves someone from Ouroboros working with anti-NEXTers.

["What? You've never had to do things you hated just so you could get what you wanted?"

Lane's words linger in Pao-Lin's mind like the beginnings of a headache as she continues sorting files and papers. She figures Hagelberg and Lane must have been using each other somehow, but Lane had seemed to be implying that Hagelberg was deeper in it than could be explained by pragmatism. It's entirely possible that Jake was in on the "joke," as it were, letting Hagelberg yank Lane around in exchange for a couple of tugs from Lane himself. Otherwise then that means that there's something about Hagelberg's power that makes her immune to Jake's mind-reading, which then leads to the baffling conclusion that Jake had accepted a clearly unreliable person into the Ouroboros ranks. That being said, she supposed it was entirely within Jake's personality to recruit someone he couldn't mind read just for the fun of it, regardless of the risks. Pao-Lin's an adrenaline junkie herself, but something like that isn't the kind of risk she likes taking.

She sighs and rubs at the bridge of her nose. There are not enough meatbuns in the world to help her with fathoming the minds of double-crossers and megalomaniacs.]

[ Ivan stops leafing through his stack of papers and looks up at Pao-Lin, confused. ]

You mean that Project Palmtree is something on our side?

[ He has no idea that it was possible that Project Palmtree could be on their side. He thought it was an anti-NEXT related project. But could it be that Project Palmtree is something Ouroboros came up with for their own gains?

He really doesn't know much about it to say one way or the other. ]

What... do you know...?

[Pao-Lin sighs. She actually looks a little depressed.]

These days? I feel like I don't know anything at all.

[That is not exactly a reassuring sentiment to be heard from one's senpai.]

...

[ Ivan eats another bite of noodles and chews while thinking. ]

Let's just concentrate on one mystery at a time. We'll, figure out what Hagelberg and Lane's connection is. We've already taken care of Lane and have his stuff that we can turn over.

Otherwise, we're just going to muddy up our information.

[ He hopes that sounds reassuring that they will figure things out. Together. They're a team. ]

Gotta get a boss table for the boss chair

The future works in mysterious ways

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