Opening Moves
Gambling
Comstock received a polite nod in return from Juan before line of sight was broken by the security personnel. The staff was taken off guard by his payment question, but whoever was directing them had a quick reply. “Sir, I’ve been asked to inform you that arrangements can be made, though the difficulties in dealing with raw materials makes it unlikely that you’ll receive market value for the precious metals. Unless you’re willing to work in more exotic materials that is…” Unspoken was the fact that “Exotic” either meant weaponizable materials, or rare metals used in a variety of expensive and dangerous nova-tech devices. “A full list of metals and our exchange rate will be up on your menu in a few minutes. Please take advantage of the facilities in the meantime.” The security made a quick exit, moving on to another table with questions, leaving Dillon to explore the room.
Totentanz was aloof from the business at hand, and difficult to reach as he shifted around the recesses of the room. The warrior responded to Wheelman’s nod, but managed to avoid most other contact before Comstock cornered him, mostly by being the only one willing to approach him directly. The elite gave a light chuckle at the metal man’s remark before turning the butt end of his spear to lightly rap on Comstock’s nearly impervious skin. “I’m not the only one.” His voice was a whisper, faint through the mask, and something in his bearing was a bit… off from the last time they had met, but he was moving again before more comments could be exchanged.
As Comstock turned to look back at his table, he caught Juan staring at him again. The man pointed at him, then toward himself, then to his own ear. We should talk.
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The Hell Kraken’s knowledge of finances, and both legitimate and illicit vendors of high-end tech, made it relatively easy to narrow down the field of potential sellers. The major corporations and governments were out; this was simultaneously too small in profit and too large in repercussions to be worth their time. A purposeful leak on the part of Utopia or a major government was not out of the question though, especially concerning the info on T2M:A since most of them were now with Vigilance. It would be an easy way to complicate things for the young organization with limited potential for blowback.
The risk to reward ratio was also below the threshold for any of the existing purveyors of illicit tech, and the major crime syndicates that remained. There was no reason to hold a high profile meeting like this when they had a booming customer base that was quite happy to throw money at them. No, this was an organization or an individual that had a personal stake in the proceedings. One of the smaller elite agencies could be behind it; both Devries and the former members of T2M:A had enemies in the elite community. The more inconvenient option was that a lone individual, or small cadre, was pushing an agenda forward and attempting to cause chaos with the auction. Such a group would be more difficult to deal with, unless they could be tracked down somehow.
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Sean’s approach to the Bratva’s table was keenly observed by Nevsky’s men, even as the man himself was busy alternately arguing with and cajoling the offended Serenade. “…is important you make me look strong here, things are more complicated than they seem, dangerous even… What?! Who is this? Why do you bother us?” Noticing Wheelman, Nevsky bristled, and he flushed in anger when the elite had finished his request. “Of course she won’t go. She is with me tonight.” What serenade had to say on the matter was another question entirely, but she was uncharacteristically silent.
Gods and Men
The boy responded immediately to Gale’s command, running to join the others in the clearing. He said nothing, though his eyes wandered back towards the forest, as the men around him shifted positions. Several of them moved closer to the statue, sidling over to it on hands and knees, refusing to stand and possibly offend whatever visiting gods had come. Two others crawled towards the area of the forest where the boy had emerged, head hung low even as they scanned the treeline with their eyes.
Daphne felt her heart race as the two men crawled directly toward her and stopped only a few meters away, but she realized after a moment that it was coincidence, they did not actually see her. They spoke to the forest in placating, pleading voices, first in Bodo, then in broken Assamese. With the extra language to use as a guide, and more example words of their native language, the three linguists were quickly absorbing the new language. Gale was especially adept, possibly because of her time spent in the region doing climatological work and bird studies.
“We praise you great ones, and offer you our worship. But please show mercy on us, and pass us by. Durga claims this place, and she will punish us for greeting you. She will harm you for being here, even as she did our god, turned to stone by Durga's mighty Word.”
As they spoke, the men in the forest came closer. Dragon could see movement now, though they were attempting stealth as they crept closer and fanned out to surround the clearing. Phantasm was not positioned as well as Dragon, but she could sense them now too: cracking branches, the smell of soldiers, whispered commands passed between one another.