It was exactly what Nikki had suspected would happen. Names were brought forth. Valid points were made, and, in the end, the two prime candidates to be considered were those pitched by Staci and her lapradoodle.

"I think everyone has valid points. Each candidate has some merit and some flaw. I say we put it up to a silent vote for everyone to consider each candidate on their own worths. Top two candidates. You have to sign your name and you can't vote for your own candidate. Sound fair?" she proposed, but really only looked to Ms. Fritton for support. She knew Staci and Emma were like to just vote for each other's candidates, but hoped it wouldn't be enough to just automatically throw the vote to whomever Staci wanted picked.

She didn't ponder, of course, how petty she was being, simply because she knew that Staci was probably somehow being pettier. A contest within a contest, with some hidden prize only Staci could suss out. Bragging rights or some such. Plausible deniability if it all went wrong somehow, too.

"Sorry Miss, time travel isn't really my thing.  And my suggestion of everything in one place got shot down."  She shrugged, only a tiny amount of passive aggressive sulk in the gesture.  "Although I guess we could get one to possess Cinnamon.  That would put some stops on her and give her the social niceties."  She really did like her succubus plan.  Hopefully once things got past the discussion stage, something else would catch her interest so that the impulsive girl did not summon some denizen of hell just for the fun of it.  "Or we could just force feed her America's Next Top Model for a couple of days I suppose."  She shot a grin in Nikki's direction.

Angharad looked horrified.

"Do not ask me for an opinion, I do not have a clue about such matters. I'm good at what I do but I know what my limits are... beyond them I do not go."

Miss Fritton rose and purloined some paper and a pencil from the table. She divided the paper up and passed the pieces to everyone. "You may abstain if you wish, Angharad, but in te event of a tie, you may be called on to vote. Now, each of you, write down the name of your choice on the paper. I will tally the votes. I think Nikki makes a good point about not voting for your own choice. We can take it as read that you have no objection to their inclusion. Cast your votes, and we shall see which of these commendable young ladies is going to be our raw material."

The democratic process was unusual at the school. Any form of election was riddled with corruption and intimidation. It was quite novel to have one that was free from such influences.

Emma did an admirable job of not flinching or stiffening as her cousin so callously described the Goth culture. She hardly fit into the 'traditional' look that Vanda sported, nor was she the dark tart that Lucy was with her homage to one of Dracula's vixens. It was such a superficial thing to cluster all like minded personas into. If that was the only criteria, Emma could have blended into any number of cliques and her very own would be the last of the list.

She glanced down at the piece of paper and fretted. Her eyes flickered around the room, taking in each of the brain trust carefully. Her lower lip slipped between her teeth and she gnawed with nervousness.

"Miss Fritton, why must we select someone outside this group? I mean, does it not increase the risk of failure by adding more cooks to the kitchen? We have loveliness, intelligence, and scruples represented in here..." She glanced at Nikki, briefly, before her eyes returned to the paper. She doodled a little on the corner of the ballot. "If we're concerned with controlling our puppet, why have a puppet at all?" Her eyes flickered to Eustacia, "If we keep it simple with less moving parts, we increase our chances of success."

Her eyes rose to meet their matron, "If we could choose from those gathered here..." she shrugged a half shoulder and glanced around to anyone for support.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:57, Wed 24 Feb 2016.

Miss Fritton's smile wasw slightly indulgent. "A very valid question, but the answer is something that comes with experience. While I agree that several of you could easily fulfil that role, this was not the task I laid before you. Consider this - the candidate will be forever in the public eye, subject to constant scrutiny, and very probably highly restricted in what they can and cannot risk. There will be things that must be done, things that would be very risky to attempt under such close examination. No, my dear, that would be most inconvenient. And, of course, there is the other reason. The truth is that it is always better to be the power behind the throne, than the poor weary puppet who sits upon it."  She retrieved her glass and inhaled the aroma. "You, my dears, are going to be that power, not the figurehead. Your talents would be wasted in a more decorative role."

"Plus it's easier to convince 'Stacia that her candidate isn't perfect than trying to convince her that she isn't perfect."  Dani offered the girl in question a sunny smile.  Someone needed to remind her ladyship that she didn't rule here, just occasionally.
Dani scribbled her choice on the slip of paper she was handed and folded it twice.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:44, Thu 25 Feb 2016.

Emma flushed crimson, "Yes. Of course. How... short-sighted of me," she murmured, clearly embarrassed. Dani's comment, while striking a chord of truth, was a bit more snarky than required. To be fair, Emma didn't understand the need for backbiting among Miss Fritton's hand picked. She wished each of the girls gathered could simply teat one another politely. Being polite didn't mean one had to like the other; but it certainly preserved time and nerves.

She took to the paper and scribbled her response before folding it neatly in half and returning it to Miss Fritton.

[Private to GM: I don't remember what the name of Nikki's person is, but that is the name that Emma writes down. Bella's too vapid to trust the success of this caper to.]

Vanda pouted for a moment. Right now, the prospect of strutting around wearing a crown, commanding the attention of the judges and basking in the adulation of a congregation, seemed a very attractive prospect. And of course she would be chosen, both as candidate and winner...

But Miss Fritton seemed adamant. And she had a logical point: Vanda could work more magic behind the scenes than she could on stage. Literally.

With a small sigh, she wrote a name on the paper and handed it back to the headmistress.

[Private to Headmistress: Vanda will vote for Belgravia.]

Eustacia considered Danielle with a very cold eye. "I have never claimed that I am perfect. It is merely that I am so much better than anyone else here. But that does not mean I am perfect. Simply superior."

It was hard to be sure whether she meant it or not. There was a slight smile, which could be interpreted several ways. And she was clearly not going to give away anything more. Instead, she carefully wrote on the paper, flowing fine copperplate. She folded it, returned it to the headmistress, and bit a chunk off her cigar with rather vicious finality.

Nikki rolled her eyes quite dramatically at Eustacia's comment. She shared a sympathetic look with Emma that might have said "And that is why we all can't play nice." had she known what the other girl had been thinking moments before. Truth be told, she found Dani's comment bold and funny, unusual for such a young student.

She considered the candidates. Unfortunately, she really did feel that Sharon was the best choice - even in light of Miss Fritton's comments about the Inner Circle being the power behind the throne, so to speak. If they brought someone from outside the Circle into it, then they might even be easier to control and conform. Still, it was what it was. She pondered her choice, then wrote names down on the form. First choice, then second. She didn't really like either.

[Private to Miss Artemis Fritton:

• 1. Lucy West: She's the cleanest palette, in my opinion, easiest to start from scratch on.
• 2. Cindy Richmond: But can we please not refer to her as Cinnamon? That SO sounds like a stripper name!
  

]
This message was last edited by the player at 03:46, Sun 28 Feb 2016.

Miss Fritton took the papers, and examined them closely. Of course, it was improbable that there could have been any cheatig. But paranoia was a way of life at the school. However, she seemed satisfied that all the voting had been done with fairness. "Well, that is a fairly clear result. Miss Richmond will be our contestant of choice. She certainly wits the bill in many ways, but I think you will need to put your heads together to stop her forgetting herself and indulgnig her more... demonstrative tendencies."

She puffed on her cigarette for a moment. "I will have a quiet word with her, and will send her to see you, Vanda. She is your responsibility now. Try to keep her out of trouble - it will not do for her to get an hockey injury, or be photographed chewing on a raw leg of lamb. As to the next task, it must be to get your hands on that vital information. We must have those questions and answers! What approach will you take?"

Emma looked up from her journal when Miss Fritton announced the results, shock plain on her face. She glanced around the room, wondering how her recommendation surpassed that of Nikki and Eustacia.

Her eyes fell to her hands, briefly, before she glanced to Vanda. "Whatever you require, I'm available to you."

Nikki sighed and shrugged, happy but unhappy with the outcome. Cindy had been her third choice, after all. "Same here, but can we please not call her Cinnamon? She sounds like a stripper."

Vanda grinned inwardly at the 'demon' in 'demonstrative', it looked as if they had their succubus after all.

But her levity dropped when Miss Fritton said the animal was her responsibility. That was definitely not funny. Time to get the cauldron out. At least McConnell seemed willing to engage in damage limitation.

She actually smiled, though, at Nikki's comment.

"She probably is a stripper." she offered.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:03, Mon 29 Feb 2016.

"Yeeeeah..." Nikki said, returning the smile. "But that doesn't mean we have to advertise it."

"Perhaps I had better examine her social media profile and... ahem... clean it up a little," offered Angharad.

"Meanwile, if you want to visit the Vague office, I have several routes to the safe, the alarm codes and the wherewithal to make an 'official' Vague ID - they have card readers in the foyer, you see."

Eustacia gave a firm nod, apparently satisfied enough with that result. Her girl had not been chosen, but she was clever enough to know when not to fight a battle when it was clear she could not win.

She returned to her notepad. "Sometimes, Taffy, you can be just a little bit scary. This is why I never put anything online that could be remotely harmful. Not that I'd advise anyone else to do the same. It is fine when other people give us ammunition."

She tapped her pen against her pursed lips. "Cindy... Cinnamon... what name we use depends on who the judges are. We'd better look into who we want to pick, and how to get them on the judging panel. But yes, first things first. We definitely need all that you can find, Taffy. Ideally, we should get in, get what we want, and get out as fast as possible. But we need to case the place just in case there's something not on the internet that we need to know about, like security guard patrol times. A mix of security footage and maybe a trip in person seems like sense."

Vanda liked the thinking.
"I'm sure Vague is haunted by starry-eyed schoolgirls who haven't had the benefit of our sobering education. Perhaps Miss Fritton could arrange a school trip with the Vague management - or perhaps two: one to case the joint and another to do the deed? Once we have a class inside, a small diversion could allow a handful of us to 'go missing' for half an hour..."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:40, Tue 01 Mar 2016.

Nikki sat back and nodded, taking notes at all the points in which she might be called upon to help. She had a varied skillset, so wasn't sure where she should volunteer - or if, in fact, she could work on everything with everyone.

Emma pondered what was being suggested. Her expression turned thoughtful. She took care to choose her words wisely, hoping not to offend anyone by what she was about to propose. "I should think we could easily arrange a tour that doesn't revolve around would-be starlets. It could be under the guise of Leadership; exposing young entrepreneurial minds to a  publication empire. I should think a three part tour that includes job shadowing in various departments would do nicely. It would allow for easy access to all aspects of Vague without incurring suspicion. The first to case the location, the second to commit the act and the third to discover how Vague plans to deal with it, should they discover they've been compromised."

Emma glanced around the room, taking stock of the abilities/specialties gathered. "We all have talents that could be matched with different aspects of a multinational publication - regardless whether we have true interest. We can all feign interest for a few hours. This would allow for maximizing our time and if necessary, provide distractions to allow those responsible for acquiring the necessary documentation to do so unnoticed."

"These are excellent ideas, girls! You will do us proud." She rose and went back to her secret passage. "I shall leave it in your hands. Let me know when you have a plan. I can arrange a visit to Vague in a day or so, it won't be hard to fix something up with the sort of vapid girls they have in PR, I am sure. Just let me know when. And any resources you might need. I would advise taking some muscle along, however. If things go wrong, we will want to fight our way to freedom. Or you will. I won't be going along. It is hardly appropriate, and for the sake of the school, if it does go tits up, I can distance the school by claiming ignorance." She pierced them all with a gimlet eye, Vanda especially. "It won't go wrong, will it, girls? The examinations you are all to sit at the end of term might well be failed if you mess this one up. But the rewards shall be of equal grandeur. Toodle-pip, chicas!"

She vanished into the darkness, and the panel rolled closed behind her with the hiss and bleep of a complex hydraulic locking system. She had thrown in the stick at the end there, to go with the carrot. No pressure, or anything!
This message was last edited by the player at 17:04, Tue 01 Mar 2016.

The future Countess of Barchester drummed on her teeth with her writing implement, making a hollow toc-toc-toc noise. She let her devious, twisty mind consider the task ahead.

"A guided tour would be good, but we can't all go sneaking about around the building. Vanda, are you the sneakiest amongst us? Or maybe Nikki? I think any more than two doing a quick explore might be asking to get spotted. But we probably need to get Angharad and Dani near the safe, and anyone who has expertise as a safecracker. The three of them should be able to tell what is needed to open the safe. All that, while some of us ensure that the staff stay properly distracted. If you want someone to go undercover as an intern, for a longer term of observation, I'm game." Yes. And just think of all the fashion details she would pick up...

She started scribbling more notes. "We've all got handy skills between us. How are we going to do this?"

Vanda pouted at the headmistress's back. She had considerable experience with 'poison chalices' and this was beginning to look very much like one.

"I think Minky is right, we need to look at this on a needs basis. So I think the first thing is to list our objectives, then decide how best to achieve them, and then decide who is best qualified to carry out each task - so we probably need a skills audit too.

"Obviously the Prime Objective is to get someone with needlework skills close enough to the safe to see if it can be opened. We may need needlework to get into the office where it's kept, we'll probably need to disable any electronic security - cameras, alarms, etc. If there are any staff in the office, we'll need to get them out of the way...

"This will have to be either out of hours or during a fire alarm, I'd imagine."

Eustacia turned a page and started writing. "I'll take notes so we have a log of everything. As to when to do this, we cannot risk a fire alarm. Modern fire alarms are automatically linked to the emergency services. We flip that switch, we could be eyebrow deep in firemen in minutes." She paused and looked distant. "Big firemen. With strong jaws. Big, muscular thighs. Rubber boots..." She smiled wistfully. Then shook her head and returned to the work at hand. "No, we can have a snoop around on a field trip, but the actual theft is probably best done at night. Far fewer variables to worry about. Now, skills."

Talking about herself! Her favourite thing!

"Obviously, when it comes to manipulation, disguise, playing mind games, and general all-purpose grifting, I'm pretty well experienced. I am fairly good with gambling, and can hold my own when it comes to throwing lightning. Though I tend to use my magic for healing rather than fighting. I get people to fight for me. I prefer not to get my hands dirty. But if we're in a bind, I do know how to fry anyone who stands in my way. Who wants to go next?"