"Outstanding, there's a number of things I'd like to discuss, however, I'm waiting to receive some reports 1st that might have a bearing on our discussions." At that, the Count, signals for Del Vinian glass to be filled.

While the drink is being poured, Darrell texts everyone, "Del Vinian is here to discuss business, ideas?"

Confused by the, for Aslan, hostile behavior of Count Darrel Khea tries to diffuse the situation a bit, or at least stall for time.

"Allow me to introduce myself. KheaiftouawofRiy'SaikhofromHrike." stringing her name and origin together like she would in Aslan, "Former trade captain".

"It is an honor to meet a noble Aslan," Del Vinian replies to Khea. "I hope you'll pardon any etiquette faux pas I might make; I've never met an Aslan before. I'm not even sure if our company has ever done any business with them."

"I am Del Vinian. My only title is 'Executive Vice President', which sounds more grandiose than it really is. It certainly does not compare to yours."

"As it is for me" Khea replies, finishing the sentence with a big smile which, for Aslan, would be a grave insult. She figures that he won't know that and even if she could pretend to just wanting to use human customs. And its not as if he seems to have much fight in him anyway considering how many insults from Count he let slide.

In either case, insulting someone of such high status and likely getting away with gives her some inner satisfaction, even if he doesn't recognize it.

Makes sure drinks and food have arrived. Nods towards Khea, "She's a trusted companion and confidant, it's hard to find that sort of friend in these troubled times".

Looks at the limited replies from his query..."Well, it seems my queries were baseless."

Leans back, takes a swig and then leans forward, motioning Mr. Del Vinian to come in closer, "Sir, I'm interested in your past dealings with certain holdings, and thought that your valuable insight might be invaluable."

Taps his finger on the table, getting his attention,

"Honestly, there's forces at work, far above me, that are interested in Ondrac BioCorp and it's Shenarra Project. I think we both realize, once the Imperium is involved, and being a family member of that...there is but one choice."

"Let's enjoy our meal",food/drinks are brought out.

OOC: Signals for Mr. Tolman "ready for action."

Takes a bit of his food, enjoying the finesse and quality of the meal.

"I might be completely wrong about you, are you one of the good guys?"

Del Vinian's failure to take umbrage is due to me not understanding that any insult was intended.


"Ah, yes. Well, I'm told the SEC, the Better Business Bureau, and police and a dozen other investigative agencies all about it," Del Vinian replies. "As the saying goes, the buck stops here. There was no crime involved, just a large accounting error. Ten million credits went missing, so naturally somebody had to be to blame. Ultimately it came down to me."

"It turned out there never was MCr10. The amount was entered incorrectly, and just kept getting carried forward. Everyone built what turned out to be a house of cards on that huge profit margin."

"For a suitable separation package, I was persuaded to fall on my sword. As you've no doubt determined, it wasn't as fatal as it could have... perhaps should have been."

"As for this... Shenarra Project? I've never heard of it, but then again, I wasn't involved in R&D... if that's what it is. It sounds vaguely R&D, doesn't it? Cryptic but probably significant to those involved with it."

"I'm a corporate businessman, an officer, if you will. I'd say it's up to you whether that makes me one of the good guys or not."

He takes a few sips from his glass of Starfire Blue orange-flavored vodka, his favorite. He doesn't seem at all concerned about the line of questioning, nor disappointed that the Count doesn't have an actual business offer.

On the other hand, his frequent sips could be a sign of worry, an attempt to mask his concern.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 16):



Taking another bite and a sip, enjoying the meal, "Yes, sometimes nobility can be found in institutions, in fact, in many cases, with matters of honor, which seems to be lacking in many cases...I find it strange that it's the men of merit that always seem to be the ones that always get sacrificed 1st...As you say, it could have or perhaps should have been worse, maybe even fatal."

Looks across the table to Del Vinian, "It's interesting this fall on sword concept has survived since Humanti has leaped into the stars, I've always held those few individuals, having such high honor, willing in death, to take responsibility for failure even if it's not their own, it's amazing when you think about it. Such a higher moral code..amazing."

Fills Del Vinian's glass of Starfire Blue orange-flavored vodka personally, leans in close, "Do you think it's a coincidence a Count is here asking you these questions, about an accounting problem of a measly 10MCR of a minor company, I think we both realize, my sources are interested in something a bit more shady. Unsanctioned R&D projects operating without official oversight, perhaps weaponized technology, whatever...these are possible charges that fall under Imperial jurisdiction...meaning, there is no, I'll call my companies lawyers, it's someone getting stuffed into a lowberth and waking up somewhere very, very unpleasant".

Leans back, smiling, "Fine choice of a drink, I'm a whiskey man myself. I've always been fascinated by new technology, this Shenarra Project perks my interest, perhaps you can enlighten me. Given your limited knowledge."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:05, Sun 18 Jan 2015.

Khea watches the exchange between Count and DelVinian in silence without touching the food brought to her at all. It is much too early to eat and the day isn't over yet and her experiments with humaniti liquor has left her queasy anyway.
Out of politeness she pokes around her plate a bit to see if there even is some actual food hidden between the vegetables while listening to the strange concept of honor they seem to have.

In a peripheral manner, Darrell watches Khea trying to gauge her actions, although, frankly... She's got to be adaptive to us. Something to figure out later.

Waiting for Del Vinian's response.

Calls over Mr. Tolman, "Can you cut his comms, isolate him?"

The idea, provide unpleasant facts, make him admit to whatever, and get him under control.

All the guys receive a comm from Sam

"New development means we have an earlier deadline to meet as well, at Midnight. We need to be at the Submersible no later than 2200 to have a chance of meeting this. Don't be late! Sam.".

ooc

posting this in case yr not following my thread, hope that's ok?

Del Vinian doesn't seem to be following the Count's words at first, probably passing it off as Noble chatter. But when he starts talking about secret projects, Vinian's expression doesn't change but his eyes seem to take on a hardness that wasn't there a moment ago.

"Ten mega-credits may not be much to you, sir, but it is a lifetime of wealth on this planet!" he replies. "Any industrial company has projects going. The more potentially profitable the project, the more secret it is bound to be."

"If a company did, indeed, have a project going under the name Shenarra, no doubt it would be inspired by Professor Shenarra. I might even go so far as to hazard a guess, based on the Professor's research into the grendels, that it might have something to do with longevity. But, of course, that would just be wild speculation."

"I believe it was Rothesby in Personnel that mentioned her last project on Drexilthar was conducted in an underwater dome. That is also preposterous, is it not? Who would want to work underwater like that?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:06, Sun 25 Jan 2015.

While the others are talking Khea checks the incoming message on her communicator. Considering how few people on the planet have her number it likely is important.

After reading SamanthaKilgore's message she interrupts in a suitable moment and says to Count.
<Aslan> You have to hurry. We must be done at midnight.

Listening carefully to Del Vinian, thinking about as much as what isn't implied as what is..."Not only are you discreet, but wise. Hypothetically speaking, something like that would be some sort of serum, or something along those lines."

At Khea's interruption, "Yes, of course, we mustn't be late, however"...looking at DV, "Sad to say, I must cut this short, a prior commitment to law and order has pushed things forward...I'd like to hear your final comments before I submit my findings."

"As just a mental exercise, in case I was ever put in charge of such a project," Del Vinian responds to Darrel's parting comment, "I considered the logistics of using an underwater dome as a means of secrecy and security, both internal and external. I thought there were quite a lot of positives."

"Yes, there would be some negatives... claustrophobia, cabin fever, accessability. To maintain safety, security and secrecy, access would have to be via a submersible. And it couldn't be very deep, so I thought maybe running it like the military... shore leave every so often. It'd give the workers an immediate goal... you know, a week of work gets them a day of shore leave."

"The submersible would dock in someone boathouse. That way, it'd never be seen above water. The purchase of the boathouse, the dome and the submersible would be through third parties, with no corporate connections. I mean, like Saul in accounting would get his aunt to purchase something, perhaps not even knowing she did it. Bill's cousin would do another purchase. That sort of thing. That way, there's no direct connection to the company, so no real electronic or paper trail."

"Anyway, this was all speculation. It's the way I decided I'd have done it. As with all such plans, though, it doesn't always turn out that way in reality. It was sort of like what you'd do with the money if you won the lottery. Never won a lottery, either."
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:08, Sat 31 Jan 2015.

"Makes sense, in a theoretical world. With that said, it's been a pleasure to make your acquaintance, please enjoy the rest of your evening."

Shaking Del Vinian's hand, Darrel gets up and is ready to leave.

OOC:Khea, was there anything you wanted to add?

Khea also stands up and says to DelVinian A pity that our business did not allow us to prolong this evening

Heads back to the limo. "Alright, let's head to the link-up point."

As we travel, reviewing in his mind the conversation with Del Vinian...Although I still don't know exactly what it is, he gave enough clues to do research.

Activating Agent...

Search;
Professor Shenarra, research into Grendels, longevity... corralling it all...Not being a scientist, but, anything that would involve longevity...Ahhh!?! Anagathics...

A BING moment, even before that data came through...Anagathics. Generally outlawed, high tech, very expensive...this would be HUGE.

The Count ponders, waiting to see what the program comes up with...while we head to the marina.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:30, Fri 30 Jan 2015.

Khea has her bought gun on her lap and is studying its opetions and repair instructions. "Unless we have to drag a Grendel out of there this information doesn't sound all that useful. If time wasn't so short I would rather look into this idea of having a covert submersible. Finding that would give us the exact location of the dome and possibly the access codes to the dome.

Agent does not come up with much. Shenarra isn't in its database.

Locally, however, it uncovers a few 'rumors' that the grendals are lone-lived. There is mention of a particular grendal that was encountered 300 years ago, and supposedly again 2 years ago.

As the grendals may be at least semi-intelligent, little research has been done on them.

Smiling at Khea's comments, they help connect a couple of dots in his thinking, providing another piece to the puzzle. "Absolutely, kind of a Trojan horse idea, I like it."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:24, Sat 31 Jan 2015.

Khea pauses for a moment and tries to figure out what a Trojan horse idea is, but gives up after a few seconds and continues examining her gun.
But even if that boat really exist it won't help us much now without the time to even search for it.

"As I understand the situation, you are under a deadline, one that the people in this dome are well aware of," Tolman interjects. "Unless the Powers That Be are planning on destroying the dome and everything and everyone in it, their submersible would be in the dome at this point, would it not, so that the people can escape?"

"Or am I misunderstanding what Miss Khea said?"

"You are, but you raise an interesting point.


What instead of going inside the dome we wait till they come out, hopefully with whatever we seek?"

Having a set idea of action...listening to the constructive back and forth...the Count's thinking turns on it's head...

"That's actually brilliant. The trick question is the logistics of it..how to make it happen and us being at the right place and time?"

OOC:When shall we convert to the marina?

You can switch to the Marina thread anytime you want.