Ai's eyes dart back and forth between people as she does her best to listen in in Matsudaira from across the room.

06:27, Today: Evie Benoit rolled 13 using 1d10+12, rerolling max with rolls of 1.  Percepting!

20:02, Today: Evie Benoit rolled 11 using 1d10, rerolling max with rolls of (10+1)11.  Added roll as per Ref :).

So 13-11 equals a grand total of 2!

[Private to Referee: I do have a Cyberaudio Suite, assuming it makes the difficulty low enough to make up for another craptastic roll lmao]
This message was last edited by the player at 02:10, Wed 15 Nov 2023.

Sou-rat nods politely as Matsudaira leans in, giving no outward reaction to what he hears. He responds to the information, also quietly.

[Private to Referee: Ibrahim wonders, "They have verified her identity? And what is her doppelganger's angle in all this?"

A few scenarios crossed his mind: this "Ai" could be a decoy to command attention while the real heiress presented herself in safety; this "Ai" could potentially be the real heiress, and the other is the doppelganger attempting to take advantage of the situation; or, this "Ai" is attempting to claim legitimacy, and her game just ran long. Curious.]

Badge listened to Ai, nodding with a relieved face and silent, "Yes.".

His eyes sought out Fennec and waited till she noticed the meaningful look that trailed towards the garage door once she did. 'BE READY TO RUN.'

Then finally, his eyes focused and the bodyguard tried to figure out what the other group was going on about.

---

Trying to listen in and notice any distinct gestures, emotion changes or lip motions.
23:22, Today: Badge rolled 19 using 1d10, rerolling max with rolls of (10+9)19.  Perception.
Roll + 10 Perception = whopping 29!

Feels like I just burned all my luck on this silly roll for any near future :')

Matsudaira and Sou-rat continue their conversation.  Hasegawa remains impatient, pacing like a caged tiger, while Tanaka stands still, watching everyone.

[Private to Sou-rat: "They haven not DNA verified, but Chandra is nearly certain.  We must end this meeting quietly and without arousing suspicion.  Whatever game they are playing, I want those others to continue to be fooled while we return to the office," he says adding some emphasis.]
[Private to Badge: "They haven not DNA verified, but Chandra is nearly certain.  We must end this meeting quietly and without arousing suspicion.  Whatever game they are playing, I want those others to continue to be fooled while we return to the office," Matsudaira says adding some emphasis.]

Sou-rat nods periodically as his conversation with Matsudaira continues.

[Private to GM: "Their mutual animosity is clearly interfering with our ability to negotiate a peaceful settlement," Ibrahim admits "in character." "It is perhaps best that you step away and allow them to resolve this bilaterally, before arranging to speak with Ms. Hikage at a later date. I will do what I can to encourage peace between them."]

Leaning over to "Ai", the bodyguard made some effort to cover his mouth and silently whisper, whilst making an annoyed face, likely complaining about being excluded from the dealings at a glance.

[Private to Evie Benoit: "I think I heard them saying that Ai reached the lawyers, I hope that's Tony's doing, either way we need to bail. They know."]

Ai nodded before leaning close as well. [Private to Badge: "Between Matsudaira and the Yakuza, we're not just gonna be able to run easily. Go talk to Fennec and get ready to move... this is probably a really terrible idea but I'm gonna tell Matsudaira... most of the truth. At least what we were hoping to achieve with this meeting."]

She pulled back and nodded at Badge to indicate that she knew what she was doing before she stepped away and began walking towards Matsudaira and Sou-Rat, hands away from any potential places that may contain a weapon. "Matsudaira-san, may I speak with you about the matter you're discussing right now?" she asked calmly as she slowly and carefully approached.

Turning his head as he hears another approach, Sou-rat steps to intercept Ms. Hikage before she reaches Matsudaira.

"You may not," he says with authority, his hands comfortably behind his back. The exec continues, loud enough for Hasegawa to hear, as well. "It has become clear to Mr. Matsudaira that the animosity between you and your father will prevent us from making any meaningful progress at this time. He will depart, but I am willing to stay behind to help facilitate some form of peaceful break or reconciliation between the two of you.

"Once a peaceful settlement is achieved, Mr. Matsudaira will gladly meet all parties at a safe location agreed on by all to continue the conversation we began."

"Would it bother you to know that if you hadn't invited dear old dad to the party this wouldn't have happened? Because if nothing else, I want you to know that you alone blew this entire thing for everyone." Ai asked Sou-Rat quietly as she approached him, suddenly weaving as she attempted to step around the corpo to approach Matsudaira as she addressed him a little louder. "If he speaks for you now, Matsudaira-san, I'll stay put but if you want the whole story I'm the one you're gonna get it from."

OOC: Geez the dice roller hates me all the time...

07:05, Today: Evie Benoit rolled 15 using 1d10+10, rerolling max ((5)).

Ibrahim doesn't impede her, but he does turn as she steps past him, pacing as necessary to keep himself just behind her shoulder, his hands still clasped behind his back. After she calls out Mr. Matsudaira, he says, quietly and deliberately, "Yes, I erred, but I'm not the attention seeker who orchestrated a very public spectacle of a fake kidnapping. You brought all of this on yourself with your inane deception.

"Mine is the only party here that has dealt honestly with the information we had at hand. Remember that as you seek to trade one lion's den for another," the exec concludes before taking a step back.

Hasegawa moves towards the others before Matsudaira can reply, Tanaka on his heels.  "There will be no discussion with my daughter without my presence; we are here, in good faith, for a three-way negotiation, is that not so?"  Matsudaira's assistant takes a step to the side and puts herself in a combat stance, but does not move to actually interfere.  Matsudaira sighs heavily.

"Let us adjourn, for the moment.  Emotions are high.  We exchange contact information and regroup in two hours at a place of Ms. Hikage's choosing," he suggests looking pointedly at Hasegawa.  Hasegawa meets his glare and the two of them lock eyes, both looking determined to stare the other man onto his knees.

---

Will pause here to see if anyone wants to interfere.

"Oh for..." Ai stops at Sou-rat's words, turning back angrily and getting ready to respond when Hasegawa and Matsudaira both spoke causing her to look at them one more time before focusing. "I! Was! Not! Kidnapped!" She emphasized each word with a finger poke in the chest. "I wasn't kidnapped: not 'real kidnapped', not 'fake kidnapped', I didn't plan a 'public spectacle' or any of this you brainless gonk! You want to know how I found out about all of this heiress insanity? People came into my job and tried to shoot me in front of a room full of customers. Badge, Fennec, all of them were hired to get me somewhere safe until everything settled down and they RESCUED ME FROM BEING KILLED!!! BADGE GOT SHOT MULTIPLE TIMES THAT NIGHT!!!" She shouted on the verge of crying, days of constant running combined with the concept that this still wasn't resolved seeming to break something in the young woman as she turned at looked at Matsudaira still having the stare down with her father. "But everywhere we've gone people keep finding us and trying to kill all of us. I agreed to a two-way meeting with you, Matsudaira-san, because we're all exhausted. I'm tired of running and having to find a new place to stay every day because your late father, for whatever reason, named me as his heir. I wanted to meet with you so that this could be finished, however it was going to be finished, but I would not have come within a mile of this place if I had known he was going to be here and I'm fairly certain that you didn't plan on him being here either."

Sou-rat is nonplussed by Hikage's outburst, completely convinced this was just part of her act. If this was truly a legitimate rescue and not a faked kidnapping, why didn't they give Priest and CSpan any indication of the facts during their negotiation? Facts that would have had no bearing on her safety at the time, and which would've changed the entire focus of the investigation?

False information, omitted information, misleading information. This whole episode is just one giant Charlie Foxtrot; Ibrahim's inner alarm bells scream at him to simply walk away, but his stubborn sense of duty won't let him; he must see this through to the bitter end...even if it means he'll have to find employment outside the Matsudaira sphere to allow the corporation to save face.

When she turns her hysteria away from him, Ibrahim straightens out the effects of her tirade on his jacket and takes a few steps toward Hasegawa. "I am available and willing to continue to assist in that regard," he offers in response to Matsudaira's suggestion.

Having heard some raised voices yelling a bit, Priest got antsy and uncomfortable. He didn't want to just barge in there and make things worse if there was no reason to. What if it was just part of negotiations or something?

He frowned and stood his ground. He looked around to see if he could spot any of the Nomads or Fennec to see how they were reacting, taking his cues from them for the moment.

CSpan continued to pace.  She shrugged at Priest when there was some muffled raising of voices and like him, the platinum-blonde nomad looked about to see of others of the Vulpez clan were reacting.  But, not seeing much more activity, she could only assume that their hosts were as perplexed as they were.  Or that the shouting was expected.  Which given the parties involved seemed both completely in- and completely out-of- character.  The pads of her thumbs continued to brush over the other fingers of her hands to help her stay frosty.

"What sort of guarantee or assurance do I have of your sincerity?" Hasegawa asks Matsudaira, obviously annoyed, even angry, at Ai's outburst.  Matsudaira considers for a moment.

"I give you my word that I will not meet with her," he points to Ai, "without your presence.  Mr. Ibrahim can collect contact information; Ai can notify him of the meeting place, and then he will notify us.  Does that satisfy?"  Hasegawa looks to Tanaka and the latter replies:

"Mr. Ibrahim has been reliable to now."  After a long pause Hasegawa nods slowly, once again under tight control of himself.

"I need not detail consequences if things are otherwise," he says simply, as though stating a fact.

---

OOC:  This is a good point for Sou-rat to step in and collect contact info.

Without skipping a beat, Sou-rat produces his agent and crosses over to Tanaka to confirm his contact information, then returns to Ai to retrieve hers. "Unless you prefer I speak to you through Badge or Fennec," he adds.

Once the data is collected and stored, he steps away from the others and fires a quick text to Priest.

+ Meeting postponed. As soon as Hasegawa and Matsudaira are gone, we should also depart quickly. +

He then sends another to Matsudaira's aide.

+ Does Matsudaira-san need us elsewhere? +

He hopes she understands his meaning.

Priest suddenly stopped dead in his tracks as he got a message. He read it, then read it again. Then he let out a string of curses in Spanish and looked like he wanted to punch something as he moved back and forth for a minute, finally ending with - "Are you fucking KIDDING ME?!?"

He drew in a deep breath and forwarded the text to CSpan. "We gotta fraggin' do this all over again another place and time!"

Cspan simply shook her head slightly, "That's... not great."  It was an understatement, but now she was getting hungry as well with all the talk of food.  She was forced to ignore the grumbling of her stomach, "Ours is not to question why..."

A shrug of the shoulders accompanied her glance at the text, before CSpan's blue lips parted and simply muttered, "Not enough hazard pay..."

Ai looked furiously at everyone before quietly rattling off a phone number for Sou-rat. She then turned on her heel and nodded at Badge and Fennec as she stormed towards the door. Passing Priest and CSPAN, it almost brought out a smile from her to see that at least she wasn't the only one pissed off with how things had unfolded. "Hope whatever your Corpo boss buddy is getting from the Yakuza was worth it." She muttered to them as they passed.

As they approached the car, she spoke quietly to her two companions. [Private to Badge; Fennec: "Tell Tony, wherever they are I'd expect they're gonna see Matsudaira soon. He's planning to give Hasegawa the slip before he meets with her though. Luckily, I think my little outburst gave him enough of our reasoning for why we played it this way even if he didn't get the full story and not the whole truth. The corpo jerk has my burner number but I doubt he'll call us... though if he does I really hope he says that Hasegawa has his balls in a vice and it wasn't just him taking an extra cut on the side... I can at least understand being stuck in a shit situation and trying to come out in one piece."]
This message was last edited by the player at 20:20, Mon 18 Dec 2023.

Sou-rat exits the building and meets his compatriots. "Let's go. We'll talk in the van." He's not interested in hashing anything out in public, and heads for CSpan's van.

[Private to CSpan; Priest; Referee: Once they're away from listening ears, Ibrahim explains, "The woman we met is not Ai Hikage. I was informed by Mr. Matsudaira that the real Ai Hikage arrived at the estate attorney's offices a short time ago. The attorney is nearly certain of her veracity; as a result, we ended the meeting prematurely without giving any reason, other than the animosity between Hasegawa and the false Ai.

"As part of our ruse, I obtained contact information from Hasegawa's aide Tanaka and the false Ai for a 'future meeting,' which will likely never happen," he adds. "We have not yet been given further instructions, although I have inquired with Mr. Matsudaira's assistant as to whether our assistance is needed. For now, we should go get something to eat and lay low until we hear from the client."]

Hasegawa and Matsudaira and their seconds also depart.  Matsudaira and his aide return to the waiting limo which departs soon thereafter.  Everyone else leaves the Vulpez Chop Shop before Hasegawa and Tanaka.

[Secret to Sou-rat: Matsudaira's Aide replies to the text after they are in the car. "File a voucher for any expenses.  The assembled team appeared to be three: yourself, driver and a third.  We will deposit 3,000 euros into your account to cover standard rate for an assignment of this caliber.  Your position with the Company is secure and we may have further use for you in this matter.  Suggest you request through HR a change of residence, it will be approved.  Thank you."  ]

Priest stalked after Sou-rat, his strides empowered with a bit more spring in them from frustration, muttering things very quietly in Spanish to himself.

[Private to CSpan; Referee; Sou-rat:Once in the van, he listened and his angry frowning face slowly subsided to more of a confused frown. "Uhhh...what??" He blinked several times as he tried to process. "So...who was THAT girl? And this was...what? Just all theater? he asked as he spread his hands wide.

Then his eyes widened. "Wait, wait, wait...did we just make an enemy of the Yakuza? Cause they're gonna be mucho fuckin' pissed when they found they been played, right?"]

CSpan watched the girl and her bodyguard exit the building.  She let the quip about the Yakuza roll over her, but kept her tongue.  On Vulpez ground, it didn't make any sense to try and pick a fight she couldn't win.  Besides the tone of the insult smacked of her lashing out, which made it sound like nobody died but nobody got what they wanted either.

Thankfully, Sou-rat exited the building (physically) unharmed, at least.  The platinum blonde breathed a sigh of relief.  Hitting her vehicle before her passengers, CSpan unlocked Auwana and ushered everyone in before strapping in herself.

Immediately jumping to life, the van was pulling out into the flow of traffic before any specific instructions or directions could be given.  Leaving the area trumped a destination, apparently.[Private to Priest; Referee; Sou-rat: Calling over her shoulder, CSpan sounded both incredulous and skeptical, "If we have a couple of hours, and we're gonna die by Yakuza... Where is our last meal?  Pozole?"  She was obviously listening to the conversation and interested in the answers and speculation, but was contributing by focusing on the road.  She did her best thinking on the move.]

Badge walked alongside Ai, still on edge and scowling sourly, but even he started to relax slightly as the tense negotiations were over, for the moment. As they headed towards their ride, the bodyguard promptly nodded towards his client and fished out a dusty agent from his patched coat pocket, beginning to type a message.

[Private to Tony Silver: Message from Badge arrives to Tony's agent, "Meeting over somewhat inconclusively, Matsudaira is likely on his way over to you. Beware Sou-rat, the Arab inkman. He plays all sides for some reason. Can you send Fennec the location where we'll meet up?"]

[Private to Evie Benoit; Fennec: "Ugh, I need a drink and maybe a Med Center visit. But definitely a drink." Grunting as he got in the car, Badge looked at both of the young women in turn and nodded with respect. "We did our part. Sorry about the slap, Evie. Luckily, you're an incredible actress and still pulled it off."]