MoonMan
Inactive Member
The wooden doors, under the force of Kokuten's body hurtling against them, splintered at the handle, granting him access to the room with a solid crack of splintering wood around the metal locking mechanisms.
Kokuten was presented with a markedly different version of Cassefin Montreal's quarters from the last time he had visited. While normally very neat and kept, the living room, dining room, office and study, showroom, everything was a mess. There were books piled up everywhere, huge stacks of paper and the unmistakable blue-and-white mesh of blueprint-style printings laid out on every flat surface available. Volumetric screens lay suspended in midair above the mess on the floor, displaying floorplans for rooms, starships, a huge number of things that Kokuten could not even understand. A few of them depicted real-time camera images of several areas of the Cirrus Station as well. Closer inspection revealed to the captain that this mess wasn't made through struggle; it appeared to be a sort of organized chaos, one made by someone working far too hard without time or inclination of keeping things clean.
In the center of all of this, sitting down in one of the few empty seats at the once-pristine wooden dining table, was Cassefin Montreal, apparently alive and well. She wasn't wearing her lab coat, instead clad in her usual vestments of khaki capris, purple vest and a bright red kerchief tied loosely around her neck. She was sitting amidst a small pile of broken glass and what appeared to be a broken medical kit, the white-and-red box split and broken at the hinges with its contents spilled out on the floor at her feet. Cassefin was holding a small blue pillow-like object against the top of her head, staring wide with slightly misty eyes at the man. As Kokuten burst through the door, she flinched back at the sudden intrusion, her legs lifted a bit as she drew in her knees in reaction, but almost immediately settling back as her eyes went from surprised saucers to stern glares. "HEY!" She screamed at the CSS captain, keeping the object pressed on her head as she sat straight up and at attention. "What the crap Chiaki?! You wrecked my door!" The woman spat at him angrily, wincing a bit and drawing in air between her teeth after she had finished. She grumbled coarsely under her breath, pressing the blue pack harder to her head.
As he stepped in the door, Kokuten looked ready to tear something apart. The desperation on his face was palpable, still half-shocked that he was able to splint the door with just one punch. Yet, something was wrong with that heroic charge into the woman's chambers. Something had given him great pause. Something enormously and terribly wrong was happening here, and all it took was quick glance around the room. He saw it all, he didn't even need to inspect it to know. The realization of how wracking this was sent a cold shiver up his spine.
There was nothing wrong.
Save for a mess, and what looked like a clumsy accident, there was nothing wrong. Kokuten looked lost, as if he had been running to school, and only just now stopped to realize he had been running the wrong way. Had he gone somewhere else? Was he thinking straight? Where was Odette?
"C-Cassefin...?" Kokuten's voice came out weak, a little less than lucid, speaking to her as if he knew her name but not the face. The man was still trying to come down from the high of chasing an assassin. He looked around, as if trying to find demon's in the dark. It took him a moment, but he was able to focus back onto her, rubbing his bruised cheek softly, "Are you... Are you alright?"
"Uh, yeah?" Cassefin said in a slightly annoyed tone, wincing in pain again she she tilted her head into the blue pad atop her head. "Besides this huge knot on my head. Which I got when somebody tried to break into my room while I was getting my stylus from underneath my table," Cassefin shot an accusatory glance at Kokuten. From the looks of the contents on the floor, Cassefin must have bumped her head against the table and broken a glass during the surprise, and was in too much of a hurry to bother opening the small medical kit the normal way, given that it looked as though she had actually thrown it on the ground instead. "Nice job on the door, by the way. Do you know how much that cost me? That's real oak, you know!"
"I... I th-th-thought..." stuttered Kokuten, at a complete loss for words. He took a few steps towards her, before leaning against one of her bits of furniture. The Medic looked back at the door, and then at his hands, oaken splinters still caught in the recesses of the arm's plating. It took almost a minute for him to speak again, before he looked at her with light-blue eyes. "No one was here before me? You didn't see a woman come in... or... I..." What was he saying? There was no other way up here.
He threw a cautionary glance back down the hall-way, half-expecting some raven-haired shadow of death to come skulking through the freshly made opening.
There was nothing in the hallway. Not a sound, nor a peep.
"Just you, Chiaki," Cassefin watched Kokuten stumble her way, some of her anger growing into concern. She noticed a growing bruise on his face, squinting her eyes a bit to discern it at the distance that she was. "... jeez, you look like crap. Did you break my door with your face? Why are you even here, aren't you supposed to be on patrol in Popjoy's lab?"
He appeared to ignore her for a moment, the situation still sinking in for him. Everything was coming together. Odette flinched a slight when she watched her superior sock the man in the face. There was a look of surprise in her eyes, the eyes of a woman who vouched for the goodness in Laj's heart. It had all seemed so abnormally cruel. A good gambler doesn't just throw his cards away if they hand looks bad, that wasn't the kind of man Laj was. A reassignment to some backwater station? Marines bought off to enhance his pace, threatening Cassefin to put the utmost urgency into the situation? Suddenly it all became very real, and his eyes became very green.
"I... needed to... make sure... you... were... okay," Kokuten started slapping a slipshod confession together. The embarrassment was only slightly noticeable through the small redness on his face, though that could've been the blood rushing up there. Still, the last thing she needed to know was that Laj was snooping around on the station like some kind of street-rat, "I was, uh..." He took a breath, clearing his throat as his eyes turned onto her, "very worried."
But then again, Kess will probably let her know when she comes crawling out of this... man-cave.
Any past aggression that Cassefin had seemed to melt away into a more serious gaze, her red eyes fixated onto the out-of-breath captain. The pain of her knot seemed to take a backseat as she took off the blue icepack, holding it in both hands as she leaned forward a bit in her seat. "Okay. Why were you worried? Tell me the truth Chiaki," Cassefin said intently, her eyes flicking around his face as well as his body, as though searching for the answer about his person. "... and where is your pin?"
Cassefin wasn't wrong. The cloud-shaped pin that Kokuten had slapped to his chest was, at the moment, gone from sight. Kokuten slapped his chest, and then other, then his sides, quickly looking himself up and down. He checked his boots, his arms, his legs... It was no where to be found.
"I... I-I had it earlier..." Kokuten pawed at himself, looking very disoriented at his plight. The soldier's face was slowly turning to that of scorn. Laj had kicked him in more places than one. "I... I guess... I... misplaced it..."
"Misplaced it where." Cassefin said, more of a statement than an actual question. Her serious gaze was quickly turning into a discerning glare. She had his number, that much was obvious. "Why did you want to check on me. What's happening."
Here we go. The Lady's asking for it. Go ahead. Tell her Laj duped you for telling his secret. Oh, and while you're at it, let her know of all those ridiculous lengths you went to get up here. She's really gunna love this.
"Ohkay..." sighed Kokuten, squatting down onto his heels, putting his face into his palm, "You can... believe me, or... not believe me."
"It all started when I was talking with Puri--," Kokuten cleared his throat, "Administrator Popjoy. We got to talking about clouds... and things, and then we started talking about you. We were both very concerned... Well, a lot of people are. So... I took it upon myself to check on you, make sure you were in good health... and then... When I got to the elevator... I sort of..." Armored gauntlets rolled over eachother in an odd gesture as Kokuten tried to explain himself, "... Blacked out. Kess said I just... disappeared, but I... Uhm..." He scratched his head, "This next part is going to be hard to believe, but ah..."
Cassefin stood up, tossing the icepack on the ground. Her face turned away from Kokuten as she strode down into her study, the glass cases full of her trophies and accomplishments covered in volumetric screens and hastily-placed blueprints of unknown structures obscuring the objects behind them. "Pull it together Chiaki. Laj was here, right? Or Marissa? What happened. Tell me quick," Cassefin said, revealing her surprising knowledge of the situation as she sifting through the messy contents of the tabletop. searching for something amidst the chaos.
Silence. Pure silence, if not just for a few seconds. Things were getting more and more rattling to the Captain.
"Laj. I got pulled to the near-by corridor," explained Kokuten more lucidly now that he didn't have to contain that little fact. There was still that less-than-clear look on his face whether or not he was dreaming, "The maintenance area. He cuffed me, held me in place with two of these thugs. He wasn't happy I told you what I told you. He hit me a few times, and we argued." The Doctor began to pace, his boots clanking over the floor as he began to pace, the pacing of his words speeding up, however, "He started unraveling this garbage, started saying how he was going to have you killed. Then he says he's going to have me transferred, with Marines wandering the station looking for me. He sent Captain Swann off with a gun, and he skipped off."
As the situation started to tighten around Kokuten's neck, pressing his already sensitive grasp on reality, he began spouting words quickly as he remembered them, "They were going to hold me down until my supposed fate, but... I mean... I thought they were going to kill you! So, I flipped my arms back, stabbed the two holding me, slipped out of my cuffs, and ran the hell up here as fast as I could. When I heard the glass," He tilted to one side, a slightly annoyed face as he realized he was already getting to the point where he had began duping it up, "I thought she was already in here. I got desperate, so I knocked down the door, and," His arms went up in the air, "here we are."
"Kill me, huh. That's... pretty extreme," Cassefin said, a small bit of concern lacing her voice as she frantically rummaged through the contents of the desk. Soon, she would produce what she had been searching for; a simple round pen-like stylus. With it, Cassefin began manipulating the numerous 2-dimensional volumetric screens littered about her study, flipping through them like pages in a book. Every so often she would come across one tab which was of apparent interest to her and, using the stylus, pulled the image from the cluster and positioned it off to a vacant space in the room. This procedure of sifting through the images and obtaining a select few went on for a small while, until she suddenly pulled the last one she felt she needed and swept the rest away into another corner of the room.
The three she selected were not still images or schematics, but three surveillance feeds. Each of the live images depicted one of the several docking bays located throughout the Cirrus; Kokuten could tell from the shape of the room, and the large doors that, when opened, led out into space. Each of the three docks in the images had ships present in them, both Cirrus Station crew and workers from the visiting vessels themselves occasionally shuffling into the view of the ceiling-mounted surveillance camera. Cassefin looked over the three for a moment, squinting her eyes and staring with critical attention. "... were they wearing disguises? Uniforms, maybe? Do you remember any color patterns, or maybe emblems or icons?"
The Captain squinted his eyes to look at the images Cassefin pulled up, the surveillance feeds a little ways away from him. Yet his sharp, cyberized vision, needed no coaxing to focus on them. It seemed that the Head Administrator was quick on the uptake, but he need to be quick on the rebound. So, his eyes went dark, and he replayed a little bit of his video like memory. Visual memories were easier to recall, having received them in convenient, digital packages for most of his life.
"Yeah, they were wearing certain bits... They weren't in normal Cirrus attire... In fact, they were wearing company hats, Odette specifically. Laj's was grey, I remember that much from the light. The two thugs that were with them were wearing gray and blue-coveralls, but they shouldn't wake up for another two hours," was his report, carefully pulling a few minute details, "They had no facial coverings, so they're likely relying on being unnoticed, and unseen by the cameras."
"Gray and blue... gray and blue..." Cassefin almost immediately drew up the volumetric screen in the center of the trio, depicted a rectangular transport ship of the same color Kokuten had described. Cassefin smiled in a sly fashion as she noted the company emblem and name along the side of the vessel. "Sonne Chemical, eh? We've had a business contract with them for liquid sodium and hydrogen, mostly, for the past two years. Deliveries every month. Turns out their parent company's parent company works for Yarson Shipping Co., which is a front for~? Yep, Vinross Yu Aeronautical Aptitudes," the red-haired administrator explained with a confidant smirk, adjusting the zoom of the roof-mounted camera closer to the ship in question. Someone had being doing some research. After a certain amount of zoom, a small, white, cloud-shaped icon appeared at the bottom corner of the screen, prompting yet another sly grin from Cassefin's mouth. "And there it is."
Cassefin lashed her hand out, stylus flared, in Kokuten's direction. From behind the security captain, another volumetric screen zoomed towards its creator, the incorporeal screen passing directly through Kokuten on its way to Cassefin, who promptly set it next to the original. This new screen was blank, but after a second or so of being in close proximity to the original live camera feed, a similar cloud icon appeared at the bottom corner of it as well. Another moment later, and an image fizzled into view on the second screen.
From the looks of the image, it was the inside of a transport shuttles cargo bay. The image had been brought up just as a familiar figure came into view, approaching the camera from the open unloading door at the rear of the cargo ship. It was Odette Swann, still wearing the Sonne Chemical workers coveralls. As she approached the camera, the image seemed to rise a bit, but after a moment of travel, Odette's face and upper body disappeared from view , leaving only a few of the baggy material around her waist. "They're alright. You were right, Master Laj; he did use velserine, and some sort of anesthetic. They're in the pilot's room recuperating," Odette spoke, the volumetric screen sounding her voice with a slight grainy static, but clear enough to easily discern. "Do you really think he will risk going after the Head Administrator?"[/i]
Then, there was Laj Vinross Yu's voice, coming from somewhere off-camera. The volumetric display continued to only see Captain Swann's disguised midsection as the sly CEO began to reply to her. "I'm not 100% certain, although I personally think he will. He escaped, didn't he? He actually thinks there are military here to obtain him, too, I'd wager. Probably wondering why he hasn't run into any at this point."
"If you were in his shoes, would you do the same?" Odette asked, a small amount of apprehension discernible from her tone.
"Probably. We will find out, once the connection establishe-Ah ha! Eureka," Laj's voice exclaimed in small triumph, the screen shaking a bit at Laj's words. Cassefin watched silently, her eyes transfixed on the screen, a look of extreme determination on her face as Laj's voice continued to emit from the volumetric screen, filling the room from different angles all at once. "Well well, looks like he did make it. Cassefin looks to be alive and well, too. Awful mess about. But... what is she... looking at..."
The reaction between Cassefin and Laj was instantaneous and mirrored with uncanny unison. The volumetric display from Laj's point of view began to blur and wave out of view; he was no doubt spinning around and about his body, looking for whatever device was transmitting to Cassefin. At the same time, Cassefin immediately stood up and strode to where Kokuten was sitting. The woman gripped Kokuten by the shoulder, beginning to frantically look around the exterior of his body for a similar device. "Chiaki! Did Laj touch you somewhere? Did he hold you somewhere where he could have planted a device on you?" Cassefin whispered under her breath to Chiaki, while behind her Laj continued to look around for the offending object on his end of the station.
Kokuten's blood ran cold as he saw the room seemingly from his own view of it. There was a small pause as he processed this line of thought.
"He struck me in the face twice, and had me out cold for an indiscernible amount of time, it could be anywhere on my armor," whispered the Captain, looking himself up and down. There was mild search until a thought came to mind, without even looking at the video feed. He leaned forward a bit, and held his hand in front of his face. For a second, there was just the whirring sound of servos, and then...
Out came his gun-metal eyes. Kokuten leaned back up, his lids closed, holding both eyes back towards himself, the LEDs staring back at himself, looking for alternatives. "Perhaps he hacked my eyes?"
"Highly doubtful..." Cassefin said in a light tone, paying more attention to her search of the man's face and neck than the man behind it. Before long, as Cassefin smoothly ran her hand around the rung of Kokuten's chestplate, her eyes lit up as she found what she had been searching for; a small, black circle, reflective like a flat onyx marble. Gripping the object in her clenched fist, she gave Kokuten a look of extreme pity. Behind her, Laj Vinross Yu continued to scramble through his person for Cassefin's bug. "Guess he fooled you again, hm?"
Kokuten threw his eyes back into the sockets, letting them roll around a moment.
"Oh yes, because I was in the situation to really think about what was going on when he was threatening to murder you." spat the man, rather coldly, as he stood up and brushed himself off. The Captain tossed his sight back towards the vid-screen revealing Laj's position. "I think I know why we can see him, though."
Instead of immediately answering the man, Cassefin pulled her head upward a bit in indignation and pushed Kokuten back down into the chair with her free hand. Before he could retaliate or voice his protests, however, Cassefin moved her hand onto Kokuten's shoulder, carefully keeping him seated. The red-haired Head Administrator leaned down towards him and gently placed her lips in the center of his forehead, still slightly hot from his earlier run for the sake of her life. The young woman pulled back and gave him and earnest smile, holding up her balled fist containing Laj's listening device. "Well, you messed up the right way this time, captain. Thank you."
Clack. A singular, blink was the initial response to that. He put a hand to his chin, gripping it a little bit, before throwing a light red gaze to the side.
"You're... welcome." Kokuten said it as if he were trying to fumble around some sort of errant pride, but it was truly confusion of the oddly affectionate gesture. He cleared his throat, trying to regain his focus on the situation. Those gun-metal fingers of his sunk into the plush of the chair he was in, while his other hand pointed at the screen. "Can we detain them?"
Cassefin cast a sidelong glance to her left, shaking her hand a bit as she pondered the answer to the question. "Tempting... but I've been planning this for a while. I've got something better," the woman hinted enigmatically as she released Kokuten and whirled around, striding towards the volumetric screen in her study and showroom. Laj had, by that point, discovered what Cassefin had probed him with; it was a simple, white-plated cloud-shaped pin, undoubtedly the one Kokuten had just realized he had misplaced. The screen now depicted the image of Laj Vinross Yu looking down at the miniaturized camera in his hand, looking positively bewildered in his Sonne Chemical disguise. A bit off to the side, Odette Swann also gazed into the small object's range of view, looking quite worried and at a loss of what to do.
"Something better?" Kokuten's interest was piqued at that, drumming his fingers attentively on the chair he was in, "Better, how?"
As Cassefin approached the volumetric screen, holding Laj Vinross Yu's bug out in front of her so that he may receive a solid view of her and her serious, critically-narrowed brow. The businessman took only a second or so to recompose himself, reassuming the poker-faced smile he was so well at portraying. He knew that he had been caught, but it was apparent from his lax demeanor that he was not too worried about the implications.
"Professor Montreal," Laj greeted her with a smile and a casual wave. "I'm glad to see that you're alright."
"And why wouldn't I be, Mr. Vinross Yu?" Cassefin returned with a stolid stare. The woman reached forward with the hand holding the listening device, lightly placing it against the glass case window behind the volumetric display. The small device stuck there, allowing Cassefin her full range of emotionally-charged gestures... which she squandered for the moment by simply folding her arms across her chest.
"Well. You hadn't been heard from for a good few weeks," Laj stated in an aloof fashion, his knowledge of the situation not all that surprising, given the recent events. Following Cassefin's suite, Laj lifted the small device and placed it on a storage crate in front of him, motioning behind himself as he did so. In the rear of the room, Odette Swann immediately moved towards a simple shutter door that separated the moderately small loading bay of the vessel, shutting herself in with Laj, leaving the four people 'alone' in two-way communication. "I was worried that you might be in danger."
"Oh. How considerate of you," Cassefin said with a sarcastic, slightly venomous tone, her arms tightening around her chest as she began to glare familiar dagger directly at the small device to emphasize her distaste. Laj could only smile at her objections, however, his wry smile growing every so slightly. "Come now, administrator. There's no need for that sort of attitude. I can see quite clearly that you are just fine, and I feel I must apologize to Captain Chiaki for running along with my little ruse," Laj explained, Odette Swann having returned to his side after she had closed the privacy screen. The man turned to his subordinate and waved her to the front of the room to the pilots seat. He was intending to leave as he had come. "So now that I know you're well, we can part ways quietly. No need to raise a fuss, after all."
Cassefin's mouth began to curl into a sneering growl at Laj's seemed assurance of his position over her. The woman's head tilted forward and her body scrunched up, as a feral predator crouching before striking its prey. However, instead of exploding in her usual fashion, the red-haired woman suddenly stood back up, tossing her head side to side for a moment, her tightly-wound ponytail flapping behind her, the scowl turning into an unsettling smile, speaking with an equally unsettling tone.
"But good sir, are you not curious as to what I've been working on?"
Without waiting for his answer, Cassefin uncrossed her arms and held her universal pointer stylus aloft. A gentle flick of her wrist send one of the several volumetric screens softly soaring to the area directly behind her. Another followed the first, and then another, until in quick succession all of the rooms floating screens were neatly filed one after another behind the red-haired Head Administrator. Laj and Odette watched this happen, Laj with mild amusement as his uninterested gaze followed the images. Cassefin's face displayed a sudden, fleeting mild annoyance at the man's aloofness, but she quickly pulled back into a smug grin.
The first pictures in the organized 'stack' displayed what appeared to be a floor plan to some sort of building, the navy and royal blue hues identifying it as a sort of schematic. The specifics of the rooms were not present, nor were the contents; it was a bare-bones schematic, occupied only by the simplest of architectural measurements and dimension information. The only real outstanding feature of the image was a single room located on the skirts of the floorplan, filled with a pleasant neon orange, in stark contrast to the conventional blue colors. "I've been looking over some popular architecture. Trying to learn a thing or two about design for a new lab," Cassefin said, releasing a short squeaking yawn as she spoke, flipping her stylus as she spoke. The floorplan in front of the stack flipped itself around, revealing another completely different building schematic, this one with two orange-tinted areas.
Laj watched Cassefin go about her business in relative silence, his features twisted in slight confusion and obvious amusement. The businessman kept this demeanor well through the first couple of images that Cassefin showed him, all the while Odette watching silently from a few feet behind Laj, her expressions much less readable. As Laj Vinross Yu's eyes played over the images, he shook his head slowly and released an audible chuckle. "Miss Montreal, please. I don't really have the time to help you with your..."
The reaction from Laj was slow at first. He stopped speaking, his eyes suddenly becoming more intensely focused on the image. As the next one flipped by, the man's smug smirk slowly faded from his face as his eyes narrowed analytically. By the time Cassefin had strummed through a good two dozen of her prepared images, Laj was leaning forward, his mouth slightly open as he sat watching, silent, his previous confusion and amusement turned to understanding and caution. Cassefin could see his sudden change; as his smiling facade drained away, Cassefin seemed to absorb his confidence and apply it to herself. "So yes, these are from a few of the Vinross Yu-Cranker facilities around Nepleslia. I really like the aesthetic touches. However, I tried matching some of these to the official designs, and I found a lot of discrepancies," Cassefin pointed out as she reached for one with the tip of her stylus, the small white point stopping just above one of the handful of orange areas laid out on the schematic. "Many of the rooms in these facilities aren't supposed to exist, yet the information from the VYC servers suggest they do. The same goes..."
The next series of images Cassefin began to show were, from what Kokuten could tell, schematics for starships. The shape and placement of the areas rang familiar to the Kokuten's experience aboard spaceworthy vessels, and the change of venue did not seem to mean less of the contrasting colors. Several areas of these starship blueprints were marked in orange filling. "... for a lot of your ship designs from Vinross Yu Aeronautical Aptitudes. You're listed as a designer and manufacturer for civilian transport ships, not allowed to carry or design for the use of weapons, but," Miss Montreal utilized her pointing at a longer distance, a small red dot tracing arrows and circles around specific compartments on the ship schematic. "A lot of these areas seemed to have some very conflicting data coming out of them. This forward aft area beneath the engine room isn't supposed to be here, as per your official regulation design, but this information says that it not only exists but has the capability to draw significant amounts of energy from the engines. Normally the only things that use that amount of power at the head of the ship are lights... or high-powered weaponry. Weaponry needing that kind of power requirements are well out of the legal limitations for civilian craft. But I'm sure those are just for external lights, correct, Mr. Vinross Yu? Floodlights that require 1.21 gigawatts of energy to function? You should look into that power draw, it seems a bit unbalanced."
By this time, Laj Vinross Yu was on his feet, having found his seat on the crate behind him a bit too uncomfortable. He stood before Cassefin's cloud-pin camera, one arm crossed on his chest, holding the other as it snaked its way up his body, a single curled finger pressed harshly against his lips as his eyes followed Cassefin's every move. "Also, many of these areas near the upper cargo hold also have a surprising amount of space, yet no foot-access from inside the ship... or access of any kind at all," Cassefin went on, speaking in a very matter-of-fact tone, as though she were teaching a classroom of two. The red-haired woman waved her finger in disapproval. "And Nepleslian customs and transport law certainly don't allow zenarium in civilian hull design, yet that is what appears to be present around these nonexistent bays. That's not smart ship design, leaving all this empty, unused space. It's awful suspicious."
Kokuten was seemingly mirroring Laj's skepticism when it came to Cassefin exposing her hand. Several times in the past, they had all been duped by the 'good-people' at VYC, and at most moments when they thought they had the winning draw, they were proven otherwise by a skifted card. Yet, the Captain slowly drew himself out of his chair to stand up and look in a strange awe. These things he saw startled him, raising even more red-flags in the back of his mind. He had flown a small variety of ships in the past, and he recognized the designs of particular style of vessel in the blue-prints.
"These..." the Captain spoke, finally, "These ships look like bare-bones fighting vessels. I'm seeing a lot of the DD4-Class in these, just... without the bits and a more modular shapes. Central Corps's NAM division would howl up a storm if they saw something like this."
Laj looked to be at a loss for words. If what Cassefin was posturing was true, she had somehow managed to get a hold of evidence for a countless number of felonies and violations, some with enormous repercussion attached to them. The man's hand slowly raised towards the collar of his disguise, tugging at the neck gently as though adjusting a too-tight noose wrapped beneath his chin. After a moment, Laj returned back to Cassefin another smile, but this one was recognizably less confident. It was, perhaps, the first time either Cassefin or Kokuten had seen such an expression on the businessman's face.
"What's awful suspicious," Laj started with a throaty chuckle. "Is how you've acquired a large amount of private intellectual property. The only way I can ascertain is through highly illegal means; such evidence would never be submittable in a proper courtroom. Most of it can be proven to be outright lies and forgeries, attempts to slander my reputation." The man's reply was shaken, but retained a firm fact; Cassefin Montreal no doubt procured this information through less-than-legal means. With Laj's power of wealth, it would be quite easy for prosecutors to see things his way, despite the rather damning evidence.
Cassefin was ready for such a reply, however. She simply grinned her inconceivably smug smile, causing yet another lump to form at the base of Laj's throat. "Maybe not, but it would certainly be enough to raise enough suspicion to interested parties to follow up on some of the more controversial articles," the red-haired woman warned in an almost whimsical, nonchalant tone. "I'm sure several of the competitors you've driven out of business would be interested to see just what VYC has been up to. By then, your companies reputation will be so spread thin, you might as well be running a lemonade sta-"
"CONTROVERSIAL?" Laj burst out before Cassefin could finish, his sudden anger startling Captain Swann behind him as she watched, wide-eyed and silent. The man behind the screen laughed; a short, strained and venomous chortle as he raised his head away from the view of Cassefin's cloud-shaped surveillance device. When Laj Vinross Yu started speaking again, he had adopted a much louder, more dangerously confidant tone, laced with obvious desperation "Oh ho! Controversial! Professor Cassefin Montreal, of the Cirrus Research Station, wants to berate me for controversial projects! Hah! HAH!"
Laj Vinross Yu slammed his fight against the table right next to the bug, causing Cassefin and Kokuten's view to shake furiously before settling back down directly on Laj's face. The man was leaning over the camera now, a sly grin hiding a subtle fury spread across his face. "That's right Cassefin," Laj said in barely above a murmur, his silent voice carrying clearly through the device due to his close proximity. "You think you're safe behind your bright white walls? You think I don't know about the restricted antimatter weapons development? You put your entire station in danger with that project; thousands of lives for your own impatience."
Cassefin's haughty attitude took a sudden turn as soon as Laj went on his offensive. Standing back up straight, her stylus still held in crossed arms, she silently stared flaming daggers at her opponent as he continued on, show little emotion beyond contempt for his knowledge of her most private dealings. "No? Don't remember that one?" Laj said, eyes widening in sarcastic revelation. "What about the xenobiological research on those new sentient species Nepleslia discovered? Or maybe those live Mishhuvurthyar?" Cassefin's eyes narrowed at Laj's words, her brow twisting in contempt. Laj Vinross Yu must have noticed her distaste and smiled wider in response. "What about the biological weapons research? Carthage? XBTC-01a? Did you trick your friend Purina Popjoy into helping you with that? Does she even know she helped you create an improved version of the PNUgen plague?"
"I don't care," Cassefin spoke finally, her firm choice of words resonating into Laj, causing him to reel back slightly in confusion.
"What? You don't... what?" Laj Vinross Yu shook his head, his eyes scrunched in further misunderstanding.
"I don't care. If I turn you in, you can tell them what I've done," Cassefin repeated herself, her straight face displaying a stern seriousness in her answer. The woman knew what would happen if she was proven or even accused of such things. "I have a feeling you have a lot more to lose in this kind of exchange. Your reputation, your money, your entire business... your life's work, gone. I'll have my licenses stripped, and the Cirrus will be given to someone else, and I'll be incarcerated... my entire reason for existing, gone. And I don't care. It'll be worth it."
"You don't care?" Laj looked positively flabbergasted. His confusion quickly turned to anger at Cassefin's seemingly reckless train of thought, his scowling face pulling closer to the camera. "Then how about I just have you killed? And the captain too. Then I suppose nobody will know any of this, am I right?"
"Wrong," Kokuten stepped forth, a somewhat shaky look on his face with the weight of all the facts being thrown about here. Despite everything he was learning, he felt the desire to step forth, and take a swing. Laj was at a crossroads between Cassefin and himself, and now was the moment to either withdraw, lawfully, or step forth, unlawfully.
"A man," the Captain started, pulling up his datajockey, tacking away on it furiously, the device appearing to have been on already, "only has so much power, Vinross-Yu. You can wield every weapon known to existence, but you are still a man. Others wield their own weapons, their own connections."
The soldier looked up, facing the man fraught with the crumpling strings of a plan soon to wither, "These files do not have to go to legal sources, Vinross." For a few seconds he cycled between a few windows on his DataJockey, "The IPG is always an example, considering the many friends I have there. Even with their renewed image, there are still some of the darker kinds running the show. Give them the right words, let them check some sources and... well..."
Chiaki shrugged his shoulders, ruefully. "An accident does not need a court to kill you. You can make every claim you want, but unless you bow your head, you're either out of a job or dead."
Laj let out a wry laugh a moment after Kokuten had finished. It was long at first, winding down before he drew in another breath and continued at a louder, more boisterous tone. Behind him, Odette Swann watched him with a growingly distressed gaze. She seemed to shrink back each time Laj Vinross Yu grew in aggressiveness, both him and herself revealing characteristics never before seen. Laj, always calm and confidant, Odette, ever graceful and always unyielding. When Laj had his fill of dry, coarse laughter, he brought his head back down to the camera with a smirk. "Oh please tell me you two are really that ignorant. You think I don't know how to just take what little information you have away from you before you even have a chance to distribute it?" Laj revealed slyly, his smirk widening as he pensively eyed the camera device.
"99% of my business is information. I've had all of my life to perfect the ability to intercept and ascertain information," the man said in a bitter tone, voice growing in emphasis with each word. "I was a major benefactor for the creation of the Cirrus Research Station! I was present in this project before the designs were even finalized, I know exactly what sorts of data countermeasures you possess. I know everything about this station; I dare say I even know more than you, Cassefin Montreal. If you are indeed the queen of Cirrus Station, then that would make me the king."
Cassefin listened to Laj's exposition through stern eyes. It was plain to see that she didn't take too kindly to how Laj was speaking to her; the woman was unused to being so harshly spoken to. Laj did indeed seem to know much more about Cirrus Station than he let on. If he was speaking the truth, one could potentially do next to nothing to keep the man from simply removing the offending evidence. Cassefin Montreal, however, replied with a stolid expression, unphased the Laj Vinross Yu's threats. "You're bluffing me, Laj Vinross Yu."
"Am I now?" Laj replied with a skeptical smile as he leaned back a bit from the camera. "That's news to me. How do you come to this genius conclusion?"
"Because you and I both know that even if you were involved with the construction of the Cirrus, I am in control of it now. Me and me alone, and now I know about you," Cassefin said stoically, her red eyes locked onto the VYC listening device in front of her. "I have already made precautions against information leaks and invasive attacks on Cirrus Station's information networks. I have at my disposal several incredible programming specialists, and all I really needed was Peke. She developed a system that not only locks my servers from further outside probing, but as an added bonus, if you or anyone else so much as takes a quick glance at my network, all of this evidence is going to be shot out and transmitted in so many directions, it would make your head spin trying to count the number of people who would find out about your dirty business. And I know you know I'm not bluffing, because I know you influenced the systems in place and had Peke Twenty-Two assigned to the Cirrus because of her innovative programming prowess."
"Besides," Cassefin finished with the slightest hint of a smile at the edge of her mouth. "I knew you were blowing smoke from the start. That Sonne Chemical transport isn't equipped for data countermeasures, and you no doubt already know I've blocked Cirrus networks from outside intrusion. You've been bluffing for a while now, I just wanted to see how far you'd go. And you didn't disappoint, Mr. Vinross Yu."
As Cassefin finished, Laj's earlier confidence and smile seemed to fade away with each passing moment. She was, unfortunately for him, fully correct in her assumptions about his current ability to stop her from doing anything. He seemed to realize this all to well and far too quickly, to the point where he could only lean back and sit on the box behind him. Laj took a few long breaths, reaching up with a free hand and taking the Sonne Chemical cap off of his head in a slow, drawn-out fashion. Cap in his lap, Laj Vinross Yu tentatively ran his other hand through his hair, stopping at the back of his head and letting his fingers rest in the warm weaves of his jet-black hair. His eyes seemed unfocused on any one thing, constantly darting from one empty space to another. Laj was reviewing his options, no doubt, in a worried, hurried fashion; it didn't take him long to realize he had next to nothing. Even though 30 minutes or so in the past he was so sure of his own success, Cassefin had him cornered and placed right where she wanted him to be. Laj knew all of this, and he knew his game was up.
"I wonder, Laj," Kokuten placed a hand on his chin, rubbing the carefully combed hair down to his through, "Were you wanting me to keep your secret because you genuinely cared..." The soldier leaned his head forward, with a little more of a knowing stare, "... or was it that you knew Cassefin might pull something like this if she knew the truth? Just what about you even cares about this country? Nepleslia, a land whose creed states that all actions must be made of good faith in the pursuit of unity. Where on this long winded ideal of yours did you think that defying the Nepleslian Creed would be worth the price of advancement?"
Laj did not have an answer for Kokuten. He acknowledged the CSS captain with a slight, short glance at the screen, only to return back to his own reclusion with a worrisome sigh.
Cassefin shot a smug smirk across the screen, lost on Laj's wandering eyes. "Tch. He's probably just looking out for Number One, as usual" the woman said spitefully. Cassefin was undoubtedly reveling in her triumph over Laj Vinross Yu, gloating at full capacity as she spoke down to him. Laj did little more than continue his silent ministrations. "Looking to get more wealthy off of other people's endeavors. Pretty common for someone in his position to abuse their power. Rich getting richer and all of that. It's pretty disgusting, don't you think Chiaki?"
"You're wrong!"
A new voice cried out in a harsh tone, startling Cassefin enough to cause her to jump ever so slightly and silence her tirade. It wasn't Laj who spoke these words, his silent form also brought back into reality by the words calling out in his defense. They came from Odette Swann, of all people, whom had been standing at the back of the conversation since it had started. She had watched with caution and wariness of her Master's conversation with Cassefin and Kokuten. Although she had been content to remain quiet as they exchanged words, seeing Laj taken aback and without words seemed to have struck a nerve in the woman.
Odette marched up to the cloud-shaped listening device, standing in front of it and placing herself in between Laj's form and somewhat obscuring him from view. Laj looked up at her from his seated position, his head off to the side of Odette's standing for must enough for Cassefin and Kokuten to see his confused, rather pitiful expression. Odette wasn't dealing with what was happening that well either, but where Laj seemed to have abandoned it all, Odette had not given up on him. Her eyes, although beginning to mist with emotion, conveyed a stern, stoic presence as she peered intensely into the screen, her fair, sophisticated features torn between sadness and anger.
"You are both wrong about him!" Odette repeated, her voice shaky with emotion yet determined to be heard and taken seriously. She thrust her hands straight down at her sides as she spoke, fists clenched tightly. "Master Laj did all of this because he believed it was the only way for it to happen. Miss Montreal," the fair-faced woman looked on to Cassefin, who remained defiant with her arms crossed. "You know the Cirrus project wasn't well-received by Nepleslian Arms and Munitions. With no real merits of your own at that time, they thought your mothers idea for the station wasn't worth the effort. They were prepared to write you off completely..."
The raven-haired lady turned her head slightly behind her, looking at Laj Vinross Yu for but a moment before continuing on. "But Master Laj saw the recording of your proposal. He believed in the potential you had, when nobody else did. He used his business, money and influence to persuade the NAM CEOs to support the Cirrus Research Station project when everyone else was ready to let you and the Cirrus fade away into obscurity. Ever since then he's been giving his support to you and to the Cirrus Station. When the Cirrus requested funding, Master Laj delivered it himself rather than the NAM council rejecting it on a whim. When you needed equipment or personnel. Master Laj made sure you received the very best. He believed in what Cassefin Montreal and the Cirrus Station could do for Nepleslia. And although I did not at first, I grew to agree with him," Odette admitted. Her tone grew softer as time went on, but it was still plain to see that she was being fiercely protective of Laj, perhaps even moreso than normally, given that this was probably the first time he had ever been so soundly trumped.
"He couldn't have it known that he was helping you; Vinross Yu-Cranker Materials has a lot of enemies, and we are constantly watched," Captain Swann continued, her tone growing sharp again as she re-clenched her fists as her sides. Cassefin's own expression had softened somewhat as well, but she remained skeptical at best, the two women staring holes into one another "He did everything he could to disassociate his company from the Cirrus in order to protect you! When he received information involving Caulder De Soto's influence aboard the Cirrus, he went there himself in order to find the information necessary without you finding out. But things went awry, and innocent people died..." Odette's voice trailed off, her face falling into guilt and regret before suddenly bursting back forth in unbridled anger. "And you people act like he didn't pay it any mind at all, like he didn't care about having people killed! As though he had not weighed what few options he had and acted in what he believed to be the best course for the Cirrus!"
Laj's previous worries had, for the moment, subsided as he listened to his House servant and childhood friend defend him in such an adamant manner. "Odette," the man spoke in a low tone. "You don't need to make excuses for me-"
"No! the lady bit back at her master without looking away from the screen before her. "You all act like he some sort of heartless monster, an uncaring big-business blackheart or some other ridiculous notion you gleaned from television. It's not like that at all! Master Laj deeply regrets what he had to do to maintain the shroud he placed around the Cirrus..." Odette Swann heaved a short sigh, her voice fading back to a normal tone. "Even after he made sure their families were taken care of, he still hates what he had to do. Even moreso that he let that bitch Cranker do it her own way. He shoulders so much burden... and you despise him for it."
Odette's speech seemed to begin to wind down, her previous indignation fueling her words settled as she spoke her piece. The woman remained silent for a moment, turning back to Laj to face him for the duration. The two exchanged wordless glances, Odettes own face turned away from the camera. Laj Vinross Yu looked up to Odette and released a heavy sigh, accompanied by the faintest of smiles that faded almost as quickly as it had arrived. "You see Laj Vinross Yu as some sort of shameless product of Nepleslia's excess, an economic juggernaut spending his ill-garnered fortunes on vices and meaningless pursuits of more riches. You see as some villain, what you would expect from some sort of story where the heroes wins and the bad guy loses. But that's not what this is."
"I see my master, Laj Vinross Yu, head of the Vinross family and 4th seat of Yu clan. I see a man who's family has taken care of mine, and so many others, from before I was even born. I see a man who spends his time and resources on the things that he believes would support Nepleslia best, things that are often overlooked, unappreciated or believed to be hopeless. Master Laj has spent the last several years of his life and vast amounts of his personal wealth supporting Nepleslia in his own way, in a way that so few others know or are able to do; without the boundaries and limitations of those scared of what Nepleslia is truly capable of, despite the risks to himself or his family name. So you are wrong about him," Odette finished, turning her head back to Cassefin, eyes returning to a fragile stating of welling emotions, yet remaining dignified and reticent as per her proper, if odd, upbringing. "You are wrong."
"Are we?" harrumphed a taciturn Captain. Kokuten felt moved by Odette's passion, as it truly felt like something real. Yet, it took a firm reminder that every dealing with Laj was a trip through a smoky house of mirrors. Even Odette could be poisoned, either willingly or not, by the magic the man cast on everyone. The Doctor in him was familiar with it, inspiring false hope on chances and gambles to save lives. A smile was very easy to engineer, especially if one has been doing it for years.
Kokuten paced aside, across the view screen, his gaze switching between the two perceived enemies.
"We are Nepleslians," growled Kokuten, his arms firmly, planted to his plated waist, armor noiselessly shifting with each movement. "our bonds are driven by truth and honor. Business is driven by deceit and treachery, because our enemies are never to be trusted. You lie to us, and expect sympathy? No. No, I don't think so. If you were truly an ally, you would've given the truth from the beginning. Cassefin would've known this all along, and this little secret could be buried without spite."
He stopped and pointed a metal-clad finger to the screen, his eyes gnashing an unbound red color. "You treat us like Nepleslians treat their enemies, like Yamataians treat their allies. I told you, back then, I understood your silence, but in my heart I knew that secrets, no matter how dark, cannot be kept forever, because without trust, without honesty, those who you protect become like objects, like glass objects to be shelved."
Those red globes became narrow slits, "At first, I told Cassefin the truth, because it felt like the right thing to do. Looking back, I didn't understand why I became so forthright, but now I do." The glow lessened, morphing back to the green color, "This is no ideal world, I understand that, but honesty forges bonds, and bonds forge forgiveness. If you had been forthright from the beginning, if you had trusted Montreal, you wouldn't have to be bluffing and babbling excuses, you would be explaining yourself to a friend."
The Captain sighed, the green eyes turning morose blue, "Sadly, this is not the case, too many lies have spurned between us to tell what is honest, and what is not."
Odette remained silent while Kokuten spoke his mind, her uneven expression remaining quite stern. By the time the man had finished, Captain Swann was scowling again, her body language revealed that she was about to deliver another verbal rebuttal, until Laj reached out and gently placed the flat of his palm just below her shoulder blade. Odette turned around instantly, her face obscured as Laj gave her a single, simple nod, to which she responded to by nodding in return and stepping off to the side. She continued to look angry, but much more reserved. Laj, still seated, turned back to the small camera and cleared his throat. "I hid my involvement in Miss Montreal's affairs in order to protect her, and myself. I won't say anything beyond that, and I won't try and explain or make excuses," Laj Vinross Yu said in a solemn tone. Odette's anger seemed to melt away in an instant, replaced by a look of surprise followed by regret. "So do what you've come to do, professor Montreal, and I will do what I must."
As Laj gazed on sternly at Cassefin, indirect as it was, Cassefin seemed compelled to stare back at him. The two exchanged in silence, both of them gauging the other. Cassefin was obviously in a position of advantage; Laj himself, even if it was not verbal, had admitted that much. Although she seemed keen on mocking the man's sudden and alarming defeat at her own hands, Cassefin was given pause after Odette had spoken, and remained so after the two squad captains had exchanged words. Now, with the conversations over, her expression turned to one of thoughtful concentration.
"You, Laj Vinross Yu, have had a hand in a lot of the wrong-doings on my research station," the red-haired Head Administrator began in a stern tone, her brow furrowing in likewise displeasure to match her words. "I have no doubt that you and your business were responsible for the deaths of my employees all those months ago. You yourself have admitted as much. You've lied, to everyone in this conversation, many times, to further your own machinations. And you have, apparently, been attempting to control my life since I started reaching for my own aspirations. And I've let you, because I was not wise enough, nor was I willing to look at what the possibilities were, because I did not want to face them," Cassefin spoke on, casting a sideways glance towards Kokuten before turning back to continue. "I ignored the warnings, and because of that the results were dumped upon me all at once. And, at the time, I felt that I could not... handle it."
Cassefin lowered her gaze to the floor for a moment, pausing her speech while Laj looked on, patiently listening. He didn't seem too phased by her revelations; they were for the most part true, and he knew denying them at this point was just a wasted effort. Odette Swann seemed to be the most distressed, standing back, her face slowly drooping but otherwise keeping her composure as she stood to Laj's side in support.
"However... I also know now that it was you, Laj Vinross Yu, who gave me the opportunity to bring my mothers station from a dream, to a reality. I know, now, that you have, at several points in time, silenced disruptions planned by my jealous peers and halted some of NAMs restrictions to stymie my projects," Cassefin started again, her words taking on a less menacing pattern. She looked back up at him (or the device, rather), ruby red eyes focused intently on his face, hinting at a slight softness behind their gaze. "When Nepleslian Arms and Munitions found the Cirrus project to be a worthless endevour, I know it was you who changed their minds. You did it in an underhanded fashion... I have no doubt you probably bought and blackmailed your way through their voting process. I knew it before Ms. Swann said as much... but her words did make me question your reasons for doing such. Before now, I couldn't see a reason for you to take such a risk. The Cirrus project wasn't cheap to fund, it wasn't a completely stable business model... even I admit, it was a risk to begin with. And you've proven that you like taking risks," Cassefin spoke on, fixating her stare on Laj pensively. "You love your gambles and your games of chance. Was that all this was? Did you put it all on the line on a hunch, my life and my whole lifes work, on your spin of the wheel?"
When Cassefin finished, Laj straightened up a bit, making the motions as though he was going to start replying. He was given pause, however, his mouth staying slightly open as his eyes searched the air around Cassefin's cloud-shaped listening device, as though searching for an answer for himself. Odette, clutching her elbows across her stomach, remained quiet as her master and employer contemplated an answer for Cassefin. "...why would you believe anything I say now?" Laj said suddenly, looking back up to the screen for an answer. "I know what you want to hear to make you happy, the satisfy you. Should I just say it, even if it's a lie? What will it even matter?"
"I know you do," Cassefin answered politely, in a very matter-of-fact tone of voice. "I still want to hear what your answer is."
Upon hearing this, Laj couldn't help but crack the faintest of smiles. He shrugged, running his fingers through his jet-black hair once more as he leaned back a big against the stack of crates he was sitting on. "To be completely honest, it had nothing to do with games, or gambling, or even how I could have possibly seen some sort of potential in you that those corrupt clowns on the NAM approval boards didn't. For a while, I admit, I attributed it to my love of a good high-stakes wager," Laj began to explain, his eyes following the surrounding of Cassefin's camera, only laying rest on the object itself midway through his speech. He continued to smile, almost aloofly, as if humored by the exchange. "There wasn't a grand scheme when I saw your proposal video. I didn't see you, in that ridiculous bright blue business blouse, spouting your grand ideas for a better Nepleslia through your mothers unfinished work, and think 'this girl has potential'. I didn't even particularly like the idea of the Cirrus Station."
Cassefin seemed slightly taken aback by Laj's explanation, her face contorted in a mixture of bewilderment and speculation, staying quiet as the man spoke his piece. Laj Vinross Yu leaned forward, drawing in a breath and releasing it in a short, complacent sigh. "I just saw the board tear apart your proposal, and how angry you got, shouting at them, calling them names and storming out red-faced while they chortled their miserable faces at your backside. So I supported the little red-headed girl with no prospects and no hope of seeing her and her mother's dreams fulfilled... because I liked how you carried yourself. I don't even think I can give you a reason why I grew fond of you through that twenty-or-so minute video feed. I just did. So I threw my support with you, and all that it entailed. And it worked. For a while."
Laj couldn't help but smile a bit wider at Cassefin's reaction to his explanation. "Not the answer you were expecting, was it?"
"No," Cassefin said, straightening back up, quickly snapping out of her confused state to reaffirm her previous position at the head of the exchange. "No, it wasn't."
"Do you think I'm lieing?" Laj asked, almost coyly.
Cassefin didn't answer.
"Does it matter?" Kokuten raised a hand idly, being respectfully quiet to that point, "If you're telling the truth, then there it is. If you're lying, then there's no use in probing any further." The Captain gave his neatly trimmed beard a thoughtful stroke, occasionally throwing a glance towards to Cassefin, as he had been doing since Laj had begun speaking. There was a genuine wonder in just how the administrator was taking all of this, but he tried not to stare too much.
Instead, he put forth a new point, "Where does it hurt you to just let it go?"
Laj shrugged, shaking his head slowly side to side at Kokuten's question. "It doesn't. It only hurts me if Ms. Montreal does what she intends to do. I am, as fate would have it, at her tender mer-."
"I'm not going to turn you in, Laj Vinross Yu," Cassefin stated flatly over the CEO's increasingly grandiose tone, giving the man a measure of pause as he stared blankly at her reaction. Cassefin looked decidedly in control, her face revealing little more than the complete understanding of her situation, and how much control she actually held. "Come again?" Laj looked positively stumped, sitting there with a peculiar look plastered across his brow. Odette Swann, eyes wide as saucers and in complete silenced watched the exchange in confused wonder.
Cassefin Montreal cast a quick glance over at Kokuten. When she noticed him meeting her gaze, all she did was give him the faintest of shrugs, the lightest movements of her eyebrows signifying that she had decided for herself and, in the politest way possible, silently signaled that he would have no sway in her decision. "I'm not going to turn you in. Not because of the repercussions it would have to me and the Cirrus. And not because of Ms. Swann's passionate and... slightly biased assessment of your actions," Cassefin explained plaintivly, brushing her ponytail behind her with a simple swish of her neck. "I already knew everything there was to know about this... and I am going to let you have your pet science project, Laj Vinross Yu. However."
"Things are going to be much different now. You will continue to generously and secretly fund the Cirrus Station's projects as you have been, but you will fund all of them; not just the ones you yourself like," Cassefin began her list of demands, the first one taking a moment to sink into Laj's noggin before he gave an immediate outburst. "Wait... wait! All of them? You want me to fund all of your projects?!" Laj said in disbelief, his head craning forward towards the cloud-shaped listening device as his hands clasped at his knees for support.
"Yes." Cassefin replied in a slightly agitated tone, obviously not taking to Laj's apprehension.
Laj appeared at a loss for words, searching around the room for an answer that he wouldn't find. "Even that... that ridiculous shock-fabric stuff you keep pushing that constantly electrocutes your test subjects?"
"Self-Conduction Cloth is an incredible advancement in multifunctional textiles that will revolutionize both the fabric and the low-upkeep energy markets, and if YOU and those INSIPID CHODES on the NAM approval board weren't SO SHORT-SIGHTED YOU WOULD SEE THE AMAZING POTENTIAL IT HAS!" Cassefin spat out instantly, quick to defend her endeavors, her venomous, enraged tone sinking back into a controlled state with a simple draw of breath. The red-haired Head Administrator cleared her throat and nodded. "Yes, you will be funding Self-Conduction Cloth. And Purina's Rind-Wind Repellant for cats and oranges. And Professor Eri's renewable toothpick. And even Ponstrovi's ridiculous hood-ornament idea for shuttlecraft."
Mouth slightly agape in either disbelief or horror at the very thought, Laj Vinross Yu attempted to give a reply, his mouth only letting out short grunts as the words failed to form at the edge of his lips. After a moment of this fumbling, the man simply gave up and slowly sat back into his makeshift seat, hand rubbing at his temple once more. Cassefin Montreal, on the opposite spectrum, began to look positively smug, quite proud of herself no doubt. "And I know you will, Laj Vinross Yu. Because, even if it will cost you, you will be getting exactly what you wanted in the first place," the woman added, her nose beginning to angle back into the air in a very familiar fashion. "And because if you don't, or I suspect any funny-business on your end, you know I won't hesitate to send you and your company straight down the drain so fast that your head will spin clear off your shoulders."
Though, even as Laj began to resign in a particular sort of disdainful despair, Kokuten was still watching the exchange in a stunned silence. At first his eyes had turned to a sober blue, then to a cautious yellow, and then back to a neutral green, before shutting down entirely. He threw a few glances between Cassefin, and then up to Laj, and then back to Cassefin. A lawful notion in him wanted to call out that underhanded move, played by the ever tumultuous woman. Yet as he raised his hand to speak to her, he stopped, and sighed, tucking his hands to his hips. At that, he started to think about it.
He started to chuckle, his head bouncing up and down as he sucked his lips in. The sheer turn-about had tickled the base of his throat, and coaxed laughter, which sounded less that stable to those around to hear it. Doctor Laj had just been served a spoonful of green cough medicine by the very patient he had been forcibly, yet subtly spoon-feeding for the last few years. The sheer incredulity of the whole situation just tore every serious notion from the wall, and the best part was that Laj had his hands completely tied! It was hilarious!
The only thing more hilarious than this would've been if Jon Jon Rocketass wrote a song about it, walked in on Laj and sang it to him.
One would've thought Kokuten had gone crazy from all the curdling laughter, but he eventually reigned himself in as the rolling mirth subsided. Then, after a moment of recomposing, a few comfortable sighs to cycle the air in his lungs, he spoke, that mirth chiming in his tone. "It was all just a gamble, right, Laj? Losing is just part of the game! Otherwise, the whole notion just stops being fun."
The smile on the Captain's face was genuine, but a part of it strained as more laughter threatened to froth over.
Cassefin did her best to remain stoic as Kokuten contained his chortles a yard or so behind her, but the widening smile that spread across her face revealed that she did at the very least acknowledge his amusement. In many ways, she also shared it. Ahead of both of them, in the crisp visual of the screen, Laj Vinross Yu exchanged glances between the two of them for what seemed like ages, a myriad of emotions raging across his expression all at once in those few short seconds. Then, all at once, the emotions stopped and Laj simply leaned forward, heaving a long-winded sigh that hissed through his slightly pursed lips, only to have them curl up into the slightest of smiles almost immediately afterwards. "You are correct, captain," Laj agreed with the man, defeated but apparently not discouraged. "And, boy, I did not come here today expecting to lose."
"You are... a difficult read, Miss Montreal," Laj Vinross Yu began, his dark eyes glancing up at Cassefin's visage from his glowering brow. Cassefin's smile faded for a moment, listening to the man's words stirring up the reasons of how she and he had reached this point. "I knew this already, but even know, it's always a guess. I was almost one-hundred percent certain that when I tricked Captain Chiaki into entering your quarters for me, I would only see your corpse," the man admitted morbidly, his smile spreading sincerity to his grim explanation. "And! And yet, here I am, standing at the literal brink, at the end of your sword. That, I did not expect. You knew I would come to see if you'd done yourself in after Captain Chiaki told you. You knew I would, and you knew I'd use someone else to do it... you just didn't know when. And I fell right into it... brilliant."
Laj drew in another long breath. He held it in, chest puffing slightly beneath his uniform disguise, before releasing it all in front of him. "I won't cause you any more trouble, Head Administrator. You have my word."
"And I will never see you on my research station ever again," Cassefin added, glaring sternly at Laj. She expected his smile in defeat; it did not surprise her, but it continued to unsettle her to no end. This man, Laj Vinross Yu, CEO of Vinross Yu-Cranker Materials, had been both her greatest hindrance and her greatest benefactor for countless years. It was difficult to tell, even to Cassefin herself, just how to feel about him. The red-haired Administrator did know one thing for certain, however; she wanted him away from Cirrus Station. For good. "You will never return here again. If I ever want to speak to you, I will contact you myself. If I ever see you or your cronies coming near my station... you're done. Do we have an understanding?"
Tilting his head ever so slightly to the side, Laj nodded compliantly along with Cassefin's perfectly reasonable final request. In several strange ways, the man felt a spot of pride in his puddle of defeat. Even at the end of a multimillion DA blackmail, topped with threats that would level his business flat in moments, Laj couldn't help but smile at the turn of events that he himself helped engineer. He held up his open palms, showing an unarmed gesture to go along with his compliance. "I do. You win, Miss Montreal."
"Good," Cassefin answered back, simple and bold, as she held her multipurpose stylus up, pointing towards the corner of the screen. A few precise clicks and swift movements later, both Laj Vinross Yu and Odette Swann both began to hear the sound of docking clamps releasing from the bottom of the transport vessel they were transmitting from. As the two exchanged glances to confirm the sound of their eventual freedom, Cassefin strolled over to where she had set Laj's listening device, placing the small black glass-like half-sphere in her palm. Cassefin's stern face stared down into her open hand, her face filling up what was left of Laj and Odette's screen. "You may leave then. And, Mr. Laj Vinross Yu?"
All at once, Cassefin's perturbed expression folded into the most sickeningly double-faced smile. "It was just wonderful doing business with you. I look forward to your future contributions," the red-headed woman finished, just before letting the small bug fall from her hand in front of her and, with one swift stomp of her heel, disabling it with the tiniest of crunches. Almost as though it had sensed its purpose finished, the screen containing the fleeting image of Laj's chuckling visage and Odette's relieved sigh faded into black. Cassefin did not immediately notice, however; she seemed to stand still after dispatching Laj Vinross Yu's listening device, her ruby-red eyes staring down at the ground, the pony-tail at the end of her head falling gracelessly over her shoulder. She stood frozen in place for several moments, the slightest movements playing around her eyes before, after that short while, she spoke once more in a sigh of relief, almost disbelief.
"... I win."
