Shattered Planes Archives (Seasons 4 & 5)
Saeculum Galaxy => Tefillin => Topic started by: Forger on June 12, 2011, 03:33:22 PM
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Monroe Stein, dressed in his usual suit and tie attire, had finally arrived at Tefillin on business to see his new client. Still vague on the details, however, Monroe merely exited his transport and waited on Ezra to greet his new client.
"Listen, I understand he's pissed, but he seriously needs to calm himself down if he wants to address any of these problems. Now, I think he'd probably appreciate it more if you greeted him first, I don't want him to mistake me for one of those hand people."
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"Alright." said Ezra, leading Monroe into the office of Lustre, and greeting him. Aseron looked at him. "So you are my lawyer?"
Ezra "Yes he is, Aseron. He will get these legal problems resolved. I paid top dollar for his help."
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"I haven't been paid yet myself, but yeah, I'm your lawyer. The name's Monroe Stein. Why don't we go inside and discuss the nature of this predicament."
Monroe spoke as calmly as he could, noticing an odd familiarity between Ezra and this Lustre fellow. Still trying to make sense of everything that's been going on, Monroe made sure to keep quiet until Lustre explained himself further.
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Aseron sighed and handed him a recording that had been made of Addler chewing out the hand for the second illegal arrest they had made of him. Sighing at the situation Aseron considered what was going on and showed Monroe Stein the bugs that he had found besides what else was there.
"So what now?"
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Taking a look at the placement of the bugs, it sort of made sense that these would be placed where they were. Making sure to take down where each bug was placed, Monroe shook his head as he made his way back over to Lustre.
"Alright, I'm going to need to ask you a few questions in private, so I'm going to talk to you outside in the transport we came in. Ezra, you stay inside here and pull the bugs from their locations and put them on display."
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With that, Aseron walked outside as Ezra went inside and did as he had been instructed by Monroe, taking the pictures and putting the bugs on display. Later an advertisement would be ran denouncing this action that the Hand had done, he would see to that personally. The hand had no right to hassle the canidates like this. But what could be done by him in such a situation seemed to be difficult.
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Stepping inside the transport, Monroe took a deep breath and straightened out his tie. This business was getting a little too confusing, but right now there wasn't much else to do aside from talk to his clients.
"Alright, let's start with the detaining that you faced. Under what circumstances were you detained and by who?"
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"Hermitage the first time, because he believed Ezra was a terrorist for funding me. And Mann the 2nd, for trying to prove the hand was after me with a fake infiltrator. " said Aseron as he considered things so that he could make his plans that would work to free him from this mess.
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"Tricky, but not totally useless. We'll come back to those incidents later, but right now let's get onto something else. When did you first discover bugs in your office, and what was the circumstances surrounding that?"
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"It just happened that I discovered them after my release by Mann. I wondered how they had managed to find my office so easily the first time and so I checked my office. I found the bugs they had put. And thus figured out that there were a lot of bugs, but some of them might be government property, and not hand property. This mess is getting out of hand."
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"Forget about the hand for a second, and think about this. You're involved in a senate campaign, your office is going to at least some locations known just in case somebody needs to get in touch with you. Is there anybody inside the campaign staff that you have been having problems with?"
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"No. Just the Hand. And Mann leads the Hand, but is running for senate. " said Aseron sighing. "Is that abuse of power?"
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"It looks like a conflict of interest, but we can address that later. How is the hand involved in your campaign? Are you receiving any kind of funding from them?"
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"No, but they have shown they don't want me in the race. Several times in fact." said Aseron sighing. "I bet only about 20 or 25 of these bugs are government property that were found. But what can we do against him legally? I have no hand funding, and am not sure if any of them are in my staff. We need to check that I would think."
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"I'll ask Ezra to get on that later, but I still have a few questions. How has the hand shown you that they don't want you running for senate, and did they provide any reason as to why?"
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"The detainment twice. And then framing me. " He showed Monroe the recording of his words that had been used when he sent an infiltrator to gather evidence that the Hand was interfering with the senate races. "There." (See Warrant for the Arrest of Lustre)
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The recording was tricky, but it provided Monroe with a certain understanding of the mood between both of these conflicting parties. Taking the recording and sliding it into his suit pocket, Monroe looked back up at his client.
"Alright, do you know the name of the arresting officer or officers? We might have to look into them later."
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"No, they didn't tell me. But I am pretty sure it was illegal." said Aseron as he considered things, making a plan.
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"Alright, that shouldn't be too hard to figure out. How did you figure out that these men worked for the hand? Have you seen them before?"
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"I wasn't sure until they took me into the HAND HQ and put me in a holding cell twice, once for each of them. So I am having a problem dealing with them. Any ideas to solve the problem of the Hand without incurring any legal problems?" asked Aseron as he magicked up a PDA and began to make his next commercial on it.
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Of course, who would show up here and now at Lustre's office but Eric Mann, director of the Zarethian Hand and candidate for the senate, opponent of Lustre? Mann found himself outside the building which housed Mr. Lustre's very campaign, a very nervous look upon his face. He had gotten a few people on his walk over which stopped and stared. He was going to be quite used to the phrase, "Is that Eric Mann!?" by the time this election was over. The candidates had only been announced within the last month or so.
Mann usually wore darker clothing when he went out on the city, especially these days, as to give himself a more conspicuous presence upon the capital city. He still did manage to get all the way across the city to Lustre's office with only a few sightings, of course. He was the director of a government intelligence agency, after all. He'd only had to stop for the media once on the trip over. Now he knew why his campaign manager had insisted on his riding in transport ships and hover limos across the city during the campaign.
He had not insisted that today, though. He had somehow sold Eric Mann on the idea of walking to Lustre's office. Okay, he'd somewhat sold Mann. Now, Eric was starting to feel that it had been a bad idea to walk all the way across town. A little exercise was good for him, though.
His campaign manager was right, too. This would be great for the media. Seeing Eric Mann walk into the office of his opponent just a day or two after arresting him? There were only a few things the media would conclude Mann was at Lustre's office for. Rekindling their relationship would be high on the list of assumptions, and everyone knew that the media loved making assumptions.
"We'll have it on the newspapers by tomorrow!" his campaign manager had tried to convince Mann.
Somehow, Eric had convinced his Campaign Manager to hold off on that -- just in case this didn't go as planned. Okay, so, Eric didn't really have much of any plan. He didn't need one. How hard would it be to talk to this guy? Eric didn't really know the answer to that one.
He pushed open the glass doors to the building, tipping his hat to the various campaign workers under Lustre. He kept his hat off (a manner of courtesy, after all, which was something a senatorial candidate needed to have a strong sense of, in Eric's opinion) and smiled at the glares of all the various campaign workers. He went through security, which seemed to take longer than it should. What, did they think he was trying to launch a firefight? Of course, the fact that he had three weapons on him didn't help manners. The security guard grudgingly let him pass with them anyway when he showed the guard his certified government issue to carry weapons in public locations.
He made his way to the elevator of the building, and began to ascend through the floors, tapping his foot to the elevator music. He never did like elevator music too much. In fact, the elevators in the Hand's headquarters no longer had elevator music. That was the doing of a certain forward to all technicians from a certain Assistant Director Hermitage which informed them all of Mann's distaste for it. Mann realized on the ride up that he never properly thanked Hermitage for that.
Of course, elevator music wasn't really too heavy of a thought upon the mind of Eric Mann at that moment. He was a bit distracted planning his brave adventure into the office of Lustre. He had thought of what he was going to say during the walk across town, but now that he was here, the words in his mind were starting to garble. He had to take a moment to tell himself earnestly that he wasn't about to give a speech to the nation or even to the city, but he was about to face an opponent in a major upcoming election. Finally, a "ding" of the elevator indicated that he had arrived at the floor which Lustre's office was located upon.
A few moments later, all those present in the transport vehicle could hear Mann's flustered voice from outside the door.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I don't care if he's in a meeting. I've walked all the way across the city. I'm speaking to Mr. Lustre."
Eric Mann busted into the transport, nodding his head to the lawyer and Lustre.
"Good afternoon. Quite sorry to interrupt."
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"Well, since you faced this problem not once but twice, I think it would be in their best interests to back away from you for now. In that case, we need to get some information from their offices as quickly and quietly as possible, something that can link them to these bugs. Don't you worry about the legal aspect, just let me worry about that for now. Alright, this is my number, I want you to call me if something new develops. In the meantime, I suggest you relocate any and all important documents into a new office unti-"
Monroe, noticing his interruption, immediately stood up and looked at the person who had decided to make his way over.
"I'm sorry, is your business with this man more urgent than mine?"
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OOC: Sorry, thought they were still in his office. I'll edit my post to say transport.
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Upstairs in the main office, Ezra walked around dumping all the important files that Aseron had, and transferring them to his pocket dimension until he could find an un-bugged place for him to continue the campaign from. This was a procedure he had been considering ever since the first complaint and would likely save him a load of grief from Mann and the other prospective senators. A new office was definitely on the agenda and so he materialized an agenda book for Lustre and wrote at 1 am, find a new office without bugs.
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In the ship, Aseron noticed the entry of Eric Mann his rival. To say he would not be pleased would be the understatement of the year and he looked over at Mann. A calm look at Mann was given in acknowledgement. "Hello Eric." He said bowing, as per the Zarethian custom. Taking the card from Monroe, he sent a mental message to Ezra to do just that, relocate all documents and not just the important out of his office.
"So why did you come to my office?" He held out his hand and a remote that would activate the security system to boot Mann out of the ship would be in his hands.
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"Eric Mann, senatorial candidate and director of the Zarethian Hand. I am here on quite urgent business, sir. It's a little thing called Diplomacy. Now, I hope we can all be civil."
Mann looked down, as per his training in intel, and easily spotted the device in Lustre's hand. Mann had a similar device in his own office. It was known as a Body Signature Lockout Remote, and it was quite common among large establishments. CEO's and politicians alike knew the device type well. It was, after all, a dangerous game -- politics.
Eric hadn't been a likely one for politics, though. He had been a military man himself. His jump into the brave world of politics had stemmed from his.. foreign interests. Offworld allies had encouraged him to run for Senator. What the Zarethian Council didn't know certainly wouldn't hurt them.
It seemed that Mann was not the only one with allies from offworld. The Zarethian Hand's first investigation (before the government had forced them to terminate said investigation), as well as the public records of the candidate, all indicated involvement with a man named Ezra. A suspected terrorist.. Associated with the Black Guard. Mann had a reason to not appreciate the Black Guard.
..It had been the people of Ezra, the kind that supported Mr. Lustre, that had taken his parents..
Mann forced his anger behind him. Mr. Lustre, allegedly, did not know that Ezra was a suspected terrorist. So, Lustre had probably cut off all relations with Mr. Ezra. That was part of why Mann had come to the office of Lustre. Political friendship was hardly on his agenda.
"Political friendship is on my agenda," Eric explained as he offered his hand to Monroe, "Mr. Lustre, you should put that away. I'll try to be quick. No need to call security on me."
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"Oh, well, allow me to introduce myself then."
Monroe, dusting off his suit, reached into his pocket for another slip he used for his contact information. Examining Eric up close, it was easy to see why some people would seem intimidated by him. Eric seemed to carry himself with a lot of strength, something a man of the armed forces would usually do. Monroe knew better than to operate socially on first assumptions, but Eric had managed to distinguish himself from a lot of other people rather quickly.
"Monroe Stein, I've been hired by Lustre here to represent him regarding his illegal detention by none other than the Zarenthian Hand. I've advised my client not to speak to you personally, but if you're willing to let your men contact me, I'm sure we can set up a meeting to discuss these matters...diplomatically, of course."
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Telepathically, Aseron asked Monroe. -Should I eject him from my office with the security system?- He calmly looked at Mann, but knew that the man was not here for political friendship. Debugging his home had been hard enough, and that was reason to distrust any of the words that Mann said. Still he pretended to go along with the words of Mann, but did not even shake his hand but put the remote away. Voice technologies were all the rage these days, and if needed he would speak and tell his security system to kick Mann out harder than he would normally. You see the resentment and hatred of this man, Eric Mann had been building in Lustre for a few days now.
Stealth bugging a property was definitely on one of the things he would bar the hand from doing when/if he got into the senate. Obviously to do so he would need to surpass Mann in the race, but that would not be yet of course. For he did not know of Ezra's little plan to make all his affairs look legitimate. But still, Mann was a grade a moron. Which meant something had to be done about him and soon, but what could be done. Also, he made the telepathic message in such a way that Mann could not intercept it.
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"Call my offices any time. We would be happy to set up a meeting to discuss what you have referred to as my organization's.. "illegal" actions. I'm sure we can get all these matters settled.. Without having to put Mr. Lustre through the experience of loosing a court battle."
Eric Mann had chosen his words carefully as he accepted Mr. Monroe's card, subtly placing it in his pants pocket. A lawyer -- just what he needed. So much for coming to apologize. He couldn't very well talk to Lustre in the presence of a lawyer.. It could have ruined everything.
Mann couldn't let a lawyer ruin the elections. Truth was, there was no telling who would win in a court case. Normally, Mann would have no qualms with.. buying out the court at a time like this. However; he couldn't much do that now. He was running for the senate, after all. It was too risky.
He was sure not to let his thoughts be revealed by his face or body actions. Training permitted him to keep stable in the presence of others -- intimidating, even. It was the quality of a good leader. He knew how to keep people at bay. He knew how to affect their emotions.. He did so by affecting his own emotions.
"Of course, Mr. Lustre, I must say.. You are brave. Launching a court case during an election? What will the voters think?"
He smirked, glancing at Mr. Monroe.
"We'll be in contact, I'm sure.. Good day, gentlemen."
He walked out of the transport vehicle with a confident smile on his face. He had not accomplished what he came to do, but he had accomplished something. He'd shown his opponent that he wasn't going to be taken down without a fight. Things were shaping out to be much more interesting than Mann had hoped. He liked that.
He really did like that..
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"Good day."
Monroe merely nodded with a smile, unwavering from his previous gestures, as Eric Mann exited the premises. Even as Eric left both of their presence, Monroe's smile was unwavering. Turning back to his client, Monroe couldn't help but speak bluntly.
"Well, Eric seems to be a very tough and confident individual. Either he will let his confidence betray him and screw up, or he'll come to his senses and do the right thing...whatever he thinks that is."
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"We need to make sure the Hand can't interfere anymore. So I propose we write him a cease-fire document that is legally airtight and will prevent the hand from getting involved again. Particularly I don't relish the idea of cleaning out my office of bugs again once I move to a new location. So do you have any solutions that could work to handle the problem?" asked Aseron as he went over and pulled out some contract paper and laid it on the table.
"Now, what terms should we put on this cease-fire document?"
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"No cease fire document should be issued. Not at this time, anyways. Right now, we just need to get your documents to a safe location outside of this office, and you need to get back to your campaigning. I want you to show the public that, despite these incidents, that you are addressing them in a calm and orderly manner. And with that, I think it's best we part ways. You have my number, just call me whenever you need my services."
Dusting himself off and straightening his tie, Monroe let out a confident breath before remembering something.
"Actually, something just occurred to me. Do you know if Eric Mann has ever served time in the military or any other kind of government service?"
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"Yes, but not much about it. I need to get an inquiry done on that. Also, do you have the ability to file a restraining order to keep them out of whatever new place I decide to use? I don't feel like sweeping my office a 2nd time. After all the effort I went to cleaning it, I suppose you could understand." said Aseron.
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"I'll look into it, but that would probably take a little bit of time. In the meantime, make sure the office is occupied by someone you trust at all times, and nobody comes in unless they are authorized to be there. In the meantime, get back to your campaign and keep working. I'll be in contact shortly, and if you need anything in the meantime just call me."
And with that, Monroe's first leg of business of establishing himself in his client's case. Everything else at this point was just a matter of concentration and patience, because eventually this incident would reach some kind of settlement. Giving himself a mental pat on the back, Monroe looked over to the rest of the office (which was being shuffled around) before looking back at his client.
"Do you have anything to eat here? I'm kind of hungry at the moment."
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Some La'con brew and Qi wraps appeared near Monroe. "Alright. Ezra will get right on that while I get back to the campaign, each of us to our strong suits I suppose." With that, he walked out to where the media was gathered and gave his second speech that he had done in so many days.