Morning Meeting about Mafen - The Aftermath of the Shooting of Minos
|
Draco Foundation - Conference Room The only things of note in this conference room is the long table, punctuated by vid phones for conference calls and lined by chairs, and the water cooler in the corner. The three solid walls are painted a matte tan color above a cherry wood runner, and cherry paneling below. The fourth is crystalline glass, giving a stunning view over downtown Denver and the illusion of nothing between the inside and out. The table is of the same wood as the panels, the dark burgundy wood polished to a high sheen. The chairs lining it, 10 to a side and one at the head, are of burgundy leather and the cherry wood, and look to be a comfortable armed, office sort. In the empty corners of the room, stands real potted trees. The room gives a very elegant aura despite the sparsity of furnishings. |
Minos is sitting in the big chair. He looks weary…like someone who just got out of the hospital. Few of youin fact, I don't think any of youhave actually seen him like this.
Kassandra comes into the conference room, taking a seat at the table. The elf looks over Minos, perhaps for wounds or what not.
Janie settles into a chair as she looks Minos over. Aladriel does good work, but she just wants to make sure.
Minos is sitting in the big conference room chair, looking somewhat weary, but otherwise okay. The rest of the folks are filing in and sitting down. Minos pushes a button and a bunch of things happen at once: a giant WNG turns on; the windows darken, etcetera.
Lilith rushes into the room, expression very carefully constructed to be as blank as possible. "Where…oh thank Eris. Alex."
Minos leans back in the chair. "First things first," he says quietly, "We aren't killing him…yet." He waits for the reactions to this.
Kassandra leans back in her chair, tenting her fingers. The elf nods slowly, eyes moving across the others in the room, listening to any reactions as well.
Lilith quickly moves to take a seat near Minos. "What exactly happened? I'm sorry I wasn't there when you woke up…I've missed a lot of the details."
Janie nods at Lilith, leaning back in her chair to listen to the story.
Minos says, "At the Chrome nightclub last night in the UCAS Warrens, there was a dustup between Blindside, Tasha, and Mafen. I arrived there, just in time to catch the tail end of it. Mafen shot Tasha in the foot, carved through the chain link fence around the ring, and was moving towards the door. I moved to block the door, telling him that the owner would probably like to talk to him. He shot me four times in the chest and stomach with his laser pistols, leaving me for dead as he left the building."
Lilith pales silently.
Lilith says "I'll kill the bastard."
Sitting calmly at the table, Ally is pretty docile at the moment as she listens to the story being told again. She looks better than she did at the hospital, so she's pretty much on the mend, it'd seem.
Minos says "No, Lilith, you will not. We have more important things to do than kill Mafen right now.""
Kassandra sits quietly, letting this play out. She's already done her part in this endevour, whatever that may be. For the moment, she waits, letting Minos play his hand.
Lilith nods briefly. "Of course. But, saying it makes me feel better." She idly twirls her cane, looking over at Ally. "Thank you, Aladriel. Did the healing go okay for you?"
Ally looks over to Lilith and smiles absently, "Oh, no need to thank me. Just doing my part," she murmurs, then gives a little shrug of her shoulders. "It hit me harder than usual, but I feel okay now." A pause. "Thanks for asking!"
Lilith smiles briefly, but her expression is still cold and still. "I'm sorry for that, and your welcome."
Janie nods. "Mafen's more cybered than most people c'n stand without goin' insane, but this is crazy even f'r him…"
Lilith idly rubs her cane in one hand. "Well, obvously it has affected him then. And if he's willing to be that callous…even for a runner. His action were *stupid* as well. There was no point in shooting Mr.Michaels."
Minos nods. "I think he wanted me out of the way of his trip to the door. Whilst I understand both his desire to leave and the fact I was in his way—at least the most direct way out, I don't approve of being cut down by him." He grins. "Kassandra, I would like your opinion."
Kassandra stirs, having been a passive participant thus far, "Opinion on what, Alexander?"
Lilith snorts quietly. She clenches her fist around something else….looks like a simple, smallish sized brown paper bag.
Minos says "Everything. His motivations, the situation, my actions, the next step we should or could take, the repercussions, and the rest."
Kassandra closes her eyes, organizing her thoughts. She relates, "I have worked with the runner called 'Mafen' before. He is a very driven individual; I cannot say for certain that he is 100 percent in control of himself at any given time. He seems to operate not unlike many drones or robots you may encounter. I believe that you presented an impediment to his path, and he went into 'survival' mode. You are a hard target, Mr. Michaels, and that being the case he probably went into a lethal attack mode, which would have been the fastest route to clear you from his path."
"As for the next step, for repercussions, I ask this: how much resources are you willing to commit to this? Mafen is .. not the usual runner. He is obviously either partially or wholy backed by a corporation of somet type, one that installs state of the art equipment into him. His high tech gear and extreme cyber state indicates that he may be on the verge of complete mental break down; the colloquialism is 'cyber zombie'. If you engage him, you will need a great deal of resources and be prepared for his backer or backers to strike against you. He is more than just a Mafia flunky."
Ally looks at Lilith, eyeing her bag before her attention goes to Kassandra and she listens to every word the elf speaks. "He sounds really dangerous to have around…especially in circles that some of us travel in. If he'd attacked anyone other that Minos… they probably wouldn't be at the table right now," she points out.
Minos nods. "Thank you for that assessment. Our resources indicate he's backed by Shiawase, but as he is an elf, I don't exactly see them spending many resources to exact revenge if he dies; at least, so long as we return his cyberware to them." He smiles slightly. "In terms of repercussions I'd say I'd be more worried about the Mafia, but that's neither here nor there for the nonce. I intend to discover just how important he is to them." Looking to Janie and Aladriel he asks, "What're your assessments of the situation, individually?"
Lilith listens quietly, taking it in.
Ally starts formulating her thoughts, taking a glance at Janie to see if the woman's going to go first. When it doesn't seem that she is, Ally speaks slowly, carefully considering her words to make sure she gets her point across. "I'm… far from the most violent person anyone's going to meet. And I don't deal with mafias and corporations and all, so I'm maybe not the best person to ask about things that absolutely involve…bigger politics than I can follow. But, just from a logical perspective… it seems like so many people just understand violence. And this…Mafen sounds like a violent person. And if we don't do anything… it kind of sends the message that if any of us get attacked, we're just going to heal them and go about our business as though it didn't happen. And since he seemed to act alone… it makes the most sense that any counter-action takes place against this 'Mafen'."
Janie thinks for a moment. "Like I said, Mafen's never been /this/ unwrapped. If it means his mental condition's deterioratin' - which is entirely possible given th'amount o'metal crammed into him - then both Shiawase an'th'Mob'll see him as a liability fairly soon. Especially since th'Chrome's owner has mob connections o'his own an'he'll be screamin' f'r his head as well."
Lilith thinks. "We of course can't over look one of our being attacked in this manner, but. If the families or the corps are going to take their own steps, perhaps we could either wait it out or see if an arrangement could be made regarding him."
Janie continues. "I concur with th'general assessment. Like with Vixen, this isn't somethin' we c'n just let slide. He shot up one o'ours in an unprovoked attack. If we don't respond - appropriately an'proportionally - people will start assumin' we c'n be completely walked over whenever they want."
Minos says "Kassandra, response and analysis?"
Compared to last night's discussion regarding the Cortez family, Minos seems a great deal more subdued in this setting.
Kassandra is silent for several seconds. "I have my doubts that either Shiawase or the Mafia will take any steps. Shiawase won't admit to anything, and the Denver Mafia has, as of recent times, been very bad at keeping house. I am not sure what steps you are planning to take, however." She closes on that, leaving her own feelings on the matter out of it.
Minos says, "Neither am I." He rubs his temples, then looks at Kassandra curiously. "One of the reasons I ask you for these sorts of assessments is that you're good at keeping your emotions in check and yet less bloodthirsty or emotional than Samuel, but I am curious how you feel about this. What would you want done if you were me? What's your impression?"
Kassandra chuckles faintly, "I assure you, I can be bloodthirsty if the situation calls for it." The elf trails off for a moment, considering, "What would you do with a dog that attacked you, or a robot that malfunctioned? That is what you are dealing with, basically. Would you destroy it for doing what it does? Or would you talk to its master?"
Lilith nods. "Find out who Mafen answers to, perhaps? That could be a first step, if he answers to anyone at this point."
Minos answers Kassandra, "That all depends on whether the dog was rabid, or if it belonged to someone I cared about."
Ally snorts and shakes her head, "I don't know about the company, but I'm getting a little bit tired of hearing about the mafia," she says quietly. "We talked with them about Lilith's new business… and now we've got another problem with them. Its a broken robot or a bad dog? Well, .. why don't we just handle it, and since apparently we've got favorable contacts with them when we need to…have someone go over there and tell them this is *why* we did it. And let that calm things down. Instead of always asking permission or asking for help or whatnot."
Minos nods to Aladriel. "She does have a good point."
Kassandra says nothing, watching the others.
Lilith thinks. "Recon then. Keep an eye on him, find out where he goes, where he hangs out. Discover who his friends are…corporations or Mafia aside, that's something to consider as well."
Minos says "All right. Well, the fact is, Mafen's probably gone underground. I'll want to know where he is when he resurfaces. I'm not in a hurry here, we have other irons in the fire so to speak, but I will talk to Pulse about things when we get the chance." He cracks his neck. "We've got to deal with Vixen first.""
Lilith nods.
Lilith says "I'll keep an eye out for Mafen, socially speaking."
Janie nods. "We've had some luck in that regard," she adds.
Minos says "So, Kass, Janie, Aladriel, keep an eye out for him. He's not difficult to spot aura-wise, that's for certain." He arches an eyebrow. "Really? How so?"
"Don't think I'm going to be the best one to keep an eye out for him…never met him before, don't know what he looks like or anything," Ally mentions, then looks to Janie, eager to hear her news.
"One o'th'dojo's regulars is a shaman by th'name o'Kami," Janie explains. "When she heard Vixen was kidnapped, she decided t'do some investigatin' on her own, an'she found that a certain 'gentleman's club' called th'Latin Lovers is closed f'r repairs — without any actual damage to th'place, an'with several snipers an'at least one powerful shaman guardin' th'premises…"
Lilith groans slightly. "That might've been the woman Ally spotted."
Minos says "Interesting!" He looks cheered up. "I know Kami; she introduced herself not too long ago to a bunch of us. Nice way to show she's skilled."
Kassandra ahs, "That is who tripped all the alarms and set off the Mob. Her name is Kami, yes?" The elf taps that into her secretary, commenting to Minos, "Or a nice way to say, "Hey, I just killed your friend.""
Lilith grunts and nods. "Indeed."
Ally shrugs gently, "It certainly could have been her," she murmurs. "And if it was…not so sure she's 'skilled', since she stirred the whole place up," she grumbles alongside Lilith.
Minos cocks his head. "She fucked up?"
Kassandra says "Yes. She alerted the group that there were people looking into the situation. They now know someone is trying to find Vixen, and could move her or kill her.""
Janie shakes her head. "Unless they're totally insane they already knew there'd be people lookin' f'r Vix. My guess is Chavez won't kill her until Pulse is around t'see it."
Lilith nods. "Makes sense. I can see them guessing there'd be people searching for her…but yes, realizing that we or someone was getting so close to finding her probably set them off."
Janie nods. "From what she was tellin' me, Kami's talents are more in direct applications rather'n subtlety an'sneakin'."
Kassandra scoffs, "Of course they knew someone would be looking. But knowing that and having someone do the equivalent of knocking on the door and asking for Vixen is a bit different. Given the fact that we have determined the shaman there is a sadist, we cannot be certain of what they will or will not do. They don't /need/ Vixen. They can make Lucciano believe they have her, or just outright kill him. This is a revenge story," the elf finishes, then glances to Minos, "We seem to be having
a lot of those."
Minos nods to Kassandra. "Which is why I'm hesitant to launch into a "Mafen Must Die!" war. For now, it satisfies me to discover where he is and what he's doing. We've got bigger fish to fry."
Janie nods at Minos. "Mafen'll keep. Vix might not."
Lilith nods as well. "First priority."
Kassandra shrugs. "We may want to keep the amateur hour down then. Given the numbers I saw while watching the building, I'd say that they will increase the guards after that little stunt. I doubt any of us are in any hurry to rush back to the hospital."
Minos nods.
Lilith taps her fingers on the table. "So now what then?"
Minos says "Now, I go speak to Pulse, like we were planning, about Vixen. We put Mafen on hold, except to have all of you keep ears to the ground to find out where he is. Astrally, he looks like a near-black-hole, and he's an elf, so that's pretty easy to watch out for; I don't expect him to pop up any time soon."
Janie nods. "Want me t'come with?" she offers. "I'm on fairly good speakin' terms with Pulse…"
Lilith nods. "I can attend as well."
Kassandra shrugs, packing up her things. The elf doesn't offer to go, given the numbers already attending.
"Bring all the girls you can," Ally says, slightly volunteering her own presence as well. "His nature makes him pretty easy to distract," she points out.
Lilith smiles faintly. "I know. In which case only one woman is needed, if she can send out the right signals."
Samuel emerges through the doors of the private elevator and enters the conference room.
Samuel has arrived.
"Careful," Janie warns. "When it comes t'women, his self control's… limited." And if that isn't an ominous warning…
Lilith smiles again. "I know."
Kassandra is in the midst of packing up her things. The others are discussing going to see Pulse.
Samuel enters on that note. "My ears are burning. tHat either means someone's wearing a perfume to which I am alergic or someones talking about me."
Minos says "Perfume. We were tlaking about Pulse."
"Poor shamans," Ally says with a little shake of her head. "Some of them get screwed when it comes to their totems, or idols, as it were," she murmurs
Lilith looks innocent at Samuel.
Lilith gives Ally a sharp nudge
Ally yipes and looks at Lilith.
Samuel shrugs as he moves inside. "Yes, well, we get screwed by our employers all the time. If it makes Pulse behave too stupidly, maybe he should find a new magical patron, or stop practicing magic."
Kassandra suggests, "Or, perhaps he is just really this horny all the time."
Minos says "We're not going to kill Mafen."
"Is that a hard decision?" Asks Samuel, coming to take a seat… "Because I'm rather -keen- on the idea.."
Lilith makes a face. "I'm more terribly annoyed with him. I'd prefer to see him dead, yes, but in time. Right now…"
"Well, not /yet/," Janie amends.
Kassandra shrugs, her apparent opinion on the matter.
Ally gives a little nod to Lilith, for whatever was being murmured to her, and then she looks at Minos for what he just announced. "I hope thats not the final answer on it. Some good reasons for keeping it on the table…"
Minos says "It's a decision that we're going to revisit at a later date, Samuel. Based on the advice of my friends here, it doesn't seem like a priority. Someone reminded me yesterday that we have bigger fish to fry at the moment."
Samuel nods to Minos. "Fair enough. I take it very poor when someone shoots my people with no provocation. It's one thing to have Janie shot, no offense to you, Ms Blair… as a result of a legitimate problem. It's another to shoot you down because you stood in his way. Had that have been me, Alexander, I'd be -dead-. Gone."
Kassandra finishes reloading her attache, listening to the others talk. The elf stays out of the main conversation, letting the others decide what they are going to do.
Minos nods. "I didn't say we wouldn't pursue it at a later date; I mostly mean to not do anything rash, or right now."
Ally smiles, and she has good reason to. She tells Sam, "Thats exactly what I told him. If that'd been ANY of us other than him…they wouldn't be here. And if that guy is going crazy, and we all potentially have the chance of running into contact with him…its a big reason to do something about it with finality."
Lilith folds her hands together. "So then. We but Mafen aside for now, and focus on Vixen. The ladies have to do recon work still, I belive."
Kassandra offers a quiet assessment, "If we are going to use that criteria, however, there are any number of individuals that have similiar traits. In the very same club you have Pulse's 'right hand' Tasha, who is a certified psychopath with a blade. Do we put her down because she might go crazy? She has certainly taken a stab at more than a few people? This circles back around to the trouble in the Warrens the other night with the Tide. We're taking a certain moral high ground here, one that doesn't quite correspond with the tennets laid out when I was approached about things." The elf subsides, her mouth a tight line as the Vixen business is mentioned. She adds finally, "I feel, simply, that we are starting to stray."
Samuel nods to Kassandra. "Anyway. Moving on. Business for another time. The girls need to go out and do their reconnaissance. I can't plan further until they do that."
Minos nods to Kassandra. "Oh, so do I. The primary purpose of this meeting was to talk it out, so that people wouldn't feel they had to go off half-cocked to avenge me. We'll deal with things as they come about."
Lilith nudges Ally. "Speaking of recon, did you get the clothes I recommended?"
Ally gets nudged and she giggles softly, a huge smile spreading across her face. "I sure did…haven't tried them on yet… but, um, yeah. They look lovey, thank you!"
Samuel quirks a brow, but otherwise keeps his face stoney. "Mafen lives on borrowed time, Vixen lives on borrowed time. Cash lived, god only knows why. We're off to a -great- start."
Lilith laughs a bit. "Good. As long as they suit." She frowns and checks her pocsec. "Bugger all…more bloody business. God rest her poor soul, but blast that Ms.Trodes." She slides the unit away and rubs her brow. "I'm sorry, I've got to scarper off for a bit. Legal matters. Kassandra, Ally, can we meet at my place later to do the recon work? I'll be back in a couple of hours."
Kassandra nods, still at her place at the table. The woman says, "Sure," leaving it at that.
Samuel stands up then, offering a nod to everyone. "Holding pattern until data comes in. Check. I'll be in my office."
Lilith nods politely to Kassandra. "Splendid." She rises from her seat, bobbing her head to the rest of the group. "Mr.Clemens, Janie, Alex…good afternoon to you all. And again, glad to see you upright, Alexander."
Ally watches Lilith rise and start to go, giving a little wave, "See you soon at your place." she farewells her. A similar nod is given to Mr. Samuel.
Kassandra moves to head out as well as the meeting has broken up.
Janie rises to accompany Minos to the meet with Pulse.
