Tell Me A Story [Open Topic]

A loud buzzer went off on his phone to signal the start of the meeting. He put it away and looked at the almost empty room.

"Where is everyone?" Adam asks Selena

"Kostya went to the store, he wasn't sure he'd be back in time. Lada is dealing with a minor emergency. I am not sure the others and I obviously brought Jack along so he was early for once." Selena pushed her glasses up, giving an approving nod as Jack moved his legs off of the table before looking at Adam with one eyebrow raised.

"Now would be the time to discuss one on one items with-" She waved at the half asleep man. "-him. Also I'd like to pass some sort of something to get everyone off my back about my sex life. If that would be possible."

She seemed entirely serious about that comment.

"You've got to be..." Adam started before he glared at no one in particular.

"Do either of you honestly think we can have a meeting with just the three of us?" He says visibly upset about this completely ignoring Selena's question.

"Jack this is why I didn't disband the Jag after the war. Unfortunately I can't have you run off to find them or I'd likely lose another one of my board members. So this is what we going to do." Adam paused before putting his feet on the table.

"We're going to do nothing till the others arrive." Adam then smiled knowing that it would irk them both to no end. Jack would probably fall asleep before long and Selena was liable to have another meltdown as the schedule slowly became undone.

"That is... unless you can do something to get them here faster." Adam then folded his arms and watched to see what happened next.

"Mmm." Jack sleepily agreed with Adam's statement. Adam knew him well enough that he would probably find a couch somewhere and get some shuteye instead of looking for the others.

He watched as the King put his feet up and frowned just a little bit. Man, no fair. Well, at least he was lucky enough to have that privilege.

Well, whatever. He knew Selena was probably going to start shouting, so he was enjoying this momentary calm before the storm as he closed his eyes to rest them for the time being.

Selena was accounting for the schedule meltdown, which is why she had made a back up schedule. She just gave Adam a small glasses glare as she pushed them up and held out her hands, trying for now to ignore the shoes on the table... Knowing Jack he'd follow suit. Ugh.

"If you can get Kostya to move at anything but his own pace? Good luck. Lada is dealing with an emergency in the network, so taking her away at this time could be detrimental. By all means though do so. The others have not checked in as of yet. I shall assume other minor emergencies until further notice. If they can't check in, its normally the case." Selena almost sounded bored as she messed around with her tablet. She was just going to ignore any temper tantrums for now and work on making sure her own work would be finished within the next few hours.

"This is what you get for messing with the original schedule in the first place, Mr Dumont."

"Selena, if I could get them to move on my own then I wouldn't need you." Adam said almost sweetly before laughing at her last comment.

"I don't think that there was anything that could have prevented Lada's emergency and Kostya, well you know how he is"

"Hello, everybody!" Kostya walked in the door, carrying a plastic bag from the convenience store. "Hope I am not late." He began pulling things out of the bag, like he was santa clause. "For the Tsarina." He tossed her a bottle of ibuprofen, before sliding a water bottle to her. "For the generous man." He tossed Jack a pack of cigarettes. "For the Boss Man." He pulled a small bottle of whiskey out and underhand-tossed it to Adam, before finding his seat. He sat down, pulling out a tuna sandwich and a coca cola. "And for me." He leaned forward, quietly chomping on his sandwich. "You can continue now."

Lada walked slowly into the room with her head down and her arms crossed. Her face was stern, as if she were in deep thought. She quietly sat in a chair, not greeting anyone in the room. She just sat there, silent. Her mind was racing, thinking of what had just happened. What HAD just happened?

Adam catches the drink and eyes it curiously. It seemed cheap and while Adam certainly loved his booze this was one of the few times where he was too spoiled. He'll probably drink it anyway. Adam then looked at the two tardy employees and simply asked,

"So, what happened?"

Opening his eyes at the sound of the others coming in the room, Jack turned towards the door to be greeted to Kostya buying him a pack of smokes. Saved him a trip to the store. With a friendly nod towards the Russian's way, he placed the carton inside his jacket pocket and sat up, leaning back in his chair and being quiet for now. Not like he had much to say anyway, things had been rather uneventful lately.

"Appreciated." Selena gave a rather relieved smile, making her stern face light up and her violet eyes soften. She opened the bottle of water, took a drink before opening the ibuprofen and downing a few. More like three than the recommended two. The other two could answer the King, she was busy making sure the schedules would be fine when this was all over if it turned into a long session.

Her meetings could easily be put off, tomorrow was a partial day for her so she was coming in later anyways. They weren't on the more official end of things... So later was generally better for all parties involved.

She was curious but kept silent after that, her face returning its normal stern cast.

Kostya looked around the room, chewing animatedly on his sandwich, but keeping his mouth closed. He stopped and took a sip of his soda, guzzling for a moment, before putting it down, with a loud "Ahhh" of refreshment. "Op.. Hold on." He lowered his chin, covering his mouth before visibly jolting, clearly having burped. "Apologies. Excuses." He said, before eating another bite of his sandwich. He looked around, swallowing. "So ah... What's going on?"

Realizing he wasn't going to get an answer from those two that would sufficiently satisfy him, Adam just facepalmed and pushed a button on the bottom of the desk which sealed the room and jammed any devices that may or may not be listening in. The windows became like mirrors to the outside world and Adam took a deep breath as if the whole process of pushing a single button was an exhausting affair.

"Alright, lets do business first then we'll move on to Wandenreich related work." Adam says as he uses a remote to pull up what looked like an upward looking line graph.

"This is our profitability. As you can see it is increasing at a good rate. Keep up the good work." Adam then clicks the slide and it moves on to two new looking people.

"Lada, these two are professional cyber security experts from competing companies that I bought out to work for us. They'll be under your command and their skills almost rival yours. Also they have some good ideas for security measures which should help. They aren't Quincies so watch what you say around them." Adam clicks to a slide with what looks like a space station being built.

"Jack, we are beginning open negotiations with several other countries for both funding and rights to use said station. We are also launching several hundred new satellites, mostly just to replace outdated ones. There is a market to mine here and I want you on the phone and in meetings with foreign dignitaries trying to hammer out a deal. Selena will help you this and when you have a deal you think will work, send it to me for final approval." He clicks again to the training room underneath the compound.

"Yeah, during my last training exercise I accidently broke the machine in anger. Since we have to take care of this 'in house' it'll be a day before it gets up and running again. My apologies." He then clicks again to a calender with tomorrow's date circled on it.

"As you all know by now, most of your day's plans for tomorrow has been cleared. An e-mail will be sent later regarding times for our individual meeting, I know it's a hassle but I appreciate your co-operation." Adam says this almost as his voice shakes ever so slightly. Tomorrow was the anniversary of when his family was killed. By this point in time many Quincies practically wanted it to be a holiday in commemoration of the the last king but for Adam, he just wanted it to be a quiet day spent with friends in order to stave away the feeling of isolation that accompanied that day.

"And that's all I really got for business. Questions? Anybody have anything to share themselves?"

As everyone who would be here arrived, Selena set the tablet down and pulled out its stand so she could take notes. Proper protocol was observed, especially for their... circumstances.

Dagon wrote:

"Jack, we are beginning open negotiations with several other countries for both funding and rights to use said station. We are also launching several hundred new satellites, mostly just to replace outdated ones. There is a market to mine here and I want you on the phone and in meetings with foreign dignitaries trying to hammer out a deal. Selena will help you this and when you have a deal you think will work, send it to me for final approval." He clicks again to the training room underneath the compound.

"Yeah, during my last training exercise I accidentally broke the machine in anger. Since we have to take care of this 'in house'  it'll be a day before it gets up and running again. My apologies." He then clicks again to a calender with tomorrow's date circled on it.

"As you all know by now, most of your day's plans for tomorrow has been cleared. An e-mail will be sent later regarding times for our individual meeting, I know it's a hassle but I appreciate your co-operation." Adam says this almost as his voice shakes ever so slightly. Tomorrow was the anniversary of when his family was killed. By this point in time many Quincies practically wanted it to be a holiday in commemoration of the the last king but for Adam, he just wanted it to be a quiet day spent with friends in order to stave away the feeling of isolation that accompanied that day.

"And that's all I really got for business. Questions? Anybody have anything to share themselves?"

Selena glanced at Jack, a small frown but... She knew the drill by now. They had to do such things before. He could handle the smooth talking, she would get to be the hardass. It worked generally. It still annoyed her to have to constantly deal with him for extended periods of time like that though.

A deep sigh came out of her mouth as she heard the next bit of news, but no comments. Instead she made a note to double check repairs later and make sure they were running smoothly.

And then Selena was nodding, a sad smile on her face. It was the day she also did such things... Even if her family had.... been eradicated another day, this was the best day to set aside for such things. Especially if she still spent some of it working. It was what she wanted to do, and she would damn it.

She had a proposal that could wait another time. "I have none. Your orders will be done Sire."

"I'm sorry for being late. There was a level three security breach upon on virtual real estate. I was the only one capable with dealing with such a threat available. Sorry for the tardiness."

Lada still had a look of doom and gloom on her face. That security breach was different. Something about it was off. It wasn't uncommon for things like that to happen, but this one was different. There was a message in it. Those of Holy Lineage shall fall, and their crown shall be tarnished forever.

"Very well sir. I will show them around our systems and give them a little orientation. I will be careful not to reveal our true identity."

"Threats happen, although rarely at that level. I want you to investigate until you find something that I can notify the police about... or pass on to Kostya if need be." Adam thought pensively before adding, "Also Kostya, I want you to run point with me in another meeting. Your reputation should help garnish a more positive outcome."

"Anybody else?"

Jack simply nodded to Adam after he heard his instructions. Looks like it was one of those jobs again. Selena would be the one making the demands while Jack would win them over with his boyish charm and smooth talking. It worked remarkably well. Knowledge of human psychology and behavior was a strong asset in the Business world. If that failed, just send a good looking young girl to do it.

He gave a quick glance towards Selena's way to return the one she had given him, as if to confirm their next job, and then leaned back in his chair a little bit more. He had most of the day off tomorrow, which was nice, but the reasoning wasn't. It was the anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War that had caused years of strife and violence in their community. It wasn't a pleasant memory for Jack, much like everyone else in the room more or less. His parents had fought on opposite sides, and while Jack wasn't a child when the war began 9 years ago, it certainly had its impacts, such as he why smoked. It gave him a small measure of peace that he could hardly ever find back then.

Ugh, enough thinking about the past. The Sternritter absent-mindly reached into his jacket towards his cigarettes, but then realized he wouldn't be able to light one up. Sighing lightly, he retracted his hand and lazily left it on one the arms of the chair, waiting for the meeting to end.

Kostya looked up at him when he heard his name. "Ah?" He looked confused a second, thinking over the last few words he'd heard before his name and glancing at Lada. Ah. Probably wanted her to give him some names to cross off. Made enough sense. Adam's request of him made a little more. He sat up in his chair, reaching into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a rather ferocious looking hunting knife, giving it a twirl. "I got my knife." He said with an understanding tone. His reputation being useful meant that Adam wanted to scare the piss out of some people. He was okay with this.

Jack had seen and acknowledged, so that was that. She rather liked those jobs in a way, Selena wasn't as good at sweet talking. She was good at maneuvering and winning, not convincing nicely. A space station job would be quite interesting, and while Adam dealt with the others she started searching out information. It was good to be prepared and this would be just the thing to focus on tomorrow after things she didn't want to think about now happened.

Selena looked around as she finished taking notes, suppressing a grin at Sasha. Half the time she was sure he was really Russian and other times she was sure he was just faking his russianness. What with names like Sasha and naming her one dog Boris.

"If we are all finished, Sire, I'd like to finish up some things before tonight." She was politely pointing out the time had come to end the meeting, his own meeting times rapidly approaching.

"Two more things and both are Wandenreich related." Adam said to Selena as he held up his hand to halt the group. With his spare hand he reaches into his brief case and tosses out a black mask and a tabloid.

"So this is what I've had our R&D specialists working on for the past couple weeks. We've been having some problems lately in regards to careless exposure. I understand the need to get some fresh air now and then so do me a favor but when you use your abilities make sure you are in uniform and wearing the mask. There is only so much we can do to limit information and even then we get releases like this one." Adam tosses the newspaper into the center of the table revealing an article about a supernatural vigilantie archer and showing a surprisingly close shot of his face.

"This is Jim from I.T. He has low level recognition so it was easy to silently remove him from the office as some of you might have noticed if you were to venture into that part of the building. Right now he is data mining somewhere in Siberia so unless any of you would like a trip to go see him, or perhaps a one way trip to the arctic to watch polar bears, then I suggest you spread the masks around to your family and friends. Try to impress upon them the need for secrecy. We fought a war over it, I don't want it to be blown by some hot shot with a hero complex." Adam went silent for a moment before adding.

"The masks themselves are quite durable and allow you to look out at them without being seen yourself. It doesn't hide reiatsu so they are useless against higher level foes but sufficient to mask your appearance to normal people. Now on to our last bit of info." This time Adam clicks his remote for the power point to show the grisly scene of what looked like a body that had been torn apart.

"This was a Quincy family that lived within this city. I've been getting reports from other noble houses down to the humblest of burrows that families are being torn apart and relatives missing. At first it was isolated and I didn't think much of it. Hollows tend to be particularly agressive against us so I figured it was just a coincidence but as more information was gathered it became clear that these are not random attacks. I sent my personal secretary to gather what info he could and the results are alarming." He clicks the slide again showing what looked like sign waves and cosign waves along with a third one.

"These are reiatsu patterns simplified into graphy form. The blue line represents us and the red represents hollows. The third line represents trace reiatsu patterns found at the scene. I ran comparisons with fullbringers and even what shinigami data we have and none of it is a match. I don't know what is causing it but this has the potential to be very bad."

"Jack, Kostya. I want you both to interview the neighbors and gather what intel you can. Selena, I want you to correlate the data and find any commonalities if any at all. Ladies, Gentleman please make this a priority. If our people are being targeted for something I want to know who and why before any more lives need to be lost. Thank you." With that Adam officially closed the meeting except for any questions that anyone had to him.

Selena took in all the news with a grim face, making a note to send a few to the distant cousins who had taken care of her. There were a few young hot shots who would be stupid enough... She'd better send a very sternly written note with it. As head of this particular family it was her right, though for now one of the older members actually did most of the work.

However her face paled drastically at the new topic of conversation. She didn't like blood, but could bear it. She really didn't like that much blood though. There was work to be done about it, so she stuffed away any response as the color slowly came back to her skin. Selena stood and bowed, grabbing her tablet. "It shall be done, My King."

She would begin work on that immediately, then prepare for the meetings. It would help her composure immensely as she left, a bit too quickly.

Another assignment? Man, being in charge of the Jagdarmee was more trouble that it was worth at times, thought our lovable slacker as he nodded towards Adam's second assignment. Again, he would have to play the nice guy, because Kostya would undoubtedly unnerve some of the witnesses. Not that Jack held that against him, he was just built to handle troublemakers and "aggressively" interrogate people, not schmooze them over.

With that, the meeting came to a close, and Jack finally got up and lazily waltzed his way over to the door, giving a silent wave to the rest of the room as he exited into the hallway. He absent-mindedly scratched the back of his head before putting his hands in his pockets and walking down the halls, off to who knows where. He certainly didn't.

Walking to the meeting late as always, Reiner passed Jack in the hallway. "Here." He said to the Jagdarmee chief, thrusting a pill bottle into his hand. "Reiatsu suppressant to go along vith the mask. There are 10, head to R & D ven you need more. Don't take more than 1 in 48 hours." He made sure to project his voice in the direction of the office, so he wouldn't need to repeat himself. Bowing, he stepped out of Jack's way, "and good day, Jack."

Walking into the office, he handed out the pill bottles, humming a jolly tune. At reaching Adam he bowed, "Sorry for mein late arrival, mein king." Lifting his head he looked him in the eye, "Any assignments before I retreat back to mein office for the day?"

Before he could even say anything, Jack was interrupted in his wanderings by the ever so fabulous Reiner. He grasped the pill bottle and looked at it in a bit of wonder as he listened to the explanation.

"Right. Thanks chief." He remarked in a friendly manner as the other man went on his way to the room he had just left, continuing on his way to nowhere in particular.

Adam shook his head and smiled at Reiner, "Nothing at the moment but be prepared for a lengthy meeting with me tomorrow and a memo if nothing else from Selena about the importance of attendance"

With that Adam left the room but hung outside to wait for Kostya