Description: Megadeth (1992). Elle and Kain probably couldn't be any more different. Elle cares little about humanity and is only concerned with material wealth. Kain wants to shape humanity and craft it's progress and cares very little about material things. The purpose of their business meeting, however, has very little to do with a clash of ideologies, and more to do with making both parties better off at the expense of others.
When inviting someone like Kain to any location, you have to put a lot of thought into it.
It's not that the invitation has to be anything fancy. It's not that it has to be at a specific date, through specific means, or even to a specific location. No, the invitation merely has to be 'interesting'. It's the content of the message that's important, or more specifically, a certain lack of content.
Elle's a far cry from many leaders, self proclaimed or otherwise. As a result, her behavior is highly unorthodox. The end result is that Kain is delivered a message by standard mail, with standard postage. The letter is simple enough. In fact, the message contained in the envelope wouldn't seem all that unusual: it's a simple glossy card that nearly any Tom, Dick, or Harry would get in Metro City advertising the casino. The only glaring difference between this message and the dreadful mass mailing envelopes that usually get tossed in the trash is the fact that the envelope is hand-addressed, and the glossy card has Elle's hand written signature and a date and a time.
Should Kain actually arrive at that date and at that time, he'll face a small crowd of people in business suits armed with suitcases and pamphlets leaving the scene or lingering around in the casino itself. It seems that there was a seminar in one of the conference rooms just off the side of the casino proper that's just clearing out. A cursory glance at the placard indicates that it was a new investor's meeting, and that it recently finished, although the doors haven't been closed yet as some people still have some questions, which the speaker, listed to be Elle, seems more than willing to answer for the time being.
Elle herself is still inside the conference room, wearing a simple business suit. It's not flashy, quietly elegant, or even expensive. It's something someone can pick up off the rack at Target. Clearly, she's not much in the way of a spendthrift. She spends her time packing up her business materials to talk to some individuals from California who are interested in a joint venture in another casino in the northern California area with an Indian tribe.
It can be rather difficult to determine what, exactly, Kain will find interesting, but it would seem that things that look like a longshot when dealing with someone of his stature actually work out fairly well. Boldness is something that Kain can appreciate. Of course, if someone attracts Kain's attention and then winds up wasting his time they may wind up wishing that he hadn't turned his sights on them.
At least in this particular case there are plenty of other things that can be done in Metro City, so if this trip turns out to be a waste of time there are ways Kain can make up for it. But Kain intends to give Elle a chance, and so he arrives at the casino at the designated time. Precisely at the designated time, in fact. When dealing with, presumably, business, it pays to make a good impression, and a good entrance is part of that. And so Kain strides into the conference room at precisely the specified time. There are a few people amongst the investors that Kain recognizes from his many business dealings, but none of them have met him in person before. A great deal of Kain's wealth comes from some fairly convoluted, yet technically legal, business arrangements and he makes use of quite a few subordinates.
Elle isn't too hard to spot, and Kain begins making his way across the room toward her. He keeps to a politely slow pace, allowing some time for things to be wrapped up with the individuals currently talking with her; once he actually comes up to her, he doesn't really intend to wait for Elle's attention, but he can still make some concessions to politeness and civility.
Boldness is a trait Elle's not precicely known for. It's not so much a sense of courage or even a more base sense of entitlement. The overriding sensation is that she's already finished. Whatever she does, whatever's she's planned, it's as if she's already done it ten times over and is merely going through the motions this time around.
Elle takes to the trenches. She's hands on, and rarely uses emissaries if she doesn't have to. In the rare occasion that it's necessary, it's only because she absolutely can't be there herself. As Kain approaches, she nods. "Oh good, you're here," she says, sliding away a stack of papers as the questioners leave.
As the door is closed behind them, Elle opens up a briefcase and rifles through some papers. "So let's talk about Indonesia and where you're dropping the ball in terms of being an international superpower," she says, picking out some spreadsheets. "I took a detour there after I saw you juggling troops around right about the time Vega decided to light up a firecracker under his own ass and blow himself into dog food."
The spreadsheets are tossed out. "You've got too many levels of bureaucrats. That works in a European nation, but you're not getting anywhere with that in a developing nation made entirely of islands strewn over fifteen percent of the planet by God's shotgun. Each island is bottlenecking feircely. Even if you control the central government, by the time you hit the outlying island chains, all you have is people skimming off the top and 'missing goods'. Coupled with the fact that that area is the Lilien Knight's favorite hunting ground and a festering mass of hidey holes for every tinpot despot in exile, I don't think you could have picked a worse place to set up shop."
The overhead is turned on again. It previously displayed casino ledgers and business projections. Now it shows a chart demonstrating the demographic makeup of the area in question. "You got religious extremists on the right, pirates on the left, a flagging economy, about fifteen governments minimum, and to top it off, a rampant problem with the bird flu."
"I can fix this for you, if you're interested."
Kain does actually hesistate for a moment. It's brief, but it's there. But then, there /are/ people who know about his involvement in southeast Asia, much as he's tried to keep himself personally distanced from it. That very distancing means he has to work through people, and then there's been arrangements of weapon shipments and the like, and some of the mercenaries needed a display of power to make sure they stayed in line. No sense denying it... He'll just have to figure out where the leak is, and plug it.
Turning his gaze to the projection screen, Kain glances over the figures displayed there. "It's true. Actually running a country is a great deal of difficult work... That's why I haven't tried. Better to have threats hanging over the heads of those who /are/ running things, using that and, of course, bribes to move things in the proper directions. You do, however, have a point. Things could be running more smoothly. I broke the government and remade it once, and I would prefer not to have to do so again. So what, pray tell, do you propose?" Kain turns his head to Elle, making a point to make eye contact. He finds it a fairly good judge of character, and not only because of his ability to read what a person is feeling from their eyes... Many people find it hard to meet Kain's gaze for more than a short period of time, and the way a person reacts to it can be telling.
Very few know of Kain's connections. Quite true. But there's peace of mind in the fact that even if you knew, nobody would beleive you, and there's not a fat lot you can do about it. In Elle's case, you don't work with the top dogs without eating the scraps that fall. Only a fool would let things like that go to waste. It's perception that's kept her alive this long, and as she talks, she removes the sunglasses she normally wears on her face, displaying the vicious scar that tears over otherwise appealing if not slightly rangy features.
Eyes tell much, especially in those of fighters. The steely stare of grim determination, the light of bright resolve, the fires of passion or the dark and desolate glare of a person gripped in hatred. No doubt Kain's seen them all, met them face to face, and dismissed them all with a gesture and axplosion of his impressive power.
Maybe in another day and age, Elle would have been cowed by the potential might he has at his fingertips. But that's very much no longer the case. As intense as Kain's look may be, she doesn't react at all. But there's a difference in the way Elle reacts as opposed to those that normally grant Kain a stare in return. There's no spark of belligerance, no hint of pride. Not an iota of bold or heroic courage dances behind her eyes. It's a dead, soulless stare of someone that means business, every day, all the time. She looks at Kain the same way she looks at her employees, a stranger, or a McDonalds employee.
If she thinks Kain is anything more than a potential client for her services, it simply doesn't show.
"I've played this game before," she explains, tossing up the dossiers of people Kain would know. Island governers, all of them. "I've studied names, tastes, hobbies, schedules. I could probably tell you when they lost their virginity if you're into that sort of thing. I think a few strategic removals of local authority figures, a 'Indonesia for the Indonesians' propoganda campaign to reduce local belligerance, a few public works progams to solve unemployment, and the opening up of the borders for charitable organizations such as the Garcia Foundation to fix some of the health problems. And that's just for starters."
She replaces the display with another transparancy. "As you know, Malaysia is also one of the corners of the Golden Triangle, which supplies roughly 80% of the world's supply of hash. You might also be aware of two very popular street drugs, known as Glow, and Burn, as well as Aphrodite and Eye Candy which are popular with the party crowd. What you might not be aware of is that with that much cheap hash running around in that corner of the Triangle, a proper chemical lab stationed in that area will cut you a bigger peice of the pie in the world narcotics market."
"Now how much would you pay?"
Kain glances over the display of the information on the local drug trade in the area, while looking briefly through a few of the dossiers. It's difficult to tell exactly what his reaction is. He doesn't appear bothered by the idea, or dismissive of it, but neither does he appear particularly interested. "My intentions have been more in the realm of social experimentation than the generation of cash flow, but it's never a good plan to let a resource go to waste."
Topping one of the dossiers thoughtfully, Kain muses for a moment. "My interests in the area are fairly long term, and so stability in both the government and the criminal underworld are desirable." For the time being, at least. Until Kain decides it's time to start pulling out the supports. While he advocates a society with a fairly Darwinian outlook, he knows that the chaos caused by sudden government destabilization can upset all kinds of things, and there's no guarantee things will turn out right. 'Right' being the way Kain thinks they should be.
"I believe we can come to an arrangement. I can give you some of the authority and resources you'll need to operate... in a small area of the country. For payment, well, I'm sure something can be arranged. And I imagine you might find it useful to take a cut of various economic activities going on under your supervision. We'll see what kind of results you can achieve with that before I start handing over the keys to the kingdom, as it were." And even then, of course, Kain will be keeping more than a few cards up his sleeve. Trust is a virtue... but you'd better be damn well sure who you give it to.
'Payment' is perhaps the only word Elle ever responds to with anything approaching enthusiasm these days. But before that happens, she's interested in arranging the terms of the agreement a little more succinctly. "Give me a series of three seperate island governments to repair. Once you have a nation that's not bleeding resources from it's orfices, you can experiment socially all you want. After all, the're enough isolation in the islands to do whatever you want to do with them."
Clearly, Elle's not entirely concerned with what happens to the locals. Morality doesn't figure big in her equation for success. All she wants is more, and as soon as humanly possible.
"As for payment, I'll take ten percent of all revenues from the project site off the top, along with any salvage on the islands, up to and including any pirate vessels that wander into the territory. We'll talk further payment if you're satsified with what I produce," she intones, shutting down her presentation. If he thinks there's an arrangement to be hand, there's no further reason to continue with the dog and pony show.
"In short, there's no risk to you. You've lost nothing but ten percent of gross revenue from three island territories in the worse case scenario. I'll have someone draw up an agreement and the necessary legalities that need to be taken care of in order to make this work," she says, meaning multiple document forgeries and other unpleasantries. "Do you have any other questions?"
"That sounds reasonable." In fact, even if the entire operation was just going to be a money drain it still wouldn't be that big a deal for Kain to finance. Having it pay for itself is just a nice bonus, so giving Elle a cut of that is of relatively little concern. "I'm sure I can find three appropriate locations, and I'll give you the necessary information. Glancing at your dossiers I imagine you already have most of the tools you'll need for dealing with the more important locals, but I'll provide you with my own files on they key players you'll need to deal with."
Kain then checks his watch briefly. "And with that... I believe I should go lose some money in your casino, for the look of things. Of course, it will do little to convince anyone already suspicious of why I might be here, but best not to throw them any bones." It's not paranoia when there really are people after you. Of course, most people who make a point of following Kain around tend not to keep it up for long, for one reason or another, but people do try. His public face may be pretty good, but nobody can have as many financial interests as Kain without raising some suspicions.
The mercenary nods. "Duke has his primary place of business just up the street," she says somewhat rhetorically, as Kain knows that already, no doubt. "But his activity level's been pretty low. Just from the smell of things, the Syndicate is trying to consolidate it's holdings. They've been pretty much drifting for a while. I've kept track of a few new faces and names, and I've had a few operatives that have run up against them in the past if you're interested in some information on them."
The briefcase and paperwork are taken up as she begins to head towards the door. "Also, I'd like to set up a match with you sometime. I make a habit of going a few rounds with any employer worth their salt in the arena. I know you outclass me by more than a few volts, but I'm not going to learn anything beating on people weaker than I am," she suggests, without a hint of amusement in her voice to indicate it as a joke. Still, someone of her power level purposefully asking for a savage beating from Kain? Well, stranger things have probably happened.
"Try the high stakes tables, and I'll have a room comped and free of bugs for you for the day," she says as she places a hand on the door handle. "Everything is pretty much on the house. Have a pleasant stay at Capital Seven."
Log created on 22:07:55 01/04/2008 by Elle, and last modified on 01:19:32 01/05/2008.