Participants:
| Scene Title | Discussing SOPs and SOBs |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Veronica visits the "imprisoned" Minea and they discuss her time in Phoenix and the job hazards that come with being a Company agent (including Curt) |
| Date | August 5, 2009 |
Fort Hero Holding Cell
Dinner was good. Very good. Cake was kept back, tucked into a table that was brought in for the Agent while she spent her time in "quarantine" for lack of a better term. A laptop was brought in, not attached to any wireless or modems to protect the information she was writing on. This is how Veronica finds Minea when she approaches the cell, looking in through the large one sided glass. The brunette clacking away at the keyboard and documenting her time in the Phoenix enclave. A carafe of coffee made available to her to boot. A prisoner with luxury, of sorts.
Veronica comes bearing gifts. A gift basket, in fact. She slides the access card through the lock on the cell door and enters. "Hey Dahl," she says with a smile for the woman she couldn't offer yesterday. She brings the basket over and sets it down. A few DVDs to play on the laptop if she wishes, a mystery novel, candy and cookie packs of various kinds, an iPod touch loaded with games and music fitting Minea's taste. Something to keep her occupied once she finishes the report and before she's "released to the wild."
"You okay? Pretty intense scene yesterday." She approaches, willing to hug the other woman if she wishes it, but not quite sure if it would be welcome.
Minea's head lifts above the screen of the laptop at the hiss of the pneumatic door that is the prelude to a visitor. Not Dr. Sheridan. Alas. But it's okay, becuase it's Veronica and.. she is bearing gifts. Things Minea didn't think to ask for. So intent on writing down what she couldn't while undercover for fear of being found. "Sawyer. Yeah, but we got through it. Hopefully it fools Phoenix and thinks i've disappeared" The lid isn't closed, she trusts Veronica to not go staring at it unless Len gives her permission. "So how many have come to the window to look in on the captured traitor? There's a smile on her face and clearly, she's taking all this in stride.
"I'm sorry we couldn't tell you. It had to go off without a hitch. Hell, Denton didn't even tell me what he was doing and had me shot at to ensure that Phoenix would be fooled and bring me into the fold, bearing that what they wanted" There's an offer of her hand after the gift basket is put down on a spare corner of the desk not occupied with a printer. Soon as a page is filled, it's printed off and deleted. Precaution. Just because it's not connected to a signal, doesn't mean that a certain technopath can't worm her way in. She's seen a fraction of what Hana Gitleman is capable of.
"No problem. I understand. Secrets are secrets for a reason," Vee says with a shrug, taking the hand and squeezing it, before taking a seat. She doesn't look at the laptop's screen. "I didn't think, to be honest, that you left us for real, but Len's a pretty decent actor when he puts his mind to it. Must be all that karaoke stage practice." She grins. She nods toward the basket. "I thought you might get bored — but let me know if there's anything else you want, and I'll get it for you." She looks back up at her friend. "It's really good to see you, and not be shooting at you, Min. I missed you."
"Think i'm good. Short of Dr Sheridan's visit, and likely one from Director Dalton, i'm set. I'm in here more for my protection than for the rest of them. I've heard there's disgruntled agents. I wouldn't put it past a few die hards to take a crack at me. But it's good to see you to Veronica. Good to see you with a smile on your face and bearing chocolate and a twenty-two milimetre"
"I haven't heard too many people grumbling, but then, I haven't seen many yet this morning," she says, yawning a bit. "I crashed with Magnes in the infirmary, try to keep him from getting too upset. He took things hard. Too many near-deaths in a row or something." She's quiet a moment. "I think he's friends with people in that group, and it's going to bite us in the ass, at some point, I think." Of course, she's romantically involved with someone involved in that group, so who is she to talk? "Anyway, good job, they seemed to buy it well enough. Sorry you had to get shot going in and coming out. Gives the terms entrance and exit wounds a new meaning."
Loud laughter reverbrates through the room at the last, Minea smiling, shaking her head. "So true. I have to say, Roger Goodman was right about one thing. This job did beat paper pushing and drawing. I enjoyed the break though. They prettyyyy much ignored me once i'd handed over the files up until Pinehearst fell. Then they pulled me back up and asked for the files. They're.. Disorganized. I really expected more from them. They had a defected agent in front of them. I don't understand why they didn't.. utulize me. They could have grilled me about company practice, company routines and the like. Instead…" Instead they did what they did. "But I learned, a great deal"
Veronica's eyebrows raise at the mention of Goodman. He was right about other things too. She doesn't know if Minea knows she killed him or not. She chuckles a bit and shakes her head. "Well, maybe at some level they didn't trust you… but you'd think if that was the case, they'd make sure you didn't see as much as you seem to have seen. Maybe because Pinehearst was their bigger concern, they didn't worry about us. Whatever reason, I guess it's good — I mean, what do you do in that situation — tell them, or lie and hope they don't have anyone who can detect a lie?"
'Maybe they didn't, maybe they didn't. There was this smart ass. Smartest fucker of the bunch. Everyone else introducing themselves, saying hi and he's the only one not giving me his name" Alec was smart. She still remembers that. "They told me in the end they didn't care whether I gave them the files or not" Minea shakes her head. "Offered to give me a job. Minea, super phoenix member" There's a snort. "Bunch of kids playing revolutionaries and getting it half right"
"By the way. Lawrence told me it was you and him who did the disappearing act on Goodman"
Veronica nods. "Sounds like one of them has his shit together." She doesn't know it's Alec, someone she knows from her apartment building. Small world, after all. "And ah, that's right. It's restricted shit, but I forgot Lawrence said he'd already told you, when we chatted with Len about it after the fact." She shakes her head. So many secrets. It would be interesting to work somewhere where the most important secret was what goes in the sauce you put on the hamburger, or who's sleeping with who in the office. "So what happens now? If you see someone on the street — I don't know, you could act like we gave you the magical mindwipe or something, I guess?"
"Len offered retirement if I want it. I'm considering it, depending on how things go with Dr. Sheridan, and with Director Dalton. If I do that, well. Mindwipe." Or.. Minea breaks open the gift basket and offers up a part of a chocolate bar. "Or, well. It could all go well. Folks will be fine with me, but i'm captured and such, by phoenix's knowledge. Maybe the mind wipe thing would work. maybe I could ask them to do that after I've given them everything they need to know"
"I meant … just to pretend you have a mind wipe, if you come in contact with anyone from Phoenix," Veronica says, looking a little disturbed by Minea's casual chat of choosing to get wiped and retired. "Do you think there's a way to leave this job without losing half your memories, Minea? Do they let people do that?" She doesn't even know. She can't think of anyone retired that still remembers what they did for the company, at least not in her own experience. Well, except for Brian, but he's not exactly "retired."
'I think they do. If you leave on good terms and they believe that they can trust you" minea offers up. "I have to weigh heavily that the last mindwipe I went through, the only one that I know of, has left some after effects that I don't think are ever going to go away. But I was warned coming in by Goodman what the SOP is for a retired individual. Better than the intelligence communities which is the 22 caliber." She points out.
"True. Goodman wasn't my recruiter. I got the spiel they give to altruists. Warning me back then about the possible outs wouldn't have worked." Well, except that she had a Persuasive recruiter — maybe they did tell her, and she signed the contract happily anyway. She doesn't remember anymore. "Anyway. Anything else you think you want?" she breaks off a piece of the proffered chocolate bar and brings it to her lips. "I'll try to keep Curt away for a bit. You know how he is. He might take some convincing that you're not turncoat."
"christ, Lu went batshit?" Somehow, that doesn't surprise Minea in the least.
"What do you mean, went?" Veronica quips back with a roll of her eyes. "He's a loon. But yeah, I don't know that either of us handled it well, but you know. I was coming off the Goodman thing." She sighs a bit. "I'll make sure he knows you're clean though. If he trusts me enough to believe me."
"oh right, this is Lu we're talking about. Who's seen more combat than I have in his pinky finger. In other words… lemme guess. he went to the outdoor range and grabbed a set of bow and arrows and shot targets with my face on it?"
"No bow and arrow, but yeah, that's pretty much it. Mature, right? For a sixty-something-year-old guy who's … what were his words… been at this 'longer than my daddy's testicles have been descended' or something like that," Veronica says with a grin. "Have you seen Lawrence yet? How's he holding up ? I haven't really seen him around since… well." Since Goodman, probably. "For a while. But I'll bet he knew that you weren't gone for real. Did anyone else come after you, beside Carrie?"
"Nah, just Carrie. magnes came across me. I tried to take him down without killing him. Carrie, Carrie was out for blood" Yeah Curt, nice and mature there. There's a memo to be careful around him if she's cleared to return. "Listen, Veronica, I gotta get hopping on this, get it done and turned in to len. Visit me tomorrw?"
"Yep," Vee says hopping up from the seat. "Gimme a call if you need anything, all right? Hopefully it's just tonight that you're in here." She gives a wave and heads to the pneumatic door, sliding her key card to let herself out. "Take care," she says before the door closes behind her once more.