Participants:
| Scene Title | Further Enterprise |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | The calm before the storm is almost over; Adam initiates war on another front, on behalf of his business ventures. |
| Date | January 5, 2010 |
Fitful sleep and generally awful winter weather will surely be liable to make anyone irritated; compound it with problems of both personal and professional natures, and it will always end up far worse than it was meant to be. Though the Flying Dragons have been combating problems from within and problems from without- they have somehow managed to not be completely swallowed whole by the other criminal presences in the city. Perhaps it is luck, perhaps it is a skill, or perhaps it is some manner of reverence from the others in giving the Dragons space. However unlikely the latter, it counts for something when they are still able to continue most of their business ventures. OF course, they have had to downsize slightly, and go back into the staple of money exchange- when it comes to petty crime they have been severely lacking, but Refrain continues to filter out with the more white collar crime going on. The Dragons have gone back to the roots of organized crime, as it were. For the time being.
For Doctor Cong, there has been a sharp drop in treating members of the Triads, and for the most part people around Chinatown as it is. Winter brings with it fevers, the flu, broken and twisted ankles- not so much gunshot wounds and massacres. There are actually more knife wounds showing up this time of year. One burned tongue, which was truthfully quite hilarious to Bao-Wei's nurse. She didn't stop laughing for three days when that guy came in.
The sun is seeping down over the horizon when the clinic closes for the afternoon; darkness everywhere, in accord with the short daylight of the east coast. It has not become any easier to go from caretaker to small-time boss, but Bao-Wei still does it valiantly when he needs to. Such as today; with the clinic front door unlocked, the doctor sits in his office in the back of the floor- alone, for a while now. He has a gun in his desk, but frankly, Cong would rather not bother with violence when he can flex his words toward a middle ground. Less harried nights for everyone. Somehow that high-strung pride only got worse with the death of the Ye siblings, and as of late the lack of sleep has been getting to him- making him dwell on things that ordinarily, he would never dwell on for so long.
Adam has kept his distance since the incident at Staten Island. It was a rather rambunctious affair and the death of the last Ye sibling put his own considerations at rest. But now, he's planning to see the man behind the siblings, the man responsible for the creation and distribution of Refrain that keeps money in his pocket.
Tonight, he waits until the clinic empties out, sitting in an SUV across the street as he quietly waits alone. At which point, he opens the door and steps out. He pulls his jacket about him firmly and then walks across the street towards the clinic. He opens the door and steps inside, glancing around the office that doesn't seem as if it should house one of the focal points of the Flying Dragons.
Once inside, he tilts his head and then steps towards the office door, knocking on the door. «Hello, Bao.» he says in Mandarin. Apparently he's picked up some linguistics since the two last met. «I was hoping to talk to you.» it's not great Mandarin, no one would ever mistake him for a native, but he certainly seems to get the jist of it. «Things have changed, and I have to be discuss our respective positions.».
At first, the knock is unwelcome noise rattling around in Cong's head, before he realizes that he is being spoken to. He pauses in the shuffle on his desktop, putting down the manila folder he had been scrounging through in order to push himself a few inches away from the edge. "«Respective positions indeed- come in, please- mind the plant behind the door. I keep telling her to get it out of here…»" His rumbling comes off as tired as he looks when the door opens. There are noticeable dark rungs under his eyes, and the rest of him just seems considerably more …rumpled. Perhaps because of his day just ending, but very likely due to several dozen things. "«I'd rather have a tank of piranhas.»" If he is joking, it is hard to tell.
Adam hmms a bit as he moves into the room. He takes a seat across the desk without any flourish and sits down. He crosses one leg over the other, «I almost feel my studies haven't been much worth it, seeing how the Flying Dragons have…» he doesn't go on, just sort of tilts his head. But then he says, «I've come to see about…» he pauses for a moment, looking up towards the ceiling a moment and then just says in english, "Refrain." apparently he hasn't learned the Mandarin word for it. «I need to know the status of the distribution and the labs.» he leans forward, «And I need the name of the slattern that killed Liu.» he doesn't say slattern, but the Mandarin word gives the same meaning.
Bao-Wei watches Adam as he crosses over, and this time their meeting also feels like it carries some measure of weight with him- at least, he is certainly not as prickly towards Adam as before. "«It is no mystery that power in Chinatown comes and goes; I suspect the sun is setting on our time here, to be very truthful.»" When the other man searches for a word that does not come to him, Cong waits further before offering it, eyes narrowing at the mention of Liu's killer. The very mention has made him sit straighter and adopt a grinding to his jaw. "Bì mian. «They gave it a literal name here.»"
There is a moment where the doctor pushes aside what he was looking over. "«The distribution is as it always was- it originates with me, and everything else is dirty or diluted. The longer it is out there, the more that people will want purer drug. Of the few things that we still have a very firm grasp on, the blue fairy is among them. My Refrain labs are confidential- my assistants know of them, and my nurse.»" So she is in on it. Cong lets out a noise, somewhere between a scoff and a growl of his words. "«Chao Ling. She worked for me, in the front. File Clerk.»" Though he says absolutely nothing on the matter of if he knew who she really was- he will leave it to hang.
Adam tilts his head for a moment. Curious, "«This Ling works for you?» he frowns, drumming his fingertips on his knee, "«Does that mean Liu's death was your doing? Because otherwise, I'm a bit lost.»"
"«Worked. At one point she had been working for me, but I did not have a hand in what happened to Liu. He was the closest thing I had to a son- as much can be said of one, I think. Ling used her place here to get closer to him, presumably.»" Bao-Wei's demeanor goes from tired, to bristling, and back to something in between; he is too tired right now to muster up the affront that he might have shown on another day. "«I do not know if she was alone or working for someone- with how she managed to writhe her way in here, I think that she must have some sort of benefactor.»"
Adam nods quietly, apparently satisfied with the response. His lips purse, "«Of course she did. The question is…was it Linderman or your rivals…who were they, the Ghost….something?»" he shakes his head a bit and purses his lips. Now in english, "Well, Bao. Assuming you don't want to get swallowed up, I propose we make some changes." he leans forward in his seat and clasps his hands together, "We'll have to find you a new location. And hire some more men for your security, I'm imagining the Flying Dragon pool is rather limited now. I was there, I saw how many died." and now he switches back to Mandarin, "«Meanwhile, I need you to find me as many names and locations of your rivals as possible. Ling too, if you can find her.»" his hands spread slowly, "«I think it's time to get some revenge, don't you? Obviously, I'm not part of your Triad. But I don't like people wiping out my allies, or my financial revenue. So, they should all die.»" he says matter of factly.
"«Ling was smart, I shall give her that much. She knew what she was getting into. I would not be surprised if she had her fingers in several pies, benefactor-wise.»" Adam goes on to explain his proposition for changes, and Bao-Wei listens intently from his seat opposite; right now, the Flying Dragons are spread very thin, and to keep Adam's drug going he probably will be needed to make sure that it does stay on track. Even Cong knows that. "«Ling has been off the grid for a long time now, which does not shock me at all. If I'd been able to locate her, I would have strung her up myself by now. I can give you our rivals, however. But should you move on them, you cannot leave a trail of bread crumbs back to me.»" He plays the singular entity card.
"«I would not suffer greatly if the Ghosts were to take over. My services will always be needed and rendered, provided that I am not the one shooting my enemies down one by one. But if you leave here and begin what you wish to do, and that violence comes back onto me? If I am too much of a threat to the others I will be eliminated by them, and the drug will go with me. I hold no illusions about that, mister Monroe. Though if you leave here and succeed, it will be a promising time for …further enterprise.»" In essence, Bao-Wei is very self-preserving; that much is clear as he explains. None of it contains even a vague threat, but somehow he manages to lay it all out very plainly.
Adam lifts a hand lightly for a moment, as if unbothered by the matter. "«I think they will be quite more concerned with being targeted than to properly track down the owner of it. Truthfully, I'm not even sure if anyone really knows much about my involvement with the Triads other than I sold the initial lot of…» he pauses again «Refrain to him.»" he leans forward, "«However, I think you should realize that I won't allow the Refrain to be taken away. You may be fine whether or not the Ghosts take over, but I will have my due. I think our arrangement works much easier this way. Not with someone else to renegotiate with.»" he pauses a moment, "Besides," he says in English, "I don't think the Ghosts are ready for what I'm capable of when I set my mind to something." he motions to the desk, "«So, I'll need a list, as good as you can make it. I have some prospects on who to help handle this business.»"
"«I suggest, in case of possible failure, that you prepare and keep a plan for if the Ghosts do make a move on what is left here. If the rest of mine are destined to be assimilated, I will not be giving up Refrain to the Ghosts without renegotiation. Preferably, you will be successful, and I will not have to consider it, nor be taken in.»" The drug makes his life much smoother too- so they are at least on the same boat there, in neither man wanting to lose money or repute from a potential incident. Bao-Wei lifts a hand to grab a pen from the divet on his desk, proceeding to make a few notes on a yellow lined notepad nearby.
"«I would like your ideas to succeed as much as you do. I can send you the information on our rivals in the morning- I will make an effort to include their recent movements as well, business-wise and literally.»"
Adam is quiet for a few moments and then nods before standing from his seat. He's quiet a moment before he says, "«Unlike Liu, I require no accumulation or defense of territory. I bring only destruction and fade back into the background. This is my advantage and one I like to play.»" he pauses a moment, "«I'll await your list. Then the fun can begin.»" he leans in and confesses, "«I've always loved this part, this calm before the storm. Because who needs calm. Fuck calm.»" and with that, makes his way out of the office.
When Adam leans in, Bao-Wei fixes him with a stare from behind his glasses. While they are on the same page, Adam has taken this opportunity to be much more enthusiastic about it. Not that he's not excited about people dying, but Bao-Wei's brainpower has better places to be spent than centering attention on how delightful it will be when there are walls of yellow tape strung around Chinatown.
Doctor Cong simply smiles back, the expression mostly one of appeasing agreement. It continues as Adam leaves, bi-colored eyes following the blond man out the office door. 'Fuck calm' indeed.