Prometheus, Part I

Participants:

asi_icon.gif eizen_icon.gif monica_icon.gif luther_icon.gif richard3_icon.gif

Scene Title Prometheus, Part I
Synopsis Yamagato Industries and its allies hold a clandestine meeting on how to resolve the matter of Kam Nisatta.
Date December 11, 2018

Raytech NYCSZ Branch Office


This time, Monica was clearer with Eizen about the meeting being an important one. She passed him a note to explain, instead of texting or emailing. He wasn't the only one she invited, of course, as Asi was definitely dragged along. And, of course, it's Richard's building, so he's invited by default.

Sitting in one of Raytech's conference rooms, Monica has a stack of pens sitting in front of her and a mug sitting at the far end of the table. Picking up one pen at time, she tosses them into the air and into the cup. Most of the time. A couple stray pens landed here or there, but most of them are in the mug. It's a challenge that gets harder the more times she makes it.

It's also a good way for her to focus on anything but waiting.

The conference room door opens, and Sera Lang slips inside, glancing back at the tall and dark silhouette that Eizen Erizawa cuts behind her. “Mister Erizawa is here,” she indicates, stepping aside and craning her neck to look up at him. Eizen is holding a powdered donut in one hand, bite taken out of it, coffee in the other. Expression still deadly serious.

“I didn't know you worked for Raytech,” is Eizen’s cool greeting as he watches Sera shut the conference room door. But once that door is closed, Eizen sets down the coffee and donut on the table and brushes sugary grit off of his finger. His eyes move to the mug, then back to Monica.

“I have an important meeting in two hours,” Eizen says with a slow shake of his head. “Details, facts, succinct.” He knows what he wants and he expects Monica to deliver.

The door opens again not even a minute after Sera’s closed it, to the possible surprise of some in the room - and the certain expectation of others.

“Mister Erizawa,” greets Richard Ray as he walks into the conference room with an easy smile curving to his lips, dressed smartly in his best black suit, the red tie a downward streak with subtle hints of the corporate logo within it, “I’m sorry I didn’t meet you at the door, I was busy arranging for security details of the hydroponics project to be sent up to this conference room for an evidence trail — not that we’ll be discussing them — I would suggest using that as a reason for your being here later, as it makes an excellent alibi.”

Alibi?

“My head of security, Luther Bellamy,” he introduces the man who’s entered with him, even as he steps along over to claim a seat at the other end of the table, “I’m pleased to be able to facilitate this meeting for Yamagato Industries.”

No explanations are offered further. That’s Monica and Asi’s job.

Luther is but a step behind Richard, dark navy suit and aesthetically matched shirt left open at the top button adjusted for the everyday look of the RayTech security head. With no donuts or coffee in his hands, he can only be mildly and quietly envious of Eizen’s bounty. Nods of acknowledgment pass to each in the room, with a warmer twitch up of the man’s mouth at seeing Monica and the results of her patient waiting. “A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Erizawa, though I regret the circumstances that require these measures,” rumbles the security chief. He happens to cross around to the far end of the table where the pen-filled mug sits, finding a seat nearby.

Luther busies himself as well with plucking up a couple of pens that didn’t make it into the mug, depositing them into the drinkware. It’s like he can’t help the janitorial tendencies.

The doorhandle clicks again as Asi pushes it open, phone in one hand. She closes the door behind her before she glances up, noting the room is very full compared to how she last left it before making a short trip down the hall. "Apologies, didn't realize you'd arrived." She doesn't quite make it to a seat, but does stand behind one, head tipping forward in a polite greeting.

"This is in regards to the note left about the mole problem," she jumps right into it, almost sounding apologetic. After all, she'd accused his team aloud of containing that mole not too long ago. "Resolving that problem is my highest priority, and I think I can safely say it is Ms. Dawson's as well. Mr. Ray has offered his services in providing a ground for that resolution to take place on." Her hand lifts to gesture with a small motion toward Richard before to Eizen himself, afterward resting on the back of the conference room chair. "It was felt necessary to meet offsite in order to speak plainly about these matters."

Monica gives Eizen an odd look at his first words, an eyebrow arcing upward. "Well, hi to you too, Eizen." She sets down the pen she was about to toss, opting to sit cross-legged in her chair instead. "You're not still sore about the punch," she says, a bit of an impish smile coming with the question. Luckily, the others file in and she greets them with a broader smile.

She nods when Asi and Richard start to explain. "Kimiko Nakamura wants us to apprehend Kam. You, me, Asi. Richard has agreed to let us use his building for the op. We thought it better not to be on Yamagato grounds when we attempt to arrest her. We got the okay to bring in some outside help, so Wolfhound will be invited to the party, as well as RayTech's own security." That comes with a nod toward Luther. "Assuming we manage it, we'll bring her back to Japanese territory for questioning and whatever has to follow from there."

Eizen is nearly implacable as the others arrive, save for a subtle crease of his brow that Monica hasn't quite yet deciphered in their time together. He doesn't return any of the greetings, instead manages his own external reactions by simply having none. His dark eyes pivot to her, accusingly, but only just. Then, as he turns his attention back to the others he begins circling the table to stand by the windows, glancing out onto the street and then back again

“Ms. Nakamura briefed me. We also discussed the particulars of your meeting, and she informed me that you are all,” a quick look to Luther, “trustworthy.” Pulling out a chair, Eizen settles down into the seat and crosses one leg over the other, hands folded at his bent knee. “Which is to say, I have further information for you. None of which is permitted to leave this room, but I presume based on your respective backgrounds you're familiar with that.”

Clearing his throat, Eizen looks down to the table, drawing in a slow and steady breath which is exhaled as a calming sigh. “I will preface this by stating that I am leaving out the content I believe you are already familiar with, and will only explain points in detail when asked.” Eizen looks around the table, then up to the others. “You may want to take seats, though. This could be a long discussion.”

“Oh, good. That will save us a great deal of time,” Richard admits, “We won’t have to go through the preliminaries now.”

He leans back in his seat, hands clasping loosely over his chest as he makes himself comfortable, waiting for the meeting to properly begin. He’s a secondary party to this, so he’s not going to initiate.

Asi is received with a standing up from Luther from his seat, to which he remains standing when she doesn't take a chair of her own. With the look from Eizen, he responds with an upward twitched brow, staying silent as the man goes on to note obligatory discretion of the information.

"It sounds like you don't anticipate her coming along quietly. How much risk are we talking about as far as the safety of the people in the building? In the campus? Borough?" Luther remarks after a pause for thought.

Asi lifts her head in acknowledgement to what Eizen's said, hands clasping on the back of the chair. "I'm all right for now." she states placidly. "And I'm sure, knowing the audience, we'll all ask questions as they hit us." She shifts a glance toward Luther, who's already asking some of his own.

Monica, already sitting, spreads her hands as if to draw attention to that fact. She is ready. Her attention shifts to Luther at his questions, her expression amused. "Let's say… we're hoping for the Disney ending, but we're planning for the Shakespeare ending." Which is to say, she isn't entirely sure which way Kam will go once they confront her, but she has a small hope that she's betraying them all under duress and has just been waiting for someone to notice.

"Eizen," she says, more serious than she has been so far, "whenever you're ready."

Making an uncomfortable noise in the back of his throat at Luther’s question, Eizen folds his hands in his lap and avoids answering it for the time being. Instead, he focuses on the woman at hand. “Kam Nisatta was placed in the Yamagato corporation in 1984 by direct order of then CEO Kaito Nakamura. She was, at the time, a ward of Kaito’s. She worked as an intern in the corporate headquarters in Tokyo, assisting Mr. Nakamura on day-to-day affairs. Much of her personnel record was, clearly, fabricated. I recently was able to view her company dossier, and it contains a number of falsified pieces of information, creating an identity and a life for her through organizations that we now know were shells for the Company.”

There’s a subtle creak of leather as Eizen leans back in his seat. “In May of 2009, when Adam Monroe murdered Kaito Nakamura, it triggered a number of failsafes set within Mr. Nakamura’s last will and testament. The first of which was the protection of Ms. Nisatta, moving her from the Tokyo branch office to our Yamagato Fellowship holding in Hokkaido. I was put in place as Ms. Nisatta’s personal security. Kaito left no indication as to why Ms. Nisatta needed to be protected. Much of his will was… opaque. Intentionally so.”

“In 2011, at the onset of the Civil War, Kaito’s daughter Kimiko officially took control of the company from the board of directors and had Ms. Nisatta moved back to Tokyo, along with myself. Ms. Nisatta proved to be an invaluable asset, indicating that she possessed the Evolved ability of psychometry — object reading — which is a service she performed for Kaito.” Eizen looks down to the table, brows knit with concern. “Kimiko placed Ms. Nisatta in a role within the Fellowship as curator, and over time began to learn of her larger role as Kaito’s assistant, managing clandestine operations of Yamagato Industries. Ultimately, she was placed back in control of the Himitsu Banninsecret keepers — an organization of clandestine operatives intended to keep Yamagato Industries corporate secrets from others.”

Eizen draws in a slow breath, then sits forward and uncrosses his legs, folding his hands on the table. “Between 2011 and present-day, Yamagato Industries’ largest competitor, Praxis Heavy Industries, has enacted what amounts to a secret proxy war over financial control of high-value territories and technologies. We suspected that there was a covert agent within the mix, but we did not realize it was Ms. Nisatta. I did not put the pieces together until two events occurred…”

“First, Kaito Nakamura’s private vault was struck by thieves earlier this year. The vault was targeted for a single, specific item. Whomever hit the vault knew where the items were kept and how to access them. Outside of precognitive or divinatory abilities, only Kam Nisatta had that information.” Eizen looks briefly over to Richard, then back down again. “We learned Adam Monroe was likely behind the thefts, as his connection to the cloning experimentations and other black-projects of Praxis were revealed to us. It wasn’t until I had a chance encounter with Eve Mas that the pieces came together.”

Eizen looks troubled. “She proclaimed to have a vision of Ms. Nisatta, the triplet clones, and Ms. Nisatta taking a gunshot to the head. She followed this by indicating that Ms. Nisatta was the host,” to which he makes air quotes with his hand. “I was able to… extrapolate some information. After conferring with Kimiko and quietly examining call logs, we believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that Kam is Adam’s mole. Why? I cannot fathom.”

Exhaling a sigh, Eizen shakes his head. “Unfortunately, this leaves us in an uncomfortable position. Kam Nisatta is not a lawful entity with regards to the United States Government or the nation of Japan. She exists in the margins of society, and any public revelation of her espionage — or her true work for the company — could destroy everything we’ve worked for.” Eizen looks up from the table to Monica, then around the room.

“She must be engaged on Yamagato property, so that we can control exposure. And,” Eizen looks down to the table again, “per Ms. Nakamura’s orders… she is to be executed.”

“No.” Richard’s statement is level, and he leans forward slowly in his chair, a hand resting flat on the table. “That would be a grave mistake— as much as I have a great deal of respect and trust for the Nakamura family, that’s a bad call on her point. I’m not just being squeamish, either— “ His gaze sweeps the table, “I doubt anyone at this table has hands that are completely clean. I know I don’t.”

He brings his hand back up in a sweeping gesture, “There’s a very real possibility that Nisatta is being manipulated or controlled by the Entity; she’s hosted it once, and that means she’s susceptible to its memetic influence. Assuming that Adam is working to bring it back, then it makes sense that they’d be working together. But she may not be doing it willingly - actions under mental control aren’t someone’s fault. She’s also potentially our best source for intel on this thing.”

Asi's expression is neutral through the explanation, save for the very end. Her brow ticks up at the mention of an extrajudicial execution, shoulders shifting. The vision of Eve's doesn't seem to shake her, as interesting as it might be, but the plan for them to be the executioners… does. "If we handle this on Yamagato property," she says carefully. "It gives Ms. Nisatta an additional piece of leverage she does not need. From a systems standpoint, even if you were to grant me higher levels of access than she has — everything necessary to lock her out once we are ready to move — it would be safe to expect she has failsafes."

"And from a practical standpoint, controlling the location of the engagement can only prove to be beneficial. Things handled smoothly, she would not see us coming, and more bodies can be leveraged against her at once without risking suspicion being raised during the setup." Asi adjusts the clasp of her hands, eyes distant with thought.

"Erizawa, she's a documented psychometer who I believe displayed additional powers during the bombing event. Limited force field projection, for one. Are there any other abilities we're aware of her possessing?"

Noting the lack of answer for his immediate concern, Luther settles into a seat to wait for one. As Eizen launches into the background, the RayTech security chief listens attentively, reacting with but the narrowing of his eyes in study of Yamagato's man as he explains. And other things. 1984, again. Secret keepers. Praxis Heavy. Eve.

Wait. Executed?

Luther straightens further in posture, grey eyes pinned on Eizen. The Yamagato security head's concluding statement is knocking all the alarm bells. Richard's words turn him back to the RayTech CEO. Slowly, his head tilts as he slides a questioning look in Monica's direction while Asi offers her thoughts on the pros and cons. Was this part of the plan?

And there's a big con hanging there, at least for Luther. "Your boss asked you to commit murder," the man breathes out after the uncomfortable pause allowing him to quash further extreme reaction, "in response to corporate espionage." His gaze flicks to Asi momentarily, then back to Eizen. A brow arches. "Why put RayTech at further risk?"

"I wouldn't air quote too hard, Eizen," Monica says with a smirk. She stands up from her chair, opting to walk the length of the room as she listens to the others. She ends up looking at Luther at his question. It isn't a bad point, really, but she'll let Richard field that one. "Fact is that we don't even know if we can kill her. If we try and fail, we have no way of knowing what she or the entity will do in response. If we can negate her and capture her, we could learn a lot even if she is willingly working for Praxis. And maybe we can test whether or not we can harm her before we do any execution. And that can be on Yamagato and not on Raytech."

She comes to a stop by Eizen, her hand moving to a hip. "If you're determined, though," she says, her voice quieter here, "all I need is her depowered and a sniper rifle."

Just like the old days. And the new days.

Eizen remains stoic in the face of objection, but crosses one leg over the other and folds his hands at the bent knee. As he looks over to Luther, there's patience in his voice. “Like it or not Mr. Bellamy, that is the nature of the world. There is no court on earth who could effectively try Kam Nisatta for what she's done, because there is no material evidence. Furthermore, were she arrested it would reveal her role in Yamagato’s less legal operations, which would inevitably terminate our contract with the US government.”

Eizen spreads his hands. “Then, per the contractual arrangement, the NYC Safe Zone falls to Praxis Heavy Industries.” He refolds his hands and shrugs, casually. “Even if that wasn't a concern, even if Kam was convicted, do you believe for a moment she'd submit to incarceration? That there's a prison on this planet that could hold her if she's a mosaic? Do you think she would truthfully answer questions? A well-worded lie is more damaging than a dozen truths.”

Eizen looks between Richard and Luther, then shakes his head. “We have the resources to terminate her,” is how he cleanly explains the situation. “Creation and use of negation gas has only so far been outlawed within the United States.” Eizen looks at Asi. “Yamagato Park…” then Monica, “is not,” and then back to Luther and Richard, “the United States.”

Clearing his throat, Eizen exhales one last sigh. “If our assumptions are all correct and Kam Nisatta is what I fear she is, what you fear she is, she is to blame for two bombings and at least dozens of murders. Would you put Adam Monroe on trial?” He seems to think not.

“If she’s being controlled then she isn’t responsible for her actions,” Richard observes, his jaw setting slightly, “We need to at least make the attempt…” He trails off, then, a single brow lifting upwards at Eizen’s proposal for the use of negation gas. Perhaps not technically illegal, but there is the Geneva Protocol to keep in mind…

“Mnm. I would… at least like the chance to speak with her when negated, if possible,” he says with a slow shake of his head, “I’d rather not just assassinate someone who might be a strong ally if broken free of mental influence.”

Where’s Delphine when you need her?

Asi's hands keep their calm clasp on top of the chair, though she does glance to Luther as he objects to the suggestion of extrajudicial murder in a silent sign of agreement regarding the escalation. Eizen's rejoinder to their objections is to the point, though — The political stakes here are exceptionally high, and their physical evidence amounts to little.

Still.

"Nante jitai." Asi murmurs under her breath while she thinks. What a pickle.

Caring if Yamagato's dirty laundry gets aired wasn't something she had thought she would end up actually caring about, over the course of this assignment. Knowing international relations could be affected by it was something she had been prepared to accept, if it was found necessary. Yamagato was as much a part of Japan as it was on its own island, and that was the case Stateside as well as at home. She had been sure the more politically-minded would find a way to spin it to not damage overall Japanese/American relations.

Learning as much as she had about Praxis, though… and knowing there was even more at work behind the shadows they'd only scratched the surface of…

"Quite the Catch-22 you've described." Asi voices, blue eyes recentering on Eizen studiously. "Quite the situation it puts others outside Yamagato in, as well." Her hands part, palms flat on the top of the chair she stands behind. Richard's input receives a look to acknowledge it, even if she disagrees with the potential of Kam being a potential ally.

"If you possess the means to neutralize her, then you possess the means to capture instead of kill her," is her unenthused assessment. "Removing a source of information is ill-advised. At least until we're certain she holds no other answers, continued negation and containment is surely something you could manage."

A moment later, she concedes flatly, "Even if an incident does eventually happen that prevents her from being sent back to Japan."

A deeper crease knits between Luther's browline, especially as the others give their points. Especially as Eizen seemingly readily admits to Yamagato's law-bending and law-breaking activities. The security chief makes an inscrutable noise of discontent, something akin to a stray cat backed into a dead end alley.

Luther scratches at a spot on his jawline as he considers, weighs, and ultimately glances over to Richard. "If it's all tied in to that thing Ducky - Eve - was going on about, then this is bigger than we should be touching. But, maybe that's exactly why it's come to this." His assessment of the negation-and-capture proposal accompanies a resolute bow of his head. "Simple as robbing a Vegas casino." Then again, look at the current state of Nevada.

“So what do you need us to do?” Luther asks after a beat, glancing between the pair of Yamagato representatives.

Monica looks over at Luther at his discontent, her smile turning crooked and teasing. But, she straightens up and looks over at Eizen. "We need to make sure our assumption is actually true before we do any killing. We can find out if she's been acting under duress or not. Then we can discuss how to handle her." She puts her hands on her hips, her expression growing more serious. Particularly at Luther's question.

"We need to pick a location, prep it, and then have a reason for her to be there. That's where Richard comes in. He brings something to her, business meeting, all that. Luther, you come with him. If the whole thing goes crooked, you're like, the heaviest hitter. I'll be there, too, for the same reason. Not in the meeting, but nearby. Once we have her negated, Asi and Eizen can come in and join Richard to question her. Hopefully, she'll be able to explain herself and we can all go home happy." Of course, she doesn't sound like she thinks that's how it'll go down. She looks over at Eizen, her hands moving to her hips. "Good enough?"

He gets to see what the others don't— he knows what the others don't— there's a dark sort of determination in her expression. If it comes to it, she can do what needs to be done.

“It won't be that simple,” Eizen worries, looking up at Monica. “Kam doesn't travel on business, especially not since she became interim CEO. If it's important enough to warrant a face-to-face with her, it will be done where she feels safest. I understand the concerns around Jiba, but Hachiro has to have a way to deactivate the AI for a time or suspend its operations. Now that he's out of his coma, we should be able to access those overrides. Ensure that they're manual and not digital.”

Breathing in deeply, Eizen shakes his head and exhales in a tired sigh. “This is why I came to you. Because this will not be a simple maneuver. This will require going into the proverbial dragon’s lair to… incapacitate her. I can provide a gap in security, but if I alert too many on my team she could become aware. Monica and Mr. Ray have clear reasons to be in the building. Mr. Bellamy potentially as well,” Eizen says with a side-long look to Asi. “As for Major Tetsuyama, I would prefer she stay back until it is time to strike for the element of surprise.”

Eizen then looks around the room. “And if we can get this— Chess? It would be good for her to be under the protective umbrella of Yamagato Industries one way or another. Her assistance here would be greatly repaid.” Eizen looks up to Luther, then Richard, Asi, and finally Monica. “I will consent to a capture. If this sounds like a plan?”

“I think it sounds like a plan,” Richard agrees, relaxing slightly as Eizen - at least - backs off with the extrajudicial execution intent.

A smile twitches faint to his lips as he looks to his Head of Security, a single brow going up. “Oh, come on, Luther,” he says in dryly-amused tones, “Since when have you known me to not touch things that should be bigger than me? Besides, it’s a bit late for that anyway. I’m already hip-deep in this particular madness out of the past.”

He nods back to Eizen, “We’ll follow the lead of your people on this, of course.”

Asi's fingers drum once along the back of the chair she stands behind while she considers the new course, trying to decide how much she trusts it'll be stuck to. It sounded like they'd be taking every step they could to mitigate danger, but something still doesn't sit quite right with her, even with the concession announced for a capture.

"You have my support for the described plan." she voices out loud.

The RayTech security chief looks unhappy still, but those who know Luther's demeanor will find he's supportive even as he huffs one last snort of breath. His weighing of the risks versus benefit will no doubt continue long after the meeting adjourns. A final glance shifts to Monica upon the mention of Chess. The rumble starts deep in Luther's chest, but gets squashed before it truly escapes.

"Better make sure my passport's updated," Luther notes instead, a thin injection of humor to the conclusion.

"I would hate to have to deport you, Lu," Monica says with a crooked smile. That smile turns on Eizen when she nods her agreement. "Sounds good to me. We'll make sure we're ready on this end and contact you with a date."

And then, to Asi, "You need a ride back? Jiba's a great driver." That sounds like a tease, but then again, she has let them take over once or twice. Just here and there.

Eizen slowly turns his attention over to Monica, brows creasing together in an expression of both exasperation and worry at Monica letting Jiba drive. Instead of commenting, however, he straightens his back and pushes up from his chair, straightening his tie as he does. “I will inform Ms. Nakamura of your agreement. She will be happy to have this piece of the past behind us.”

Then, considering the truth of that, Eizen closes his eyes and shakes his head.

“As much as we can.”


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