Business as usual (Valencia)

[pinefresh]

Pine stepped out the door with all his stuff in hand. Shouldering his bag he took out the armband and strapped it to his left arm. There were not enough students around to even realize he was wearing it, and if they did he doubted they even knew the significance. If they did then...It wouldn't really matter anyway you looked at it. What were they going to do, tell a teacher? Pine had a principal and the librarian on his side. Worst case scenario would be a small fight ending in Pine winning.

He was taken over to one of the small group study rooms that were 'sound proof.' Pine was not stupid, he knew those rooms were not fully soundproof and judging by Valencia he bet she had each one wired. A fact that would worry Pine if he couldn't talk himself out of a situation. It would be Vic that he dealt with and it would be her he would 'answer' too. Again at a later moment he could explain why he did what he did and get off without so much as a detention.

Pine walked into the room and the door was closed behind him. He pulled up a chair to the large table and pulled out his phone. He then accessed the data he copied from the Iphone and took another look at it. He had no doubt she would be interested in what he knew and even more interested as how he could get Victoria off her back. Right now all Pine could do was sit and wait for little miss librarian to come in and chat.

[Valencia Donahue]

It wasn't studio-soundproof, but it was a study room meant to keep noise from immediately getting in or out. If the walls had ears, what stories they had to tell... Private press meetings, the passing of confidential information, and even, though not publicly known, some illegal activities that would put this school under national scrutiny if word got out. But of course, none of that did. The only real bugs that can be found on Hircine's campus are the ones set up by the administration itself... Aside for the Network members who specialize in espionage. After all, territories are defined by use and hearsay than rule, so Valencia did what she could to maintain the library her way: What happens in the study rooms, stays in the study rooms.

Valencia entered the room not long after Pine and closed the door behind her. She nodded at Pine on her way in, paying little mind to his phone. The most acknowledgment she gave was a brief mental remembrance of an iPhone commercial she saw on TV. Amused, she smiled briefly to herself before her blank expression returned as she stood near the board. She didn't bring much with her. If anything, she had her camera and phone in the pockets of her pants, concealed by her jacket. Everything she needed was in the recesses of her mind and the danger came from what can, and will, use the information for, as opposed to all the empty threats she dismissed. There's no time for cheap talk with business involved and as such, Valencia didn't take her time getting straight to the point either.

“Me, I have access to student records for both Hircine and Paragon, but more mobility at Paragon. Technically as an established Network member, though, I can get anywhere I want with enough time. It all depends on what's asked of me. I'm planning on expanding the Network to Paragon soon... Starting with unlocking everything that gets between me and my information.”

That answered Pine's question about what kinds of files she had access to. Now for the exchange...

“You have information about Varron students and information regarding Alexander. First, Varron students. Are you familiar with... Principal Davis? May you tell me about him and perhaps his relationship with former Hircine Captain Tyler Scott?”

Yes. If words could be objects, Valencia's was like a freight train flying at a brick wall. Straight to the point, no fluff, and certainly no talking in circles (or derailing, as brick walls don't stand a chance against high speed freight trains anyhow). If only she treated everything as a business venture...

[EDIT]: Technicality edit!

[pinefresh]

(OOC: Edited enough to get by anymore problems from outside readers feel free to message me directly about it. I'd be glad to discuss matters with you.)

Pine began to laugh at her straight forward method of conducting herself. He found it kind of cute. All business and no fun made people like her dull and boring to deal with. What she did do was entertain him greatly and he was even more entertained when she asked him about principal Davis and Kyu. Pine had to wonder who this Davis was the only person with the last name Davis he knew was Trent Davis. Could it be that little Trent Davis was now the principal of Paragon institute. Pine wondered how that would work considering he maybe had four years of age on Pine, five at most. Then again Victoria wasn't that much older than Pine and neither was Shuya. If it were to be Trent, he would not be surprised.

Valencia's mannerisms made it a waste of time to bother with. He could say whatever he wanted and it would make no difference, not here. He began to realize that he was slightly out of place here and the playing field was geared toward her. Pine was sure he could stage a run in with her at a later date to get his point across. There was no need to rush, there was no one after him yet. After all, if she did try anything he would easily find out and deal with her accordingly. She had really nice blond hair and he wondered what she would look like without it. Perhaps a nice scalping would get the point across hard and fast.

~Focus~ The voice in his head said getting him back on track.

The only person I know with the last name Davis is a Trent Davis. Trent was a student back at Varron and I would not be surprised if he made it back here and graduated. The story behind those two is rather boring and cliche. They were in opposite gangs back at Varron and believe me their gangs clashed several times. I believe Trent served in 'the hand' which was run by a Donnar Kvist. The group Kyu served in was called it was either the watchmen or the legion maybe... The name is not important. It was run by the old elites from Varron. Kazuki Shinato or whatever the fuck his last name was and Leon Loire. Kyu is Kazuki's protage though in my opinion lackey is a more appropriate term. Kazuki is supposed to be dead but rumor has it he is still alive and in this city. I would not be surprised to be honest with you if he was alive. Fake his death to escape Kvist who not only blew up Varron but Kazuki's bar. Rumor also has it that Kvist is also alive and somewhere in the city. Either way you are asking about two people that can only exist to fight one another."

Pine stopped talking and waited for some type of acknowledgment that she had heard and understood what he said. If more information was needed he might be able to fill in a few gaps. His on hand knowledge of the two was not bad but it would be easy for him to get more, he knew exactly who to ask for that information.

"Now I guess it is time for me to tell you what I have to offer." Pine put away the Iphone and slid his blackberry across the table. On the screen she would see a vast amount of information about herself. If Valencia were to scroll down slightly she would also see some details about her and her known associate Seth.

"You see Valencia you are not as good as you think you are. Victoria has noticed which is why I am here. I have vast information on what goes on in this school, the former Varron students, and I can also make all this good stuff disappear. In other words, I can keep Victoria off your ass so you can move around here almost carefree."

[Valencia Donahue]

And of course, instead of calling me out in front of everyone else during detention, now he decides to not take me seriously. What'd I ever do to you?! Pfftt... Have it your way, buster.

Valencia simply blinked at Pine as he laughed and demeaned her. It was one thing to not consider her competent. She was fine with that since she gets it on a regular basis, especially from other Network members and other competitors in the stunt double field. However, it didn't end there...

Dammit... Someone probably saw me with Seth in the library...

If she could alter the temperature of the room with her aura, the place would be subzero with the icy, direct, blind stare she gave Pine. After a bad run-in with MacMillan and Alexander, blackmail in any kind of form will not be tolerated... Especially now, when all she asked for was mutual respect, not to have Pine worship the ground she walked on. Call this the other first bad experience she's ever had with Genaht (the first was where she was unknowingly rescued during a gas attack and her major hate towards being a damsel in distress). She didn't need to show much on her face to indicate how furious she was. This was where it ended; Valencia called it a fair trade. Pine had access to the Network and Valencia got info on Tyler “Kyu (or Q)” Scott and Trent Davis. To be snagged by anyone with ties to Alexander wasn't worth an iota of whatever Pine had to offer when she had plenty of other ties to get information.

Screw this. I have ties to the Legion. I can go there next to see how much this checks out. Besides, I figure it's about time I met Katsumoto to discuss my pay.

But... Rather than give Mr. Treefellow a case of frostbite and freezer burn, Valencia tried to keep her cool. I mean, Pine said he could make everything disappear, but will he? Anyone in the Network could make Valencia's career disappear, but they never did because of the unusual code of conduct that made the Network function. Let's see where Pine stood...

“With everything you have, what's preventing you from just telling Alexander about what's going on, hm? What good would it do you to get rid of me? I'm sure you'd get plenty of accolades if you turned me in, so there must be a pretty good reason why you didn't yet.”

In a way, she was telling Pine to shoot her if he had a gun in his hand. He was talking to someone whose life is expendable and there wasn't a hint of fear that could be found in Valencia's silver eyes.

((OOC: =P Way to piss off another girl, Pine.))

[pinefresh]

(OOC: Yeah what can I say, I have a way with women )

Pine stopped laughing and regained his control. He had a feeling he was yet again coming off on the wrong foot. He seemed to have that effect on women lately. They all seemed to not like the way he acted or talked. It seemed he had a better knack for pissing people off than he did actually getting them on his side. Though it had benefits he became a great fighter. Though, the last thing he needed was to lose a contact had have Ein give him an I told you so speech.

Pine took back the phone and looked at it for a second as she asked why he did not turn her over to Victoria.

"It seems we got off on the wrong foot. My apologies for laughing at you but why so formal? This may be business but it is hard to take someone seriously who talks down to you. I did the whole army thing and I know all about it. You want me to treat you with respect lower your level a little. Sit down and try to relax a little you are probably worrying about nothing." Pine began as he stretched out in the seat. "Listen I'm going to level with you, I trust Malikai more than I trust Victoria and he is generally a good judge of character. So I figure why go to Victoria who would just send me back down to put you in the hospital when I could create a mutual partnership. It is far easier to talk to one person who can get around then having to track down several all the time."

Pine then took the blackberry and hit the delete button on the file. He did so showing Valencia the blackberry screen the whole time.

"Whatever information that was not given to me by Victoria has now been deleted. Before you ask, yes it was my only copy. I don't need a second one when I can just go back to the source and get the information again. Consider it an act of good faith in hopes you'll overlook my actions. Let's face it, I am not really that good at getting the point across unless it is with my fists. So you have to show me some patience assuming I haven't pissed you off too much. So how about we talk business on a level we can both understand?"

[Valencia Donahue]

“Let's just say I have high expectations. Trust me, there're more condescending people out there, if you know what I mean.”

Valencia was making it blatantly clear that was offended by Pine's actions and she let her ambiguous speech handle the rest. The pressure she exerted on Pine was lightened, but not to the point of immediate forgiveness. She couldn't help the way she behaved, or talked for that matter. She didn't even have to try. People just misunderstood her and cast her in the wayside way too often, so she simply fought the odds and showed them that actions spoke louder than words. Her strength came from light and living, not from the cliched death and darkness many emo people draw from. Vibrance... Her other name. She does Network stuff 'cause it makes her feel alive. With that in mind, she calmed down.

I'm still convinced that a good majority of Genaht's higher members consist of jackasses though.

Somewhere out there, if Ein was a corpse, he'd be turning in his grave. Oh, wait a second...--

“Fair enough. However, I hope ya don't mind me pummeling the snot out of your source once I find the fella. I have a confidentiality clause with a certain client and I take pride in my record when it comes to following contracts to the letter.”

The librarian glanced at a nearby chair hesitantly. It's not like she refused to sit because of a superiority complex, but because sitting made her feel vulnerable. MacMillan, Keith, and Davis cornered her into a chair in their respective encounters and if her blackmail-flashback induced fury was proof of anything, they left really really strong impressions on her. By standing, if anything went wrong, she'd be the first on her feet and out of the room. It takes a lot to reverse the kind of damage she went through, but still... Valencia sighed and sat down across from Pine. If Pine tries anything stupid, he'll be the first to face her wrath via furniture.

“Is there anything specific you'd like to ask of me? I'm personally curious about what Alexander is doing aside from making the lives of minimum wage librarians miserable. I never thought she'd be the sort to take initiative for the school other than the usual principal duties.”

[pinefresh]

"Says who I had only one source for this?" Pine said with a smile. In fact for this he had two members who could verify her involvment with Seth. When it came to certain information, he chose to go to more then one source to verify. Generally it is never just one person that sees something but usually a small group. All you have to do is ask the person who else could verify the information and go talk to them. From here he just took the information from both stories that was the same and viola, instant viable information.

"I do understand your sentiment when it comes to your work. Sometimes when needed I allow myself to feel the same way. I try not to take things personally when it comes to work unless the nature of the incident is purely personal. What the people I give the information do, is completely up to them."

Pine folded his hands and placed them on the table in a disarming manner. It seemed Valencia was willing to show some sort of faith or ability to relax and sat down. Her position was on the same side of the room as the door. It wasn't like she had anything to worry about. Pine could not get up and jump the table fast enough to catch her if she chose to leave. In his opinion she was perfectly save.

When she began to talk about Victoria and why she cared so much about the school Pine could do nothing more than shake his head and laugh.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. She is a strange one but that goes back to her past. That information however will cost you because the little bit I was able to find out took forever. So let's get to what I want. I want information on the Paragon pillars if they have any, top fighters and most importantly the Captain. I have already had a run in with that prick and I want to know a little bit more about him than the size of his ego. Get me that and the little bit I know about Victoria I'll tell you. Oh and leave out the Genaht members I already know all of the ones at Paragon."

[Valencia Donahue]

Um. Dude, if you already know the Genaht members over there, why the hell are you asking ME instead of THEM about the details you need?

Valencia gave Pine a puzzled look when he told her that he already met Tai Yang and had little need knowing about the members of Genaht at Paragon. To her, he was giving off the impression that he

“The most I can tell you about Tai Yang and the Pillars are they aren't a threat at the moment. They haven't been making headlines lately, y'see. At most, they're dangerous upon encounter... Arlen and Aden Allet, I believe. Of course, this is coming from someone who measures strength through influence, not fists. Kunioku and Tiao Lei Shen got grouped in the 'volatile' group of fighters. Aside from Genaht-y Vince, notable transfers include Conner, Mae-Lim, and Damien Blaze. Then, there's Tyler Scott, or 'Q'...”

She cringed, remembering the bounty Davis put on Q's head. So much money in the eyes of this woman struggling to get by financially... It never pays to always play fair, but Valencia did what she could to believe that being honest was an investment. The Asian sighed and continued.

“In all honesty though, you'll have to turn to your Genaht comrades if you want more detailed information. I only have the morning shift in Paragon's desolate library and seldom had the time to explore the campus, unlike at Hircine where other aides can take over for me. If my information isn't sufficient to the price you're offering and I have nothing else to provide, I do request something comparable in value in exchange.”

Well, if he can't think of anything else for her to give or do, she's undercutting herself. No empty handed-ness here. Equivalent exchange all the way.

((OOC: Hush about the ambiguous time-space continuum. I'm trying to fix this in light of recent developments instead of leading us into a deeper dead end.))

[pinefresh]

~Well that was almost completely useless...Good Job!~

The little voice in Pine's head was right, he had gotten only names from Valencia. Not only that but the woman was contradicting herself. Valencia stated she had full mobility at Paragon but no time to explore. Full access to student records but he would have to ask the other Genaht faction for information. How the hell did she plan on peddling in information she didn't really have access to? Either she was lying to him or she was trying to play a game with him. Either way, Pine was no longer amused.

"Fair trade? You haven't given me any real information. If anything I have given you more information on Davis, and I bet he is who I say he is, and Kyu than you have given me. In truth we have already made a fair trade in my opinion. If you can get me better information on the students you have named, I could give or get you information on Victoria, Davis, Kyu, or any other elite you ask. Until then it seems I'll have to go out of my way and pay a visit to my other pieces to see what they can give me."

He wanted to say much more but figured there was no point. He could insult her uselessness but what would be the point? She got offended when he laughed at her and he bet she wondered why people did that. A business-like attitude did not make the businessman. The actions are what make the man/woman, not the mask they put forward. Valencia, for all she said was probably one of the most useless contacts he ever bothered to deal with.

"I guess this concludes our meeting for the afternoon? I'll see you when you have something better for me." Pine got up from the chair and shouldered his bag. Made sure he had his phone(s) and the rest of his stuff and made his way for the door.

[Valencia Donahue]

So much for leading by example in terms of professionalism, eh, Pine?

When it came right down to it, Valencia didn't react in the slightest towards her “customer”. As far as she knows, she's consistent. She has access, but it doesn't necessarily mean that she accesses the information all the time. Records don't add up compared to meeting people in person... Didn't Pine know that? Or did he look up strategy guides before fighting bosses? Before, she wasn't offended by being treated as unprofessional. She was upset because she interpreted Pine's offer as blackmail, which greatly went against her terms of service. Whatever the case may be, like Pine, she had other sources to turn to for more information. She had just as much use in Pine and he did in her and overall, this meeting was as fair as it could get.

“What can I say? I work best on commission—I can go anywhere and find whatever paperwork I want, but it's not like I know what everyone eats for breakfast. I thought you'd know that much at least. But since you insist, I suppose this shall be the end of this meeting until you actually give me a job.”

It's a two-way street, pal.

Valencia coolly got out of her seat and felt her cell vibrate in her pocket as she opened the door to leave. She looked quizzically at the name of the caller and walked far away from the door to answer... This person only called when he really needed this woman.

“Yes?”

“What...?!”

All the color drained from her face and she looked as though she saw a ghost.

“HELL NO! THAT CAN'T BE POSSIBLE!”

“No... No, you're joking, you're yanking my chain again--ALRIGHT, I'LL COME ALREADY!”

Valencia hung up and put the cell away before sprinting towards the doors and throwing them open. She had bigger fish to fry... And depending on what happens, she might be the one whose goose will get cooked.