L'Arriere-scene (Valencia)

[Evek]

"La neuvieme symphonie!"

The voice on the phone shouted cheerfully. I was looking at the device, now on speaker phone, with a complacent expression. The man on the other side was asking me to play one of his favorite pieces of classical music, an entire symphony. Ludwig's ninth, the Ode to Joy, to be more precise. The whole thing was more than an hour long, and playing it from the first note to the last by heart was still out of my league. That was why I proposed a compromise.

"L'ode a la joie." I said in a calm voice as I took a couple of steps towards a solid, black leather case, opened it, and pulled out my weapon of choice, a blue violin. Instrument held between my jaw and shoulder, bow in my right hand, I slowly began to make the strings vibrate, filling the air of my personal office in the music room with an optimistic melody, one that celebrated the triumph of hope and joy over despair. Call it cliche, but this song has endured the test of time. Now you must be wondering why it is I have a personal office in Hircine's music wing. Well, did you really think I was invited here to study music? I am studying here, that is true, but on my schedule, if one took the time to look closely, one would see that the name of teacher for the music classes was none other than my own.

"Ca me satisfait." The phone resting on my desk murmured, then became silent, enjoying the one man show I was putting up for him. Satisfying the man on the other side wasn't my main concern at the moment, though. The ear I wanted to impress belonged to Layla, since first second impressions were always an important thing in my book. And, judging by the hour, she should be arriving any moment now, and that's when the real show would begin.

[Valencia Donahue]

Valencia has a handful of weaknesses she has yet to grow resistant to. Due to her highly perceptive and sensitive nature, she processes all kinds of stimuli on an average basis. While most would think of harming her through the more painful methods (burning and electrocution, to name a few), little do they know that the most damage can be done through the more appealing methods. After all, didn't Keith poison Valencia by slipping a drug into her drink? Didn't he traumatize her by trying to please her senses? Today, another weakness was going to be exposed ever so slightly... She could be lured by the sound of nice music. She grew up “blind”, so her hearing is one of her more stronger senses and she used this strength whenever she could. It's easy to put Valencia in a good mood if you're a musician, especially if you're a violinist like Evek.

The Vietnamese woman swayed a little as she approached the source of the music and once she was right outside, she opened the door knowing fully well who was on the other side. She didn't know what was up with the phone on the table, but she smiled just a little at the sight of her new partner in crime. She entered and closed the door behind her with a nod. With her was a bag with her belongings since she intended to go home after this meeting. She didn't say a word. She wanted to appreciate the music rather than interrupt.

Interesting violin...

[Evek]

You know what kind of people I like the most? Those who show respect for what you do despite the fact that you barely know them, simply because they consider you as someone who deserves a minimum of consideration before going through that whole social process that is judging an acquaintance's worth. When Layla appeared, I simply lifted my eyes, acknowledging her presence with a mild smile and a nod as I continued to perform, visibly pleased by the sound that my instrument was producing. The piece that I was performing was, technically speaking, an easy one, yet I still managed to make me smile every single time I played it, despite its simplicity. It was a lesson I enjoyed relearning countless times: the simplest pleasures in life were often the best. After a minute of joyful performing, I finally hit the last note. I stood there, immobile for a moment, allowing silence some time to enjoy its own existence. Lifting my chin away from my instrument, I tried to open my mouth to greet my visitor, but my cell phone decided to slash my plans.

"Bravo! Thank you Evek!" The man said with an accent-less voice, slipping from one language to the other with no trouble. Two claps came from the phone, forcing me to lift a finger at Valencia, silently asking her to be excused for a short moment. Taking a backward step, I reached behind myself, picked up the gadget with one hand while holding my violin and bow in the other, and spoke up with a calm, unassuming voice, having no need to approach it to my mouth. One has to admit: the speaker phone option is a great one. "It wasn't much. I have to end this conversation though, mon ami. I have a visitor."

"Oh." He responded before falling silent for a second. During that small window of time I wondered if the connection had been lost. As if on cue, the lad spoke up once more. This time, it was a question.

"Is she hot?"

No consideration, no class, no etiquette. What was he thinking by asking that question? He knew pretty well that Layla would be hearing him! Had he no manners when dealing with the opposite gender? Still, the man wanted an answer, so I looked up, letting my eyes fall on the lass. I had to admit that she was a notch or ten above average when it came to looks, and the thought made me blush. Flustered, I answered quickly.
"Why should it matter to you if she's..." I interrupted myself, realizing a little detail: I never gave him information relevant to my visitor's gender. "Attends, how did you know it was a woman?" I asked, looking at the woman with a concerned expression.

The only answer I got was his cackling. "I didn't, but I do now!" The man on the other side of the device continued to giggle, visibly amused by his simple ploy. "Alright, I'll let you two have your fun. I'll talk with you later." The device fell silent, this time for good. I put it back on the table, and took a moment to place my instrument back in its case. With a mildly embarrassed smile, I finally talked to the lady.

"I apologize for that, Layla." I approached her and extended my right arm. "I'm glad to see that you have found your way to my office."

[Valencia Donahue]

Valencia blinked in response to the sudden interruption as Evek was about to speak. Curious, she tried to listen in on who was the person on the other end. She didn't want to be rude, but meetings like this required all kinds of precautions and it was odd enough as is that her newfound friend was performing for someone before her. Dad phoning in from work? A teacher from a foreign country checking on his student's progress? She nodded to let Evek know that she had nothing against him as long as the phone didn't mess with their meeting. Her friend told the man on the other end that the call would have to be cut short and Valencia liked how politely he did so without giving too much information. There was a response and silence. Then a random comment that made Valencia freeze where she stood.

How did he...? Whuh...

Comments like that confused her. Most of the compliments she received were often insincere or thought from another part of a male's anatomy, so it was rare for her to take praise without thinking that the person giving it only wanted something from her. She furrowed her brow slightly, wondering how Evek would answer... And how honestly. She watched Evek as he gave his response, paying the most mind to how the person on the other end knew her gender rather than let himself get into a tighter situation.

Aww.... Poor dude. The other guy meant well at least. Totally a case of student and mentor.

With that, the call ended and Evek put his instrument away, a smidge embarrassed and offered an apology. She accepted it with a nod while shaking his hand before turning towards the closet.

“I appreciate the sentiment and it's alright. As long as you made an effort to keep this meeting private to some extent. Now, I don't expect you to know about the hole in the wall between the music room and the art room next door, so I might as well let you know. It's a... Network thing.”

Valencia opened up the closet and after she moved aside from instruments, a noticeable hole could be seen.

“A long time ago, an art student got bored in class and began stabbing the wall until it made a hole. He always covered it up with a bulletin board to hide his progress. Just shimmy along the inside of that hole and you'll end up in front of that hole. Nowadays, people use this passageway more for the closet than for travel since it gives good... 'Alone time', even though there're not-so-romantic creepy crawlies in there. Some people use it for spying and as a result, whenever there's a secret meeting in here, there's always some kind of music playing to keep the discussion from being overheard.”

I remember Richard doing that to me and Vince.

Valencia looked inside the hole to check for eavesdroppers who thought of taking advantage of Evek's new-ness to the Network. Good. No one... At least not yet. And if there was going to be someone, best let them know that they've been considered before their arrival. She got out of the closet and closed it before turning to Evek with a small smile.

“I'm tempted to ask you to keep playing, but that might be distracting to you. Would it be alright if we used the radio at the back of the room? To play spy music and 'set a mood'? I'd try speaking in French again, but there's only so much I can say while still making sense.”

To most, the care she put into this business would've been laughable. How could anyone take any of this seriously? All this was pretty juvenile and immature, but then, so was high school. With certain people, it was a job, but with the right people, it was another opportunity to “play”.

“Anyways, before this meeting, there was nothing but rare skirmishes and lulls of wondering what the next move will be. No real action. Now that there's an incentive to act, I'm thinking of getting a few friends to make a move. I have connections to 'artistic people' who'd be more than willing to help out, each with their own craft... Like mischief makers and crafty sorts. Aside from the violin, what is your art?”

In other words, perhaps an offensive reconnaissance mission was in the works, depending on who was going to help out. Drop in, let lose some craziness, and run for it like any other Network member who knows their stuff about guerrilla fighting. It'll get some info by gauging Paragon's response and still keep folks on the defensive if they aren't comfortable about fighting head on.

[Evek]

Talk about hitting the jackpot. By the looks of it, Layla was one of the, if not the most, well connected and well informed students in the entire school. Secrets and rumors were practically oozing out of her skin since the second she started talking. Maybe as a gesture of good will, she had revealed to me an impressive hidden passageway, while suggesting that I put some music to fit the theme of our plotting and cover the sound of our voices. The idea, though a bit silly at first, made me smile. She knew what she was doing. Information was this lady's middle name, secrecy was her favorite game. Somehow, I had managed to fall on her good side and, considering the amount of influential weight she carried (certainly not the literal variety), I knew well that I was better off staying on it.

The Asian girl had asked me about my talents, other than the violin, and she was obviously referring to what potentially useful skills I would have as a high schooler in the field of espionage. In the case of a normal student, the answer would probably limit itself to sneaking out of their house while on curfew and lying with a straight face. My list was a bit longer than that, but the first issue to address was an audio buffer. Looking around the room, I spotted a small but sufficient portable sound system. I moved towards it and picked it up, placing it beside my phone. Then, I reached behind the table and pulled out my school bag beneath it. Opening of its smaller zippers, I pulled out a small catalog of compact disks, shuffled through them, and picked one out, a satisfied smile on my face. As I placed it in the stereo system and pressed play, I explained my choice.

"Grieg isn't spy music, I admit. Mais, if we finish this in 20 minutes, we should have a wonderful climatic ending, In the Hall of the Mountain King."

Right after raising the volume to a reasonably high level, I took a moment to look inside the hidden passage, impressed by the work of the unnamed student. I stepped out of it with wide eyes and a thoughtful nod toward Layla before I made myself comfortable, leaning on the adjacent wall. I let the music build up and stared at the girl with a stern expression for approximately half a minute. There was a lot going on in my mind at that moment, and the torrent of questions that was coming at me needed to be dealt with before I could provide an answer to her query. What did I want out of this situation? I was hoping for a good opportunity to orchestrate a tragedy, but it seems that I had joined the symphony at its penultimate movement. Pulling the strings felt out of my reach at the moment, but this young woman was offering me quite the tempting consolation prize. This was an information gathering organization that was ready to step in the spotlight, and I had a chance of affecting the critical part it could play. I never was somebody else's subordinate, and I always worked alone. This newfound alliance was something new to me, and I still felt unsure about trusting this young woman when I had barely met her on one occasion and a half. At that moment, the voice of the man on the phone rang in my head. The words he said when he gave me his number felt strange back then, but I understood their meaning now.

~Our kind, we're so used to abusing the trust of others that we are afraid of giving ourselves to anybody else, by fear of finally giving karma the opportunity it needed to give our just desserts.~

I chuckled, breaking the musical silence I had imposed. Pushing myself off the wall, I approached the Asian lady, beaming. Hand in my pockets, standing right in front of her, allowing merely a foot of air between herself and I, I spoke with a playful voice.

"What matters isn't the extent of my skills, Layla. What matters is to which extent is the Network willing to dirty its hands. I'm not going to give you options, you're going to give me restrictions." I paused, leaving the field open to the lady's reply, but not without adding a little post scriptum. "Add in some directions as well, I still don't have a good enough idea of what's going on here."