Field Office 9 - Midafternoon - Warm
Aidan Klein
Hey boss. I have all the data we need.
Aidan hummed when he got the text, well aware that Rheinallt had been hauling ass since the infiltration to decrypt and sort everything Cyrilla had pulled from Eckhardt. Years of financial records, research notes—he didn't think he knew anyone else who'd be able to understand all of it. Doc could do the science, and he might be okay with the financials, but the other way around? Not likely.
But if he said he was done, Aidan believed him.
Nice work. Bring them to the conference room. We'll have a meeting as quick as we can and then you're off for a minimum of two days.
Don't have to tell me twice.
Aidan notified the other two, then headed to the conference room himself. Rheinallt was already there, looking like death slightly warmed over. There was a large mug of coffee on the table next to him; furious typing and clicking corresponded to things changing on the overhead screen as he added notes into whatever he'd pulled to show them, pausing only to take several swallows of coffee before getting back to it.
Nero arrived five minutes later, trademark frown in place as he took a seat. “Aidan, Kas," he stated, nodding slightly in their direction. It was his customary way of greeting them every time their was a meeting, or if they were out at Marna's and he'd been the last one to arrive.
Cyrilla entered a few minutes after Nero had, holding a large bag and a cup carrier with three large containers. There was a smaller one, as well, that was probably hers. “Figured I'd get lunch since we skipped breakfast this morning," she explained, holding up the bag and handing Nero and Rheinallt their drinks. She passed Aidan his before taking her seat next to Nero.
“Do we have what we need?" Nero asked, glancing in Aidan and Rheinallt's direction.
Rheinallt swapped his receding mug of coffee for the new stuff, but seemed to ignore the food for the moment. Aidan grabbed himself a sandwich, unwrapping it as the other guy got started.
"I mean, there's no document that says 'here's our illegal pokémon steroid formulas,' but short of that... basically, yeah. There's a lot of research in here, and while we can't prove they ever made any of the things they developed, or distributed them, we do have the company pretty much pinned, I think. Thing is... this is illegally-obtained data, and not everyone's going to be all right with that. It won't hold up in court, for one."
Aidan nodded. He'd expected that much. "Well, not in a court of law," he said. "But the court of public opinion is another story. Spread this wide enough and the whole business will tank, at least."
Rheinallt made a vague grunt of agreement. "I think I know what to do with it," he said. "I uh... know this reporter. I think if I give her a copy of everything, she can get it out there, and her sources are protected by confidentiality, even more if they're anonymous to begin with."
Nero narrowed his eyes for a moment before reaching for one of the sandwiches. “How credible is she, though?" he asked, keeping his attention on Rheinallt. “Are you certain that she won't try to use this against us somehow?" he added, unwrapping his sandwich and taking a bite of it. Cyrilla arched her brow at Rheinallt, though, as if she knew who he was speaking of.
“Worst case scenario is that Kas, Aidan and myself will take that hit. Sure, we're affiliated with NTR, but there are ways around that," she stated, shrugging her shoulders lightly.
"Well like I said, I'll send it anonymously," Rheinallt said, shrugging his shoulders tiredly. "I think she's a pretty good person with a sense of ethics, and this would also be an opportunity for her. Her site's independent news, and middling as far as those types go. But she's won a couple awards, and this could set her up for something major. It's a big scoop—she wouldn't have much reason not to publish, if she determines the information to be credible. If she doesn't... we try something else."
Aidan nodded again. "All right, we'll try that first. Send me her information, too, just so I know what I'm telling Gregorovich."
“So... things like that usually take awhile, right?" Cyrilla stated, glancing towards Aidan. “Does that mean once the whole thing gets exposed, Ryk and Kas won't have to do tournaments?" asked, arching a brow at him. The question seemed to peek Nero's interest, his brow arching just faintly as he glanced in Aidan's direction as well.
“It would be strange if we just suddenly dropped out of the competitions, Cy. Even moreso if it seemed we were trying to lose intentionaly."
“It wasn't meant like that, you know. I know how much they mean to you outside of this," she gestured vaguely to the entire room.
"Not necessarily," Aidan replied, shaking his head. "We've tracked one supply to the source. Chances are there are more, and even if we bust the company, the distributors and middle-people involved aren't given their due punishment. Boss knows we have the data, and still wants us to keep going. Speaking of which." He smiles a little to himself.
"Double assignment for the end of the month. We're headed to Hoenn. There's a tournament in Rustboro you're both entered in, and while we're there, Gregorvich wants us to check out an old research facility."
"Wait what? Why?"
Aidan shrugged. "Apparently he had it shut down when the reports were obscuring something. Nerds cleared out real quick; no one's quite sure what the hell they were doing on top of the sanctioned work. It's a long shot, but he thinks the old building might have some kind of clue in it. We're going to be in the right part of the world anyway, so."
Cyrilla's eyes widened slightly in surprise. “Oo, we get to go to Hoenn," she stated in an excited manner. Nero pursed his lips together as he narrowed his eyes at her.
“You say that as if you've never been. This will be the third time you've gone to Hoenn."
“Correction, it would be my fifth time. Besides, Hoenn's a nice region and they have great food. Not that Kantonian food is bad, but Hoennian food is really good." There was a sudden mischievous look in Cyrilla's eyes when she turned her attention towards Aidan, though. “Does that mean it's going to be the three of us, or are Ana and Nev allowed to go? Because if they are... we should probably let them know and see if they want to come with us."
"Well they can't come on NTR's dime, but I don't think that's much of a concern. Was gonna ask Doc if she wanted to schedule the time off; you figure Ana will be able to sort something for the shelter, Nero?"
“I would pressume so, yes. There are people who volunteer regularly at the shelter who know enough to handle a week or two. Bellamy can also help out for a day or two," he replied, shrugging his shoulders lightly. “It depends on the timing, though. When are we scheduled to leave?"
"We've got an overnight flight on the 12th," Aidan replied. "Still plenty of seats available, if we need to book extra. And since this is all for tournament stuff, we all have separate rooms, so if there's no more room there—and there probably won't be—we can shuffle some people around and share, I suppose."
Nero seemed to contemplate for a moment before nodding his head. “I will ask her and see what she says. I'm... certain she'll want to go," he seemed almost confident in that remark. Cyrilla smiled and nodded her head in an enthusiastic manner.
“Well, we know Nev won't say no to a tournament. She loves those things, and if you're certain Ana will want to go, we might as well make sure we book an extra room just in case. Kas and Ryk can have their own room since they'll be the ones in the tournament, and if it makes Nev and Ana uncomfortable to share a room with you," she glanced in Aidan's direction, “I'll volunteer for that since you're Big Bro and all."
"Again, it's sort of if they have the extra laying around," Aidan replied with a shrug. "It's a pretty big event for this point in the season, so a lot of the hotels get booked out months in advance. We'll work something out, anyway—worst case I don't mind someone's couch."
He pretty much lived on Doc's anyway.
"If everyone's good with that, we can probably call this meeting adjourned."
“We could just share the rooms like our living conditions. Would make it easier that way," Nero stated as he nodded his head. “Either way I'm good."
“Same. I've got no qualms whose room I stay in."
"All right. We'll get it figured out. In the meantime, Rheinallt, go home and sleep. The rest of you... go back to whatever you were doing." Aidan smiles a little, feigning a dismissive gesture.
Aidan hummed when he got the text, well aware that Rheinallt had been hauling ass since the infiltration to decrypt and sort everything Cyrilla had pulled from Eckhardt. Years of financial records, research notes—he didn't think he knew anyone else who'd be able to understand all of it. Doc could do the science, and he might be okay with the financials, but the other way around? Not likely.
But if he said he was done, Aidan believed him.
Nice work. Bring them to the conference room. We'll have a meeting as quick as we can and then you're off for a minimum of two days.
Don't have to tell me twice.
Aidan notified the other two, then headed to the conference room himself. Rheinallt was already there, looking like death slightly warmed over. There was a large mug of coffee on the table next to him; furious typing and clicking corresponded to things changing on the overhead screen as he added notes into whatever he'd pulled to show them, pausing only to take several swallows of coffee before getting back to it.
Nero arrived five minutes later, trademark frown in place as he took a seat. “Aidan, Kas," he stated, nodding slightly in their direction. It was his customary way of greeting them every time their was a meeting, or if they were out at Marna's and he'd been the last one to arrive.
Cyrilla entered a few minutes after Nero had, holding a large bag and a cup carrier with three large containers. There was a smaller one, as well, that was probably hers. “Figured I'd get lunch since we skipped breakfast this morning," she explained, holding up the bag and handing Nero and Rheinallt their drinks. She passed Aidan his before taking her seat next to Nero.
“Do we have what we need?" Nero asked, glancing in Aidan and Rheinallt's direction.
Rheinallt swapped his receding mug of coffee for the new stuff, but seemed to ignore the food for the moment. Aidan grabbed himself a sandwich, unwrapping it as the other guy got started.
"I mean, there's no document that says 'here's our illegal pokémon steroid formulas,' but short of that... basically, yeah. There's a lot of research in here, and while we can't prove they ever made any of the things they developed, or distributed them, we do have the company pretty much pinned, I think. Thing is... this is illegally-obtained data, and not everyone's going to be all right with that. It won't hold up in court, for one."
Aidan nodded. He'd expected that much. "Well, not in a court of law," he said. "But the court of public opinion is another story. Spread this wide enough and the whole business will tank, at least."
Rheinallt made a vague grunt of agreement. "I think I know what to do with it," he said. "I uh... know this reporter. I think if I give her a copy of everything, she can get it out there, and her sources are protected by confidentiality, even more if they're anonymous to begin with."
Nero narrowed his eyes for a moment before reaching for one of the sandwiches. “How credible is she, though?" he asked, keeping his attention on Rheinallt. “Are you certain that she won't try to use this against us somehow?" he added, unwrapping his sandwich and taking a bite of it. Cyrilla arched her brow at Rheinallt, though, as if she knew who he was speaking of.
“Worst case scenario is that Kas, Aidan and myself will take that hit. Sure, we're affiliated with NTR, but there are ways around that," she stated, shrugging her shoulders lightly.
"Well like I said, I'll send it anonymously," Rheinallt said, shrugging his shoulders tiredly. "I think she's a pretty good person with a sense of ethics, and this would also be an opportunity for her. Her site's independent news, and middling as far as those types go. But she's won a couple awards, and this could set her up for something major. It's a big scoop—she wouldn't have much reason not to publish, if she determines the information to be credible. If she doesn't... we try something else."
Aidan nodded again. "All right, we'll try that first. Send me her information, too, just so I know what I'm telling Gregorovich."
“So... things like that usually take awhile, right?" Cyrilla stated, glancing towards Aidan. “Does that mean once the whole thing gets exposed, Ryk and Kas won't have to do tournaments?" asked, arching a brow at him. The question seemed to peek Nero's interest, his brow arching just faintly as he glanced in Aidan's direction as well.
“It would be strange if we just suddenly dropped out of the competitions, Cy. Even moreso if it seemed we were trying to lose intentionaly."
“It wasn't meant like that, you know. I know how much they mean to you outside of this," she gestured vaguely to the entire room.
"Not necessarily," Aidan replied, shaking his head. "We've tracked one supply to the source. Chances are there are more, and even if we bust the company, the distributors and middle-people involved aren't given their due punishment. Boss knows we have the data, and still wants us to keep going. Speaking of which." He smiles a little to himself.
"Double assignment for the end of the month. We're headed to Hoenn. There's a tournament in Rustboro you're both entered in, and while we're there, Gregorvich wants us to check out an old research facility."
"Wait what? Why?"
Aidan shrugged. "Apparently he had it shut down when the reports were obscuring something. Nerds cleared out real quick; no one's quite sure what the hell they were doing on top of the sanctioned work. It's a long shot, but he thinks the old building might have some kind of clue in it. We're going to be in the right part of the world anyway, so."
Cyrilla's eyes widened slightly in surprise. “Oo, we get to go to Hoenn," she stated in an excited manner. Nero pursed his lips together as he narrowed his eyes at her.
“You say that as if you've never been. This will be the third time you've gone to Hoenn."
“Correction, it would be my fifth time. Besides, Hoenn's a nice region and they have great food. Not that Kantonian food is bad, but Hoennian food is really good." There was a sudden mischievous look in Cyrilla's eyes when she turned her attention towards Aidan, though. “Does that mean it's going to be the three of us, or are Ana and Nev allowed to go? Because if they are... we should probably let them know and see if they want to come with us."
"Well they can't come on NTR's dime, but I don't think that's much of a concern. Was gonna ask Doc if she wanted to schedule the time off; you figure Ana will be able to sort something for the shelter, Nero?"
“I would pressume so, yes. There are people who volunteer regularly at the shelter who know enough to handle a week or two. Bellamy can also help out for a day or two," he replied, shrugging his shoulders lightly. “It depends on the timing, though. When are we scheduled to leave?"
"We've got an overnight flight on the 12th," Aidan replied. "Still plenty of seats available, if we need to book extra. And since this is all for tournament stuff, we all have separate rooms, so if there's no more room there—and there probably won't be—we can shuffle some people around and share, I suppose."
Nero seemed to contemplate for a moment before nodding his head. “I will ask her and see what she says. I'm... certain she'll want to go," he seemed almost confident in that remark. Cyrilla smiled and nodded her head in an enthusiastic manner.
“Well, we know Nev won't say no to a tournament. She loves those things, and if you're certain Ana will want to go, we might as well make sure we book an extra room just in case. Kas and Ryk can have their own room since they'll be the ones in the tournament, and if it makes Nev and Ana uncomfortable to share a room with you," she glanced in Aidan's direction, “I'll volunteer for that since you're Big Bro and all."
"Again, it's sort of if they have the extra laying around," Aidan replied with a shrug. "It's a pretty big event for this point in the season, so a lot of the hotels get booked out months in advance. We'll work something out, anyway—worst case I don't mind someone's couch."
He pretty much lived on Doc's anyway.
"If everyone's good with that, we can probably call this meeting adjourned."
“We could just share the rooms like our living conditions. Would make it easier that way," Nero stated as he nodded his head. “Either way I'm good."
“Same. I've got no qualms whose room I stay in."
"All right. We'll get it figured out. In the meantime, Rheinallt, go home and sleep. The rest of you... go back to whatever you were doing." Aidan smiles a little, feigning a dismissive gesture.