>>30890239
huh

Sup

>>30890428
>>30890403

Hi guys. Where did we leave? after the concert party, so moving to the next day, right? Do you want to drive Mako to her apartment or talk to her about staying with someone else?

>>30890499
We were discussing among ourselves who to bunk Belle with while Stella was in London/doing her various BBC shows. Mako had already agreed to stay with Lyann, and We'd promised Lyann to let her know what was going on tomorrow morning.

I think we were about to drive Lyann and Mako back to Lyann's picking up Mao Mao n the way.

>>30890499
Oh, and after a lot of thought my vote's to see if Mai is willing to take Belle in for the meantime. Not sure if we want Ami to move back in with her sister or if she'd be interested in spending more time with Eldrich though.

>>30890651
After friday (tomorrow) she'll be gone for a week, tho
****

Mako and Lyann chat while you drive them to Lyann's place. Mako has Mao Mao sleeping on her lap, and she's all excited about having had so many sleepovers lately after growing up with nearly no friends her own age.

The girls are dressed in normal clothes after having a shower and changing from their concert clothes. Mako is wearing a light but long summer dress, and Lyann is wearing a short but comfortable looking silk dress under a leather jacket.

Mako: "Mister Salter, when the money from the album comes in, can we start to work on the children's fund?"

******
It came in this morning but they don't know it yet. Aritsu simply transferred their money to their bank accounts and left it to you to inform them

>>30890499
Oh, and while I'm hoping that your Internet isn't down for the day, we should probably ask Aura and Okaba about organizing extra security for Flux and our fighters in the meantime. My normal impulse would be to hire through the XWF, but there's almost a guarantee that Bomber's compromised that organization.

>>30890781
"Honestly we should probably get the paperwork started sooner than that. I'm still shocked at how much work you guys have finalized, even accounting for the fact that you are the top of your field it's simply amazing. Why don't we met tomorrow to work out an official mission statement and a rough framework?"

Suggest we stop by at around lunch time and stay for 2-3 hours to hash out the details before our Tai Chi lesson.

>>30890789
Me.

>>30890781
"The money came in this morning actually. Care to take a look?"

>>30890858
>>30890851
>>30890789

Mako: "It did? how many lunches can we buy with it?"

Lyann: -turns on her datapad and looks at her bank account for a moment- "We could buy three lunches for every orphan in Asia"

Mako: "Oh... only that much?"

Ned: "Are those people lunches or nova lunches?"

Lyann: "My bad, let me see... considering a normal person's calory intake... about 3 weeks worth of lunches."

Ned: "Are you counting children as adults?"

Lyann: "...2 months worth of lunches."

Mako: "Oooh, is that really tasty food?"

Lyann: "Yes, I factored in children's taste."

Mako: "The next album comes out in two weeks, right with that money, we can start improving the orphanages that are already there?"

Ned: "I don't see why not."

Lyann: "You can use my share for that as well, that should be enough to clean everything up nicely. We can talk to the others about it tomorrow. I believe Stella has her own cause, however. The rest are likely to help you or her, or go after their own interests."

Ned: "I am fairly sure Euphry will want to spend some on liquor."

Lyann: "I doubt she can burn through it fast enough on liquor alone"

>>30890999

"Don't mention that to her, though, or she'll take it as a challenge'

>>30890999
>Lyann "I doubt she can burn through it fast enough on liquor alone"
Give Lyann a slightly disbelieving stare. "I'd like to pretend that she is going to spend it on booze and parties and buying Lyann(?) something nice, and not about all the paperwork I'm going to need to do..."

Also, how late is it?

>>30891099
I imagine its about 4am by now, at least, since the baseline party goes were all worn out and while I have stayed up all night partying, I doubt I could do so at one of Euphry's parties.

Mako and Lyann both have mega stamina, so theyre fine, but Ned may be very tired.

>>30891099

Worth nothing that we've already set up a charitable foundation for Okaba, so much of the paperwork should be familiar

>>30891138
>Ned may be very tired
Thought so. See if Lyann would mind putting us up for the night and make sure that our Datapad's alarm is appropriately set to get to the office on time tomorrow. Before we pass out tell the girls again just how amazing and in their element they look on stage.

>>30891186
I'm referring to the paperwork for ATF, DEA, FDA, etc raids on Euphry's penthouse and the repairbills for new holes in the indestructible building. Euphry's an excellent asset and a really fun character, but she's high maintenance.

>>30891230

Oh, that? Putting a law firm on retainer and taking the cost out of her share might be more sensible....

>>30891308
Do you have any idea how many paid hours it'd take non novas to deal with her legal issues? Because I don't even want to think about it.

>>30891326
heh, neither do I. But if its just paperwork, shouldnt Aritsu deal with it?
***

Ned: "Lyann, do you mind if I use one of your guest rooms?"

Lyann: "Not at all, I'll be glad to have you."

As you park, you see some new graffiti on the outer walls. Mako does not know what some of the words mean, and you decide that is not the sort of american culture you want her to familiarize with, so you just tell her it's bad words, in general.

She is upset people would spray bad words outside of someone's home.

Just about four hours later, you wake up to the scent of breakfast. Lyann prepared breakfast and brought it to you at bed. All three plates of it.

She is wearing a silk robe and has her hair loose behind her. It tends to wave softly all the time, as if it was caught by a breeze. She smells nice, but its not soap or perfume. She just smells nice in the enclosed space of the room.

Lyann: "Ned? I thought you needed a bit of rest, so I took your alarm out, but your assistant says you have to go to the office. Ned?"

>>30891413
"I'm up, I'm up."

>>30891413
"I do. I have an early meeting with Okaba and Aura today to deal with...Lyann, sit down. I have to call Aritsu to have her run interference for me until I get to the office, but there's something important I need to tell you that is extremely unpleasant." Give her the gist of what Bomber's up to and the fact that all the Flux members barring Alecks are apparently targets of opportunity. Let her know that we have a plan to take him down and are trying to infiltrate his network so we can find all the women he's already taken and hopefully save them. Ask her if she can keep an eye on Mako until this is over, and if we can impose on her if the need arises.

"I'm sorry for laying all of this on you, Lyann, but you're one of the few people I trust that's in a position to make a real difference."

>>30891413
"Well, im not complaining about the look of my new alarm, and you're right about my needing rest, but dont turn off any alarms I set in the future please."

>>30891413
...wait, why is Lyann is referring to Artsu as "our assistant" I thought they were old friends.

>>30891427

Lyann: "Ah, that's good. She told me that I should kiss you to wake you up, otherwise." -the beautiful redhead is not very good at reading people. Rather, she's terrible at it

Ned: "I think she was joking. But now I'm sorry I woke up already."

>>30891481
Lyann: "I can't believe that! Mister Lord seemed so nice when I meet him at the studio the other day..."

Ned: "You already meet him?"

Lyann: "Yes, he was very polite, albeit I think he has a nervous tic, maybe? he kept sort of frowning while talking to me. Maybe a head ache?"

Yeah, trying to control a collective of about 200 ultra evolved minds at the same time can give the worse head aches.

Ned: "Lyann, listen, the man is a criminal, a monster. Please make sure you are not alone with him. That noone from the band is."

Lyann: "If I was better at people, I could have a clone follow them around, but my presence tends to be... upsetting, for people. I will do what I can, Ned."

*****
Do you want to tell her about her friend Dawn being involved?

>>30891498

Yes but I forgot

>>30891548
"Lyann, he may have been trying to manipulate you mentally with hid powers and found himself unable to control you. Lyann, this is important, Did he speak with anyone else? I cannot discount the levels of control he can exhibit over people, even no as, which is why I was shocked to see, your friend Dawn with him before." Describe the girl who looked like Dawn who approached Mako as well

>>30891548
"he was probably trying to control you while you were linked. the sheer number of minds he tapped into gave him a headache."
And yeah, trying to hide stuff from her would be a bad idea.

>>30891548
>Tell her about Dawn?
Yes. Just tell her we know Dawn's been in contact with both Bomber and Mako, it's pure conjecture at this point, but we're guessingnhe's using her to scout potential Nova targets. Reassure Lyann that we're trying to watch out for her friend, but admit that for now it's probably best to assume Bomber has compromised her. Also, ask her not to personally confront Bomber or Dawn, we're willing to keep her in the loop but we're worried that any unusual behavior might tip Him off. Also ask if she knows about any flesh sculpting novas in the area, we're looking for leads on that front of the investigation.

>>30891688

Lyann: "Blue skinned girl with tentacles on her hair? that's Dusk, her sister. They have this whole Teragen new people thing, and took new names for themselves... honestly it feels very silly to me. Reminds me of those movies with hippies on them, calling their children Sunlight unicorn and such. Dawn, Zenith and Dusk are triplets, but their skin colors are different most of the time. Is how they try to diferenciate from each other, I assume"

Ned: -nods- "And what are their powers, if it wouldnt be too intrusive to ask?"

Lyann: "Well,... I wouldnt mind if someone said I could make clones when talking about me, so I don't think it would be a big deal? Dawn can sculpt bodies, she can even give working traits of one species to another. She gave wings to an Iguana, once, but the thing escaped after a few months. Dusk is very good at dealing with mental issues, so she is sort of a default psychiatrist in the Teragen, and Zenith can manipulate taint, which is why I approached her and met all of them to begin with. As it turns out, all she can do about it is take someone's taint and move it to someone else, which is why I did not ask for her help in the end. I'm not about to pass my troubles to other people."

>>30891788
Bam, we now have the missing link. Inform her about Bomber's 'enterprising business' and our suspicions about her friends involvement.

Sorry I'ven't posted more, spring cleaning is a fucking bitch.

>>30891788

"That's... Very concerning. Accoriding to my information, Bomber Lord and his gang are rebuilding people into facsimiles of others.... In body and mind. I was wondering who might have the skills to do that; I think you just gave me my answer."

>>30891788
We...should probably tell Lyann that Dawn might just be the missing piece of the puzzle then. That we know Bomber has been using a Nova capable of sculpting bodies to tailor his victims to his clients' desires. Now we have to determine what level of power he has over Dawn, but we need to do that through independent channels...

Kind of overall stress that Lyann doesn't make any independent moves towards Bomber or Dawn because we already have a lot of things in p,ace or coming into place, but tipping our hand here would be very premature.

We should probably take her to our meeting with Aura and Okaba, they might want to ask her questions about her meeting with Bomber or what she knows about Dawn's ability.

>>30891138
>Mako and Lyann both have mega stamina
It belatedly occurs to me that we should probably invest in Mega Stamina if we're seriously planning to keep up with these two Nova beauties.

>>30891896
>>30891869
>>30891832

Lyann: "I am sure Dawn wouldn't do such a thing!"

Ned: "Well, she may be under his control somehow. In that case, we need to help her as much as her victims."

Lyann: "She doesn't has any victims! this is absurd, I¿ll just call her and sort this thing out right now, hold on, I left the datapad at my room!"

Ned: "Lyann, wait!"

****
Roll diplomacy 13d10 to convince her otherwise

Rolled 9, 4, 6, 9, 7, 8, 8, 1, 10, 2, 10, 2, 6 = 82

>>30892012

Rolled 6, 5, 8, 5, 7, 2, 10, 5, 1, 8, 4, 7, 6 = 74

>>30892012
>remind her about the near breaking at our office, there's a good chance Bomber has her under surveillance as well given how useful she could be to him.
>Beg Lyann to wait until after the meeting with Aura and Okaba to make any moves like this, just in case.

>>30892077
Nice roll!

>>30892077

Well, that could certainly be enough to convince her to do as you say.
***

Lyann: "Fine, then I need to get dressed if we are going to the studios... should we take Mako along, as well? she's up already. She rock paper scissor me for preparing your breakfast. She won, so I got the job of bringing it to you. Which reminds me, eat your breakfast whole"

Mega intelligence indeed.

>>30892137
We already agreed to spend the afternoon at Lyann's setting up the charity with Mako, then practicing Tai Chi with the pair, so no I'd say we should leave Mako here to brainstorm a bit and to see if she and Lyann(??) can start teaching Mao Mao some tricks. Hopefully that should keep her busy at Lyann's until we get back.

Contact Aritsu while Lyann's getting dressed and get a status update from the office.

>>30892189
works for me

>>30892189

Aritsu asks if you are alright, if the girls didin't let you out of bed, and if you will be there soon.

Ned: "I am quite alright, really. No, you know it wasn't like that, and yes, I will be there within the hour."

Aritsu: "In the meanwhile, is it alright if I share what info we have with mister Kubwa and miss Accussa?" -respectively, Okaba and Aura

>>30892362
"Yes."

>>30892362
"Of course. Give them my apologies for missing the stator our meeting, but ask them to stay until I get there. There are a few new wrinkles I'd rather not discuss over the phone."

>>30892362
Also, activate incognito for our drive to work.

>>30892399
Me.

>>30892426

Can we just say that Ned has Incognito on at any time we're not actively working

File: 1395073969861.png-(685 KB, 936x445, Yare Yare Daze combo.png)

685 KB PNG

>>30892498
Dat sounds like a good plan, aye.

>>30892384
>>30892399

Mako's breakfast is delicious. She also made for you a USian flag with bacon, albeit you wonder just where she got blue from. It stands proudly over a small hill of scrambled eggs, using a long french fry as flagpole.

She is wearing a slightly shorter-than-usual dress (for her, that means about knee length) with her hair pulled into a bun behind her. When you tell her you and Lyann will be back in the early evening, and to try and teach her puppy some tricks, she nods, but asks you if you can see about getting all those lunches delivered.

Ned: "...I think it will take a bit more than just a few hours to arrange that, Mako."

Mako: "Tomorrow, then?"

Ned: "..I will try"

As you leave, you drive off past a small group of punks writing graffity on the side of the building, but Lyann doesn't seems to mind, She is much too worried about her friends.

A bit later, you meet with Okaba and Aura at the office.

Okaba: "We were worried you had trouble escaping your bed after last night." -he greets you with a handshake. He's wearing a elegant, well cut business suit. It seems curious how he manages to wear it with his wings standing out, but as he turns around you realize it has a very discreet extra layer that falls down over what must be a bare area on his back to allow his wings through. The result is impeccable.

Aura: "You had a good night?" -she is leaning unto the couch's arm rest, dressed with a micro mini skirt barely visible under her long blouse, her golden hair loose behind her, cascading gently on her shoulders and back.

Aritsu: "Would you like some coffee?"

You explain Lyann's presence, and sit with them

>>30892597
Bring everyone up to date, apologizing to Aura and Okaba that much of what we're telling Lyann is a rehash of what Aritsu just showed them, then ask Lyann to tell them about Dawn. When she finishes, tell them about how Dawn approached Mako yesterday, then show them the surveillance data we have of Bomber's place that shows him meeting with her.

Our next step is probably to see if we can acquire any data Dawn might have kept on Bomber's victims. And determining if any of her sisters are involved. I'm just imagining Zenith transferring Taint from desparate Novas to a mindless Nova Husk...

>>30892597

Lyann: "I doubt Dawn or Dusk are working with this man on such a monstruous business. They gain nothing from it."

Okaba: "Money?"

Lyann: "They are self sufficient, why would they need more money?"

Aura: "Some people like having luxuries, you know?"

Ned: "What about their other sister. Anything about her?"

Lyann: "Zenith? I haven't seen her in months. Maybe we could talk with her? but I think Dusk is unlikely to be mind controlled. She is a powerful telepath herself."

>>30892726

"Or mind control. Or blackmail. Or both. Or something else. Bomber has been shown to be able to cause severe sickness in both baselines and Novas... Who knows what else he can do?"

>>30892726
"Power?"

"Nova's are very powerful in their own right, but when you add in the political power and reach of two Huge crime syndicates they can really spread their influence and get all the support they need through money, threats, or blackmail. Hell, the gangs are practically armies in their own rights."

>>30892779
His ability to cause addictions is just an extension of his Domination ability. He causes an initial short lived compulsion to use an addictive substance, and by the time the compulsion wears off you're addicted for real.

>>30892726
>Dusk is in the clear
"That's a relief."

>Zenith hasn't been seen in awhile
"Lyann, I know it's hard for you to stand back when your friends are involved, and I know I'm asking you to trust me more than anyone in their right mind would be comfortable with, but I need you to. Our best chance of taking down Bomber lies in maintaining the element of surprise and to do that I need you to be in as little contact with him and the people he associates with as is reasonable. If Aura and Okaba don't have the resources to look into the sisters and their safety, I have other contacts I trust to be discrete and loyal I can draw on. Right now I need you to do the hardest thing for people like us, to have patience. I might also need to commission some mind control inhibitors from you, but I don't have enough information to give you anything definitive on that end yet."

>>30892835
Me

>>30892835
>Addictions and Compulsions
Good point.

>>30892835

What about spontaneous brain haemmorages caused at a hostage distance?

>>30892779
>>30892797

Lyann: "Zenith can manipulate taint. She can't make it go away, but she can move it from a person to another. She can also transfer a part of someone else's powers, but that effect is only temporal. Should I try giving her a call?"

Okaba: "Not right now. For now we are sticking to the plan. After taking Bombor down on the ring, he will be exhausted, and that's when we'll make the arrest."

Aura: "I would think he would be exhausted even if he wins."

Okaba: "Most likely. Either way, we'll take him when he is almost out of quantum."

>>30892856
Lyann: "Ned, I trust you. But please find out about their well being as soon as possible."

>>30892871
Physic link + the basic mental attack power..

>>30892878
"I will Lyann, but I need to do it without compromising the operation. I promise to keep you fully informed, they're you're friends and you absolutely have the right to know what's happening. Just promise me you won't make any moves that might endanger our ability to bring BL to justice without consulting with us first."

>>30892878
"Aura! Come on, a little support for Brass here ok?"

"But anyway, I will be trying hard to find all all i can about Dawn, Dusk, and Zenith. But the deeper we dig the more danger we put ourselves in, all of us. I want you to try to see more to your own security as well as helping the rest of the band, discretely."

>>30893105

Aura: "I was just pointing out that no matter what, we are taking that monster down after the fight."

Lyann: "Well, what should we do now?"

Ned: "Now you go and keep living your life as normal, while I investigate about your missing friend."

Aura: "You can come with me to the gym. Your girly figure is super cute, but you should do -some- exercise as well."

>>30893264
"I-i'm not that girly!"
Yes i know she's speaking about Lyann

>>30893264
"Hmm, actually Lyann, before you go I wanted to talk to you about the feasibility of you building some personal metal protection devices for the members of Flux."

Basic idea, disguise the mental incursion inhibitors as Flux brandd merchandise: earrings, necklace pendants, rings, belt buckles...inconspicuous things that band members would be expected to wear to promote their own merchandise. Just see if it's prohibitively expensive or not technically feasible to do.

Recommend Lyann hit the gym with Aura but be conscious not to tire herself out to much. We'll try to get our work day wrapped up as quickly as possible and pass the information about her friends on to our sources.

>>30893366
Yeah I just don't see any context in which that joke isn't massive mood whiplash. We want Luann and the others to think we're taking this seriously, not fucking around.

>>30893390

She probably couldn't do one push up (no strenght on her upper body), but she could do situps until the cows came home (mega stamina 5). No strength but monstrous endurance.

>>30893411
Alright, I guess we can skip it. Besides Mai ran Ned ragged during his training so he's pretty well built now. at least like a baseline athlete.

***

Lyann: "Fine, but I didint bring any sportswear along."

Aura: "I'm sure everyone will be happy if I just loan you some of mine."

Lyann: "I don't see why..."

Aura: "You can be quite clueless, can't you? cmon, it'll be fun" -she takes Lyann away

Okaba: -sips his coffee- "Be careful, you two." - once they leave- "I have plenty of abilities which are useless in the ring, but were a great asset as an operative. I could run a electromagnetic vision check on Bomber Lord's manor from a distance and get all the missing parts of this holo map your dectectives made."

>>30893532
"Thar would be good.

>>30893532
"That would be excellent. Thank you Okaba."

>>30893646
>>30893597

Okaba: "Alright, I'll go change, then"

Ned: "Change?"

Okaba: "Yes, this is a business suit. It wouldn't do to get my business suit ruined now, would it? Aura would give me so much trouble about it, and then she would take it and fix it herself. She's actually a very good girl, you know?"

Okaba gives you a smile as he leaves.

>>30893758
So, what next? I figure we probably want to brief our boss about these goings on at some point.

>>30893758
Ok, priorities.
1-Get the ball rolling on Mako's charity and meal delivery
2-Update our PIs or set a meet to update them
3-Make sure MTV is on track
4-...there was one more thing but damn if I can remember
5-Grab Lyann and head back to her place to update Mako on her charity and to do some Tai Chi.

We still need to find Belle a bunk buddy while Stella's overseas?

>>30893870
Gah. Name.

>>30893870
Well, I'm going off to lunch, so let's stop here for now. I'll be back to check on questions and comment as needed, as usual, but we should stop here for today. See you tomorrow, guys

>>30893943
See you later King.

>>30893960
Back
****

So much for de-escalating:

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN SIGNS ORDER ON RECOGNITION OF CRIMEA AS SOVEREIGN STATE - RIA

Surely to precede Putin's own executive order recognizing Crimea as the latest member of the Russian Federation. And as for those "crippling" sanctions, via the FT, here is the locals reall think and why the Russian stock market is soaring as we reported earlier.

Moscow investment banker on US sanctions: "It's as innocuous as we'd hoped"

— Courtney Weaver (@courtneymoscow) March 17, 2014
Next headline as follows: U.S. unfriends Russia on Facebook!!

I laughed

>>30894307
Mind you, they haven't even decided what the sanctions are, so that's just BS posturing.

>>30894388

Well, maybe they'll stop following them on youtube?

Anyway, I tried to give Okaba the typical "I'm just about to retire tomorrow" farewell and noone noticed, wth?

>>30894764
Hmm, was wondering about that. Still figured we should try trusting him instead of pointing out that Bomberknows him and our inconspicuous team already pulled out because it was way too dangerous...oh well. That's what you get for trusting a secret agent to know what he's doing.

>>30894764
In retrospect I'm guessing that I expected "from a distance" to be a lot more distance than is actually going to be between Okaba and Bomber's manner. Really kicking myself for not telling him to wait until the heat died down...

>>30895591
Well, im not going to kill him off anymore. Loses impact if you know its coming. The idea was that he was going to see BL abusing a girl and dive in to rescue her.

>>30896111
Yeah, I could see him doing that. Ok, not totally true, let me explain. I expect that as a trained field operative he would know better than to endanger the mission if he didn't think he could succeed, and I feel like we gave him enough information on Bomber that he would know that he couldn't save her alone even if BL wasn't on home ground. But, and this is what I didn't account for before, it would make sense that his judgement would be temporarily compromised by the thought Aura being taken, mind wiped and sold into slavery as essentially a sex toy to some wealth degenerate. With that mental state (which would explain hem volunteering to scout Bomber's abode less than 24 hours after our surveillance team potentially set off a few red flags), with that mental state I can see him making the moral, but wrong, call.

I'm fine with you running it either way, just kicking myself for not playing it paranoid for once.

Tl;dr I can see how it would fit his character to be impulsive this once...damn you for making me care! (shaking fist impotently at phone's screen)

>>30896515
Well, remember they are altering the captive girls to look like the girls from the band, so he could actually see Aura in trouble and act before thinking

>>30898009
True, but I figured it would have been a Mako clone since you'd already telegraphed that. Then again, Bomber's probably scanned the biometrics of every female XWF fighter by this point, and Aura's measurements really aren't that hard to get you're hands on. Still, I feel like head have the fact that Aura's safe back at the gym with Ned and Lyann watching out for her at the forefront of his mind. Still, as I said I can see him making the call to intervene even though I trusted him not to.

You're fault for writing excellent characters with enough complexity for me to actually trust an NPC's judgement when usually I micromanage the hell out of them.