Dejiko rubs her forehead and has some coffee. "Mmmm." Feeling better now, Dejiko? Looks better, at least. Dejiko nods. "Yes. Four hours of sleep will do wonders, when you've gone without for a bit." * Rina shifts in her seat a little, then leans back. * Sayuri frowns, and stretches. "From what you said, Dejiko, I'm guessing this has to do with Dowd?" Dejiko clears her throat. "Anyway... yes, Sayuri. We're going to meet Stanton right now, as well as some friends of his." * Rina tilts her head. Stanton? * Sayuri brings her hands to the back of her neck, and keeps that ever- so-endearing frown on her face. * Jacqueline scratches her head. Stanton Dowd, Rina. A prominent buisnessman. Jacqueline knows him, as well. * Rina blinks, then turns to Jacqueline. "How'd you know 'im? Just wondering, and all." * Jacqueline grins. "He's a friend of my dad's." Ooh. I guess we're not gonna be shot at today, then. * Rina grins. * Sayuri drywashes her hands. "I'd hope not." * Rina sticks her tongue out at Sayuri. "If we do, you can use me as a shield." No thanks. Aw, we're not going to need to do that. * Sayuri blinks twice, and continues to frown. "So you say." * Jacqueline smiles. "It's like in a game. As long as you don't get hit, you'll be fine!" * Rina laughs. "Yeah, Jackie, but we've only got one life." * Jacqueline nods. "Gotta be extra careful." * Rina nods. You soon arrive at the Hong Kong estate of Stanton Dowd. Which is different from the Paris, Seattle, and London estates of Stanton Dowd. * Rina looks out the window. ( In what way? ) (It's in a different place, mostly.) ( Oh :P ) The driver comes around and opens to door. Dejiko steps out first and glances around some. Is something wrong? "No, but I check for it out of habit, anyway. Come on out." * Rina shrugs and gets out. * Jacqueline steps out. * Sayuri steps out, and looks around nervously. Dejiko strides up to the gate, which opens before her. She continues on towards the house, gesturing for the rest of you to follow along. * Jacqueline follows along, arms swinging. * Sayuri walks forward on her heels, clack-clacking. She does look a bit nervous. * Rina hums to herself as she follows. Dejiko drops back so that you're all in easy hearing range of her. "By the way. When I talked to Stanton on the phone last night, he seemed nervous about something, but didn't care to discuss it. I'd like for you all to keep an eye out for anything that seems odd. Especially you, Jacqueline, since you know Stanton and Morgan better than I do." Nervous? That's... odd. * Rina blinks. "What were you talkin' about?" Buisness, mostly, but I'm fairly certain he was nervous about other things. * Rina tilts her head. Hum, okay. Hm... Could something have happened? That's entirely possible. We'll have to see what, exactly. * Sayuri continues walking, looking for obvious security things. Once a hacker... (Roll Mind, plus any bonuses for perception, back in the main channel, Sayuri.) (Nasty fail.) Sayui finds no security thingies. * Jacqueline glances around the estate, not in awe so much as in trying to identify the differences between here and Paris. * Rina looks around, is suitably impressed, and keeps walking. You reach the door about now. Dejiko rings the doorbell, and soon a Chinese lady comes to the door. Dejiko tells her that you're here to meet with Mr. Dowd, that he's expecting you, yadda yadda, and you are admitted. * Rina trips over the door divider. "Eep!" * Sayuri looks around this guy's house. * Sayuri shivers. You enter the door and are in a large entryway. There are coatracks and two couches. The Chinese lady says, in broken English, that you ought to wait here while she goes to inform Mr. Dowd that you've arrived. Dejiko nods sagely at this, and has a seat on one of the sofas. * Rina glances around, and just stays standing for now. * Jacqueline puts her arms behind her back and stands near a wall. So... um. What're we here for? Or am I asking a little too late? We're here to get assistance from Mr. Dowd and an organization that he is a part of. +"" * Rina shrugs. "Okie." * Sayuri taps her foot and just looks plain displeased. * Rina sighs and wanders over to the sofa, having a seat and trying to fidget a little less. Soon you hear footsteps aproaching. Before long, Stanton is in the room. "Dejiko, greetings. And Jacqueline, it's good to see you again." Hiya! * Rina blinks and looks over at Stanton. I didn't expect to see you here, Stanton. * Sayuri looks at Stanton with the frown she's had for a while yet, standing silently. Stanton is a man in his middle years, with black hair that is greying at the temples. He wears a plain suit. "Well, buisness brings me here to Hong Kong often. Come, let's all go in. Morgan is waiting for us in the east room." * Jacqueline blinks. "Dad's here too?" Stanton nods. "Yes, he is. Come on, let's go." He walks off into one of the hallways branching out from this room. Dejiko follows, and you sometimes catch her glancing around. * Rina stands up and walks next to Jacqueline. "Your dad?" she asks quietly. * Sayuri follows as well, looking around curiously. * Jacqueline follows, scratching her head and frowning a bit. * Jacqueline nods. "Yeah. Well, sorta." He's not actually my dad. * Rina nods. "Tell me 'bout it later, if you want." A very large man with a trenchcoat and a short, white beard walks past you in the hallway. He stops and converses briefly with Stanton, and Dejiko is polite enough to keep a respectful distance from him. * Sayuri looks at her black nails idly, and then looks back at the new guy. * Rina folds her hands behind her back and waits. The other guy nods and walks past again, glancing briefly at the lot of you. He moves surprisingly quietly. * Jacqueline glances at the man out of the corner of her eyes and frowns. Stanton approaches you once he's on his way off. "I'm terribly sorry about that. Buisness, and all." Dejiko nods. "Of course." * Jacqueline looks like she's about to say something, but thinks better of it. * Sayuri stands there silently. * Rina tilts her head and watches the man leave, then turns her attention back to Stanton. Stanton clears his throat. "Come, the east room is this way." Re resumes walking through the halls of the mansion. * Jacqueline follows along. * Rina goes back to following. Before long you arrive at a room that really is on the east end of the mansion. It is full of bookshelves, desks, and comfortable chairs, and it has two fireplaces, as well. Which aren't lit, right now, it being late summer and all. (Which, come to think of it, doesn't matter anyway, here in Hong Kong.) But anyway, Morgan Everett stands from one of these comfortable chairs and smiles as you all enter. * Sayuri stretches, and looks around the room, looking at this other new man curiously. * Jacqueline smiles and waves. "Dad!" * Rina grins. The man approaches and embraces Jaqueline. "Jackie! So good to see you! Oh, tell me, how have you been?" Pretty good, dad. It's great to see you again. (This man is also in his middle years, and has fading red hair and lines on his face that say he smiles a lot.) "Come, come, sit. Stanton and I have a few things to discuss with you all." * Jacqueline nods and takes a seat. * Rina glances back at Stanton and takes a seat as well. Morgan sits near Jaqueline, and Stanton has a seat in a large, high-backed chair with bookshelves built into it's wide arms. * Sayuri looks around for somewhere to sit, and sits too. Then she looks at Morgan and Stanton with the best dead eyes she can manage. Stanton speaks. "So. First off, Dejiko, the financial support has already been taken are of." He passes a folder to Dejiko, who opens it and has a look. "We've given enough, I think, to support you and yours for at least a year." * Rina tries not to fidget while sneaking the occassional glance at Sayuri or Stanton. * Sayuri frowns to herself. * Jacqueline looks between Stanton, Morgan, and Dejiko. Dejiko looks through and nods. "Thank you, Morgan, Stanton. Anything else." ( They seem to have frozen in time ;_; ) (Sorry. I was taking care of some stuff. ^^;) Session Time: Thu Jan 17 00:00:00 2002 And make that last '.' a '?'. Stanton nods. "We also have a list of other so-called 'conspiracy groups' or 'terrorist organizations' that are branded as such by the I13. We've narrowed the list to those most likely to be willing to assist you, and those most likely to do some good." * Rina digs her fingers into her hands. Morgan adds "Naturally, we'll be willing to help however we can. If you can spare the time, I'll be in Seattle for the next week or so. If you can drop in sometime in there, I can possibly help with some equipment matters." Dejiko nods. "Perhaps. At the very least, we could use some bullet-resistant clothing for Sayuri here." * Sayuri laughs flatly. "I'm sure." Stanton hums. "So, Dejiko. Is there anything else you need before you set off?" Dejiko thinks about that. "No, I think this is about it. Thank you both very much." She gets up and shakes their hands. Dejiko looks at the rest of you. "Are you all ready to go, girls?" * Rina stands, taking another look around. "Yeah, okay." * Sayuri frowns at Dejiko, but nods shortly nontheless. Might as well. * Jacqueline nods. "I guess... Can I talk to Stanton and dad alone for a bit? I won't be long." Dejiko nods. "Certainly. We'll wait for you in the hall." Dejiko exits. * Sayuri follows Dejiko out. * Rina smiles reassuringly at Jacqueline before she steps out. * Sayuri taps her foot as she waits. * Rina leans against the wall and tries to listen without being... well, obvious that she's listening. * Sayuri says softly, "Oh, by the way, Dejiko. I saw a tatoo on the first man that was here." * Rina blinks. Dejiko nods. "I know. I saw it too. * Sayuri chuckles. "Figgured." What was the tatoo of? * Rina blushes slightly. "I didn't see it." * Jacqueline comes out of the room. "Ok, I'm ready." * Rina starts. * Sayuri nods sharply. "Great, let's get out of here. I don't like this place." * Jacqueline blinks. "Why not?" ... Neither do I, really. * Jacqueline frowns. * Rina smiles apologetically. "Just too... big, I guess. I dunno." * Sayuri shrugs. * Jacqueline scratches her head. "You think so?" Well, yeah. It's kinda impersonal that way, y'know? Um... I guess... * Rina looks down. "Makes me afraid I'll mess up the carpet or somethin'." * Rina looks back up at Jacqueline and grins. "But that's just me. Doesn't matter much, anyway." Dejiko says "Come on. I'll lead us back to the limo." "And Rina, I'll answer your question once we're in the car." Dejiko leadleadleads. o/~ * Sayuri follows grumpily. * Rina follows follows. * Jacqueline follows, frowning a bit more. Soon you arive at the limo, for everlasting love and peace. The driver opens the doors, you get in, the car moves after you're in and the doors are closed. You know the drill. "So," says Dejiko. "you had a question, Rina?" Um, yeah. What was the tatoo that guy had? Dejiko says, "The man had a tatoo showing a pyramid with an eye on it." * Rina blinks. "A pyramid with an eye?" Yeah. Classic symbol for an old conspiricy laden organization. "Yes. It's the symbol of the Illuminati." * Rina rubs the back of her head. Illuminati... would that have anything to do with I13? Dejiko shakes her head. "Not anymore. The I13 were origionally a splinter group of the Illuminati. They broke off over ...differences of oppinion." Huh. * Rina considers that. "But that guy being there can't be good, can it?" * Sayuri yawns. "Well, it could mean we're being Illuminati backed. After all, splinter groups never please the original." * Rina wrinkles her nose. "Yeah, but I don't think Illuminati's much of a nice place, either." Why do you say that? * Rina shrugs. I dunno. Mebbe I'm paranoid. Guess I can't do anything about it, though. * Sayuri shrugs. "Haven't managed to form an opinion of them. Some of my friends would care. I don't." Dejiko clears her throat. "Yes, we're being backed by the Illuminati. I chose them because they're desperate and almost defenseless in the face of the I13's power, but still powerful enough to help us." * Sayuri nods appreciativly. * Rina settles back in her seat. "Okay." * Jacqueline cups her chin in her hand and stares out the window. Soon, you arrive at the airport. Proceed within. ^_^ * Sayuri growls, and mutters. "More mysteries unsolved." * Rina nods. (Car stopped?) * Jacqueline opens the door of the limo and hops out, walking almost in a daze towards the airport. "Yeah..." ( ... Um, I hope so ^^ ) * Rina gets out of the car, and heads to the airport after Jacqueline. * Sayuri gets out as well. Doesn't look like you could buy a smile off of her. Aaaand, back into the main channel.