The excitement Shay felt, she feared might be so palpable that anyone would know she was involved in something terribly important. She vowed she would get a handle on that feeling real quick, so there would be no chance of her giving anything away to anyone.
She believed she understood her part in the plan, and felt she could do the job, and do it well. She would continue to go over all the details, until the time came, but had to admit she knew being with Alec was the main reason she felt so at ease. Knowing he would see to it that no harm came to Ginnie, in whatever way he could, Shay trusted he would lend her a hand too, if it became necessary. Though again Shay was going to do whatever she could in her realm of powers to not be a burden to him, or generate any risks to Ginnie.
This was her first real assignment, and she knew it would possibly be her most important one...ever.
"The only question I have is...when? When will this all take place?"
She hoped she would have time to study the plans, at least a bit longer.
A Way Out
Ginnie stood before the white board of what she called one of the war rooms. There were several small meeting rooms that had a white board on one wall, a cork board on another, a chalk board on the third and the fourth wall was blank save the door to be used for slides, video projection and that sort of thing. She was working on a time line that began a full six months before the Hillman compound incident. It detailed the events that had happened between then and now. In black were the events that effected Nachton as a whole, green were Clan specific, red were personal and blue were the things that effected the gun trade in Nachton. There was way too much blue...
It was proof in her mind that her hold on the city was weakening and had been since that monster came to town and infiltrated her network. It was time to find a way out and she finally had something that might work with out turning the city upside down. She felt confident in giving up that portion of the city's underbelly that Tàcharan held. Her lab created all of the fire arms used within the Clan and so the small arms trade was no longer even necessary to keep them armed any more. And since that had been the reason Ginnie had gotten involved in the whole thing more than twenty years ago, it seemed time for the Clan to move on to bigger and better things than piddly arms deals in one city.
Her network of informants would remain intact and so Tach would not be blind to what was going down, but they would no longer control it. Ginnie was comfortable with that as well. The Clan needed to move on to bigger and better things.
She added the last incident, the death of a small family that paid her a rather tidy sum to operate independently, to the board and capped her marker. Her fingers found the end of her single french braid and pulled it over her shoulder. The first and second fingers of her left hand wound and twirled around the three inches of free hair below the rubber band as she surveyed the time line she'd built.
She sighed softly and turned away from the board. Ginnie crouched, bruise colored leather pants creaking, and picked up two of the six cases on the floor next to her. Placing them on the table she opened the first and pressed it's power button. As the hologram of the city warmed up, she opened her GPS system and set it to waking up as well. She picked up two more cases and placed those on the table as well. One was an ordinary briefcase that held the printed reports she'd give the other attendants of this meeting, and the other her lap top.
She pulled out the purple iBook and turned it on to boot while she connected it to the video projector in the center of the table. As she pulled up the proper program the door behind her opened.
Shay
16 years ago
Alec Devereaux
16 years ago
Having gone over the scenario, he didn't like it one bit. Of course, he knew she was right - things had to be handled in this specific way or the transition would cause a pretty heavy amount of instability as every Joe Thug tried to fill the void and eliminate rivals. It didn't mean he had to like it. Let the human criminal element kill themselves. It would barely affect their lives, really. In some ways it could even benefit - only the strong or the clever would survive, and could be adopted to the Clan.
But there were likely things that his younger mind hadn't considered. A state of martial law or true anarchy would not b desirable, either...and that left playing within the rules. They were crappy rules this time, but sometimes that is how things arranged themselves. Nodding at Shay's question, he let it go. when to start would set everyone in motion.
But there were likely things that his younger mind hadn't considered. A state of martial law or true anarchy would not b desirable, either...and that left playing within the rules. They were crappy rules this time, but sometimes that is how things arranged themselves. Nodding at Shay's question, he let it go. when to start would set everyone in motion.
Ginnie
16 years ago
Ginnie smiled at her daughter and her lover, then looked down at the data read out on her watch. "It will go down in precisely thirteen days, twelve hours and forty-seven minutes. I have every confidence that everything will go smooth as silk during this, so I want you to train hard and listen to everything Alec tells you over the next two weeks."
She stood and stretched her arms over her head, then began to shut down her equipment.
She stood and stretched her arms over her head, then began to shut down her equipment.
Shay
16 years ago
Though it wasn't from anything physical, that either Ginnie or Alec exhibited, Shay suddenly felt a little like a third wheel. Something told her Alec might want to discuss things further with Ginnie, but was holding back because of Shay's presence.
That, coupled with her new need to go somewhere quiet, reread the data Ginnie had given her, and begin to practice for the upcoming event, that was to take place in nearly two weeks, gave Shay the urge to leave.
"Okay then...sounds like this has been well thought out, and now all I can do is use the next few days to get myself into gear."
Shay stood then, and picked up her things, moving toward the door.
"Dad...whenever you have some spare time, I'd like to pick your brain a little...get your opinion on what precisely I can do, to make sure my end is held up."
She bent close to Alec, and gave him a peck on the cheek, and then turned toward Ginnie
"Mom...don't worry...I'm behind you one thousand percent...and I'm sure with all your hard planning, and Dad's brilliance, this will all go off without a hitch."
She hoped Ginnie didn't see the doubt in her mind. It was a small bit, but Shay tried with all her might to hide it. Once she'd done all she could to insure her part in the plan was perfect, she knew that little bit would disappear.
Giving her mother the similar peck, Shay walked to the door to leave.
(ooc:Out pending any further responses)
That, coupled with her new need to go somewhere quiet, reread the data Ginnie had given her, and begin to practice for the upcoming event, that was to take place in nearly two weeks, gave Shay the urge to leave.
"Okay then...sounds like this has been well thought out, and now all I can do is use the next few days to get myself into gear."
Shay stood then, and picked up her things, moving toward the door.
"Dad...whenever you have some spare time, I'd like to pick your brain a little...get your opinion on what precisely I can do, to make sure my end is held up."
She bent close to Alec, and gave him a peck on the cheek, and then turned toward Ginnie
"Mom...don't worry...I'm behind you one thousand percent...and I'm sure with all your hard planning, and Dad's brilliance, this will all go off without a hitch."
She hoped Ginnie didn't see the doubt in her mind. It was a small bit, but Shay tried with all her might to hide it. Once she'd done all she could to insure her part in the plan was perfect, she knew that little bit would disappear.
Giving her mother the similar peck, Shay walked to the door to leave.
(ooc:Out pending any further responses)
Alec Devereaux
16 years ago
Smiling warmly as their daughter left, Alec waited for the door to shut behind her and listened for the retreating footsteps. Stretching, he looked across the table and asked
"Is all of this really necessary? I mean, if a little chaos ensues in the human criminal arena it wouldn't affect our world much at this point, and the weak would be sifted from the strong. Would that really be so bad? I've not lived through such a transition, so I am unclear on the particulars of why things need to be done this way. I don't disagree on any particular point, I just wish to understand more clearly."
"Is all of this really necessary? I mean, if a little chaos ensues in the human criminal arena it wouldn't affect our world much at this point, and the weak would be sifted from the strong. Would that really be so bad? I've not lived through such a transition, so I am unclear on the particulars of why things need to be done this way. I don't disagree on any particular point, I just wish to understand more clearly."
Ginnie
16 years ago
"Thanks Shay." She kissed her daughter in return, and went back to packing up her gear. She was erasing the time line from the white board when Alec spoke. With her back to him she could hide the disappointment on her face. Alec really was still so incredibly naive, she sometimes forgot that he didn't remember being human and was not as old as she and therefor had no basis for comparison in situations like these. She finished wiping the board clean and turned back to face him, her features schooled out of disappointment and into her best business face.
"There is no such thing as a little chaos in the criminal arena. If a void is created then it must be filled. Now in the normal course of humanity, the next person in line steps up. For example, if the president of the United States is assassinated, then the Vice president then moves up a slot, and appoints a new VP, thus the void is filled. In the animal kingdom it is much the same, only the VP has to prove he can handle the job by physically beating any contesters, nice neat simple void filling.
"In the criminal world, it is not simply a matter of the Beta becoming the Alpha, because every person believes they are the Alpha. So if I were to simply disappear off the face of the earth, in regards to the criminal arena, then that void must be filled. Now if I were to let that happen on it's own a great deal of fighting will break out and it will become urban warfare, which in and of itself is no real concern of ours. What is a concern of ours is who would win that war. If it is the wrong person, one that can not be monitored easily, or one that has ambitions far beyond the simple streets of Nachton, one that could become a threat to our Clan. Oh yes Alec the humans could become a threat. Then we would have another enemy to fight, and that would take time away from what is more important to us.
So I have to do it this way, put the right people in charge, keep them under just enough control that we don't have to worry that Nachton's criminal element is going to be a bother to us."
She gave her lover a smile and finished closing her briefcase. "Does that answer your questions?"
"There is no such thing as a little chaos in the criminal arena. If a void is created then it must be filled. Now in the normal course of humanity, the next person in line steps up. For example, if the president of the United States is assassinated, then the Vice president then moves up a slot, and appoints a new VP, thus the void is filled. In the animal kingdom it is much the same, only the VP has to prove he can handle the job by physically beating any contesters, nice neat simple void filling.
"In the criminal world, it is not simply a matter of the Beta becoming the Alpha, because every person believes they are the Alpha. So if I were to simply disappear off the face of the earth, in regards to the criminal arena, then that void must be filled. Now if I were to let that happen on it's own a great deal of fighting will break out and it will become urban warfare, which in and of itself is no real concern of ours. What is a concern of ours is who would win that war. If it is the wrong person, one that can not be monitored easily, or one that has ambitions far beyond the simple streets of Nachton, one that could become a threat to our Clan. Oh yes Alec the humans could become a threat. Then we would have another enemy to fight, and that would take time away from what is more important to us.
So I have to do it this way, put the right people in charge, keep them under just enough control that we don't have to worry that Nachton's criminal element is going to be a bother to us."
She gave her lover a smile and finished closing her briefcase. "Does that answer your questions?"
Alec Devereaux
16 years ago
Frowning a bit, he nodded. The theory made sense, he supposed, but he didn't like it.
"I suppose that makes sense. It instills more control into the process and prevents the truly exceptional more time to grow before we turn them into real people. But it seems so odd that a particular subgroup of humanity behaves so radically differently than the rest of it. I suppose it is like any other genetic selection - they've evolved to fit their niche, but it seems strange that they do so at the cost of order and the preservation of their own kind."
Shrugging, Alec assisted with the cleaning up of the papers and model cases. Smiling for a moment, he paused, looking down on Nachton.
"Thank you for giving this all up. Shay and I both appreciate it. Though we will still have much on our plates, I think this will help bring us all closer together."
"I suppose that makes sense. It instills more control into the process and prevents the truly exceptional more time to grow before we turn them into real people. But it seems so odd that a particular subgroup of humanity behaves so radically differently than the rest of it. I suppose it is like any other genetic selection - they've evolved to fit their niche, but it seems strange that they do so at the cost of order and the preservation of their own kind."
Shrugging, Alec assisted with the cleaning up of the papers and model cases. Smiling for a moment, he paused, looking down on Nachton.
"Thank you for giving this all up. Shay and I both appreciate it. Though we will still have much on our plates, I think this will help bring us all closer together."
Ginnie
16 years ago
Ginnie stopped in her movements and looked at Alec. Would she be doing this if he had never walked into her life? Would she have even thought about giving it up. Sure she'd grown tired of it not long before he came, but would she really have contemplated walking away. Would she have saved Shay? Would she have let herself become that involved with anyone? It was too much of a what if game for her and she suppressed it. She would be who and what she is today and not worry on the what ifs.
"You know, I'm glad to be walking away. I've missed you guys."
She went to Alec and wrapped her self around his back, putting her head on his shoulder, and her lips to his neck "Let's go home."
"You know, I'm glad to be walking away. I've missed you guys."
She went to Alec and wrapped her self around his back, putting her head on his shoulder, and her lips to his neck "Let's go home."
Alec Devereaux
16 years ago
Pondering a bit some of the very same questions that were rolling through his lover's mind, Alec's face distorted for an instant. He hoped that the changes that he'd somehow catalyzed were entirely good. Of course it was nonsense to dwell on it, but changing people was a tricky business. Obviously the changes could not have occurred without her willingness. Perhaps it all would have happened this way, as well.
It was all wasted energy, however, and so he abandoned it. Grinning at the embrace, he placed his hands tenderly over hers. Nodding, he replied.
"Let's."
((ooc: Alec and Ginnie out))
It was all wasted energy, however, and so he abandoned it. Grinning at the embrace, he placed his hands tenderly over hers. Nodding, he replied.
"Let's."
((ooc: Alec and Ginnie out))