2018-07-18: Show Me The Money
- Log: Show Me The Money
- Cast: Loren Voss, Layna Manydays
- Where: Meribia - Port District
- Date: July 18th 2018
- Summary: Having a price on your head makes information-gathering tricky. Thus, Loren makes a deal with a pirate.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Loren has begun to realize he has a bit of a problem* on his hands.
(*this is a massive understatement)
Since shuffled off of information and data-gathering (due to a certain incident) and shifted back towards ruins-work (in spite of a certain incident) he has found that the Guard has... not been idle.
He's now got a price on his head, which has made transit through Meribia... potentially dicey. He's already gotten a few looks which he would wager are suspicious, though at least it seems no one has (hopefully) outright recognized him yet.
...He's going to have to tell Command. They aren't going to like this.
Pausing a moment by a display of shields, he takes the opportunity to slip off and pocket his glasses and run a haphazard hand through his hair in an attempt to make himself look a little less recognizable. ...He'll have to change his clothing, too, and...
In the next moment after, he stiffens after catching a glimmer of movement in the shield's reflection, then ducks into a debris-strewn alleyway.
Someone's following him. He's sure of it.
...Great.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
As it turns out, that alley isn't exactly unoccupied. A certain pirate had been going through the streets of Meribia herself, at approximately the same time. This happened to be a convenient shortcut to a place that she liked to frequest, a sort of place that typically wouldn't appreciate a random drop-in with the Guard.
She'd had a run in with a face from the past a few days ago, and she's still kind of recovering from that...but at least by this time, she's able to move and do what she likes to do best without agitating it.
Of course, considering that 'what she likes to do best' involves fighting and drinking, perhaps it still wouldn't be great if she did it.
Not that it'd stop her.
She pauses, however, when she realizes she's not alone here. She looks Loren up and down, raising an eyebrow.
"...Don't I know you?" She asks.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
The alleyway isn't exactly unoccupied.
This is just his lucky day, isn't it. His shoulders slouch slightly, then he chances a glance back over his shoulder.
If someone is tailing him, they're certainly keeping back.
When he looks back at Layna, though, he has a bit of an idea why.
Whatever they'd wanted with him -- he can guess -- they might have reconsidered their options upon sighting Layna. Even he has to admit it -- he looks like a scholar, at best, and even with the crimes listed on the poster, not like the type to put up much fuss. Layna, on the other hand.
But this leaves him with a fresh problem.
"That depends on who's asking." He pauses, then looks her over, lifting a hand as if he were about to readjust glasses that just aren't there. "...Captain Manydays, isn't it?"
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna keeps an eye on Loren. There are a few things she can figure out pretty quickly, just by watching him. Someone's following him, and he isn't pleased to see someone else here.
Well. She wouldn't be, either, in his position.
"Aye, lad. That I am." Layna replies with a grin. "Which just leaves the question of you. Are you gonna tell me, or are ya of a mind to leave me hangin'?"
Her stance is casual - friendly, even. But it's hard not to feel like one is being appraised. If he was on the run from someone...well, then she ought to figure out the 'who' and 'why'.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
The way he figures it, he's got one big problem with her here:
Specifically, even if she is not precisely on the friendly side of the Church, and even if she can't exactly collect on the bounty on his head without running into a plethora of problems of her own, she still can make a hell of a lot of trouble for him...
He might be among the elite by birth, one of those destined to set right a foundering world, but the fact remains that she's on her home turf and he's not.
Still, he stares her right in the eyes for a moment or two more before he answers: "Thomas."
No last name? Well, none that he's offering up, it seems.
"..."
Silence trails out for a moment or two more. Then:
"I suppose we have a particular set of circumstances in common, don't we," he says, with undue dryness.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
'Thomas', he says. He doesn't provide a last name, but Layna doesn't need one. It wasn't as if he'd suddenly spill it if she pressed him on it, and last names were pretty uncommon on Lunar to begin with unless you were from a significant family, had done something significant...or had a big enough ego.
She continues to watch him as the silence trails, that grin of hers still stuck on her face.
"Aye lad, that we do. We're both still standing here in this unkempt alley like a couple o' swabs, after all. ...But I get the feeling you're referring to something else." She chuckles a bit at her own joke.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
It's true, there is an advantage of dropping out the false surname he'd so favored back when they were on Filgaia: it isn't as if many people use them up here at all.
How people understand their origins in this world, he doesn't know. Perhaps they simply aren't advanced enough yet for it to matter as much. He wouldn't know -- surfacedweller history, beyond the points he had needed to know for schooling, hadn't been his strongest point.
(then again, it wasn't many of his peers' strongest point, either)
She's still grinning. That's not good, he thinks distantly, his shoulders slouching a degree further.
Just get it over with, you-- he starts to think uncharitably, before Layna goes ahead and says...
Huh. Did she miss the posters?
This, actually, does tilt the circumstances slightly in his favor.
Slightly. Maybe. Still, though.
"...I'm talking about the Church, of course," he says, taking another sidelong glance back down the length of the alleyway. "I hope you remember our infiltration into the mines near Azado. If I recall, you aren't precisely a friend of the Church, now are you?" He shrugs his shoulders, shakes his head. "I was looking into something related to their operations, but it appears I've made some enemies among their lot. Judging from the rumors I've heard, it appears you are not precisely favored by them lately either, are you?"
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Fortunately for 'Thomas', Layna hadn't had that opportunity yet - she'd been laying low for a bit for a mission of hers, and afterwards she'd been too busy recuperating to venture out much.
"Aye, that's what I thought." She agrees with a nod...and then chuckles.
"Depends on who you ask. But aye, I remember that." She says. She doesn't seem to be about to explain that first comment, but it's probably a joke of hers.
"...Well, now you've got me curious. What's this, then? ...But aye, lad, you could say we had a bit of a disagreement not too long ago." She confirms.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
It's strange, in way, for him to have things working out for a change. In fact, it's almost a little downright suspicious.
...For the sake of his own sanity, among other things, this is a point that Loren decides NOT to dwell on overlong.
"Hmph. Playing humble, I see," 'Thomas' says, folding his arms across his chest. "I've heard a thing or two about you and your... predicament. I suppose it's just fate that we happened to cross paths."
Maybe it is. Maybe his luck is changing for once. That would be nice.
But as it happens, this is truth and not an... artful truth. Keeping tabs on local circumstances is now a matter of survival for Gebler, so he has been listening... as much as is possible when he's still, months after their crashlanding, coming up to speed with the history of this world.
And he sees an opening to make amends, or at least begin to attempt to make amends for what he has done.
"I've reason to believe they're up to something. You've been paying attention to the war in Glenwood, right?"
He pauses, as if for effect, drawing upon what acting skills he's been able to pick up after a year or so doing intelligence-class work. He just has to be the idiot, stuck-up, but too-honest scholar everyone seems to take him for.
"They're manipulating both sides. I'm sure of it. I don't know to what end, but I intend to find out. It'll be difficult on my own, of course. ...I don't suppose a woman such as yourself would be interested?"
None of that's true. Not strictly speaking. Not even if some of his colleagues are starting to suspect as much.
His expression grows somewhat more world-weary than before. "...I can pay you, naturally."
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
There's a wide grin as he comments on her humility. That was something she didn't hear often. She folds her arms in front of her and leans back against the wall, listening as he says his piece.
"Aye, lad. More or less." Layna confirms with a nod and a shrug. She'd heard some things, sure - she was always hanging around places and soaking in rumors.
Eventually, he gets to his point - that he believes that Althena's Guard is manipulating both sides in the war.
She doesn't react with surprise, outrage, or even confusion. She just kind of...raises an eyebrow at that.
She wasn't sure she believed it, not with White Knight Leo at the helm, but at the same time...well, it whether or not it was true, this was an opportunity she could spin to her own advantage.
"Might be, lad. Might not be. 'Sppose in the end it comes down to what you'd need from me...and what kinda coin' we're talkin'." She replies with a shrug.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"Then we're in the same boat. After the stunt they pulled on me, I can't say I'm feeling any more friendly towards them than I did before," 'Thomas' states, glowering as if in recollection of that memory... of whatever it was that happened.
The best part about this is that he doesn't even have to act. It comes as naturally as natural can be.
He's still furious about it. He had let himself slip, and had fallen right into their hands, had nearly risked leaking secrets...
And of course deVriese had been the one to fish him out again. Naturally.
If he doesn't turn this all around soon, he's going to be a disappointment on every axis.
So he gazes up at her face and... doesn't find the reaction he was quite hoping for. A sigh escapes him. "What, is it that unbelievable? I might not know why, but everything on this planet seems to revolve around the actions of the Guard and the Church. They've taken a more active role in the last few years -- this is just more of the same. Why not manipulate the war and thus the people to their own ends?"
He settles back, though, as if edging back away from the cliffside of tension he'd been leaning over. "I need information. Now that they've gone and tarnished my name, it's going to be difficult to get to the places I need to go and talk to the people who know more about what's happening. You must know people who know a thing or two about what goes on behind the scenes, don't you?"
Another sigh escapes him. "As for payment, name your price. I might not be able to pay you all of it up front, mind."
...He says, because he has enough trouble working out acceptable and substantial but unsuspicious amounts of coin on Filgaia's surface, let alone here on the moon.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
"An' what stunt was that?" Layna asks, curious. Of course she was going to pounce on that, that sounds like it had the potential to be a juicy tidbit.
She continues to listen, though, and when he voices his reasoning, she smirks slightly.
"...Well, the 'why's' easy enough. I might be able to tell you what I know about why they've been so active, but I'll need to see a little coin up-front as a...good-faith payment, o' sorts." She replies.
These were some of the difficulties that came with making deals with pirates.
"An' aye, I know a few people. If there's somethin' you need to know, I might be able to manage it." She replies. "We can discuss the fee later. That's gonna depend on how hard it's gonna be, and how much is personally at stake for me."
And, of course, there was one last question.
"An' what're you gonna do during all this?"
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
One can see the moment he's simply caught in a mistatement of his own devising. He straightens, rolling his shoulders back. "...Ugh. Fine," he says, gaze darkening for a moment. "They invented some charges and arrested me," he says, skirting around the fact that they had invented just about nothing. "Naturally, I couldn't hang around in jail to face whatever they call judgement, so I may have pulled some strings." He... waves a hand through the air as if to dismiss the whole subject. "In any case, that's hardly important."
The 'why' is the easy part?
He tilts his head to one side, as if indicating she should go on...
Which she's unlikely to do without an 'encouragement' in hand.
"Good faith, huh? ...Fine. If that's what it takes," he says, not more than a little begrudgingly. "What goes for 'good faith' as far as you're concerned?"
He's not unaware that a softer touch might go over better... but it's far too late for that. In this sense, he's made his bed and he'll have to lie in it. It would just be suspicious otherwise.
"I want to know who their allies are, and what they've been up to most recently, after my... problem arose," he tells her, inclining his head as she goes on and says the precise cost will depend on a whole number of flexible variables.
Money isn't the obstacle. Even on the moon, they've been able to obtain a substantial store of the local coin. So whatever she asks for is fine, as long as she delivers.
It's better than the alternative, heading back with nothing but more bad news about his own activities. They'll put him on standby medical duty again for certain. There's not even a chance of glory in that.
He gestures towards himself. "As for me, I'm planning to make use of what resources I still have. I may be at a disadvantage, but I'm hardly out of the game, so to speak. Perhaps if we reach an agreement, I can explain further."
Because even if he's assembling his hand haphazardly as he goes, he'll be damned if he gives her the chance to guess at its contents.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
"I see, I see... That sounds just like 'em, aye?" Layna remarks, with a grin that, in the current situation, might seem almost predatorial. That raised further questions - why bother inventing charges to arrest him, and what strings, exactly, did he have to pull?
She doesn't press him on those matters just yet. With the way he reacted, she can see that she'll have to be careful pushing him too far too quickly.
When he asks how much she counts for 'good faith', she lists off a reasonable price in silver...
...Well, okay. Maybe it was a little above reasonable, but again - pirate.
That bit of pushing she can spare.
"Their allies and what they've been up to...aye, I'll keep that in mind." Layna replies with a nod. He makes it clear that she's not going to get much more from him - at least, not until they reach an agreement. That was fine with her, she didn't expect this to be a one-sided deal.
Sure, she'd prefer if it was weighted in her favor, but she'd make do.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
It's a question he appears unwilling to divulge further -- was it because he was that much of a threat, and proof that their operations were indeed suggestions of nothing at all good?
Or, perhaps, was something else going on with this otherwise (??) unassuming nerd of a self-stated scholar?
Whatever the reason, he's always been the cagey one, even in their previous encounters.
A wince -- faint though it is, it's there, off in the corners of his eyes -- colors his expression as she details how much she means by 'good faith'. That's going to put him at a loss, for certain. He'll either have to return sooner or...
Find work.
It might be the most reasonable gambit, given how likely it is that he'll be immediately set on standby once he reports in about the posters.
But what can he do? Say no, after he's gotten this far, after it might turn the tables for him?
"Fine," he says, begrudgingly, before handing over the requisitioned contents of his purse. Somehow, he feels like he's being had, but since he's not a native, and since there's the chance this will slip through his fingers otherwise, and since it isn't as if someone of his background and profession really understands the value of money, when you get right down to it...
"That's all, unless you can bring me some solid information. I want names, locations, whatever you can find."
He pauses, and where before he'd skipped on handing out a surname, in this case she'll need it if she's going to leave a message--
"Thomas Blackwell. It's my name."
The surname's not the same name on the wanted poster, though...
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna notes that wince, as well as his reluctance. Had she pushed him too far? No, he didn't seem happy about it, but he did still hand over what she asked. She takes a moment to count through it, and once she's certain he's given her the right amount she stows it away.
"Aye, well...as for the church, you can pretty much trace it back to one thing. Few years back, don't remember how many exactly...the Goddess appeared to everyone. An' by that, I mean she started showin' up in every body of water, tellin' us how she was goin' to change things. Was quite a shock - I hear she practically stopped a battle by 'erself." She explains with a shrug. "So now Althena herself's practically runnin' the show. Gives the Guard quite a bit more clout when you know she's puttin' the stamp on what they do, aye?"
Not that it seemed to put a damper on Layna's own illegal activites, but that was another can of worms entirely.
"Blackwell, aye? I'll remember that." Layna replies. ...Particularly because she was immediately going to set out and see what she could find out about him, which might end up making things a little awkward.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
He'd heard something along those lines during their initial rounds of intelligence-collecting, in the weeks and month that followed their earth-wards plummet to Lunar's surface.
'God or some hero coming back' featured in one or two lesser-known faiths on Filgaia -- not that it was a major study area focus of his -- but this just about makes it a first that the religious figure in question actually made good on their promise.
And more than that, just up and started running the place again? In two years?
He's never been a devout man in the surface-dweller meaning of the word, but from what he's heard about the religious leaders among the Lambs...
He's surprised that they'd let even their own goddess take the reigns.
"I heard something like that. Must have been a shock to anyone taking a bath," he comments, as she tells the tale of how Althena returned to Lunar. "And a fight? Hmph, all that power, and there's still a war looming down in Glenwood. ...Well, I'm sure diplomacy is difficult even for a Goddess to manage."
He might want to watch his tongue -- that's definitely blasphemy.
"Those statues let you send messages, don't they? If you know my name, it should go through."
The 'Gift of Althena' is mysterious, isn't it.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna's fairly devout for a pirate, but she's not uptight - Loren's comment actually gets a chuckle out of her.
"Aye, well, that's obvious enough. You can look at her recent edicts for that - bannin' drinkin', singin', and dancin's only gonna rile people up. Only so far you can push the folk under you before they push back, aye? First thing any good captain learns." Layna explains with a shrug.
She's pretty free with her own blasphemy, it seems. Or maybe she doesn't view it that way?
He comments on the statues and Layna nods.
"Aye, that they do. I'll be sure to let you know if I hear anythin' worthwhile." She replies.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
He's not as dry as he might seem -- even the corner of his mouth can't help but twitch when she laughs at his comment.
"So I'd heard. Banning all sorts of things right out the gate, is she? Normally a ruler waits a few years longer before they introduce law like that." He pauses. "If they want to stay in power, that is. Though, I suppose it might be different if we're talking about a 'Goddess'."
Layna will just have to forgive his skepticism. He's not the type to believe when someone says they're a god or goddess -- not without proof or reason.
Or at least not without sufficient tradition.
It's interesting, though, isn't it. A goddess returns and immediately puts the screws to her believers. Either something happened while she was 'away', or...
Well, he's not likely to get anywhere with a theory like that except another trip back to prison and beyond. Even he knows when to call it quits on the blasphemy.
"...I appreciate it," he says, in the end, inclining his head in a shallow nod. "And if you can get any solid information... I'll see you're paid. There are a few people in the right position to do something about this, but they can't act without evidence."
He's just not going to specify what he means by 'right position'.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Well, it wasn't like it was right away...but Layna doesn't move to correct the misconception.
"A good captain's gotta make sure their crew's well taken care of. No different for a Goddess, by my reckoning." Layna replies with a shrug. She has pretty rigid standard for being in charge, it seems.
She has her own theories on the situation too, but she keeps those to herself for now.
...A 'few people' in the 'right position', huh? Interesting.
"Well now. You must be pretty well connected, aye? I'll see what I can do." Layna comments with a smirk. It'll be amusing to see how that turns out.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
'Pretty well connected' is one way of putting it.
Though, their reach is somewhat blunted up here on the moon, with as few people as they have available.
It's all the more reason for him not to get sidelined. None of them need it, when their lives and duty to return to Filgaia hang in the balance. Not the Commander. Not even MacDougall, van Buskirk, Bergenholm, or van Houten.
And not the Major.
His expression darkens at the thought of it all, grows distant.
Then, he just gives her a particularly stiff nod.
"See what you can find out."
He glances back over his shoulder.
"But I need to go."
To think, largely, but also to put some distance between himself and this place.
And possibly get a change of clothing while he's at it.
Without so much as a farewell, he pulls away from the wall and heads down the alleyway.
He has to pick his path carefully, lest he trip on something. Who's been leaving empty boxes out here?
...Who is 'Ramus'?
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
"Aye, aye. Not to worry, lad." Layna replies with a dismissive wave of her hand. Loren turns to leave, so Layna follows suit. She turns away from him, though she takes a moment to glance and his direction with a slight smirk, before disappearing down one of the pathways familiar to people like her.
However this turned out, it'd certainly be interesting. Now to see what she could dig up...