Security Breach [Closed] - Printable Version

Security Breach [Closed] - Printable Version

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Security Breach [Closed] - SolitareLee - 05-13-2017

RE: Security Breach [Closed] - SolitareLee - 05-13-2017

Emma had a good thing going here. She had gotten a good job where she got to use at least some of her talents. She'd passed security clearance with all the skill of a student who'd never studied a day in their life masterfully cheating their way through their college entry exam. She'd settled in. She hadn't 'made friends' so much as a few people had determined she hated people and thereby declared themselves her friends, but... it worked. It was working. She was working.

But then CAF had to go and get into talks with a new personal security company--a fancy way to say weapons-mongers, really. This was no surprise and would have been no big deal... if it wasn't for the fact this was also the security company that supplied her, uh, let's say "previous employers" with their weapons. In a... less than legal fashion.

She was much more confident in her ability to keep secrets than anyone else's. CAF would be doing an investigation into the company, and she had no idea if it would bring up anything. She wanted to protect her friends, yes, but more importantly, she had to protect herself. Make sure there was no connections left for them to make a delicate series of leaps from the company, to her friends, to her.

So that's why she was in an office she was absolutely not allowed to, swiping files she absolutely did not have clearance for, with no intention to give them back. She was being careful, of course... all security had been taken out, she had a nice loop going for the tapes, she wasn't leaving any prints, and the single file was innocuous and would certainly not be missed. One little file, and she and her friends would be in the clear, even if CAF found out about the less-than-legal black market dealings their new buddies had been up to.

Simple. Clean. Easy. She could have done it in her sleep. No complications, in and out... If she'd been the only one with the idea.

RE: Security Breach [Closed] - saronym - 05-13-2017

Renton had a habit of ending up in places he did not belong.

He was like a naughty puppy who couldn’t keep his nose out of the trash.

And he currently had his nose deep, deep in some trash.

He was downloading some files on Armas Industries’ transactions, inventory ledgers, email chains with higher ups, top secret memorandums, travel receipts. Anything he could get his digital paws on. He intended to run his own sort of ransom with the information. Stop these black market transactions or be exposed! He imagined himself some sort of warrior. He’d go to battle all by his little self with an evil multi-national, billion dollar corporation. And it wasn’t even like it was that hard.

He had little appreciation for the shitstorm that this could get him in. He was prone to story-book heroic imaginings.

How he’d ended up here was a winding story. One that started with a certain grumpy man’s ex-wife and one that ended with his own inability to not satisfy the itch for breaking and entering and snooping. Especially if he felt the ends could be a sort of justice.

He’d left the server room and walked confidently through the office suites. Black leather gloved hands slid the datastick into the pocket of his leather jacket. He adjusted the lapels of his jacket like a preening animal. A job nearly done. And a job certainly well done -

Except for the woman he was currently making eye contact with holding a file and looking suspiciously akin to a thief.

ShitFuck.

He didn’t speak. Just stared at her with wide baby blues and his lips slightly parted. He looked nervously around. They were the only ones there.

He frowned and opened his mouth as if to speak. He lifted a finger. He could explain.

Instead of saying anything he smirked and placed that black gloved finger in front of his lips. The universal symbol for ‘shhhh.’ And that’s exactly what he intended to do. Remain quiet and act as if he hadn’t seen anything.

He paused for a moment, silent, searching her face to see if she understood him. He started sidling away as if he would make his exit peacefully leaving her to do the same.

RE: Security Breach [Closed] - SolitareLee - 05-13-2017

She had not been expecting there to be another person here. Obviously. Because no one was supposed to be here. Which is why they were both here, judging from the fact they were both wearing dark clothes and leather gloves and holding things they should not be holding.

Neither of them had bothered with masks, because no one wore masks this side of a bank robbery, and probably because they were both better than that. That being said, it's not like she recognized him. She probably could have picked him out of a lineup, now; he had a face worth remembering. But she had no real intention of doing so, since he could probably pick her out of a lineup now too.

They exchanged slightly guilty looks. And then he paused, as if thinking, opened his mouth to talk... and then just placed a finger in front of his lips. Shhhh.

...Well.

Fair enough.

They said there was no honor amongst thieves, but she was pretty sure the people who said that were just the sort of assholes who kept pissing off thieves. If two sneaks were on the same leaky ship, neither of them were going to be in any hurry to make it sink. So she nodded, silently, then mimicked the motion, pressing a gloved hand to her own lips. They would just... pretend like they never saw each other, and go about their business. It's not like it was any of her concern if someone else was looking into Armas, or wanted to fix or sabotage the deal or whatever. She didn't care. All she wanted was to be able to keep her job and not wind up, like, super extra mega arrested for her frankly excessive crimes against any number of states.

Like two ships passing in the night, they would just go their own ways, leave the building, and, hopefully, never see each other again.

-----

Until, it turned out, the next day in the coffee shop in the food court at CAF headquarters, where she worked and he apparently did too. She froze when she saw him, their eyes locking as he approached the little line of people waiting for their drinks and pastries. There was no mistaking him. He had a pretty unique face. As did she, although for different reasons.

...Well goddamnit.

RE: Security Breach [Closed] - saronym - 05-14-2017

Renton was having a wonderful morning. He'd pulled off a pretty decent job and got away with a mountain of data. The face of the woman from the last evening kept coming to his mind. He pushed it away. She was there for something else. Something that didn't have anything to do with him. Common enemies often made friends, or some such saying.

For a breath of a moment, he felt his eyes widen. He blinked and policed his surprise for the benefit of the others standing around.

It was her.

Her face kept coming to him and now here it was in the cafe. Now it was literally looking at him. How did this keep happening?

With a smoothness that asked questions about his character, Renton unclipped the I.D. badge from his lapel and slipped it into his pocket as he glided over to that counter to wait for his order. He never missed a step. He wouldn’t let his fluttering heart and question ridden mind ruin his tranquil exterior or cause a scene.

He felt the desire to conceal as much of his identity as he could from her, though, to be fair, he was kind of a public figure in a sense. His face had been on the news a time or two. Not that that meant anyone would recognize him, but still, any upper hand he could get would be of benefit.

The CAF public spaces were full of televisions, turned to every news station imaginable, so everyone could stay up on the news. At that particular moment, Renton’s ears pricked to attention as the reporter on screen described a ‘massive security breach in corporate data files at Armas Industries.’

A man with a lesser poker face wouldn’t have been able to resist staring at the screen, but Renton kept his gaze trained on the woman from the previous evening.

It seemed one of them had fucked up. And he was fairly certain it wasn’t him. It could have been pride blinding him from the potential of having made a mistake. But then again she had taken a physical file. Something that could be missed. He had only copied data. So, in his mind, she posed the greater risk for detection.

Nonetheless, a charming smile took his face and he walked right up to that woman from the previous evening. He broke the mutual silence they'd agreed upon.

“This might seem a little weird, but you just look so familiar. Have we met before?”

RE: Security Breach [Closed] - SolitareLee - 05-14-2017

Emma had the foresight to flip the ID card on her lanyard backwards as Thief 2.0 approached her. Or, probably, the area where he could wait for his drink as well. But they'd already locked eyes so it was a bit late to pretend they hadn't seen each other. She would have been perfectly willing to, however. She would have looked the other way and tapped her toes and then taken her triple venti red eye and returned to her nice just-boring-enough day job.

"What's being described as a massive security breach at Armas' Industries--"

Goddamnit.

It had to have been him; she'd taken a single rather minor document. Even if they had noticed it was gone, she was confident it would be put down to misfile, or at worst a minor security breach. Unless they'd noticed her video camera tampering. No... Never. She was too good for that; she hadn't even had time to get out of practice yet. Maybe he'd tampered with them as well, and the combination of tamperings had tipped someone off. Or, more likely, he'd been there to steal much, much more than her; she'd seen him tuck a usb drive into his pocket rather smugly. That seemed more likely. But the same as her friends being ratted out could blow her cover, this guy drawing attention could sink her too. Goddamnit, again.

He walked right up to her, a charming, charismatic, perfectly-white-teeth smile and a twinkle in blue eyes. She was already tired of dealing with him and he hadn't even started talking yet. The dour, straight-faced look she returned was a far cry from a smile, but was mostly just her default glare.

"Well, I am here every day," she said, gesturing around at the coffee shop. "Sometimes twice a day, in fact." The lack of her ever-present frown would be taken as a smile by her friends, but to anyone else, it mostly just looked like she was bored. She could smile. When she wanted to. She didn't want to; he was smiling enough for the both of them. "And I do work here. Maybe we've been in the same meeting?" She tilted her head innocently to the side, as if contemplating it.

They should probably talk about who fucked up. They would probably just blame each other. But if he was reasonable about it--as if--they could, perhaps, compare notes and figure out what had gone wrong. But they wouldn't be doing that in a coffee shop, that was for damn sure.

RE: Security Breach [Closed] - saronym - 05-15-2017

Did she think she was slick pulling the same move as him? Hiding her I.D. as if he wouldn’t have other ways to figure out who she was.

Okay, it was kind of slick.

If only because it had also been his move.

She had taken to sassing him and he smiled through it as if he hadn’t heard a thing. “Late night?” He asked as the ridiculously caffeinated drink was announced for her. His voice was as syrupy as the dessert drinks the cafe peddled. “Or is it a rough day?”

The questions were pointed. They both knew the answers. Yuppers. Samesies.

He collected his Triple Berry Sensation tea from the counter and slipped it into a heat protective sleeve. A cake pop decorated with pink and white icing was also presented to him. “Here ya’ go, Ren.” The barista winked as she slid him the cake pop. He’d charmed her into giving it to him for free.

And now, dammit, his charming ways had announced his nickname to the irascible thief woman lady. Oh well. It was time they got to know each other.

“I gave up on caffeine myself some time ago,” specifically he’d given it up in prison. The coffee there was terrible. “I found that it gave me the jitters. And when you have the jitters you tend make mistakes. Can't afford to make mistakes in this business, you know?”

That golden tongue could make a lie and an accusation sound like ‘I love you’ whispered in French while laying on down pillows and Egyptian cotton sheets after steamy sex. The smile never left his face. He could smile like that for hours.

“Have you been up on the new terrace? It overlooks the P.T. yards.” He nudged her with his elbow and wiggled his eyebrows up and down. “Wanna go watch some hotties get yelled at by the drill instructors? My favorite part is the push-ups. Those back muscles, though, am I right?” He made as if to fan himself before he sipped at his fruity tea. He regarded her with clear, glittering blue eyes over the cup.

The invitation was clearly for a private tete-a-tete so they could work out how to deal with her mistake.

RE: Security Breach [Closed] - megs - 05-15-2017

Darcy’s day had been going pretty okay. Good days weren’t really a thing that happened to Darcy, but he would take ‘okay’ over ‘absolute fucking shitstorm.’ So he had settled for just okay, and went about his business as usual, until Samantha, his assistant, suggested that he check the news.

Absolute fucking shitstorms stared when his assistant told him to check the news. He reached into the pocket of his tailored black slacks to retrieve his phone. With a few taps of his thumb he was directed to an internet news page. More than one headline highlighted the story of the morning: Massive security breach in corporate files at Armas Industries. He pressed his lips together and skimmed a few articles until he’d gathered enough of the important and repetitive details. They had little evidence and no suspects.

Darcy immediately made an assumption, which was not very nice of him, but not being very nice was sometimes part of his job. He shoved the phone back into his pocket. “Where’s Agent Bell this morning?” He turned to Samantha as she turned to her computer. Her fingers flew across the keyboard and she pulled up the information on Renton’s keycard. “He’s only used his card at the main entrance and the Technical wing.”

Darcy grunted and discontinued towering over her. Samantha noted his sour expression. “If I may, Commander General, Agent Bell likes to get breakfast at the cafe in the main floor, before meeting with Miss Maxillion.”

The commander’s mouth fell open a touch, he was surprised by the observations of his assistant. He nodded, a grateful smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. “Thank you, Miss Mackey.”

The smile faded as his circled away from her and made his way down for the central command officers and towards the cafe. He took the elevator down to the main floors, lazily saluting lower-ranking officers as he made his way across the floor and towards the coffee shop. He went through the glass doors that separated the cafe from the rest of the bustling main area. He scanned the crowd until he found what he was looking for.

Renton was chatting up another agent. Darcy didn’t recognize her until he moved closer, which was easy to do as the crowd basically parted him. When he was standing close enough to tower of Renton and the agent he know recognized as Emma Gagnon. She worked in the communications department as a translator. Why was she fraternizing with Bell? Darcy shoved tattooed hands into his pockets and frowned at both of them.

“Good morning Agent Bell, Agent Gagnon,” he nodded to each of them, before eyeing Renton’s brightly colored cake pop. “Miss Maxillion isn't with you?” He asked of Ren, which was Darcy’s special code for implying that Renton was in trouble.

RE: Security Breach [Closed] - SolitareLee - 05-15-2017

Ugh. Oh ugh. She didn't even like this much sweet in her food. Her mouth stayed in a vague sort of frown, an expression that asked, why are you still talking to me? She knew why, of course; her face just defaulted to that after years of preferring to make people feel guilty for daring to take up her space.

And now "Ren"--probably short for something, since he didn't look very Japanese--was implying she made a mistake. Honestly. How rude. Of course, she couldn't blame him, really. She was a nobody. But in her--their, apparently--business, if he hadn't heard of her, that could be just as much a sign of intense skill as intense lack of skill. Of course, cockiness would go hand in hand with smarminess. It always did.

"Oh, really?" she said, still not bothering with a smile, instead settling with a single raised eyebrow. "How interesting. I find it helps keep me focused on those late nights so I'm not tired enough to make any mistakes at all."

The terrace was a good idea, though, even if he was being as flamboyant as physically possible about it. "I can certainly think of worse ways to spend my morning," she began, but was then distracted. By Commander General Weatherfare.

It wasn't just his presence, which would have been mildly alarming on its own, because Emma just got a little jumpy around high ranking men. At least he wasn't human, which was, you know, something. She didn't even bother keeping her ears glammed at work; it had been an open secret from day one. She only bothered now when she was working outside the office, or when she had to walk by a group of soldiers or something.

But she would have been willing to just take her coffee and exist, quickly, with "Ren." If. If. The Commander General hadn't zeroed in on them with the intensity of an irritated hawk. She saw him coming, past Ren's arm, and probably paled a few more shades.

"Good... morning, Commander General," she replied after only a brief pause, the natural and comfortable smile she'd refused to give 'Agent Bell' now firmly in place on her lips. "Well, thank you for the offer, Agent Bell, but I really must--" She got a single step before the Commander General's gaze feel back to her, eyes sharp over the rim of his dark sunglasses.

It was a look that said 'do not even think about moving.'

She was thinking about it, but she froze to the spot.

RE: Security Breach [Closed] - saronym - 05-16-2017

“Hey Darcy!” Renton was all smiles as he laid the chipper greeting on one of his favorite officers. Boldly, he used the man’s first name. He especially liked doing that with Darcy. Being a compulsory enlistee kind of meant he wouldn’t really get in any real trouble for not paying the proper respects.

What were they gonna do fire him?

Pfft. At best he’d get a frown or two. Maybe a snappy remark. Barely a tap on the wrist.

Renton glanced around the cafe as if looking for the absent woman Darcy asked about. “It appears I’m not with her, sir.” He added the show of respect a little too heavily. Look I’m almost being a little bit halfway semi-good. Briefly, Renton considered batting his eyelashes just for extra effect. He'd play that one by ear.

Renton had an idea that Darcy was expressly looking for him because of course he would be a suspect. He couldn't blame the man. Shit, he'd suspect himself if the tables were turned. But still, he wasn't the one that fucked up.

“Just me and Agent Gagnon, here.”

He said her name in a ‘I gotcha bitch’ kinda way. She had his name too, sure, but she was the one acting like a kid who’d been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. So now even if she did scurry away, he’d find her again and give her the what for over her mistakes that led to that morning’s news reel.

Renton licked at the hard shell of icing on the outside of his cake pop and regarded the general standing before them. “Were you looking for Julianna?" He asked between tasting sugar on his tongue, "I could text her for you if you want.”

RE: Security Breach [Closed] - megs - 05-16-2017

Darcy pulled the sunglasses from his face and hung them from the breast pocket of his suit jacket. He nodded politely at Emma’s return greeting and uttered a sharp “commander,” to corrected, automatically, even though he knew the brief scolding would do nothing to convince Renton to use the title.

“Yes, it does appear that way,” he observed, crossing his arms over his chest. His amber gaze tracked between the two agents, one of which looked like she wanted to cower before him. He waved a hand and shook his head at Renton’s offer to contact Julianna for him. He didn’t expressly need her specifically, so much as he needed her to be doing her job. Darcy wouldn’t be the only one to peg Renton as a suspect in the breach at Armas. “I wonder what could be keeping her,” the inquiry managed to be vague and pointed as he stared hard at Renton. They both knew what was keeping her: an abrupt influx of preparation for the inevitable surge of scrutiny that Agent Bell was going to be under, regardless of whether he was behind the attack or not.

Darcy turned the brunt of his attention on Emma then. He found her keeping company with Agent Bell to be suspicious. As far as he was immediately aware, she didn’t have any flags on her record. Nothing in her background check that would connect her to the situation. The only thing that struck him as odd was her tense camaraderie with Renton.

A barista appeared at the counter, "Commander." She held out a cup of coffee for him, even though he'd never ordered one.

The Commander sipped the black coffee and suddenly found the presence of the cake pop annoying, something about the smug way Renton was nibbling at it. A childish part of him wanted to smack it out of his hand. “How are the two of you acquainted?” He gestured between Renton and Emma with his free hand. It was meant to sound just as interrogating as it did.

RE: Security Breach [Closed] - SolitareLee - 05-17-2017

Darcy. He called Commander General Weatherfare Darcy. Just... great. Both because it implied a sort of familiarity that was, frankly, alarming, and because the Commander clearly didn't like it. She couldn't blame him. She didn't like "Agent Bell's" familiarity with her, either. He was obviously in shit and under suspicion, if not for what she knew him guilty of, then something else. And just being near him was pulling her into a shit whirlpool she wanted nothing to do with.

If she had been allowed to scurry away, that would be one thing. That would imply the Commander's business was with Bell and Bell alone. But noooo. He wanted her to stay. Which meant now she was under some kind of suspicion too, and it was all this fucker's fault. She kept the light little smile on her face, however, no matter how much she wanted to glare at Bell. There'd be time to punch him later.

"Through this coffee shop," Emma lied with a practiced, sheepish grin. It was easy for her to look mousey. "I think I'm becoming a fixture, and Agent Bell here recognized me after crossing paths a few too many times. Guess I stand out," she joked. She did, but essentially only because of her ears. She was one of very few sets of such pointed ears in the building at any time. Beyond that, she was largely forgettable; plain formal dress, a bun so strictly average that it practically vanished in to the background, and an height neither short nor tall enough to be remarkable.

"Agent Bell was just inviting me to drink with him, but I always have work to be doing." This much was true; she kept herself very busy with all sorts of things. Most of them actually work related. Hopefully, the Commander would take the hint and release her from his iron glare, as effective at holding her in place as shackles on her ankles would have been.

RE: Security Breach [Closed] - saronym - 05-18-2017

“You know me,” Renton practically sang at Darcy with his usual charming white smile, “social butterfly.”

The hand holding his tea lifted and his last three digits flared out. He was trying to manage to look as if he was speaking from behind his hand while still holding that berrylicious tea. “She’s still a caterpillar, but we’re working through that.” He added in mock whisper to Darcy. He even nudged at Emma to see if she'd join in on a little joke at her expense.

Looking very pleased with himself, Renton went on smiling. He nibbled some more at his cake pop. He really hadn’t made any progress with the treat but a crumb fell onto the green and blue striped tie that decorated his chest. Renton almost exclusively wore a slim, if not positively skinny tie.

If Emma could be described as largely nondescript, Renton was the polar opposite. Dressed in color and with a style that begged for attention. His tie paired nicely with the blue blazer and khakis he wore. The light color scheme might have looked dressed down (by Renton standards) if not for the peeping pocket square and stylish dress shoes that tied it all together.

“You know. I actually have some work I need to do too.” Renton said, as if to excuse himself and them all from this forced conversation about entirely something else. “Raincheck on the drinks and hotties?” He asked his uncomfortable thief pal.

RE: Security Breach [Closed] - megs - 05-18-2017

It was safe to say that Darcy didn’t believe them. He looked at each agent as they spoke in turn, and didn’t interrupt. Emma was visibly nervous, which was understandable, he made a lot of people nervous. It was, admittedly, the way they were both so eager to get back to work that kept him towering over them, instead of allowing them to return to their duties.

Darcy didn’t share the amusement of Renton’s joking. He only rolled his eyes and tried to ignore that aggravating cake pop. Renton seemed more content to play with it, than eat it and since Darcy wanted to be annoyed, he found every little thing annoying. He assumed, that it went without saying, that he was not-so-subtly implying that one of them, if not both of them had something to do with the break-in at Armas and he intended to nip potential problems as quickly and quietly as possible.

Another sip of coffee. “Actually, I’d like to wait a moment for Miss Maxillion. I’d like that have a chat with the three of you, first.” The polite smile that lifted either corner of Darcy’s mouth, was mostly out of place, and didn’t do anything to ease the tension. He stared down at the two agents as if daring them to trying and defy him.

As if on cue, Julianna pushed her way into the coffee shop. She looked, in a word, livid. Her ears were standing at attention and her tail flickered erratically behind her knees. She was glaring into the crowd patronizing the space, seeking something. Her mark wasn’t too difficult to find, what with Darcy hovering over Renton like an animal he had cornered. Her heels were sharp on the tile flooring. The shoes were green, and her clinging pencil skirt was khaki, and her blouse was blue and she matched Renton perfectly.

Her arms were full of folders and files, along with her clutch and her tablet. She approached the group, shooting a dirty look in Ren’s direction before greeting them. “Good morning Commander,” she said politely, eyes skirting towards Emma. “Good morning,” her tone was puzzled as she quickly looked the unfamiliar agent over. Taking note of the almost teasing way that Ren was nibbling at his cake pop, Julianna reached out and snatched it away from him. A withering glare was presented to interrupt any protests. She didn’t even eat it, just kept it away from him.

“Miss Maxillion, good morning,” Darcy greeted. “I’m glad you’re here.”

The PR Agent looked at him expectantly, as if there should be a reason he was happy to see her.

“I’d like the introduce you to your new client,” he swept an arm outwards and towards Emma. “Agent Emma Gagnon. She’s in communications.” This, according to Darcy, was what qualified as a chat.

RE: Security Breach [Closed] - SolitareLee - 05-18-2017

There was uncomfortable, and then there was whatever this was. In another situation–one where she was not involved–Emma probably would have found Ren’s needling of the Commander General of all people somewhat fascinatingly humorous. However, she was involved, so as it stood she just wanted to wring the man’s neck.

“What can I say,” Emma replied with a natural little chuckle. It wasn’t a giggle. She hated those, and saved them for only the direst of straits. “I mostly focus on work when I’m at work.” It was delivered friendly enough to be more of a return joke than a barbed jab, but boy was it true. She would love to be at her desk right now.

Emma continued her happy little smile at Renton, tilting her head cheerfully to the side. “Well, a rain check would imply that I’d do it later, so I’ll have to pass,” she said, all smiles. Although they definitely would have to talk. She just wasn’t going to agree to anything that would continue their association, not in front of the Commander. Not that it appeared to be helping in the least, the Commander glaring dourly at each of them in turn. This was not how she hoped her first interaction with the Commander General would be. Actually, she’d hoped she would never have any interaction with the Commander General, but this was pretty much a worst case scenario.

Similarly, while Emma had no real idea who “Miss Maxillion” was, she was alarmed at the concept that she needed to be here for the chat. What, pray tell, had she been yanked into, exactly? Was Agent Bell such an instant suspect that she was carried into his gravitational pull just by having been standing near him holding coffee? That certainly seemed to be the case, but it was ridiculous enough by concept alone that she felt bold enough to at least slightly protest. “Erm, I apologize for my ignorance, Commander General,” she said, because just because she thought he was being ridiculous didn’t mean she wasn’t going to be polite about it. “But I don’t even know who Miss Maxillion is, let alone why you’d need me–”

She was interrupted by the approach of a woman who, Emma suspected, was the answer to her “who the fuck is Miss Maxillion” question, if nothing else. She had a cat’s ears and tail, a somewhat comforting sight that the male lynxes Emma had found herself surrounded by lacked. She looked furious, which just seemed to go with the territory–everyone was furious around Agent Bell, it seemed. She matched him in color scheme, however, which Emma hoped was a coincidence and not part of some weird secret dress code that implied she was falling into shit even deeper than she thought. Fortunately, the woman looked mostly confused by Emma’s presence. Yeah. She felt that. She was a bit fucking confused by it too.

And that confusion only tripled by what came next. “I’m–excuse me–what?” she said, more baffled than upset at the moment. She had no idea who the woman was, or what she did, or what being her client even implied. Was she a lawyer of some kind? “I... apologize, Commander General, Miss Maxillion, but I’m at a complete loss here.” She gave Miss Maxillion an apologetic look. “I don’t even know what it is you do. And I’m just a translator–I barely even qualify as an agent.” This was true. She was actually the lowest pay grade, although even that was still a considerable chunk of money, for her. “I’m not quite sure I’m important enough to need to be anyone’s ‘client’.”