*snag*
I am so very not satisfied with this - but I've got some homework to take care of by six thirty, so this is all there's time for.
*boot*
He was, after all, the best.
It was obvious, given Okuzaki's presence and the HiMEs collusion, that his superiors' intended strategy of engineering their own indespensibility to each of the dozen competing players was now invalid. Failing to provide them with the information they were seeking would prevent them from supporting Natsuki in her current course, but it was unlikely that her own resources would be unequal to her apparent goal of accquiring undisturbed access to the First District's archives and - given Fujino's known friendship with her and apparent emotional state at the moment - it seemed likely that concealing his knowledge on the matter would involve his own expenditure as an asset.
It might prove possible to move into a closer relationship with the HiMEs' coalition and use the knowledge of their personalities and goals to create the desired split and, in time, guide a chosen individual to success, but between the Fujino Group, the Okuzaki clan, and Director Kazahana's unknown and highly unpredictable agenda, it seemed unlikely that the Foundation would be able to replace him with any speed.
In short, there was a great deal of potential benefit in cooperating, and none at all in resisting. Dissembling might be possible, but Fujino and Okuzaki would both have enough knowledge to see through any of the truly worthwhile ones he might tell, so...
He shrugged. "She came, she tied me up, she asked where the First District's headquarters were. Of course I don't know, it's kept quite secret. She had that Duran of her sniff at me, I guess to make sure I wasn't lying, then left. I don't know where she went."
She seemed to consider him for a moment, then smiled again. "Well, then, we won't trouble you any further. Shall we?" she asked Okuzaki, offering him her arm.
"Hai," the younger boy told her, and they led the other two out of the apartment.
Gyah. This's taking forever.
Ja, -n
===========
===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."
I am so very not satisfied with this - but I've got some homework to take care of by six thirty, so this is all there's time for.
*boot*
He was, after all, the best.
It was obvious, given Okuzaki's presence and the HiMEs collusion, that his superiors' intended strategy of engineering their own indespensibility to each of the dozen competing players was now invalid. Failing to provide them with the information they were seeking would prevent them from supporting Natsuki in her current course, but it was unlikely that her own resources would be unequal to her apparent goal of accquiring undisturbed access to the First District's archives and - given Fujino's known friendship with her and apparent emotional state at the moment - it seemed likely that concealing his knowledge on the matter would involve his own expenditure as an asset.
It might prove possible to move into a closer relationship with the HiMEs' coalition and use the knowledge of their personalities and goals to create the desired split and, in time, guide a chosen individual to success, but between the Fujino Group, the Okuzaki clan, and Director Kazahana's unknown and highly unpredictable agenda, it seemed unlikely that the Foundation would be able to replace him with any speed.
In short, there was a great deal of potential benefit in cooperating, and none at all in resisting. Dissembling might be possible, but Fujino and Okuzaki would both have enough knowledge to see through any of the truly worthwhile ones he might tell, so...
He shrugged. "She came, she tied me up, she asked where the First District's headquarters were. Of course I don't know, it's kept quite secret. She had that Duran of her sniff at me, I guess to make sure I wasn't lying, then left. I don't know where she went."
She seemed to consider him for a moment, then smiled again. "Well, then, we won't trouble you any further. Shall we?" she asked Okuzaki, offering him her arm.
"Hai," the younger boy told her, and they led the other two out of the apartment.
Gyah. This's taking forever.
Ja, -n
===========
===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."