THIRD WEEK OF MARCH
THE LABYRINTH
[REDACTED]
NEW YORK CITY
TRANSCRIPTIONIST: JENNY JAMES
THE LABYRINTH
[REDACTED]
NEW YORK CITY
TRANSCRIPTIONIST: JENNY JAMES
He’s not quite one of the Talking Heads, but he is close - a man who was semi-retired until recent events forced him back onto the front lines of management. Leonard Webster hasn’t left Brooklyn, let alone the Labyrinth, in fifty years. And so, the executives who report directly to him - Conway Walker, Kirsten Geary, and Stephen Grant - are summoned deep within the bowels of the monstrous structure beneath New York, far beyond where a simple agent would ever go.
Leonard Webster himself sits at the head of a table that could seat a hundred easily, steepling his fingers and maneuvering his fingers over an Etch a Sketch with clear eyes. Next to him sits Jenny James, a woman with the bone structure of a bird. He’s in a dark gray suit; she’s in a pale pastel dress
Kirsten Geary is seated, arms folded, legs crossed at the knee, frowning at Walker and tapping one of her heeled feet against the stone floor impatiently.
Surprisingly, Stephen Grant is on time, playing a game on his phone while they wait for the fourth power player to arrive.
Since his mysterious return from the dead, a lot of people wonder why Walker chose his office in a glass box hundreds of feet above the city streets. After all wouldn’t that bring back painful memories of being publicly defenestrated through a skyscraper window?
It doesn’t, in fact. It’s the trip down at the end of the day that’s painful. And the trip down, deeper down, reminds him of an even more painful fall. His knuckles are white around the handle of his briefcase, but he has the same practiced media tested smile he always offers as he steps off the elevator into the room.
“Glad you could finally join us, Conway.” Kirsten says, tone managing to toe the line perfectly between sarcastic and polite. “Grab a seat. We’re talking global politics, fate of the world, securing our dominance - you know, typical Tuesday stuff.”
“Have I walked in on a particular talking point?” He asks in a jocular manner, taking a seat and placing his briefcase on the table.
“You know how chatty Leonard can be.” Kirsten says with a hint of a smile.
“We’re just getting started.” Stephen shoves his phone in his pocket and cracks his knuckles.
Leonard begins to write on the Etch a Sketch and hands it to James. “Mr. Webster would like to congratulate you on all of your hard work so far in the current quarter.” She smiles brightly.
Conway smiles and nods. “Thank you Leonard.”
“Still early yet in the quarter.” Kirsten notes. “But thank you, Mr. Webster.”
Grant just grins.
Webster tersely and quickly twists something out on the etch-a-sketch. James is familiar with what he’s working on and begins before he even finishes. “Mr. Webster would like you to go around the table...clockwise, and update him on your highest priorities.”
“Been working on the Dawnbreak thing, as you know, and you transferred me off it after the West Virginia raid.” Grant says, leaning back in his chair and still idly cracking his knuckles. “Since then I’ve been looking at Miami, scouting that out, but its slow going. Ain’t enough percolating there to get a clear picture. Figure I can be re-assigned as long as we keep eyes on it.”
“I’ve been putting those employees you’ve given me to work trying to unhinge Orochi control in the greater Chicago area. 15% of former Plethron subsidiaries have switched over to using our brand of additives in the last two weeks alone. I’ve encountered some pushback but the good news is if we need a distraction for the summer news cycle I will have no shortage of them.”
“Been working on Tokyo.” Geary says tersely. “I can have the reports from agents forwarded to you whenever you want, Mr. Webster. Needless to say, it’s a situation too complex to sum up in a soundbite.”
For a long painful moment the only sound in the enormous room is two etch-a-sketch knobs squeaking softly at the end of the table. “Mr. Walker” James calls out, then looks back to the screen. “Mr. Webster would like to know the status of the Arbuthnot case.”
Conway pauses and sit up in his seat readying his answer. “It’s actually the Havelock case now. She recently married while in detainment. To my surprise, she’s actually proven an immense font of information and seems to be directly linked to a good deal of illegal templar activity, which she’s shared quite freely.”
Geary raises her eyebrows in surprise and smirks, Grant brays out a laugh. “You collecting that recruitment bounty on her head, Conway?”
“I would strongly advise against recruiting her. If you do, give her a desk job and make sure no one ever, ever asks her questions.” He jokes.
“Stephen, weren’t you the one who put the recruitment bounty on her? I didn’t know you needed a desk jockey so bad you’d shell out two mil for it.” Geary gives him a sharp smile.
Grant laughs awkwardly. “Right. Well. It seems the Ar- Havelock case is nearly wrapped up, right?”
He sighs. “Not that easy. Temple Hall is playing this really smart or really, really, stupid. I haven’t even been able to get a counter-offer from them for Havelock, even after I showed what an intelligence liability she’s proven…” Conway tugged at his own ear in thought. “I’ve put some thought on how to spin this, and one possibility is we could just torpedo her career, send her back to Temple Hall, call it a wash. We walk away with the Intel, and they lose their rising star.”
“Well, it’s Temple Hall, I’m going to have to go with the really stupid bet.” Geary gives a short, sharp laugh. “My advice? Figure out what you want, then just lay it out. If you’re trying to hint at things on any level, it’s going to go over their heads. Seriously, I’m so glad I’m on Tokyo duty - and that’s saying a lot, considering the shit that’s going on over there - because there are no Templars for me to deal with.”
“Well, I defer to both of your superior experience with the other societies, officially we can’t acknowledge any quid quo pro for Cassandra Hevelock. Is there any danger in openly spelling it out to the Templars?”
“My advice? Take - what’s the guy’s name... Dude looks like he fell out of a political cartoon from the ‘30s about the dangers of the Paddy. Go on a golf course with him. He’ll be a prissy little bitch about it, but he’ll play ball.” Grant advises. Geary rolls her eyes, but nods.
“Well,” Conway smiles satisfied. “I guess I’ll have to buy a new set of golf-clubs.”
“The Dawnbreak are retreating. At this point, I’m not interested in rooting them out entirely.” Jenny reads off Webster’s Etch a Sketch, and there’s a pause as she shakes the screen clear and allows him to resketch. “Certainly, we should hold onto Knight-Captain Havelock until such a time as negotiations are complete with Knight-Commander Truss. But we have bigger fish to fry.”
There’s a pregnant pause as the Etch-a-Sketch is again cleared and Webster continues to scrawl.
The three of them wait with painful, rapt attention as they wait for the scrawl to finish, not even daring to cough.
“We need a new target.” James reads, and then glances at Webster like not even she is sure of that, but she doesn't dare to protest. “Temple Hall is dangerously off balance. The Dragon have yet to show their hand. We need the crisis to continue, and the Dawnbreak are not up to the task.”
Conway scrambled for his notes. “Are we looking to instigate a crisis or point the finger at someone?”
Scribble scribble. James relaxes when she sees the screen. “We have the perfect target. A Dragon terrorist, implicated in stealing the Orochi tech that the Dawnbreak used to such success. Her name is...” James pauses, furrows her brow. “Bang.”
“Just... Bang?” Geary asks.
“I’ve come across weirder names.” Conway says, intrigued.
“Sounds like she’s from the pages of a Marvel comic. I like it though. Snappy. Easy to print on the top of a warrant - or a bounty.” Geary muses.
“Even better, our publically stated intent to have Bang in the Labyrinth will spar Temple Hall to action. They will try to beat us to it.” James reads.
“Maybe I can goad them into it before the announcement goes out.” Conway offers. “Try to make that a quid quo pro.”
“Good idea, Walker. We must be a united front on this issue. Let the Templars scurry and play catch up. Let them hand over their Knight-Captain for a lead on a red herring. We will continue to prevail.”
“How broad should be looking to make this united front?” Conway asks, looking to Geary and Grant.
“The Illuminati must stand as one.” James says, grimly.
“And we’re pulling the Templars in. If we want to keep up the image of a crisis, I suggest we spread the panic as far as we can.”
“An idea, Walker? Go on.”
“Well, we can assume the Dragon won’t play ball. Getting the Phoenicians on our side would ensure a free hand with Venice. The Morninglight and Orochi Group clearly have an interest in this. We might even sprinkle around a little incentive to other groups like the Kingdom and such.”
“Excellent idea.” James read, and then Webster raises a hand. “I am tired. I trust you can handle the details of such an arrangement, Mr. Grant, Mr. Webster, Ms. Geary?”
“I’ll handle the Templars.” Conway says standing up and getting ready to leave.
“Said and I have a great working relationship. Trust me with the Kingdom.”
Grant sighs. “...I know a guy who knows the Morninglight guy in New York. I guess that’s me. As for the Orochi, I suggest we tap Van der Kirk on this.”
Conway hoped to get out before this question gets brought up but he won’t just leave it hanging. “Who takes the Phoenicians then?”
“I’m on it.” Geary says, tapping something into her phone. “Will be easy street.”
“Suit yourself.” Conway says.