An Interview? [Open]

Starlette wasted no time in hailing a cab. Before she got into the cab she got a good look at the driver: he wasn't wearing an expensive suit, nor sporting any sort of weird religious jewelry. The driver likewise eyed her back strangely: apparently he had never picked anyone up from a shop dedicated to witchcraft before. She got into the cab, which took her directly towards Darkman Tower, using the fastest route possible. When the cab pulled up in front of the tower she paid the driver and then gave him a tip for the speedy but safe driving he had done. Starlette then climbed out and watched as the cab driver took off, looking at her in his review mirror curiously.

She watched the driver until he disappeared, smiling and chuckling to herself. She shook her head in amusement and then looked towards the tower. She tilted her head back, trying to see the whole way up to the top, but unable to. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, exhaled slowly, and squared her shoulders before walking up to the tower. Junior was expecting her, as was whoever manned the door from what Yata had said, so she wasn't expecting any issues.

She walked up towards the tower, figuring someone would greet her and give her directions to Junior's office...

”Hey, boss. You got a minute?”

Demi looked up from the paperwork she had been bent over to see iAm and his twin Trez standing in her doorway. A frown instantly formed on Demi's face: iAm always handled the books and did all of the accounting work for ZeroSum while his brother kept the staff in line and ensured that everything ran smoothly. To see both of them standing in her office doorway? It meant trouble. ”Come on in, boys. What's going on?”

The twins walked in, iAm adjusting his suit slowly and carefully while Trez went ahead and shut the door behind himself and then started to inspect his nails. They were beating around the bush; it definitely meant trouble. ”For the love of god, talk.”

”We've had a sixth OD, boss.”

Demi slammed her fist on the desk and to their credit neither of the twins flinched despite how pissed off Demi was: then again, they weren't anymore human then her. They were both Moors. ”We went over the security tapes and we found one common thread for each night of the week that there's been an OD this month... same guy keeps showing up.”, Trez said as he handed over a plain file. Demi took it, opened it, and frowned at the face that she was seeing: the guy was clearly dealing. She flipped through several pictures, all seeing the same thing only with different customers.

”Any idea who this guy is?”

”We've been digging, but so far we're coming up empty. Sorry, boss.”, Trez said as iAm nodded.

Demi glanced at them both as she closed the file: she knew they hated disappointing her and she sighed. ”Not your fault. You've done a lot to find this guy, thanks. I think I know who I can take this to. Good work, guys.” Both nodded and then left. Demi stared down at the file for a second or two more before she got up with it and walked out of her office; hearing the click of the lock behind herself. She walked through the VIP section of her club, down to the main area, and behind the bar. She disappeared into the backroom and took the secret passage that led into Darkman Tower. Once there she took the elevator up to the thousandth floor, hoping that her brother would be in his office.

Off the elevator and down the hall she entered the office quietly, folder still in hand...

The huge gate in front of Darkman Tower slowly opened to reveal a man dressed in a black and white suit. His hand his hands behind his back as if handcuffed with a plain expression. "The young master is waiting for you, ma'am. Please follow me," he'd say before turning to head across the large and for the most part unused courtyard that had patterns in the concrete, several trees, benches and fountains that shot water through the air.

Through the glass doors and into the lobby that had marble floors, the Butler would lead Starlette over to a set of elevators. "The young master is on floor 1,000. The turbo elevator will have you there in less than a minute. Rest assured, the ride is completely safe. Good luck with your interview." After a bow, the butler would move off...

The tech people he sent over to Afterlight did a fine job. Not only could Starlette and her Grandmother now keep a better watch on things, and also keep out who they didn't want in, so could Jr. He had access to all of their cameras and could look through them at will, an extra "eye in the sky" if you would.

Jr had also been keep an eye on his father and Destiny. He'd seen the whole exchange between his father and the Alien. He knew his father wasn't really trying to kill that kid, and had offered him the chance to join up. It didn't look like he accepted the initial offer, and it also looked like the kid had undergone yet another power up. Jr could have sworn that the kid was going to attack them again, but surprisingly he walked off. What was next when it came to that alien?

Cameras followed Starlette across town during her cab ride. The driver wasn't really anyone important. Divorced father, 2 kids, one in elementary school, another in college, nothing on his criminal record besides some unpaid parking tickets. The butler showed her inside and she would probably be on her way up in the elevator.

Demi came in then with a folder, making him look away from his floating holographic screens. "What's going on, Demi? Problems?..."

Starlette was met by a butler who said that Junior was waiting for her. She nodded, and followed him quietly across the courtyard, looking around curiously at all of the fountains, trees, and the concrete which had patterns in it. Into Darkman Tower she followed the butler and over to a set of elevators. “Thank you.”, she responded to the butler before stepping onto the elevator. She pressed the button for the thousandth floor and glanced around herself as the doors shut.

She would wait patiently as the elevator went up, though it didn't take long at all – in fact she double checked that she was indeed in the thousandth floor before stepping off of the elevator and down the hallway. She would glance around curiously until she reached Junior's office. She would knock softly, wait to be told to come in, and then step inside.

Her hands would fold in front of her as she glanced around and then looked towards Junior and the other female in the room.

Demi walked over to Junior's desk, glancing back as a young looking female with glasses and emerald green eyes entered in. Demi hadn't seen her around the tower before, so she figured she was either new or here for an interview. ”Well, you're better at finding people then me. So when you've got a sec I need your help.”, she explained quickly, not wanting to take up too much of her brother's busy time. She would hand over the folder containing several pictures, ”This guy has been responsible for six over-doses in my club this past month; I put my two best people on it but the guy's like a ghost – they couldn't find anything on him.”

She would fold her arms across her chest then, frowning, while her halo glowed a bit brighter from her agitation. ”I need to stop this guy before he kills anymore of my customers: or before anyone else thinks it's okay to sell drugs in ZeroSum.”

Jr looked up when Starlette knocked on the glass door, pressing a button beneath the desk to open it for her. "Give me one sec, Starlette, let me handle this and i'll be with you in 1 sec," he said, pressing another button on the desktop which would cause a small door to open on the floor and a seat to rise from it. The seat was made of a memory alloy material that shaped to the person sitting in it, ensuring maximum comfort.

Demi came over and put a folder onto the desk. There were pictures of a guy that was, according to Demi, responsible for 6 people ODing on drugs in Zero Sum. She put her best people on the investigation, but they'd come up with nothing. Demi said she needed to stop this guy before anyone else ended up dead, and before Zero sum became open season on drug sales.

"Ok so what's stopping you? You're a psychopath just like Dez, why haven't you found this dude yourself and pulled his lungs out of his ass crack yet?" Jr asked this with a confused look. He never expected Demi or Dez to come to him for help. There was too much Alec in them; they normally handled these sorts of things themselves. "Not to say I won't help however I can, this just isn't like you..."

Starlette nodded to Junior before taking a seat. She glanced around a bit more while remaining quiet. It was hard to believe that she was so high up. However, her thoughts changed a bit as she listened to the situation that was going on: someone was selling drugs in ZeroSum – which she assumed meant that this was the Demi she had heard that owned the place – and she wanted the person found, and probably eliminated.

From what Junior was saying it wasn't like her to not just go find and kill the guy herself – apparently Demi was a psychopath like someone named Dez, who she assumed was probably another sibling of Junior's.

Demi grinned a bit and chuckled. ”I'm trying very hard to leave my violent maniac ways behind. Besides, I'm really too busy with stuff going on with ZeroSum right now. And I have tried to find this guy, I really have, but I can't. He's got no name, no address. It's like he doesn't exist. Now, I've seen stuff like that when it came to witness protection and shit, but either this guy is non-human and putting on a damned good act or he's involved with someone major and they're keeping him hidden. Either way, that's why I'm coming to you, I know you got access to camera's anywhere. So if he's in Edge you can find him.”

Demi rubbed her chin for a moment, grinning. ”I could even make it worth someone's while and pay a hefty chunk of credits to whoever kills him for me...”, she said with a dark chuckle.

Jr shook his head. He took one of the pictures and put it upside down on one side of the desk. A white light scanned the picture and the man's face appeared on one of the holographic screens. Jr typed for a while on the invisible keyboard on top of the desk; the keys appearing as white squares when his fingers touched them. Another smaller screen opened next to the big one which began to go through cameras all over the city at a rapid fashion. People's faces were lit up on this screen.

The screens stopped moving when it scanned a certain man. The words MATCH FOUND were at the bottom of the screen. The man was located on the upper west side of the city, in a shady area of town known for it's drug sales. He seemed to be bragging of the money he'd made in the club the last few days. Jr pulled out his cellphone and pressed the button on Yata's face.

"Yata... you around? I have a job for you. This isn't some normal job you're used to getting, this is serious," he said. This would test if he was actually Company material or not. Everybody had to be ready to spill blood if the matter called for it. In the meantime other cameras had tracked and located him through his Company Pendant.

"And you know, Demi... Taking this guy out probably won't change anything," he said. "Someone else is just gonna fill his spot. Drug dealers are about as bad as these Templar guys are starting to be. Kill one, two more come in to fill the void..."

He was currently tearing his way up a street, with red flames streaking off the back of his speed board. Yata was out speeding cars, causing onlookers and drivers to stare at him in amazement and fear.

His phone vibrated which caused him to slide to a stop. Taking it out, Yata could hear Jr dude speaking. "Yata... you around? I have a job for you. This isn't some normal job you're used to getting, this is serious," he said. A serious job? It had all of his attention now.

A serious job... this was probably the way to cement himself into Company ranks. This was probably the promotion he would be looking for too. "Let's hear it, Jr dude," Yata responded. "What do you need me to do?"

Any ordinary person probably would have been a little worried about what they were getting themselves into considering there was the talk of murder going on, and yet Starlette found herself unable to bother to care. In fact, she was quite relaxed in the comfortable chair while waiting for them to finish up their business so her interview could get started.

There was always cause and effect; you did something and the ripples would spread out and effect other things. In this case someone was slinging drugs in Demi's club. To do that in any club was a bad idea considering you messed with someone's profits if the clients died. To do that in the club of someone related to the owner of the city itself? Starlette fully believed that this drug dealer, whoever he was, had brought it on to himself and would have to pay for the consequences of his actions. Those consequences just happened to be death.

Demi remained quiet as she watched Junior go to work in finding this drug dealer – she still couldn't help but think that there had to be more to it then just this. No one in their right mind would sell drugs in Demi's club without her permission, let alone be the cause of six over-doses in a months time. No, there definitely had to be more to it then that.

She listened as, after her brother located this individual, he called up Yata about the job that needed done. It got Demi thinking too; if Yata completed this, then perhaps it was time to bump him up even higher within the club – he had done a damned good job since he had started working for her, and it was time to give him a leg up.

She shrugged lightly at Junior's words. ”So far no one has dared do something like this; in fact, this guy is the first. Oh, we've had our share of hot heads and shit. But nothing this bad. So, hopefully, his death will teach anyone else trying to taint my house with that filth that its a bad idea. And if not... then I'll simply have to take more drastic actions.”

"Let's hear it, Jr dude," Yata responded. "What do you need me to do?"

Jr reached down to grab a wire connected to the desk while hearing what Demi had to say, and plug it into the bottom of his phone. He set the phone down next to him and typed on the keyboard a while.

"I'm sending you a picture of a guy,"Jr said, noticing that the dealer didn't look like he was going anywhere, standing on a corner, selling to fiends that came along every so often. "I'm also sending you a map that shows where he currently is right now. This piece of shit sold drugs in my sister's club, and 6 people died from the shit he sold them. Edge City isn't perfect, and criminals will commit crimes. 1 or 2 ODs I can over look, but 6? This piece of shit knows who runs Zero Sum. He's insulted my sister, he's insulted me, he's insulted my family, and seeing as how you work at that club too? He's insulted you. So this piece of shit has to die. I want you to snuff his ass."

Jr continued to type at the keyboard in a rapid fashion. "The cameras over in that area are about to suffer a malfunction of... unknown origin," he said in a certain way, making it obvious that he would be behind it. "...And the police... they're about to respond to a silent alarm set off in a bank downtown. All units will be called in to investigate..." On another screen, the words SILENT ALARM TRIPPED appeared in red, and yet another screen showed many police cars headed toward the downtown area. "...So you won't have to worry about any interference or consequences... This isn't your ordinary favor i'm asking you, Yata. If you're not up for this kinda dirty work, i'll understand."

If Jr knew Yata, he wasn't going to pass up an opportunity like this...

"This piece of shit has to die. I want you to snuff his ass."

Jr dude was asking Yata to kill someone. Yata had never killed anyone before; beat their ass? Of course. But he'd never taken a life. That didn't mean he was scared to, or that he wouldn't. What Jr dude was asking him to do in fact put an evil grin on his face. He'd been waiting for a moment like this.

The picture came through on his phone, as well as a digital map of his coordinates. Upper West Side... the area was familiar to him. It was a known area where there were crack houses and drug dens.

Jr dude said the cameras would be out and no police would be in the area. Meaning, he'd be left to do the deed and get out of dodge. This would definitely be the deed that would make him trusted by the Kanes for life.

"This isn't your ordinary favor i'm asking you, Yata. If you're not up for this kinda dirty work, i'll understand," Jr told him.

"Nah... i'll do it. I gotcha, Jr dude. That fuck face is as good as dead," he said, gripping his Trusty Bat in his right hand. It was a good thing he stopped and grabbed it, he figured for some reason he'd need it today, and was glad he listened to that little voice in his head. Yata kicked off and began to board towards his destination...

Starlette remained quiet, putting her hands together in her lap as she simply watched and listened to what was going on. Junior was setting things up to where Yata wasn't going to have any trouble taking this guy out; there would be no cameras and no police around to interfere. It made Starlette glad that she wasn't in his shoes: then again, this was why you didn't mess with the big boys or their family.

Demi listened as Junior explained to Yata what was going on as well as what he was doing to ensure he wasn't caught. The cameras were going to suffer a malfunction, and the police would be responding to a silent alarm tripped across town. There would be no police around, and no cameras to record the crime as it went down. It meant that Yata was in the clear so long as he had the stomach for it: there was a difference between killing someone and beating them to a pulp after all.

Demi folded her arms across her chest and glanced out the window. She could have gone and done this herself, been in and out before anyone would have been able to precieve that she was there, but she felt it was time to let others handle the messy business – especially if she was going to promote Yata to her head of security. ”If he does this I think I'll make him head of ZeroSum security.. he's definitely earned it, even before this.”

Jr closed most of the holo-screens in front of him. He pushed the big screen in front of him that showed Yata on his way towards the upper west side to his right, the camera being one that was on Darkman Tower and able to zoom into any part of the city on the side of the building it was on, able to zoom so close to a person that Jr would be able to see what color lipstick a woman was wearing 100 miles away.

"This isn't the first impression I wanted to give, Starlette," Jr said, looking sort of guilty. "I apologize. None of the Kanes take another Kane being messed with or played very nicely, as you can see. It's just a good thing my other sister Destiny or my father isn't here. If I was still the way I used to be, i'd be after this guy myself, but as a Boss now, I have to set an example, and give my employees a chance to prove themselves.

"So, seeing as you have a shop that sells such cool items, and you being a magician yourself, I figured you to be perfect as a Company field operative. You're on the street like my sister here, and you have a business like she does. That means you and your Grandmother will pick up on things that I can't hear up here, just like Demi and her club Zero Sum. By the way Demi, this is Starlette, she just moved here to Edge after that alien attack in Velo. She owns a magic shop."

Jr went though his desk drawers to make sure he had a Company Pendant and an extra cell phone. "There's no special obligations to being a Company member. Like I said downstairs, you won't owe us anything; everything you make is yours to keep. We'll make sure your shop and your Grandmother are safe, in exchange, we may ask you to do a few... favors in the near future. If things here seem a bit dirty for you, no hard feelings. We'll still look out for you just in case those Templars decide to come back. The credits in your account are still yours to keep as well."

If he was gonna do this, then there was no use dragging this out. The grin seemed stuck to his face as the skateboard carried him through the streets, the streaks of red aura coming off the back of it as if a rocket were attached. Sometimes Yata would jump over cars, performing tricks and flips as he went, to the amusement of spectators, drivers and pedestrians.

Nothin to it but to do it, he thought, and he wouldn't hesitate. He looked down at his phone every so often, to make sure he was going in the right direction and to see that he was getting closer.

He turned onto the street on which the dealer in question was located. Speeding along the opposite sidewalk to gain himself enough momentum, at the last moment, nearly hitting a woman, Yata turned and sped directly toward the dealer, who looked at him, started to look away, but kept staring with wide eyes. He started to dodge, but by the time Yata was upon him, swinging that Trusty Bat, it was too late.

"Message from Zero Sum!"


With his red aura fueling his swing, upon impact, the dealer's body was cleaved in two at the waist. With red fluids flooding the ground around him, the top half of his body went flying, while the legs started walking. Female screams filled the air. The legs took 2 steps before collapsing and continuing to try and take steps. The top half landed, and the dealer began some fruitless attempt at trying to pull his way back to his legs, as if to re-connect himself. he bled out quickly, turned pale, went into shock and died from blood loss.

By then, Yata was quickly leaving the scene about as fast as he'd arrived. Some of his friends started shooting semi automatic pistols behind him, but their aim was all over the place. Surprisingly, the same grin was on Yata's face as he sped through the streets, towards the huge tower in the distance. Taking a life wasn't as bad as he thought it would be, and he began to consider the fact that maybe he was deranged and crazy deep down. A bad upbringing was most likely to blame...

Starlette smiled a bit and shrugged lightly. ”No worries. It's nothing, really. Besides, the guy was stupid enough to do what he did, he should have known the consequences behind it. I'm an eye for an eye kind of girl, myself. So, I fully believe he brought it upon himself.” Starlette spoke the truth of course: she wasn't someone to scare easy, and she understood very well the way the world worked. There was cause, and there was effect. By that dealer slinging drugs in Demi's club and causing at least six over-doses he had insulted her and cost her money, it was only fair that he had to pay for it in the end.

[color:5432=FF00FF]“And that sounds like a good deal; my grandmother and I are always hearing things.” She shrugged. “I guess magic shops are like barber shops; people spill their guts once there in there, even the most tight lipped people.” Nope, she didn't mind helping out at all.

Demi kept her silvery colored gaze trained on the monitor that showed Yata as he got closer and closer to the drug dealer's location. She had no sympathy for the dealer, as she fully believed he was getting what he deserved. She hoped that his death would show others how bad of an idea it was to sling drugs in her club: nothing went down in ZeroSum without Demi's stamp of approval – that was just the way it worked. She had built her club from the ground up and she would be damned to see it go to waste because of some low life taking advantage of her customers.

She watched as Yata quickly took care of the individual, killing him easily, before her gaze shifted over to Starlette. She gave a nod of greeting as she was introduced, and gave the girl a curious once over. ”Magic shop, eh? Might have to go check that out later...” She glanced back over to the screen to see that Yata was on his way out of the area: the drug dealer very much dead.

She then glanced back to Starlette as she listened to her claim to be an eye for an eye kind of girl; Demi couldn't detect any falsity in her statement. Starlette would end up fitting in nicely around here with that mentality.

Yata took the guy out quickly with no hesitation. Just as quickly, he was leaving the scene and heading back this way. Jr nodded his head. Yata had spilled blood for the Kanes, and it wouldn't be forgotten. "Good job, Yata. See you when you get back," Jr said, closing the screen and hanging up his phone.

None of what transpired seemed to bother Starlette, and she explained that she totally understood what was going on and why it had to happen. She went on to say that people often let slip things that perhaps they shouldn't have in the magic shop, and that would always come in handy to have that inside word; another ear on the street.

"Okay then, Starlette... Welcome to The Company," said Jr. He slid a chain with a Company Pendant across the desk. "That's a Company Pendant, you probably saw Yata wearing one. It identifies you as a Company member and gives you access to Darkman Tower. The gate outside and the doors on the inside will open automatically for you. I don't know if you've been able to tell, but the whole city is surrounded by something my dad and grandfather call "The Dead Zone." It prevents people from causing widespread damage and causing extinction level event scenarios. It also prevents people from teleporting, opening dimensional doors and manipulating reality. It used to kill you if you tried, but now it's been tuned just to cause the attempt to be void. The Pendant lets you get around this. A word of warning though... With the pendant or without it, NEVER try to teleport inside of Darkman Tower. You'll regret it..."

Company Pendant:

Next, Jr slid a black android cellphone across the desk that had a golden "C" on the back of it. "Company Cellphone. When you touch the screen your info will automatically be input. You'll be able to call any Company member instantly, as well as make regular calls. It's a secure Company line too, so no worries of anyone listening in."

Company Cellphone:

"Well, this would normally be the part where'd i'd give you one of the suites downstairs, but I guess there's no need for that. Your information is already in Company servers and you're officially an employee. Do you have any questions?"

He'd actually killed a guy. He thought he'd feel bad if he ever had to cross that line one day, but surprisingly he didn't. He didn't feel anything for taking out a piece of shit drug dealer that deserved it. He made money selling crap that killed people, and now he was dead too.

Yata slowed and stopped as he came to the gates of Darkman Tower, stomping the back of his board and grabbing it as it flipped upwards. He walked through the courtyard and inside of the building to take the elevator up 1,000 floors.

Yata walked down the hall and entered the office, the wheels on his board still smoking, with blood still on his Trusty Bat. An evil grin was on his face as he walked over near the desk. "That's taken care of," he said. "Any more trash you need taken out, just call me the garbage man."

He wouldn't have any sort of problems being the Company Hitman.

Starlette took the Company pendant on the chain when Junior slid it across the desk to her. She looked at it for a second and then slipped the chain over her head so that it could hang from around her neck. She listened as he explained about the Dead Zone and how it prevents people from causing wide spread damage, as well as teleporting, opening dimensional doors, and manipulating reality. She listened as he explained that in the past it would kill you if you tried, but now it simply voided the attempt. He went on to warn her that even with the pendant she was to never try to teleport into Darkman Tower. Starlette nodded in understanding.

Next Junior slid her a cellphone with a C on the back of it and she picked it up. She pressed her thumb against the screen and watched it light up: sure enough her information was there at a simple touch of her fingertip. She listened as he explained how the cellphone would allow her to contact any Company employee, and how the line was secure so that there would be no chance of anyone listening in.

When Junior asked her if she had any questions she shook her head no. ”Nope, no questions at all. I'll keep an ear out for anything; my grandmother too. Unless you need me for anything I should probably head back home; I'm sure my grandmother is excitedly waiting for me.” Starlette said with a grin: her grandmother was just as excited over this as her.

Demi went and sprawled herself out on a couch. She listened as Junior explained everything to Starlette while handing her a Company pendant and then a Company cellphone. He asked her if she had any questions, to which she said she didn't. Demi made a mental note to go visit this magic shop and see what kind of stuff they were selling: who knew, she might find something she herself could use.

Demi shifted a bit, getting more comfortable. She had every intention of hanging around until Yata got back: she wanted to tell him about his promotion to head of security in person, instead of doing it on the phone or by text message. Plus, she was curious to his how he felt about all of this – taking a life was different for each person and some found it easier to do then others after all.

So, when Yata walked in she grinned a bit. "Thanks, Yata. Appreciate it. You know... with all of this stuff you've been doing for ZeroSum lately you've definitely made a name for yourself. I could use someone like you as my head of security.. you interested? 'Course, none of this would interfere with Company work.."