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xp_logsSam and Franklin meet with Vanessa and Bishop to discuss his children's disappearance and see if they can help try to track down the Storm kids.
Sam returned from the front desk and took a seat in the waiting area of the XFI office besides Franklin. They had just arrived and were now waiting for Bishop and Vanessa to meet with them. His role there was mainly that of a delegate, representing Charles Xavier's and the X-Men's presence in the search for the children and their willingness to help if and when they could.
"They said they'd be with us in a second, sir."
"Of course..." Franklin said. Charles knew these people, there was no reason to be uneasy around them, but this... office, this neighborhood... this community was not his and it was only on the favor of an old friend and the concern that his children might - he hoped not - have been taken because of some of the work his company did that he was even here. That and the urge to do as much as possible. Sitting still like this was a nightmare, sitting and waiting was not enough, it couldn't be enough. If he had to, he would hire every firm in the city, but he would start with this one. If these people had resources he could not get on their own, he would drop every cent into their accounts if he had to.
It took Vanessa a moment to locate the few scrawled notes she'd taken when Charles had called and told them to expect an old friend of his. Once they were in hand, she flagged Bishop down. Missing kids were usually her thing but since it was a favor to Charles that had her seeing this guy immediately it was worth having her partner in the initial meeting. Who knew what this could turn out to be.
"Mister Storm?" Vanessa offered her hand to the man as she approached. "I'm Vanessa Carlysle, this is my partner, Lucas Bishop. We can talk here or move to one of our desks as you'd prefer."
"My children are missing." Abrupt, for sure, but he wasn't really up for niceties. Franklin blinked a few times, and forced the deep frown off his face, becoming for a moment the board-room meeting "suit" he was when things were normal. "My apologies, I'm very worried about them. Here is fine. I want to get you up to speed as fast as possible." Years of meetings with investors, developers, generals did nothing to help keep the strain out of his voice now.
Vanessa nodded and took a seat on an adjacent couch. She let Bishop sit closer to Franklin figuring a bit of that ex-cop demeanor might be more of what might work for the businessman. "We understand but we're going to take this one step at a time so we don't miss anything in the understandable desire to get things moving as quickly as possible, alright?" The metamorph pulled a pen out of her pocket. "Charles said you last saw them before they went to school for some sort of summer program, correct? Do you know if they made there, if they stayed for the entirety of the session, if they left?"
Franklin closed his eyes for a moment. The police had asked him the same thing, several times. He felt like he was just giving rote answers now, and his voice was flat, almost monotone, as a result. "The school says they were both there all day. It's a good school, they'd have been missed if they had cut. Neither of them has used their bank accounts since - they both get their allowance on a card. Johnny bought a soda that morning. They have phones, neither of them is answering, it goes to voice mail."
"Do they get along well? Walk to school together or take the same bus?" Bishop asked curiously. He knew the relevant questions all too many investigators missed. He wanted to mix some in, even if they might not be entirely helpful. It would let Franklin know he was getting something more.
The newness of the questions threw him off. The police had asked about how they had gotten to school, but not how Johnny and Sue got along. Franklin had to think to remember - they fought sometimes, but was it constant? He didn't think so but they were teenagers. They didn't want to spend time in their dad's office, not when it was 'booooo-riiiing." "They have a driver, if the weather is bad. But they're teenagers. Sue wants to be more independent, I saw no harm in letting them take the subway some mornings." Every other student did, and statistically it was safer than driving in the city, or biking to school. "They're brother and sister. They get along, I believe, but they fight. Johnny thinks Sue's a nerd, Sue thinks Johhny's music stinks, they both tell each other they smell, that sort of thing." He shook his head. "I suppose I should know more about that, but my company... since their mother left..."
"Teenagers are mysterious for everyone." Bishop offered as the man began to chastise himself. It wouldn't be helpful. "We're going to look into how they usually come back from class. Right now, I'm most interested in if they are both missing because they happened to be together or if they were separate events. That will help us determine if they are missing because they were abducted and if they're being targeted for any particular reason or if you are."
As the men spoke Vanessa took notes on what Franklin was saying. She made a list of pertinent questions that either the businessman or they would need to answer. What was their route to the school? How familiar was their routine? If they were taken after they left the school it was likely they had been watched so they could be abducted more easily. Would they have run away? That was maybe a better question for teachers or friends. Parents could be so blind where their own kids were concerned.
Sam simply sat and listened as Vanessa and Bishop asked Franklin their questions. There wasn't much he could do at this juncture, so it was best to sit back and let the experts do their thing. He listened intently, ready to add anything that might be helpful if he could, but there wasn't anything that he could assist them with as of yet.
"I can't think of any reason anyone would want my children, unless it was to hurt me." Franklin said. "They're good kids." He shook his head several times looking down at the floor. "They usually come home together. Johnny hates it, he thinks he's too old to need a babysitter. Sue doesn't want to be saddled with her annoying brother. They could've split up, I suppose. I can check the security logs at home, see if they've been arriving at home at different times recently."
"We'll check other cameras on their normal route. I can email you daily progress reports and if you think of anything else, even if you think it's really minor, please let us know. We'll be compiling a list of questions as the investigation goes on and having you answer them that way as well. I think your involvement will be important on this case." Bishop said as he stood, offered his hand.
"We'll need a list of anyone who would want to hurt you as quickly as you can compile it, of course," Vanessa added in, still writing as she stood. She assumed Lucas wanted to give the man the assurance they would get right on this, but right now she wasn't really sure how much better than the police they would be. Especially with the cops crawling all over the search to get in their way. PD would also be able to get the GPS info from their phones, get footage from traffic cameras and get warrants for footage that XFI would need to sweet talk or bribe their way into. Vanessa frowned at her paper.
"Me?" Franklin asked. "I don't think there's... " He shook his head, and then looked up sharply at Vanessa. "No, strike that. There is. I had an employee, he was let go. We had concerns about the potential ethical implications of some of his lines of research." Which all led up to, if you read between the lines, that the employee in question was doing something capital-W Wrong. "He was arrested though... I have to call my lawyer, excuse me for a moment."
He stepped out, and it only took a few minutes for the call, but when Franklin Storm returned, his face was a shade paler, and he had a dark expression. "Doctor Arthur Molkevic. He has, I think you might phrase it that he has gone off the grid? He was bailed out of jail, and my attorneys fear he intends to not go to trial." He sat his phone on his knee as he sat back down. "I can email you my attorney's information, I instructed them to pass any information you may think is relevant to you."
Vanessa had taken note of the name, doing her best to sound out the surname with her limited knowledge of Russian names and language. "Your attorney's information would be helpful, thank you. Also, anything you can share about the specifics of the man's questionable research would be helpful in directing our search for him as a possible culprit to either find or at least rule out if nothing else.." Vanessa pulled a business card out of a pocket. It was one of the few that had no one's name, just the agency's information. "If you think of anything else, no matter how seemingly inconsequential, either email us or call us. The hour is unimportant, all calls forward to either my cell phone or Bishop's."
"I will have my personal assistant pass you the executive summary of Arthur's work." Franklin said, tucking the card into a pocket in his shirt. "Feel free to call - they are a bit technical, even in the summary. We had to employ a special technical writer so that we could make them understandable to gain funding." He had needed to read them carefully to understand the work, and he had degrees in some of the same fields. "Thank you for this. And the same applies. Should you find anything, please contact me, even if it is at an abominable hour. I will be awake."
Sam nodded at them as well, thankful for their assistance as he got ready to leave with Franklin. "If there's anything the X-Men can do to assist in this, rest assured that it'll be done, you've got my word on that." A man was only as good as his word and when it came to giving his Sam took it very seriously. Whatever either Franklin or XFI needed them to do in aiding the investigation they'd be there to lend a hand.
Sam returned from the front desk and took a seat in the waiting area of the XFI office besides Franklin. They had just arrived and were now waiting for Bishop and Vanessa to meet with them. His role there was mainly that of a delegate, representing Charles Xavier's and the X-Men's presence in the search for the children and their willingness to help if and when they could.
"They said they'd be with us in a second, sir."
"Of course..." Franklin said. Charles knew these people, there was no reason to be uneasy around them, but this... office, this neighborhood... this community was not his and it was only on the favor of an old friend and the concern that his children might - he hoped not - have been taken because of some of the work his company did that he was even here. That and the urge to do as much as possible. Sitting still like this was a nightmare, sitting and waiting was not enough, it couldn't be enough. If he had to, he would hire every firm in the city, but he would start with this one. If these people had resources he could not get on their own, he would drop every cent into their accounts if he had to.
It took Vanessa a moment to locate the few scrawled notes she'd taken when Charles had called and told them to expect an old friend of his. Once they were in hand, she flagged Bishop down. Missing kids were usually her thing but since it was a favor to Charles that had her seeing this guy immediately it was worth having her partner in the initial meeting. Who knew what this could turn out to be.
"Mister Storm?" Vanessa offered her hand to the man as she approached. "I'm Vanessa Carlysle, this is my partner, Lucas Bishop. We can talk here or move to one of our desks as you'd prefer."
"My children are missing." Abrupt, for sure, but he wasn't really up for niceties. Franklin blinked a few times, and forced the deep frown off his face, becoming for a moment the board-room meeting "suit" he was when things were normal. "My apologies, I'm very worried about them. Here is fine. I want to get you up to speed as fast as possible." Years of meetings with investors, developers, generals did nothing to help keep the strain out of his voice now.
Vanessa nodded and took a seat on an adjacent couch. She let Bishop sit closer to Franklin figuring a bit of that ex-cop demeanor might be more of what might work for the businessman. "We understand but we're going to take this one step at a time so we don't miss anything in the understandable desire to get things moving as quickly as possible, alright?" The metamorph pulled a pen out of her pocket. "Charles said you last saw them before they went to school for some sort of summer program, correct? Do you know if they made there, if they stayed for the entirety of the session, if they left?"
Franklin closed his eyes for a moment. The police had asked him the same thing, several times. He felt like he was just giving rote answers now, and his voice was flat, almost monotone, as a result. "The school says they were both there all day. It's a good school, they'd have been missed if they had cut. Neither of them has used their bank accounts since - they both get their allowance on a card. Johnny bought a soda that morning. They have phones, neither of them is answering, it goes to voice mail."
"Do they get along well? Walk to school together or take the same bus?" Bishop asked curiously. He knew the relevant questions all too many investigators missed. He wanted to mix some in, even if they might not be entirely helpful. It would let Franklin know he was getting something more.
The newness of the questions threw him off. The police had asked about how they had gotten to school, but not how Johnny and Sue got along. Franklin had to think to remember - they fought sometimes, but was it constant? He didn't think so but they were teenagers. They didn't want to spend time in their dad's office, not when it was 'booooo-riiiing." "They have a driver, if the weather is bad. But they're teenagers. Sue wants to be more independent, I saw no harm in letting them take the subway some mornings." Every other student did, and statistically it was safer than driving in the city, or biking to school. "They're brother and sister. They get along, I believe, but they fight. Johnny thinks Sue's a nerd, Sue thinks Johhny's music stinks, they both tell each other they smell, that sort of thing." He shook his head. "I suppose I should know more about that, but my company... since their mother left..."
"Teenagers are mysterious for everyone." Bishop offered as the man began to chastise himself. It wouldn't be helpful. "We're going to look into how they usually come back from class. Right now, I'm most interested in if they are both missing because they happened to be together or if they were separate events. That will help us determine if they are missing because they were abducted and if they're being targeted for any particular reason or if you are."
As the men spoke Vanessa took notes on what Franklin was saying. She made a list of pertinent questions that either the businessman or they would need to answer. What was their route to the school? How familiar was their routine? If they were taken after they left the school it was likely they had been watched so they could be abducted more easily. Would they have run away? That was maybe a better question for teachers or friends. Parents could be so blind where their own kids were concerned.
Sam simply sat and listened as Vanessa and Bishop asked Franklin their questions. There wasn't much he could do at this juncture, so it was best to sit back and let the experts do their thing. He listened intently, ready to add anything that might be helpful if he could, but there wasn't anything that he could assist them with as of yet.
"I can't think of any reason anyone would want my children, unless it was to hurt me." Franklin said. "They're good kids." He shook his head several times looking down at the floor. "They usually come home together. Johnny hates it, he thinks he's too old to need a babysitter. Sue doesn't want to be saddled with her annoying brother. They could've split up, I suppose. I can check the security logs at home, see if they've been arriving at home at different times recently."
"We'll check other cameras on their normal route. I can email you daily progress reports and if you think of anything else, even if you think it's really minor, please let us know. We'll be compiling a list of questions as the investigation goes on and having you answer them that way as well. I think your involvement will be important on this case." Bishop said as he stood, offered his hand.
"We'll need a list of anyone who would want to hurt you as quickly as you can compile it, of course," Vanessa added in, still writing as she stood. She assumed Lucas wanted to give the man the assurance they would get right on this, but right now she wasn't really sure how much better than the police they would be. Especially with the cops crawling all over the search to get in their way. PD would also be able to get the GPS info from their phones, get footage from traffic cameras and get warrants for footage that XFI would need to sweet talk or bribe their way into. Vanessa frowned at her paper.
"Me?" Franklin asked. "I don't think there's... " He shook his head, and then looked up sharply at Vanessa. "No, strike that. There is. I had an employee, he was let go. We had concerns about the potential ethical implications of some of his lines of research." Which all led up to, if you read between the lines, that the employee in question was doing something capital-W Wrong. "He was arrested though... I have to call my lawyer, excuse me for a moment."
He stepped out, and it only took a few minutes for the call, but when Franklin Storm returned, his face was a shade paler, and he had a dark expression. "Doctor Arthur Molkevic. He has, I think you might phrase it that he has gone off the grid? He was bailed out of jail, and my attorneys fear he intends to not go to trial." He sat his phone on his knee as he sat back down. "I can email you my attorney's information, I instructed them to pass any information you may think is relevant to you."
Vanessa had taken note of the name, doing her best to sound out the surname with her limited knowledge of Russian names and language. "Your attorney's information would be helpful, thank you. Also, anything you can share about the specifics of the man's questionable research would be helpful in directing our search for him as a possible culprit to either find or at least rule out if nothing else.." Vanessa pulled a business card out of a pocket. It was one of the few that had no one's name, just the agency's information. "If you think of anything else, no matter how seemingly inconsequential, either email us or call us. The hour is unimportant, all calls forward to either my cell phone or Bishop's."
"I will have my personal assistant pass you the executive summary of Arthur's work." Franklin said, tucking the card into a pocket in his shirt. "Feel free to call - they are a bit technical, even in the summary. We had to employ a special technical writer so that we could make them understandable to gain funding." He had needed to read them carefully to understand the work, and he had degrees in some of the same fields. "Thank you for this. And the same applies. Should you find anything, please contact me, even if it is at an abominable hour. I will be awake."
Sam nodded at them as well, thankful for their assistance as he got ready to leave with Franklin. "If there's anything the X-Men can do to assist in this, rest assured that it'll be done, you've got my word on that." A man was only as good as his word and when it came to giving his Sam took it very seriously. Whatever either Franklin or XFI needed them to do in aiding the investigation they'd be there to lend a hand.
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