xp_logs | (no subject)

Trance has to present her first assignment.

A small check in the mirror if her make up had hidden the dark circles under her eyes and if her papers were still neatly arranged in her file and Trance knocked on the door of the room she had been in a week.

A week ago...

It seemed an eternity ago. She stifled a small yawn as she waited for the call to enter and quickly smoothed out her face again. Just like if she was wearing an ivory mask...

"Come in, Trance," came the Archduke's reply to her knock. He wasn't being psychic, he knew they had an appointment, but still, there was a certain similarity to Professor Xavier's usual habit of responding to people before he saw them. Similar too was the tea set arranged on a low table between the two arm chairs, visible as Hope came in. Politely, the Archduke rose as she entered, extending his hand to her. "Punctual as always, I see. I have been hearing many good things about you."

Trance entered and she easily sunk in a small curtsey as she greeted him by the correct style of address. "Good day, your grace. And I am relieved to hear so, sir. I have been trying." Even if that cost her quite a bit more of sleep then the small amount they had. "I completed the assignment you gave me..."

"Of course you did." He seemed pleased, however, and poured her some tea. "I've been looking forward to your full report," he continued, pushing the cup closer to her chair before leaning back, expectantly. His dark eyes were fixed on her.

"Yes, your grace." Trance pulled over her file and swiped her tablet. Her hands shook just a little as she pulled out the first sheet and handed it to him. Her voice caught slightly as she explained. "This lists his virtues. The areas which could be attacked, like his charity work with Greenpeace."

"Charity is in the eye of the beholder, certainly, Greenpeace's record is... grey, at best. Especially considering their actions in the Japanese sea against the whaling fleets." The Archduke studied the paper and then looked back at her. "And?"

"It is not just that Greenpeace has its controversies... He uses it as part of his status in his circle. Therefore its one possible area to target..." Trance clearly hesitated before reaching for the second piece of paper, though she did not hand it over yet.

"We all attempt to impress others with our achievements in order to increase our social stature." He seemed unimpressed. "It's flimsy, at best. What else did you find?"

"Because that is where this comes in." After a long moment of hesitation Trance handed over her second sheet of paper. "His vices. Those are your true weapons. Because while he might paint the image of someone concerned with our world, his travel history and car park say something else. I wonder if the goodly people of the committee who gave him the Green Lantern Award for those who show other people the way, were aware of fact that he does really short distances by airplane or owns and uses quite a few cars that guzzle gas so to speak. There are other dangerous bits of information on the sheet."

"Much better." He scanned through the list, nodding occasionally. "And his personal life? Anything there we can use?"

"Except for the occasional wild night out, there is nothing obvious. I do find it interesting though that a man of his age and position is unmarried and without children. It is unusual. There is a string of short relationships, but no further background on them, so I would pursue that angle and see if something shakes loose that could be used." Trance slowly relaxed the slightest bit, as it seemed she was doing alright for now.

"Good. That is certainly an avenue we can explore. I will have someone delve further into his personal habits, as well as his personal financial records." He lay both sheets of paper aside and contemplated her, reaching for his tea and sipping it as he looked at her over the cup's rim. Behind the wafting steam, his eyes were sharp. "Taking into account the limitations you were facing, such as not being able to conduct your own field research, you have done very well, Trance. It is no easy thing to build a profile of someone based on files alone."

"A certain amount of legwork is also needed to deploy this information efficiently..." Trance offered hesitatingly.

"Of course." The Archduke set his cup down with a small "clink" as it contacted the saucer. "If you were to be deployed in such a situation, Trance, tell me, how would you proceed?"

"You need to find where the information would do the most damage. Here this could vary from a complaint to the commitete for example for a small precise strike..." A small shudder ran over her back as she continued. "Or a larger newspaper expose if he happened to be for some other kind of award."

"And in terms of legwork? What would you do to gather the most useful information?"

Trance thoughtfully picked up her tea cup as she considered the question. "For the more detective like work I would hire a specialist to be honest. I know this is not within my skills. What I would do is find ways to mix into his social circle, which would give me both insights in to the man himself as well as what would be the most efficient way to target him. There also might be chances I might slip out of my body and track him, gathering useful tidbits this way. But mostly, I would try to create a map of his circle and the weak points, so I could deploy my information most efficiently."

He nodded, satisfied. "There is a function forthcoming. I believe you will be in a position to put into practice those suggestions."

"Against this man?" Hope looked back and forth between the file and the man before her. "This is not something that can be done with one function, sir. Only gather information..."

"No, this would be someone else. You will be provided with all of the information you require, background, weaknesses and so on. I have... concerns, about his loyalty to our cause, and I need Profiler and yourself to determine if those concerns are valid."

That one was quite a step up from her earlier assignment. Still, it had to be done. "Conclude if those concerns are valid or determining if further investigation is needed?" She asked as businesslike as possible and her face blank.

"I would prefer the former, but if you are not able to complete the task in the time allowed, the latter will have to do." He answered in a similar tone. "It would be preferable to settle the question at the function, to save resources in tracking him down later to be dealt with."

Trance accepted the file from him and quickly paged through it, pausing for a moment to study one of the pictures in the file. "On which night is the event?" She asked as a very early beginnings of a plan started to form in her mind.

"October 10. I trust you will be prepared by that date." It wasn't a question.

"Of course we will be." There was no question she... no... they would be.