xp_logs | Sue and Hope: First Day at X-Factor (backdated)

Sue helps Hope get started around X-Factor.

"And one last signature here," Sue placed the last form inside a manila folder which she closed with finality and pushed to the middle of the desk, "and there you go you've signed your soul away to the devil that lives down the hall, also known as Warren Worthington. The soul loss is a shame," Sue admitted, "but you just can't beat the benefits." The blonde pushed her chair back and stood up, "What would you prefer, an office of your own or to work in with someone else?"

"I can work with either, especially since I will be there for only two days a week to start out with. Some place to spread out some materials if I am doing research might be useful though. Maybe a place to hang up some things?" She shrugged. "It all depends on what I am researching."

Sue cocked her head to one side as she considered the answer, "Ok, lets get you set up with the others then. It'll help if you can see what they're working on or ask any questions you need to ask about the cases. Besides, being stuck in an office by yourself or the conference room can be boring, Just ask Warren. I swear he's in with everyone else more than his own office while he's here."

"I take it you generally work in an office of your own?" Hope asked as she followed the blonde woman.

"I don't generally work at all," Sue clarified, "I'm more of a consultant, I still have a full time job in the city but I'm here when and as they need me and as a concerned shareholder. Besides, you must have heard the horror stories of Warren's adventures with technology. Besides, I've just got everything here set up just he way I like it, I'd hate for someone to come in and mess it up." The blonde nedded down the hallway, "I've got a secure sever farm and workshop over there, I'm normally in there or the conference room when I'm here. And this," she announced with a flourish, "is the pen."

Hope looked out over the various desks laid out. "Looks like it can be pretty busy when everyone is here? I have met various people, but do various people have specialties in what they do?"

"Kinda," Sue allowed perching on the nearest desk, "Jess, Lorna and Bobbi are pretty much the only people here who have any investigative experience so they mostly handle the sleuthing work, Arthur will generally join them in the field for back up. Alex covers where we need him, and Quentin is our admin person. When faced with the snark, it helps keep the office low on paperwork which is always nice. Then you have Warren who buys us pretty things and looks heroic when talking to clients and I'm tech girl."

"I suspected something like that after you guys took on my case. Though I don't think I have met Alex yet..." Hope frowned as she tried to picture him, then figured she would know when she met him properly. Changing the subject she asked: "What kind of cases are you working on at the moment?"

"A little bit of everything," Sue replied, "Some stakeout work, a few cases of stolen goods and a security review. Pretty much business as standard around here, at least that's the paying work."

"I take from the non-paying work that there is also some pro bono work going around at the moment?" Hope asked curiously. "If that is what you call it..."

"Well most of the work we do for mutants or the underground is non-paying," Sue allowed, "the people who're involved there don't normally have a lot of funds to pay us, though they do pass on titbits of information they hear that we might find useful. It's amazing how much people can overhear in a day of keeping their heads down at work."

"I'd say information is it own kind of currency and sometimes worth just as much as the green kind." Hope stated as she took in the rest of the pen. There was a desk empty and they seemed to be heading that way.

"Sometimes," Sue agreed, "though at the moment we have to shift through it all and try to tie it to ongoing cases or persons of interest to try and figure out what we can use and what we have to keep on file for later." Sue noted, "and that kinda paperwork...isn't the most popular around here."

"It's almost like a kind of intelligence analysis I suppose. Not what one would expect to be doing with a detective agency?" Hope put down her purse on the empty desk. "How do you do this with laptops? Because I do take mine back and forth to Keller Industries as well."

"Well you're the first person to have 2 jobs and a laptop," Sue allowed, "Warren has a computer in his office and I have computers in the server room if I want to use them. We could set you up with a computer here, or I can put a second hard drive or a partition onto your laptop and password it off so you can keep the Keller industries work separate from your work here. Hopefully their security doesn't try to break past my firewalls."

Hope let out a small cough. "Might be better to talk to Doug first before putting things in or partitioning it. After what happened at Keller industries, he put some security measures in place to keep that from happening again."

"Well now Ms Abbott, it sounds like you think that he might be better at this than me, is that really the first impression you want to give now?" Sue teased. "We could always get you a tablet or set you up with a web portal to access the information. I'd feel a lot safer if I knew that Keller Industries couldn't seize our data."

"I am thinking it might best if I invest in a second laptop I can use here and at the mansion. I have been thinking about that anyway. I imagine Keller Industries would feel the same the other way around." Hope replied after a moment.

Sue nodded as she considered that, "That seems like a better compromise," she agreed, "We have some tricked out new laptops in the server room, so you could have on of those if you'd like. I normally keep a few around in case we ever need a fresh laptop. Never hurts to be prepared right?"

"Its a good thing to keep handy. So... what did you have in mind for me to get started on?"

"Well lets get you set up with a laptop first, then maybe you can get started helping out the others organize their findings from the missing kids case. We really need to put together a timeline for it but no-one really has the time right now to sit down and put everything in order."

"That I can do." Hope narrowed her eyes a bit as she considered the task. "Any chance you have a small whiteboard and a marker around as well. Along with some post-its?"