xp_logs | The Dulcet Sound of My Voice: Undoing the damage

Plans are made to undo the damage Garrulous has done.

"So there are two groups that we know are being targeted," started Cara. "The first is made up of various politicians and lobbyists, and the second is made up of staff members that have been colluding to further these specific bills."

Hope moved closer to the two whiteboards that each held a list of names. The first one was only five or so long, but second one held about a dozen names. "It's scary to think that Garrulous and Scanner got this far. How many do you think you can counter effectively, Darcy?"

"Um... it depends, really? But maybe two or three at a time, if there's some breaks in between? But probably not more than that at once." There were other variables, of course, but minimizing how bad her headaches would get meant Darcy could be effective again faster, and was more likely to be successful.

"I think that should be enough to break the bloc," Doug observed. "These sorts of things are precarious - nobody likes to be lumped in with a loser, so the minute they sense water, the rats are off the ship." He leaned back and thought for a moment. "Divide and conquer. We can probably use a similar type of strategy with the staffers, get them to turn on each other. We just need a different impetus to kick things off there."

"Your best bet is to target their heads-of-staff then," CJ interjected. "They have their boss' ear and if we could free them, it would open more opportunities for us in case this plan fails." She was nowhere near as confident as she had been the last time that she and Hope had gone on a mission, but the bravado of that girl has been forced on her by the same people they were here to stop.

"Not necessarily..." Hope studied the whiteboard thoughtfully. "Looks at this. The staff is pretty closely connected if you look at their phone data. Maybe if we can break the group apart and then Darcy can focus on the main players... the politicians and the lobbyist. Doug, I am sure we can forge something that would divide the group?"

"Mhm. Some kind of leak, that when it gets it out they all turn on each other." Doug gnawed at his lower lip and stared at the ceiling, trying to put pieces together. Then he snapped his finger. "The implication that somebody's rolling on them. Nothing kills trust like the implication that there's a narc in the group."

"Sounds like we have plans to set into motion, ladies and gents," Cara said with a nod. "And a lot of work ahead of us to get things into place. So let's get to work, people."

Hope and Doug work to manifacture evidence to break up the group of staffers.

"What do you think of this one?" Hope pushed over a file with a background check towards Doug. "She seems like a type who would talk with an Attorney General. For one, she is the only one with a family and that means she'll have more to lose if she and the group are found out. And this seems to show a tendency towards listening to authority..."

Divide and conquer. Make one member of a group out to be a traitor, and watch the sharks zero in. "Family can be a powerful motivator," Doug agreed, his eyes distant in memory. "The authority thing can cut both ways, though" he continued. "A tendency to cooperate with outside authority...or to close ranks and obey whoever she believes is the true authority within the group."

"But this suggests the first one to me." Hope pulled out a specific sheet of paper and handed it to Doug. "It's her high school records. She actually revealed a..." Her eyebrows rose for a moment. "... a pregnancy pact among her friends to the school authorities. Done once it might be likely she would do it again."

"Interesting." Doug reviewed the paper. "I don't know that I'll ever understand pregnancy pacts," he admitted. "I just can't wrap my brain around the thought process. But yeah, we can play the 'once a narc, always a narc' card here. What else you got?"

"She's local and she has family who work for the Attorney General's office. A cousin, I believe." Hope dug out another sheet of paper. "Which to me makes the probability of going there a whole lot higher."

"You make a very good point. Okay, you've sold me." Doug nodded, then smiled, always looking to be the mentor and encourage Hope to take the lead. "So how do you want to go about it?"

Hope thoughtfully tapped her chin. "We'd need documentation we can drop in their inboxes. A sworn affidavit might be a good place to start, along with a memo or some other internal office communication from someone high up giving the order to investigate. Maybe even a report from said investigation."

"Memos are good. An affidavit might be a bit far, that would be easier to deny and prove it. The goal is to get wheels moving to the point where it doesn't matter if it's true." Doug tapped a finger to his lips. "But internal communication is harder to disprove. So let's start there and see where it goes."

"From what source will we present the information as coming from though? The right source makes it a lot more credible." Hope asked as she pulled over her laptop to start pulling names to use from the Attorney General’s Office.

Doug twirled slightly back and forth in his chair as he pondered. "Not the AG themselves, too obvious." He made a thoughtful noise. "We want some kind of mid-level operative, someone with a reputation for being an attack dog, who chases things down and gets results."

"Someone from the media would not be my first choice, I think. They would be focused on getting a scoop, unless they are hoping to shake down something extra for said scoop they would not just send documents like that. Who else would have access though?" Hope mussed out loud, even as her fingers danced over the keys.

"What we really need is some kind of high-level staffer, like the 'fixer' for a powerful committee or something. Connected, but not elected. The power behind the throne." Office-holders would come and go, but good functionaries and staff tended to stick around and land a job with the next one to come along.

"How about someone in the 'Major Crimes and Emerging Threats' Section? It seems to be a fairly large section.." Hope suggested after a few more moments of typing. "Maybe not the section chief, but how about someone like his deputy?"

"Emerging Threats - I love how politicians abuse the language," Doug said with notable sarcasm. "Every word has to be important and hide the true purpose of something. It's exhausting, to be honest." He nodded. "But they seem like power brokers. Go with it."

"There, I have his name. Rawling... Joel Rawling." Hope looked up at Doug. "Any chance you could get a template how a memo looks within the AG office? I will see if I can draft some messages we can send."