Operation: Kefauver - Log 5
Aug. 25th, 2022 12:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsMarie-Ange and Topaz get into the backroom long enough to plant a tap on security.
It was quite a crowd at the Jerome Manor, the floor abuzz with the coup of landing the Hellfire Club in attendance. You could almost smell the greedy fantasies of an alliance between families and the HFC swirling in the minds of the made guests around them. The distraction was key to providing a window where the guards were far enough out of position to slip past.
Marie-Ange looked over the rim of a martini glass. "We could stage a fight. Pretend to be my intern, I can scream at you for ten minutes and you can make everyone look the other way?" She glanced across the floor at the tuxedo-clad back of the 'friend' she had come into the party on the arm on. "N just wants to look for stolen art, he will happily dump me for making a scene. This is some long project of his partner's, so he has room to play it out for months."
"One day I'm not going to have to be the help," Topaz said, sighing. She looked around, assessing the crowd. "Cry or yell back? I feel like mutual yelling is more likely to get the guards' attention..."
"Crying might get you in the back rooms though, if you are bawling. Then I could try to follow?" Marie-Ange took a sip of her drink and glanced around. "Get someone to take you to the bathrooms, fix your mascara. Do you not want to be the intern? You could be the ex-girlfriend. Or a rival. I could have out-bid you on a rare book. That one might be hard to improv though." She huffed a little, pretending some minor irritation. "I hate that our original plan has gone sideways. It was such a good plan."
"Both? Take the hysterical person somewhere not causing a scene, take you back to appease your ego." She shrugged. "Intern is easiest, and I look the part. Also I'm probably less likely to get arrested if you're the aggressor and I'm just overworked and driven to the edge of insanity."
"I am going to roll my eyes and huff off. Perhaps take account of the guards' moods? What might they be more receptive to?" Marie-Ange did just that, downing the rest of her drink, setting the glass down with a sharp clink and then walked away, heels clicking on the floor. ~We can always bail you out if you get arrested. I have Cypher on standby, given the failure of our initial plan~
Topaz watched her go, putting on the appropriate look of despair for someone who had just disappointed their unpleasable boss yet again, while feeling out the closest guards. One of them was wary, as if they had been waiting for some obnoxious rich person to ruin the otherwise quiet night, while the other one was simply bored and hoping they weren't about to make getting a paycheck harder. She cast a slightly wider net and found three more guards. One was overly uptight and would probably snap the minute something got too loud. Another didn't care about anything, and she suspected he was slightly drunk. The third hadn't noticed anything amiss yet, and seemed pleased that things had been easy so far. Boy were they about to ruin that.
~Start with crying and go from there, I think. I've got five in the immediate area, and a couple of them feel too trigger happy, so to speak.~
She moved forward with that in mind, casting a helpless look around as if to make sure nothing was being left behind, then hurried after Marie-Ange, calling, "Ma'am, wait!"
"Nothing you can do will fix it!" Marie-Ange snapped. "I am so frustrated with you I could scream, and... " Her hands went up to her hair, then clutched at the air wildly. "Just be out of my sight before you ruin the rest of the night entirely." She turned, pressed down just a touch too hard on one foot, and the heel of her shoe - delicate, perhaps an inch too high for the wobbly balance she was affecting, and certainly expensive looking - snapped.
"Oh, of all the things, it was supposed to be.." Tears spilled down her cheeks, real enough under the makeup and false eyelashes and fake eye and wig, perhaps the only real thing visible on Marie-Ange's face. "This was supposed to be a success, not a miserable pile of failures predicated on the least competent junior curator! Find me a powder room, since you cannot do anything else right!"
They had attention - mostly amusement as everyone looked to see the unexpected show, and guards were watching, but no one was moving. Well, that wouldn't do. Topaz's look of anguish shifted to something more akin to desperate annoyance. "You always blame me for everything!" Utter shock rippled through the forming crowd at the idea of some lowly intern talking back to her betters. That was more like it. "It's my fault if the mail is late, my fault if your coffee is too cold, my fault if it's raining! I'm done, I've had it, find your own bloody powder room!"
"You are supposed to bring me the weather reports!" Marie-Ange stumbled a few steps towards one of the guards that Topaz had pointed out, and then tripped, just a mis-step on the broken heel, and caught herself on the man's outstretched arm. "Excuse me. Can you.. I need.. the ladies, please. My shoe. My makeup."
"O-Of course," the man stuttered, helping the distressed woman stand upright. Another guard approached Topaz, who was muttering obscenities about crazy french ladies and ridiculous expectations. And projecting a little bit of sympathy to make people feel bad for her. She was an overworked, unpaid intern, after all.
"Miss? Why don't you come with me-"
"Just keep me away from her."
The guards all looked lost and confused, but they nodded, stepping aside to mutter about keeping the two apart. Topaz's eyes flicked to Marie-Ange. ~We've got their attention.~
"I want to press -charges-." Marie-Ange snapped out. "I want her ... locked in a closet, I want her sued. Get me a lawyer." She was instead, bustled off by the security guard towards the ladies room. "I want her career dead! Drop her in a dumpster! I will ruin your entire future, you very stupid girl!" She kept spitting threats, audible even through the door of the ladies room, until the guards could hear water running and a toilet flushing and even then, a few profanities crept past the thick wood.
"Ah... as I was... saying," the guard still with Topaz said slowly, resting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Why don't you come with me to the office? We can talk and take your statement?"
Topaz went for the fake tears again, rubbing at her eyes. "I'm so sorry," she said mournfully, letting the guard lead her along. "She's never been pleasant to get along with, but she's just become an utter nightmare since she stopped drinking."
He led her into the back halls, behind the scenes of the party. Topaz's eyes carefully flitted about, taking stock of each room, what doors were open, what doors were closed, what doors had visible locks. She could already tell the office she was being led to was empty. Oh good. ~Just me and one guard back here from what I can tell.~
~One in the ladies with me and I am about to make a very awkward phone call and demand privacy.~ Marie-Ange flushed the toilet again and then slammed a stall door. "I want her fired!" She yelled into a phone. ~If he persists I may force myself to vomit, apologies. Do you think you can get to the back, or should I send am image through the vents?" She cracked the stall door open, leaning against the wall. "Water? Do you have a water bottle? I feel ill." She'd splashed water on her face, her mascara was smudged. "Please. I hate throwing up. I did not even drink."
The man in the ladies room - already standing awkwardly at the door with his arms folded like a shield against the very idea of being -in the ladies room- blanched. "Water. Yeah, yeah, we've got some... you need a nurse or something? Uh. Sink. Look, you sit by the sink and wash your face, cool off, I'll get you some water "
~Good job finding the new ones. Is yours just as trusting?~
~I'm sure I can make him trusting. Or something to get him away from me.~
She ran through her options, and finally settled on a good old fallback - panic. "Wait," she gasped, grabbing the security guard's arm tight, digging her nails into his skin a little. "My boss, oh god - is she okay? Oh my god she's going to fire me, I can't get fired, do you know what'll happen? I'll have to move back home, with my parents. Dad'll make me get a job with his company. I don't want to be an accountant! Do you know what my mother will say?"
The panic slid easily into the man's mind. "W-Wait, it's okay-"
"Please, you have to find out if she's okay!"
"Of course, of course - just - here sit and - and I'll be right back!"
And with that, he hurried off. Topaz took a breath, shook it off, and smiled just a little. ~If the universe really likes us, your guard will come across my panicking guard and have to calm him down.~
~Well, we should make that happen~ Marie-Ange leaned against the sink and called out to the guard. "Wait, wait one moment, I may be okay. I might..." She splashed more water, and let it run between her fingers a moment, over her hands and wrists. She grabbed at the counter, and bent, listening. Footsteps, heavy and firm. Topaz's guard, coming to check on her. "No. no I am going to throw up. Water, please."
And hers was out the door.
~There he goes. I am going to keep them both busy helping me after I vomit, you go tap the systems.~" Marie-Ange cracked the door, kicking her purse across the hall. ~Backup thumb drive in the purse if yours does not work~ She was not going to get out of this bathroom. "I need water, please..." She slumped against the door and flicked water off her hands. "I think I am going to be quite ill. I do not want to throw up in your sink, I hate throwing up."
And then she did, doubled over, retching onto the floor, a mix of canapes and bile. "Too much wine. I know I should stay sober, but it was one night out..."
~go. Go go go~"
~Gone,~ Topaz said, heading down the room and checking doors. It didn't take long to find the server room. She smiled grimly, fingering the thumb drive in her pocket. ~And got it.~
It was quite a crowd at the Jerome Manor, the floor abuzz with the coup of landing the Hellfire Club in attendance. You could almost smell the greedy fantasies of an alliance between families and the HFC swirling in the minds of the made guests around them. The distraction was key to providing a window where the guards were far enough out of position to slip past.
Marie-Ange looked over the rim of a martini glass. "We could stage a fight. Pretend to be my intern, I can scream at you for ten minutes and you can make everyone look the other way?" She glanced across the floor at the tuxedo-clad back of the 'friend' she had come into the party on the arm on. "N just wants to look for stolen art, he will happily dump me for making a scene. This is some long project of his partner's, so he has room to play it out for months."
"One day I'm not going to have to be the help," Topaz said, sighing. She looked around, assessing the crowd. "Cry or yell back? I feel like mutual yelling is more likely to get the guards' attention..."
"Crying might get you in the back rooms though, if you are bawling. Then I could try to follow?" Marie-Ange took a sip of her drink and glanced around. "Get someone to take you to the bathrooms, fix your mascara. Do you not want to be the intern? You could be the ex-girlfriend. Or a rival. I could have out-bid you on a rare book. That one might be hard to improv though." She huffed a little, pretending some minor irritation. "I hate that our original plan has gone sideways. It was such a good plan."
"Both? Take the hysterical person somewhere not causing a scene, take you back to appease your ego." She shrugged. "Intern is easiest, and I look the part. Also I'm probably less likely to get arrested if you're the aggressor and I'm just overworked and driven to the edge of insanity."
"I am going to roll my eyes and huff off. Perhaps take account of the guards' moods? What might they be more receptive to?" Marie-Ange did just that, downing the rest of her drink, setting the glass down with a sharp clink and then walked away, heels clicking on the floor. ~We can always bail you out if you get arrested. I have Cypher on standby, given the failure of our initial plan~
Topaz watched her go, putting on the appropriate look of despair for someone who had just disappointed their unpleasable boss yet again, while feeling out the closest guards. One of them was wary, as if they had been waiting for some obnoxious rich person to ruin the otherwise quiet night, while the other one was simply bored and hoping they weren't about to make getting a paycheck harder. She cast a slightly wider net and found three more guards. One was overly uptight and would probably snap the minute something got too loud. Another didn't care about anything, and she suspected he was slightly drunk. The third hadn't noticed anything amiss yet, and seemed pleased that things had been easy so far. Boy were they about to ruin that.
~Start with crying and go from there, I think. I've got five in the immediate area, and a couple of them feel too trigger happy, so to speak.~
She moved forward with that in mind, casting a helpless look around as if to make sure nothing was being left behind, then hurried after Marie-Ange, calling, "Ma'am, wait!"
"Nothing you can do will fix it!" Marie-Ange snapped. "I am so frustrated with you I could scream, and... " Her hands went up to her hair, then clutched at the air wildly. "Just be out of my sight before you ruin the rest of the night entirely." She turned, pressed down just a touch too hard on one foot, and the heel of her shoe - delicate, perhaps an inch too high for the wobbly balance she was affecting, and certainly expensive looking - snapped.
"Oh, of all the things, it was supposed to be.." Tears spilled down her cheeks, real enough under the makeup and false eyelashes and fake eye and wig, perhaps the only real thing visible on Marie-Ange's face. "This was supposed to be a success, not a miserable pile of failures predicated on the least competent junior curator! Find me a powder room, since you cannot do anything else right!"
They had attention - mostly amusement as everyone looked to see the unexpected show, and guards were watching, but no one was moving. Well, that wouldn't do. Topaz's look of anguish shifted to something more akin to desperate annoyance. "You always blame me for everything!" Utter shock rippled through the forming crowd at the idea of some lowly intern talking back to her betters. That was more like it. "It's my fault if the mail is late, my fault if your coffee is too cold, my fault if it's raining! I'm done, I've had it, find your own bloody powder room!"
"You are supposed to bring me the weather reports!" Marie-Ange stumbled a few steps towards one of the guards that Topaz had pointed out, and then tripped, just a mis-step on the broken heel, and caught herself on the man's outstretched arm. "Excuse me. Can you.. I need.. the ladies, please. My shoe. My makeup."
"O-Of course," the man stuttered, helping the distressed woman stand upright. Another guard approached Topaz, who was muttering obscenities about crazy french ladies and ridiculous expectations. And projecting a little bit of sympathy to make people feel bad for her. She was an overworked, unpaid intern, after all.
"Miss? Why don't you come with me-"
"Just keep me away from her."
The guards all looked lost and confused, but they nodded, stepping aside to mutter about keeping the two apart. Topaz's eyes flicked to Marie-Ange. ~We've got their attention.~
"I want to press -charges-." Marie-Ange snapped out. "I want her ... locked in a closet, I want her sued. Get me a lawyer." She was instead, bustled off by the security guard towards the ladies room. "I want her career dead! Drop her in a dumpster! I will ruin your entire future, you very stupid girl!" She kept spitting threats, audible even through the door of the ladies room, until the guards could hear water running and a toilet flushing and even then, a few profanities crept past the thick wood.
"Ah... as I was... saying," the guard still with Topaz said slowly, resting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Why don't you come with me to the office? We can talk and take your statement?"
Topaz went for the fake tears again, rubbing at her eyes. "I'm so sorry," she said mournfully, letting the guard lead her along. "She's never been pleasant to get along with, but she's just become an utter nightmare since she stopped drinking."
He led her into the back halls, behind the scenes of the party. Topaz's eyes carefully flitted about, taking stock of each room, what doors were open, what doors were closed, what doors had visible locks. She could already tell the office she was being led to was empty. Oh good. ~Just me and one guard back here from what I can tell.~
~One in the ladies with me and I am about to make a very awkward phone call and demand privacy.~ Marie-Ange flushed the toilet again and then slammed a stall door. "I want her fired!" She yelled into a phone. ~If he persists I may force myself to vomit, apologies. Do you think you can get to the back, or should I send am image through the vents?" She cracked the stall door open, leaning against the wall. "Water? Do you have a water bottle? I feel ill." She'd splashed water on her face, her mascara was smudged. "Please. I hate throwing up. I did not even drink."
The man in the ladies room - already standing awkwardly at the door with his arms folded like a shield against the very idea of being -in the ladies room- blanched. "Water. Yeah, yeah, we've got some... you need a nurse or something? Uh. Sink. Look, you sit by the sink and wash your face, cool off, I'll get you some water "
~Good job finding the new ones. Is yours just as trusting?~
~I'm sure I can make him trusting. Or something to get him away from me.~
She ran through her options, and finally settled on a good old fallback - panic. "Wait," she gasped, grabbing the security guard's arm tight, digging her nails into his skin a little. "My boss, oh god - is she okay? Oh my god she's going to fire me, I can't get fired, do you know what'll happen? I'll have to move back home, with my parents. Dad'll make me get a job with his company. I don't want to be an accountant! Do you know what my mother will say?"
The panic slid easily into the man's mind. "W-Wait, it's okay-"
"Please, you have to find out if she's okay!"
"Of course, of course - just - here sit and - and I'll be right back!"
And with that, he hurried off. Topaz took a breath, shook it off, and smiled just a little. ~If the universe really likes us, your guard will come across my panicking guard and have to calm him down.~
~Well, we should make that happen~ Marie-Ange leaned against the sink and called out to the guard. "Wait, wait one moment, I may be okay. I might..." She splashed more water, and let it run between her fingers a moment, over her hands and wrists. She grabbed at the counter, and bent, listening. Footsteps, heavy and firm. Topaz's guard, coming to check on her. "No. no I am going to throw up. Water, please."
And hers was out the door.
~There he goes. I am going to keep them both busy helping me after I vomit, you go tap the systems.~" Marie-Ange cracked the door, kicking her purse across the hall. ~Backup thumb drive in the purse if yours does not work~ She was not going to get out of this bathroom. "I need water, please..." She slumped against the door and flicked water off her hands. "I think I am going to be quite ill. I do not want to throw up in your sink, I hate throwing up."
And then she did, doubled over, retching onto the floor, a mix of canapes and bile. "Too much wine. I know I should stay sober, but it was one night out..."
~go. Go go go~"
~Gone,~ Topaz said, heading down the room and checking doors. It didn't take long to find the server room. She smiled grimly, fingering the thumb drive in her pocket. ~And got it.~
