LOG: Sarah and Kevin
Sep. 21st, 2022 10:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsKevin approaches Sarah with an offer, and a warning.
The work spaces in Snow Valley had a communal aspect to them, especially outside of the offices. People tended to shift, change and group together depending on the work they were doing and who they needed to work with that day. As a result, instead of knickknacks, desks were usually festooned with the detritus of old intelligence, notes, and a scattering of post-its with cryptic letters and numbers that once tied information together. Kevin pushed this cover aside and perched himself on the corner of the desk Sarah was working at.
"So, you've had quite the couple of months."
"Life is never boring when you have a Family like mine." Sarah's response was steady, almost bland. If Kevin had expected her to pour her heart out about the experience, he wouldn't get it here in the middle of a shared space. But then, she expected he was here for more practical reasons. "I am grateful that everyone was willing to help someone they barely knew."
“Interests aligning is a powerful incentive.” He nodded. “What’s your plan now? Maggia is reorganizing which means whatever understandings your family had are probably moot at this point.” It wasn’t anything she didn’t know but sometimes it had to be said to become real.
"I know. They're all trying to work on Dad, because there's a very high likelihood that the gym has to be sold. Anything directly connected to us is probably still a target. He needs to leave the city and go be an anonymous old man somewhere quiet." She sighed, sad for her father and the families that counted on him for support. Sad that she wouldn't have the opportunity to take on the gym that had been in her family for generations.
"I don't know what's next for me. I've lost most of my contacts, at least until all this cools down and it's not dangerous to be seen in public with me."
"You could find a spot with us. I have an eye for talent and Hardy keeps telling me you're a bit of a natural. I could use that."
"Are you sure she said that? I get the impression she just calls me weird names behind my back. And to my face." Sarah leaned back in her chair, considering. "Not that that's a dealbreaker. What's the job?"
"I usually filter Hardy's commentary through the 'I'm horny' lens, but yeah, she said you know your stuff in the field. That's a good thing. We need field ready people. And you're smart enough to be taught." Kevin said simply, turning what seemed like compliments into critical assessments. "You know by now what we do here; mutant spies. We're undermanned and out resourced in about every way and we still find a way to make wins. So the job is with us; an operative. We'll teach you how to support the network, run agents, acquire intel, even build on that solid physical background. In return, you'll be tremendously underpaid for the skills you acquire, pushed into dangerous and thankless assignments on a regular basis and most likely die anonymously due to bad luck as opposed to any mistake you made." He paused. "But you'll make a difference before that happens."
Sarah shrugged. "Well, I don't think I can die the regular way, so I guess that's only fair." She leaned in, elbows on the desk in front of her. "So is it contract based? 9 to 5? Do I have to give up my former contacts?"
"It's both a lot simpler and a lot more complicated than that." Kevin replied. "First thing is to construct a legal fiction for you. Lewis will run point with Emma's people to give you a bright shiny and mostly legitimate version of you. So that means any school history you're lacking, some money to the DA's office to scrub your criminal record depending what's on there, clearing you for full legal passports, etc. Everything you need to become a newly minted intern at the Snow Valley Research Facility. They'll set up a legal salary, 401K, all that sort of stuff. As for contract, the job is yours as long as you want it and don't catastrophically fuck anything up. Now, that's the legal above board job description. The real one is very different."
"Sebastian is going to be pissed that my 'turning over a new leaf' story looks so much better than his." Last she had heard, he was trying to get into some trendy industry to make a name for himself, but he had no focus and kept switching what he was interested in. When crypto was hot, he was there, and the next week when pot was the big market he would dump money there. She wondered how long her father would keep funding him. Probably until the money ran out, if she knew him. "And the real job is death, danger, and kicking ass for fun and profit? You still haven't answered if my contacts are my own."
"You're free to run any existing networks you have, but with some oversight. We don't want to get in the way of your intel, but we need to be able to verify it and direct it. Talk to Maddicks. He's been running a separate criminal network for years. He can give you the best understanding how we keep it separate from the rest of our intel and contacts." Kevin made a vague wave around him. "As for the rest, some of it will be here. While we need people who can work the edges, we'll also need you to be able to work the intel you bring back, provide analysis and apply it in real time situations. I'm not going to lie. It's a hell of a lot of studying and work ahead in that area for you if you say yes. And that's in addition to years worth of fieldwork training you'll need to learn and apply over and over again. Learning- no, adapting in this job never steps if you want to stay a step ahead and most importantly, alive."
Sarah pulled a face at the words analysis and studying. She didn't care much for desk work. Training she was okay with, as long as it felt useful and meant she got to hit someone. "I'm more of a hands-on kind of gal."
"I realize that. But despite what you've heard, dealing out violence is the least of what we do, and usually only happens when something goes horribly wrong." Kevin said, shaking his head. "I need someone that can do both sides of the job. You're smart and you seem to be teachable, which means you have two more talents than I did when I joined this life. But it is also a big commitment. There's no half way and it isn't a job that you just hang up at the end of the day and go home. Still interested?"
"Not a lot of choices out there for mob kids. Especially jobs that don't involve running, trafficking, or getting cozy with the Russians." She had done some bad shit in her life, but she didn't want to make a career out of taking advantage of the powerless. Her father had been more about protecting his people, and she had grown up believing in that dream. "Plus, you asked nicely. I'm in."
"Don't say yes yet." Kevin held up a finger. "Take a couple of days. Talk to the other people here and ask the questions you need. End of the week, find Colbert and let her know your decision. If you say no, you're welcome to stay at the mansion for as long as you want. If you say yes, MA will get you started." He stood up and shook her hand. "I hope you say yes, but make sure you understand what you're agreeing to one hundred percent before you do, Ms Rushman."
Sarah looked at him critically, as if trying to read deeper into the conversation. Why suggest she take the job and then back off almost immediately? When a revelation didn't come to her, she nodded. "I get the impression that I will never 100% understand, but I will ask around. Thanks for the tip."
"Trust me, you want to be absolutely sure you understand what you're getting into before saying yes." Kevin said. "It also means I get to say 'I told you so' every time you complain."
"Ah. You're just like my Nana." Sarah opened up her notebook and turned to a fresh page. She had assumed she would be getting away from that sort of thing when she stopped working for family, but no job was perfect. "I'll start a list and get back to you when I've made a decision."
The work spaces in Snow Valley had a communal aspect to them, especially outside of the offices. People tended to shift, change and group together depending on the work they were doing and who they needed to work with that day. As a result, instead of knickknacks, desks were usually festooned with the detritus of old intelligence, notes, and a scattering of post-its with cryptic letters and numbers that once tied information together. Kevin pushed this cover aside and perched himself on the corner of the desk Sarah was working at.
"So, you've had quite the couple of months."
"Life is never boring when you have a Family like mine." Sarah's response was steady, almost bland. If Kevin had expected her to pour her heart out about the experience, he wouldn't get it here in the middle of a shared space. But then, she expected he was here for more practical reasons. "I am grateful that everyone was willing to help someone they barely knew."
“Interests aligning is a powerful incentive.” He nodded. “What’s your plan now? Maggia is reorganizing which means whatever understandings your family had are probably moot at this point.” It wasn’t anything she didn’t know but sometimes it had to be said to become real.
"I know. They're all trying to work on Dad, because there's a very high likelihood that the gym has to be sold. Anything directly connected to us is probably still a target. He needs to leave the city and go be an anonymous old man somewhere quiet." She sighed, sad for her father and the families that counted on him for support. Sad that she wouldn't have the opportunity to take on the gym that had been in her family for generations.
"I don't know what's next for me. I've lost most of my contacts, at least until all this cools down and it's not dangerous to be seen in public with me."
"You could find a spot with us. I have an eye for talent and Hardy keeps telling me you're a bit of a natural. I could use that."
"Are you sure she said that? I get the impression she just calls me weird names behind my back. And to my face." Sarah leaned back in her chair, considering. "Not that that's a dealbreaker. What's the job?"
"I usually filter Hardy's commentary through the 'I'm horny' lens, but yeah, she said you know your stuff in the field. That's a good thing. We need field ready people. And you're smart enough to be taught." Kevin said simply, turning what seemed like compliments into critical assessments. "You know by now what we do here; mutant spies. We're undermanned and out resourced in about every way and we still find a way to make wins. So the job is with us; an operative. We'll teach you how to support the network, run agents, acquire intel, even build on that solid physical background. In return, you'll be tremendously underpaid for the skills you acquire, pushed into dangerous and thankless assignments on a regular basis and most likely die anonymously due to bad luck as opposed to any mistake you made." He paused. "But you'll make a difference before that happens."
Sarah shrugged. "Well, I don't think I can die the regular way, so I guess that's only fair." She leaned in, elbows on the desk in front of her. "So is it contract based? 9 to 5? Do I have to give up my former contacts?"
"It's both a lot simpler and a lot more complicated than that." Kevin replied. "First thing is to construct a legal fiction for you. Lewis will run point with Emma's people to give you a bright shiny and mostly legitimate version of you. So that means any school history you're lacking, some money to the DA's office to scrub your criminal record depending what's on there, clearing you for full legal passports, etc. Everything you need to become a newly minted intern at the Snow Valley Research Facility. They'll set up a legal salary, 401K, all that sort of stuff. As for contract, the job is yours as long as you want it and don't catastrophically fuck anything up. Now, that's the legal above board job description. The real one is very different."
"Sebastian is going to be pissed that my 'turning over a new leaf' story looks so much better than his." Last she had heard, he was trying to get into some trendy industry to make a name for himself, but he had no focus and kept switching what he was interested in. When crypto was hot, he was there, and the next week when pot was the big market he would dump money there. She wondered how long her father would keep funding him. Probably until the money ran out, if she knew him. "And the real job is death, danger, and kicking ass for fun and profit? You still haven't answered if my contacts are my own."
"You're free to run any existing networks you have, but with some oversight. We don't want to get in the way of your intel, but we need to be able to verify it and direct it. Talk to Maddicks. He's been running a separate criminal network for years. He can give you the best understanding how we keep it separate from the rest of our intel and contacts." Kevin made a vague wave around him. "As for the rest, some of it will be here. While we need people who can work the edges, we'll also need you to be able to work the intel you bring back, provide analysis and apply it in real time situations. I'm not going to lie. It's a hell of a lot of studying and work ahead in that area for you if you say yes. And that's in addition to years worth of fieldwork training you'll need to learn and apply over and over again. Learning- no, adapting in this job never steps if you want to stay a step ahead and most importantly, alive."
Sarah pulled a face at the words analysis and studying. She didn't care much for desk work. Training she was okay with, as long as it felt useful and meant she got to hit someone. "I'm more of a hands-on kind of gal."
"I realize that. But despite what you've heard, dealing out violence is the least of what we do, and usually only happens when something goes horribly wrong." Kevin said, shaking his head. "I need someone that can do both sides of the job. You're smart and you seem to be teachable, which means you have two more talents than I did when I joined this life. But it is also a big commitment. There's no half way and it isn't a job that you just hang up at the end of the day and go home. Still interested?"
"Not a lot of choices out there for mob kids. Especially jobs that don't involve running, trafficking, or getting cozy with the Russians." She had done some bad shit in her life, but she didn't want to make a career out of taking advantage of the powerless. Her father had been more about protecting his people, and she had grown up believing in that dream. "Plus, you asked nicely. I'm in."
"Don't say yes yet." Kevin held up a finger. "Take a couple of days. Talk to the other people here and ask the questions you need. End of the week, find Colbert and let her know your decision. If you say no, you're welcome to stay at the mansion for as long as you want. If you say yes, MA will get you started." He stood up and shook her hand. "I hope you say yes, but make sure you understand what you're agreeing to one hundred percent before you do, Ms Rushman."
Sarah looked at him critically, as if trying to read deeper into the conversation. Why suggest she take the job and then back off almost immediately? When a revelation didn't come to her, she nodded. "I get the impression that I will never 100% understand, but I will ask around. Thanks for the tip."
"Trust me, you want to be absolutely sure you understand what you're getting into before saying yes." Kevin said. "It also means I get to say 'I told you so' every time you complain."
"Ah. You're just like my Nana." Sarah opened up her notebook and turned to a fresh page. She had assumed she would be getting away from that sort of thing when she stopped working for family, but no job was perfect. "I'll start a list and get back to you when I've made a decision."
