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xp_logsThe Vegas crew (minus Gabriel, plus Marie-Ange) meet up with Stacy for intel and make a plan almost immediately after arriving at the X-Ranch.
Stacy led them through the lobby, between the staircases and back through a hall until opening a door and escorting them into her office. It was well appointed, but not overly ostentatious. The owner of X-Ranch showed a surprisingly restrained taste. The only real ego aspect was a wall of photos of her as a younger woman and a rogue's gallery of famous actors, singers and entertainers. The sharp eyed spotted her and Kevin in the unsigned photo in the very bottom right, obviously from the mid-80s. She settled herself behind her desk as they selected chairs or the leather couch and sighed.
"I swear, the only trigger I have for heartburn is Syd asking for a favor." A man came in with a large tray of coffees and passed them out with the usual condiments before leaving. "Sublime is on a strict ban in this house. We've had an eye on his clinics for awhile. Enough mutants have come through Sunset with surgical scars they can't explain how they got not to raise every single red flag you can imagine."
"Stacy is SUNSET in the Mutant Underground." Kevin explained and she nodded.
"I am. Well, at least my hotel up the road is. When we get mutants passed to us, I've got a few rooms in a private section set aside. If they want stay more than a few days, we usually get them pearldiving in the kitchen or cleaning rooms to put some money in their pockets either legally or under the towel until they are ready to move on."
Darcy sat up straighter at that, the polite interest on her face smoothing into a genuine smile. "Well. I was already a fan of yours because of the ranch, but that just cements it. We've had some of yours come through New York, of course, and sent a few in your direction as well. Darcy Lewis. You've probably seen my name as a preparer on some of the legal paperwork that comes through." It was a shame Terry wasn't here. She'd probably be thrilled to meet the woman behind SUNSET. Darcy would ask later if it was alright to put her in more direct touch with Stacy, but right now wasn't the time.
This was all fascinating, and at any other time, Topaz might have asked questions. Her mind was in other places, though. "What types of neighborhoods are the clinics in? Is there anything in particular we'd need to worry about? Nosy neighbors, police..." She waved a hand to gesture and so on.
"You go in guns blazing and you're not going to get very far." Stacy warned. "Sublime is deeply enmeshed in the local politics of every municipality he puts a clinic in. Which means his clinics get priority for police, political cover, zoning decisions, etc... that cover is what allows him to operate what we think is his shadow business. We've all seen the fawning interviews and commercials about celebrity patients going in for services. However, I've dug around and it looks like he's made deals with a handful of local hospitals and EMTs to divert obviously mutant patients to his clinics. Especially if they lack insurance or are transients."
"Cool cool cool, targeting mutants /and/ the most vulnerable," Felicia managed, unsurprised but always infuriated with this particular narrative. "The odds of no one missing a person who is homeless are already high and add mutant onto that, might as well double it. Amazing."
"And provides all the plausible deniability he needs. Police won't file a report if one of these mutants complains and if they disappear entirely, they'll have discharge paperwork that shows they left the clinic." Kevin agreed.
"There will be paperwork somewhere with what they did. Maybe not physical, but... follow the money, right? Insurance claims, detailed receipts for self-pay... all of that is somewhere on their systems, so I need inside to get it." Darcy knew what she was likely suggesting, and she hated herself a little for it, but she didn't have the tech handy right now to get in from afar, and Sublime's hackers were actually pretty good at stopping external attacks.
"Also if we can get inside and access to their physical computers, Ramsey's little helpers can do a hard datascrape and introduce a nasty dataphage." Kevin had obviously paid attention to the 'new tech tools' updates that they did at the office.
"I've got some talent freelancing up at Burning Man. Sent them a warning and a request for eyes on. I'll send the details along, but we have a pretty solid schedule for where Sublime is going to be for the next few days at the event." A smile quirked the corner of her mouth. "They are staying out of his specific orbit, but they say he's pressing the flesh pretty hard. Like a man who is not entirely secure with his current position."
"Which is where I come in." Marie-Ange had been not long behind the group they had designated to stay in Las Vegas, but had still needed a minute to catchup. "The rest of us are on to Black Rock, and that is extremely good news for us. If he is chasing something, he will not be chasing us. If he is all over the festival, his security will be chasing him more than looking for anyone who meets our descriptions, and we have new faces we can use."
"So..." Topaz was using her thumbnail to to pick at the cuticle on her ring finger, focusing more on it than at all necessarily. "While everyone's busy at Burning Man, the rest of us figure out a way in and out of the clinic, let Darcy do her thing, third thing, and profit?"
Darcy covered her mouth to smother her snort of laughter as Topaz talked, socked feet tapping an apology against Kevin's knee as she got ready to speak. "They like healing factors and regenerative powers, so we know our in," she replied, gesturing at him in a parody of game shows everywhere. "Bonus of this particular one being absolutely worthless for the sublime jackass. We just need to take care of the other bits. Alarms, distracting guards, getting in later to get the data and Kevin out safely."
"So scouting our best play in," Felicia said, giving a dry thumbs up. "On it and delegating what I don't want to do already."
"As always." Kevin said. "Unless you've got anything else, Colbert, I think we have a basic operational plan here. Best get some food and rest in while we can."
"Just a check in once you are all in Las Vegas and then once you are done your part." Marie-Ange agreed. "Food, rest, showers. Someone please find Gabriel as well. Make sure he is up to this."
Stacy led them through the lobby, between the staircases and back through a hall until opening a door and escorting them into her office. It was well appointed, but not overly ostentatious. The owner of X-Ranch showed a surprisingly restrained taste. The only real ego aspect was a wall of photos of her as a younger woman and a rogue's gallery of famous actors, singers and entertainers. The sharp eyed spotted her and Kevin in the unsigned photo in the very bottom right, obviously from the mid-80s. She settled herself behind her desk as they selected chairs or the leather couch and sighed.
"I swear, the only trigger I have for heartburn is Syd asking for a favor." A man came in with a large tray of coffees and passed them out with the usual condiments before leaving. "Sublime is on a strict ban in this house. We've had an eye on his clinics for awhile. Enough mutants have come through Sunset with surgical scars they can't explain how they got not to raise every single red flag you can imagine."
"Stacy is SUNSET in the Mutant Underground." Kevin explained and she nodded.
"I am. Well, at least my hotel up the road is. When we get mutants passed to us, I've got a few rooms in a private section set aside. If they want stay more than a few days, we usually get them pearldiving in the kitchen or cleaning rooms to put some money in their pockets either legally or under the towel until they are ready to move on."
Darcy sat up straighter at that, the polite interest on her face smoothing into a genuine smile. "Well. I was already a fan of yours because of the ranch, but that just cements it. We've had some of yours come through New York, of course, and sent a few in your direction as well. Darcy Lewis. You've probably seen my name as a preparer on some of the legal paperwork that comes through." It was a shame Terry wasn't here. She'd probably be thrilled to meet the woman behind SUNSET. Darcy would ask later if it was alright to put her in more direct touch with Stacy, but right now wasn't the time.
This was all fascinating, and at any other time, Topaz might have asked questions. Her mind was in other places, though. "What types of neighborhoods are the clinics in? Is there anything in particular we'd need to worry about? Nosy neighbors, police..." She waved a hand to gesture and so on.
"You go in guns blazing and you're not going to get very far." Stacy warned. "Sublime is deeply enmeshed in the local politics of every municipality he puts a clinic in. Which means his clinics get priority for police, political cover, zoning decisions, etc... that cover is what allows him to operate what we think is his shadow business. We've all seen the fawning interviews and commercials about celebrity patients going in for services. However, I've dug around and it looks like he's made deals with a handful of local hospitals and EMTs to divert obviously mutant patients to his clinics. Especially if they lack insurance or are transients."
"Cool cool cool, targeting mutants /and/ the most vulnerable," Felicia managed, unsurprised but always infuriated with this particular narrative. "The odds of no one missing a person who is homeless are already high and add mutant onto that, might as well double it. Amazing."
"And provides all the plausible deniability he needs. Police won't file a report if one of these mutants complains and if they disappear entirely, they'll have discharge paperwork that shows they left the clinic." Kevin agreed.
"There will be paperwork somewhere with what they did. Maybe not physical, but... follow the money, right? Insurance claims, detailed receipts for self-pay... all of that is somewhere on their systems, so I need inside to get it." Darcy knew what she was likely suggesting, and she hated herself a little for it, but she didn't have the tech handy right now to get in from afar, and Sublime's hackers were actually pretty good at stopping external attacks.
"Also if we can get inside and access to their physical computers, Ramsey's little helpers can do a hard datascrape and introduce a nasty dataphage." Kevin had obviously paid attention to the 'new tech tools' updates that they did at the office.
"I've got some talent freelancing up at Burning Man. Sent them a warning and a request for eyes on. I'll send the details along, but we have a pretty solid schedule for where Sublime is going to be for the next few days at the event." A smile quirked the corner of her mouth. "They are staying out of his specific orbit, but they say he's pressing the flesh pretty hard. Like a man who is not entirely secure with his current position."
"Which is where I come in." Marie-Ange had been not long behind the group they had designated to stay in Las Vegas, but had still needed a minute to catchup. "The rest of us are on to Black Rock, and that is extremely good news for us. If he is chasing something, he will not be chasing us. If he is all over the festival, his security will be chasing him more than looking for anyone who meets our descriptions, and we have new faces we can use."
"So..." Topaz was using her thumbnail to to pick at the cuticle on her ring finger, focusing more on it than at all necessarily. "While everyone's busy at Burning Man, the rest of us figure out a way in and out of the clinic, let Darcy do her thing, third thing, and profit?"
Darcy covered her mouth to smother her snort of laughter as Topaz talked, socked feet tapping an apology against Kevin's knee as she got ready to speak. "They like healing factors and regenerative powers, so we know our in," she replied, gesturing at him in a parody of game shows everywhere. "Bonus of this particular one being absolutely worthless for the sublime jackass. We just need to take care of the other bits. Alarms, distracting guards, getting in later to get the data and Kevin out safely."
"So scouting our best play in," Felicia said, giving a dry thumbs up. "On it and delegating what I don't want to do already."
"As always." Kevin said. "Unless you've got anything else, Colbert, I think we have a basic operational plan here. Best get some food and rest in while we can."
"Just a check in once you are all in Las Vegas and then once you are done your part." Marie-Ange agreed. "Food, rest, showers. Someone please find Gabriel as well. Make sure he is up to this."
