Jacqueline Freeman
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Location: Financial District, Gene Co. within the branch office
Timeline: Two days ago from present, Evening
The day had ended just like any other for Jacqueline Freeman, her mind focused on running the Lost Haven branch as smoothly as possible. At this point her feet slightly ached through she pushed the pain out of her mind and from her focus, easing the hurt to a minimum. Sometimes it was much more effective than aspirin she took hours earlier while she walked from end of the building to the other, her feet rarely stopped for a break in order to keep others on task and focused.
Mentally, she was relieved when the day finally reached its end and she could cease this pointless wandering in order to get some serious work done. Her hips were swaying in her usual, business like gait when her eyes lowered down to graze over the reports in her possession while she navigated the hallways to her office. It was propped half way open and she skimmed lightly over the monthly budget for the company with a scrutinizing gaze, her lips curled up in a frown over what she was reading. Numbers in the review were filed in her memory, each digit recording was double checked with surprising ease and distastefully were fond accurate. Meanwhile she wove through several employees escaping from their offices to cubicles and back to their homes after a long day. She, however, wouldn’t be returning until around midnight and was among the few that remained within the building long after it was closed. It was a result of her work-alcoholic habits and slight niteowl tendencies which allowed her to retain her expensive lifestyle, a price well paid in her opinion to keep a firm rein over her ownership. This also made it much easier to accomplish the more shady tasks based around the black branch project when any security risk was away at home eating their dinner and resting for the night.
Her fingers snapped the manilla folder shut when she came to her office door, her hand reached out to grip the cold handle and enter the supposedly empty office. There was only issue: it wasn’t empty.
Jacqueline’s steel grey eyes narrowed on the man standing within her private office, her mind never recalling anything from Ms. Gibbs about an unscheduled meeting, then edged slowly into the room.
The room itself was a spacious and rectangle area. One side was lined by windows, their blinds raised upward and tucked away, which overlooked the city nightlife buzzing with its unique electrical lightshow. Through none of the noise seemed to pollute the comfortable looking office after her money spent in sound proofing the entire room. Against the back wall was her usual work space, from her computer and long oak desk to a bookshelf crammed with numerous books, many that fitted her needs well during the rare issue she had come across. There was numerous papers stacked upon one side of her desk beside her computer which was bouncing around the company logo for a screen saver.
Bracing herself with a sharp inhale and tucking her earlier distract under her arm, Gene Co’s CEO firmly addressed the darkened figure, his image shrouded by the dim lighting.
“I’m sorry to inform you, I wasn’t informed of any private meeting. If you would be so kind to leave and reschedule with my secretary, I’ll see if I can work in a space during my very busy day.”“Oh, I believe much to the contrary, Miss Freeman,” Came a smooth, velvety voice from the shadows, a voice that Jacqueline was more than familiar with.
“With what I have to say, I believe you’ll be able to squeeze me into you schedule.”The shadow in question shifted in his seat, propping himself up with an elbow on the armrest as he layered one leg over the other, seemingly undaunted by her stoicism. The light from the windows were cold and barely illuminating from the street lamps and neon lights outside, but they showed all they needed to as the man’s head leaned into view. While only partially exposing his shoulder and part of his face, it was clear that the man in question was wearing an expensive, well-tailored suit of fine dark grey cashmere, complemented by a hood custom woven into the suit’s design and a mask covering the man’s face. In the entire city of Lost Heaven, Jacqueline would know only one man to wear such a signature attire. The infamous kingpin, The Cowl, had made a visit to the CEO’s office.
“Besides, if I tried to set things up with your secretary legitimately I don’t think she’d believe me if I told her who I am.” The Cowl joked, his eyes never leaving the businesswoman as she came into the office.
“Did you know some people still think I’m just a myth? A bogeyman to scare the people of Lost Haven into staying off the streets at night? With things like that dreadful shadow-monster and this whole ‘Pax Metahumana’ thing, you’d think people wouldn’t worry about some crime-boss…” He chuckled, waving the thought off with a free hand before continuing.
“But I digress. I’m here for something that I’ve recently picked up from a few scouts I’ve had prowling the streets, namely some disturbing tidbits that may cause you some concern.”Jacqueline head tilted, her eyes narrowed in faint question over why
he was here. It wasn’t often he arranged a meeting for himself due to the inconvenience it created and security risk it developed so she logically understood it was a serious matter. She straightened her figure as she glided over to the dimly lit desk and softly plop her earlier distraction upon the growing stack. Her figure twisted about and propped against the edge while her legs crossed at the ankles, her voice in a sincere, apologetic tone.
“My apologies, Mr. Cowl, the light obstructed your image. Had I known who I was addressing, I would’ve been far more respectful and not assumed you were another unwelcomed guest trying to press for my attention.” “Oh, think nothing of it.” The Crime Boss said, his chipper tone and slight nod of his head towards her implied that he was more amused than angry at her actions, a small snicker passing through his mask in an attempt to ease the early tension in the air.
“You are a powerful businesswoman with a multi-billion dollar company underneath you, I wouldn’t expect someone with that kind of reputation to welcome anyone into their office without a scheduled dinner date first.”Jacqueline allowed a flicker of a smile to display on her lips, the man’s chuckle working its charm to ease the tension and her figure relaxing slightly from its rigid posture. A rarity in this business. Casually her hands folded into each other, the fingers intertwined, while they rested at her front and in full view of the man. She was naturally unarmed by any hidden weapons or tricks she had seen less savory business associates apply, tactics she felt were wasteful and managed to leave a messier situation when things failed to pan out. Then again, she was in her element so what was the point in apply such brutality?
“Never figured out your trick to how you could always lighten a room’s mood, through I have suspicions it’s part of your skill and charm.” Jacqueline said, her tone more complimentary than flirting, through it was cutting pretty close near the line on purpose as she continued.
”Would you like anything to drink before we continue? Most of my staff is out, but I do keep a private stock for my own use during the late hour.” When the last words fell from her lips, she leaned and waited. Inwardly, she was quietly gauging the possibilities and determining her alliance state with the man. Depending on his actions it would state the depth of the issues he discussed and how badly the cost to mend it after the ‘disturbing tidbits’ he felt were important enough to pay a nightly business meeting for.
The Cowl paused, shifting in his seat as he considered the offer.
“Mmm, as much as I do crave a drink, trying to move the mask to drink would get a bit troublesome, and I’d rather not humiliate myself with that display.” He added with another chuckle.
“Besides, I’d rather get right to business, as the longer I am here the longer it jeopardizes both you and myself.”Jacqueline’s head gently nodded, her eyes averted from letting that disappointment glow in them, while she leaned back more against the desk. Part of her considered taking a seat, but her attention denied taking that action immediately when her associate began on the topic which brought him here. She was at least relieved this situation could be salvageable compared to other business avenues and relaxed in her posture, giving the man her full attention.
The Cowl’s gazed out the window, momentarily catching a glimpse of the city skyline before drifting back to Jacqueline as he spoke.
“A few months back, we had an agreement; I smuggle in a handful of illicit genetic materials and equipment, and you grant me some superpowered enforcers using a viral agent you procured from means rather unknown to me. The only issue was that you only delivered on half of them and the results were sub-par. For every flawless soldier I had about two failures who had to wear a gas filtration system to keep their body chemistry balanced out, which cost almost as much as the soldiers, by the way.”Jacqueline understood, and to a point empathized about the cost being expensive when using less than higher quality product, her arms pulled up to fold in front of her chest. Her mind recalled the deal very vividly in her mind as it was one of the few times in her life she was nervous and not confident in her ability to gain what she needed. The Cowl’s reputation, when you dug into the underworld, wasn’t a light matter so to treat it as such was foolish and more likely to get her killed, a matter that wouldn’t do for her future to make Lost Haven a better place.
She didn’t comment on the mention of failures. Through the reports returned to her were far higher than her test labs predicted or gained in their laboratory tests, a matter she wasn’t pleased with in the less. This was why these ‘street’ tests were necessary after because there was no accurate way to reproduce a stressful and unpredictable environment to establish the serum’s limits. The labs were too much of a controlled space compared to the outside world, her eyes still fixed on the man within his seat.
As he spoke, his hand went to a dossier he had been keeping wedged into the cushions of his seat, flipping through them momentarily before standing to his feet.
“Though you did not tell me much about the process utilized to create such superhumans, I had a few of my Sawbones and genetics specialists in the underground take a look at the serums and dig up what I could for myself. From what I could procure from medical reports, the soldiers all had muscular, and respiratory enhancements, along with a neural stimulant to process the excess mass. However, the neural stimulant was flawed, it needed some kind of viral agent to perfect it, along with something to influence the process of adrenaline production, and there was not enough calcium supplement to support the increased mass, or at least not a perfected method. From what I was able to gather, there is a final ingredient that never made it to the production line, a missing piece to the full puzzle.” Jacqueline’s memory went over the SES lineage the Cowl was given for the riots. SES 006, the earliest line was dated just within the first few weeks before they acquired the alien virus and lacked the ‘final’ ingredient that the crime lord had deduced was absent so easily. However it wasn’t because it never made it to the final product line but rather it didn’t exist yet.
Despite the incorrect deduction, the man had impressed her with his resources and baseline understanding of genetics. Her expression had altered to an attentive, listening one where she was absorbed into every work, nothing giving away how close he was to the truth, while she waited for him to finish.
He glanced at her, a disappointed sigh escaping his lips as he continued,
“Of course, that was something I agreed to when the deal was proposed. You told me from the get-go that these soldiers would be experimental and were prone to overload, and I agreed anyway. Who could say no to superhuman guards, after all?”“Which was part of the reason we requested recorded data, blood samples, and more over the subject you gave the serums to. In order to see where we went wrong and how to fix it. Getting stressful environment results from a lab is rather limited because one can’t fully predict or account for every single combination a supplier’s employees can experience without several field tests.” Jaqueline paused to take a breath between her explanation, her hand reached back to readjust the ponytail tied up at her head back,
“Unfortunately, the government wouldn’t allow us to test such products publicly yet they still make the demand, expecting the best results. It’s like going from point A to point E without the other letters involved at all. Something impossible in genetic experimentation even with my basic understanding.” His attitude was momentarily regretful, his body slumped at the thought of the many men who had become genetic failures now forced to live on oxygen packets and chemical suppressants to keep their enhanced bodies from going into shock. However the thought quickly seemed to pass as the crime lord returned to his signature casual self while he handed the dossier over, the symbol of the Lost Haven Police Department clearly stamped on the file in red ink.
Jacqueline’s arm reached out to take the dossier from the man then flipped it open, her eyes examining the contents thoroughly as she listened.
“However, it comes to me now that when you told me that the process wasn’t perfected was not because it was still in its experimentation process, but because you were missing the final ingredient. The human mind, while impressive, is not able to immediately take on enhancements of the body, it needs something secondary, a different mind to manage other superhuman feats, like a virus of some sort, which would perhaps provide this bone structure, mental capacity, and other superhuman qualities to perfect these soldiers you were sending me.” He gestured to the dossier.
“A viral agent that matched the deceased in this file. A Mrs. Desdemona, elderly old woman found dead in her home. Normally I don’t find myself looking into the dead, but a friend from the Lost Haven crime lab smuggled out a little gift that I had time to analyze, and subsequently is the whole reason I’m here.”As he spoke, he reached into his jacket pocket, fishing around for a second before pulling a vial from his blazer. The liquid was viscous and thick, like blood, only its color did not match. The color was a putrid black, with small splashes of red still inside.
If Jacqueline had allowed herself to peel back her sober poker face, now looking up from her reading, the shock and clear desire would’ve been seen instantly when the Cowl pulled out the vial. Her fingers tightened their grip briefly against the dossier as the only tell his display had any meaning to her, her hands quietly and through sheer will forced herself to close the fold calmly. She then placed the file upon the desktop for the present moment before she pushed off the desk and approached the man, her eyes studying the vial in his gloved hand.
There was little doubt in her mind that the blood was infected by the alien virus, even in the dim light, when he first showed it. After viewing the continual video feeds for months over the subject’s reaction and the several death reports from bizarre cases, she didn’t need to know this. Several leads since the virus’ disappearance had been dead ends resulting in irritation and frustration. At least, until a few had the began to show the small bread crumb trail the entity has left behind for her company then abruptly vanished again.
Unknown to the Cowl, at least she suspected, the very woman’s physician, Dr. Morgan, had came in recently with the same suspicion. The only difference was that the Cowl was brilliant enough to put the puzzle pieces together causing Jacqueline some concerns about how he might use this to his advantage. He would bring Gene Co to ruins or use it to better his contract, costing her more money than he was worth? She hoped he was as sensible as his image portrayed, her mind hoping for a sensible outcome to benefit them both.
“I had this analyzed and found the traces in this blood matched some core elements to your super soldier serum. It was lacking the enhancement side, but what was in there was powerful, with hints of sentience that could provide mental commands to its whole body like a hive mind rather than an electrical stimulus.” He held it towards her, awaiting her to accept it.
”Now tell me, Miss Freeman, what can you tell me of this little coincidence?”Jacqueline’s hand clasped over the vial a bit harder than she intended, gently pulling it from his grasp when he allowed it. She took a moment to hold it to the light and examine it, her hands shifting the contains from one end to the other with squinting eyes. No light caught it through the blood hissed slightly causing her jerk it away rapidly back into the darkness. It was clearly the virus’ work through she already knew that, her voice turned to address his questions and accusations properly.
“Before I go into depth explaining, I must say first that genetics, Mr. Cowl, is a little more complicate than that. The mental aspect is an extreme element for the three stage of the process, but not the primary one over all. Second, did you happen to keep a data collection over the sample you tested? I’m sure it was… difficult due to its odd nature.” The CEO hinted to her extensive knowledge about the virus and confirmed indirectly she knew exactly what it was. Her heels were walking to a small, hidden vault just on the other side of her desk with a steady gait. The vault itself appeared to be state of the art, though it wasn’t manufactured completely by Midas Industries and only had parts registered to them. The genetic lock required her eye scanned and a warm, living blood print to open it.
“Of course,” The Cowl replied, following her with a leisurely stride as they made their way to the vault.
“I can have those over to you with my next shipment.” ”Excellent,”Jacqueline stated in pleased tone.
She continued to talk, her legs paused and hunched down to level with the retinal scanner before she pressed her finger into the slot, feeling the little needle draw a dot of blood for analysis. It was softly humming and breaking the sample apart into its basic components and cross matching it to her own regularly updated file.
“The series you’re referring was an early product in the SES line so the element you correctly realized to be missing was in fact never discovered until the 008 series trials. So any serum dating from the 007 and back would lack that element.” Jacqueline said, her arms paused to think a moment and continued.
“ I believe we only gave you the 006 trials in your shipments since the other products were too hostile to risk and had much worse results compared to the data we collected from your users. Through I will admit, your data results and our lab test clash extremely with our earlier expectations and past results.” ”From what I’ve gathered, field testing and lab testing are two entirely different methods.” The Cowl mused, his hands lightly drifting to his pockets as he rocked lightly on his heels.
“You can make the best gun in the world in a controlled scenario, but it doesn’t mean anything unless you can reliably put a bullet between a man’s eyes in any situation. Then again, I suppose I’m the second half of your testing schedule, aren’t I? A way to really explore what your serum can do in an uncontrolled environment?”” Naturally, through you also get the benefits as well if things go right. A business risk we all take and sometimes it doesn’t pay off in the way we expect.” Jacqueline opened the vault and picked the smaller and thinner of the top folders her body rising back upright then made her way back to Mr. Cowl. Purposely leaving the door open, she handed the slim information over the SES project 006 and 035 series from the Black Branch.
“The SES series 035 line also has the same issues if you’ve not already examined them as well, but for a different reason: the asset in question managed to become an unexpected, free roaming one. So you were correct, but you’ve jumped too early to the correct assumption.” “I’d prefer to think of it as ‘thinking three steps ahead’.” The Cowl rebutted, taking the folder from her hands in a smooth, gentle movement before turning away from her as he began to thumb through the papers. He still stayed close to her, ready to point out anything he found within the folders that needed clarification as he slowly paced in her proximity.
“Indeed. That being said, it’s little surprise you discovered similarities between Ms. Desdemona’s blood and our serum because both were affected by the same exact source. Right now, as you’ll realize, we’ve failed to acquire it since it hasn’t attached itself to a host without later killing them.” Her hand retracted when Cowl took the file to examine and stayed on the topic of the virus, willfully going into depth over the benefits should the virus be recaptured.
”The best way to describe the virus, in theory, is a rapid variety of evolution itself. If we could recapture it then we could possibly alter the very issues with the prior serums and even create better ones, eliminating those issues you’re having much sooner. Even possibly reverse those unfortunate men’s conditions and ease their symptoms into allowing them to live a semi-normal life.”When he took the file, she then added a little more.
“In that file is a flash drive with about one to two videos, each detailing different subjects on the source. They are the last victims we knew who had become hosts to the viral source you rightfully assumed was the aid in our genetic experiments. It helped us to locate and splice animal traits into humans when its code was finally cracked and put into the serums in control quantities, though the mental aspect did prove to be an issue.” Cowl had been silent as Jacqueline had been talking, his eyes focused on the folder as he slowly flipped each page, diving into each page with monk-like attention as she continued. He was passing through papers rather quickly, but there was no indication that he missed any detail, he never went back to the previous page, he never bothered to ask for clarification, he simply read in silence. It was a rare thing to catch his attention for so long, it was even rarer to see the gears in his mind turning, a cavalcade of calculation, cunning, and planning all emoted in the intensity of his eyes. Two pools of hazel furiously processing the information granted to him, what she said, what she gave him, it did not take long for him to start piecing the puzzle together.
“Well, any viral agent in this city is going to go relatively unnoticed due to the whole scare this Pax Metahumana crisis is causing, so this is the perfect time for us to spread a wide scale search for anything resembling this without any eyes on us.” The Cowl said, his gaze turning upon her as his free hand gestured while he spoke.
“But, if I were going to start looking for something like a viral infection, I’d go to her house. I can send some of my men there to gather what they can, maybe the virus is still located in her home.””Indeed. Through it might be a pointless task and wasting resources would merely hurt us both.” Jacqueline stated, her eyes fixed on Cowl as part of the reason they weren’t able to collect any data from that end and repaying her for the SES failure. The humor was a tasteless in her mind but she didn’t further press or hint her point, her figure moved back to press herself back to the desk.
“It seems the most recent victim was mysteriously delivered to the CDC during the riots days ago and a call was made to Gene Co over there being a contagion, our teams, despite the chaos, were prompt in their reply to the call. There’s only a few individuals, one sticks out as a adept expert over the virus’ movements, who are familiar with what happened at the lab to able to know the urgency over getting our team over there. Regrettably, he no longer works for Black Dog according to my knowledge.” Jacqueline breathed as she settled against the hard edge, her arms leaned against and propping her upright. She casually picked up a small, laminated card with the logo then offered it to the man.
“ It’s a company we use as security for many of our special projects and their moral flexibility is ideal, a possible option to check into. I prefer not to ruffle any of the company’s feathers by trying to convince the man to help since the current owner is good acquaintance of mine.” “Oh, you wound me Jacqueline.” He sarcastically griped, his fingers lightly following the lines of text on the papers.
“And here I thought the Shroud was your only employee for such discrepancies.” “Come now, Mr. Cowl, please don’t be anxious about your value with us. However, I highly doubt it’s only the drugs you’re selling or using. Keep in mind, our contract might be binding but I’m sure you’ve noted the loopholes concerning drugs sells.” Jacqueline countered and returned the card on the desk top, her mind knowing the truth about business. If the Shroud was the only source she used for the Black Project Branch, her profits upon selling the SES series to them wouldn’t been as profitable.
“Namely that there is nothing in the contract stating you’re only required sell, buy and use drugs or products from Gene Co. As a businessman, I’m sure you know it’s often ill-advised and costly to get all your products from one source after all..” He snapped the folder shut, motioning to the folder he provided Jacqueline when he arrived while getting back to the main topic of their conversation.
“That being said, there is the possibility that this...evolutionary virus...was given to her from someone she knew. I’d suggest we also take a look at her friends and family, see who she knew and see who isn’t around anymore, then we can follow up and see if there isn’t a human out there with a viral hitchhiker plastered to them.” “So of that was already taken care of. The woman’s body was taken out of Dr. Morgan’s, her physician, care and sent to a crematory nearly two weeks ago. The body was burned to ashes and according to the doctor, her primary caretaker was her granddaughter, Racheli Desdemona. However, despite being given samples, we can’t confirm for certainty the current infected in the CDC is her or another individual without visual or other identification means. The virus has already eliminated markers such as blood type, key genetic readings and more from the blood samples we managed to receive.” At the mention of the CDC, the Cowl seemed to perk up, a laugh once more left the crime lord as he exchanged a glance with Jacqueline.
“Well, it seems we are in luck, then. I already had heard that the CDC had retrieved something big during the night of the raids. Being the resourceful businessman that I am, I was already preparing someone to take a look at what they had, thinking there may be money in whatever they picked up. If the CDC picked up the young Ms. Desdemona, perhaps my hypothesis is true and she is the one holding your last ingredient, hence we take down two birds with one stone and get back in business. As for the good doctor and his reports, I can see if he’s willing to part with his findings, and if not, I’m sure we can find ways to convince him.”Jacqueline blinked a moment, suspicious over the sudden chuckle then relax at his explanation. Her body leaned more into the desk edge while she thought carefully over her options.
“It’s not Dr. Morgan that’s not cooperation, but the recent expert the CDC brought on. A professor from the University here in Lost Haven and he’s completely shut us out. Originally, when they brought in the victim, we gained blood samples for analyzing. That was stopped before we could gain any more useful information and all untested samples were required to be returned with data included, no exception.” Jacqueline stated, hoping to redirect the Cowl’s attention from a cooperative source to a thorn in her side.
“I only managed to learn about his name, a Dr. Cole, and an authority over biomechanics. He was brought in shortly after the subject was.” He tucked the folder neatly under his arm, casually ambling back into the main room from Jacqueline’s secret vault.
“Of course, this conversation tends to bring up the most important part of our little partnership…” He swirled on a heel, leaning on her desk as he gestured to her with a free hand.
“With these new developments constantly invoking new outlets, I do believe it may be time to re-negotiate some details in our contract. Not to say I don’t believe we are on the same page about keeping both of our heads above water, but what am I exactly promised out of all this? I’d hate for all this work to be done only to find my organization severely undercompensated for life-threatening events.”Jacqueline knew this next step was going to reveal itself, it never failed, as the Cowl turned on heel and addressed it promptly. She inhaled then paused for thought over the risk of trusting the man.
“Well, us getting the virus would limit possible damages you’ve suffered by a considerable amount when dealing with the SES series in the future. We can also fix those damaged individuals from prior experiments, including the 006-8 series products, back to a stable health. There are no promises they will be able to be exactly as they were before. In addition, you recall when I stated we were peddling our low marketed SES products? It can be arranged to allow you access to higher quality SES that we’ve not yet introduced to the streets.” She paused for a moment, shuffling toward the folders on the desk then selected two different folders that were colored. One blue and the other black, her hand passed them both off to the Cowl’s reach to see his reaction.
“The blue folder holds the information over the SES 31 series, a different strain than you’ve been currently handling which takes several animal traits and combines them into one individual. Speed, strength, agility, and even specialized tactical abilities have been known to surface. The black is the current subject I’m willing to loan to you free of charge and for a reasonable time period. His serial number is 31-023, but he goes by the name of Tristan Abel. He’s well seasoned with his abilities and there’s little risk in him falling to the same issues as your men.” Jacqueline waited to see how much farther she would have to go or if this would be enough.
“Well, as great as a batch of superhuman enforcers eventually might be, that’s unfortunately not what I’m asking for. Mr. Abel is more than likely a competent man and I have no doubts he’d work well with me, but I’m not exactly one who likes having help I haven’t recruited personally wandering about my facilities. I’m sure you understand that one, as I’ve had a few of my own subordinates shooed out of your company.” The Cowl replied, a deep sigh leaving his chest as he adjusted his seating.
“Like Gene Co, the Shroud Syndicate is all about the profit margin, we can’t keep making investments with little to no yield.” He turned his gaze upon her, his eyes bearing the little glint of greed that signified his demands.
“I need something I can compensate with for these investments, something I can sell in the underworld. While having empowered soldiers is beneficial for security, said security is not going to compensate for the resources I’m spending in order to gather information. I’m asking for a slight increase of negligence on your part so that I may peddle some product and provide for my workforce.” He cocked his head, his eyes narrowing at her with a certain scrutiny.
“That’s not too much to ask for, is it?”“You can’t judge me for trying to get by with as little risk as possible.” Jacqueline replied, feeling her skin crawl with the Cowl’s gaze digging into her,
“Unlike you, Gene Co is in the public eye and even the black branch project, if discovered, could create much scandal hurting our ability to do business. The company isn’t much good if we’re seized by the police as anything discovered of yours has a better chance of being covered.” She pushed off the desk, hoping the increased distance might relieve her discomfort that she hid underneath. Her legs bring her back to the vault while she leaned down to close it tightly, sealing the door and hiding the secrets within. Once more, she turned to face him then addressed the issue with a more lax approached.
“As for the increase of negligence, specifics are a much easier to work with in order to find a middle ground rather than vague notions. So why don’t you state what you have in mind and we’ll attempt to find area between that is suitable for both of us.”“Oooo, I hate it when you make me be direct.” The Cowl said, rolling his eye slightly.
“You know, that’s what separates you from all my other business partners. I slip them a nod, a handshake, and a generous cut, and they look the other way when I take a piece of their product to sell on the streets.” He gestured to Jacqueline as he pushed off the desk himself.
“But you, no such luck. With you I have to spill everything, I swear, you are as tough and lustrous as brass sometimes.”He gave her a casual shrug, shaking his head slightly before continuing.
“I’m interested in making off with a particular cut from your medical branch, Jackie. The hospitals aren’t somewhere I like taking narcotics from because I’m actually not entirely heartless, but I do need product to keep certain parts of my business flowing, and who would have more narcotics under their belt then the number one genetics company in Lost Haven?” He gestured to her, hoping for her to catch on.
“Going to the source often saves you having to cut in the middle man. Exactly how much would have to vanish during ‘disposal’?” Jacqueline asked, ignoring the fact he had called her by a shorten version of her name. Not many individuals would’ve been so bold or lucky to get away with it, showing how deeply she respected him enough to allow the little things to slip by.
“Not much, honestly.” The Cowl said.
“Barely enough to be noticed in a detailed ledger, maybe a crate each other week from your cargo ship from the docks. Think of it more like a safety deposit rather than an actual contribution. While I am more than capable of making my own money back with my own drug trade, having a little bit from a third party can make that extra few hundred thousand grand each week to make. If you’re going to place an eye in my ranks with this ‘Tristan Abel’, the least you can do is provide me with enough collateral to convince me he isn’t just your eyes and ears within my side of business.” He chuckled, placing a hand in his pocket as he spoke.
“I respect you deeply, Jacqueline, but you have to know how hard it is to just trust a man I’ve never met to stand by my side.”“That trust goes both ways. He’s also likely the only one to prove you didn’t decide to hold the virus yourself, claim it was destroyed, and enhance the SES you already have from the shipments you’ve already gotten.” Jacqueline pointed out the additional reason she wanted to put her own man on the team. She sighed then turned Cowl with a slightly soured look in her eyes when she spoke again.
“He also has details over how to contain the virus to prevent your people from killing the host accidently, nulling this little agreement.” She inhaled, then added.
“For someone who knows how I work, you’re still tiptoeing around the specifics so I’ll start by mentioning I can increase the amount of narcotics by at least three crates. They will be ‘defective’ products which are much easier to get by investigations and go missing since they were destroyed of. Which is about triple rate of the earlier negotiations.” “Hm. Alright, fine.” The Cowl said, his arms crossing in a small huff at being dragged once more into being entirely honest with her, one of the rare times anyone ever would make him speak in a straightforward manner.
“Three crates will do, I would not suggest any more be traded off, as that would arise suspicion. I’m not looking to expose you for anything, just to try and compensate for the amount of work I’m about to provide to get you this virus. After all, Gene Co’s stock is going to skyrocket when you get to reveal you have the world’s first mass-produced supersoldier, and you know I’m not going to get any of that without some heat sent your way.” He chuckled.
“I’ll keep it small-scale, keep the police bought off so there isn’t any interference or suspicion regarding this little assignment. In regards to your man, I’ll let you put Tristan on my payroll, but he stays within sight of me and no funny business within any of my operations. He stays at my back and does what I say. Is that acceptable?”Jacqueline nodded, through her body moved toward her desk and reached into a drawer. She pulled out a small device, a smartphone in design, then passed it over to the Cowl.
“The man has a small, nanobot tracker within his system and is unaware of it. This device is the only way to track him outside Gene Co. I suggest you not inform him or his attempt to take it out might end up killing a very expensive experiment. As for any ill nature toward you, that would only manage to hurt me rather than help. How else could we test our products without government approval?” “Ah, that’s what I love about you, Jacqueline.” The Cowl mused,
“You never let the rules get in the way of progress, truly a pioneer of business progress.” The lines in his mask creased slightly, indicating he was most likely smiling as he took the device.
“It seems we have an accord. I’ll have my man in the CDC report back as soon as he comes up with anything.”With his words, he strolled on over to the desk, his fingers lightly dragging over the papers before he plopped down in Jacqueline’s chair with a heavy thud. His eyes began to scan the office, leaning back in the chair as he took the entirety of the small office in.
“You know...you can tell a lot by what a person keeps in their office...mostly what they hold dear to them and what they bother to keep with them in their path to corporate power. I’ve been in this office more times than I can count, and you know what I’ve found?”“Enlighten me?” Jacqueline asked, her voice lessened in its business like air now that the deal was struck. She didn’t move herself from her position or become angry over the fact he had stolen her chair, her actually admiring his image sitting there for a bit. It was interesting to note what they had in common while both were self made individuals.
“You don’t keep a lot in here.” He said with a chuckle.
“More appropriately, it’s the absence of items that intrigue me more than anything else. There’s no family photos in here. No significant others. There’s no silly motivational posters or letters drawn up by loved ones. Hell, there isn’t a photo of a dog or cat, not even a trophy from some long forgotten college-sport championship won. There’s nothing, not a single bit of this office is personalized, it’s kept entirely professional. From my experience, that usually means one of two things. You either have a very firm divide between your personal and professional life...or that the two are one and the same. I’ve never bothered to ask, but which one of those resonates with you more?”Jacqueline found herself amused, considering the fact. Her figure wandered over to the windows overseeing the night life, her eyes studying the busy streets and hazy light casting their electric glow.
“Recently, I’ve not found much time for personal time in my life, so I believe at this point the lines are blurred. I’m not much for spending time with myself, even in luxury when I can change the world for the better and not do it alone.” The Cowl listened intently, following her movements by swivelling the chair all the way to the window, his eyes never leaving her as she explained herself. A soft breath left his mask as she finished, slowly leaning forward in the chair.
“That’s a dangerous road you walk on, Jacqueline, melding both lives means if there is one that crashes, the other will simply not be there to cushion the fall. It’s one thing to devote every waking hour to the betterment of humanity, it’s another to do so for so long that you forget what being human is all about.”“Some paths are much harder to pull from than others. I learned the hard way that to become strong, I had to want to be strong. When a person is pushed to the bottom of their life, they instinctively want to pull themselves out and work toward a better one. You see it all the time. It’s only through that will, can someone become stronger and powerful enough to then return the favor to others. It’s a terrible cycle but one that works.” Jacqueline said, her eyes almost lost in the memories of her childhood and the terrible things that happened. She shook her head away from it all when she then addressed the Cowl.
“I suppose you’ve found the balance and not stuck in the same loop as myself?” “Not in the slightest.” The Cowl responded, having now gotten up from his chair and slid over to the collection of hard liquor Jacqueline kept in her office.
“But that’s the beauty of being human, you never get to truly know how much is too much one way or another. You never know if your best days are ahead of you or behind you, so you just keep striding onward to try and improve in the hopes that maybe all your hard work and effort will pay off. I’ve done everything I can to get to where I am today, but I can safely say that I wouldn’t be surprised if someone swept it all away within the week, that my whole empire would crumble in a matter of days.” He unscrewed the top on a particularly dark bourbon, pouring a glass for Jacqueline and himself.
“But I’m not worried about it, and I’m not looking to burn myself out over it, I’m looking simply to enjoy what I have built, as well as striving for more. The world is unforgiving, but it has its moments of serenity when you just take a moment to enjoy it.”He raised his glass, offering to give her a toast.
“To being human, and all the little complications that come with that.”Jacqueline thanked him and raised her glass, joining in on the toast while she sipped the liquor. The bourbon sliding down her throat easily as it settled in her stomach.
“An addition to allowing Tristan on your payroll, you can examine his abilities for yourself and if you happen to like the product then I’ll make arrangements for future shipments. His model is much more stable then the earlier ones.” She let the information sink before she asked a simple question.
“What happens when someone tries to take away everything you worked for and succeed? I know what I would do, but what would you do?” The Cowl thought about the question for a moment, pulling his mask up before beginning to take a sip. It was dark, the man cleverly moving back to the shadows as to keep his face hidden while he drank.
“Nothing, I’d suppose.” He answered, adding just before he took a sip.
“I’d have to be dead before that ever happened.”“Then that’s where you and I differ. I would start a new as I did before, nothing new to me.” Jacqueline took a deeper sip, a harden and firm voice of determination laced her words when she spoke.
“That’s where the whole ‘masked identity’ comes into play for me…” The Cowl said.
“I’d go into detail on what that means...but this isn’t the time or place.”Jacqueline’s next words were regretful and slightly depressed at what was about to come to an end.
“Sadly, I’m afraid say this meeting is over and you’re risked yourself enough. I hope you’re satisfied with the arrangements. I’ll contact you with future arrangements over turning the virus into our custody. Tristan will have details on the best options to contain the virus and that will also allow you to meet him in person.”“Ah, alright, I agree that makes the most sense.” He responded, a disappointed sigh leaving him as he spoke. He took a minute to glance out to the city, the fake warmth of the yellow lights eking into the room.
“We should really do this again, perhaps without the pretense of a meeting.” A rare smile cracked over Jacqueline’s lips.
“I would enjoy that very much. I’ll make sure to keep a flexible slot open in my schedule later on.”A sheepish scoff left the Cowl.
“I doubt that very much, though I’d be happy with that outcome.” He snickered, swirling the drink in his hand.
“At the very least we should finish the drinks before I leave, though.”“Might be hard if I decide to refill your glass.” 
