theblackcross | Friday 1.17 Unexpected diversion

Manx knew she was leaving the boys in a tough situation. She could only provide so much guidance. she was not their mother - she wasn't even their handler. She hoped they considered her a friend but at moments like this, she felt more like judge, jury and executioner.

She would have to work quickly to try and round them up some support - discreet, off-the-Kritiker-radar support. She had been out of Japan long enough that her civilian contacts had grown a bit rusty.

As she exited the Koneko, she gave a wary glance around the street. She had convinced herself that Thea had only been giving her a warning for letting herself grow lax. But maintaining these mental shields was proving to be exhausting. She gave a moments attention to her fledgling shields and headed for the street to hail a cab.

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From:

bcmanx.livejournal.com

She watched him closely. Again, he could just be very talented in controlling his body language, his expressions but the words he spoke and the conviction behind them suggested the truth in them. Esset was just as bad for Schwarz as it seemed to be for the others she had met.

Death was a completely viable alternative. That gave her pause. She hadn't expected him to be quite as broken as the others. Perhaps because of their status, their rank within Esset, she had thought Schwarz was spared much of the unpleasantness. In fact, they seemed to thrive on the horrors they inflicted on others. All of this raised even more questions that begged to be answered.

"I can tell you that most of the Esset factions and Rosenkreuz teams still do not know that Schwarz survived. Oracle has done well in keeping you under their radar." As a team leader, Oracle always seemed to go above and beyond what she expected from him. The stories of other Esset team leaders painted a picture of cruelty and sociopathic disregard for any human life - even the teams. They were free of Esset yet Schwarz remained whole, together, seemingly unchanged as a unit.

Perhaps unit was not the correct word.

"He bears the weight of the world on his shoulders to protect your team, doesn't he?" She almost didn't want an answer to that question. Above all else, she had abhorred everything about Oracle. His ruthless disregard for life, his cold calculating demeanor, his arrogance, even his damnable talent that always gave him the upper hand, justifying that superior, smug smirk he always seemed to wear on his face. He was the face of Esset and yet, he was the one who brought it all crumbling down.

Oracle was the true monster yet, he was protecting his team still. They were free. Manx would have thought Oracle would be the first one to abandon it all and head off on his own - disappear into the world without a glance back. But here he was.

Again Schulidg's words had raised more questions, only this time, they were about herself and what she had believed for so long.

From:

aki-jade.livejournal.com

"Yeah, he's a real humanitarian like that." Schuldig scoffed. It was getting a little too After School Special in his car, and he didn't like it. Manx was starting to put her nose where it didn't belong, and he was afraid he'd already said too much.

And he refused to believe that Schwarz wasn't being looked for. He knew how Esset and Rosenkreuz worked. And on the other side, they knew how Schwarz worked. They probably wouldn't stop looking until the found bodies. However, it was possible they weren't spending a tremendous amount of energy on it. Both organizations were arrogant like that.

But at least Manx was starting to come around. She was the foot in the door that they needed if they were going to start poking around at Kritiker.

"A man by the name of Johnson is behind this." He said, pulling up in front of the Koneko again. He then reached out and grabbed Manx's hand. "Touch the gun and I'll kill you." He said before she could even move, then he took out a pen and wrote his phone number on her palm.

"That's my cell. If you feel like sharing information, we would appreciate it. Like I said, we aren't any happier about this than you. The faster we get this taken care of, the faster we can get out of each other's hair and go about our lives."

From:

bcmanx.livejournal.com

Damn.

She knew she was pushing too far as the words left her mouth. But for some odd reason, she had to know. It felt like the one piece of information that would decide which way her fluctuating feelings would finally fall. If Oracle was capable of an actual human emotion, if he was able to care, then Schwarz, most definitely would fall in the 'victim' category that most Esset talents seemed to be in.

She actually felt a bit of disappointment as he pulled up to the Koneko once again. The suprising bit of information almost sailed by her and the warning was simply dismissed. Mastermind was proving to be full of helpful information even if his words couldn't necessarily be trusted. Shooting him was the furthest thing from her mind.

Even so she tensed as he grabbed her hand.

She sorely wished she could just take his words at face value.
Even more disturbing, she was warring with her instincts that were telling her he was being truthful.

"Tonight. Your team will be there." She said it as fact. There was no question in her mind. All the other questions she may have had were instantly clear in her mind. She pulled her hand free, wrapping her hand around the number scrawled there.

"You know more about this disk than Weiss does." She looked to him in all seriousness. "We have a common goal..."

She prepared herself for the mocking laughter she thought would ensue.

"... so help them."

From:

aki-jade.livejournal.com

"Maybe if they can prove useful. Right now they seem like a bunch of oversexed teenagers." Schuldig snorted, putting his pen away again. "We don't know much more about it, other than what it does. And that there are at least two copies. Probably more." He pressed the button to unlock the car doors.

"We won't be there. Aside from the fact that we don't want to, it might raise suspicion if we are there. Call me when they get tired of trying to get information out of them the normal way. Now get out and go talk to them. Tell them whatever you want."

He looked at her, waiting for her to leave. Vaguely, he wondered if a black eye would be in store for this little meeting. But... he just needed to meet her. Talk to her. See where Schwarz stood with them. If they were in good with Manx, Weiss would follow. Nagi might not be able to convince them to go, but he was sure as hell that Manx could.

From:

bcmanx.livejournal.com

Manx couldn't argue with that assessment. The drama she had just left in the Koneko's basement seemed to be nothing but hormone driven friction. Three virgins and a playboy all coming of age at the same time, under the same roof and with each other.

Kritiker really needed to take human sexual response more seriously in their profiling. It was astounding that they were all still breathing.

She felt certain that Schwarz was looking for the same answers that Weiss was searching for but she didn't necessarily trust that they would leave well enough alone. No matter what Mastermind's true motivations were in this conversation, one thing was clear.

They needed Weiss.

That alone gave her the confidence to place a demand of her own. She reached for his pen as she reached into her purse, quickly flipping a business card out of the front pocket. She quickly scrawled her cell number on the back.

"I am the closest you will get to Kritiker. We both have information the other wants and after tonight, I will know much more. You can call me when the need arises... "

Sure he could just smash through her shields to take what he wanted to know but doing so would destroy a valuable resource. As long as she had inside information on Kritiker, and remained on the inside, she would have value to Schwarz. It wasn't a guarantee but she would put money on the odds.

Hopefully it would buy her some time to get to know their greatest enemy in more detail. So far, it had been enlightening.

She opened the door and slipped one foot out.

"Thanks for the ride. It's been... interesting."

From:

aki-jade.livejournal.com

"Ditto." He said with a smirk, then suddenly looked up at the building, an amused look crossing his face briefly before he frowned.

How did these boys survive? It was really amazing to him sometimes. They had all of this information at their fingertips, and they were more worried about who fucked whom, who was going to fuck whom, and who wasn't fucking at all.

And Ken had gone batshit insane.

"Keep an eye on Siberian." He said before the door closed. "A very close eye. I would hate to lose such a valuable informant." He smirked at Manx. "Not to mention such a beautiful one."

He looked up one last time, easily finding Yohji's mind in the fray and wiping clean his memory of Brad and Schuldig's eventful evening together. He left most everything else, including the vision that led to his release, though he toned it down a bit, and made sure to add the memory of Schuldig wearing clothes.

It was for the best, Brad was right about that. Relationships were ammunition that they didn't need to have right now. They might be the "good guys" but they had no qualms about doing anything in their power to destroy the "bad guys."

"I'll contact you tonight." He said, looking back at Manx, then with a wave, drove off.

From:

bcmanx.livejournal.com

Manx couldn't help but wonder exactly what sort of web she had just woven herself into. She was most definitely playing this by ear with little solid information to guide her next move. She only knew that it was imperative to keep moving forward. In that, at least, she was satisifed.

As she stepped out onto the sidewalk the serious tone of the warning the telepath offered stopped her in her tracks. She glanced up at the Koneko, reminding herself again that the German's talent was unhindered by brick walls. 'Informant' twisted momentarily in her gut - again the uneasy hint of betrayal to Kritiker gave her pause. But the shameless flirting had her rolling her eyes.

At least the redhead was much smoother than Yohji. If he honestly thought she could be swayed by flattery, this would be easier than she first surmised. He was charming (to a point), engaging and negotiating with a skill she hadn't honestly expected.

She was beginning to feel like the fly in this web. Actually, she felt they both were.

She watched him drive off then slowly turned toward the Koneko lost in thought. She reached for the door but stopped herself. She shut her eyes wrestling with her decision and, with a sigh, released the handle and walked off down the street.

She needed time to put this into perspective before she approached Weiss with any of this information. The source alone would preclude it's validity in their eyes. She was sure why it didn't in hers.

She hailed a cab and headed off for her long awaited appointment. Perhaps there, she would find the clarity she was looking for.