All You Have Lived For [Eliane, Alastair]

Sitting on a bench overlooking the ocean, her younger sister at her side, one might have easily thought that Eliane was simply any other tourist visiting the City of Lights. Then again, with all the scars still criss-crossing her body, maybe she would look more like a refugee. That wasn't entirely inaccurate, either, was it? Well, that didn't matter.

Dialing a number into her cellphone, Eliane simply watched the water, though her eyes glanced briefly over to Antonetta and her cat. The thought crossed her mind to pet it, but she knew that would probably just make Antonetta angry. Just as well, given how many times she'd done much worse to her cats than simply pet them.

Hopefully Mr. Eisfluch was punctual about answering his phone.

Alastair had not been the type to care much about his mobile phone for most of his life. He knew that it served a purpose, so he had often kept an outdated but perfectly functional model for as long as he feasibly could before seeking to replace it. Recent years had seen a shift in this perspective, though, and, despite himself, he often found himself spending more time using such devices and thus they had a shorter lifespan if he used older models. The correlation between this change and his rise up the Vandenreich chain of command was certainly rather clear.

The buzz of an incoming call was thus not a shock to the Administrator, though the caller themselves certainly was. Enough so that his brow furrowed rather quickly, his mind racing to contemplate exactly how this was a trap or a sting of some kind. Unfortunately, he soon came to the realisation that there was little he could glean simply from the call itself and there was a greater risk to be had should he ignore it. Pressing the accept button, he brought the device up to his ear and stifled a sigh.

"Ms. Ovide, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Ah, that had been fast. With a smile that seemed to seep into her voice like poison, Eliane spoke in her typical calm, lackadaisical tone, still watching the waves as she thought about the full situation.

"Oh, don't be so formal with me. Just Eliane is more than sufficient, you know. But I don't want to waste too much time with games, something I'm sure you're surprised to hear. I'd like to discuss long-term solutions to our mutual enemy. I want Claudia dead, probably--no, certainly more than you do. Antonetta is here, as well."

For once, she meant that, but she still said it in the same way she said everything. It was just how Eliane was, unable to take much of anything seriously.

"Would you be free to meet me for tea? I'm not far from the Cafe Picaro. Bring whatever security measures you'd like. I'm unarmed and don't have any intentions of causing trouble for you right now."

"I did imagine that you would be hot on Ms Antonetta's heels. Very well. I gave her one opportunity, so you will receive the same. I will be at the cafe shortly, and I do not intend to play any games."

There was a click as the line went dead.

Alastair was not exactly interested in drawing this out, nor did he particularly believe this whole spiel about Eliane turning on Claudia too. It was far too coincidental, too perfectly timed, for it to make any sense. Especially if she was in cahoots with Antonetta, the girl who claimed to have a bomb built into her. If they wanted to draw him out then so be it, but it had already been established that they had his home address so it hardly mattered.

Fortunately, it was not hard to assemble a response team on short notice. The Vandenreich was still on high alert, after all. A few squads of Soldat to handle the evacuation of the local area, an Albedochiffren team for bomb disposal, and then Coordinator Hellian and a squad of Sternritter for direct support. There was a very real possibility that this was all a hoax, but Alastair was hardly the type to do anything with a half measure. The threat was all too real, the enemy too close to home, and innocent lives were most certainly at risk.

It took the best part of an hour for the local area to be evacuated and a cordon established, most of which time Alastair had spent on the scene studying the cafe and its surroundings. He was trying to deduce what angle Eliane was trying to work, and how exactly it had come to this. Ultimately, he was going to have to have a stern talk with the Inner Circle regarding border control, as this marked the third infiltration of the City of Light by a malicious third party and there had been little progress in preventing such actions as yet.

Eventually, the green light came from his deputies, and the Administrator began his approach to the cafe proper. A team of Soldat moved in his wake, starting the process of sweeping and evacuating the buildings that fell inside of their cordon one by one. It was likely going to be a long day for them. If Alastair could not spot Eliane then he would soon return to his phone and await the prospect of being informed that she was long gone.

How feisty of him. Shrugging, Eliane put her phone into her jacket pocket, and led the way over to the cafe. She knew this would certainly be a waiting game while Alastair set up his security, but it was almost cute how much effort he had actually gone to, all this evacuation. Sipping her cup of coffee, she simply looked over to the man as he finally arrived on the scene, setting it down and steepling her fingers with that same omnipresent smile she always wore, no matter the situation.

"I'm a little impressed you believed me. Well, impressed you came. I don't really think you believe anything I say just yet, but that's fine. I'll say it anyway. I'm putting a briefcase onto the table, just so you don't expect me to pull any funny business."

Doing just that, moving slowly enough that Alastair would have ample time to actually respond if she did in fact try something, Eliane pulled open the briefcase and set down numerous reports of financial movements, research documentation, and other internal reports from the Duvalier Group that were both exceptionally classified and, also, dated for today.

"Consider this the first part of a peace offering. I could fill a hundred more briefcases with intel just like that, if you want, but carrying it would be a little hard. What I want is to see the Duvalier Group burn to the ground, and Claudia with it. I want Arlette, Antonetta, and Wolfina to be safe here. I'm not really worried about what it costs, so."

Her smile falling, Eliane's eyes drilled into Alastair with a profoundly heavier weight than her expression usually even seemed capable of. This wasn't simply the stare of Eliane taking something seriously; this was the very same look Claudia herself gave to everyone. A look of absolute confidence, belief in oneself without even the capability for doubt.

"I am a military officer. We are obligated to take threats like these with the utmost sincerity."

Alastair's gaze flicked past Eliane to Antonetta, offering the woman a wary glance as he considered the very real prospect of a suicide attack by the sisters. If that were the intention then the best course of action was to humour Eliane for as long as possible to give his people the best chance of getting clear, though if that was the case then there was likely little he could do to delay the inevitable. The sight of a briefcase did only compound these concerns, and his hand did linger close to the sword that hung at his hip, but he was patient enough to let it pop open and reveal the contents inside.

Stepping forward, he reached out to pluck a document from the top of the pile. Much of the detail was lost on him, but he liked to think that he could pick out an overly obvious fake. Though it was probably rather insulting to think that Eliane would be that cheap.

"The validity of these documents will need to be confirmed before I can treat them as anything more than words upon paper, you must understand that this is quite a coincidental time for you to also wish to turn cloak."

He met her gaze evenly, momentarily pleased by the degree of sobering intensity that she was carrying before he realised exactly who it reminded him of. He found that was a little more offputting.

"So, whilst I can agree that Lady Duvalier should be stopped, why have you had a change of heart?"

"I understand. I don't have anywhere I need to be, so take as much time as your people need to verify the contents."

Taking another sip of her coffee, Eliane leaned back in her seat, gesturing to the lack of collar around her neck that differed from Antonetta's own.

"It's no coincidence. I've expected Arlette to run away for a long time now. That's just how sisters are, you know, but I know she'd hate to think that's true. So I planned for my own getaway when that happened, and while I'm sure she's suffering more than I am, I don't think she'd have cared for my methods."

Pulling up one of her sleeves, Eliane showed the extensive criss-crossing scars, marks that were entirely transparent as to their nature. Stitches, holding together parts that certainly hadn't always been in one piece.

"I don't like being on a leash, and I don't like seeing my sisters on one, either. I've never been under any illusions she considered us anything more than tools, but that didn't really matter when she treated us well. But this? No, this won't do."

There was an undeniable venom in Eliane's voice that seemed to drip from every word, even as she maintained that song-like cadence to her every word. Those collars were so fundamentally against Eliane's nature that there was almost nothing in the world that could have made her angrier. But it also wasn't in her nature to ever reveal how she felt, not to the fullest. Her expression was serious, her tone polite, and it was only that faint, undeniable edge that gave away just how much she was livid beneath the surface.

Alastair's eyes did, with Eliane's guidance, appraise the lack of collar around her own neck and then the patchwork flesh that seemed to be holding her together beneath the surface. It was inhuman, and yet it certainly suggested that she had taken a different method to Arlette rather than simply 'get out'. Glancing back to Antonetta, he paused for a moment and considered all that was being said. If he truly believed her capable of sisterly love then this would have been a lot more straightforward, unfortunately, the cards had not been dealt in her favour.

"Do you know how to disarm the device around Ms Antonetta's neck then? Or have an explanation for why it has not yet detonated if it is meant to be an insurance measure?"

Returning the document to the briefcase, he made to reseal it and prepare it for transportation. Soon enough, a lone Vandenreich Soldat was approaching the cafe to retrieve it. The bomb squad was also likely preparing to mobilise, given that it seemed like Antonetta was still just as dangerous as she had previously alluded to, but Eliane's answer might well change the tune on that one. That underlying menace that hung from her words was hardly what Alastair could call comforting, but it felt startlingly more honest than the usual overly jovial tone with which she had handled their previous interactions.

"If the information that you have provided us is genuine then we will be several steps closer to exposing the Duvalier Group for what it is and stopping it for good. I am thankful for that possibility, as the sooner this is done the better, but this does not make us allies. Working with me to clean up what mess this has caused will be the first step on that road, but trust is not built in a day and if you wish to continue to operate independently after this then I will need to see some semblance of that trust."

"No. I know how to keep it distracted well enough, but when it comes to getting it off, I worked around that issue. It isn't quite as omnipresent as Claudia would like us to think. She can detonate them any time, but no one else can, and she doesn't trust anyone or anything enough to make the judgement, not even some computer program. She's far too busy to spend every waking moment trying to listen in on what we're doing. Antonetta is here on an assignment, she has no reason to suspect anything. And me? Dying and needing to be replaced isn't anything new for me. She's already made another of me that's being yanked along on her leash."

The idea that he actually would have simply trusted her completely now, considered them dear friends or anything like that, wasn't even something Eliane had considered. Why should he? She certainly wouldn't have if she were in Alastair's position, and while normally she might have taunted him about that, acted despondent and offended about the matter, this wasn't the time for that.

"I imagined that would be the case. My suggestion to you is to get in contact with Mr. Bauher Kleinmund in Arlette's employ, and have him oversee the collar removal for Antonetta. I'll hand over the pieces left from when a few of mine detonated. When that collar is removed, Wolfina and the second me will probably come here with the full intention of seeing this issue resolved by any means necessary. I'll gladly help you with that issue, but I have no intention of letting Wolfina die. The fake me, you can do whatever you'd like with her."

While Arlette had clearly fled in the spur of the moment and was still paying the price, Eliane had just as obviously planned this entire situation for quite some time, and was now simply executing on what she'd already thought out. She'd done her homework, come prepared, and knew exactly what she had to offer for all this. Did she really care about the ethics of any of it? No. Not at all, in fact. Claudia had simply overstepped her bounds, and Eliane was nothing if not spiteful.

It was of little surprise that Eliane was so well informed on both her own situation and Arlette’s. Truth be told, it was unlikely that Claudia did not know any of this information either and there was still the real possibility that this was a sting. But it was also quite unfortunate that the only reason this device around Antonetta’s neck had not yet detonated was because they had been lucky. If Claudia tuned in right this second then they were likely all going sky high in a flash of blinding white light. Would she enjoy that? Even now, he had no real grasp on the depths of her apathy.

“Mr. Kleinmund would have been my first choice too, but we would be putting a lot on the line. Our best chance at disabling this device is now based on the off chance that Lady Duvalier does not simply choose to have a listen in for a moment. Is there anything that can block that signal? Even for a moment or two? Or do we need to come up with a more concrete distraction?”

“And you say that there is now two of you? I assume that is the reason for your peculiar composition, I… That cannot be an easy thing for anyone to process.”

Finding even the smallest amount of empathy for one like Eliane was not exactly where Alastair had expected this conversation to take. But he had also expected her to try to gut him on sight so he would take that trade any day.

“If Ms Wolfina and the other version of yourself come to the City of Lights then they will be dealt with. If we have the means to disable their collars then it is in my best interests to see them released so that those pieces can be safely removed from the board. What they do with that freedom is theirs to decide.”