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An Honest Living [Arlette, Bauher]
Sat Feb 19, 2022 12:33 pm
ARLETTE OVIDE | RIGHT HAND OF THE QUEEN
Having established one more company in the City of Lights was, at least in Arlette's view, hardly much of anything to talk about. It had been a necessity, really, to justify her increasing continued presence in this place. There was almost a sense in the back of her mind that she ought to inform someone, at least in some abstract manner, that the Director of the Sternritter was still well--
But, of course, that wouldn't have been practical. Right?
Regardless, simply stating that South Pacific Logistics Incorporated had been officially established as a company was not the same as turning a profit, or for that matter, the same as actually providing significant benefit to the Vandenreich. She had already ensured that her ability to provide meaningful support to the City of Lights was the intention of this company, and failing in that regard would likely spell a quick end even if her bottom line was more than adequate.
She would need to have someone on her payroll that could provide a unique service, and in that regard, she'd heard that an exceptionally unique opportunity had presented itself. So a missive was sent, from the desk of Arlette Ovide, to the architect of much of Karakura's modern defense network. She did hope he would join her for this quiet little meeting over coffee, at a cafe looking out at the sea. Fall was coming, wasn't it? Even in all of her travels, it was still somewhat peculiar adjusting to the seasons of the southern hemisphere. Well, no matter. A cup of coffee, nearly white with its cream content and with far too much sugar, was a perfectly pleasant drink regardless of the weather.
NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAINED | END POST
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Re: An Honest Living [Arlette, Bauher]
Sat Feb 19, 2022 12:55 pm
Huh, a message.
He really shouldn't have been surprised that some corporate official had sniffed out his presence in the City of Lights as of late. So when he got the invitation in his mailbox at the hotel, he couldn't help but scratch his head a little when he made note of who it was from. It wasn't a group he was too unfamiliar with, and there was no small amount of narrowing of his eye. A company that pretty much seemed to own most of everything, and seemed to be growing every day. It only made sense that such a large corporation would go sniffing in his direction.
It took him little to no time to FIND the damn place, the directions had been pretty clear at least. And from a distance, it wasn't too hard to stop her off in the distance. Arlette Ovide. Practically an extension of Claudia herself from what he'd read up on her. He hadn't really thought to look too much into it. He peeled his phone from his pocket, idly opening up the application he'd put to task in finding out just where this company had come from. A little thing he hadn't used since his daughter went missing and he threw the thing together with some help from his friend. May as well get to know who was calling him in right? HE turned the screen off and slipped his phone back into his pocket.
"Good afternoon. Miss Ovide, I believe? Mind if I have a seat?" He offered a lopsided smile as he approached the woman, asking permission to sit as if he HADN'T been specifically asked to show up. He didn't seem tense or alarmed as many she met with might seem. He was relaxed to say the least, but not in the sort of snide, knowing way that Administrators or Company officials might be. At just a glance, he just seemed like some guy come to have a pleasant conversation. Truly his Daughter's Father.
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Re: An Honest Living [Arlette, Bauher]
Sat Feb 19, 2022 5:16 pm
ARLETTE OVIDE | RIGHT HAND OF THE QUEEN
"Not at all."
Arlette was certainly not the sort to mind the man's casual demeanor. If anything, she rather preferred that to the sort of irritating corporate lingo that she was so used to dealing with in the business world. Eliane always seemed to have a good time with it, and the new two didn't seem to be much better, but Arlette liked to keep things direct and to the point.
"Thank you for coming. I don't want to waste any of your time, and I imagine someone as intelligent as you are has already looking into the circumstances surrounding the invitation, anyway."
She wasn't a fool, and she sipped her over-sweetened beverage to give him a moment to understand her own approach. Arlette took a faint pride in not being much like her sister, or her employer, for that matter.
"I'd like your help in making the Vandenreich a more independent entity. It's no secret that their location, even if defensible, demands a level of outside support that isn't tenable for them long-term. You're certainly familiar with establishing a defensive support infrastructure."
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Re: An Honest Living [Arlette, Bauher]
Sat Feb 19, 2022 5:41 pm
He smiled a bit and took the seat opposite of her, his head tilting a bit to the side as one of his brows raised. "I don't worry myself with time when I'm not on a clock, waste away." He noted with a light smile, pausing. That was dorky wasn't it? Maybe? Hmmmm. He had ordered some tea, giving a little bit of a sip and wrinkling his nose. It wasn't what he usually liked, but he was trying to kick Coffee. Work had gotten him addicted to the stuff. Briefly distracted in such a way that he almost looked surprised when she started talking again.
Ah, one of those. Hm, maybe his 'off the clock' comment hadn't quite been the play. Damn. He straightened up just a little and continued to watch her over the rim of his tea as he sipped it now and then, taking the opportunity to try and acclimate himself to the drink, pausing now and then to add more sugar here and there before sipping it again. Hm... He glanced at her own drink, vaguely wondering what she had. It smelled good. He continued to look at it even as he spoke, a bad habit of his as a result of often speaking to his wife without looking away from his own workscreen.
"I suppose that's certainly something to worry about. So you're here to convince me to join the Vandenreich then?" He ventured, glancing back up to her with a half-smile. Certainly it was intriguing that she was going for a 'for the cause' pitch. Especially one that seemed to make as though him being talked to by her was some boon to the Vandenreich rather than ....you know...HER company.
So that certainly begged the question. Was this because she knew his Daughter was employed at the Vandenreich? Was that an angle to make it seem as if working for her was indirectly a means of safety for his family? For a woman who claimed to be getting to the point, she seemed to be aiming for the bushes. "I'm joking, of course. You guys have your fingers in a lot of pies, I know." Weird Analogy Bauher. Dial it back. " But....security for a place like this is a bit of a surprise. There's a lot of different developing locations in America that could use the help of your company. Why focus on the Vandenreich?" She wanted to talk projects, so he planned on getting to the roots. Maybe she expected this. Maybe she didn't. Maybe he was just bored or paranoid after living the life he had.
All he knew was this tea needed more sugar. So he added a bit more.
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Re: An Honest Living [Arlette, Bauher]
Tue Mar 01, 2022 4:15 pm
ARLETTE OVIDE | RIGHT HAND OF THE QUEEN
"Because the rest of America is already under the rest of the Duvalier Group's care. The Vandenreich, on the other hand, isn't. I have the fullest confidence that our CEO will be seeing things through in America. But I'm more interested in the development of the Vandenreich as an organization that extends past America's borders."
Sipping her drink once more, Arlette thought about the situation in America, as well as her interactions with Mr. Eisfluch and her own personal stance on these matters. Yes, she was quite aware that her establishment of this company was fundamentally at odds with her mother's actual aims. That continued stability and long-term development was antithetical to the misanthropic, destructive worldview that she alone seemed to lack when compared to her mother and her sisters.
By contrast, she was a pragmatic woman, without spite or hatred in her actions. And, from her perspective, there was nothing to be gained from destruction when there was infinitely more to be gained through support.
"The Vandenreich is weaker than I think is ideal for the world stage right now. Their efforts to bring peace are all well and good, and I'd even call them necessary. But as it stands, it wouldn't take much to topple them, and then we'd have a pretty grave power vacuum. That isn't good for people, or for business, especially with how regularly it seems like holes are opening in the status quo of authority. I'm a businesswoman, make no mistake. I'm not coming to you under the pretense of philanthropy. But it's good business not to let the world collapse in on itself, wouldn't you say?"
NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAINED | END POST
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Re: An Honest Living [Arlette, Bauher]
Tue Mar 01, 2022 4:44 pm
How very frank. The transparency of the woman to want to spread into a place not yet footholded by the company. She seemed quite open and pragmatic about all of .....this. And there was a sort of purposefulness about her that certainly was something to inspire confidence. Not only that but .... hm. There was more than just a blankess about her eyes. It wasn't emotion on her face, but there was consideration, the gears turning in her head. This wasn't some recited pitch or mentally memorized script. She at the very least, seemed to be in the here and the now.
God he wished he had a cigarette. He decided to add another lump of sugar and then take a slow and steady sup of his drink as he let his eye drift to a close and consider the thing being put in front of him. Certainly she made a lot of......points. And he thought about his own situation. Out here....looking for work so that he didn't have to see his wife going in and out of the hospital all the time. But more importantly....because she was clearly pushing him away. SHE didn't want him seeing her like that. And he was letting her, what a despicable man he was. And now he was being offered something that, while pitched outside of philanthropy, certainly was one of those times when someone would say 'This is your chance to make a difference'. And for just a moment, he had a tired look on his face. Looking at the woman across from him.
Vaguely, he wondered what lie behind that stern face. Malice? Greed? Was there some trigger within her to reach across this table and snap his neck? Was she capable of that? These days it was not super likely, but that WAS there. He was just .... a guy. And an awful one at that.
He set his tea down. "So.... you want me to work on security for the City of Lights. You, knowing my background, are aware that this is a systems security, mostly programming and all that. Not the kind of brute reinforcement other places have. Not a Duvalia Group ezxisting headquarters, or a place where you are solidly in control. But the Vandenreich where your group is not really present all that firmly yet." There wasn't a question there, but there certainly were a lot of ....interesting implications. For one, his was the kind of security from PEOPLE, not monsters or even shinigami. He'd yet to run into a shinigami with any sort of hacking capabilities or even knowledge. Which made him wonder if she foresaw an attack from one such threat borne from the world of the living.
But he didn't outright ask any such question. That was above his paygrade.
"So, let's say that I agree to this. I'm pretty sure you would still need to pitch this to the Vandenreich. MY kind of help involves intimate interaction with the system in question. Your company must have a pretty tight relationship with the Vandenreich. " He murmured, making it a bit obscure whether he was talking to her or himself at this point. "Say I agree. What sort of timeline do you have in mind for the project? On one hand I can understand that deadlines exist, but I have Family in Karakura, and this isn't the kind of work that can, or should, be rushed. I also value ...freedom and flexibility over a strong paycheck. Not only that, but We'll also have to outline just what sort of rights you have over this system. You want it built for the Vandenreich, not your company. Which means that for security reasons, I don't imagine they will be all that keen on you having administrative access to it outside of maybe a small team that's working on the project itself. In fact, you may not have a ton of rights even for oversight in comparison to the Vandenreich itself for what I'm working on. Are you alright with that?" He ventured. Sure, she SEEMED pretty sure and focused on hiring him for this job. But he also wanted to make sure that she understood what this process would be like. The kinds of things tht frankly she would wind up being kept in the dark about, AND that he made it abundantly clear that he planned on following those protocols and the like.
Which was also why he was talking about freedom, flexibility, and lack of oversight. If she was truly in this for the safety of the vandenreich, then this would not be something she'd have a problem with. But, if she wasn't. He was making it abundantly clear that he wasn't in this for money. He would not be giving the Duvalia group any special access or administrative authorization in this hypothetical security system, and that she may very well not even see much of the thing she'd be paying him to produce. These were things that involved a very considerable trust. Bauher had been orphaned... and taken in by karakura. And frankly, they had trusted him because he owed them everything. He hardly wanted to get a job, and then be hissed at about how it had to be carried out.
He watched her carefully, despite that calm expression.
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Re: An Honest Living [Arlette, Bauher]
Tue Mar 01, 2022 6:42 pm
ARLETTE OVIDE | RIGHT HAND OF THE QUEEN
Arlette watched Bauher as he spoke, not with any particular intensity, but with the clear attentiveness that showed she was legitimately interested in his words. If she weren't, after all, then she wouldn't have even bothered to come here to begin with.
If she were her mother, or even her sisters, she knew all too well that she would have been amused at how brazenly he spoek on the matter of her own detachment from the project she was assigning him. That, in fact, it was something she would have very little meaningful oversight on, to a point that there would be practically no strategic benefit to her company beyond the philanthropic and the immediate economic.
That was, ultimately, exactly what Arlette wanted. And a part of her was not entirely certain why.
"I don't have any expectations that a project of this scope can be handled within a short timeframe. Ideally, it would be completely operational within a year, but I'm willing to extend that deadline to two years depending on how much time you think you'll need. I understand it's a significant undertaking, but I also can't pretend that this is something that we can let get caught up in red tape and needless funding. If it's intended to defend them when they're still weak, it wouldn't do anyone much good if it takes too long."
She sipped from her coffee again, and though it could likely have been refilled, she simply topped it off with more milk and sugar. Frankly, it bordered on just being sweet milk at this point, but that was how she liked it.
"My concern isn't that I be overseeing this project. My oversight would only mean anything if I knew enough about the topic to contribute, and the reality is that I don't. I'm a businesswoman, and logistical infrastructure isn't something that has much bearing on electronic security. As far as the actual systems you develop, South Pacific Logistics Incorporated is nothing but a source of funding for the project, and the Duvalier Group has nothing to do with it other than my own position in other companies."
Indeed, the company she'd formed for this purpose had no ties to the Group other than herself. By all accounts, it was an independent entity in its entirety, and she intended to keep it that way.
NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAINED | END POST
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Re: An Honest Living [Arlette, Bauher]
Tue Mar 01, 2022 7:13 pm
Hm, now THAT was certainly interesting. She took these things in stride but seemed...... VERY keen on them. Well, perhaps not keen , but comparatively speaking, there was no fuss. Even companies that had experience in this field, even if they didn't outright show disappointment, still implicitly put it on the table. 'Well thats something we can discuss in the future' or something to that effect. Even so a line so dismissive as 'We can work the details out as they come up'. But Arlette seemed .....interestingly capitulating to him. Reasonably. This wasn't even something so far as business formality, it was something... more than that. He wondered just how badly she wanted him involved with all of this, and he couldn't help but lightly drum his fingers. If it were someone else, he might have thought this a bit TOO easy. But .... hm. She was awfully earnest. He paused, making note of her own topping off her drink. He couldn't help but smile a bit in recognizing a fellow sweet tooth. He wondered if she was doing that intentionally after seeing him heap on sugars. Business was so fun like that.
"Well, I must say. You certainly at least seem to trust my expertise in this, rather refreshing. I never did like these sorts of conversations, you wouldn't believe the kind of crap corporations sometimes pull to try and sway things, thanks for making it so painless." He chuckled lightly, before he set his cup off to the side and a bit out of his casual reach. Hm. "Well, given all of this. I certainly have a lot to think about. At least that's what I would say." He murmured before reaching into his pocket and looking to his phone. He paused, allowing the app to pop up as he lightly scrolled for a moment.
Hm. The company seemed to be exactly as she said. His program did it's scrubbing, and going through what had been found on the public and archived web locations, it seemed as she said. This company of hers seemed...remarkably removed from her other corporate obligations. Which ...was interesting. " I usually let these things go for a bit. I'll say I have a few things to consider and do some research. To usually get a feel for the reasonings behind whatever ....quirks I see in these sorts of interviews. But you've not really given me much to work with. But as you've stated this seems pretty ....detached from the Duvalia. All I need to worry about is you, and you've given me very little to worry about." He murmured, itching the back of his head lightly before giving her a calm smile.
"If I were a more paranoid man, I'd almost call it suspicious. But, funnily enough. I think I actually trust what you've been telling me. So, rather than having you wait a couple days. I think I'm confident to say I'm on board. Though if you don't mind, I'd like to save the ....payment and wage, and benefit and ...all that other stuff for another time." He reached his off-hand up from it's place of rest at his side to swipe along his phone. And as if like magic, his business card seemed to slide out from under it. Sleight of hand. He held the card up and offered it to the woman, mildly pleased with himself that he hadn't dropped the card hidden beneath his fingers when he had reached for the phone.
"My contact information, I'm sure you got your hands on my business contact information, but I have a separate business number I keep unlisted for those I'm professionally engaged with. Same with the Email." He informed her. Naturally he did prefer to sidestep the other dozen messages and letters he got from people wanting to get his professional attention.
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