The Inside Scoop

The Inside Scoop
Date of Scene:	16 October 2012
Location:	Manhattan
Synopsis:	A mysterious Turk of the Shinra Electric Company calls upon Mercade Alexander for a job. What could he possibly want? And what will Mercade do about it?
Cast of Characters:	Mercade Alexander, Sammy Colt

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Sammy Colt has posed:
Great. It had to be closed. Out of all the shops open on this dismall stretch, Mr. Oodles of Noodles had to be shut down for health reasons. Typical, really. Sammy paused in his contemplative thoughts before wondering if perhaps there was a reason for that crunchy mystery meat in the last bowl he ordered.

Best not to dwell on that.

The meeting location had been sent, now it was only a matter of time to see if Mr. Alexander would grace the ShinRa Turk with his presence. As many resources and spies as ShinRa had, it was always a good idea to have an outside source look into certain things so people don't get too suspicious.

Sammy looked down at his wrist (still covered with the turk suit) as if he were checking his watch before making a sigh noise.

"At least it isn't raining." He chides to himself as he watches a few random people walk by, apparently oblivious to a small man in a suit.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade is always available for consultation. Why? Because he likes to eat. Food is awesome.

The Detective arrives moments after the Turk checks his watch. Mercade himself is a fairly scruffy individual, nothing like the clean, professional and businesslike demeanor of the Turks (and Sammy in general). He stands there for a moment, eyes flicking around as he considers the man with a hand at his chin, before approaching. "Mr. Colt." Mercade says in greeting. He offers a hand to the man, and then leans up against the wall of the closed restaurant. "It's good to meet you. I admit, I was surprised to get a call from... outworld potential clients, but I appreciate the thought." He chuckles. "So what can I do for you?"

Sammy Colt has posed:
His last name is used - Sammy looks up at that moment to see the scruffy detective. There's a flash of teeth as Sammy offers the man a friendly smile.

The two men shake hands and Sammy waits for Mercade to relax himself. The comment about outworld clients is addressed with a shrug as Sammy watches a car drift by quietly.

"Well, sometimes it's better to get a different view point." Sammy says, reciting one of the lines he had practiced time and time again in front of the mirror while he flossed. The man asks the important question - what was Sammy going to ask of him.

Sammy takes a second to watch Mercade, trying to decide whether or not the man was worthy of the employment of ShinRa - or perhaps he's trying to figure out where the man's detective hat has gone.

"I represent a company called ShinRa." Pretty direct. Why hide the name? It's not like he's asking for anything out of the ordinary.

"Ever since the worlds started getting all..." What was the word? "Twisty..." That'll do. "My company has been wondering who among the other worlds are possibly capable of being good business partners."

There's a pause as Sammy 'completely inconspicuously' (Read: Very obviously) checks a note in his coat pocket before continuing.

"We heard that a Mr. Xan-ah-thos..." He mouths the name once more, ensuring he got it right before nodding to himself and continuing once more. "Is rather influential. We were hoping you, as a man of investigation, would be capable of giving us a detailed list of Mr. Xanathos' business relations."

Sammy looks away for a moment before looking back to Mercade. "To see if perhaps some business arrangements could be made between my company and his." Sammy says. He doesn't seem too bothered about the whole ordeal - after all, he wouldn't have been sent on a mission unless ShinRa thought it was important... Or Reno was bored.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade nods, listening to Sammy's question. "Sounds perfectly reasonable. IF you're stuck in a multi-world situation, why not take advantage of what you can?"

The Detective then grins as he mentions Xanatos. "Well then, you want to know about Mr. David Xanatos, huh?" Mercade crosses his arms. "Well, he's got a heavy investment in advanced technology and production through Xanatos Industries. With the consumption of most of the world, he's basically the last man standing in terms of influence and power in Manhattan. He owns half the area and has been helping to keep the peace. He's a pretty good guy." Mercade tilts his head. "IF you want me to look into his relations in more detail, I certainly could. The overview is free. The rest, well... Depends on just how much detail you want."

Sammy Colt has posed:
Sammy gives a nod at the information provided - most of which could easily be ascertained by the various flyers around Manhatten that boasted Xanathos as someone as noble and benevolent. Obviously however, ShinRa wasn't interested in skin-deep acquaintanceships.

"We need anything and everything you can get your hands on." Sammy says, as he pulls out a small datapad and taps on it three or four times.

"We know he has a few non-public business end... in... thingies." Endeavors was a word Sammy just didn't like saying. It sounded far too fancy.

"We'd like to know about everything, just to make sure that ShinRa and Mr. Xanathos' goals are aligned. We wouldn't want to step on someone's toes." Sammy says with a tilt of his head as he looks up at Mr. Alexander.

"We do hope that we have contacted the right representative for the task?" He asks somewhat wistfully.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade chuckles. "You're not likely to find anyone else who can get that information here, Mr. Colt." Which explains why he got contacted in the first place, he supposes. He squints at the datapad for a moment and then nods. "I'll get you as much information as possible on his business dealings." He pauses. "I admit I'm curious though. What world are you from? What's it like over there? You seem to have a similar level of technology to us."

Sammy Colt has posed:
Sammy's memory flashes back to what Reno had told him during the mission briefing, sadly, most of his words are replaced with 'blah' and 'wahn wahn' noises Sammy pauses in his own head. Was he supposed to divulge information on his world? Well, why not? It was the best world to choose from.

"It's pretty much the same. Just a lot more... Everything." Sammy says as he motions around with an almost 'small village' type of gesture. Manhattan... small? This guy's from Midgar. They had cities on top of one another.

"ShinRa's a lot like Mr. Xanathos' company. We help everyone as best we can, but there are always those that think we're out for the profit and not the little guy." Well, profit matters, but it's not like that's all ShinRa is after today.

Oh! There's the memory! "Don't tell him anything about ShinRa". Okay. Screwed up on that one. No biggy, it's not like it's top secret information.

"As I said, we're looking at making alliances in the new worlds. Like-minded organizations and corporations working together to build a better 'verse." Sammy says, not screwing up the line this time.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"That's delightfully nebulous." Mercade replies. "You can't even tell me what city or world you're based out of?" Mercade laughs. "You're disappointing me, Mr. Colt. You're trusting me enough to hire me, but not enough to know who I'm working with. This seems to work at cross-purposes to your needs, you know what I mean?"

Sammy Colt has posed:
Sammy glances over at Mercade. He had to play it cool, but he couldn't come back empty handed. There's no way he could reveal anything too obvious about his world or else he might get a reprimand, or even have Rude give him the (more than usually) silent treatment.

"Well..." He starts, giving a bit of a shrug. "I'm not exactly sure what to call my 'world'." He says, admittedly before looking at his shiny shoes. "We call our planet Gaia (Gaea for you purists)". He says. He doesn't really know how else to give away any information. Except maybe if...

"I could tell you how to get there. This way you can see for yourself." He says. One can almost hear the sound of a Turk forehead slapping from across worlds.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade nods. "That would be great. I love travelling." He pulls out a pad of paper and a pencil. "So, lay those directions on me. Maybe I'll take a vacation over there." He would smile, but he doesn't really feel the need to make Sammy even more nervous. He almost feels sorry for the guy.

Almost.

Sammy Colt has posed:
Sammy taps through the various screen a menus on his datapad, finding the directions and reading them off. Apparently, ShinRa has been developing 'safer' ways of portal hopping. Likely, this means a lot of poor innocent people have disappeared, never to be heard from again, but Mercade doesn't need to know about this.

The directions are given and Sammy mentally wipes his brow of sweat. On the outside, he looks as cool and collected as any Turk. "Alright. Shall we talk about payment?" Sammy asks, not realizing he should have done this before telling Mercade how to access the super secret backdoor portal located in the sewers.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade Alexander makes all of the notes. All of them. His shorthand is probably almost illegible to the Turk should he glance (and Mercade expects people to glance over his shoulder). He developed it precisely for that reason.

He tucks the information in his pocket, and he nods. "Payment is a good plan. For an intensive investigation of a major figure's business, its holdings, and its connections..." Mercade arches an eyebrow. "We'll be looking at 20k." Let's see how he reacts to that.

Sammy Colt has posed:
Sammy listens to the number and mentally goes through the process of monetizing the assets he was granted for the recruitment. Everything from candy canes to WMDs available for trade. There's a pause as he thinks back to Rude's introduction to business. Never take the first number.

"Too high." He says matter-of-factly as he mentally tries to chew on what a good number would be for such a job. There's a pause.

"Ten." He replies. Hah. Go half. Always a good plan. He totally has this in the bag.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Well damn, he took Negotiations 101. Mercade frowns faintly at the response. "10? Man, that doesn't even cover the hazard pay. This stuff isn't public for a reason, you know." He grimaces for a bit, and then shrugs. "But I know you'll be good for it. And hell, I like you. Why not. I'll give you a discount. 17.5."

Sammy Colt has posed:
Hah! Perfect, he's lowered the price. Sammy pauses in his celebration. Was 17.5 a good price? What was he paid for his job? Another mental pause. He wasn't paid anything, he just got to do whatever he wanted and the bill was covered. Okay, so he probably doesn't know the value of things.

"Seventeen and a half?" He asks, almost as if he's trying to see the way the word sounded. His gut told him that he could push it a litte, but overall, it would be dangerous to do so.

"Okay. Seventeen and a half." He says, pulling out his datapad and making a few notes in what could only be described as Turk code.

"Half will be delivered to a location of your request and the other upon delivery of the goods." Sammy says rather business-like.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Nope. 17.5 is still highway robbery. But that's okay. Mercade can tell a G-Man when he sees one, they're always loaded. He'll take them for all they're worth. Not that he won't do a good job regardless.

Sammy might get some evil eyes from the budgeting departments though. "What form of currency do you use?" Mercade asks. "If it's not going to be massive, just drop it off at the Detective Agency. I will get everything together have it for you soon."

Mercade might just be poking around in Midgar first though. This is going to be interesting.

Sammy Colt has posed:
Sammy closes the screen on his datapad and looks over at Mercade.

"Since the worlds collided, we've found that a number of the older places use a form of currency called 'Munny'." he says, actually emphasising munny with air quotes.

"We at ShinRa think it's best to adapt to this form of currency until a more appopriate and 'verse-wide currency can be agreed upon." There's a pause as Sammy eyes Mercade carefully - looking a little more sinister than thought possible. "So... Munny it is. We expect delivery in the most punctual way possible. Once you have everything, just tap this card once and we'll receive the signal." Sammy says as his sleeved hands reach into his pockets and withdraw a business card with his cartoon likeness on it.

For a super secret organizaton, these guys don't seem to worried about people having their contact information. Then again, no one but the Turks and high members of ShinRa even know Sammy exists.

Well, and the cleaning staff... but they don't count.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade, on the other hand, knows that cleaning staff are wonderful people who love to tell stories. Especially over drinks at the local bar. Sometimes they even save things that 'fell' into the 'wastebasket'.

He gets the feeling he might be a little more down to earth than these guys. He takes the card and slides it into his coat. "I'll be sure to get you the information as quickly as possible. You are, after all... A customer." He smiles. "It's good doing business with you. I'll begin once I get the delivery of Munny."

Sammy Colt has posed:
"Excellent!" Sammy says with a smile, holding back from doing a wide variety of hopping around and 'woohooing' on the spot.

"Then... We're done here." He says, looking around for a moment before pushing himself off the wall. He really wanted noodles. This is probably the longest he's gone without eating.

"Oh, right. Where do you want the half delivered? Office? Large sack with a munny symbol? All these things are good, yes?" Subtle? No. These are the Turks, after all.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade grimaces. "Use briefcases at least. Large sacks attract attention." He produces his business card with a flick of the hand, and offers it to Sammy. "Address is on the card. Deliver them there. If a young kid that looks like a hobo answers, /do not/ give the briefcases to him. Myself or the woman with the wings is fine though."

Sammy Colt has posed:
"Okay." Sammy says, the card being taken up and placed in a breast pocket before he gives Mercade a toothy grin.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Alexander. We can't wait to see what you've found." He gives a pause as he looks over his shoulder. "Please, do not disappoint us. We don't take kindly to that kind of thing, I'm told." He says before adjusting his tie and turning, crossing the street while cars slam on the breaks to avoid hitting him. He however, doesn't seem bothered by their honking or their colourful words.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade whistles and comments to himself. "I'm not sure if he has giant brass balls to jaywalk in Manhattan, or if he's so arrogant that he thinks someone won't run him over for it."

He turns, and lets Sammy head out. He taps the side of his head, thinking as he begins working on how to deal with this current new job... And he smiles.

This is going to be hilarious. And very profitable. Mercade makes sure he's out of sight before fistpumping. That money is going to be put to good use... If Will doesn't eat it all.