Dark Reign (Side): Meeting a snake in a uniform.

A surface level truth wasn’t a lie, but neither was it entirely accurate. Trust was the most valuable thing in a criminal’s life, and Miranda didn’t hand such a rare thing out freely. Knowing that Ise’s entire profession was one the survived on information, Miranda was willing to bet that at some point, she may be willing to sell whatever happened here. The police officer was probably wondering how to get her hands on Miranda’s work at that very moment.

Perhaps she had an interest in reproducing her drug, but such a thing would  be difficult...and unacceptable.

No...Ise may be able to hold up her end of the bargain, but then again...she may not. She may not have been caught yet, but one look at how she carried herself and Miranda knew should Ise ever get caught, she would likely fold under the promise of reduced prison time. Perhaps when the final stage of her plan is in effect, the scientist would wipe her off the map to ensure no loose ends.

A quiet nod to herself assured that was exactly what she would do.

Miranda’s eyes focused on Ise once again as the woman accepted her terms, and began to lay out her price. Of course, monetary compensation was of little issue for the scientist. The Blood Ties had a healthy influx of revenue pumping in from various outlets. It was the other item on Ise’s list that caught Miranda’s attention.

“So specific...are you in danger of being discovered?”

Spoiler:

Depending on Ise’s answer, Miranda might need to wipe her off the board sooner than first thought. If this woman had a wolf at her heels, Miranda didn’t need her bringing it to her operation’s doorstep!

“An investigative Journalist...that can not be harmed or killed, but needs to be silenced...Really, that leaves you looking for someone who can sabotage their technology and devices...correct?”

”Discovery? There is nothing to discover about my work as a cop. Inner security has nothing on me. With a bit of fantasy, they could paint me as lazy and incompetent, but I prefer the terms they actually use, overworked and daddy´s girl."
Ise smiled one of her big, broad smiles. The day her father went into retirement was probably the day when she would quit AFW, the police force and maybe even Japan as a whole. She was fully aware that honest cops could be working on uncovering her side activities, but any attempt to uncover these had been silenced with money or a reassignment of the officer in charge. Most of department were good old boys so to say.

”I have a project that already commands a lot of my time. I have a sufficient force of both beat cops and street thugs for the mundane people on the streets, but a reliable saboteur with technical finesse is harder to come by."
She would explain her motive, slowly taking out an unsigned autograph card of her jacket and then put it on the table.
”The two girls on this card are called Goldfinger and Golden Voice. I want any serious journalism that could target these two removed or discredited."

As Miranda had suspected, It was Officer Ise’s Father that covered her tracks whenever she stepped into a mud puddle too deep to get out of. Miranda wasn't surprised by the news, and she didn’t pretend she was. Perhaps Ise had dozens of grunts under her lead that she could control on a whim. That was why Miranda wanted her help. Of course, the more methodical side of the scientist wondered how many served her by choice, and how many were simply forced to work under her thumb via blackmail. It would be interesting to see what sort of dirt even one of them might spill, if Miranda had access to such blackmail.

But spending her resources in such a manner was illogical at this stage of her plan. Instead, she peered at Ise as she fished around for what appeared to be a business card, of sorts. It was like a hybrid of a business card and a photograph. Miranda pulled it off the table, pushing the fruit tray to the side as she did so. Miranda flipped the card around to observe it from both sides, listening to Ise’s request with a sense of apathy.

“Goldfinger...Golden Voice…?”

Strange names. It was difficult to discern if they were rock stars or porn stars. Stranger still was why Ise wanted these two in particular protected from the press. Why would the media even take any interest in these two?

“What is so special about these two? And which news outlets are following them? I need to make sure my operative has an idea what kind of equipment they are working against. Camera’s video recording devices? Bugged telecommunications? Any advice you can divulge will help me determine the best course of action…”

A small sigh escaped her lips while she bended a little bit forward, pointing on Golden Voice first before her thumb would rest on the picture of Goldfinger to underline the importance.
”Golden Voice is just a common girl, a sidekick so to say. Still she is the most tangible connection to the real prize, therefore I want her protected too. And regarding Goldfinger, we wouldn´t be having this nice little talk here if I could just scream it out in the streets who she is. Just consider her my version of your bubbling green vial of dope over there."

Ise had not many needs. She had a cozy 20 hour job, enough money to live comfortable and enough people trying to get into her good grace. But this was one thing she definitely needed, or to be exactly desperately wanted. And she was also sure that the apathetic scientist would not get it anyway and bend it against her in the future, so she did not even try to justify herself. What she did not have was much leverage in the media world so that she could get rid of potential investigators.
”Your operative will have to work with or rather against anything a modern paparazzi could use. I don´t have specific names for you, I want that he scans the dirtsheets and real journalists and sabotages or discredits them if they dig deeper. It is actually a very good deal for you if no one has any interest in them."

“…”

When Ise compared the two women in the picture to her S.M.I.L.E drug, Miranda struggled to believe it was a fair comparison. Miranda had intentionally undersold the effects of her creation, but the amount of steps put into place just for this meeting should have exemplified its importance. Looking at these girls in the picture, hearing their code names...Either these were friends of hers, or some sort of deviants in her employ.

“Hardly logical...rather indulgent, letting these two walk freely.” She analyzed out loud, slipping the picture into her pocket as she returned her gaze towards Ise.

The scientist leaned back in her chair, running the numbers in her head as she had grown prone to do in these situations.

“Stopping an unknown amount of journalists and their prospective news companies from publishing anything regarding your agents without resorting to violence. You have no names to provide me, no leads to direct me, and no equipment for me to sabotage. All I have to help you with is your agents code names...Were this not such a serious  matter, I would think you were joking, Officer Ise.”

The sheer amount of unknowns made it difficult to calculate anything, but Miranda had guessed that any chance at success in this type of operation was well below the acceptable ratio she often worked with. At this rate, the chance of success in Ise’s request was not even at a single percentage. Throwing resources at this problem increased the chances, but not by much.

“You must understand...with the lack of information you have provided me, my task is doomed to fail. The best I could do at this moment is tail your agents with my own and wait until they see someone suspicious. However, due to your hesitation in explaining Goldfinger and her purpose, I am left to assume you want her to be as private as possible.”

Miranda would never throw good money after bad. Her logical way of thinking cut out emotion and viewed the issue with what information she had. Success in this task was far from guaranteed, and she would tell Ise that plain as day fact. Miranda would attempt it, but an impossible task was hardly worth working on or crumbling an empire with.

“You may tell me it is a good deal, but harassing news journalists only brings attention to my agents and yours...So tell me what exactly you want done. Without a name, this is an illogical venture, and a broken plan.”

Ise narrowed her eyes. Either Miranda did not understand her or she was testing her patience on purpose.
”I try to make it clearer to understand. I can´t stop people from spending gossip about her identity and origin. You can´t either, the internet is mainly for porn or gossip. Therefore I need someone who can discredit a serious journalist in a smear campaign AFTER he or she has released her article. Reactive, not proactive. I am not a computer buff, but I am sure that there are algorithms that can follow the current news and websites for news about her and report it to your operative. So I am first in need of a public relations guy who can twist a serious investigation into fake news and only if the journalist does not understand the wink, a someone who actually hacks into the newsfeed itself and do some real damage. I am thinking about counter articles, finding holes in the argumentation, such things."

She took another draw from her cigarette, sighing lightly at all the differences. Maybe she had thought wrong about this girl and they had different visions of the world.
”But maybe I wrongly assumed something about the capabilities and preferences of your organization and should better outsource this task to someone else? If that is the case, I will be content with an unrestricted VIP pass to a first class club in which your organization has ownership, free drinks and enjoyment included. First class and discrete, not some dirty hole under scrutiny of my colleagues."

Miranda blinked at Ise’s attempt to goad her. The officer seemed to have something of a quick temper, but Miranda simply shrugged at her guest's explanation of the request. Apparently, the request was not for stopping her agents from hitting the press. Rather, the request was to clean up after her agent’s using the press. Either way, Miranda shook her head at the police officer, wondering exactly what she had just walked into.

“Ask anyone you want. Either way, you are doomed to failure. I would recommend terminating your “Golden Girls” immediately if you fear they will be exposed. The only way to achieve your goal would be to stop the press before it gets out to the public. The very second your agents hit a news article online or a paper, they are done. You can not cover it up. Do you wish to know why?”

Miranda’s robotic eyes stared at the police officer without a shred of emotion. There was no superiority in her voice, no smug joy in her dissection of Ise’s plan...but neither was their sorrow or pity. Miranda simply stated the facts in a cold, monotone voice.

“There is a social phenomenon known as the Streisand Effect, named after Barbra Streisand who tried to suppress photos of her home from leaking into news outlets. Rather than succeed, she fed the flames by trying so desperately to hide the pictures, that they emerged everywhere. When the human mind knows that someone is trying to hide information, then they are motivated to uncover that information. You could hold a smear campaign if you want, right articles debunking such claims...but that would just drag more attention to your agents. As I said, the second you hit papers, you won’t ever be free of it.”

Miranda waited to see if Ise understood what she was saying. Likely, any professional in the underground business would tell her the same thing. If she wanted something kept quiet, then she needed a new plan. Covering things up from the public after they had been released was nearly impossible. You could only dress a situation up so much.

When Ise gave Miranda the alternative payment, the scientist actually looked confused. A VIP pass to a club her organization owned? Such an odd request, and even stranger wording. Miranda put her hands on the table, stretching slightly as she politely questioned the police officer.

“Ms. Ise...what exactly do you think you know about my work? Do you think I work for someone? Or do you think I work alone? What has made you think that I have access to any establishment close to your description?”

Miranda’s hands hugged each other under her chin, her vacant expression scanning Ise carefully.

”At this point, I actually think that I waste my time just speaking with you if you do not belong to a criminal organization that does not have a first class version of one of the most basic of establishments of organized crime.”
Ise indeed felt a little it angry about the scientist who kind of scolded her in a clinical tone. Still she kept her composure, at least on the outside.

I also think that you made yourself a lot of work with a lot of escalating crimes, established a warehouse in nowhere guarded by goons on my request and put in a vast effort to keep your identity concealed right up to this point. On top of that, you fashioned a customized drug, so you need to have access to top laboratories and helpers with intensive scientific background. An official institute will not stand to this kind of shenanigans, so it is privately financed so that we are speaking of millions of dollars just for the start. Deducing from that, you are probably neither a simple goon or a loner."
Her cigarette was nearly done, so she snipped it away. She began to feel that she indeed had wasted her time with Miranda by thinking of her as someone who could do which most people considered impossible because it had been vast, complex and impossible in the past.
”Money does not interest me much, I have no enemies to speak about. So I neither need an accountant or a hitman. If you can provide no discrete services clean money can´t buy, what can you offer me then? Amuse me."

“Wasted your time? A curious statement, considering this is on my dime, is it not?”

Ise’s outburst did little to affect Miranda’s mood. The scientist looked at the increasingly irritable Officer as though nothing she said could be thought of as inflammatory. The facts were just that in Miranda’s mind. Hiding behind fantasy was not something she cared to do, and would not allow those in her company to do so. Ise’s ire seemed to be lost on Miranda as she proceeded with her own thoughts on the subject at hand.

“Forgive me, Officer Ise...I had the thought that you were a professional in this business. A miscalculation that led me to an error of a solution. Your desire for status is admirable, but insatiable. Perhaps I had come at this entire problem in the wrong manner…”

Miranda stood up from her chair and walked over to the side of the room. She didn’t spare her guest a glance as she did so, instead looking to take a small breather from such long contact from another human being. It was nothing she enjoyed, if anything could give her joy.

“I am capable of giving you a myriad of services, Officer...But your lack of descriptors is rather vexing. To put it simply, you state a desire but not a particular objective. If I had to put it in your professional terms, it's like if your employer asked you to simply catch a Murderer. But they don’t tell you which one. They tell you to stop a bank robbery, but they won’t tell you which bank. Understand?”

Miranda returned, but this time she came face to face with Ise. This time, Miranda’s eyes weren't so empty. This time, something that lay beneath her cold, expressionless mask found its way to the top as she peered into the police officers eyes. It wasn’t the cold look that had been peering at Ise this entire night.

“Your guess was logical, but factually inaccurate. You made several errors, of which I will not delve into. I have influence, as you guessed...but what you ask is hardly a fair trade in either sense. You asked for entertainment? Well then, I will simply point at how you do business. Your lack of goals is a glaring issue to anyone who serves under you, and I can see you are already on borrowed time. Your operatives will soon be caught, with you alongside them. Your Father may pull some strings, but he can only work so hard to protect you. Eventually, you will slip up and drag your family through the dirt of your misdeeds.”

Silence lingered in the air for a few moments as Miranda peered into Ise’s eyes. A chilly atmosphere filled with an underlying tone of lethal hostility seemed to hang between the two women before Miranda gently set her hand onto the table next to Ise. The filtered mask making her measured, short breaths just audible enough to confirm humanity.

“When that eventually happens...I can offer you salvation. A way out for when you find yourself stuck. It is not nearly as indulgent as your other requests, but it is practical. Lifelines in your business are so very hard to come by, are they not? Along with that you will be provided with a pass to an subsidiary establishment. The food is far from your desires, as is the drinks...but I think you will find the entertainment to be rather…unique Nothing like that you will see in modern civil life.”

Like a dog that gave his last warning before going in for the kill, one of the cheeks of Ise would raise a little when she came face to face again with the scientist. As there was little entertainment to gain from Miranda at this point, she was seriously thinking about entertaining herself with the idea of using Miranda as a meat shield against her goons right now. Or maybe just her lifeless body as a shield in general.

”Boring. I don´t feel entertained at all. Neither by your principal speech or your assessment of my supposed situation."
She finally answered after a while off looking into the eyes of the other woman with a mocking tone. Yes, Miranda was creepy. But Ise had already faced killers and rapists in long interrogations, it would take more than a supposed drug cooker with an superiority complex to intimidate her.

Then she shrugged her shoulders and put on her smallest of smiles.
”Ok, what do I care. I pass on wanting access to your establishment and also your contingency plan. Just up the money we have already agreed on. And don´t be stingy. I really, really want to look the other way regarding you and your operations."
In only a few minutes, Miranda had gained the disdain of Ise. Not a very easy feat at all.