Aberrant: Mutant High - Playing the Inside Tip

[Kazuo]

((OOC: This fic starts about one week after the New Year’s party.))

Kazuo hadn’t even been at the Academy for half a month yet, and already he was in danger of going stir crazy. It didn’t help that he was seriously short on cash at the moment, either.

Now, to be clear, Kazuo was living night and day at a private academy – he didn’t need any cash. But that wasn’t the point. The point was that he’d feel a lot more comfortable about his options, should he need to bail from this place the same way he’d needed to bail from the last several places, if he had some cash.

Plus, aside from such boringly practical considerations, he was stuck at a frickin’ school! How lame was that?! Never mind the fuckin’ cashola, what did a guy have to do to have a little fun around here?! Ok, sure, there had been that party with all the hot chicks a week ago, but that had been the last of Kazuo’s fun. Since then he’d actually had to wake up at respectable hours and attend class! What a load of bullshit, neh?

Such were the nature of Kazuo’s thoughts as he gathered himself a tray of food in the Academy’s cafeteria and went looking for a table. He found an empty one in the back corner and slid into a seat so he could dig in and feed himself.

He’d only taken a few bites of food when he looked up and saw that the school’s uber-geek (What was his name again? Oh, right. Curtis) was heading right for him. Kazuo scowled and wondered what the hell he wanted…

[Curtis Shane]

Curtis smirked in a business-like fashion as he approached Kazuo. Granted the tough mutant had been rather scary at times, but Curtis figured a few minutes with his proposition would work out well. Inside, he was also a little nervous about himself. Was what he had in mind right? He told himself that he could keep it within acceptable limits.

Assuming the rumors, were true.... which could end up either way.

"Hello, Kazuo. Spare a few minutes of your time? It'd be quite profitable if you're so willing."

[Kazuo]

Unlike some moody, hormonal idiots ( ), Kazuo didn't necessarily have a problem with it when someone he didn't know sat at his table. Unless they bothered him. Which this kid immediately set about doing...

Kazuo gritted his teeth, and was about to say something distinctly 'Kazuo-esque' when realized just what exactly the little dweeb was saying. Profitable, huh? Well, that changes things.

He knew that when it came to jobs-for-hire, it did not pay (literally - it didn't pay) to be picky when it came to your clientelle, so shooing someone off just because you didn't like them personally was not good business practice. And besides, it couldn't hurt to hear the guy out first, and then tell him to fuck off, if that proved to be necessary.

"Sure", Kazuo muttered around a mouthful of food, "wutcha got?"

[Curtis Shane]

Curtis paused a moment before lowering his voice, staring at Kazuo as if he was gauging him for whatever he had in mind. A long moment passed before Curtis started talking again.

"Well... first I must ask, to be sure. I understand you have... out-of-school connections?"

[Kazuo]

Kazuo quirked an eyebrow at Curtis. Wow! Talk about your open-ended questions...

What kind of "connections" was this kid talking about, anyway? Did this kid wanna get high off of something more exotic than some locally grown root and was hoping that Kazuo could hook him up? Was he wondering if Kazuo had connections with illegal betting rings? Did he want to be put in touch with someone who get him some blackmarket tech? Maybe he wanted to know if Kazuo could get him genuine imported hentai straight from Japan for him to fap to, and figured since Kazuo was Japanese he could get it for him...

Hell, for all Kazuo knew, this kid was asking him if he knew how to put him in touch with any killers for hire!

And the entire question itself was a bit odd. Why in the hell would he ask Kazuo "just to be sure"? Like Kazuo was some kind of paragon of forthrightness and honesty that could be believed, even when whoever and whatever else the nerd had gotten his info from couldn't be. Either the kid had done his homework and knew the answer to his own question, or he hadn't done any and was just over here talking to Kazuo on a hunch.

Either way, it let Kazuo know that it was gonna be Amateur Hour with this kid, and he was gonna need to tread carefully from here on in, whatever it was this incredibly smart little idiot wanted from him. Not that it was really much of a surprise. What else could he expect at a school?

Kazuo finished chewing his food, swallowed, and said, "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. What's it to you, kid?" And with that he went back to eating, though he did keep his one eye expectantly fixed on Curtis.

[Curtis Shane]

Curtis sighed. "Perhaps I should be more clear." he responded, though calmly keeping that same volume level firm. "I'm wondering whether or not you have any connections to the unsavory elements of society? If you do, I can explain more. If not..."

Leaving that unspoken was enough to accentuate the point.

[Kazuo]

Okay. So much for Amateur Hour, it was fuckin' Preschool in here...

"Listen kid", said Kazuo, dropping his fork and giving Curtis a hard stare, "I don't want ya take this the wrong way, but are you fucking retarded?!"

He shoved his tray of food to one side and leaned in across the table and started speaking to Curtis in low, but very forceful tones. "I'm only gonna explain how this works to you once, you little freak, so listen up! What kinda stupid-ass question was that, eh? That's the kind of question that fuckin' cops ask! And even if I wasn't a mutant, and I actually had any legal rights in this fuckin' country to begin with, answering that question you just asked me with an affirmative would be like beggin' someone to come and haul me off to fuckin' jail! Or worse."

Kazuo stopped his ranting for a second and visibly calmed himself down. He leaned back in his seat and pulled his tray back in front of him and began stabbing at the food there with his fork. But he looked back up at Curtis instead of taking a bite and continued, "So, bearing everything I just said in mind, here's my answer to your question, kid. 'No', ok? No, I don't have any connections to the 'unsavory elements of society'! Heck officer", he said, faking (poorly) an innocent and hurt tone of voice, "I've never even broken a law before, swear to Jesus! My record's clean as a whistle, honest!"

And with that he stabbed a forkfull of vegetables into his mouth and started chewing. As soon as he was done he took a swallow from his glass of water, and then looked back at Curtis.

"Now, you said ya got a 'business proposition' to make, right? So either make it, or get the fuck outta my face!"

[Curtis Shane]

Curtis smiled calmly. "No worries. I was merely testing your commitment to a possible arrangement." It was a baldfaced lie, pure and simple, but Curtis didn't want to back down and lose any control here.

He pulled out a short sheet of paper, and began scribbling notes for Kazuo on it. "I want you to arrange having the Lee Willis Convention Center vandalized, and before the date I'm writing down for you."

He paused to note the raised eyebrow look on Kazuo's face, and he continued. "You see, the delay of the convention will allow a company I'm invested in to make a major stock price leap. I take advantage of that, and you get a cut for making sure it happens. How does that sound?"

[Kazuo]

Kazuo listened to Curtis' offer and then said simply, "Sounds very illegal", and gave the younger boy a look that made him think that Kazuo was about to refuse the offer. But then a small smile touched his lips and he leaned in closer to get a look at what Curtis was writing on his paper and added, "But that's not necessarily a problem..."

Kazuo was not a Big Brain, like Curtis was, but he wasn't stupid either, and he was real quick on the uptake. So after a moment of staring at Curtis' notes incredulously, a look of understanding dawned in his eye and he said, "Oh. So you wanna delay some kinda expo, huh? Wow, kid. That's like, White Collar crime right there, neh?"

After another moment of looking on as Curtis scribbled down his notes, Kazuo leaned back again and seemed to be considering. Finally, he looked back at Curtis and said, "Ok, so first thing that I need to hear from you is a number - as in payment", he added, remembering who he was dealing with, "After that, I need to know some specifics. Like who it is exactly that's being sabotaged, and what it is that they're going to be showing at the expo that you don't want them to show. Also, I understand if you don't want to be involved with exactly how this Center you mentioned is vandalized, but just how 'delayed' do want this convention to be?"

[Curtis Shane]

Curtis chuckled quietly. "White-collar, in a sense. The critical part is very blue-collar I assure you, so don't get jealous." Then he stopped, wheels turning in his head over the subject of payment. "My first offer is $2500."

He waited for Kazuo's response, obviously waiting to resolve this part before continuing.

[Kazuo]

Kazuo considered this offer for a moment before shaking his head thoughtfully and saying, "Mmm. No. That's too low. Not bad, kid, but still too low. A guy could get more from knockin' over the local foodmart..."

He leaned forward on the table again and tapped a hand on its surface once as he made his counter-offer, "I'll tell you what, you pay me the $2,500.00 now - call it an investment of capital in anticipation of 'future earnings', ya know? - and 50% of whatever profits you make after all this is over."

Kazuo grinned, sharklike, at Curtis and said, "Sounds fair to me. How's all that sound to you?"

Click to reveal..

OOC Info: Curtis, that was just Kazuo's initial counter-offer, and he's deliberately over-bidding. He doesn't actually expect Curtis to accept, and in fact he's prepared to drop all the way down to around 30% or so, but he figures it's worth a try on the off-chance that Curtis actually agrees to the deal. So feel free to make him a counter-offer right back.

[Curtis Shane]

Curtis looked away for a moment, more in the manner of so to prevent Kazuo from seeing his face. He turned back and shook his head as if he was teaching a client of his tutoring practices. "Under the circumstances, no. As part of my regular stock market customs, I keep reserves if anything goes wrong, and the up-front fee would mostly wipe that out."

"Second, I consider 50% of future prices to be overkill. Granted it would be a lot of money coming in for me even minus the half to you. But I think that 25-30% of the overall profit is reasonable, and that would be the $2500 I offer for a job well done."

Curtis waited businessman-ish for Kazuo. "So what's it gonna be? You want it or not?"

[Kazuo]

*That's right, kid*, thought Kazuo, *tip that hand. Tell me more, tell me more, tell me more.*

By this point Kazuo probably knew more about Curtis than the little techno-geek knew about Kazuo.

Ok, not really, but he still knew a lot about the kid, nonetheless. He knew that, as much as Curtis was trying to play this off like he knew what he was doing, the reality was that he had next to no experience at this kind of thing at all. Kazuo wouldn't have been surprised to find out that this was the first time Curtis had ever tried to hire anyone for anything, actually. He also now knew, roughly, what kind of finances this kid was working with. Which was to say, 'not much'. And, lastly, he had discovered that Curtis was stingy. Big surprise there.

Apparently, Mr. "Structured Query Language" here had recently decided to jump from the little leagues all the way up to the tippity-top of the Big Leagues of high finance, and had set his sights on a convenient shortcut to get there. Namely, having Kazuo 'vandalize' a convention center, thus preventing the unveiling of 'something-or-other' (Kazuo hadn't worked that part out yet), which in turn would allow a competitor somewhere to unveil their own 'something-or-other' first and guarantee them (and by association, Curtis) the lion's share of the profits. Which was fine as far as it went, but what the little twerp, who was obviously too smart for his own good, had failed to take into account was that it takes money to make money.

Aint nothin' for free, kid. Aint nothin for free...

Hell, what did he think Kazuo was gonna do with that $2,500.00 he'd just asked for? Stick it in an offshore bank account somewhere and then go scratch his ass until the day before the expo? Wait until the last minute, and then just waltz into the place and kick over the target company's Science Fair table and give them all noogies until they cried and gave him their milk money? Hell no! A job like this took careful planning, and probably more than a small amount of 'capital investment' of his own. And Kazuo would be damned if he was gonna fork out all that 'investment' from his own pockets!

Kazuo's mouth twisted into an annoyed smirk, and he said to Curtis, "Ok, kid. I didn't realize you were operatin' on such a tight budget, so I'll cut you a little slack. As a first time customer, an' all." He grinned his oh-so-sharp grin at Curtis and continued, "So, try this offer on fer size an' tell me whatcha think: $2,500.00 as a flat fee, regardless of how well this whole thing turns out fer you, plus thirty percent of whatever profits you do make. You can keep half of the flat fee as collateral - just in case I don't get the job done right for ya, or in case some kinda emergency pops up - but I am gonna need the first half up front."

Still sensing some reluctance from the younger boy, Kazuo added, "Look kid, ya want me ta get this job done right, then Im gonna need some operatin' expenses, you dig? And that is my final offer. I'm sorry if yer bank account aint what ya'd like it to be, but that aint my problem. You wanna make some money, ya gotta spend some first."

Having said so much, Kazuo went back to his food, making it perfectly clear that unless he heard the pleasant sounds of agreement coming from Curtis, he really wasn't interested in talking to him anymore.

[Curtis Shane]

Curtis shrugged. "Which remains the question... you have a bank account, or want the cash in your pocket? If it's the latter, I need a little bit o' time to actually get the cold hard cash. After all, the primary elements of my assets are the stocks, and I'd need to make a trip to the local bank to extract my payment."

[Kazuo]

Kazuo looked up from his food at Curtis, and for second the computer genius thought he was about to be chewed out again, or possibly even beaten to within an inch of his life. But then Kazuo's glare turned into a simple stare and he shrugged indifferently.

"Cash. If it takes ya a day or two to get it, that's fine, but I'll only take cash. Just understand that I don't start until ya put the money in my hand, so the sooner ya get it to me, the better my chances a pullin' this off without a hitch and the both of us making a fat wad of paper in the process, alright?"

As he spoke, Kazuo reached out a hand for Curtis to shake. Not because this was 'a part of the deal' for Kazuo or anything, but rather for Curtis' sake, as a way of cementing the deal's completion for him. For Kazuo, the deal was done as soon as Curtis agreed (if only tacitly) to pay him up front, and the Japanese teen intended to hold him to it.

As they were finishing the handshake Kazuo remembered something and added, "Oh, hey! When ya bring me the cash, bring me those details I asked ya for along with it, yeah?"

[Curtis Shane]

Curtis nodded and shook. "Naturally. Do you have anywhere in mind, or should I just search you out in the cafeteria here?" Things, despite his inexperience, seemed to be going quite fine.

[Kazuo]

"Sure kid, cafeteria's fine. Just bring me the money and the info, and do it sometime soon. Now, if ya don't mind", said Kazuo as he picked his fork back up and started poking at the contents of his tray again, "I'd like ta finish eatin' before th'end a lunch."

[Curtis Shane]

Curtis nodded, got up with a wave and left. The next day, when Kazuo sat down to eat, Curtis came over again, with a nod and a smile.

[Kazuo]

Kazuo looked up from his tray with a look of nigh-infinite forbearance in his good eye, while his good eye attempted something that resembled distracted irritation. After a moment he stuck one hand out and made the universal gesture for "gimme".

[Curtis Shane]

Curtis turned and started walking to Kazuo's side, then reached into his jacket and flipped into the Japanese boy's hand an envelope. "You'll find everything in there," Curtis replied before walking away.

When Kazuo did open it, he found both money, and a great deal of information. The convention at Lee Willis Convention Center was in two weeks, roughly. Curtis had written that he wanted the damage to be property in nature, at least as much as possible without causing human injury.

The goal was to do what was necessary to damage the place, and cause the convention to be postponed for at minimum a few days. Apparently, a major product was to be revealed by FarTech, and Curtis felt that if they could not present it, their competitor Porter Mitchell Industries would get a greater focus on their own product release, which would boost their stock greatly.

There was also details on the Lee Willis Convention Center, and a rough floor plan, which was taken from the website of the Center.

[Kazuo]

Kazuo read through the information in Curtis' envelope and got to work immediately. That night he started making calls on a shitty Tracfone he'd picked up at a gas station a while back that still had minutes leftover on it. He didn't make a lot progress that first night, but he at least had some leads to follow.

The next day was Saturday, and Kazuo 'arranged' with one of the college kids to ride into the City with them. He didn't make any arrangements for a return trip. He spent most of the day hoofing it up and down SoHo and Chinatown, periodically exchanging respectably-sized wads of cash for questionable information with people he didn't particularly like, but by the time the sun was getting low on the horizon, and sending a really spectacularly obnoxious glare cascading down Greenwich St., Kazuo was starting to get somewhere.

Fartech, it turned out, was based out of Hong Kong, and coincidentally enough so were lots of the folks hanging around New York's Chinatown, and a few of them made it their business to know things about companies like FarTech. Kazuo talked with some of these people, and unburdened himself of a few more dead presidents in the process. Eventually, he and another guy, who went by the extremely 'street' nickname of 'Billy', found themselves standing on Broadway, about a block over from the spot the Towers used to stand on, staring at a very classy-looking Borders bookstore. Well actually they were checking out the building next to it, they just weren't being obvious about it.

"This is just fuckin' perfect", said Kazuo. He was chuckling to himself, and had been for a bit now.

Billy, who didn't know that Kazuo was a mutant or what he had planned, didn't understand what the scarred Japanese kid thought was so funny, but he was wearing a car salesman's smile anyway and said, "Yeah, it really is, huh?"

This sort of spoiled Kazuo's mood, so he stopped chuckling and turned his good eye back to Billy. "You said they gotta safe?" Billy nodded, "Yeah. Actually", he corrected himself, "they got a vault".

Kazuo grimaced and asked, "What kind?"

"Brown", answered Billy. "That good?", asked Kazuo. "It aint bad", responded Billy.

"Hmmm", was all Kazuo had to say to this, which prompted Billy to add, "but I know a guy who works security there and we could go talk to 'im." Kazuo just grinned at Billy, and then they crossed the street and went into the bookstore.

-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Much later that night Violet's cell phone (which was most certainly not a Tracfone) began ringing.

She answered it. "Hello?"

"Yeah", answered a rough voice, the muffled sounds of a club or a bar droning in the background, "This is Violet Vincent, right? Who goes to the Lawrence Hunt Academy?"

"Who is this?", Violet responded, pointedly not answering the question.

"Nevermind", the voice said off-handedly, "I already know it's you anyway. This is Kazuo Kanai. I go to school with you, Vincent."

"Oh. Oh! Yes. What can I do for you, Mr. Kanai?"

"Hopefully plenty, Vince, but that's for later. Right now I'm more interested in what we can do for eachother."

"Really, Mr. Kanai? And what might that be exactly?"

"Well, ya see I got this delicate package that I need ta have moved, an' I can't do it myself, ya know?"

"...So use the Postal Service, Mr. Kanai. Or UPS. I hear they've really lowered their rates recently. Now, if that is all -"

"Nah, that was just the first thing, Vince. That's wutcha can do fer me. What I can do fer you is talk to you about a little bit a ameteur-night competition you got goin' on right there at the school. There's some little birds I got tellin' me that you sorta run the show around there when it comes to, uh... extra-curricular financial activities. An' it seems to me if that's true, someone like you prolly wants ta know about it if some kid is engagin' in those same sorts a activities without - I dunno - goin' through the proper channels. Am I right? I mean, ya seem like yer responsible that way."

"...."

"Hey Vince, you still there?"

"...My apologies, Mr. Kanai, but I'm having trouble understanding what you're talking about. Perhaps it's the reception. And, do you know, this really isn't a very good time for me either, as it happens. Perhaps we could speak about this another time? In person?"

"Yeah, it's no problem. This phone does suck. I can barely hear ya myself. How's tomorrow for ya?"

"Tomorrow would be just fine. If you're willing, you could meet me at the ice fortresses? I'll be supervising some of the younger children there in the afternoon while they play."

"Well that's very responsible of you."

"Mmm."

"Sure, Vince, I'll be there."

Fantastic. And Mr. Kanai?"

"Yeah?"

"My name is not 'Vince'. It's Violet."

"Oh. Right."

"But you can call me 'Miss Vincent'."

-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Kazuo looked at the phone for a second after Violet hung up on him and chuckled with amusement. He figured she was probably pretty upset with him for calling her on the phone like that, but then again, maybe not. Whatever, it didn't really matter. He hadn't said anything incriminating while they'd spoken, which a girl like Violet would realize, if she hadn't already noticed.

And as for the phone he'd called her on? Kazuo squeezed, and the cheap plastic and micro-circuitry of the phone cracked and splintered in his superhuman grip, until there was nothing left of it but shards of plastic and silicone.

Kazuo the threw the shattered remains of the Tracfone into a nearby trashbin, and then he turned and walked away.

Click to reveal..

Streetwise Roll for getting the downlow on FarTech = 5 successes

Streetwise Roll to find a good fence (i.e. Violet Vincent) = 4 successes

[V. Vincent]

The next day brought with it hints of sunshine peeking through the flat grey haze of clouds, softening the powdery, new-fallen snow just enough to make perfect snowballs. Glacia's ice sculptures glittered like crystal, and roughly a dozen elementary students screeched with glee as they bombarded each other with frigid, hastily-formed projectiles.

For her part, Violet wasn't really all that keen on supervising a bunch of screaming children, and the other two high-schoolers standing in the courtyard seemed just as enthusiastic about their charges. It wasn't so much that she disliked the little hellions, as that she hadn't exactly volunteered to work with them.

"Tyler!" she called out indignantly, groaning inwardly as the five-year old barreled over a taller second-grader and proceeded to drop an armload of snow on the boy's head. Her eyes flicked briefly skyward, either in accusation or inquiry. Ugh, that's all I need, for one of these kids to get hurt. "Tyler!" she repeated. "Come on, you know he's not as strong as you are!" The ruddy-cheeked kindergartner reluctantly clambered off his downed foe, and trudged dejectedly away. Her lips pursed unhappily, and Violet sighed. "All right, come here. At least let me check your arms if you're going to be tackling people."

She had to admit, the grin that spread across his little face made her feel as warm and fuzzy inside as her fluffy leopard-print coat did on the outside. Ty practically bounded across the snow to her, and she knelt down to check the tight cloth gauntlets that bound his forearms as he fidgeted excitedly. She hadn't been on the business end of his storied quills yet, and she was in no rush to get acquainted with them yet.

"Hurry, Vi-let, I wanna play!" the little feral insisted as he hopped from foot to foot, and she rolled her eyes again, grinning in spite of herself. "All right, fine, go!" she urged, having decided the wraps weren't in any immediate danger of coming loose. Brushing loose snow from her jeans, she rose and glanced around the courtyard as Tyler scampered away.

All right, where the hell is he?

[Kazuo]

"Sorry m'late", Kazuo muttered from behind her.

Violet turned to find the tall, scarred Japanese mutant walking up to her from the direction of the administration buildings. "Got detention", he said with a 'what can you do?' smirk. "Guess they don't like it when a student gets dropped off out front o' the school at 10:30 in the mornin' when classes start at 8:30."

Kazuo shrugged disinterestedly, as if keeping the Powers That Be at LHA happy was somewhere around the bottom of his To-Do list, probably in the same neighborhood as 'Do My Homework' and 'Help Morri with Hers'.

Dark rings circled his eyes and he was squinting a bit in the afternoon sun as he raised a paper cup of steaming coffee to his lips and took a swig; it was obvious that, despite it being mid-afternoon, he was still recovering from a hangover, and Violet suddenly remembered hearing what sounded like a club or bar in the background during their phone conversation the night before - apparently it'd been quite the party.

In his other hand was another steaming cup, but this one was the color of -

"Hot chocolate", Kazuo said as he extended the cup for Violet, if she wanted it, "didn't know if you were a coffee drinker or not an' I figured everybody likes this stuff, so..."

His gaze shifted towards the children playing in and around the ice castles for a moment with an expression that Violet was half-inclined to describe as wistful, but then he fixed his one eye on her again and his expression was both intense and focused. Which Violet found both interesting and a bit surprising. Kazuo did not have a reputation for being either subtle or genteel in his behavior towards the fairer sex, and Violet had already become quite accustomed to young men who were both sublte and genteel forgetting themselves entirely in her presence, and yet Kazuo's eye stayed firmly fixed on hers and his attitude was all business.

"Anyways", he said and held her gaze for an instant while he quirked his mouth as if considering something, but then he went on, "ya wanna talk about my package or yer competition first? Or didja wanna chew me out fer callin' you outta the blue last night?"