Week Eight - Tuesday, after midnight - Basement

[herbgrace]

[Lithuania calls a meeting, promises it's important--and when Break and Rhys arrive, it will be apparently only she and Miata are in the room. Well, Laima is here as well, of course, but Laima tells no secrets. And that's sort of the point of this meeting.]

Good evening. [Lithuania is here to talk seriously, it's obvious in her tone.] We need to set up some sort of quarantine in our operation.

[Does she really need to explain why, after Sunday night?]

Comments

[crazily]

Well, obviously.

[ Break shrugs, since being called down here isn't a problem to him, really. The topic itself just makes him laugh a little, since he's the newbie here, and yet: ]

Some people can't be trusted with sensitive information, can they? One conversation is worth more than an entire operation, but that's just because most of the people here are stupid brats.

[herbgrace]

I really don't mind them as people, but for something like this... [Actually, Lithuania is obviously quite fond of Himeko. But obviously secret operations aren't her forte.] They're children, it's to be expected. But I would like to work with the two of you to try and adjust things more. Just the two of you and Miata. [That last part is mostly said to Rhys--she has no plans of bringing up Poland here.] The fake group is going to help, but my concern is that if Himeko continues to have access to all of our dealings, more leaks will occur.

[crazily]

Expected, but that doesn't mean it's acceptable with the stakes. Considering my line of work, I'm sure you can imagine what my suggestion to deal with leaks would be.

[ He shrugs, since that's a joke... Mostly. It's mostly a joke because you can't actually kill people here without the process becoming much more complicated than it was already. So. Totally joking!! ]

Jokes aside, this seems reasonable to me. Just do tread carefully. There is already some suspicion on you as well, though not as much as Inaba.

[jackhole]

[ well rhys is here because duh of course he's here, he came down here with break. he's just been looking with raised eyebrows at this whole conversation and at that terrible joke, he just looks more surprised. ]

Oh. Ohhhhh! Oh, yeah. Haha, yeah. I was gonna suggest killing Inaba with you and Gilbert if, [ just waves a hand vaguely. ] -- didn't happen. Since you two weren't involved, you wouldn't know why -- just that she was an easy target. It would've solved a lot of problems for me.

[ rhys sure is being honest now that all his plans have come to light, huh. he just grins and finger guns at the two of them as he admits this. ]

Not a joke.

[herbgrace]

[A sigh--Lithuania likes Himeko, but she can see the logic, and she's not going to pretend right now that she's as good a person as she often acts.] You could have at least suggested killing her and Faize or Astrid or someone else who was getting suspicious. I think Himeko is useful alive working with the fake group, though--it gives those who are suspicious something they can believe they've confirmed. They all like following a storyline, even in the murders.

[As far as suspicions on her go:] I knew there was some, though of course I can't be sure as to the extent. [But she can work with not as much as Himeko, because if it was that much it's a lost cause.] I can work with Poland trying to uncover some "secrets", perhaps. Poland would be safe to work with in that regard and I'm experienced with lying to her.

[THINGS LITHUANIA SHOULDN'T JUST SAY but look it's true.]

[crazily]

It would have been very smart, honestly!

[ Break's response is totally cheerful, since he absolutely doesn't mind the idea of being used. For one, it would have turned out fine in the end anyways (probably), but more than that, it's just his odd mindset at work. Rhys gets complimented by assassins sometimes, it's cool. ]

Nor can I, but I did find your involvement with the little group the strangest. It didn't fit you at all as compared to the rest of them. [ Another shrug ] But that's what I'm doing with Gilbert, more or less. Frame the information in a particular way and you put the onus of the idea upon them instead of yourself.

[herbgrace]

I assure you "anime club" wasn't my idea. [SIGH.] I'll do my best to simply seem like someone Himeko took advantage of as an escort. And, well, many of the suspicious parties, simply by odds, won't survive until the end. [Also probably even more of the moles will die but listen.]

[crazily]

Well, that's likely true of all of us as well. We're not special just because we know the truth.

[ So, clearly, he's on the same page there. There's really no need for him to be polite with his words and soften things in this context, so this is just truly #nofilter Break. ]

That seems like a fair enough angle. It's hard for me to say, since I'm just a suspicious person by nature and I'd likely still suspect you, but that sounds logically reasonable, at least. Maintaining the current relationships we all have is what's necessary at this stage. So needless to say, of no offense, but I won't be talking to any of you but Rhys, most likely.

[jackhole]

[ and now he just looks a little shocked here -- then pleased. ]

Oh, neat.

[ oh wait -- ]

Oh wait, you mean in public. Yeah, I never talk to any of these guys in public. Lithuania, you butt in once in a while but in public I hate Poland so why talk to you? Nope. Also, teens. I mean, Roxy's okay and I think she would be fine if it weren't for Inaba but at this point, we definitely need to make a bit of a split.

[ he's got nothing to add right now other than being shitty, honestly. but generally in agreement here, of course. ]

[herbgrace]

Are you implying privately you don't hate Poland? [Anyway.] I don't go out of my way to speak to anyone in the group except Himeko, who I was already helping out early on. I daresay I've got a reputation as a bit more personable than either of you, so it would look odd if I completely avoided it, but I'll keep it to superficial things and trials.

[crazily]

[ RHYS... At least Break is a jerk too, so that comment gets him to laugh. ]

Well, yes. If I were only speaking to you down here, that would make this a lot more difficult.

[ It would be the most stupid, passive-aggressive game of telephone, and yet I somehow feel like they would still do it. Why are they like this. This is also a question that can never really be answered, since Break just continues on... Being a shitty jerk... ]

But I'd say so. [ He shrugs ] I'd venture to say that I'm not as bad as Rhys on that front, but I certainly care very little for very nearly everyone left.