Maria hissed angrily as she listened to the military officer respond to their concerns. [i]Men,[/i] she thought contemptuously. [i]The entire lot of those damn fools can't ever seem to listen to anyone but themselves.[/i] Maria bit down hard on her tongue to keep from breaking something. When she looked back up again, her eyes were cold as ice.

"Well, Colonel, tell command that their plan is..." Maria paused delicately. The word 'bullshit' sat at the tip of her tongue, but she opted for something slightly more...courteous, instead. "Tell them that their plan is flawed. [i]Extremely[/i] flawed." Another pause. "Tell me, gentlemen"-the word 'gentlemen' said with no little amount of scorn and disdain-"what are your proposals for these miraculous solutions? I was under the impression that obstacles should be observed, then eliminated, not completely ignored."

Maria thought for a moment, then shrugged languidly. "I have, ah, [i]experience[/i] with delicate situations such as the one that we have been presented with. What you want us to do is...keep an eye out for a person who wants to see Senator Emmerich eliminated? One who could [i]potentially[/i] make a move during the event?" Maria tilted her head to the side and assessed the Colonel and agent with hard, flinty eyes. "Have you gentlemen thought to check the guest list yet? Or perhaps, as I suggested earlier, make inquiries with Caine and the younger Kellerman, or at least people who know or know [i]of[/i] them?"

Maria leaned back in her chair, her hard stare remaining fixed on the colonel and the government agent. [i]Good grief. I don't understand why I expected these people to be even passably competent. Alessandro could have done better than this, and he is only half as cunning as he likes to think he is. Even he is not immune to the gifts that my mother and I were born with. My very existence only proves this point.[/i]

Finally, the government agent addressed where the actual party was taking place-at a glitzy hotel in New York City, apparently. Maria let out a snort of amusement. "Pardon me if I'm wrong," she began, her tone not at all apologetic, "but if we are to blend in with a group of wealthy businessmen and politicians and their wives and various associates, then all hope is lost." Maria scrutinized the group of superpowered individuals. "I daresay that the majority of the people assembled in this room could not tell a salad fork from a pastry fork. If you want us to infiltrate high society, then this task will be much more complicated than you originally anticipated it to be."