[b]Orange and Black![/b]

"Understandable," said Orange brightly, sipping her tea. "I'll just -" She abruptly made a face and brushed it far to one side. She'd intended to order Royal Ire, an exotic new blend of tea that was three weeks away from being included in a list of things that were making young people these days soft. What she'd somehow [i]actually[/i] ordered was Earl Grey exactly to Mrs. Everest's ideal tastes and specifications. Damn it! It wasn't even that she disliked it. It was, in fact, objectively the perfect tea perfectly calibrated to satisfy her taste sensors. Just like every other time.

She sighed and threw a grumpy glare at the teacup before brightening back up. It had been a rather emotional reaction to a cup of tea, but worrying about that kind of stuff wasn't her department.

"Well, then," she said, re-establishing her stride. Now that she was thinking about it she was aware that she was doing The Pose - that carefully designed forward-lean that Mrs. Everest used to convey keen interest and utter attention, the bright energy that implied that she was happy to spend [i]months[/i] going over all the specifics of the contract. Sometimes the most scary threat was being indefatigable. "I'll happily set your mind at ease. Encountering you was something of a chance event! I have a different target who I am working towards - a police commissioner, actually - and I very much doubt you and he are directly connected. The police are capable of a great many things but your situation seems rather outside their usual wheelhouse."

And here she grinned. It felt like the negotiation was flowering in her hands. Declaim, redirect, reassure, imply. "And of course, I recognize that at the moment this interaction is currently all stick. I don't intend on keeping it as such! If you need to, how you say, [i]delegate[/i] certain sensitive tasks then you know that you can trust me to keep a secret. So with that in mind, let us discuss brass tacks. Please, tell me what kind of assets, reach and influence you can lay claim to - beyond what's publicly available, of course. My assignment specifically relates to destroying a man's reputation so connections in media or politics are particularly appreciated." 

Her hand strayed back towards the perfect tea involuntarily. "Naturally, if you have any conflicts of interest in this space, you really [i]must[/i] do your best to telegraph them," she said. "Certain processes are already in motion and this might be your one opportunity to move key individuals out of the realm of collateral damage."

*

[b]Yellow![/b]

"As far as my financial situation goes?" said Yellow. "Up until eight months ago I was legally property, and these fancy new rights didn't come with back pay. I'm doing freelance journalism to supplement my income as a maid. So you know, not [i]incredible[/i]. Life's a constant nine-way negotiation where everyone wants their own deep aesthetic made manifest in a three-bedroom apartment and the current compromise involves repurposing one of those bedrooms into a workshop."

She smiled, hopping up to sit on the counter, legs kicking in the air. "It's a bit of a standoff, really. At the moment the place is basically, like, an old cartoon's depiction of a robot's apartment. Totally unadorned! But that's just because the budget negotiations are ongoing. White and Orange want a luxury aesthetic, Brown and Black want to invest in stocks and minimalism, Blue and Green want to expand the workshop, and Red and Pink are financial disasters waiting to happen."

She looked down at her feet, the worn soles of her second-hand sneakers. "To be honest it's driving us all a bit nuts. We're not actually used to being all up in each others shit all the time like this. We're good at collectively optimizing to solve problems and working independently. But there's always been a Mission Command or something like that could settle disputes. Now we're living on our own for the first time we just don't have the right habits or experience."

*

[b]Pink![/b]

"Yeah," said Pink. "He doesn't have to go down there but he can't stay up here. But whatever he picks, he's gotta do it [i]fast[/i]."