[b]3V:[/b]

Have fun.

[b]November:[/b]

“Oh, I wondered if any of my children would ever come to visit.” He can’t breathe from laughing. Genuinely scared he might break a rib at this rate. He'd be rolling on the floor if he could touch it. “And of course it’s my favourite. It’s good to see you again, Monkey.” 

Is he- did he really?

“That was probably too mean a joke to make while I’m still in the net. Would you still let me out if I say I wasn’t joking about you being my favourite, [i]Snake[/i]? Monkey might have the [i]idea[/i], but I don’t think they had your sense of…” he trails off. “The bomb in my brain. That’s not part of the whole… thing you’re doing here? No, no, of course not. Never been stupid enough to agree to one. No carrot worth the stick. You thought there might? Were you here to rescue me?” 

There’s so much [i]pride [/i]in his voice at the idea. As if he’s completely unaware that, in this situation, you’d be the one he’d need rescuing from. Even after all [i]that[/i]? He’s still too happy to see you. 

There’s good and bad about his answer. If he’s not worried about answering directly, it’s likely he’s telling the truth. It also means he’s familiar with what you’re talking about. That’s some really dark practice to know offhand.

… did he just imply the bomb only works if you consent to it? 

[b]Persephone:[/b]

The races aren’t really about the races. It’s a trade show. Take every scam and cheat ever run in horse racing, and then add corporate espionage. 

There are three main companies to cover, the background knowledge you can be assumed to already know. There used to be more, but nobody’s too sad to see the back of BlackSun and Airtech. 

First there’s Orochi Group, named for the eight-headed eight-tailed dragon. Historic ties to the Yakuza and expat Triad, they’re a money laundering operation where the legitimate business outgrew the illegal. As to how the two criminal syndicates merged in the first place? Aevum was a unique moment of collapsing cultural differences, and a lot could be put aside for the greater profit. That being said, the ties to the Triad are almost entirely from the groups that flourished in the West - even Aevum wasn’t enough to wipe [i]all[/i] slates clean. They’ve worked the hardest to produce a clean image, and the most to lose to being tied to accusations. A clean image doesn’t mean they’re clean, though. Just ask John Wayne Gacy. 

Next is Crown and Slate. Their showings are never impressive, running an accountant’s eye for maximal return on prestige for minimum return on investment. They are to the racing scene what Krillin is to an episode of Dragon Ball: The benchmark for the previous season’s power levels. They’re not trying to win. They’re patent trolls, held at a legislator’s pen-point to prove they’re giving [i]something[/i] back for what they take. They’re playing a long game of “I’m not touching you!” with criminality. They’re a wild card. They’re not seriously trying to win, and they’re only even here for the publicity. But they’re also very likely to have reasons to stop anyone looking too closely at their offerings. 

Finally there’s Yggdrasil, the Indian biotech firm run like a European guild. What Sun Tzu was to US bankers in the 80s, they are to Charlemagne, Frederick and Louis the Sun King. They haven’t been above shady tactics in the past, but it’s usually higher end stuff. Headhunting and political fixers, not really street level. But they [i]live[/i] for these games. While the other companies see the games as a means to an ends, Yggdrasil is the only corporate heavyweight that sees the games as the ends, and running a biotech company to get here as the means. Passions run high here. 

That’s the big ones, though, the companies that offer full slates of contenders for every competition. There are still dozens of entries outside the big ones. Everything from niche companies who refuse to be bought out fielding a half-dozen entries, to privately wealthy hobbyists who might only have the resources to produce a single competitor.

But all of that is a later problem. Right now you’ve got to meet your team, in a production office off-site. 

Is your team leader:
[b]A charismatic presenter,[/b] focused on getting good interviews and human interest? They’ll be ambitious, preferring to take risks believing they can get forgiveness easier than permission
[b]A documentarian director,[/b] focused on getting shots, footage, and raw information? They’ll prefer a calculated and patient approach, while still being direct. They'll appreciate initiative. 
[b]A resourceful producer,[/b] focused on the craft rather than the art of the project? They’ll be incredibly risk averse and lack initiative. However, stay within their lines, and they’ll be an ironclad and ferocious defender. As long as they know the plan in advance, you'll have the right paperwork to do it. 

Is your colleague: 
[b]A light and sound veteran[/b], brimming with equipment and technical knowledge?
[b]A dedicated researcher,[/b] able to quickly source claims and do background research?
[b]A post-production wizard, [/b]someone capable of combing through the footage to find things you missed and salvaging corrupted or distorted files.

Is your liability:
[b]A young and inexperienced but [/b][i][b]very[/b][/i][b] enthusiastic intern, likely to get underfoot?[/b]
[i][b]Way[/b][/i][b] less production budget than you need?[/b]
[b]One of your team members [/b][b][i]really[/i][/b][b] dislikes you.[/b]

One of each; Describe who they are, how meeting them goes. One of them’s a furry and the other’s an android, your call which is which. You might be working with them for a while, so try to imagine who's going to be fun to work with and bounce off.