((Collab post between Letter Bee and FantasyChic))
Flashback
As one of Mikhail's other contingency plans, a call would appear at Vivenne's computer, encoded in a cipher that she would find it easy, but not too easy, to decode. This call would ask the hacker to meet a certain person at a top floor of an organic cafe in Seattle, for a job. She would be provided with an advance of 8 Million Dollars up front, with a promise of more to follow...
As Vivienne finishes her microwaved popcorn breakfast, she hears a familiar ping from her computer detailing a message. She quickly observes the call only to find an encrypted message. She begins to crack it, having a relatively harder time with it than normal. "Bastard seems to know what they are doing this time. Should be interesting," she says to herself as she hits the last key and decodes it. She reads it thouroughly, taking a big interest in the fee she would be promised. It sounded almost too good, but she couldn't pass up the money. "Seattle," she said to herself again, "Haven't been there in ages." She sends off a simple agreement message along with a familiar anime panda picture that is her "catchphrase" as it were. Afterwards she begins packing for the trip to Seattle.
Present Day
After arriving at the cafe, she would find the top floor empty, except for one wooden table with two chairs, one which was sat on by a fit, athletic-looking man with brown facial hair, who, if not for the ill-fitting T-shirt and jeans he wore, would have looked like a sailor. A CIA Agent chosen by Augusta E. Feather and her probability powers, but Vi wouldn't know that. Either way, the man would say:
"Hello. You must be Vivenne Devon. Nice to meet you." He then got up, and pulled out the second chair. "Anyway, I hope you don't mind, but I ordered organic espresso for the both of us, so that we can talk immidiately."
Vivienne entered the cafe, unsure of how to present herself so she went with a modest black dress and boots along with her special glasses. She noticed the man was alone in the top floor, but she didn't mind the view. If this was anything other than a business transaction, she might have been more interested in pursuing him further.
Keeping a cold face on she sits down in the offered chair, "Espesso is fine, thank you. I would like to know how exactly you have heard of me though. It's not like I go around advertising myself, so I'll imagine you were referred. Not that it matters much when money is on the line." She takes a sip of her espresso and hides the fact it tastes like sewer water.
"We've been...interested in your movements ever since Houston," the man spoke, "that was a fine job, there. Either way, we know that you're not only a Hacker, but a Powered Hacker, one with complete forgetfulness of her early years."
"Oh, don't be surprised; even in this age of powers and sophisticated technology, there is much use for normal human eyes and ears," the man's smile was genial. "Let me tell you a secret."
"A long time ago, there was a great organization, one that supported the greatest of governments. However, said government and said organization allowed the industries and conglomerates and cartels too much power, and now it is living on borrowed time. Now we wish to turn things back, and we are willing to pay any price to do so." He turned towards Vivenne.
"You want leads to find your mysterious past? You have them. You want a billion dollars? You have them. You want Seattle? It's signed over to you; that's how desperate we are."
The fact she was unaware she was being watched terrified and thrilled her. The Houston job was one of her prouder moments, but she didn't expect this, let alone ask for it. Regardless, she was excited, until the man mentioned her powers.
She was about to unleash digital hell on the man until he explained himself and told his story. It wasn't unlike anything she heard before. Corporations that grew too big for their britches and had to be brought down to planet Earth with relative speed and precision.
"Wow, you sure know a lot about me. I'm going to have to up my security, it seems." she sipped her espresso again, forgetting the fact it tasted horrible. "Exactly what is it you want me to do? I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth when offered things like the city of Seattle, but I have to ask. I am willing to get my hands dirty, if necessary, but even I have moral standards."
"Oh, don't worry," said the man, "we no longer kill babies...much. If we do so, the Corporations will just outdo us, then make sure we get all the blame. No, what we want is something that we are sure you would enjoy."
"We want you...to start a war between the Alkaev Corporation and the Free World Group."
"That is a tall request. So, of course, it will come with a tall fee." She leaned back in her seat and folded her arms. "I expect that 8 Million you promised at the start. Once the job is done, I request 12 Million. I also want to know about the program you and your bosses used to track me so I can better work around it in the future. Can't have that going around you know, a lady needs to take care of herself."
She tapped her fingers against her arm a bit, and continued, "One last thing I require. I would like to make use of such technology to explore my...unknown past. I want the resources to be able to investigate. Even if it's for a short time, a simple lead is all I would need. Surely that is something within your power."
"First up," the CIA Man said, "agreed on all counts. However, we didn't use a program, we used a special bacterium that gave off a trace amount of radiation - nothing harmful, but enough to act as a natural tracker for anyone in possession of the appropriate device. As for exploring your unknown past, we also have a special stem-cell treatment that can repair any damage to your brain, hopefully restoring your memories."
"Fair enough, then I'll amend. That bacterium you used, I'd like to know more about it. As for the treatment, I would need 100% assurance it would work. I don't just let anyone operate on me, I'm not that sleazy. I would also like to protect myself should anyone - not you of course - wish to do harm to me via this route by rewiring my brain and making me a brainwashed drone. You understand, of course."
"All right, then," spoke the CIA Man, "you'll recieve the relevant details about the bacterium after you've signed a contract. The treatment, meanwhile, is 100% guranteed to begin the restoration of your memories, helping provide you with valuable leads. As for self-protection..." the CIA Man handed over a USB.
"Here, this contains a tape of our conversation. Load it to your computer and program it to be released if you don't answer a password and safety question that can only be answered if you're not brainwashed."
She studied the man's face and, after he made his spiel, nodded. "Fair enough." she takes the USB drive and places it in her handbag. "I believe we have a deal then. I would need to look over the contract, of course, but if everything is as it stands, we should get along swimmingly. After all, since I've been tracked, you know how dangerous I am."
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