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The Art of Compromise - Chapter One
Hopewell Plaza
Black Hills
Solaris VII
Lyran Commonwealth
20 May, 3049
Though it was done subtly, signs of the owner's wealth were visible throughout the entrance to the office building that was Hopewell Plaza, the Solaris headquarters of Hopewell Enterprises. From the company logo finding its way nearly everywhere, to the ultra-modern construction, to the immaculately tailored employees, it was clear that Hopewell was a profitable enterprise.
Of course, what exactly that enterprise was seemed to be another question entirely. When she had received an invitation to a meeting with owner Arthur Hopewell, Faith had done what research she could on the interweb. Real estate, consulting, and other nebulous terms were thrown around when describing the company. But what stood out was it's links to the Solaris gaming industry. Hopewell had apparently invested heavily with various stables, arenas, and design firms around the city to the point that it seemed like he had his fingers in everywhere.
The invitation had been vague, but an invitation by a power player on the Solaris scene like Hopewell was not something you simply turned down. Her initial instinct had been to go in dressed as her usual casual self, Sternsnacht Python and all, but she had thought better of it. This was Hopewell's turf, best to respect it. And so now she stood at the reception desk, dressed in a dark green skirt suit, heels, hair and makeup all done to perfection.
"Faith McCarron, I have an appointment with Mr. Hopewell." she forced a smile to the secretary sitting behind the desk, who looked like her practiced smile was practiced 24 hours a day.
"Of course, he's waiting for you. His office is at the end of the corridor, you can't miss it."
Faith headed down the indicated corridor, and found the office door, complete with a large bronze name tag with Arthur Hopewell's name emblazoned on it. She knocked on the heavy wood door, and entered when she received a reply.
Arthur Hopewell was dressed just as you would expect him to be, in a suit current with the latest trends, perfectly tailored, with a sword and sunburst Davion pin on his lapel. He looked to be about in his mid forties, with light blonde hair, and the smile of a politician, far too natural.
"Yes, thank you for coming Miss McCarron. Or is it Lady? You Lords prefer that title here on the game world, don't you? Well, with a gaming record like yours of late, who am I to argue. Please, have a seat."
She took a seat in front of his spacious desk. The seat was luxurious beyond belief, soft leather that welcomed the occupant comfortably. "Can I offer you a drink, Lady McCarron? Scotch perhaps. I have a 14 year Balvenie that just arrived from Terra."
"Of course, thank you." The man had obviously done his homework. He poured two robust rocks glasses of Scotch, handing one to Faith before sitting down behind his desk with one himself.
"I must say, I'm impressed with your performance here as a newcomer. Only 22 years old, and you are tearing up the lower divisions of the medium and heavy circuits. But more than that, you have fire, and you're doing it with flair. Seems like you might have what it takes here on Solaris to make a career of this."
Faith took a sip of the excellent scotch and nodded at his praise. "Thank you. I'm not sure how long I'll be here, but I am loving the opportunities the game world provides for a good mechwarrior."
"Oh yes, there are endless opportunities here. I'm no mechwarrior, but I've made my fortune here and have no plans on going anywhere. And as a pillar of the community, I am always on the lookout for young rising stars like yourself. We could have a profitable association together."
There it was, starting to come out. He wanted something, but she wasn't sure yet what it was. "Perhaps. But as you know, House of Lords is unaligned. And I am Capellan by birth. I'm not sure that would fit with your squeaky clean Davion image."
He dismissed her concerns with a wave of his hand. "Nonsense. We rise above factionalism here on Solaris, at least on a superficial level. Besides, it is your connections with the Confederation that interest me. The local Triads love you, and you're still officially on the Confederation rolls, are you not?"
She nodded.
He pulled a folder from a drawer on his desk. "Whenever I consider a partnership with someone, I make sure to do my research. it's always best to know with whom you are dealing. Your brash personality isn't just in the arena in front of the cameras, is it? It seems you are quite the party girl, aren't you?"
Faith chuckled. "I like to live the Solaris night life, yeah. What's the point in raking in the cbills if you don't use them?"
"Indeed. And you use them beyond the club scene, don't you?" He opened the folder and slid several photos over to her. They had obviously been captured with some kind of hidden camera. The images were of her, in rather compromising positions with several men in a suite at a Solaris hotel. She couldn't quite tell which one from the images.
She shrugged. "So I like me some beefcake. Piloting stompy robots can get a girl all hot and frustrated you know. And for the record, I didn't spend any c-bills on these guys, if that's what you're worried about."
He smiled a smile that left her feeling rather uncomfortable. "You haven't yet caught on. I have little interest in how you satisfy yourself, my dear Lady." He paused for a moment. "Do you know any of those gentlemen?"
"Yeah, not really sure gentlemen is the right word. But no, I don't know them. I'm sure they told me their names and all, but that wasn't really what was sticking in my mind at the time, you know." She was starting to get annoyed with this man.
"Yes, well I have no idea or interest in who two of them are, but you should be very interested in who the third one is. The blonde, he is a known MIIO agent. That's right, a Davion agent." He raised an eyebrow.
"So I banged James Bond. Big deal. Was he the one who took the pictures?" Just about now she could have slugged the guy in the face.
"No. I arranged for someone to have the images recorded. There is video as well, if you're interested. But I don't suppose you are, you were there for the live event. But I tell you who just might be interested in these images and that video. What would the Maskirovka say if they found out that you, a Capellan Citizen and CCAF mechwarrior, were playing games with a Davion spy? I imagine they would be none too happy about that, now would they?" His smile was gone, but she could tell in his eyes that he was pleased with himself. He passed her several more images. "And there's more. These images here show you have some expensive tastes. Opiates, Dust, Stims, I wonder what the Solaris gaming board would think of that?"
She stared at him with fire in her eyes. "You snake. I have half a mind to kill you right now. You're trying to blackmail me, seriously?"
He laughed. "Oh no my girl, I am not trying. I AM blackmailing you. And some food for thought, I have these images stashed away somewhere safe. I monitor them from time to time. Should you kill me, or I die in an accident, or at all, they will be automatically released. So you better hope I live a good long life, because if I don't, then it's a race to see if the Solaris Gaming Board can throw you in prison before the Maskirovka whisks you off to some dungeon somewhere on Sian."
She smashed her fist into the table. "And what, exactly, am I supposed to do?"
"Whatever I need you to. Having someone with Capellan connections is going to go a long way for me. You will be one of my most prized assets."
