Part Thirty-Nine: Digging Deeper

[matrixrefugee.livejournal.com]

Miss Meglomania: 'Evening...I updated the PHUN phots again-- a better picture of Mischa, and another view of Sobor Volkov...this Mischa is the one Gaston saw last night!
Matrixrefugee197: Ooh, gotta take a look!
Matrixrefugee197: Ooh my!!! The sight of *that* would definately put a kink in Gaston's composure!
Matrixrefugee197: I had a crazy dream about Mischa pesting Julien and scaring the bejeebers out of the poor little chubby one, though he might be too easy a target.
Miss Meglomania: Mischa will do damn near ANYTHING to scare someone...she's veeeeery much into being "the Bride of Dracula", her favourite role when she acted onstage (she wasn't an espectially GOOD actress, but she liked it
enough...)
Matrixrefugee197: Doesn't take much acting to play a female vampire, if you ask me.... just look vampy and sexy.
Miss Meglomania: Mischa: (purring happily>
Nitika: "GOD, don't encourage her..."
Matrixrefugee197: Ooh, we gotta get Le Mero out of prison: Mischa would have a field day with him!
Miss Meglomania: Mischa: (whispering> "Are they always this...mad?"
Nitika: "Pay them no mind...anyway, would you rather be soaking up the sun in Italy, or stuck on the side of a bloody mountain back home?"
Mischa: "Hmm...the sun is detremental to my personality...but, then again, it IS negative-30 degrees with sleet back home..."
Miss Meglomania: (and when is gets cold on that mountain...DAMN, it gets cold...>
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "Thus it is on Mount Segur (i.e., the mountain where the Chateau de Rennes is). Julien nearly froze that first winter we dwelt there."
Matrixrefugee197: Needless to say, Le Mero and his lawyers have been busy: they've dropped Stage I of the bombshell involving an incriminating MetaFlesh medical prosthesis...
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa reads that bit of news with a narrowed brow...there's something familiar about this, but...no...
Matrixrefugee197: Frank knows about this, in fact, Hal/Le Mero had him send the information to the major news networks...
Miss Meglomania: Ilia has kept quiet about the entire thing...occasionally looking at the Contessa to read her expression, but says nothing...but pricks up his ears when she says she might be out for the day on official business...
Matrixrefugee197: Cecie is impressed, but --though she's not letting on -- she suspects that the Merv is doing this to try cutting the noose slowly tightening around his scrawny little neck...
Miss Meglomania: What exactly has Mero released to the press?
Matrixrefugee197: Julien greets this news with joy, taking it as a portent that his master may be returning to him...
Matrixrefugee197: Just that a geneticist working with him on an investigation has turned up some evidence that indicates foul play had a role in the death of the former Premier of the Eastern Alliance...
Matrixrefugee197: Not naming names or naming objects...
Matrixrefugee197: Yet.
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa is very silent about this news, showing no outward emotion...but if she had a heart, it would be racing
Matrixrefugee197: "More details are expected to be released as the information becomes availible. "This case is very far from being closed," says Le Meroveque. "But it will bring closure to our comrades of the Eastern Alliance."
Miss Meglomania: She does, however, draw aside her Entourage and tells them in no uncertain terms: do not breathe a word of this to Nitika. She musn't know.
Kosmos: "Ma'am...with all due respect, how long do you fancy you can keep this information from her?"
The Contessa: "As long as humanly possible. Do I have your word?"
Yulia: "On my honour, Madame."
Kitty: "My only wish is to serve you faithfully, Ma'am."
Kosmos: (after a pause> "Da, Madame. Good day."
Matrixrefugee197: A photo accompanying the article shows Dr. Schrever at work in his laboratory, looking up at the camera with a grim look in his eye.
Miss Meglomania: Yulia looks at the picture and raises an eyebrow. "How charming...could they not implant a sound chip of funeral dirges to accompany all this?"
Kosmos: "We will speak no more of this matter, Yulia...not until we are permitted."
Matrixrefugee197: Gaston isn't sure what to make of this news: he's sure of one thing, that his father is like to be using this as a leg up... But he's still shaken from the events of the previous night...
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa leaves the compound for a visit with a Vatican official-- who, she won't say-- and Ilia silently slinks into her office after making sure the coast is clear...
Miss Meglomania: This task is going to be much more difficult than pilfering stationary or looking up addresses...where to even begin looking?
Miss Meglomania: After about a half-hour, elbows deep in a file, he feels something pointy running down his spine, and a voice: "Hello, my darling..."
Ilia: (without turning> "Hello, Mischa. What are you doing here?"
Mischa: "I could ask the same of you..."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: "If you must know, I am looking for confidential medical files to help Meroveque get a deffered sentence so that the Contessa is happy, so I get enough money to finance a ballet."
Mischa: (laughs> "Ah, Liyla! Such a joker you are!" She hops onto the desk above him and dangles her foot in front of his face. "You know who I visited last night? The Little Prince."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia doesn't look up. "Was he any good?"
Mischa: "I don't know, he woke up too soon." (smiles> "Don't worry, my darling, I am sure you do not have any competition."
Ilia: "Oh, thank you for the reassurance."
Matrixrefugee197: Gaston is just getting down to business for the day, dealing with the influx of messages regarding his father's announcement... when he keeps getting paged from the room at the foot of the French wing of the Palazzo...
Miss Meglomania: Mischa: (lazily, swinging her foot> "When are you going to become like us, Liyla? The Bride is no good without her Dracula..."
Ilia: "It does not suit me. Not yet, anyway. Now, will you get out of here? Don't you need to go hide in your coffin or something?"
Mischa (pouts sarcastically> : "Okay, I can tell when I'm not wanted...until later, my darling..." Gets off the desk and exits the office, humming to herself...
Matrixrefugee197: As she leaves the office, something small and... well, less plump than it was... is tiptoeing along the hallway back to the French wing...
Miss Meglomania: Mischa leaps high onto the wall to avoid detection, holding herself up wit her claws as she watches the stranger...
Matrixrefugee197: Happy thoughts fill Julien's cube: Perhaps clemency will be granted to his master and these cold-hearted cynics will see him as the felicitious being that he is...
Matrixrefugee197: ((No need to roll dice on whether the soft little one sees her or not: he's preoccupied!))
Matrixrefugee197: His master will be returned to him... once again he will serve him as secretary and as paramour...
Miss Meglomania: Mischa raises an eyebrow...no hearbeat...hmm, what to do, what to do...
Matrixrefugee197: ((True: Julien looks *very* natural, except for the preternatural cuteness to his face!))
Miss Meglomania: Hmm...what to do, what to do....ooooh, HERE'S an idea...Dracula would approve...
Makes a small noise, a small hiss towards him, nothing loud, for his ears only...
Matrixrefugee197: J: (stops, looks around... >
Matrixrefugee197: Looks up...
Miss Meglomania: Mischa looks at him withiridecent eyes and smiles, her lips curling over fangs..."Hello, sweet child."...
Then before Julien can realise what's happening, he's in the air and out the nearest window, hanging upside down over the courtyard
Matrixrefugee197: J: "EEEEEEEEEEEEEPPP!!!"
Matrixrefugee197: The blood is rushing to his head... wait, he doesn't have any blood... well, all his lubricants are rushing to his head!
Miss Meglomania: Swinging a little in the breeze...so many storis above the ground...
Matrixrefugee197: J: "Help! Help! Help!"
Miss Meglomania: Mischa: "What if I dropped you, sweet child? I may yet..."
Matrixrefugee197: J: "Eep!" (holds still. Maybe if he's quiet, this thing won't hurt him...>
Miss Meglomania: Mischa tilts her head a little..."Oopsie. I slipped!"
Julien drops for a nanosecond-- then is grabbed again...
Matrixrefugee197: J (says nothing: too scared!>
Miss Meglomania: Mischa: "Ay, sweet child, you make my arm so sore! Au revoir, my lovely..."
And with that, Julian finds himself slung UPWARD, clear onto the edge of the roof above.
Matrixrefugee197: Clings to the roof for dear existence!
Miss Meglomania: Mischa looks up at him, laughs, and vanishes back inside the window.
Matrixrefugee197: J: "Help!... Help!! ...Help!!!"
Miss Meglomania: Ilia listens to all this from inside the office and shakes his head...freakin' psychopath...exits the office and goes to the open window, looking up. "That you, Monsieur Fatty?"
Matrixrefugee197: J: "Yes... some demoness out of hell picked me up and carried me to the roof!"
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: "Don't you hate it when that happens? Hold on, I will get someone..."
Matrixrefugee197: J: "Please do... I shall reward you handsomely!"
Miss Meglomania: Ilia shakes his head and alerts a guard..."Pardon me, Signor...the fat one seems to have contrived to hang himself off the roof. Could you help him?"
About a minute later, some guards are on the roof and helping Julien up...
Matrixrefugee197: J: "Ahhh..." (a sigh of utter relief...>
Miss Meglomania: Fillipo looks at Julien and raises an eyebrow...does he even WANT to know what was going on here?'
Matrixrefugee197: Once back on solid ground, Julien takes the time to replenish his now spent fluid reservoirs... just the ones that generate his simulated saliva et al, but not the contour reservoirs under his skin...
Matrixrefugee197: J: "You have my eternal gratitude, sirrah."
Miss Meglomania: Everyone: (internal> "Sirrah?!?"
Matrixrefugee197: Julien has a modern vocabulary for his secretarial duties, but his default vocabulary seems to have been compiled by someone who'd read the complete works of Shakespeare and Moliere, amongst others!
Miss Meglomania: Ilia goes back to his search in the office, making sure this time that Little Miss PsychoBitch isn't in the room...getting frustrated...naturally the documents are in Russian, which he doesn't know, but there's also apparently hidden...
Miss Meglomania: Flipping through one paper after another...smiles to himself: "Gee, look at all the funny little symbols..."
Matrixrefugee197: Julien hurries to Gaston's room, barging right in and annoying both Gaston and the usually unflappable Harmann. "I saw a demoness! I saw a demoness!"
Matrixrefugee197: G: "What are you talking about, Julien?" (his stomach tightening... maybe it wasn't just a dream...>
Matrixrefugee197: Julien describes what happened...
G: "You're free to stay here if you'd feel safer that way, but I'm afraid you'll have to keep quiet while I'm working."
J: "I can only obey."
Matrixrefugee197: And he does so... They'd never know he's in the room...
Miss Meglomania: In the office, Ilia presses a throw pillow to his face and roars into it in frustration...tosses it back again, feeling instantly better...
Miss Meglomania: His hand goes to his throat, twisting the thin silver chain around his neck around his finger...pauses as his fingers slide over the key hanging there...hmm...is she really that dependant on him? We'll just have to see...
Takes the chain off and holds the key lightly, crossing over to her desk, with its multitude of locked drawers...kneels down, here goes nothing...
Miss Meglomania: Slides the key into the largest drawer's lock, shaking his head as it turns easily..."Madame, you really must get yourself a more scupulous lover..."
Slides open the drawer, his figers flipping over the accordian file inside...
Miss Meglomania: There's a thick file with a yellow tab sticking out the top...helloooo...picks it up and flips through it...inter-es-ting...Nitika's 'adoption' records...Nadira Rafi's death certificate...oh, hello, there's her copy of his contract...and what is this in the back?
Miss Meglomania: Pulls it out...in Russian, of course, but he's been to hospital a few times and knows a medical chart when he sees one...and can at least read "Volkov" in Russian, he isn't THAT ignorant-- jackpot.
Stands up, locking the drawer and rolling up the file, tucking it under his vest...
Matrixrefugee197: Frank is currently busy answering calls from several news agencies, all pesting him for more details... Cecie is at the Curia, conferring with the 'devil's advocate', the Vatican official in charge of investigating
Miss Meglomania: Ilia heads back to his room and locks the door behind him, putting the key back around his neck before dashing off an email to Mero: "I think I have them. Can you get someone who speaks Russian?"
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "I have access to AI translators, and I know a smattering of it."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: "I will get on the next train to Geneva, then. Until then-- Sarkozi"
Miss Meglomania: Turns off his computer, grabs his jacket and hat before heading out, taking a servant's door to get outside and to the garage...gets in his car and heads out towards the trains station to catch the next express...
Matrixrefugee197: LM: (smiles to himself on reading this: Stage II is about to be assembled and launched....>
Matrixrefugee197: Cecie is proposing that her father would be an excellent patron saint for several classes of people: fathers of families, lawyers... Mecha-rights activists...
Miss Meglomania: Three hours later Ilia heads onto a lift for the 13th floor of the Ambassador Hotel...strides confidently down the hall to the room, looking cooly at the guards as if he has a TOTAL purpose and if they dare to interfere, he'll have them written up, fired and possibly prosecuited. Savvy?
Matrixrefugee197: They don't stand in his way!
Miss Meglomania: Doesn't even knock before opening the door and...well, not BARGING in, but certainly making his presence known to everyone
Matrixrefugee197: Le Mero is waiting for him anyway: The Queen Mother showed up for her daily conjugal visit, but he put her off till the evening, saying he had legal matters to attend to...
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "So... what did you manage to sniff out?"
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: "That is just it, I cannot read them. You think i would learn a little Russian in the time...but no bother." Pulls out the files and slides them over to Mero. "They are medical charts, I can read that well enough.
I do not know what they say, they might be nothing. But, that is what they are."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: (taking them> "This might be the link in the chain we need right now... They certainly look like medical charts, but I'll have to confirm that with Bartleby, the translator AI..."
Matrixrefugee197: Turns to a slightly Rube Goldbergian snarl of laptops, relays and gadgets on his desk... in the midst of which, is a flatbed scanner...
Matrixrefugee197: He pokes around for a minute, preparing some kind of connection... "Bartleby, are you online?"
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: "Your little news story has made quite a stir back East...well, from what I have picked up from the outside. The Contessa is not speaking of it."
Matrixrefugee197: Then this fruity voice worthy of a Jeevesian butler replies, "At your service, m'lord. What do you wish and desire me to translate for you?"
Matrixrefugee197: LM: (to Ilia> "I would imagine it's created waves already..."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "Yes, we have some text in Russian, Cyrillic type, which I need you to descramble for me." (sets about loading the pages into the scanner>
Matrixrefugee197: B: "At your command and with pleasure, m'lord..."
Matrixrefugee197: There's some barely perceptible rustling in the Rube Goldberg set-up, as Le Mero scans each page, one by one... A progress meter on one of the laptops shows how much has been uploaded and translated already.
Matrixrefugee197: He scans in the last page, and after a few moments, the translation progress meter reaches 100 %
Matrixrefugee197: B: "Translation complete. Shall I send it to you in text format, m'lord?"
LM: "Yes, please do."
Matrixrefugee197: A moment later, a lazer printer at the back of the snarl starts up, each page sliding out, one by one... Le Mero takes out the sheaf and examines them...
Miss Meglomania: The charts are about as complete as one can get...from prenatal genetic coding, to newborn immunizations, to the death certificate...
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "Jackpot... got it." (grins up at Ilia and taps the pages on the flat of his palm> " Brilliant detective work!"
Miss Meglomania: Ilia shrugs in faux-modesty..."Well, I try."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: (reaching out and giving his shoulder a brotherly squeeze> "You did more than just try, you've succeeded... Now... You better be off before they miss you, and I had better set to work getting the word out..."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "To the proper sources, that is..."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia looks dow at Mero's hand, then up to his face...no real expression there, but there's a hard-to-read look in his eye, but he says nothing
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "The hard part though will be subpoena for an autopsy... by a disinterested party, and Schrever is as disinterested as they get. A pure man of science if there ever was one..."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: "Yes, what is the proper way to ask the Contessa permission to hack into her husband's body? You might be on your own with that one, even I can not make that a gentle request."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "I shall have to remind her that it is in the best interest of all, particularly for her own peace of mind."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: "Good luck, Meroveque...you will certainly require it."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "We shall all need it..."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia heads towards the door and looks back over his shoulder. "I think I know what to get you as a token of thanks-- but it will have to wait until this is resolved."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "Indeed... I have a lot of bridges to cross before then... But ... I cannot thank you enough."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia rolls his eyes. "Spare me. I am only doing this to get money, I do not give a flying fuck about you."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "I'm fully aware of that... I'm only expressing my thoughts about this... Now off with you: I have a lot of calls to make..."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia akes a face at "off with you"-- what, he's a servant all of a sudden? but nods goodbye and heads out the door...
Matrixrefugee197: To find the Queen Mother attempting to get in....
Matrixrefugee197: M: (narrows her eyes a trifle at Ilia...>
Miss Meglomania: Ilia looks down at the Queen, with the beginning of one expression...then puts on one of his most charming smiles. "Why, good afternoon, your Majesty."
Matrixrefugee197: M: "And what brings you here, Monsieur Sarkozi?"
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: "Personal matters between your husband and myself, Madame. I am afraid I shall not elaborate...it is a private affair."
Matrixrefugee197: M: (not sure what to make of that, but she lets it go.> "I see...."
Matrixrefugee197: M: "Excuse me..." (steps past him in a bid to enter...>
Miss Meglomania: Ilia steps gracefully out of her way, smiling a little to herself...well, that will confuse her for a time being, and he does not mind a bit...
Matrixrefugee197: M: (What did *that* mean?... but lets it go; knocks on the door>
Matrixrefugee197: A moment later it opens and Le Mero peers out... there's a quiet exchange between the royal couple... Marilyn lets out a slightly harrassed sigh... She leans in a little closer and there is the sound of a kiss... she
steps away as the door closes... her annoyance is dissolving as she turns away and heads out...
Miss Meglomania: Ilia bows a little to her as she passes. "Good afternoon, Ma'am," he says quietly before heading down te stairs, the opposide direction from her
Matrixrefugee197: And later that evening, or whenever, Ilia may find someone waiting for him in his room...
Matrixrefugee197: Usually Julien is not interested in offering his wares to other males... but this is an exception... this one may have helped to betray his master, but he is also helping him... such virtue must be rewarded...
Miss Meglomania: By the evening, Ilia is too tired and stoned to notice much, just throws a tshirt over his boxers and crawls into bed, asleep almost immediately...
Matrixrefugee197: J: (hiding under the covers... creeps over to Ilia...>
Miss Meglomania: Sleeping soundly...could be dead exept for the steady rise of his ribs...
Matrixrefugee197: J: (nuzzles his face against Ilia's neck, kissing it gently>
Miss Meglomania: Ilia makes a 'mrrr' noise and shrugs a little...
Matrixrefugee197: J: (kisses him a little harder...>
Miss Meglomania: Mutters a little in Hungarian and rolls over, pulling the covers up a little higher
Matrixrefugee197: J: :: Siiigggh....::
Mechas may have no desires, but Julien is a little different... and this not being able to serve anyone amourouslly is getting to him...
Miss Meglomania: Ilia rolls over again, his arm flopping over Julien in his sleep...
Matrixrefugee197: Well, this is something! (nestles in a little closer, rubbing up against Ilia gently>
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: "Hrr...*snirk*..." moves a little closer to Julien...
Matrixrefugee197: J: (nestles right up against him, trying to get underneath him>
Miss Meglomania: Ilia shifts a little in his sleep-- yes, he actually CAN sleep through a romantic encounter, especualyl when he's had 10 shots of alcohol-- rolling a little onto Julien...makes aother 'mrrr?' noise, then settles down again..
Matrixrefugee197: When that encounter entails a male accustomed to being on the bottom? well... it can be done...
Miss Meglomania: Julien may as well be a mattress and eiderdown pillow at this point, since that's what Ilia is using him as...rolls clear over Julien to land on the other side...
Matrixrefugee197: J: :: siiiighh::: This won't be easy, but his first master, that nasty M. Seneschal was just as somnolent...
Miss Meglomania: ((actually, Ilia has woken several times to see Sobor Volkov's physian standing over the bed...called when the Contessa thought he'd had a heart attack or slipped into a coma over the course of the night...))
Matrixrefugee197: J: (setting to work...>
Matrixrefugee197: Soggy curtains flopping in the breeze...
Matrixrefugee197: ((Ouch, why does that sound obscene?))
Miss Meglomania: ((um...it is?))
Matrixrefugee197: ((ROTFL!))
Matrixrefugee197: He doesn't stay long... he'd much rather be with someone more alert... this reminds him too much of that evil dullard who had him burned...
Miss Meglomania: Man...Ilia is going to have one HELL of a hangover in the morning, among other things...
Matrixrefugee197: A few little nips in his skin which he may have trouble accounting for... plus the scent of lavender and... lazerjet toner (?) clinging to his skin...
Miss Meglomania: Crawls from bed...Jesus, my head...Jesus, my nose...Jesus-- the rest of me? What the fuck...why am I sticky?
Matrixrefugee197: Once finished with Ilia... Julien sneaks out and goes back to his master's room to keep his sweet vigil watch... He hopes, if his master finds out, that he will have mercy on him: he only acted out of gratitude to this
strange young man...
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: (internal after lowering himself in the tub> "If I am stiff for the reason I think I am stiff...somebody in this compound is going to fucking die...Jesus!"
Matrixrefugee197: And there's more news next morning: Le Meroveque has accessed the database containing Count Volkov's medical records and has had them examined... there's a suspicious surgery date...
Miss Meglomania: A "surgeon-recommended elective plastic surgery" for his right calf where it was shot off in the Chechnyan civil war...and a month later the vomiting and dizzy spells began...
Matrixrefugee197: Symptomatic of overload from a MetaFlesh microcellular disrupter prosthesis...
Miss Meglomania: Three months later, a tentative diagnosis: abnormal Hodgkins Disease, a cancer of the bone marrow that supplies blood to the body...
Matrixrefugee197: " Says Dr. Arnault Schrever, a geneticist examining the case, 'The size of the prosthetic concurs with the symptoms. In laymans' terms, this unit has enough output power to choke a horse.' "
Matrixrefugee197: " 'The patient literally had his organ systems shot out from under him, starting most likely with the bone marrow. An autopsy could reveal more information'."
Matrixrefugee197: "Le Meroveque is expected to contact the Contessa Volkova as early as today, requesting that this autopsy be ordered: 'She, and the people she serves, deserve closure in this matter."
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa Volkova has so far been unavailable for comment...since she returned from her visit with the Vatican oficial, she locked herself in her bedroom and hasn't come out for a day andf a half
Matrixrefugee197: Le Mero anticipated something like that... during his... conjugal visit with the Queen Mother earlier that morning, he tapped his oracular insight...
Matrixrefugee197: M: (afterward> "What happened?"
LM: "Hm?"
M: "Your eyes turned inwards... You've never done that before..."
LM: (replies with something only her ears should hear!>
Matrixrefugee197: CENSORED!!!
Miss Meglomania: Lol!
Matrixrefugee197: It's actually something intended to be naughtily charming, but it's impossible to boil down to a PG-13 rating!
Miss Meglomania: Lol...would we really expect anything else from him?
Matrixrefugee197: (GRIN!>
Matrixrefugee197: Frank: (reading the news feed> "Wow... Hal's makin' progress..."
C: "I hope he knows what he's doing..."
F: "Just bein' the newshound he ever was..."
Miss Meglomania: All requests from the news media for a comment from the Contessa have been shunned by her solicitor...the emails back up, some in sympathy some addressing outrage...a few blaming her for not investigating this
herself...
Matrixrefugee197: But she'll find one very delicately put one from Le Mero, asking her if she would, for her own peace of mind as well as the peace of mind for her people, consider this move....
Matrixrefugee197: Even Gaston passes a message to her firmly but gently urging her to take the neccessary actions...
Miss Meglomania: To which Mero recieves a reply from the Contessa, lacking her usual eloquence, the only leter she's sent out so far:
"The request is not mine to grant. The State seized the body shortly after his death. If you wish this done, you have to ask our Premier and President Bodanost...I have no say in his burial or presentation. Nadira."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: (reads this dispassionately... he expected a brick wall like this.... another revelation during his oracular moment...>
Matrixrefugee197: LM: (calls for a remote presence device and sets about arranging a conference with the Premier....>
Miss Meglomania: Mero will also recieve a note from Ilia: "Listen-- Julien has gone way too far this time. You tell that little bastard to stay the fuck out of my room and the fuck out of me, okay? Jesus!"
Matrixrefugee197: LM: (replying> "I was afraid of that... He only intended to pleasure you, but I know from experience, he can be an utter brat about it. Rest assured, I'm setting the wheels of his punishment in motion. H.A.L. de M."
Matrixrefugee197: And later that afternoon, a black Mercedes plows up to the Palazzo, tires squealing and techno music blaring from the sound system...
Miss Meglomania: Ilia shuts the computer off in disgust and runs his hand through his hair-- the little fucker, in moe ways than one! He'll do Mecha, and he'll do men, but only if he's having a goof with the former and getting
something in return from the latter-- the little bastard could have at least woken him UP first...
Matrixrefugee197: Two dark young fellows in grey silk shirts and black leather pants, both wearing sunglasses, swagger into the Palazzo, almost like they own the joint.
The smarter looking one: "Okay... where's our dear little friend?"
The duller looking one: "I dunno... check the boss's room?"
Matrixrefugee197: Smart one: "Now why should I listen to that bit of advice?"
Dumb one: "I dunno... 'cause I know 'um well?"
So: "You barely know your hand from your foot, Pollux!"
Miss Meglomania: (ah, the return of the Terrible Twins!>
Matrixrefugee197: Even still, Castor stalks to the door of Le Mero's vacant rooms.... listens...
Matrixrefugee197: Castor: (microburst to Pollux: Well, whaddayah know, he's in there...>
Matrixrefugee197: Castor presses his hand to his throat, as if checking the pulse in his jugular vein (if he had one)
Cstr: (n squeaky feminine voice, and trying to sound like Kitty> "Mr. Julien? Are you in there?"
Miss Meglomania: (lol!)
Matrixrefugee197: J: "I am here!" (runs to open the door...>
Matrixrefugee197: The door has barely opened when Castor and Pollux rush inside, slamming the door behind them.
J: "But you're not -- AY!!!"
Matrixrefugee197: The sounds of a loud scuffle ensue, shot through with Julien's squeals of anguish!
Miss Meglomania: Mero will get a formal letter back from Chen Bai, Premier Zhao's interpreter: "The Premier wishes to extend his warmest greetings to you in your times of trouble. However, he is unsure why you wish to bring up the
tragedy of three years past back to the forefront of the world when the wound to our hearts is still raw. He cannot help but suspect you are wishing to deflect attention from your own troubles onto our State, and using the hearts and
spirits of our people in a most cruelly manipulative manner. On behalf of Genral Zhao Xiang, Premier of the Eastern Alliance, I remain yours, Miss Chen Bai."
Miss Meglomania: A scuffle that Ilia listens to with greeeeeeat satisfaction....
Matrixrefugee197: The door bursts open and Julien, his clothes half-torn from his body, comres rushing out, pursued by the Twins, who chase him out into the courtyard!
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa stirs from her room long enough to type out a message to the Premier: "If I even suspect for a moment that you are hiding anything from me, that you are blocking an investigation or that you might have something to do with this...I do not care what you might know about me. I do not care at all. And I will make you sorry for ever crossing my family. Contessa Volkova."
Matrixrefugee197: Le Mero forwards a copy of the message to the Contessa, adding a message of his own: "I am attempting this only in your interests. Justice needs to be rendered. LM."
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa: "I doubt highly that my interests are very high on your list of priorities. Likewise, I care little for yours. I am not sure what all of this means, I am not sure the outcome. But justice will be rendered-- I do not care if I must die as well, justice will be rendered. And despite how much I may despise you...we shall have to work together if it is to be accomplised. Contessa Volkova."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: (on reading this> "Things are looking up... But... the heavy lifting of Stage III begins..."
Miss Meglomania: And one last email from Ilia to Le Mero: "I thank you for your swift retribution on Julien-- it was a pleasure to watch. Now, I fear, I owe you two favours...how irritating. Perhaps I can give you one to knock out all past and future favours...but we shall see. Sarkozi."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: (Was considering requesting a tango of his own with this young fellow... tempted to make it a horizontal tango as well, but that might be pushing it...>