Eros Fletcher's Story

Eros was doing his usual rounds before he went back to discuss matters in the latest Board Meeting, but for now he was going to see what the situation was with each are. As he passed another lab, he nearly bumped into a scientist, growling he would yell, "Watch where your going, this suit is expensive and I don't need your solutions messing it up."

"It's Mr Fletcher and what of it?" he had his own concerns about that place, but for now he would leave them be, they were doing good work there and Mr More had been jealous of this place. Since this was the case he would take much of what he said with a pinch of salt, as he had bigger concerns than petty jealousy and rivalry.

He would stop walking finally and say, "Make up your mind man, first you wish to talk about Cryo Facility now you wish to discuss funding, out with it!" he was losing his patience and had bigger things to think about, could this funding dispute not wait until the next board meeting.

Pausing he would appear concern, "They Cryo Facility indeed not replied for a while, but it is in the outskirts of this galaxy, we knew that communication would be slow, why bring it up. As for money what can you actually offer in legitimate practices that is only way we will get Governmnet Grants."

Standing up tall he looked down at the man, "The deal was this you practice legitimate actions and under the table use the grants to fund your science, if you can't do either, why do I need you? That was the deal, it's not complicated nor is it difficult to understand."

"We shall discuss this later, you are making a scene and frankly you have my concerns on the Cryo facility I shall try raise them and see if we get anything. If you feel need to make a scene again, please do so in front of my secretary and don't waste my time." with that he would walk off.

In the middle of a call, he would keep speaking over the chaos, "Look I know Brenda that your son not made contact, but we are trying to relay your concerns over an entire quadrant it does not help those freaking primitives won't allow any of our ships nearby..." pausing he would scowl, then say, "Madam if you are going to use that language, we shall continue this later." with that he slammed down the phone and muttered, "Imbeciles, freaking imbeciles, why the hell is Mystic being so late on her report, that girl had a future damn it!"

Sighing he would appear frustrated and speak to himself, "This was not meant to happen, this was not meant to happen, I honestly wish sent you there instead, Mystic at least could handle this crisis, you are breathing down my neck and essentially forcing my hand, I can't get grants unless you provide me something of substance they can use, it's not complicated man, really!"

Standing up he would slam his hand on the desk, "Don't push me, if you want money, find out WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED IN CRYO, I DON'T CARE HOW YOU DO IT, IF YOU FIND THIS OUT, I WILL GIVE YOU MONEY OUT OF THE FUCKING WAZOO!" huming heavily he would sigh, "Leave and don't dare come back until you found out this, if you stay I will cut your funds even more! NOW!"

(Null post ignore)

Turning to the Indian she smiled, "Yes, I am Clair Wilder and this is my brother Steve don't mind his look, he just follows me mainly to keep eye on me and hates how often I get into situations due to my wish to report on all areas." she would grin and go on, "The King of that nation, Mezzadrate think it's called he certainly knows how to please the crowd, being from Terra it's interesting to see how much we share in common with other people." shrugging she would peer out the windows of ships, before returning her attention to the guy, "So, what do you expect from this and what do you represent on Terra, seems many big names emerging from woodwork on this shuttle, if I had time, I would interview you."

Sometimes one must be put up a facade to please the folks and shut up the Board Members. Of course he was eventually going to address the scourge of Elysium on the market but in this matter he felt no hurry, no one Brillion had the drug and there was less danger of any untowards explosion occuring. As far as he was concerned it was very much not his problem nor the cities, but the board members seemed to think very much otherwise, in fact they had given an ultimantium hold a Press Conference before end of week and see what population want. If not they would find a way to replace them, disloyalty aside, he could deal with them if pushed. They had a point, it was bad business to ignore potential ventures that could yield profits.

That is why he was outside in winter wearing thick overcoat, it was a few minutes before everyone was expected to show up, nonetheless he really wished he had chosen a better day for this. Brillion was known for its extravagant Summers, everyone was out near the river sunbathing and enjoying the rays dance over them in radiant displays. Of course it was winter and the location chosen for the Press Conference was the Old Court House, it was disused but his Board Members believed that by exploiting such a symbol, they could reduce rumours of certain irregularities in the accounts, as well as leaked documents suggesting unethical experiments on children and finally the biggest bugbear, some idiot had managed to to get drunk and talk about illegal bioweapon factories. All in all it was colossal screw up, and of course the person had been canned immediately, but damage was done, now was time to play nice and appear like a business that had wrongfully smeared.

His speech ready, he approached podium as he await the sharks.

Eros Fletcher was a man of kindly appearance, he came across like gentle Grandfather figure, he wore black business suit with a thick woolen overcoat over to keep warm, his eyes had a warmth about them, but it appeared fake and hollow. He often spoke on TV and knew how to appeal to people's view of him, making them appear wrong if they saw a snake. Of course it was all a mere act, he brutal, conniving and uncaring, profit mattered most to him, he rarely ventured outside the office except for TV appearances, but as a whole he loathed the citizens. To him they merely pretended to know better, but they were parasites trying to steal his success.

Last time he had TV appearance he was defending himself against the person who had leaked the reports, he had called him a liar and wrong, he had exclaimed how LogicRoad provided best healthcare for the people of this city and the whole system. The people believed him and the group was disbanded and person arrested.

Now he had to deal with this issue and this time there was a lot more to fight against, he already knew they would try rile him with anything.

They had said she'd need to dress warmly, and she realized that hadn't been an understatement when she saw the outside temperature on a nearby sign. "And they're doing a press conference in this?" She muttered to herself as she hugged the heavy down coat closer against the heavy woolen sweater beneath. With the coat's dark blue color and fur trimmed hood, Xiaolian would fit right in with the rest of the press trying not to freeze all ten fingers and all ten toes off in the frigid Brillion winter. But that was the idea right?

Rumor circulated that the big pharma company LogicRoad had something of a dirty little secret, something that potentially involved children and magic abuse. Council was keen to find out as usual, but with their dissolution of certain agencies, they were now thinking twice about some of their earlier choices. Xiaolian had been one of the lucky ones, with a skill set that went beyond police work and she soon found herself going here or there on various errands for the Council. It wasn't a bad gig, but it wasn't so great either. The only positive side to it that she could think of was that she was unattached, and there wasn't anyone that she'd constantly have to feed this story or that to.

The shivering from the tall slim male with shaggy hair, and blond hair had bothered him a little bit. He could see his breath once he exhaled through his scarf. He had hated winter, and wanted to go back to where he came from, but he couldn't turn back, as there was a council being held in Brillion.

But there was other things on his mind like his master, questions wrapped around his brain like a mouse was wrapped around a mouse. ready to eat it as it was killed by the grip. He had spotted a women heading towards the same location as he was, so soon enough he would've picked up his pace to catch up with her.

Dr. Amanda Ereb's plane touched down approximately five hours before the conference. She emerged from her plane wearing a thick jacket and dark sunglasses. Two heavily armored figures followed two steps behind and one step to her side. They made their way from the shuttle to the baggage claim, drawing all manner of eyes as they passed. Several pedestrians snapped photos of the group from their mobile devices - recognizing their identities.

Within minutes of their arrival, Amanda slid into the leather seat of a limousine and pulled out her tablet. Several pages of stock data, news reels, and other information scrolled passed the screen. Intelligent eyes focused on minute details that a layman would simply gloss over without a thought. A few phrases kept appearing every few lines, however.

Victims from Elysium keep rising...

...LogicRoad stocks plummet due to harmful drug scandal...

International terrorist Elijah Kenton vanished.

"Well then..." Amanda said to herself as she flipped through a few more documents. "Let's see what we can salvage from this..."

A man of decent stature stepped out of a taxi onto the street in front of the courthouse. Blond haired and fair, with Piercing blue eyes, it would be easy to mistake this man for some celebrity or similiar high status individual. At least it would be, if not for the military combat boots he wore, the duffle bag he slung over his shoulder, and the sidearm holstered at his hip. It was also difficult to reconcile the mans attractiveness with the more obvious Cybernetic augmentations revealed on his person. And that was only what could be seen, something in his step, in the way he moved, with a reckless confidence that showed either a lack of fear, and perhaps worse.

This man would walk towards Eros Fletcher, his eyes casually roaming around, picking out potential sniper nests, hideaways, escape routes, kill boxes, things a Mercenary tends to look for in their environment. Along his way he picks out the man he's here to meet, and takes a minute to observe him. The man detetcs the stress and anxiety of someone backed into a corner, and smirks to himself. Well I suppose they wouldn't hire me if they weren't backed into a corner.

Aloud the man calls out to Eros as he approaches. "Eros Fletcher? My name is Matthew Tametson, I was told to meet you here in regards to employment of my services?" He offers Eros his right hand, fully cybernetic to the shoulder, in greeting.

giveSov Izoi

Noting the individual he glared, "We shall talk later whelp." he sneered quietly indicating he was to go, "I have more pressing matters like this press conference your employment shall be decided on later." turning away he took a long breath wrapping himself in his overcoat as he shivered, "Fucking weather, let's get this over with."

As everyone began to arrive to this metaphorical cattle market, the CEO approached the podium and waited for all to take their places, after a few minutes as everyone found their places, he began with his speech on the lectern, "I imagine many of you are wondering why I brought you here or well you all no doubt know. Firstly I must say just because we have not been dedicated in acting on this did not mean we were ignoring it, we just felt addressing the problems of Illumene would be far more productive. Nonetheless you have my most gracious apology." taking a pause he scanned the faces, "Now let's discuss somethings that could perhaps sour this gathering. I did not have those groups arrested they were found with a Class A substance and thus the law enforcement handled it, regarding those leaks we are addressing the irregularities as I speak. Finally, why would we make Bioweapons there is no money in it, the Aschen our benefactors already have suppliers we felt that having a worker who got themselves drunk at public function was just unacceptable."

Eros watching over the crowd he tried to measure the response, "Of course I am more than willing to address any questions addressing these before we move on to the main reason for this conference. Just go ahead and speak up."

Matthew chuckles to himself as Eros walks away and over to the podium. "Ahh that makes this much easier, always better to work for an asshole who wants to live rather than a softy too scared to live..." He says to himself, taking a step back to the side to avoid being near the center of attention. He instead returns to checking around, making sure his soon to be employer isn't already in someones sights.
He casually lets the duffle bag slide to the ground, it lands with a peculiar clinking sound, and rests a hand on the holstered pistol at his side. With his free hand he shades his eyes and scans the crowd, his ocular enhancements dialing on key individuals and running them against facial recognition. If anyone of particular note is out there, he highlights them in with AR and keeps an eye on their proximity to Eros.

Xiaolian frowned, the man was dismissing a number of scandals that people had already blamed LogicRoad for, especially the Elysium drug and it's lack of antidote. Pushing her way through the crowd to the front, phone in hand, the petite woman made judicial use of a few well placed jabs to get to where she wanted to be.

"Mr. Fletcher! Mr. Fletcher! Lisa Zhao with Press Sat news!" She shouted above the crowd in an effort to be heard. "What is the status of LogicRoad's antidote for Elysium and why were criminals found with a Schedule 1 drug?" Xiaolian asked, careful not to really reveal much information about herself or the news agency she supposedly worked for.

Amanda Ereb sat among the crowd gathered for Fletcher's speech. She was flanked by her two bodyguards Shadow-Sabre and Verhasst. The surrounding attendees maintained a respectable distance away from her - and consequently the two menacing supersoldiers. Many of the press would recognize her as the daughter of the billionaire Gabriel Ereb, the director of ErebLife, and heir to Ereb Industries.

Her attention was focused on Fletcher and his honeyed words. He played a big game - a dangerous game. A subtle smile graced her lips. She was used to dangerous games.

"Your denial is noted, Mr. Fletcher." Miss Ereb spoke up. "However, it hardly bears weight. You claim that your company is not responsible for the manufacturing of bioweapons, but there is significant evidence that proves otherwise. Just one example is the Elysium outbreak just last year. Close examination of the drug showed engineering markers specific to LogicRoad. Now, engineering bioweapons is perfectly fine as long as you have the proper licensing and clearance. However, this drug was found in the possession of terrorists. That brings the question... How did they acquire it?"

Matthew scanned over Xiaolian, and then took a picture of her face with his enhancements. He then began running a program to match her to the company she claimed to work for, only to frown when he came back without a match. "Well... someones not who they say they are." He muttered to himself. He highlighted this woman in his AR system as well, and kept a special close eye on her while running another program to trace any footprints or tracks of her to be found on the net. She didn't look especially threatening, but she had lied, and Matthew made it a particular practice with him to ensure he had all the information that might be desired by his employers. Also it was a hobby of his to root out liars and snitches, one he was quite good at.

After her he scanned the next person to talk, and came back with a very interesting biography and history. Her marked her as purple in his AR system, a reminder that she was of particular note and required very careful observation. He also scanned her bodyguards, and after doing so slid his hand to his pistol. Warning flags popped up all over them, marking them with modified genetic markers identifying them as super soldiers. He didn't really listen to what she said, after all that wasn't what he was for, but from that point forward he made sure to keep those two living weapons in his line of sight.

Inwardly he chuckled to himself at Eros Fletchers delima. "That for sure is why I never bothered to go any higher than hired gun. Far too much trouble comes from being the guy on the throne." He said to himself, alone and at ease in the privacy of his own mind.

His eyes seemed to see red as he listened to both of them, it would almost seem if he was a dragon his nostrils would be flaring. Nonetheless he took a breath and first address the journalist, "Well no one said it was Elysium they were discovered with, I do believe it was something incredibly illegal and though they had claimed to have information exposing my Corporation, further research showed they had falsified the data. The police did a thorough investigation on our connection and found no impropriety on our part." with that he nodded giving warm smile, "That being said reason we were not working on any antidote was strictly speaking the Aschen system been uneffected by this epidemic, thus we focused our efforts on curing problems in this system and planet, we recently procured certain plants which may provide promising results in our trials to cure bone cancer."

Shivering due to the cold he wrapped himself tighter in the overcoat, before continuing, "That being said we are one of the number one Pharmaceutical Companies in this sector and operate a huge franchise, so we did realize sooner or later we would be called on. My Board Members thought it best we address this now, and thus I am. As of today..." he paused as he was suddenly interrupted...

"If you allow me Mam, one there is no proof that stood up in court regarding that slanderous claim and secondly Elysium was created by an exiled Aschen, I been informed of this. We would never make such a substance and I am frankly appalled you suggest this, if you have nothing of substance or evidence to back up said claims, I would ask you remain quiet. Because now we are on the main part of this conference and we specifically brought in one person who witnessed and saved someone who was exposed to Elysium, he shall explain what he knows and explain better what our plan is, his descriptions provided us with many facts that would would allow any cure to be concocted. I now introduce Cryoface."

With that he walked from the podium, allowing another to take over.

A hush went over the crowd as the hulking figure of snow and ice made its way out from the abandoned courthouse. Perhaps this would explain why they chose such a day to hold the interview...if so much as left in room temperature, he could very well melt away. In his gigantic hands was a crudely made broadsword, easily as long as a man was tall, with his torso half again that much, not counting the sinuous tail made of progressively smaller snowballs that writhed behind him and offered locomotion much in the manner of a snake. This would be the legendary Cryoface, the two-time chosen of the Ice Lord, and one-time champion of the infamous Gambit's Bar.

He cleared his throat, the deep rumbling sounding like the calving of an iceberg from a mighty glacier, before leaning into the array of microphones. "Ahem. Greetings, flesh-forms. As you have heard, I am indeed the one called Cryoface. Maybe you've seen me before, but if not, I used to work security at Gambit's Bar in Wing City. Some time ago, a woman came in having difficulty controlling her inborn ice magic. I couldn't exactly let her explode. Not only would there be a death on my watch, but even I don't like cleaning up that much blood and ice. Using my Lord-given connections to my creator, I was able to siphon off the excess energy until her madness subsided. Only then was she able to confess that it was this dastardly concoction of Elysium that tried to use her own magic against her. If both of us hadn't been in the right place at the right time, I would be unable to share this story with you.

Elysium is a bane on all of us magic-users. Those who are even the slightest bit taxed by their own power could turn into a walking, ticking time bomb. And if the overflow doesn't do it, the collateral damage just might finish the job on us and whoever's in the radius. Not to mention that it was intended as a weapon of chemical warfare by a genocidal maniac." And here he felt a little mischievous and went off the script. "I come here not to endorse Logic Road or its subordinates, but merely to spread awareness of the evil that is called Elysium. Only by thinking and acting of one mind can this menace be taken off the streets and make it safe to be who you are once again. I hope everyone gathered here heeds these words, because if even one of you does not, who knows who might next make it into headlines for the wrong reasons."

Xiaolian frowned, that was a non answer and maybe even blatant denial of things if she ever heard them. Stepping aside, she allowed other people to ask other questions. 'This really is strange... why.. would he act like that if Logic Road didn't already have a stake in what happened with Elysium.' She thought to herself. The Council would definitely be interested to hear about this one once she got back. Eros was playing a dangerous game, and so far he hadn't been caught, but things could change.

However, it would take some time to acquire the personnel and the resources to get to the bottom of this and potentially stop the flow of whatever this stuff was into the black market. Just because Eros denied it, didn't mean it wasn't a real threat. After all, they'd already had one so called security breach, and Xiaolian bet there'd be another before the year was over. It seemed to her that this man operated his company under the premise that any publicity, good or bad, was good for the company.

Turning her attention back to the steps and the podium, she took notice of the huge ice creature dwarfing everyone surrounding it. "Holy shit..." She muttered snapping a few photos with her phone, then switching to video as it began to talk.