endless_scrolls (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
endless_scrolls) wrote2009-07-28 08:40 pm
endless_scrolls) wrote2009-07-28 08:40 pm
Entry tags:
Log: Phyx Dealing with the Devil
Title: Dealing with the Devil
Type: RP log
Fandom: AU!Naruto
Character(s): Tenten, Hyuuga Hiashi
Pairing(s): None
Warning(s): None
Disclaimer: I own only the part that I played in this.
Note: Log originally started for the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
asphyxia_rp RP comm, but never finished.
Dedicated to: Hiashi. He never gets much attention.
Polished. Clean. And extremely well lit. These were only a few words that Tenten could have used to describe the main offices of the Hyuuga Corporation. And with high ceilings, wall to wall windows, as well as a fully equipped cleaning staff working round-the-clock, it was hard to say otherwise. Then again, considering where and what she was accustomed to living, an indoor swimming pool might have rendered the same reaction. But she had not been called up to the Upper Tier to make comments about the building's architecture. At least, she hoped that was not the case.
It had only been a few months since Hyuuga Hiashi had called her in to fix a damaged cooling pod, and still the young metal-smith found herself amazed with how efficient and smoothly everything was run. But it was hard for Tenten not to feel out of place. She was a child of the Lower Tier, after all. And try as she might to look, dress, and act the part, there was just a certain quality about her that always seemed to set her apart from the rest. As if there had been a permanent sign stamped to her back that told of the girl's social station. In great detail.
Or perhaps that was simply the paranoia.
Already knowing the way from her previous visit, the young woman made a beeline across the floor towards the reception area just outside of Hiashi's office where the lady at the desk had Tenten sign in before allowing her to go further. Needless to say, security was tight. Understandable considering how important he was not only to the company, but to the entire city as well. Extreme precautions were necessary in order to ensure that nothing would happen.
And all the more reason for Tenten to question the reasons behind this meeting.
Wordlessly making her way across the tiled floor, the 'clip-clop' sound of her shoes echoing against the polished walls and windows, she wasted little time on formalities. "So... you wanted to see me?"
Finding this little girl, this tech-wizard, was actually - as of now - being classified as a side-benefit. It remained to be seen if this - Tenten (no last name given, and unless she really had no last name, he was going to be very disappointed in his agents) - would be useful enough to be an actual asset, but as of now she was sufficiently ...interesting enough to warrant his personal attention. And considering his life, something had to be very, very interesting to garner his personal attention.
Hyuuga Hiashi, head of Clan Hyuuga, had a spy network. It, as much as (if not more) than the revenue that his medical-technology corporation pulled in, kept the Clan in power. Everyone who was anyone in the city had spies, of course. It was almost the expected thing, if a 'no one talks about it' thing. His father had handed over his first few agents almost as a birthday present, and he'd used them hard, learnt the tricks and the handling, and of those few agents, half were dead, and a few more were insane, a few more had retired (but were, of course, still watched) and the three left over were now heads in his now-very-extensive network. He'd took what his father had and made it better.
One of the things his network did was roam the streets, picking up bits of interesting news here and there. Humint - Human Intelligence, as contrasted to the sigint (Signals Intelligence) and so on. Hiashi liked humint. It was not as traceable as sigint. And it kept people sharp.
And one of the roving agents had detected the proprietary emissions of a Hyuugatech medscanner emanating from somewhere it should not have been emanating from. He'd reported in; they told him to check. And to his surprise, someone down in the Lower Tier - where no one was supposed to be rich enough to afford even the services of a Hyuuga medscanner, much less a unit themselves, not even if they pooled all their money together and starved themselves - had one.
The reason? They - She, really - had found the busted, trashed remnants of an old-model medscanner, and had somehow revamped it enough to get it up and working again. She was using it to scan and fix - as much as possible - people in the Lower Tier. (For free! Hiashi was really amazed by that, and kept asking his people to see if perhaps she'd at least leveraged favors out of the people she was helping. It's what he would have done - what, he believed, anyone rational would have done.)
Clearly this girl had an aptitude for tech. For Hyuuga tech. And frankly, it was expensive to find those people - find them and lay out money for their schooling and education and then keep them under surveillance. He would have been quite happy to find another resource - a wildcard, someone who could proofread plans and come up with new ideas - someone to think outside the box, come up with concepts alien to Hyuuga-schooled minds and then give them to Hyuugacorp.
He hoped she'd be all this. If not, there was always room for another technician.
His main console beeped. She'd arrived. He reclined in his expensive, custom-built (orthopedic, Kevlar-backed, leather-covered) chair, dressed in his expensive, custom-tailored suit (black, double-breasted, with armor-weave for extra protection) in his expensive, customized (minimalist, curving walls, black-and-silver color scheme, ultra-super-deluxe coffee WORKSTATION to the side) office, and just looked at her, inclining his head in vague acknowledgement. "Miss...Tenten. Please, have a seat."
Much like their first meeting a number of weeks -- months -- prior, the elder man was dressed to near perfection. As was expected of someone who headed a multi-million dollar company that supplied most of the city with its luxuries. At least those who could afford it. In fabric Tenten and anyone else living in the Lower Tier could only dream of, no doubt. One suit like that would surely have been enough to sustain a family of five in the Slums for at least half a year. And profits from selling such a suit would surely support her own projects both personal and professional for three months, if not more. Frivolous spending and development for the most part. But she supposed someone of his position could not afford to be careless. Especially if the rumors milling about the Lower Tier were true about the family...
Blinking out of her current thoughts, the young metal-smith re-focused her senses on the man seated before her, glancing over his clothes once more. And just like last time, Tenten felt all too under-dressed for the occasion, a clear and apparent difference between their differentiating social standings. But though she silently cursed him for making her feel that way despite the vast amounts of confidence she normally held within herself, now was not the time to dwell on what she could never have.
What she never really wanted nor needed.
With a calm and calculating mindset, the young woman regarded the other -- scrutinized him in her own fashion -- before smoothly stepping around the chair and taking a seat. And from there, Tenten kept herself reserved and guarded for whatever would come from this conversation. Their conversation. The business between the two of them was still relatively new, after all, and Tenten had yet to get over how easily such a thing had come to being. It had only been by pure coincidence and circumstance that they had managed to track the medascanner back to her let alone find the means to track the young woman down, an amazing feat in and of itself. Then again, Hyuuga Hiashi was nothing if not persistently resourceful, a trait that she could not help but admire to some extent.
But she did not trust the man (his intentions were still relatively unclear) or anyone in the Upper Tier for that matter. Not when it came to the well-being of all those who resided in the Slums and crusted environment of the Lower Tier. They were, literally and figuratively, beneath them. And thus not worth the effort or finances to be of any concern unless it was to turn a profit. However, Tenten would be lying if she believed that Hyuuga Corp did not have its opportunities as well.
"You'll forgive me for sounding rude, but... I don't have much time to waste here," she murmured softly after a moment of silence, "I've a business of my own to run."
Hiashi raised a single impeccable dark eyebrow. A waste of time? A person of the Lower Tier getting to speak with the head of Hyuuga Corporations, a waste of time? The girl was audacious, for certain. He laced his fingers together and studied her. It might prove to be an asset, this fearlessness of her - in case she had the skills to back it up.
"A business?" he murmured. "What sort of business do you run?"
Neatly folding her arms so that it rested just below the swell of her chest, Tenten regarded the other in a similar manner, a brow raised skeptically at his question. Truly, he was only asking out of formality, right? Or perhaps as a simple test to see if she could be truthful with him?
"With all due respect, Sir, considering who you are and the resources you possess, shouldn't you already know the answer to that?" She emphasized the title in a way that was both respectful yet mocking, teetering between the lines that seemed to constantly divide their two worlds. "Or am I expecting too much from you?"
Hiashi's already raised eyebrow climbed further. He expected to feel angry - even paused a moment to let the quiet rage fill him, so he could work past it - but realized, with a small shock of understanding - that what he' felt was -- amused. He even felt his lips twitch in a momentary, minute prelude to a smile before he forced them back to stillness. No one had mouthed off to him since...since...
Since Hizashi.
It was a novelty.
"Hmm," he replied, his voice casual. "I know something, but it's always interesting to hear descriptions from -- other viewpoints. You work with metal, I believe." He kept his answer deliberately light on facts - he believed in playing his cards close to his chest, never revealing his full capabilities unless in dire need.
Calmly and evenly, she waited and watched his reaction to her words, reading them as if he were a book to explore. Analyzing the information that she gathered and picking it apart like some great experiment Tenten was conducting in the comfort of her own home. It was a process that had developed over the years, more out of habit than necessity, although it became more and more useful as the years ticked on. To read people in a manner that not many cared to attempt,Tenten had an uncanny ability to understand the inner workings of most people. And it was that attention to detail that seemed to filter into her own abilities when it came to the mechanics of machines.
However, Hiashi was a hard man to understand. Expected, perhaps, but frustrating as well. And so, she proceeded with a bit of caution.
"I'd rather not waste my breath telling you something you already know," Tenten replied coolly, adding in a bit of dry humor, "Air is rather precious in the Lower Tier."
"I know enough to surmise that you are rather -- skilled with technology, are you not?"
"Skilled enough to catch your attention and secure a short-term job a few months back," Tenten replied. Her eyes narrowed a fraction in suspicion and skepticism, the gears in the young woman's mind turning in curious little circles as to where he was going with this. "But you already knew that as well."
"The supervisor in charge of overseeing your project did submit a favorable report," Hiashi agreed. Hidden behind his custom-fit dark glasses, his eyes studied the young metallurgist. "So favorable he included a recommendation that we hire you on as a consultant. Would you be interested in the job?"
The way he had used the term 'favorable' made it seemed like little more than simple word of praise. One that he was more than accustomed to giving to stroke the pride of his employees, implying possibilities that my or may not hold any truth in reality. But ultimately, it would serve its purpose, encouraging them to work harder for his and the company's benefit, not their own. Or was that simply her own paranoia taking control once more? The fact that his roving eyes were hidden from detection or judgment did not make it easier for Tenten to read Hiashi's intentions. So it would have to be determined in another manner.
Furrowing her brows together, the young metalsmith raised her chin a fraction in curious thought before finally responding. "Depends on what would be required of me."
As a matter of fact, favorable was a word he used seldom - Hiashi's praise was hard-won, and the more precious for the rarity. (His own children, his nephew - who was literally a genius - knew this unhappily well.) But the report had been submitted by one of his most trusted men (of course he'd assign the analysis/test of this young wild-card to someone he trusted) and if he said the girl was worth cultivating, then Hiashi believed she was.
"We are looking for an outside - relatively speaking - arbiter to look over plans, add a fresh point of view when it comes to design. You'd be unfettered by department politics. We'd want you to troubleshoot and review existing design plans before they're put into production, mostly."
Granted, Tenten had always viewed her skills as above average when compared to most others in the Lower Tier -- she knew very few people in the higher levels to really compare with but was more than happy to live in ignorant bliss about it -- but she was certain there were others more easily persuaded with far more access than she possessed. And so the young metal-smith could not help but wonder why she of all people would catch his eye. Perhaps it was the separation and disconnection from the influences of the higher plates that was part of the appeal. Or maybe even the novelty of having a rather unexpected gem on his payroll and under his thumb that was enough cause to take this sort of risk for the company.
"And you think my perspective coupled with my skill level would be a huge advantage to your company, is that right?" The benefits of being employed by HyuugaCorp was certainly enough to make it a rather tempting offer, not to mention the other resources that she would be able to gain in the process. Her last job with the company, alone, had given Tenten more than enough information, both to pass along to the Underground and to improve her own understanding of the mechanics.
However, skepticism was a hard beast to tame. And although the good outweighed the suspicious, Tenten could not wave away the lingering skepticism. "Don't you have people doing this sort of work for you already?"
Type: RP log
Fandom: AU!Naruto
Character(s): Tenten, Hyuuga Hiashi
Pairing(s): None
Warning(s): None
Disclaimer: I own only the part that I played in this.
Note: Log originally started for the
asphyxia_rp RP comm, but never finished. Dedicated to: Hiashi. He never gets much attention.
Polished. Clean. And extremely well lit. These were only a few words that Tenten could have used to describe the main offices of the Hyuuga Corporation. And with high ceilings, wall to wall windows, as well as a fully equipped cleaning staff working round-the-clock, it was hard to say otherwise. Then again, considering where and what she was accustomed to living, an indoor swimming pool might have rendered the same reaction. But she had not been called up to the Upper Tier to make comments about the building's architecture. At least, she hoped that was not the case.
It had only been a few months since Hyuuga Hiashi had called her in to fix a damaged cooling pod, and still the young metal-smith found herself amazed with how efficient and smoothly everything was run. But it was hard for Tenten not to feel out of place. She was a child of the Lower Tier, after all. And try as she might to look, dress, and act the part, there was just a certain quality about her that always seemed to set her apart from the rest. As if there had been a permanent sign stamped to her back that told of the girl's social station. In great detail.
Or perhaps that was simply the paranoia.
Already knowing the way from her previous visit, the young woman made a beeline across the floor towards the reception area just outside of Hiashi's office where the lady at the desk had Tenten sign in before allowing her to go further. Needless to say, security was tight. Understandable considering how important he was not only to the company, but to the entire city as well. Extreme precautions were necessary in order to ensure that nothing would happen.
And all the more reason for Tenten to question the reasons behind this meeting.
Wordlessly making her way across the tiled floor, the 'clip-clop' sound of her shoes echoing against the polished walls and windows, she wasted little time on formalities. "So... you wanted to see me?"
Finding this little girl, this tech-wizard, was actually - as of now - being classified as a side-benefit. It remained to be seen if this - Tenten (no last name given, and unless she really had no last name, he was going to be very disappointed in his agents) - would be useful enough to be an actual asset, but as of now she was sufficiently ...interesting enough to warrant his personal attention. And considering his life, something had to be very, very interesting to garner his personal attention.
Hyuuga Hiashi, head of Clan Hyuuga, had a spy network. It, as much as (if not more) than the revenue that his medical-technology corporation pulled in, kept the Clan in power. Everyone who was anyone in the city had spies, of course. It was almost the expected thing, if a 'no one talks about it' thing. His father had handed over his first few agents almost as a birthday present, and he'd used them hard, learnt the tricks and the handling, and of those few agents, half were dead, and a few more were insane, a few more had retired (but were, of course, still watched) and the three left over were now heads in his now-very-extensive network. He'd took what his father had and made it better.
One of the things his network did was roam the streets, picking up bits of interesting news here and there. Humint - Human Intelligence, as contrasted to the sigint (Signals Intelligence) and so on. Hiashi liked humint. It was not as traceable as sigint. And it kept people sharp.
And one of the roving agents had detected the proprietary emissions of a Hyuugatech medscanner emanating from somewhere it should not have been emanating from. He'd reported in; they told him to check. And to his surprise, someone down in the Lower Tier - where no one was supposed to be rich enough to afford even the services of a Hyuuga medscanner, much less a unit themselves, not even if they pooled all their money together and starved themselves - had one.
The reason? They - She, really - had found the busted, trashed remnants of an old-model medscanner, and had somehow revamped it enough to get it up and working again. She was using it to scan and fix - as much as possible - people in the Lower Tier. (For free! Hiashi was really amazed by that, and kept asking his people to see if perhaps she'd at least leveraged favors out of the people she was helping. It's what he would have done - what, he believed, anyone rational would have done.)
Clearly this girl had an aptitude for tech. For Hyuuga tech. And frankly, it was expensive to find those people - find them and lay out money for their schooling and education and then keep them under surveillance. He would have been quite happy to find another resource - a wildcard, someone who could proofread plans and come up with new ideas - someone to think outside the box, come up with concepts alien to Hyuuga-schooled minds and then give them to Hyuugacorp.
He hoped she'd be all this. If not, there was always room for another technician.
His main console beeped. She'd arrived. He reclined in his expensive, custom-built (orthopedic, Kevlar-backed, leather-covered) chair, dressed in his expensive, custom-tailored suit (black, double-breasted, with armor-weave for extra protection) in his expensive, customized (minimalist, curving walls, black-and-silver color scheme, ultra-super-deluxe coffee WORKSTATION to the side) office, and just looked at her, inclining his head in vague acknowledgement. "Miss...Tenten. Please, have a seat."
Much like their first meeting a number of weeks -- months -- prior, the elder man was dressed to near perfection. As was expected of someone who headed a multi-million dollar company that supplied most of the city with its luxuries. At least those who could afford it. In fabric Tenten and anyone else living in the Lower Tier could only dream of, no doubt. One suit like that would surely have been enough to sustain a family of five in the Slums for at least half a year. And profits from selling such a suit would surely support her own projects both personal and professional for three months, if not more. Frivolous spending and development for the most part. But she supposed someone of his position could not afford to be careless. Especially if the rumors milling about the Lower Tier were true about the family...
Blinking out of her current thoughts, the young metal-smith re-focused her senses on the man seated before her, glancing over his clothes once more. And just like last time, Tenten felt all too under-dressed for the occasion, a clear and apparent difference between their differentiating social standings. But though she silently cursed him for making her feel that way despite the vast amounts of confidence she normally held within herself, now was not the time to dwell on what she could never have.
What she never really wanted nor needed.
With a calm and calculating mindset, the young woman regarded the other -- scrutinized him in her own fashion -- before smoothly stepping around the chair and taking a seat. And from there, Tenten kept herself reserved and guarded for whatever would come from this conversation. Their conversation. The business between the two of them was still relatively new, after all, and Tenten had yet to get over how easily such a thing had come to being. It had only been by pure coincidence and circumstance that they had managed to track the medascanner back to her let alone find the means to track the young woman down, an amazing feat in and of itself. Then again, Hyuuga Hiashi was nothing if not persistently resourceful, a trait that she could not help but admire to some extent.
But she did not trust the man (his intentions were still relatively unclear) or anyone in the Upper Tier for that matter. Not when it came to the well-being of all those who resided in the Slums and crusted environment of the Lower Tier. They were, literally and figuratively, beneath them. And thus not worth the effort or finances to be of any concern unless it was to turn a profit. However, Tenten would be lying if she believed that Hyuuga Corp did not have its opportunities as well.
"You'll forgive me for sounding rude, but... I don't have much time to waste here," she murmured softly after a moment of silence, "I've a business of my own to run."
Hiashi raised a single impeccable dark eyebrow. A waste of time? A person of the Lower Tier getting to speak with the head of Hyuuga Corporations, a waste of time? The girl was audacious, for certain. He laced his fingers together and studied her. It might prove to be an asset, this fearlessness of her - in case she had the skills to back it up.
"A business?" he murmured. "What sort of business do you run?"
Neatly folding her arms so that it rested just below the swell of her chest, Tenten regarded the other in a similar manner, a brow raised skeptically at his question. Truly, he was only asking out of formality, right? Or perhaps as a simple test to see if she could be truthful with him?
"With all due respect, Sir, considering who you are and the resources you possess, shouldn't you already know the answer to that?" She emphasized the title in a way that was both respectful yet mocking, teetering between the lines that seemed to constantly divide their two worlds. "Or am I expecting too much from you?"
Hiashi's already raised eyebrow climbed further. He expected to feel angry - even paused a moment to let the quiet rage fill him, so he could work past it - but realized, with a small shock of understanding - that what he' felt was -- amused. He even felt his lips twitch in a momentary, minute prelude to a smile before he forced them back to stillness. No one had mouthed off to him since...since...
Since Hizashi.
It was a novelty.
"Hmm," he replied, his voice casual. "I know something, but it's always interesting to hear descriptions from -- other viewpoints. You work with metal, I believe." He kept his answer deliberately light on facts - he believed in playing his cards close to his chest, never revealing his full capabilities unless in dire need.
Calmly and evenly, she waited and watched his reaction to her words, reading them as if he were a book to explore. Analyzing the information that she gathered and picking it apart like some great experiment Tenten was conducting in the comfort of her own home. It was a process that had developed over the years, more out of habit than necessity, although it became more and more useful as the years ticked on. To read people in a manner that not many cared to attempt,Tenten had an uncanny ability to understand the inner workings of most people. And it was that attention to detail that seemed to filter into her own abilities when it came to the mechanics of machines.
However, Hiashi was a hard man to understand. Expected, perhaps, but frustrating as well. And so, she proceeded with a bit of caution.
"I'd rather not waste my breath telling you something you already know," Tenten replied coolly, adding in a bit of dry humor, "Air is rather precious in the Lower Tier."
"I know enough to surmise that you are rather -- skilled with technology, are you not?"
"Skilled enough to catch your attention and secure a short-term job a few months back," Tenten replied. Her eyes narrowed a fraction in suspicion and skepticism, the gears in the young woman's mind turning in curious little circles as to where he was going with this. "But you already knew that as well."
"The supervisor in charge of overseeing your project did submit a favorable report," Hiashi agreed. Hidden behind his custom-fit dark glasses, his eyes studied the young metallurgist. "So favorable he included a recommendation that we hire you on as a consultant. Would you be interested in the job?"
The way he had used the term 'favorable' made it seemed like little more than simple word of praise. One that he was more than accustomed to giving to stroke the pride of his employees, implying possibilities that my or may not hold any truth in reality. But ultimately, it would serve its purpose, encouraging them to work harder for his and the company's benefit, not their own. Or was that simply her own paranoia taking control once more? The fact that his roving eyes were hidden from detection or judgment did not make it easier for Tenten to read Hiashi's intentions. So it would have to be determined in another manner.
Furrowing her brows together, the young metalsmith raised her chin a fraction in curious thought before finally responding. "Depends on what would be required of me."
As a matter of fact, favorable was a word he used seldom - Hiashi's praise was hard-won, and the more precious for the rarity. (His own children, his nephew - who was literally a genius - knew this unhappily well.) But the report had been submitted by one of his most trusted men (of course he'd assign the analysis/test of this young wild-card to someone he trusted) and if he said the girl was worth cultivating, then Hiashi believed she was.
"We are looking for an outside - relatively speaking - arbiter to look over plans, add a fresh point of view when it comes to design. You'd be unfettered by department politics. We'd want you to troubleshoot and review existing design plans before they're put into production, mostly."
Granted, Tenten had always viewed her skills as above average when compared to most others in the Lower Tier -- she knew very few people in the higher levels to really compare with but was more than happy to live in ignorant bliss about it -- but she was certain there were others more easily persuaded with far more access than she possessed. And so the young metal-smith could not help but wonder why she of all people would catch his eye. Perhaps it was the separation and disconnection from the influences of the higher plates that was part of the appeal. Or maybe even the novelty of having a rather unexpected gem on his payroll and under his thumb that was enough cause to take this sort of risk for the company.
"And you think my perspective coupled with my skill level would be a huge advantage to your company, is that right?" The benefits of being employed by HyuugaCorp was certainly enough to make it a rather tempting offer, not to mention the other resources that she would be able to gain in the process. Her last job with the company, alone, had given Tenten more than enough information, both to pass along to the Underground and to improve her own understanding of the mechanics.
However, skepticism was a hard beast to tame. And although the good outweighed the suspicious, Tenten could not wave away the lingering skepticism. "Don't you have people doing this sort of work for you already?"