1389/Gloves are Off

Gloves are Off
Date of Scene:	18 March 2024
Location:	Obsidian Tower - Board Room
Synopsis:	Sunbreaker is on ice, and Queen Beryl intends to ensure Takashi Agera understands her expectations. In the course of that, a target is placed on the back of a certain tuxedo-clad magical boy.
Cast of Characters:	Beryl, Takashi Agera
Tinyplot:	Rainbow Crystals

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Beryl has posed:
Last time on Working for Beryl Holdings is a Horror Show, Sunbreaker was trapped in Eternal Sleep for the crime of foolishly pissing off the boss that hands over a significant chunk of her contractor paycheck, and also underestimating the ruthlessness of a woman who lead a planetary uprising and promised the solar system to a demon for the power to fulfill her ambitions.

The result is that Fuyuko Yuuhi, Assistant Director of Human Resources, was defenestrated and then put through the floor, and Sunbreaker is currently a new office decoration, a human sized transparent blue crystal having trapped the flaming warrior in a state of conscious imprisonment. She has no mouth, and she cannot scream.

Now, Beryl's office is rather damaged, but janitorial staff are already at work, carrying away broken glass, broken tile, and preparing to carry away the broken desk and replace it with one equally ostentatious. It's into this wreckage that Riventon is summoned.

His summoner is that one Fuyuko Yuuhi, who shoves open the door of his lab with a scowl on her bruised face, blood dripping from her split lip. She's holding herself stiffly, looking the opposite of in good health.

"Director Beryl wants to speak with you. Here's a tip - don't piss her off. And don't try to help Sunbreaker; I'm going to try and figure something out."

Help Sunbreaker with what? She's not available for answers, because as soon as the message is delivered, she teleports out.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi's first response, on seeing the HR-Assistant Director like that, is not a wise one. "Wow, Yuuhi-san. You look like shhhhoooomething serious happened?" he offers. She is a little bit worse for wear, but at least she's likely too busy/injured/annoyed to worry about his almost-words. "I was just bringing some more stuff up from here back to my office anyways." Takashi notes. "I don't get to spend much time down here anyways... back to the grind." he says, grabbing an armload of equipment.

    He heads upstairs and goes to drop the gear off at his own office - and momentarily contemplates setting it up before responding to Beryl's summons, but for once intelligence beats out hubris, so instead he's at Beryl's door right as the janitorial staff are leaving, either for the day or the moment.

    "I have arrived, as you requested?" Takashi says, the sort of question in his voice but unsaid. "Was there... a problem here?"

Beryl has posed:
Fuyuko was certainly too worse for wear to care about Riventon's opinion. And honestly? Right now, she'd rather he say something stupid to her, rather than Beryl. She has enough control of her temper to not put a kid through a wall for a bit of age-appropriate rudeness.

As for the Director - the Queen - herself? It's a good thing that Riventon didn't decide to set up his gear before answering her summons. She might have decided to send one of her personal minions after him, and that might have landed him a place as a matching wall decoration.

Beryl is seven-feet of sheer unapproachable beauty, the sort marred only by the persistent sense that she is Not Right. That she is something Other, something Predatory.

Usually, in this pathetic office that nonetheless practically printed money and allowed for the ease collection of energy, Beryl tamped that down. Today, she tamps nothing, and crooks her fingers, the long, manicured nails curling in as she urges him onwards. Hovering at her door, he can't see her newest decoration.

"Such an interesting question. I'd like to hear your thoughts on problems, Mr. Agera. I've just received a fascinating assessment from your colleague Sunbreaker, and I'd like to see if your thoughts align with hers."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi didn't really get the same negative vibes from Beryl that a lot of people might. But, that probably has something to do with the fact that Takashi sees the dusk zone the way the average person might see a couch in their house - comfortable, familiar, relaxing. So a seven foot tall demon-pacted sorcereress - while definantely someone to respect - didn't connect the same kind of spiritual nails-on-a-chalkboard feeling that it might for many others - for Mami, for example.

    But even today he can feel something in the air, a sort of threat, a sort of warning, something that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up... because even the Dusk Zone aligned part of Takashi Agera recognized that there were threats you didn't want to handle, and today Beryl was exuding that energy, that made him somewhat want to just step into the Dusk Zone and be away from the Witch. Not that rationally he wasn't aware she could likely follow him there as casually as he could step into it.

    But showing weakness and fear wasn't in who he was either, so he merely stepped forward a little bit more.

    "Certainly, Queen Beryl-sama - whatever I can do to be of assistance to you, or otherwise remove problems from your path, I am here to provide." Takashi says.

Beryl has posed:
Unlike Sunbreaker, Takashi Agera displays a measure of common sense. He knows deference (or at least, that's how Beryl reads his politeness to a superior), and knows to enter a situation with caution and respect.

It's why she's giving him a warning, rather than a punishment. That will only change if he tempts her with the need to act otherwise.

As Riventon steps in, he'll get a glimpse of the very large crystal that now takes up a portion of the wallspace, with Sunbreaker trapped inside. He'll also see the window, with a person sized hole in it, the open air leaving the room chillier than usual.

"Several weeks ago now, I tasked your team and Sunbreaker with the retrieval of the Rainbow Crystals. Since then, six have appeared, and yet none have made their way to my hands."

The room chills further, as displeasure touches her face.

"And today, your colleague brought to me a false crystal, which she so foolishly mistook as the original. In providing it, she offered her charming view of the situation: that this professional directive is a 'stupid novelty project', of less worth than personal pursuits. Enlighten me, Agera-kun. Do you share these views?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi looks over at the frozen Sunbreaker and... yeah, that's not... good. Looks like the fun and games and giant budget with the ability to go mostly unharassed is... well, that ride may well be over now.

    But, Sunbreaker was never good at... reading situations, to Takashi's view. And Takashi is at least decent at it, and decent with words. He knows what this is. It's uncomfortable, though. And he looks it.

    But he certainly wasn't about to correct her. "I think that... her current state, whatever that may be..." though Axion is telling her that there's at least something akin to life in that crystal "... indicates the incorrectness of that assessment?" he offers.

    "And while Sunbreaker sees herself as a freelancer, I am not one. Clearly, I may have personally misjudged the... explicit criticality of the project. Though, I believe I'll be able to hunt and retrieve not only the final crystal, but the other six as well. From the brief time I had the Indigo crystal I have deduced they resist being pulled or jumped to another space... so the ability for our enemies to hide even the ones they have already retrieved from my searching will be minimal." he offers.

Beryl has posed:
So the giant budget, at least, is still around. Beryl's not yet mentioned slashing budgets or cutting personnel. Perhaps she considers such measures beneath her, given the signs of weakness such as they could be misconstrued as.

Either way, the discomfort in Takashi's posture, his expression? It pleases her, and she stands tall in the destroyed office, utterly unbothered. Some people have such power and wealth that destroying their own possessions means nothing to them.

"You think correctly. I expect to see great success from you, Agera-kun. You were highly praised by Tomoe." A man having quite the difficult time, given the absence of his nepotism hire - ah, child. "Before Sunbreaker was set aside to think about her failures, she informed me that a boy in a tuxedo handed off the false crystal. Thetis has likewise informed me that a boy in a tuxedo appeared to fight a youma under her command. He has been enough of a thorn in my side. Take the crystal in his possession... and seek his identity. I do not take kindly to fools who involve themselvs in my affairs."

And besides. That rose - she has suspicions, as to that boy's identities.

"You have yet the chance to prove yourself to me. I understand you to be an intelligent young man. You do not need to experience your own failures to grow." And she turns her head, looking at Sunbreaker. "You should learn from him."

Yes, Takashi - Sunbreaker is very much aware in there.

A pause.

"And if you are aware of the location of Tomoe's daughter..."

She leaves the thread of thought there. Is it a question? A suspicion? A directive? She remembers that that particular nepo baby was in his care, at least.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi winces when she talks to Sunbreaker, which confirms what Axion is telling him. What he doesn't need Axion for (but the Device is naturally sharing with him regardless) is that the way Beryl is talking and moving and threatening belies that she has a far greater power than she has shown before. The energy radiating off the crystal, the residual energy in the room - Takashi isn't just out of his league standing against her, he'd be playing the entire wrong game. It's a humbling thing - or would be for anyone else.

    "In Doctor Tomoe's defense, his other assistants were relatively incompetent, so I stood out." Yes, Takashi will throw his entire other department under the bus if need be. "So I am not sure to what degree he has praised me highly, but that I do believe that should be kept in mind."

    "Secondarily... that's not a directive I'll have any difficulty dealing with, as the boy in the tuxedo has also caused me difficulty. I welcome the chance to beat the crystal out of his gloved hand, but I'll make it a priority now as opposed to a..." he looks to Sunbreaker "...personal project, as with his identity."

    But there's truly a few things Takashi is good at, and one of those is lying. "If I was aware of the location of my former boss' daughter, he would have been aware of it long ago. Notwithstanding the foolishness of NOT sharing it, I am sure that I could parlay being the provider of that information into assistance for myself and for the part of the organization I now work with." he says, gesturing back towards the offices. Not towards Beryl, as he doesn't want it to be seen as though he's offering the tall, power-exuding woman 'assistance'.

    What is that power in the room. Yes, Beryl in a general sense, but specifically, even in this moment of danger, his curiosity was terribly active. But then again that's part of what made Takashi who he was.

Beryl has posed:
Good. Let the boy wince. Let him understand exactly the power he stands in the hands of, the power that controls his fate. If she killed him, Obsidian would grumble about the waste of potential - but ultimately, they would move on. Magical talents were a dime a dozen. It was magical talents that learned, obeyed, and grew, that were worth something.

Beryl had proven this, with the Shitennou, those worthless traitors twice over - in enslaving their wills, in making them her own, in harnessing their power against their own planet, she had shown exactly how worthwhile it was, to make their own forces.

Takashi had been useful in that endeavor, a clever gopher sent between teams, organizing experiments. Utilizing him in this way has been beneficial - which is chief among the reasons she doesn't plan to lock him in crystal.

"Very good. I expect results, and soon. I desire the crystals, and the information - but I will, in the short-term, accept either as an initial success." In other words, while she eventually wants the crystals and the information on Tuxedo Boy, she'll take one or the other in the immediate run of events.

"The Tuxedo boy should have the orange crystal in his possession, if Sunbreaker is to be believed at all. In her carelessness, she allowed the black crystal to be shattered - it will take time to craft another. However, a crystal, once recovered, can be utilized to track the others. I am sure that a genius of your calibre will be able to replicate the effect."

She waves a hand dismissively at his confirmation that he is indeed unaware of Nepotism Tomoe's location. She's sure the child wandered off and died in a river. It was a common and unfortunate affliction all those many years ago, and children of the modern era were as prone to stupidity as children of that most ancient and powerful time.

"You have my expectations. You may depart."

And it's only when he moves that she adds, almost idly, "Sunbreaker stated that your second, La Crima, has interfered in her work. While I have little sympathy for the excuses of a failure, I care even less for the thought of infighting within the ranks damaging company prospects. Bring your people under control, Agera-kun. They would not care for such personnel matters to fall under my purview."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "That's alright. I let Sunbreaker carry the black crystal because I've been able to replicate its effects." Takashi notes. He taps his device. "I can scan for crystals nearby with a high level of accuracy, but in the long term, the plan is to be able to det up points across Tokyo to replicate the effects so that if anybody walks by one of them with a crystal... snap, I can dive on them immediately." He accents the snap with both of his hands closing like jaws. "I understand you seek more tangible results now, though, and I appreciate the time you've given me to get ready - it's also obviously paramount we don't let them get all 7. Once we have one, the rest is just a matter of time - they don't have the resources Obsidian does and won't be able to scan all of Tokyo - or even the world - for their missing ones."

    "The crystals and information both should be delivered into your hands soon, whichever I achieve first." He nods and moves to leave.

    "Ah. Yes. The two of them seem on poor terms." Takashi admits. "It seems as though the situation is currently handled..." he says, looking to Sunbreaker "...but it sounds as if I'll need to guard against future clashes." Which is good, if he was reading the tone right. "I'll make sure she gets more than just a note from HR about teamwork." He says, bowing respectfully and leaving so long as she doesn't stop him. Which he is... annoyingly aware she is quite capable of doing.

Beryl has posed:
Ahead of the curve. And yet, despite having the ability, he hasn't found the crystal - which shows that Takashi Agera likely had taken the directive no more seriously than Sunbreaker had.

More the fool he, but it was to his benefit, that Sunbreaker had royally ticked off a person with such control over her fate. Takashi is contrite, now, which Beryl will accept.

"Correct. Our enemies, foolish as they are, do not have the resources to combat us for long. Their confidence is sure to be at it's peak, having claimed so many crytals," which she is not pleased with, "And thus their guard lowered."

An advantage she seems to think Takashi will need, given his lackluster performance.

"For the moment, the situation is neutralized. But when Sunbreaker is released from her punishment, while she will have learned a valuable lesson, your second may feel emboldened. I do not wish for further distractions."

Thus - yes, there's more needed here than just a trite memo from Human Resources.

She does not stop him from departing. In fact, she watches him go, that predatory gaze watching every motion until he's beyond her door. Even then, with a simple shift of power, her crystal ball is before her, tracking her employee for a long, long moment.