| Medical Mechanica Is Here To Help | ||
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| Summary: A representative of Medical Mechanica arrives, but the scene soon turns to talk of old mysteries.   |
Rayne is in her office, sorting through some paperwork. "Okay, both the rookies seem to be doing fine now," she mumbles. "Now if only we could have a few more people more used to the idea of being beat cops than heroes..." There's a timid knock on the door to Rayne's office, and if she can peek outside through the glass she'll see a portly old man with a bald spot standing nervously with a briefcase clutched in both arms against his chest. He chooses to knock again. "Ms. Rayne? I need to speak to you if it's at all possible." Rayne sighs and pushes that pile of paperwork back into the 'in' box. "Sure, sure. What can I do for you today Mr...." "Y-yes, well. Thank you." He shuffles in the doorway and runs a hand over the remains of his hair. "My employers have sent me here to discuss a partnership? As it were. Total cooperation expected of b-both parties." He inches towards her desk, eyeing for somewhere to set his briefcase down so that he can present its contents to her. "S-sorry, my name is Theodore O'Pear. Ol' Teddy Bear as they call me down in logistics." He puts on a worried smile that quickly shifts to a frown, "I'm... sorry. M-Medical Mechanica would like to take this opportunity to invite you to the fold. A-as it were. We have resources which could make your transition from T.A.S.K. to a proper Police Outfit much easier." The man takes a moment to adjust his tie. "I should have been here months ago but with all the craziness that's been going on..." He refers of course to the shattering of Twisted Street, but that's still not much of an excuse. Rayne blinks and leans forward to rest her elbows on the desk, peering at Theodore from behind folded hands. Yes, she's doing a Gendo Ikari. "Partnership? Cooperation? Mr. O'Pear, you're aware we're a civil service and not a business, right? While I would welcome help, I don't honestly see what 'cooperation' the Mabase City Police Department can do." Her tone has turned dark. Oh, she very much wants to know more about this mysterious 'Medical Machanica' entity that has seemingly always existed, but this is sounding suspiciously like they might be trying to go above the law to Rayne. The man seems to deflate a little at her immediate opposition. "Y-yes, um." He pushes the briefcase down to face her, knocking over anything that might be in the way, and opens it. It would turn out it's not a briefcase at all but a computer system which springs to life showing various holograms that start rotating in the air before her. "W-we have communications devices, service droids, synth officers, battle tanks... any number of self-contained pocket universe creating portal machines. We could connect you to a network of multiversal computer systems to download data of any number of databases to look up criminals before they've even committed crimes. All of these could be given to you at no cost o....ther.... thaaaaaaan." During his sales pitch, a tall man wearing all black stepped into the room behind him. Without any acknowledgement to Rayne he stepped behind Mr. O'Pear and placed a device against his neck. Like a dying record the portly man's speech slowed and he slumps down into one of the chairs. The blonde man in black shakes his head, "No cost other than turning all of your authority over to the Medical Mechanica board of directors." He looks up at Rayne finally, taking off his dark sunglasses. "Albert Wesker." Rayne continues listening in. It all sounds good. It all sounds very good. But of course there's a catch. There's always a catch. She's about to say something when the device is hit and the... apparent synth is shut down. "And why did you bother sending in him first just to shut him down?" she asks of Wesker. She then closes her eyes and shakes her head. Here we go. She was wondering when it was going to be that someone would try to pull something like this... she just didn't think it would be something this extreme. "You seem to be confused, Mr. Wesker. The MCPD is not a private organization. We're a government agency. Which means what you're doing now could be considered a bribe. Is this a bribe, Mr. Wesker?" It doesn't honestly sound like one. It sounds more like an attempt at a corporate buyout. But she keeps her mildly threatening tone anyway. Wesker raises a brow to the woman and shakes his head. It's clear from the faint red glow in his eyes why he wears the sunglasses. "Perhaps this would mean more to you." He reaches into his coat and retrieves an old Police Badge that reads 'RACCOON CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT. SPECIAL TACTICS AND RESUCE SERVICE.' It's obviously outdated with an issue date of 1996. "I expected you to know my name. I'm sorry. I don't know what level of information you have available to you, but I assure you I am not on the side of this pompous buffoon of a calculator." Rayne looks at the badge for a moment. "'Raccoon City'. Interesting. No, I'm afraid I didn't have the information on you ahead of time." She looks at the apparent Synth again, then back up to Wesker. "So. You're saying you're not with Medical Mechanica at all, then? What's /your/ angle in all this, Mr. Wesker?" The man puts away his badge and gives the Synth a look of disgust. "Information. On my world we wouldn't see eye to eye, Ms Hurris. I won't mince words because with enough effort my files are accessible here, I know because I've seen them myself in the offices of Twisted's first T.A.S.K. building. I worked for a pharmaceutical company called Umbrella and was originally placed in charge of the RPD S.T.A.R.S. Team on their behalf. We developed a number of biological weapons and things where quickly out of control." He gestures towards his eyes at this point as an example. "I am by no means a good person. I understand the mistakes I've made in the past and I don't seek to repeat them on this or any other world. But that's not why I'm telling you all of this. I'm simply making sure you understand that I'm not trying to hide anything from you." He gestures this time towards the body in the chair beside him. "Medical Mechanica was one of our rivals on my world. Except there was no information to be found about them /anywhere/. They arrived one night with factories pre-built. There was no paper trail. No one saw any construction. You can't even enter their buildings - they have no doors. They countered the Umbrella Corporation in all ventures from home pharmaceuticals to weapons development. Overnight. Imagine my surprise when I first came to Twisted some eight years ago that Medical Mechanica was here as well." Rayne looks intensely at Wesker for a moment after his speech is done. "If I'm reading you correctly, you're speaking corporate espionage now? I would remind you, Mr. Wesker, that corporate espionage is a criminal act in and of itself. If you're saying their crime was invading your world... These are different times now to then. That would have been the domain of the original TASK, but I suspect they were more concerned with more... overt threats to other worlds." She sighs and rubs her eyes. "Is there a crime you're accusing them of? Should I get one of my detectives on it? Perhaps my new one." She looks up at Wesker again with a light smirk. "Maybe I'll have the rookie help him out." Wesker leans forwards putting his hands on her desk to prop himself up. "Medical Mechanica owns 70% of the businesses in this city. Before the Twisted Street was shattered they controlled the majority of both Twisted City and Neo-Edo. Have you never noticed the cameras on every street corner? If -you- are the Police Force, shouldn't those cameras be yours?" He pushes himself back up, folding his hands behind his back. "Before that demon took control of Twisted's Council the city had a far different layout. Ruins of a city arrived one day and on each building the symbol for Medical Mechanica was etched. Do you know what city those ruins belonged to? It took me months of research to finally find it." He lets his words hang a moment before adding, "Mabase." Rayne sighs and rubs the bridge of her nose. "Yes. They own the place I /live/," she grumbles. She looks up again and says, "With everything you're saying... It's sounding like Medical Machina is the entity actually in charge here, not the council, not Bishop 3.2, not even his supposed mistress Lady Setsuna." She sighs and shakes her head. "They should, yes," she says, getting back to the subject of the cameras. "Here's my problem, however, Mr. Wesker. My organization is strapped for people, resources, you name it. We have three Detectives on my force. /Three/. We're already at the point where we are having trouble keeping up with the work of handling crimes that are having a direct impact on the people of this city. Theft. Assaults. Murder. Noise complaints. What are you expecting me to do about this entity that has existed since apparently before time began and runs practically everything in the city already?" Okay, sure, she's exaggerating about the before time began part, but it might as well have, as far as she's concerned. The man gives an apologetic nod of his head, "Perhaps I'm not expressing myself as clearly as I thought. I came to share information. I assumed you as head of this reputable organization would like to know what I've uncovered about our mutual..." He pauses a moment, searching for the right word and with a bit of irony, "...benefactors. Especially before this one tried to convince you about how wonderful they are and how 'helpful' they can be. I've spent nearly a decade gathering information about Twisted, it's Councils, and most importantly Medical Mechanica and I'm happy to share all of it with you today as long as you would be willing to share information about their organization should you come across it yourself." He pulls back out his sunglasses and slips them on. "But if that doesn't interest you, I'll take my leave. I'm sorry I've bothered you." Rayne holds up a hand. "No, you've not been expressing yourself well. I apologize for not understand your angle correctly. You wish to share information in exchange for information. My problem, Mr. Wesker, is that I can't simply share information about ongoing investigations so openly like that. If I were to have them. Which, currently, I don't have valid reasons to investigate Medical Machinima... unless your information were to change that." She holds her look on him for a moment after saying that. "What this means, Mr. Wesker, is that there would need to be some form of official arrangement." She looks down at her desk, then goes into the Gendo Ikari pose again. "Are you aware of our bounty hunting program, Mr. Wesker? It's how we handle some light information gathering and handling criminals that are able to escape the main landmass or go into hiding. 'Reward for information' and all that, but we can go a step further at times. Are you adverse to having that title? I know in some worlds it's considered a position of the lowly and desperate... I assure you, in the universe I am from, it is not considered the case. I certainly don't consider that the case, myself." "I am well aware that you can't divulge information about ongoing cases. I was the Captain of the S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team in my time with the force, regardless of the strings that where pulled to get me there." He mulls over her words carefully. "Unfortunately we have a mutual acquaintance who would object to me having any form of official ties with your department. I assume the young Mr Kennedy has already come seeking employment here. As you may know the train he arrived on was branded with the logo of the Umbrella Corporation. I don't think we come from the same reality, but one close enough that he is likely a younger version of the Leon Kennedy I've personally crossed paths with." He frowns as he contemplates things further. He's enjoyed his secrecy thus far, but the idea of even possibly getting new information is one he can't ignore. "I will consider this 'bounty hunting program' however. But know that I will share my information regardless so long as we're both on the outside of these..." He looks down at the deactivated synth and shakes his head. "...people." Producing a notebook he writes down a phone number and hands it over. "Call me should you have need of it." Rayne takes the card, and looks it over. "Be aware I don't consider synths to be mere tools by default. I knew Gegoshi personally. I considered her something of a friend." She then looks up to Wesker again with a light smile. "Yes, the 'Rookie' I mentioned. He's already employed. I need beat cops. I'll keep him on those regular patrols. I would have anyways, frankly. Like I said, we're a bit... short handed. I assume you'll be reactivating Mr. O'Pear when you leave?" Wesker nods his head, "There are some that are an exception." He's referring to Gegoshi of course. His eyes follow down to the synth in the room as he's brought up again. "Before I do, know this." Reaching down, Wesker pulls open the synthetic man's shirt and opens a compartment inside revealing.... nothing. Simply hollow space within. "This is one of the mysteries we've yet to solve. Not even Gegoshi was like these... things, and nor could she figure out how they operate, I'm told. You'll find the receptionists at the Integra's Arms to be the same type of contraptions." He closes the compartment and buttons at least the top of O'Pear's shirt back. Rayne nods. "Yes, I'd already known they were." That one's fairly public knowledge, especially when one of them is apparently malfunctioning slightly. "I suppose I'll have to feign ignorance with him when he 'wakes up'. Good timing on your part, I suppose... not that I was about to entertain his offer." Clearly she wasn't as she'd misunderstood Wesker to have been with them and almost threatened him about it. This is why Rayne herself is /not/ an investigator or interrogator. A smile forms over Wesker's lips in response. "The last time I did this, they couldn't remember anything before being switched off. I expect this one will likely do the same." Once more he produces a pen-looking device about the width of a screwdriver and holds it up to the synth's neck. It's voice begins to pick up literally where it left off, "....aaaaaaaaaaan cooperation with uh, um..." He blinks, looking around nervously as his body resumes being animated. He adjusts his tie and closes his briefcase. "I-I'm sorry. I need to head back to the office. Um, I, um, forgot... uh... something. C-can we try this again sometime later...?" He looks at Wesker, then to Rayne, then to the name plate on Rayne's desk. "Mister, uh... Miss.... Hurris?" Rayne nods to Mr. O'Pear. "Yes, you seemed to be a bit ill. You showed up unexpected, my next appointment showed up. Should I have someone escort you to Dr. Johann's office?" Theodore clutches his briefcase to his chest as he stands and backs up towards the door of the office. "Um. Uh... No. Yes, a bit ill. I can um, find the way myself. Th-thank you for your time." As soon as he darts out of sight Wesker will give a laugh and set the device in his hands down on her desk. "Just in case you might need this." If anything it resembles a sonic screwdriver from Doctor Who, only not as fancy. "It's a small EMP. Very low wattage. Good for a quick burst but not much else." The man's head wobbles as he ponders a better explanation, "Like a Taser that's only good on electronics." He takes a bow after that, "Until the next time we speak." Rayne smiles lightly. "I'm a four hundred year old woman born in the 2030s. I'm well familiar with the concept of an EMP." She then nods at the bow and says, "Until next time, Mr. Wesker." Wesker gives an impressed smirk before following at the door as well. It might not help her run the MCPD, but at least Rayne now has another source for getting the answers she's been asking for. | |
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