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[Hmm. Well, the next missive remains lemon scented because why not. No need for an envelope warning this time, but regardless.]

Consider it done; I will meet you there at the requested time.

- Noa

[It is precisely ten-thirty in the morning on September 11th when Javert raps sharply at Noa's door. Upon opening the door to greet the good Warden and Priest, he will notice that Javert is dressed for riding. His boots are uncharacteristically muddy and neatly warn over his trousers; his hair is tucked beneath his cap; and he still carries the lingering smell of a dusty barn on his clothes. His coat isn't buttoned, as is his usual neatness commands; rather, it is warn loose over the shoulders, unbuttoned, his arms not tucked into its sleeves.

Under his arm he carries a parcel from the bakery.]

Good morning, [he greets evenly, followed by a curt jerk of his chin toward the interior.] May I enter?

[Noa's residence in Dyster is best described as...Cozy. It is built into an incline, situated at the very edges and limits of the village proper; what portion of building is outside the ground is a small cottage, welcoming and warm, flowers growing around the front and even a bit along the walls.

The door opens- Noa isn't in his travel state right now, if only so that he can actually open the door using a wing. The limb retracts to fold against his back, and it is only then that he shrinks down and hops to his shoe rack inn the same motion, a cat in a little kitty fog sweater now standing aside to give the other space to come in.] Naturally, yes. It's good to see my house here was easy enough to find- do you need me to show you the kitchen first? [he adds, sniffing a bit at the air as he looks at the parcel.]

Macarons. From the snake Lup's bakehouse, [he explains abruptly as he sweeps through the doorway, his invitation granted. He sweeps further into the entryway and finds a bare spot on a sideboard to place the parcel.] But don't open them for my sake.

[Javert removes his cap, his thick hair wild and a bit mussed from his mornings ride. He rakes his claws through, a rudimentary righting of his looks, and tilts his face meaningfully toward the cat, throwing his face in shadow save for the narrow slits of his gleaming read eyes.]

We are talking business, and I should like to keep it brief. So let us cut to the heart of it, shall we? You told me you doubt cooperation efforts. Why?

Oh- [There's no hiding the surprise at that- macarons from Lup's bakery? Well!] Not to worry- we can just set those on the counter and go to the living area from there, [Noa hums, already leading the way. There is only a brief pause, when Javert asks his question- in return the cat simply glances back, as if to make sure the question itself is serious.]

Is it surprising to hear?

Do you even realize how many times we've tried at unity? Even when we manage for a month or so, it all comes crashing down because one or another can't bear to deal with someone's particular methods of devotion. The idea of 'anything goes' ends up completely lost, and everyone scatters. I'm surprised you didn't guess that yourself, honestly- then again I suppose from where you stand this is just a challenge.

[A sharp smile alights Javert's face, darkness gleaming in his eye. He marches dutifully after his colleague, his hat tucked beneath his arm.]

Let us say I mean to be choosy about which fellows I hold in confidence. And how they are held. Do not assume you are the first I have approached and wedded to an agreement. We need not be all in one room to cooperate our strikes well enough.

[So count yourself lucky, Noa. You are in on this conspiracy, along with as many other Priests as he can hook his claws into. His face flattens, growing wan and thin.]

Besides. There is a dire need for this now, more than any of the last number of years we have existed here. Certainly you notice it, too. Her thinning influence.

I'd hardly assume when you made it clear you're looking for a group effort, [he points out, and with each room as close and connected as they are, they'll probably have finished those statements after making the way to the living area couch. Noa nods in invitation for the other to sit, and goes to perch on an armrest for himself, soon carrying on.]

Naturally, yes- it's part of what fuels my support of the research into the Wastes; I would hope you've been made aware by now if you haven't, but the fog there is.....Separate from Her. 'Wild', and 'Toxic'. Still, it would be to everyone's benefit if that could be undone- after all, we are in something of a terrarium here, and one she's limited in the control of without factoring in a certain upstart in a computer.

Mmmm. I do have to say though...the way you started that off, leads me to believe you're planning to play mastermind with a collective of ideas, rather than trying to get everyone to agree to one.

[He can't help but smile in approval.] ....Promising. That's definitely more promising than anything I've heard before, if that's the case.

Guilty as charged. That's the short of it.

[Javert saunters to another chair, a place where he can look Noa (a distant memory comes to him, of traversing across Bavan City to Liewen Laboratories, insisting on meeting a GREATFLOOD in the flesh...) in the eye and speak as equals. He lowers himself down and folds his hands atop his lap.]

I know how it is. How many really agree with the likes of Aunamee's or Amanda's harsh methods? Or mine? [He snorts, a self-deprecating, crooked smirk pulling at his lip.] I understand my reputation. Don't think me stupid about it.

However.

If we all work on our own little 'project' suited to our strengths, each piece fitted to a charted path along the way to a cooperative end goal... Well. We need not speak directly with each other much, so long as there is management and knowledge of the work getting done. Hell, we may even continue our public infighting all we please, if it gets the rebels off our scent!

Edited 2023-09-15 02:48 (UTC)

Glad we can agree, [he replies, and for a moment perhaps he too is lost in memory. Thinking to an older meeting, much longer ago, for much different matters. Thinking perhaps of what remains the same, and what doesn't, and how often he has seen that cycle come and go.]

You'd be surprised at the least with what I'll tolerate, provided it doesn't come near the Labs; unlike you and the others, my advantages lies in 'playing nice' after all; Amanda and I were able to agree to disagree and put differences aside for that much. That aside...

[...That aside, he nods to what Javert is saying- it makes sense after all, and honestly with someone as doggedly determined to the cause as Javert at the head, it just might work. So.]

So we could- I've said it already, but nothing just now has changed my mind. This is...promising, Javert. [A small feline trill escapes him with the words.] ...And I think I can happily put my hat into this ring with the others; I assume right now we have no projects starting beyond what any of us were already working on of course?

The only project, [drawls Javert, pleased with Noa's enthusiasm,] currently on the menu is targeting radios, antennae, and their manufacturing facilities. Monsieur Aunamee's methods were untoward, but the idea is a sound one. I saw what he was getting at, all right.

[Javert prides himself on his dedication and his work ethic. This is not something that will simply fall by the wayside, either due to neglect or unwillingness to continue. He will make this come to fruition, one way or another.

He shifts his weight from one heel to the other, the only sign of marginal discomfort he is willing to share, his voice tightening almost imperceptibly when the topic shifts to include Amanda.]

Mademoiselle Amanda has taken that on. I defer to her authority over this matter; speak with her if you've the, ah, connections to share. [He shoots the cat a meaningful look.] You work in engineering and electrical devices. You know which connections I mean.

But what interests me immediately is further recruitment. As you had said, I have had some regrettable bumps in the road with a handful of our colleagues. Monsieur Bakura tops the list.

Edited 2023-09-15 22:35 (UTC)

All radios? [He has to raise his brows at that.] I'd like to know why, if that isn't too much- I can't keep track of every post on the network if it came up there, and I haven't been able to find a way to archive them as they move.

[Losing posts after two weeks is, frankly, the worst. ...Hmm.

He noticed that tightening. But there is something more important there- he thought Amanda came up because her reputation was so lasting. Certainly, he would think it so. But instead, well.] ...you speak as if she's here.... [he mutters, and there is something cautious in his voice- but not the way one would expect. It's the caution one affords to hope- the caution that appears when something wanted is being offered, and potentially about to be ripped away.

The rest of Javert's words are if anything a distraction after that.] And what happened with Bakura, then..?

Bakura isn't fond of me, and he will need encouragement from elsewhere, [Javert says, deadpan, offering no further explanation.] And you are in luck, Madame Fog has thrown us another Priest in return for losing Atem. Amanda is indeed here, off and running with what I've told her. She gave me explicit permission to inform you of her cooperation on this project.

[He glides to a stand again, pacing closer to Noa's catlike form, eyes aglow.]

When I speak of radios, Monsieur, I mean to target what Elias uses. For transport, and for communications. [He halts, a mere foot away from Noa, his glance boring down his nose.] Surely you have noticed his upper ranks take advantage of the radio signals?

[Amanda is here. Amanda is here, the thought repeats, and for a moment he's lost- it takes Javert apparently trying to impose some level of superiority to snap him from the thought, and even then all it does is force Noa to look upward more, craning his neck.]

Noticed, yes, obviously- what I fail to see the use in is destroying the radio towers. All that's going to do Javert, is take a broadcast down. Unless we know for certain that a signal needs to be actively transmitting, it won't affect their use of the channel. For that matter...

[He does his best not to twitch. It's not anyone's fault, he tells himself. It is not anyone's fault that the damn Brat-In-The-Machine has such a chokehold on technology that it feels like everyone hisses at the very idea of learning about how things work. It's not his fault.

(Noa sometimes wishes he could just cry into his stuffed fish, by this point.)

The cat explains-] ...A radio does not need to be large. Right now I have no doubt they're using local devices. Destroy every radio and not only will they quickly determine what we're doing, but they'll start building small. Until we have a way to safely locate a radio disguised as a topiary, I suggest we take this slowly. For that matter, I'm surprised you haven't brought up the idea of turning this against them.

If we know they're using them for transport and communications, then we should make them hear what we want them to hear, wouldn't you say? Or at the very least, force them to where we want them- let them grow complacent after the necessary, risky devices are destroyed, while taking note of what remains.

[His methods don't suit the Fog. Fine. At least his methods might actually buy the Fog some success.] Also...

[Alright now he's twitching a whisker.] ...While I understand that most of us don't care about humans, we do want to avoid an uprising before we're ready- the Poachers were bad enough the first time they organized after all. Destroy one of the few things they use to cope with our very presence, and I guarantee we'll be struck before we can prepare.

...Though naturally if it's Amanda you've set on this I'll have to bring this to her..... [he admits, muttering into a paw.] I... ...I can't believe I didn't know she'd come back...

The humans are the least of our concerns, [Javert retorts forcefully, eyes flaring brightly. He looms, ice-cold, the lurid glow in his eye mingling with a blackened storm brewing far, far within.] The aim is to weaken the insurgent boy's associates, and to prevent them from zipping around the peninsula at will with the flick of a radio switch. We need not cease production completely for the operation to be worthwhile. Even a short delay in manufacturing is valuable, to punch a gap in Elias's networks! The risk is worth the effort! You speak of rebellion, and I say to you this: Don't forget we are made to rend common men to pulp.

We shall rain blood on them when and if they rebel.

[There's a hitch in his voice, and his breath catches. He hesitates, thinking over what Noa spoke about carefully, and steps down, just barely, to a placid, even tone.]

But there is some merit with your methods. Seeing as I entrusted Amanda with that work, it is all up to you to decide whether it is worth discussing tactics with her.

And don't you forget that even the largest predators will go down to a mob of insects, if caution is not taken, [Noa warns lowly in turn, not breaking the gaze. He needs no fog-edged tone for this- if anything, he feels it would make him seem less serious.

The cat nods.] I am after all, here to offer the other perspective; cats are ambush predators, you know. [Wait and strike is in his nature. Leave the brutality to the rest.]

Stopping production entirely was never the idea- moderation is all I would ask for. I'll suggest focusing on identifying any locations we either want them travelling through, or want to keep them from travelling in. The stations themselves would be a useless target, not because of anything relevant to that but simply because the channel itself would still exist; it pains me to say it...but we might have to see if encouraging the population toward other electronic devices, that aren't radios, has merit. ...that or literally poisoning the electronic waves, hmm...

[Most of this is...still not really anything Javert can use of course, but it's good to know. And...well.

Amanda.] ...Is her address the same, do you know?

[His voice is much softer, much fonder, when speaking of her.] ...She was... ...Is, a good friend of mine.

Yes. So I gathered from her, and from you.

[Javert gets ahold of himself.

The tension drains from his neck and shoulders, and on an exhale, the stormy fog wrapped around his heels tames to a still, slovenly froth. His icy, flat face thaws to a thin-lipped frown.]

Her address hasn't changed. You can go to her and make proper arrangements for this operation. She will welcome your voice regarding this matter.

You may keep me informed of the outcome with your lemon-ink. I will read them.

[He nods, and nods again. At this point the conversation is done for him as well- he wants to send a message, now, but out of consideration for present company cannot. He perks only at the remark of his invisible ink.]

Ah-

...Yes I thought you'd appreciate that, it's deceptively simple. Very well, [Noa adds, nodding to the vampire.] ...You wanted this brief- and, you know now where I stand...if that's all, you're free to leave.

That's all. Except for one more matter, to seal our agreement.

[Javert stops in front of Noa and extends a hand, palm open.]

Let us shake on it. And if there does occur a round table with all of the main players, you will hear of it.

[Considering he's taking the deal seriously, Noa sees no issue in sitting up on his haunches to shake on it with a paw.

After all, even if magic turns out to be a foot, he has nothing to fear.

Shaking, he can't hold back a laugh though.] Let's hope it ends better than King Arthur's, shall we?

[Javert gives the paw a good, firm shake, his smile thin.]

We will be sure of it. Best of luck on your talks with Amanda.

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i dove into so much radio nonsense for noa to pull most of this from his rear go me,

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END THREAD HERE

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