12-01-2019, 01:52 AM
Written with the assistance of the talented Shen.
Laeralsford
Espoir Lanais's first day partnered with Joseph Wu had gone exactly according to the procedure she'd learned in training. There had been a meeting in a conference room at the BEA's headquarters, where she'd watched with the other dozen-odd BEA agents in the room as Joseph briefed them on information he'd just learned an hour before.
"If you have confirmation and eyes on an Aurora," Joseph had said, "don't you dare engage them. Call in the Gendarmes, call in the Federal Marshals, but don't try and take them down. We might not get another shot at them."
After the briefing, Wu had passed out sealed assignments to each of the two-agent teams, and they'd dispersed. From there, Wu had gone to discuss something or other with the support staff, and then they'd stepped out together into the sunlight outside the headquarters, and then into the subway to the docks near the river. It was late afternoon, and the gathering evening made Espoir glance around cautiously at the buildings around them. It was a bad area of town, the kind of place that Espoir was most familiar with from gritty urban crime dramas.
"Stick by me," Wu said. "We're going to a mahjong house, so I can talk with a contact. Don't draw attention to yourself once we go in."
"Are you expecting a fight?" Espoir asked, feeling the pressure of her holstered pistol against her ribcage.
"No, not at all," Wu said. "She's an old friend." Ahead of them, on the street, was a brightly lit building along the riverside, with the words "新運氣" along the top. "Xin Yunqi", or literally 'new luck'. Wu pushed open the doors and walked right in, Espoir following. Inside, the parlor was a hub of activity, with several rowdy games of mahjong going on at once. Elegantly-dressed waiters circulated the room, carrying drinks, while patrons cheered and celebrated in the dim light. Espoir watched Wu move smoothly to the crowd, and then bent over to whisper a few words that Espoir couldn't make out in the bartender's ear. The bartender nodded and went back through an unmarked door.
They were waiting there at the bar for a few minutes. Espoir felt awkward just standing there with nothing to do, but Wu looked solemn and professional, so she tried to emulate him. The bartender came back out, and ushered them behind the bar and down a back hallway to an ornate red door, with the name Maria Ho marked. The bartender opened the door before slipping away. Inside was an office that resembled a pleasure palace from one of the historical dramas. Red silk lined the walls, all around a completely empty mahogany central desk. Behind it sat a middle-aged Rén woman with a regal bearing, who smiled at Wu as he entered and sat down at the chair on the opposite side of the desk.
"It's good to see you," Wu said. "So you're calling yourself Maria now?"
"I've been known by many names throughout my life, Wu," she said. "Sometimes I get bored of one, and desire to try on another," the woman in her red silk cheongsam dress, with the intricate design of a spider on its back replied. She sat back in her chair and adjusted her glasses that Wu knew were just for show. "Can I get you something to drink?"
Wu smiled. "Many thanks, but we're both on duty," he said, gesturing to Espoir standing behind him, trying to hide her curiosity at the conversation going on in front of her.
"So am I," she said with a smirk as one of the attending waitresses walked in and set a brown drink in front of her. "Now, as much as I wish you'd come and see me more, darling, you only ever come and visit me for work. Never pleasure!" she said, giving him a fake look of grief betrayed by her teasing smile still in her eyes.
"I gave up pleasure visits the day I joined the BEA. I think it's a part of the employment contract," Wu said.
She let out a sigh. "Unfortunately, that's very true about you BEA lot. So I assume that you have some questions for me?"
"I'd like to chat about the Auroras. Kerlile's sleeper agents. I'm looking into them, and I figured a cosmopolitan woman like yourself might have heard something that could be of use." Wu steepled his hands on the table in front of him.
She nodded her head taking a sip from her drink. "Oh, I've heard quite a bit about them. Lots of interesting bits of information on back home on that subject. What would you be interested in knowing?"
"How to find them, for starters," Wu said. "We have our own methods, but I assume our cousins down south have their own means of tracking them down."
She nodded "... of course. And unlike most things I'm sure you're not going to tell me it's highly unethical." The woman removed her glasses and took a sip of the amber-colored drink before steepling her own hands and beginning to talk. "Nothing about these girls exist before they're 14. There might be some paperwork but there's no physical evidence. And the only thing that exists for their parents are birth certificates and death certificates. We already have our eyes on several because of missing gaps in information. Hopefully your...union with the Arrivée, has not taken away your people's gifts for keeping records."
Wu nodded. "We have people looking into the records already, but it's very good to hear a confirmation of this from you. The issue for us is simple scale- it's very time consuming for us to track down all of this evidence. Politics, business, the media, all of those fields need to be searched."
"Oh, I'm fully aware. My own government has taken quite drastic steps to speed up the process. Thankfully we think that only a small number of them infiltrated our country. Anything else I can help you with?"
"Both of us will find our task easier if we know what the Auroras are planning," Wu said. "Some of the analyses I've seen say that their only goal is to send information to Kerlile. But based on some- interesting- case studies I've seen, it's possible that they have active missions. Campaigns of infiltration. The more hysterical analyses I've read were warning about terrorism and assassination." Wu shrugged. "It's a complex situation, of course. But do you have any insight into what the Auroras are planning?"
"From what we know every Aurora's plan is slightly different." She leaned in a little so that his pasty partner, still standing in the corner, couldn't hear. "We captured one who was in a position of prominence at the Heaven's Gate Dam. From that position she could have caused serious damage to our infrastructure. Thankfully we caught her before she got even higher."
Wu exhaled softly. Heaven's Gate was a miracle of infrastructure design, and a project crucial to the entire southern portion of the empire. Maria was understating the situation- damage to the dam would have been catastrophic. "The Aurora can't have maneuvered herself into that position just to leak infrastructure plans. That suggests terrorism, or at least one hell of a bargaining chip in a crisis."
"Our thoughts exactly. From what we can gather the whole organization is run by the Pierre family. We believe that the Aurora program is meant to lay the framework for some kind of global feminist revolution. Having them in high places all over the world would allow them to slowly start to build support for those kind of movements. Or damage the infrastructure of nations that tried to oppose it."
Wu chuckled. "I really shouldn't be laughing, but I heard someone this morning joking that Liu Mei-han is an Aurora. Thinking about this too much will leave you seeing Auroras in every corner." He paused. "We're investigating a variety of leads right now, but nothing quite so damaging as the Heaven's Gate Dam. Politics, maybe. Or the film industry. Positions where they could influence Laeralian popular opinion." The thought came to him unbidden that Auroras in Shen would likely eschew methods to influence popular opinion, seeing as in the end, only the Empress's opinion really counted, but he decided against mentioning his hypothesis aloud.
"Right now we're focusing our attention almost entirely on the bureaucracy," Maria said. "That's the center of our government right there. From positions within the bureaucracy they could influence public opinion. Damage our infrastructure. Even potentially influence the fate of the whole nation. It's a risk my organization can certainly not afford. But don't worry we have taken steps to weaken any potential Aurora influence."
Wu smiled amicably. "I'm certain that your organization will deal with this with your own customary efficiency and skill. And it's good to see that you're taking it seriously."
The smile was returned with a polite nod that she took her hands off the table.
"Our previous Grand Master didn't believe the threat was credible. The Empress asked for his resignation Tuesday. A new Grand Master has been selected to replace him. Do you know anything about Director Hong?"
"I've heard the name," Wu said. "Can't say I know much about him."
"I can't say I know much more than you. He's S-class like me. He served most of his time undercover in various spots throughout the world. And to put it bluntly he's seen some shit... I'm afraid that's all I know about my new boss."
"I know that our Director Ferrand had friendly relations with his predecessor. I hope he'll be able to strike up a good relationship with this Director Hong. My higher ups are very keen on cooperation with the Shingzi Ren."
"Well, I haven't been recalled. And I just received new orders greatly expanding what I'm allowed to do to help in this country. So as long as this Aurora Affair goes on, the Shingzi Ren has your back."
"That's great to hear," Wu said, meaning it wholeheartedly. "Just do try not to do anything that might get you found out. I'd have to have to get you out of a police jail cell."
"Wouldn't that be embarrassing?" She said with a chuckle. "You need anything else while you have my attention, Wu?"
"I don't think so," Wu said. "Thank you very much; I wish I could stop in more often. Make it a pleasure trip one of these years."
"Well, if you ever decide to come for something besides work, I'm sure the house would be very interested in demonstrating its gratitude for the understanding that exists between us." she said, as she stood up and bowed her head.
Wu smiled. "One of these years when there's not another international crisis breathing down my neck." He stood up, and bowed his head in return.
"So never? Oh well. I look forward to the day when you aren't so busy. Until next time."
"Same to you," Wu said. "You know how to reach me if I can do anything for you."
"Of course."
[/hr]
Joseph and Espoir were on the train two hours later (Laeralsford to Althea high-speed rail, direct route, 90 minute travel time, evening departure, second-class passenger compartment, limited baggage allowance) by the time Espoir voiced the suspicion that had been on her mind.
"Was that woman at the mahjong house a- foreign spy?"
"She's a member of the Shingzi Ren," Wu said. "Shen's intelligence service."
"Does the government know that a Shen spy is operating a mahjong house in Laeralsford?" Espoir asked. "Or is this the kind of friendship that you keep off the books?"
"It's not quite a friendship," Wu said. "More of a professional relationship. We've worked together in the past, and it's worked out well for both of our governments."
"I'm not condemning you," Espoir said. "I'd just like to know if she gets a mention in the write-up for this op."
"No need," Wu said. "I'll mention her in mine. Command knows that I have contacts, and that they can prove useful. I'm fairly certain they're also aware of Maria's identity."
"Did you find that conversation useful?" Espoir asked.
"Very useful," Wu said. He'd forgotten that she couldn't speak Mandarin, and hadn't picked up on many of the nuances of his conversation with Maria. "I found out a lot of interesting information, and didn't give her many of our secrets in return." He paused. "Here, let me fill you in."
"So what are we looking for in Althea?" Espoir asked, after Wu had finished recounting what he'd heard.
"It's just a hunch," Wu said, "but if there's an Aurora in Laeral, it'd be someone who has fake birth records, or someone who just doesn't have any records before age 14. Your nation of focus was Kerlile, so I'm sure you know that we have one of the largest Kerlian dissident communities in the world in Althea."
Espoir nodded. "I interned at the Kerlile Human Rights Initiative."
"Did you ever meet Hannah Sinclair?"
Hannah Sinclair was one of the most high-profile Kerlian dissidents abroad. She'd come from a fairly influential Kerlian political family- mother and sisters in the civil service and the military- and had joined the Kerlian Foreign Ministry. As an attache posted at the Kerlian Embassy in Laeral, she'd walked off the embassy grounds over a decade ago, and into the hands of the Laeralian government, becoming a valuable source into Kerlian policy and society. Once her insights had become too outdated to be of significant value, she'd gone independent, writing a well-received book on Kerlian society, and becoming a regular contributor and consultant on issues involving the isolated nation.
"You don't think Hannah Sinclair is an Aurora, do you?" Espoir said. The look on her face was dawning shock and horror.
"We've been basing our Kerlile policy off her information for the past ten years," Wu said. "I hope not. But we need to take a deep look at the Kerlian expat community. And we need to talk with Sinclair, find out what she knows about the Auroras in Laeral. We'll start with her, and then sweep every Kerlian expat in the city. One of them is bound to be an Aurora. It's an obvious infiltration route." He rummaged through his briefcase, pulling out a thick folder and setting it on the table between them. "These are the files on every Kerlian expat we know of in Althea. Sinclair's is on the top, but I'd like you to look at the other influential ones, too."
"I'll have them memorized," Espoir said. "This is good. I'm glad we have a place we're working from." She paused. "And what will you be doing?"
"Me?" Wu said. "I intend to get some sleep." He grinned. "Privilege of seniority." He folded up his long coat into a rough bundle, and then placed it beside his head as a pillow, before closing his eyes. Espoir stared for a moment, before mentally shrugging and opening the folder.
Laeralsford
Espoir Lanais's first day partnered with Joseph Wu had gone exactly according to the procedure she'd learned in training. There had been a meeting in a conference room at the BEA's headquarters, where she'd watched with the other dozen-odd BEA agents in the room as Joseph briefed them on information he'd just learned an hour before.
"If you have confirmation and eyes on an Aurora," Joseph had said, "don't you dare engage them. Call in the Gendarmes, call in the Federal Marshals, but don't try and take them down. We might not get another shot at them."
After the briefing, Wu had passed out sealed assignments to each of the two-agent teams, and they'd dispersed. From there, Wu had gone to discuss something or other with the support staff, and then they'd stepped out together into the sunlight outside the headquarters, and then into the subway to the docks near the river. It was late afternoon, and the gathering evening made Espoir glance around cautiously at the buildings around them. It was a bad area of town, the kind of place that Espoir was most familiar with from gritty urban crime dramas.
"Stick by me," Wu said. "We're going to a mahjong house, so I can talk with a contact. Don't draw attention to yourself once we go in."
"Are you expecting a fight?" Espoir asked, feeling the pressure of her holstered pistol against her ribcage.
"No, not at all," Wu said. "She's an old friend." Ahead of them, on the street, was a brightly lit building along the riverside, with the words "新運氣" along the top. "Xin Yunqi", or literally 'new luck'. Wu pushed open the doors and walked right in, Espoir following. Inside, the parlor was a hub of activity, with several rowdy games of mahjong going on at once. Elegantly-dressed waiters circulated the room, carrying drinks, while patrons cheered and celebrated in the dim light. Espoir watched Wu move smoothly to the crowd, and then bent over to whisper a few words that Espoir couldn't make out in the bartender's ear. The bartender nodded and went back through an unmarked door.
They were waiting there at the bar for a few minutes. Espoir felt awkward just standing there with nothing to do, but Wu looked solemn and professional, so she tried to emulate him. The bartender came back out, and ushered them behind the bar and down a back hallway to an ornate red door, with the name Maria Ho marked. The bartender opened the door before slipping away. Inside was an office that resembled a pleasure palace from one of the historical dramas. Red silk lined the walls, all around a completely empty mahogany central desk. Behind it sat a middle-aged Rén woman with a regal bearing, who smiled at Wu as he entered and sat down at the chair on the opposite side of the desk.
"It's good to see you," Wu said. "So you're calling yourself Maria now?"
"I've been known by many names throughout my life, Wu," she said. "Sometimes I get bored of one, and desire to try on another," the woman in her red silk cheongsam dress, with the intricate design of a spider on its back replied. She sat back in her chair and adjusted her glasses that Wu knew were just for show. "Can I get you something to drink?"
Wu smiled. "Many thanks, but we're both on duty," he said, gesturing to Espoir standing behind him, trying to hide her curiosity at the conversation going on in front of her.
"So am I," she said with a smirk as one of the attending waitresses walked in and set a brown drink in front of her. "Now, as much as I wish you'd come and see me more, darling, you only ever come and visit me for work. Never pleasure!" she said, giving him a fake look of grief betrayed by her teasing smile still in her eyes.
"I gave up pleasure visits the day I joined the BEA. I think it's a part of the employment contract," Wu said.
She let out a sigh. "Unfortunately, that's very true about you BEA lot. So I assume that you have some questions for me?"
"I'd like to chat about the Auroras. Kerlile's sleeper agents. I'm looking into them, and I figured a cosmopolitan woman like yourself might have heard something that could be of use." Wu steepled his hands on the table in front of him.
She nodded her head taking a sip from her drink. "Oh, I've heard quite a bit about them. Lots of interesting bits of information on back home on that subject. What would you be interested in knowing?"
"How to find them, for starters," Wu said. "We have our own methods, but I assume our cousins down south have their own means of tracking them down."
She nodded "... of course. And unlike most things I'm sure you're not going to tell me it's highly unethical." The woman removed her glasses and took a sip of the amber-colored drink before steepling her own hands and beginning to talk. "Nothing about these girls exist before they're 14. There might be some paperwork but there's no physical evidence. And the only thing that exists for their parents are birth certificates and death certificates. We already have our eyes on several because of missing gaps in information. Hopefully your...union with the Arrivée, has not taken away your people's gifts for keeping records."
Wu nodded. "We have people looking into the records already, but it's very good to hear a confirmation of this from you. The issue for us is simple scale- it's very time consuming for us to track down all of this evidence. Politics, business, the media, all of those fields need to be searched."
"Oh, I'm fully aware. My own government has taken quite drastic steps to speed up the process. Thankfully we think that only a small number of them infiltrated our country. Anything else I can help you with?"
"Both of us will find our task easier if we know what the Auroras are planning," Wu said. "Some of the analyses I've seen say that their only goal is to send information to Kerlile. But based on some- interesting- case studies I've seen, it's possible that they have active missions. Campaigns of infiltration. The more hysterical analyses I've read were warning about terrorism and assassination." Wu shrugged. "It's a complex situation, of course. But do you have any insight into what the Auroras are planning?"
"From what we know every Aurora's plan is slightly different." She leaned in a little so that his pasty partner, still standing in the corner, couldn't hear. "We captured one who was in a position of prominence at the Heaven's Gate Dam. From that position she could have caused serious damage to our infrastructure. Thankfully we caught her before she got even higher."
Wu exhaled softly. Heaven's Gate was a miracle of infrastructure design, and a project crucial to the entire southern portion of the empire. Maria was understating the situation- damage to the dam would have been catastrophic. "The Aurora can't have maneuvered herself into that position just to leak infrastructure plans. That suggests terrorism, or at least one hell of a bargaining chip in a crisis."
"Our thoughts exactly. From what we can gather the whole organization is run by the Pierre family. We believe that the Aurora program is meant to lay the framework for some kind of global feminist revolution. Having them in high places all over the world would allow them to slowly start to build support for those kind of movements. Or damage the infrastructure of nations that tried to oppose it."
Wu chuckled. "I really shouldn't be laughing, but I heard someone this morning joking that Liu Mei-han is an Aurora. Thinking about this too much will leave you seeing Auroras in every corner." He paused. "We're investigating a variety of leads right now, but nothing quite so damaging as the Heaven's Gate Dam. Politics, maybe. Or the film industry. Positions where they could influence Laeralian popular opinion." The thought came to him unbidden that Auroras in Shen would likely eschew methods to influence popular opinion, seeing as in the end, only the Empress's opinion really counted, but he decided against mentioning his hypothesis aloud.
"Right now we're focusing our attention almost entirely on the bureaucracy," Maria said. "That's the center of our government right there. From positions within the bureaucracy they could influence public opinion. Damage our infrastructure. Even potentially influence the fate of the whole nation. It's a risk my organization can certainly not afford. But don't worry we have taken steps to weaken any potential Aurora influence."
Wu smiled amicably. "I'm certain that your organization will deal with this with your own customary efficiency and skill. And it's good to see that you're taking it seriously."
The smile was returned with a polite nod that she took her hands off the table.
"Our previous Grand Master didn't believe the threat was credible. The Empress asked for his resignation Tuesday. A new Grand Master has been selected to replace him. Do you know anything about Director Hong?"
"I've heard the name," Wu said. "Can't say I know much about him."
"I can't say I know much more than you. He's S-class like me. He served most of his time undercover in various spots throughout the world. And to put it bluntly he's seen some shit... I'm afraid that's all I know about my new boss."
"I know that our Director Ferrand had friendly relations with his predecessor. I hope he'll be able to strike up a good relationship with this Director Hong. My higher ups are very keen on cooperation with the Shingzi Ren."
"Well, I haven't been recalled. And I just received new orders greatly expanding what I'm allowed to do to help in this country. So as long as this Aurora Affair goes on, the Shingzi Ren has your back."
"That's great to hear," Wu said, meaning it wholeheartedly. "Just do try not to do anything that might get you found out. I'd have to have to get you out of a police jail cell."
"Wouldn't that be embarrassing?" She said with a chuckle. "You need anything else while you have my attention, Wu?"
"I don't think so," Wu said. "Thank you very much; I wish I could stop in more often. Make it a pleasure trip one of these years."
"Well, if you ever decide to come for something besides work, I'm sure the house would be very interested in demonstrating its gratitude for the understanding that exists between us." she said, as she stood up and bowed her head.
Wu smiled. "One of these years when there's not another international crisis breathing down my neck." He stood up, and bowed his head in return.
"So never? Oh well. I look forward to the day when you aren't so busy. Until next time."
"Same to you," Wu said. "You know how to reach me if I can do anything for you."
"Of course."
[/hr]
Joseph and Espoir were on the train two hours later (Laeralsford to Althea high-speed rail, direct route, 90 minute travel time, evening departure, second-class passenger compartment, limited baggage allowance) by the time Espoir voiced the suspicion that had been on her mind.
"Was that woman at the mahjong house a- foreign spy?"
"She's a member of the Shingzi Ren," Wu said. "Shen's intelligence service."
"Does the government know that a Shen spy is operating a mahjong house in Laeralsford?" Espoir asked. "Or is this the kind of friendship that you keep off the books?"
"It's not quite a friendship," Wu said. "More of a professional relationship. We've worked together in the past, and it's worked out well for both of our governments."
"I'm not condemning you," Espoir said. "I'd just like to know if she gets a mention in the write-up for this op."
"No need," Wu said. "I'll mention her in mine. Command knows that I have contacts, and that they can prove useful. I'm fairly certain they're also aware of Maria's identity."
"Did you find that conversation useful?" Espoir asked.
"Very useful," Wu said. He'd forgotten that she couldn't speak Mandarin, and hadn't picked up on many of the nuances of his conversation with Maria. "I found out a lot of interesting information, and didn't give her many of our secrets in return." He paused. "Here, let me fill you in."
"So what are we looking for in Althea?" Espoir asked, after Wu had finished recounting what he'd heard.
"It's just a hunch," Wu said, "but if there's an Aurora in Laeral, it'd be someone who has fake birth records, or someone who just doesn't have any records before age 14. Your nation of focus was Kerlile, so I'm sure you know that we have one of the largest Kerlian dissident communities in the world in Althea."
Espoir nodded. "I interned at the Kerlile Human Rights Initiative."
"Did you ever meet Hannah Sinclair?"
Hannah Sinclair was one of the most high-profile Kerlian dissidents abroad. She'd come from a fairly influential Kerlian political family- mother and sisters in the civil service and the military- and had joined the Kerlian Foreign Ministry. As an attache posted at the Kerlian Embassy in Laeral, she'd walked off the embassy grounds over a decade ago, and into the hands of the Laeralian government, becoming a valuable source into Kerlian policy and society. Once her insights had become too outdated to be of significant value, she'd gone independent, writing a well-received book on Kerlian society, and becoming a regular contributor and consultant on issues involving the isolated nation.
"You don't think Hannah Sinclair is an Aurora, do you?" Espoir said. The look on her face was dawning shock and horror.
"We've been basing our Kerlile policy off her information for the past ten years," Wu said. "I hope not. But we need to take a deep look at the Kerlian expat community. And we need to talk with Sinclair, find out what she knows about the Auroras in Laeral. We'll start with her, and then sweep every Kerlian expat in the city. One of them is bound to be an Aurora. It's an obvious infiltration route." He rummaged through his briefcase, pulling out a thick folder and setting it on the table between them. "These are the files on every Kerlian expat we know of in Althea. Sinclair's is on the top, but I'd like you to look at the other influential ones, too."
"I'll have them memorized," Espoir said. "This is good. I'm glad we have a place we're working from." She paused. "And what will you be doing?"
"Me?" Wu said. "I intend to get some sleep." He grinned. "Privilege of seniority." He folded up his long coat into a rough bundle, and then placed it beside his head as a pillow, before closing his eyes. Espoir stared for a moment, before mentally shrugging and opening the folder.