daybreakacademy | Information Warfare, Corporate Skullduggery, and You

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Information Warfare, Corporate Skullduggery, and You

[A]

After what amounted to a major surprise encounter the previous day, Gunvolt was up most of the night looking over a flash drive provided to him by Zeno. ...It was indeed not comfortable reading, and there was just so much he couldn't go over it all. Thankfully, Zeno thoughtfully provided a readme file about what files he should focus on looking at first.

The following couple of days, Gunvolt sought out anyone he knew or trusted to share what he could with them, providing a warning that the content would be deeply unsettling.

Turned out, Sumeragi had gathered quite a large supply of data about many people.

After sharing this data with you, Gunvolt looks stonefaced and grim.

"Just when you think Sumeragi was bad enough, they find ways to be even worse. We might be close to a boiling point."

...Of course, with fires popping up all over the world now, Sumeragi was just another big problem in a pile of Big Problems.

[B]

Perhaps in a twist, Gunvolt isn't working himself to death in response to all this news. Instead, he's found himself going to the gym to exercise and train, though less of what would be combat drills. No, this time it's flexibility and agility training, and even partaking in some pickup games of basketball or football, whichever he could get into.

He felt like all of his lab work had slowed him down a bit, and that he needed to give that part of his mind some time to rest.

And he'd be lying if he wasn't having some fun in doing it. He might be playing a sport with you, or cooling down at one of the smoothie bars.

[C]

Alternatively, you can catch him back in the Aube dorm, having freshly showered and changed... and for once, his hair was down and unbraided. Seems he's been trying to brush it back into shape and holy shit this boy has a lot of hair, going all the way down to his legs. With it down, it's probably way easier to mistake him for a girl, particularly from the back.

[D]

Wildcard it, if you want.

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[Lia's... unreadable, for a few moments after. This data...

... She feels sick thinking about it.]

... Holy shit.

[That's about her only coherent thought right about now.]

[Gunvolt frowned a little deeper, but nodded. He rested a hand on her shoulder.]

Yeah. That was my reaction too.

[...He's just glad he has a support network now. That news would've been much worse without it.]

...We're only the tip of the iceberg too.

[Desi's seen GV with his hair down on some occasions, though usually it was only after any given shower (much like now), and it would normally be put back into its usual braid shortly after drying.

So it seemed that he just decided to let it be, today, and she wasn't going to complain.

Things got a bit less-normal than even that when he told her that there was something that she needed to see and beckoned her over to his desk, where he had Zeno's flash drive plugged into a laptop and the drive's files open on the screen. From the tone and expression he used, it was something serious.

He'd also told her to take her time; she was going to need it.

"Just when you think Sumeragi was bad enough, they find ways to be even worse. We might be close to a boiling point."

It's several moments before Desi responds.]

What the fuck, GV.

[You know it's bad when Desi says fuck, because she normally doesn't say that.]

[Kokoro watches him play as she drags out the landing mat. (Apparently being in the business of teaching kids to survive mortal peril means that Daybreak is one of the few schools that hasn't taken out its rope climbing wall.)]

Fun, I presume?

[He squints, looking over the file, murmuring low under his breath, GV would've least picked it up as an Old French equivalent of 'god damn them to hell' by intonation and familiarity.]

Something we'll have to deal with sooner than later.

[Gunvolt leaned his chair back on its two rear legs, pushed up by his toes, rocking a couple of times before settling back his chair on all four legs.]

We're finally seeing just how far they're going. How far they've gone. And how long they've been at it. There's thousands upon thousands of entries of subjects of interest that QUILL cracked open. Even Monarch didn't know about all of this.

So yeah, "what the fuck" seems like the correct response to have to me.

...QUILL's sharing this info with Daybreak, too.

[With any luck, that means more ops to expose or sabotage Sumeragi in the future.]

[Monarch was uncharacteristically quiet for the moment as well, probably reading through those same files herself by hopping onto the wifi network to connect to the laptop (and by extension, that flash drive) and look at the files directly; it's quicker and easier for her that way, instead of trying to read them through her camera.]

Some of these files... [One of them is very clearly him. One of the newer files is her. Some of the others are friends, acquaintances, and even the professors that had accompanied them on those missions near the end of last year. Nearly all of the relevant files have them labeled simultaneously as subjects of interest and as threats.] I'll be honest, this makes me think that they'll come after us eventually.

[With the game over, Gunvolt dried off the sweat on his face with a towel as Kokoro addresses him.]

Yeah. Fun, and... just exercise. Trying to keep limber. Close game, too.

How about you? Training hard like usual?

[Gunvolt nodded, somewhat glumly. He definitely agreed with that assessment, and... definitely learned a new phrase or two from him. His hearing good enough to make out Ky's mumbling, if nothing else.]

Yeah, I don't think we can ignore this. It sounds like they'll do something drastic to get at us.

[...Including him. Reading the briefs left him very uncomfortable, both for himself, and for the people around him.]

The only thing that makes me feel better is it sounds like we have them running scared. They know their best dudes have trouble with most of us. ...For now, anyway.

[He knows Sumeragi's probably working on countermeasures... and is, if Project Euterpe is any indication.]

[In fact, that was exactly what Monarch was doing... not to mention, it allowed her to process the data much faster than anyone too.

Still, Gunvolt glanced over to Desi, slowly nodding.]

I know they will. It's not if, it's when.

[He feels a little sick thinking about it. Well, more than a little sick.]

When a corrupt group of guys like Sumeragi hear about that kind of money, they're like sharks smelling blood in the water.

Good thing is... I doubt Daybreak will take this lying down. QUILL won't either.

Edited 2020-09-25 00:25 (UTC)

[Gunvolt might be expecting it, but Lia's body is tense under his hand. She shifts uncomfortably.]

... Do you think they might try to come after us directly at some point?

[Because she's, uh, kind of getting that sense!]

[It very much is a matter of 'when'; seeing what's written in these files, there's not any doubt that they will try. And he's right, there's no way either Daybreak or QUILL would just stand by whenever Sumeragi did make their move.]

At least with this, we know to expect them, and we know how much they know... We might have to come up with some new tricks.

[There's a brief pause.]

Are you going to let Elise look through any of this? [Liese, probably; she comes across as the sort that would be able to handle seeing the contents of these files. As for Elly... Well, if she feels comfortable enough with it. As long as at least one of her sees it...] She should probably know about it, I think.

[He winced a little, feeling Lia taut like a bow. It was distressing news, certainly, but... he knew she needed to know.]

I don't think it's "Might." I think it's "Will."

[It's not a reassuring honesty, but frankly, it was better not to sugarcoat it.]

QUILL's sharing this information with the school too. They're going to know, and having that knowledge will keep us safer. And I very much doubt they'll take this lying down.

[And frankly, Lia appreciates that Gunvolt isn't sugarcoating it. This isn't the sort of thing you do that with.]

Yeah. And we're not gonna take this lying down.

[At this rate, she's wondering if it might be better to just strike directly at Sumeragi before they try anything. An ounce of prevention, pound of cure, etc.]

[Another pause, as Gunvolt rose from his chair, his hair flowing behind him as he did so. He approached the window, looking out to the rest of the campus.

He doesn't address the matter of coming up with new tricks. That much they were in full agreement upon. And doubtlessly, the school was too.]

...I don't like the idea of doing it, but I know you're right. She's only just finally found the feeling of safety around here recently. ...Shattering that feeling might set her back and tear open wounds that are just beginning to heal.

...But she deserves to know. Maybe more than anyone else, given she's the one who suffered from Sumeragi the most.

But my point is, when we tell her, we need to be delicate, but honest with her. Liese probably could handle it better, but... even still, we should be conscientious about it.

Edited 2020-09-25 00:59 (UTC)

You're damn right we won't. But we need to be smart about this too. We can't afford to make a mistake.

[The documentation is enough to suggest what might happen if they fail. Much less knowing what happened to Elise.]

For now, we need to get better. Learn new tricks they won't be ready for. They have some of our playbook, so it's time to tear a new page.

I'm thinking we tell her up front that it's about Sumeragi, and let her decide if she wants to know or not. If neither one wants to, then we don't make her. [She'll also need to be assured that whatever happens, Sumeragi won't be taking her back; that doesn't need to be said, because they both already know it.]

I'm also thinking that if she does want to know, it should be on her terms. When, how much, which one of her if it's not both, though I do agree, Liese would probably be better.

[Desi glances back to her own desk, where her phone is sitting. She walks over to pick it up.] We don't know how long we have before Sumeragi tries anything, so I'm going to go ahead and ask her if and how she wants to do this. [She pokes her way into her contact list and starts making a call.]

[She nods solemnly.

(She's going to just... compartmentalize the panic to deal with later. She needs to keep it together right now.)

New tricks. That's something she can focus on to not freak out too badly. She pushes some of her hair out of her face and takes a deep breath.]

Yeah. [...] Might not hurt to see what we could pull off while working together. I've picked up a few new tricks recently-- [Mind, they're very similar to Desi's tricks, but shhhh.] --So maybe working with those would be a good place to start.

Certainly. [She says, slowly dragging the mat across the floor.] One must always improve, especially with evil constantly on the horizon.

[It's a lot to take in, and he knows very well that it's tough for anyone to process. It's disturbing, scary, to know there's a target painted on your back.]

They probably would be. Set aside some time for training and see what our collective tricks are capable of.

I've got a couple of new ones up my sleeve too, so we should start comparing notes when the time comes!

Edited 2020-09-25 21:08 (UTC)

[That earned a laugh out of him, but one that sounded pointedly awkward.]

God, yeah. Isn't that the truth.

[Unlike so many others who might laugh at Kokoro for being uptight and high strung and so mission-minded, Gunvolt can only laugh because it feels like what she said might somehow be an understatement.

What a state of affairs.]

Mind if I join you in a climb? Could use the upper body workout too.

[He moves to help her drag the mat over to the ropes faster.]

My thanks. You're supposed to have someone watching you anyway. [...not that she was going to follow that, but details.] Did you want to start, then?

I think you're right. That's the best way to handle it. Best way to make sure she knows as much as she wants to.

[For now, Gunvolt glances back over through the files. Curiously, other than Asimov, there was no available record on any of the other Glaive soldiers, even though at least Viper and Elise had been mentioned. He'd have to do a hard dive in looking for more references into them later, but that would have to wait.

Liese's phone rang a couple of times before she picked it up.]

Hello, Desidera? What's going on?

[It was strange for her to get a call. Either version of her, though Elly seemed generally more well liked by people for being nicer, even if more awkward.]

Edited 2020-09-26 03:33 (UTC)

[It sounds like Liese has already figured that if anybody—much less Desi—is calling her that it has to be something important. That makes this a little bit easier. She's just gonna get to the point.]

Some of GV's acquaintances from QUILL got their hands on something that we think you might need to see, so we wanted to know if you were interested in having a look at any of it sometime, probably sooner rather than later. Though, ah, fair warning: you aren't going to like it; it's about Sumeragi.

If you'd rather not, that's fine.

[Jailbreak reads over the file in silence, scanning through the information quickly and professionally. Slowly, she puts it down, looks back at Gunvolt... and starts snickering.]

Oh man, I can't pay for advertising this good. You gotta give me a copy of that entry for my records, I wanna have it framed.

[There's an odd reply on the other end of the line.

Or rather, more properly, there's not one. For several long seconds. Just the soft sound of Elise breathing on the other end... perhaps a little heavily. But it was hard to tell if it was out of anxiety, anger, or fear, or perhaps some hellish concoction of all three.]

...What exactly did you find?

[Liese sounded quite firm, but lacking some of her traditional dominance or confidence. In fact, she sounded unusually guarded, but not hostile. By now, she knows Desidera and Gunvolt care about her, and she knows she can trust them both.]

Nah, I'll spot for you first, considering you gotta get your reps in for training.

[As far as he's concerned, it's better to help Kokoro with her training first, before indulging in his own workout whims.]

Do you do anything special in your climb I should know about?

[Because knowing her, there probably was more to it than just a simple one-up climb.]

Ah— Hang on. [She's putting the phone on speaker in case Gunvolt or Monarch want to interject.]

We haven't looked through too much of it yet ourselves—we obviously can't read these as fast as Monarch can—but most of what I've had a look at so far looks like it's about people and some other things that they had taken interest in. [Liese would know firsthand what 'interest' really means in this particular context, so Desi doesn't bother to clarify that.]

Some of the more-recent files are pretty obviously some notes they had started taking about us. [Desi herself, Lia, Vivi, Ky...]

We might be able to use some of this to figure out what else they're doing and where, so we could try to stop them from hurting even more people.

[...He's not sure what he expected as a reaction from Jailbreak.

In retrospect, he quickly realizes this is exactly what he should've guessed. It's not that she's not taking this seriously, but rather, this is just how she reacts to. Well. Everything.]

That won't be a problem. ...QUILL's also sending all this data to the school, so you can even include it on your resume if you want.

[It's a little wry, but a mix of a joke and a serious statement.]

I mean, based on how much of this got redacted... I gotta know. How much have you done to screw over Sumeragi in the past?

About you, huh...?

Can't say I'm surprised. Once you get into their business they don't let things go. "Vindictive" is part of their business model.

[Her words are bitter, mirthless, and harsh. She knows it well. That sort of treatment was what she got at their hands, and what was painfully drilled into her in return.]

...Do they know we're here?

[Gunvolt grimaced a little, but answered.]

...They know we're here. But they don't seem to know you're here. Their official records list you as "MIA," with the assumption of being captured or killed.

So for whatever that's worth, as of what QUILL sent to us, they have no idea you're with us.

[There was a brief pause before she answered.]

...No offense, but I would prefer if it was kept that way. Elly isn't ready to deal with them yet. Not unless we have to.

I'm not naive enough to think they won't find out somehow though.

Not usually. [She stretches her arms and legs out.] If I want to practise climbing with tools, there are other places around to do that. Today I just want to be good enough on my own.

Okay. [Liese will see no arguments from her or GV there.] If or when you do want to take a look for yourself, just let one of us know.

[There's a short pause after she says that. She doesn't feel quite right, having that be the only thing she's calling about. So...]

Mmm, while I've got you here, are you in the mood for doing anything?

[She knows that GV's gotten Elly out and about a bit on some occasions, but she doesn't recall Liese being particularly involved in just...normal things around the academy.]

And they'll likely to act while everyone else is dealing with the fall out...

[He sighs, frowning at some of the briefs]

They're desperate, they'll make mistake but it also means they'll be taking the gloves off.

Probably. But while they might be desperate, their main MO is to keep a low profile. ...Considering we just got a lot more high profile, they might think twice about attacking any time soon. Plus, they don't know we have this intel, as far as we know. That could give us an edge too.

[One of the only silver linings to the Academy suddenly becoming much more well known rather suddenly. Still, he paused, looking up to his professor.]

But... I gotta admit. It's one thing to have a target on my back for interfering with Project Monarch and Prometheus. It's a whole other thing to realize... [He hesitates, looking visibly more uncomfortable, more disturbed, at what he's about to say.] ...That they've been after me my whole life, and I never knew it.

...That the headmaster I thought was mean and cruel for sending me away actually saved my life. And paid for it with his.

I'm sorry.

[He slowly closes his eyes, hearing that, a hand reaching and gently resting on his shoulder]

I can't imagine what's going through your mind right now, but - know you're not alone here.

[His own eyes close, but Ky can probably feel even through a gentle touch that Gunvolt's shoulder is bound up in stress. It'd been... crazy, lately. And even though he was taking better care of himself lately, tension sometimes was inevitable.]

...Thank you. Really. And... I know I'm not alone. Everyone here, and even Moniqa and Zeno have my back again.

[His eyes shut tightly, more focused than in sadness.]

Getting my head around the fact that Hashimoto-san did that for me is... something. He didn't break. He never sold me out, even after whatever Sumeragi did to him.

All I can do is make sure his sacrifice wasn't in vain. I have to live, and live a good life. And then make sure he gets justice like all of Sumeragi's victims.

...I'm going to shut them down one day. The whole damn thing.

Sweet. [At the question she tilts her head thoughtfully, counting absently on her fingers.] Lemme think... squid thing was sorta me, that time in Munich was super my fault but not on purpose... think they got hit when I did that tax fraud thing... uh.

Define "screw".

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Information Warfare, Corporate Skullduggery, and You

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