Posted by Civilian Kenzo B’tren-Hyrushi (Governor) in Government Tower- Cat’s Out of the Bag

Posted by Captain Eela Dasca (Lt. Governor) in Government Tower- Cat’s Out of the Bag

Posted by Civilian Kenzo B’tren-Hyrushi (Governor) in Government Tower- Cat’s Out of the Bag
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻
As soon as Pangolin and Mace left, she sent a quick message to Kenzo: ||Urgent situation- Coming upstairs to discuss.||

|| Come up. I’ll clear my schedule. || came the immediate reply.

Waiting the allotted reasonable time, Eela snuck up their secret staircase and knocked softly on the door.

“Come in.” Kenzo said. He stood up and looked in the direction of the concealed doorway.

Once she had the all-clear, she appeared, her expression matching her rather stormy mood. Eela sighed as she moved over to Kenzo’s desk and took up her usual seat. “So… we have a problem. Pangolin and Mace just left my office after we had a very interesting conversation that began with Pangolin asking me what I knew about PAD,” she said flatly, quirking a brow. “And yes, I did swear.”

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

Kenzo sat down and listened to her statement. If he was shocked, it didn’t show. “PAD? Really?” A brief look of confusion crossed his face. “But that is just an idea. We haven’t even moved forward to concept yet… unless I am missing something?”

Hyrushi, Governor

She drew in a deep breath and though Eela was a pro at masking her expression when it was required, with him it never was. Her jaw tightened. “We mentioned it by that moniker when security intercepted that bug in my apartment. They wouldn’t tell me a great deal, which is fair, because though I’m certain they’ve ruled me out as a person of interest in the case, my relationship with Dash makes it all more complicated. But it came up in a conversation they had with someone involved in Dash’s death. As I was able to piece together, they were hired by someone. The investigators didn’t specifically say this is what they were blackmailing Dash to find out about, but it’s not too much of a stretch. And thus I felt it was only reasonable to explain to Pangolin and Mace exactly what PAD was, though I did make sure to say it was only an idea were were working on and our intention was to present a proposal to the cabinet.”

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

Kenzo just looked at her for a long moment before saying “Someone was blackmailing Dash for an idea? By all the gods above, Eela… that’s absolutely one of the most absurd things I have ever heard. It’s not even classified… it’s not even anything yet. So why would someone-…” and he stopped and his eyes narrowed. “Eela… what are the odds someone was surveiling us and thought they had something important… but in reality they just heard something and made it out to be much more than it actually was; and then acted on that assumption?”

Hyrushi, Governor

She had to focus a moment on her breathing, to still that ball of anger that threatened to rise up and take over. It was something she had practiced over and over for years since her accident, and while she could agree that controlling it too much was not healthy for her, neither was giving it free reign. Concealed behind the desk, one hand tightened into a fist, giving her a tangible sensation to focus on. She breathed a couple moments until her fist relaxed.

“That was my conclusion. How probable it is remains to be seen, but… there’s more. In the meeting, they asked me what my thoughts were on thoughts on Devray Technologies and their CEO Thurston Kennick. I don’t think I had a chance to tell you about the irritating encounter I had at the gala, given that a day later Dash was killed. But in short, I had a man approach me casually after all our speeches and start a conversation about my efforts on Oed so far. But the whole thing was thinly veiled criticism and there was this underlying thread of distaste. It’s fine, I don’t need everyone to like me. But… it felt like there was more too it. His name felt familiar too, and it wasn’t until my conversation with Mace and Pangolin that I connected the dots. He runs a major tech company here on the colony, and they specialize in a lot of surveillance and security tech. Not only that, but he was up for the Lieutenant Governor role and made it to the short list along with myself and one other person. Then we need to factor in one very important detail: I might not be kept in the loop on all the details of the investigation into Dash’s death, but the bug in my apartment? That I know everything they’ve learned so far. And the bug was manufactured by Devray Technologies. To paraphrase Mace, while we need strong evidence linking them all, it’s too strong a coincidence, and as we all know, the most likely answer is the simplest one. If true, then it’s quite possible Kennick orchestrated all of this to either discredit myself or both of us, or he thought PAD would somehow be advantageous to him somehow, or he’s just petty and pissed I got the job and not him.” She shrugged, a casual gesture that shed a tiny bit more of the anger, even though it was still far too close to the surface for her liking. A man died and people had been devastated in the wake if that event. And for what? There were no words to describe the injustice of it all.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

“Or all of the above.” Hyrushi said. “I know Mr. Kennick. He is a rich, pompous, well-connected piece of human flotsam. He was on the short list of candidates for Lt. Governor because he called in favors; not because he was qualified. He is self-centered, greedy, and well-founded… a potentially problematic combination for you and I. But if he is with indeed involved in Mr. Jones’ demise… well… Oed has a way of dealing with those who can slip past the more robust judiciary reviews.” He looked at Eela and then said “How do you wish to proceed?”

Hyrushi, Governor

She sucked in a breath and let it out in a steady and calming stream. “Well, Oed might take care of things, but you and I both know that if Kennick is found to be involved and then something untoward happens to him, that will put us in a terrible position, and me in an even more awkward one since I’ve had a personal interaction with him. No, I truly believe the best way forward is for both of us to forget about Kennick for now and let the investigation proceed as it will.”

“In the meantime, we have two other important thins to focus on. One, we need to finish the proposal on PAD and be ready to present it to the Cabinet at the next meeting, and two, we have the first formal negotiations meeting with the Vren. We’re also going to have to figure how the best time to present Kek’s request about a nursery here to the Cabinet and then Oed. I think all of that is plenty enough to focus on o top of our regular duties, don’t you?” For Eela they would be welcome distractions from the chaos of her personal life and her own grief.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.