Chapter 15: The Sacred and Profane

[Heikki Toivonen]

(if you want something to do, Evana, you should visit the Nihilists in Germany.)
"I think you have to have more than a nice face to be one of the Blessed. I think..you need power or money, and I have neither." Heikki replies. He feels a little offended by the remark. He wonders if he is too pretty or if there is something wrong with that? "I look like a woman." Heikki says in his own defense, trying to give some excuse why he isn't that attractive.

"If you think I look too nice, you can send a thank you to Genetech. They were the ones who made me." Heikki states before taking a small portion of strawberry shortcake for himself. He sighs.

"I like your mask. It must be pretty useful for ...some terrorist situations involving gas. And it protects your identity too. That's pretty clever. Maybe we should all wear masks."

[Dinari Dollar]

Dinari notices that Capricious is there, so, he waves to get her attention. "Hey Capricious, you look really hot. Too bad you don't get to sit by Allmart!" He yells across the room while Scrag is talking.

He is glad that Tuvi came along too, but she doesn't seem to be having very much fun. "What's wrong Tuvi? Hmm...what should All mart think about this situation?" He asks her, trying to focus on the meeting and Capricious.

"Can we hang out sometime, Capricious?"

[Evana Majarae]

((^_^ Okies, I'll get to that.))

A stubby little maid came running up to Evana, squealing and sounding delighted to have found her. She beckoned her to follow her and so Eve did so. She wasn't concentrated on the maid for long for her eyes began to wander again and observe the layout and decorations of her sister's mansion. 'And all this time I thought she was living in a run-down home, hiding from the world.... ...I was wrong....'[/color] Although it was spacious, she felt secure... but also naked due to her new ensemble.

Even in her thoughts she sounded a little disappointed. She paused when the maid opened a door and directed her inside. Not paying her anymore attention, Evana entered the room. "Kyra?" She called until she spotted her scrounging through her closet. She walked over and stood a few feet away.

[Hilja Kukkanen/Sasha Pisarev]

To Tuesday

While standing with Isvara and Jose, I notice Calithin and Tuesday. I decide I had better talk to Tuesday since maybe the party should meet over what happened at the mansion. I'm sure it is something worth talking about. Stepping away from Jose and Isvara for a moment, I walk up to Tuesday.

"Tuesday, sorry I didn't get to talk to you much at the party. I was thinking...we should probably have some kind of discussion about all of this. We could call up some of our friends and see what they think about it."

[Annika 25]

"I did not see where they went, I lost them. But I know what they look like." Annika replies to Aubrey. The situation is difficult due to scant information. "There are security cameras all over Helsinki. I will contact Global Bank to see if anything was caught on camera as to where they could have gone to. We can also look into teleportation booth logs. Without use of the booth, they would still be in the city. So, we can use that information to track them down." Annika determines.

Annika gets right on this and starts making phone calls. It doesn't take much time at all to get the information that she needs about teleportation booth logs and things caught on video surveylance. She has the information sent to her cell phone.
Because everything is private property, there is nowhere a person can go without being monitored...unless they go into an area where the land is not owned or where the person who owns the area does not care for security.

Helsinki, because of the high temple, had ample cameras. The cameras revealed a van chase, but also footage of the hostage taking which had not been shown on TV...or which had but the people were mindwashed into peceiving something else.

"I think they are still in Helsinki. We should figure out the building where the hostage was taken. The footage shows the inside, so it is just a matter of identifying the building from that room."

[Annette Rosenthal]

"Perhaps the Master is right and we have become weak and lazy. But where do we go from here?" Annette asks those in attendance of the Economic Council meeting. "I am against any major changes in policy at this time, but spending more on soldiers, security, and weapons is a must. This works out nicely in some ways because I was worried about Manala mas spending. Perhaps, we need to up the spending on those essential things. Global Bank is willing to give low interest loans for that purpose, since I would like to encourage all of you to invest in security." Annette suggests to the crowd.

"But we also need to figure out how we should approach this. Should we tell people? If we tell people about a terroristic threat, it may cause them to unite around the Manalists. It may also give us an excuse to put down an enemy of our choosing."

Annette pauses to think of possible enemies. "I would blame it on religious terrorists or communists. I think that either would make a good excuse."

[Kyra Majarae]

Kyra smiled at her younger sister and ran up to her and hugged her. "Ohhhhhh! Evana! You look so cute! And you look so much better without all that make-up on! You looke your real age. Aren't you 16-17 now?" She smiled and hugged her again. She found another outfit and changed into that it was cute tube dress and it was white. It made her skin look like it had color. She then grabbed a pair of her favorite black stilettos and she smiled again at her sister. "We have a pit stop to make first. Its at my base....so tag along and see if you like it? You might!" She smiled again and fixed a bow into her sisters soft hair.

[Li Violette]

I stand up, deciding that it is my time to speak. I am thoughtful about how I choose my words and not certain what I actually think about these events.

"When I was ...in power in China...I found that it was usually more effective not to scapegoat. The best form of control is generally to down play any sort of threat. By making it appear large and important, it shows that we are worried, or that it is worth our concern. Instead, it might be better not to discuss it at all or if it is discussed, to minimize the threat. If people believe that there are communists or other religions in the world, they may be more apt to question the Economic Council and the Manalists." I speak to the council.

"I would suggest dealing with this quickly and quietly, and covering up all evidence that anything happened at all. As for ramping up security, I would support that if it creates more jobs. There is a serious problem with unemployment right now and I would like to see more done to solve that problem."

[Evana Majarae]

Evana cringed on the inside. Sixteen? Seventeen? No, those awkward years were behind her now. "Where's your base?" She asked, staring at her sister with her normal stone expression. It sort of hurt her feelings... what little there was to hurt when it came to her appearance. She didn't really wear a lot of make up... in fact, she only wore the eye shadow.

[Ariel Tal Shachar]

The Moderator takes the stage, although he has been listening to the conversations from behind it. He walks up to his podium and clears his throat.
"The purpose of this meeting was originally to discuss the state of the economy. Spending is down this season, and even with Manala Mas nearing, it seems that they are still the worst they have been for over a decade. The Speaker is correct about an unemployment situation, but, this should not be our primary concern." The Moderator says from his podium.
"I am curious to hear what sorts of ideas everyone has. I would also like Keitoleinen to take a moment to show us some security footage. We have also obtained footage from areas of Helsinki controled by the Manalists. This may be useful in coming to understand who or what we are dealing with."

[Malak Al-Dabaran]

Malak notices Tuesday and Hilja, so he rushes over to them. After the first explosions, he hid in the coatroom. He wasn't sure what was going on. He is so happy to see Tuesday is alive and well, and equally glad to see Hilja. He smiles at both, but refrains from hugs. "It's good to see that you are both safe. I hid after the first explosions. How exciting though!" He says with a light chuckle. He hears Hilja suggest a meeting and he couldn't be more enthused. "Yes, I think we do have a lot to talk about! I wonder who was behind it though! Maybe some anarchists?"

[Emmet Fawkes]

“Really?” Bishop pondered, eating the last bite of shortcake he scraped off his plate. “I always thought to be Blessed, you had to be the belle of the ball, powerful, and have money. I guess its a little shallow to think that.” Slipping his mask down, he set his fork on top of his plate, and leaned against the window sill. “Androgyny suits you,” he stated, glancing over his shoulder, “If it makes you feel better, I could tell you weren't a woman.” He thought Heikki was pretty, but he wasn't blind.

For a moment, he sucked in a breath. Genetech creation. The thought repulsed him. He didn't believe that people should be making things like that—clones, it was something he disagreed with a long time ago. But, from what he could tell, they had feelings. Ha! What people tampered with, made him sick. He fiddled with the fork. Cling. Cling. “Your not an android like Amelia, though, right?”

He stopped playing with his fork, and stayed silent for a moment. A small rasping laugh rattled from his throat, as he spun to face away from the window. “Your a first to say that,” He admitted, jaw bunched up. “These masks... their just-- Maybe... maybe we should all wear masks!” This he said through his teeth.

["Niel" Samuelson]

The contract for Keitoleinen had been called off. Short-notice, no need to attend the Banquet. Missed out on some action but no skin off his teeth. So now there was nothing but the Economic Council's meeting.

Niel made sure that he held a position as close as possible to Scrag. He seemed to be the only member of the Wrath in attendance. Wonderful.

For now he sat and listened. Rosenthal had the right idea; tell the people, kill the rebels and remember to do your Manala-mas shopping. Simple.

[Joseph "Jose" Ponce]

The whole of this event was rather shocking to Jose. First
"Blessed" Party he attends and there all sorts of incidents. Terrorists attacks, weird Mammoth steaks and women screaming. It seemed ridiculous. How could all this happen at once and at the first party he attends!

He just found a nearby seat and turned to Isvara.

"Really, Isvara the crap we're going through here. Tell me is the rest of our life going to be this chaotic because of our company?"

[Bambi Engel]

Bambi nodded at Annika's words, it sure sounded like who Annette would accuse. She was just glad no one had been killed. "Thank you Annika, good luck." She comments as the android continues on her work. Checking her watch, her paranoia comes flooding back full force as she rushes toward the teleportation booth.

She arrives at the location of the meeting early, staring at the location in awe for a moment. This was security. She trips on her way in, but despite that makes it to a seat beside Annette at the "Global Bank" plate without being much noticed.

She stays silent, listening to the side conversations before the meeting. Capricious and Calithin's antics made her face heat up, though she did think it was rather funny. But wasn't this supposed to be an important meeting? Then Dinari started calling Capricious's name across the room.

At least some of them were being serious. She nods her head idly at Annette's words, even if she didn't totally agree with the communists comment. Hearing Li speak, she found she agreed until the suggestion of covering it up came along. Didn't people had a right to know?

Despite the thoughts rolling her head, she kept her mouth shut. Her head was tilted at a downward angle, her eyes gazing up under her bangs at people as they spoke. She hadn't felt as nervous as this in a long time.