Decode the Encrypted

--- In the science department ---

???: So, we clarified that that information we got from the Fried Chicken’s hide out. Bet you that we have some names of some double crossing higher ups in there, don’t you think? If we can decrypt this folder, that should cut down a lot hassel and we can get this over with. I have everything ready, I just need to know who I’m making disappear, so to speak.

Agent: Hand me the pen-drive a sec. I’ll bring that up for you. :D

???: Uh…..so….who is this again….?

Alastair: This is my P.A agent, Ambrogino. She’s my niece. A little fang that I can trust.

Ambrogino: Sorry for the late introduction. I’m usually based in Paris, but Uncle needed my help, so I came to see what I could do :3

???: Well, it’s nice to know that we have someone we can trust for once, huh? So *tosses pendrive to Ambrogino* hope you can work your magic for us, kid.

Ambrogino: *Blush and chuckle* Literally, and will do. Give me 5 seconds and…

Alastair: Make sure to send me the files. I’ll make a short list and pass it to ???’s men.

???: If you like, just pass it on to me. I can get it to the men. Emailing this stuff to us wouldn’t look too odd, but if we have any more hack-happy people, they’ll get suspicious to see it to us and one specific not-always-here group too. I’d rather not give our targets a heads up beforehand. It makes disposing of them far too messy.

Ambrogino: D-disposing, w-what do you mean by that?

Alastair: Nothing you need to concern yourself with. Just do what we need you to do, ok?

Ambrogino:  Yes, Uncle.

???: Well, it’s just a little follow up on that hacking scandal, really, We’re just making sure there’s no more parasites in the system. You know how those things can be difficult to find sometimes. Like Ally says, it’s nothing to worry about. So, think you can decode this?

Ambrogino:  *blush* sure

Alastair: Don’t fall for him, little fang. He’s a heartbreaker.

Ambrogino:  U-uncle!!!! *starts typing away to hide embarrassment*

???: Heartbreaker? Aaaaaw, I didn’t know I had that effect on you, Ally? I didn’t mean to break your heart. Do you forgive me? *flutters eyelashes*

Alastair: Pft, yes, my love, I do *chuckle*

Ambrogino:  Eeeeeeh! *blush harder*

???: I knew you loved me! *blows kiss to Alastair.* Though perhaps we should save this for another time, it wouldn’t be moral to do that in front of the children, now. Not to mention we kind of need her conscious to decode this, heh.

Ambrogino:  N-no, carry on, I don’t mind *stars in her eyes* I’m almost done here!

???: *Covers face ‘demurely’ with a fan, jokingly.* Oh no, I couldn’t, not with an audience watching.

Alastair: *Chuckle* Now now, enough of the teasing. Ambrogino, are you done yet?

Ambrogino: Yes, Uncle! Here it is, but it seems that there’s something else encoded in here. If I work on it all night, I might be able to crack it. :D

???: Nice work! You’re pretty skilled. You might give my old partner a run for her money. We’ll leave the rest to you then. Keep us posted if you find anything new.

Ambrogino: Thanks, and any time -^.^-

*Both Alastair and ??? leave the room,*

Alastair: Now, how will we split the list of traitors?

???: How many do we have? Anyone I know?

Alastair: About 50 in total, some yes and others are newer to the organisation. Those we’ve hired approximately a quarter of a century prior.

???: Che, to think that they dug their claws so deep, and under Pandora’s noses? Just how long have these ‘Phoenix bastards been operating, anyway? - no, you don’t have to answer that. It’s rhetorical. Well, how many of the fifty did we get rid of already - we did do that mass clear out of the minions after all, or are these fifty literally all higher ups over the different branches?

Alastair: 50 of the hire ups and less so  of the subordinates. It’s going to be like dealing with home grown terrorists. We’ll persuade the subordinates that can be save, but the rest we’ll have to ‘deal’  with.

???: Seriously? Most of these guys were already here before I got ‘recruited’, I guess, but I always did have a funny feeling….I just thought that I had started to dislike politics. Anyway, It would make sense that the subordinates would be in your jurisdiction. As for those in the leadership rolls….well, we’ll need to be careful. We either need to get rid of them in one go, or start to slowly pick them off. Though if we get rid of them all at once, while it will limit that threat quickly, it might have our real supporters actually suspect us of foul play. But if we pick them of one by one, we risk them gaining more of a hold in the meantime, and we’ll have to be very careful of recruits and those they’re close to, but we could make their disappearances more normal seeming. One goes on a mission and died, one got transferred out to another branch, because their skills were needed, etc. Either way, it’ll be difficult to mask fifty suddenly vanishing, especially with the timeframe that the Madam gave us.

Alastair: That’s what makes it fun. After all, slight edits to mission profile could be useful. A D-rank superior on a A rank mission? There’s very little chance for survival. We may lose a team here and there, but we’re constantly reforging teams so that wouldn’t be an issue. And no one would dare question it.

???: Hm….That could work. Can I trust you with those ‘edits’? In return, I can also have some people add ‘complications’ to other missions. After all, it’s no one’s fault if another supernatural being comes along that they hadn’t accounted for. There’s a risk of that happening on any mission, after all. You won’t even have to edit every mission. It would seem quite natural that way. Of course, the ones very high up in the ranks will be a little more difficult I can get rid of them with ease. Would you be able to think up some good cover stories for their sudden leave of absence?

Alastair: Of course, but if there were sudden mission related deaths, then it wouldn’t need much covering up. Just ‘incompetence’ on the leaders’ part.

???: I don’t mean that, I mean those ‘leaders’ who are in more managerial positions: the bureaucrat types. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had a few there messing up our communications, or spying on them, when we have to arrange things with more mundane sides of the law

Alastair: Of course, that might be a little above my pay grade. I’ll have my mistress look into that for us. It shouldn’t take her long, with her influences.

???: Well, I can easily remove them. All we need is reasons for their sudden disappearances. But let me know what the Madam thinks first and I can see what I have to work with to really set the scene to match. Believe me, that is not above my pay grade. Speaking of the little Madam, we should get this over to her. The sooner she knows who we’re targeting, the sooner we can clear out the trash. I’m getting sick of the smell of burnt birdies, aren’t you?

Alister: *Chuckle* I thought you love BBQ. Maybe I don’t know you as well as I thought? :P

???: BBQ is nice and all, but there’s BBQ, and then there’s over done, and these Phoenix guys doing this is so overdone at this point, so I’d rather have a little change to my diet. You know how boring it gets if you eat the same thing day after day.

Alastair: Says the sushi addict *chuckle*

???: Ah, but that’s sushi, that’s completely different.

*both turn the corner to Madam Povell’s room and discuss their plan with her*

Madam Povéll: That fine by me. I’ll make sure they’ve been found guilty of treason and crimes against the organisation, so they are either interogated in the subbasement or have been let go. Considering the number of breaches we’ve had lately, it would be reasonable.

Aslister: *poures tea* And those with Authority beyond the reaches of Pandora’s grasp?

Madam Povéll: We still have ties to ‘that’ assassin group. They can take the fall for it. Infamous, efficient, and never caught. As long as they get there money on time, that won't be an issue.

Alister: *Kisses Madam Povéll’s hand before placing tea cup in her hand* Shall I contact them after the meeting?

Madam Povéll: Yes, the quicker the better.

???:  Assassin group? Oh, that one? Huh…...I don’t mind having a chat with them. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind speaking to me. Of course, if you would rather me get started on some of our friends, then I can do that as well. After all, I’m sure we have plenty of Mission leaders to accidentally run into extra supernatural threats or something.

Madam Povéll: If it wouldn’t be too taxing on you, then whatever suits your fancy, ???. If you require me to aid you then tell me. I’ve finished that child’s transfer. She should arrive by friday evening, so I’m free to aid you now.

???: I need to make arrangements outside the organization anyway to get some supernatural ‘threats’ in place, so it won’t be too taxing on me to make a pitstop along the way. Who knows, they might even work slightly discounted if it’s for an old friend. Either that, or at the very least we would have less red tape to cut through. Speed is of the essence, etc, etc. If you can give me a list of missions for me and my friends to sabotage, then I can get started.

Madam Povéll: Give Alastair and I an hour; we’ll have that list for you then. Anything else?

???: Only if you have any specific terms you want me to negotiate with the Assassins. It would help me to be able to present our ‘case’, so to speak, far faster. Specific names of the targets, and locations for the hits would also do well. The more information I can give to them, the faster they can take care of our pest problem.

Alister: I’ve compiled a hit list. I’ll send it to your communicator now. Ambrogino upgraded our software. It’s only now accessible to us and her.

???: Excellent. Then I should be on my way then. I need to prepare those meetings now. Anything else before I leave?

Alister: i’m going to be wrapped up here for the rest of the day do you mind checking on Miss Washington for me?

???: Ah yes, the mission with T, huh? Sure. Laters!

*??? Heads up to the information and communications department, and opens the door*

???: So, how you holding up?

Tara: Not too bad, I guess. A bit nervous? But I should be ok. Just to check, am I heading off on the mission, returning for graduation, then heading off again, or is it graduation, then the mission. I’ve been so caught up in training I kind of forgot. Um...Oopsy?

???: It would be a bit ridiculous to go off on the mission just to come back, especially considering how precarious it is.

Tara: Oh, yeah. Guess I should have known Sorry. Usually N distracts me a bit when I get nervous til I calm down, but…..Uh….speaking of N, have you seen her?

???: briefly. She should be attending graduation as well.

Tara: That’s good. She told me a while ago she was looking forwards to getting that degree She worked her butt off for it, after all. I hope she’ll speak to me a bit there. I missed her, you know?

???: perhaps. Though if you do, try to keep it light, She probably doesn’t want to contemplate your potential death.

Tara: Yeah yeah, I know. I’m not likely to talk about that on graduation anyway. It’s supposed to be a celebration after all. Uh….anyway, I have a little bit more prep to do for both graduation and the mission. Oh, question though, will you be there? You do seem to like showing up in places people don’t expect.

???: Ah, but if I tell you, you’ll expect me. *laughs slightly* We’ll see. I have something to take care of first. If I’m done on time, then there’s a chance. Anyway, you take care of yourself til then. Your teammates will be disappointed if you overwork yourself before you go. They started to like you after all, and it’ll take too long to break in a new Agent.

Tara: Har har. Get going, hairball.

???: *Chuckles* Sure sure. Laters, T.

[END]