The Light of my Life

Rat in the Cradle

All in all Illyana and Tamotsu seemed to be getting along with their little act, neither batting an eye and playing their role perfectly. But far off at the Blood Moon Headquarters a message arriving in Silvia's inbox has soured her mood, despite having seen it coming. From Dilwyn she had received word that Tamotsu had gotten her message, the man refusing to text or call back on the principle of 'not dealing with her shit', so he quoted. Though expected it was hardly welcomed. When it came to her sister Tamotsu acted as if he was her keeper and despite the fact he technically was her manager that didn't mean he could dismiss her concerns! Due to Silvia's love for her sister and Tamotsu's obsessive compulsive perfectionism it was difficult to find equal ground regarding Illyana's state of being. Silvia would be thrilled if her sister could work all days of the week if only to be with her in the office, but Tamotsu spaces out her work hours far more than Silvia would like. Unfortunately it wasn't just her selfish desire that Illyana have steady hours. Her father expected them to work a certain number of hours to be considered heirs to his empire and there was no one that would be able to help Illyana were she to find herself on the other side of her father's Living Will.

A familiar tone rang. It was an email arriving on her computer. Leaning forward Silvia tapped the mouse, waking the dark screen from its idle slumber. Opening her email she looked over the message's contents. Her brows furrowed and she read it again. Sitting up in her seat, as she was slouched back nursing the oncoming headache of having to deal with Tamotsu's persnickety habits, she'd read the email once more.

"No, no, no..." Silvia chuckled, denying herself the pleasure of such a distracting delusion. "This is nonsense..."

As Silvia would read it on the email she was being informed of the emergency meeting being had with the head figures of the company.  Her father, Helel Sahar, had returned to Japan sooner than expected and with grim news. It looks like they had been caught off-guard and a merger they were expecting went awry when the individuals backed out, only to instead get purchased by their competitors. It was unexpected, in fact, it was not what they had agreed to under the table. Now it was not very legal to make such deals, but so long as no one found out about it, no one cared. They weren't selling illicit goods, just entertainment. No one was hurt.

Silvia made her way out of her office and into the hall. Her heels clacked against the ground as she made her way to the elevator. It seems her father got to the International Airport just an hour ago and was being picked up by Chisi. Waiting for the elevator gave Silvia time to think. Just what could have happened to have the company back out? They were getting a huge payout for their company. Her father was meeting with them in Hawaii to hammer out details before they would sign the contract, but now...? Her father must be furious. The company in question was a newly built convention center in downtown Tokyo that was said to be more lavish than the International Forum. The original owners were going bankrupt due to a number of mishandled financial practices. It was said over 45% of the company was embezzling its own funds, thus led it down the road to ruin. After those individuals were fired or summarily removed by police investigators, the original owners were going to sell the name. It was Blood Moon's plan to rebrand it and open it for use for their shows and to recruit new talent.

~ding~

The elevator arrived on the top floor where the conference room was located. There were a number of individuals already present: the members of the board. Upon her arrival the soft murmurs of their chatter stopped. Looking up to Silvia they seemed to still and look away. The sharp-eyed woman huffed and seated herself at her spot. Silvia herself was the chief executive officer and was supported by her father, but it was expected that the board of trustees trusted her not because of her nature. Not only was she half Vampire but she was also half Fuzanglong, a type of Dragon found in Asia that was well known for their control of money. She made them feel particularly unsettled as her controlling nature has seen to the removal and replacement of many members.

It wasn't long until her father arrived with Chishi at his heels. The man was large and imposing and there lay no doubt as to who owned the company. By their very nature Vampir were intimidating. His gaze alone could send the most weak willed individual onto their knee. The man was 190cm with deep blonde hair that had black highlights that looked almost as if his hair was burned by fire. The ashen color was only on the very tips of the hair so gave such an effect. The man dressed sharply, but with a measure of laxity that encouraged the eye. With a dress shirt that was always a shade brighter than his pants the man currently wore a deep green shirt and navy blue slacks. His sleeves were unfurled and cuffs unbuttoned. His blonde-black hair was brushed back neatly, with only a few strands of his bangs out of place giving him a mature, but approachable air. If not for his suffocating Aura he was likely to have throngs of fans bothering him.

Upon seating himself at the head of the meeting table Chishi would place a thick folder in front of him. The man was buff so whenever he moved his muscles stretched his shirt and the tendons in his neck flexed with the most minute movement. He had large hands, the knuckles rough and pads calloused. He didn't appear to be wearing a tie, but with the first two buttons undone one could see what appeared to be a silver chain hanging from his neck. It was queer, seeing as Vampir were inhibited by silver. Silver was known to be a fantastic conductor of electricity, but more specifically for the supernatural world, silver warded off evil energies, that which Vampir carried, and harnessed power from the sun which in great doses was poisonous to Vampir.

"It looks like our mole problem is a little worse than it appears at first blush." The man spoke with a deep voice that demanded attention of all present.

The murmurs from earlier resumed as doubts were raised.

'There's no way sir, I mean it doesn't seem -- we're a modeling agency.' One of the board members excused.

He was right because in truth who would want to steal company secrets from a company that hired workers? Helel turned his glimmering, silver eye towards the man.

"Nonsense. This company does much more than just hire people and put them to work. We trade, we sell, we buy. Right now we are the tenth highest grossing business in Japan and we were on our way to number one. Getting a hold of the convention center would have put us in the center of downtown Tokyo. What I want to know is why was Antipode able to snap up our buy and exactly a million above our original offer?"

This was a shock to the board. It was particularly troubling because many of them were already prepared to buy and trade the stocks between the investments. Some had already jumped ship. By a few empty seats it could be seen just how many had lost that bet.

Silvia cleared her throat, all eyes falling onto her. "Sir," She began in a respectful manner. "It isn't the first time this has happened either."

"Oh?" Helel calmly laid his hands over the folder. "Go on, child." He motioned his hand.

Silvia nodded. "This -- right." She steeled herself. "So far they purchased the AT headquarters in Hawaii, our recent venture here in Tokyo, and there was also the case of the Red Wolf agency in Europe that we lost to their actions. So far we have had opportunities snatched away with every company we showed interest in, but our interest in Red Wolf was not yet public."

Chishi glanced over. "By all accounts it sounds like we do have a mole." After all these purchases had to become public knowledge eventually. "What are we planning to do about this? Having an internal investigation this time of year will put us behind schedule and with the Tokyo Fashion show next month our resources are stretched preparing."

Helel was quiet for some thing before finally nodding. "I understand." His words hung in the air a moment before he sat back. "See if you can't find information on Jade Ring in Akihabara. Their investors were looking to sell to interested parties. I want to test something." He looked to Silvia.

"Oh, yes of course father. I shall make it happen." She stood and bowed her head.

"Good. Dismissed." With the meeting adjourned Helel moved to stand from his seat before walking towards the large windows in the room.

"Sir?" Chishi called to him.

"This is not the kind of mole we think it is." He noted, to Chishi's curiosity. "Hmm. Have you noticed that each of the properties purchased are all related to the Dynamis Company?"

"The ones who were caught in numerous controversies involving trade with Hong Kong?" Chishi thought about it. "You're right. All of these were Dynamis properties. But why is this company buying up Dynamis ventures?"

"We'll find out soon enough. As soon as my trap catches the rat." He mused.