[Irn0rchid]

<<I guess we shouldn't tell her we were recording us in the bedrooms as well? *grin*>>

"Turnabout is fair play, right? Is it someone interesting?" Turning to Elaine, "Do you normally keep tabs on who he's with?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Elaine shakes her head as Robin sends the second set of feeds to the screen.  "I never really cared who he was banging.  Not after the first year.  It hurt then, yes, but I got over it.  Although I am not sure I ever really got over him doing by maid of honor on our wedding day.  Right after the ceremony, too, the bastard.  I did not know until he bragged about it a couple of weeks later when he brought his first mistress home.  I had wondered why Gail had been avoiding me.  Anyway, besides that, I guess I just lost the reason to care."

She goes silent as the first vid pops up.  Howard is poised behind a young girl on a massive bed, pounding into her.  Every once in a while, he looks up at the camera and smiles broadly.  While you are watching, a second young girl joins them on the bed, holding three lit smokes, which she hands to Howard and the girl he is having sex with.  The second girl swaps positions with the first and Elaine gasps and stands up to look closer.  "Can you pause that, Robin?"

The scene stops and Elaine asks her to bring it closer and she does.  Elaine starts to giggle and looks at both of you.  She points first to one then the other girl.  "You might not recognize them, but  these are the daughters of His Honor the Mayor of Seattle and His Even Greater Honor the Governor of Seattle.  They are both fourteen and their parents are very protective of them.  Oh Howard, you ass."  She sits back down on the couch and Robin rolls the vid.  The three engage in some very creative sex before the scene ends and another begins.  The date and time stamp indicate the second one was filmed the day before you arrived at the house.  Howard has a very young-looking oriental girl on the bed and he is humping her for all he is worth.  Elaine stops the film again and sighs.  "Not a hundred percent sure, but I think this is Sachi Yuroki, the thirteen year-old granddaughter of none other than the Oyabun of the Yakuza in Seattle.  I have met her a couple of times so it might be someone else, but I am pretty sure."  She turns to you both.  "OK.  Now what are we to do with this?"

[Irn0rchid]

Rose sits stunned for a moment, then finally responds, "So Howard likes them young I guess? Or was he just doing this for blackmail?" Rose shakes her head, "Howard is the gift that keeps on giving. I say we copy the files just in case and then delete the ones on the system here and pretend we never saw them unless there's a dire need. How do you tell the Oyabun his underage daughter has been having sex with a man who betrayed him? Answer... you don't."

[Mercy Merchant]

Elaine turns to look at the young teen frozen in place on the vidscreen and just shakes her head.  "I had not idea he likes them young.  His mistresses have all been young women, but none younger than twenty.  At least the ones I know about.  No, he must have had some reason to be doing these girls.  He always was an egotistical bastard so maybe he is just thumbing his nose at people he does business with?  But I do not know what he had in common with the Mayor or Governor."

She nods at your suggestion and looks at Robin, who also nods.  "Already on it."

Elaine's 'link pings as Robin is transferring the data feed.  Her face goes a bit pale as she answers the call, but her voice is steady as she responds.  "Of course.  Please tell your employer that I am ready.  I do have two house guests, but they will not be in the way.................Of course................Five minutes.  Yes, I understand................Thank you."  She lowers the 'link and looks at you both.  "They will be here in five minutes.  Fingers crossed that we can pull this off.  But just in case we don't, I want you both to know that this has been the best few days of my life.  Thank you."

Elaine bustles over to the dining room table and makes sure that the refreshments are in order then goes to stand at the front door.  The security feed from outside the house picks up three long cars pulling into the drive and approaching the house. 

[Irn0rchid]

"Seems like he has a proclivity for trying to gather blackmail on powerful people. Makes me wonder if he's got enough of it stashed elsewhere to get out of this mess..."

After Elaine receives the call, "Well, here goes nothing! Just show them what they want to see and everything should go smoothly. We'll be watching everything from here, so don't worry. We'll pretend to be engrossed in the VR game, so hopefully they won't try to interact with us."

[Mercy Merchant]

Your feed shows four oriental men step out of each of the first and third cars, two standing at the doors and the other two approaching the house.  The second car remains buttoned up and some sort of shielding on the windows prevents any visual scan of its occupants.  The bell at the front door rings and you can hear Elaine talking to a man with no trace of accent.  Internal feeds from the security system show Elaine leading the four men towards the living room. 

OOC:  Are you actually in VR playing the game?

[Irn0rchid]

Rose messages Robin, <<That second car worries me. This is a lot of people for a simple look and see job...>>

She connects to the CU^3 drone disguised as a gardening bot and has it train its laser mic on the closed car in an attempt to hear what's going on inside the vehicle. Returning her attention to the inside of the house, her body tenses up involuntarily as the party approaches the room they're 'playing' in. If they noticed, hopefully they'll attribute it to something exciting going on in VR.

OOC: I was envisioning being in the VR game with AR windows up watching the camera feeds and such. Probably dying a lot in game due to lack of proper attention being paid to it. If you're wanting to do rolls and such I presume there would be a multitasking/distraction penalty.

[Mercy Merchant]

The drone outside is unable to pick up anything from the interior of the second car, so either it is shielded or nothing is being said.

Elaine and the four men arrive in the living room.  The leader of the group nods to one, who moves off to stand some feet from the rear of the couch, but clearly watching you and Robin play the game.  Another man goes up the stairs and a third wanders off into the kitchen and dining room.  The leader stays with Elaine.  All four men seem to be professional in their actions, but are apparently at ease with the situation and not expecting any trouble.  Just a routine search of the building before their boss comes into the house.  The search takes several minutes then the group leader nods and turns to Elaine.  "Thank you for your cooperation.  I have relayed that there are no problems in the house and your primary guest will be coming in.  Shall we go meet him?"

Elaine nods and the two move off to the front entry as the men from the kitchen and upstairs gather in the living room with the man still there.  Your outside sensors let you know that the doors to the second car have opened and two men and a woman are exiting the vehicle.  One of the men is quite tall for an oriental, and carries himself with an air of authority.  the other man and the woman fall into place behind and to each side of him as he approaches the door of the house.

[Irn0rchid]

<<I'm guessing that's the Oyabun? He brought more guys than I was expecting. Although I guess with his suspicious about Howard, it might be reasonable... Just worrying. At least they're acting like this is no big deal.>>

[Mercy Merchant]

You watch and listen as your sensor feeds follow the trio to the door and into the house.  The Oyabun can apparently speak English quite well and he talks softly, exchanging pleasantries with Elaine as she leads him to the living room.  The head of the security detail approaches him and says a few words in rapid-fire Japanese, to which the Oyabun looks over to where the two of you are sitting before turning back to Elaine.  [color=brown}"I would like to see the vases, please."

Elaine nods and takes him to the hidden door to the den.  The Oyabun walks with Elaine, followed by the other man and woman, with the head of the security guys following in the rear.

[Irn0rchid]

<<Well, here goes! If this is going to go south, it's going to be when he examines the pottery.>>

Rose double checks that the drone in the truck down the block is ready to go, but hopes it won't be needed. There's too many people here to deal with and Elaine is going to be basically trapped downstairs. Rose dies in the game again as she gets even more distracted.

[Mercy Merchant]

Elaine and the Oyabun exchange pleasantries until they reach the exhibition hall, at which point the man sucks in his breath and goes mostly silent as he walks among the treasures.  He quickly ascertains that Elaine has no more than a passing knowledge of the potters and does not bother her for details.  After about thirty minutes of walking about, he goes to a section of shelves that holds several distinctive pieces and speaks in rapid-fire Japanese to the man and woman with him.  They move forward and begin to closely examine these pieces, finally looking up and shaking their heads.  The Oyabun almost loses his temper but calms down quickly.  Turning to Elaine, he casually asks if she knows anything about these particular pieces, to which she shakes her head and answers that she does not and that Howard had just about left her entirely out of anything to do with the pottery by his own choice.

The Yakuza boss will be silent for a bit then motion that it is time to leave.  Once back outside and in the living room again, he turns to her.  "I understand that it is by your hand that I even know that I have been betrayed.  Your husband will pay dearly for his crimes but I wish to honor your actions in this affair.  I am interested in purchasing the pieces in the collection that are not fakes.  If that interests you, name a price and we can negotiate it.  I have already authorized a transfer of a sum of money to an account you shall name in payment for the ledgers that you have found.  I have been assured that there are no copies and that I will not hear of anything written in them.  If that is correct, I will make an addition sum available to you each year for the next ten years.  Will this meet with your approval?"

[Irn0rchid]

Rose sends a flashing <<$$$>> to Robin and then a more tempered <<Yes, take whatever he's willing to offer. At this point it's all bonus. You would know better what Howard paid for all that stuff, but you've got no use for it, so might as well lowball it. Plus, technically, Howard still owns half of it...>>

[Mercy Merchant]

Elaine seems a bit surprised at the way things are going, but recovers quickly enough to respond.  "That is very generous of you.  I.....I had expected........"

The Oyabun laughs.  "What?  That I would kill you and your friends just for being in the house when I discovered the true level of the betrayal perpetrated against me?  Yes, the thought did cross my mind, but I would rather show appreciation and perhaps engender a bit of loyalty in return.  Besides, I am pretty sure that you had nothing to do with any of this.  Just don't let me find out I am wrong in that.  I am going to leave you with a special com code.  I expect that you will use it if your soon to be very former husband contacts you.  I will have someone contact you about getting a fair cost analysis of the pottery and we can work out an arrangement.  Thank you for seeing me."

He nods at the woman, who hands Elaine a small business card, then moves to the front door, followed by his escort.  Soon, all are back in their cars and are driving away.  Elaine is standing at the open door, just looking out.

[Irn0rchid]

Once it's clear that the visitors have all moved on, Rose disconnects from the game and moves to join Elaine at the doorway. "Well, that couldn't have gone much better; you did great!" She gives Elaine a hug from behind as she stares out the doorway. "More money to help you get out of here *and* it's likely he'll make sure Howard never bothers you again. You're really free now!"