general pre-game catchall

[refactor]

Who: Handsome Jack + You
Where: Various
When: Also various!
Summary: This is a general catch-all for pre-game activities — If you'd like to do something in particular, feel free to ask!
Restrictions/Warnings: There's a possibility of violence and morally questionable things since they come hand in hand with Jack, but nothing in particular for now.

i. panera breads i've been banned from (semi-OTA) (~3 years ago)

[ You might know Jack, or at least have heard of him. It's not every day a tech-oriented worker actually requests to go work at the Prisoner Intake Facility, so he's not quite as anonymous as he once was. That's especially true considering what had happened a few years prior, and that, if you have any kind of knowledge of the Company and their gossip, whether you're working for them yourself or just a nosy RAC agent is what had given Jack a bit more of a reputation. It's all rumors, and never anything really confirmed, but those rumors were juicy ones. Apparently a few years ago, Jack's boss had tried to get him killed. It had failed, but now? That boss has been missing ever since, and Jack is comfortably sitting in that spot.

So, definitely juicy gossip. Even the Nines would be proud of that kind of political intrigue.

Even so, it wasn't like Jack had escaped completely unscathed. Where most people would simply put their money into a good plastic surgeon, Jack had taken a very different, though unusual route. If you haven't seen him for a while, you're going to run into it today if you're taking a trip to Leith's bazaar. After all, there are a fair amount of people looking at the man wearing an odd, but what certainly seems to be flesh mask over his face. It might not get many glances on Westerley where body modifications are at least frequent enough, but here? It's a little more jarring to the locals.

Maybe Jack catches you staring or maybe he just speaks to you randomly, but either way, you'll be getting a smile that's almost sharp. ]

Man— [ He laughs out that first part, then shakes his head ] I mean, c'mon, I know I'm handsome, but seriously, the stares? Getting to be a liiiittle much. Dontcha think, pumpkin?

ii. get out of my office (for Killjoys) (~1 year ago)

[ If you're a RAC agent, you might have gotten a warrant with an unusual caveat to just how it's turned in. Warrants with caveats come up every once in a while, sure, but it's usually about the job itself. Instead, this one is about just how it's turned in. Instead of the standard processing, it requests that your person be handed off to a particular sector manager at the facility.

At least you don't have to sit in processing long before a man steps through the door with a bright smile. He's a very clearly strange-looking guy from his mismatched eyes to that odd mask that he's wearing, but at least he's friendly...? Maybe. ]

Ahhhh, there you are! Was wondering where you were, buddy. Would have been a shame to miss ya.

[ It might seem like Jack is talking to you at first, but he plops a hand down briefly on your target's shoulder before he takes a seat across the table. His feet are quickly propped up on the table casually, and he pulls the datapad from under his arm as he looks it over. ]

Soooo, Killjoy! What up. Have a good mission? Bust any heads? Nahhh, what am I saying, of course you did! That's what people pay you for.

[ Now he's talking to you apparently, but disarmingly casually as he looks over the records before intake. Is this really the man you were supposed to drop them off with...? ]

iii. wildcard

[ None of the above work? Make a prompt of your own! I'll happily roll with it, and if you have something specific in mind, you can always ask! ]

Comments

[gyouten]

...So you want to use me?

[Akemi almost sneers. If he'd wanted to be used, then he could have taken a corporate job right after graduation. Instead, he'd stayed true to his ideals... not out of integrity, but out of pure egotism.

But Jack just might - might - have an even bigger ego than he does, and even Jack has recognized the fact that overturning an entire star system isn't a one-man job. Even the Resistance, with countless members spread across three worlds, has done little more than cause minor inconvenience for the Nine.

Akemi can use Jack, too. He can use that grandiosity, that ambition, that charm... Jack is a big man, both in personality and stature, and he'll cast a broad shadow that can hide Akemi's plans. There's no reason why the arrangement can't benefit them both.

So instead of sneering, Akemi smirks.]

...Fine, then. If this works out, I'll be your agent within the Company's scientific division. [He shrugs with a laugh.] I'd shake on the deal, but... you know. I'm a little tied up at the moment.

[refactor]

Use is such a strong word. I'd say "mutually benefit."

[ In response to that almost-sneer, Jack's smile is honeyed and easy. After all, he's the one bargaining with more power here and he knows it. He's offering Akemi an out, and it's completely his choice on whether to take it, just like the water. It doesn't particularly hurt Jack if he refuses. It makes things way easier, actually. The dude goes towards the bottom of the mines, and chances are? Next time Jack sees him, it'll be on an autopsy report. He's being generous here, because even if he loathes working with criminals, he's not an idiot that's going to throw away talent.

Just, you know. He might be keeping a very sharp eye on all of Akemi's activities if he accepts. If the guy didn't have a medical background, he'd consider something like a bomb in his face to ensure his loyalty, but, eh... That was a bit much. And experimental, if he's honest.

But, hey, maybe it'll be less experimental with this guy owing him a debt. Jack smiles more, confident and self-assured when Akemi accepts, and he shrugs. ]

Yeah, can't do anything about that one. I'll take the handshake in spirit, buddy.

[ It's no guarantee, after all. It's just a "I'll see what I can do," and Jack never shakes on something that he's not completely sure of. Despite his... Everything, he's a surprisingly genuine businessman. ]

But, hey, glad to hear it! And really, you'll see that being my "agent"—which, for the record, bad term here—comes with a lotta benefits. That's the mutually beneficial part of this deal. You work for me? I look out for you. Easy. I look out for my people way more than the Company as a whole does.

[gyouten]

[He leans back as comfortably as he can, trying to project confidence he doesn't quite feel. He knows he can provide valuable information and intervention if Jack can get him into a Company position and keep the warrant-hunters off his back. Akemi excels at working behind the scenes to ensure that things go his way, and for now at least, his way and Jack's way seem to be pointing in roughly the same direction.

Jack himself is an unknown quantity, though, and that uncertainty takes this from a game to a gamble.]

Well, I wasn't expecting this to turn into a job interview, but here we are. When do I start, Boss?

[refactor]

Not up to me, sadly. If it were? Ppppprobably like, I dunno, tomorrow? But. The whole idea is that this isn't a guarantee, cupcake.

[ Jack's smile reaches to his eyes for a moment, like he's really enjoying this exchange, but it's not very clear why. Despite being so expressive, he can be somewhat hard to read if only because the way Jack thinks is a unconventional. His trains of thought are definitely hard to follow, and that could be why he talks so much.

Or it could be that he just likes the sound of his own voice.

Take your pick. ]

But! You're in luck, since I've got a guy that's lookin' for a guy like you and also owes me a favor, so, y'know, chances are good. Corporate relations, baby. So optimistically... A week? Ish?

[gyouten]

[Akemi sighs. A whole week.]

Fine. Assuming that I don't die of boredom by then. There's only so long that I can bet on cockroach races and try to imagine pictures in the stains on the walls of my cell before I go crazy, you know?

[He snorts, but returns Jack's momentary smile. He actually likes Jack, despite himself. Oh, he has no doubt that the prison administrator would snap his neck without a second thought if felt like it, but at least Akemi knows where he stands with a man like that. Fresh from betrayal at the hands of his own colleages, he appreciates someone who at least has the audacity to stab him in the front.

He'll wait a few years before he tracks down Lily and takes her back. There are undoubtedly plenty of people in the Quad who are far better suited to raising a 7-year-old than he is, after all. And when he finds the person who took his daughter, he'll be sure to thank them profusely for all they've done.

But for now, he has a job to do.]

Well, Jack... I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship~

[refactor]

Yeah, wah, wah, woe is you for getting caught, cry more.

[ There's an alliance here, but Jack isn't exactly dismissing Akemi's crimes either. He's acutely aware of them, and there's certainly a sense that if Akemi steps too far out of the confines that Jack has in mind here, he'd be likely to pay for it, but Jack exudes that kind of impression naturally.

But even so, the comment doesn't have any real bite (comparatively speaking), and his smile is still charming and jovial. ]

But that, you can at least be sure of. Things work out? It'll be good for both of us. [ Jack stands again and heads to the door to tap on it before he steps aside. The guards return, and Jack gives Akemi a playful little salute. ] So. You probably won't see me again for a while, but things pan out, these guys will come get ya. So, good luck, buddy.