Starring:
Guest Starring: Bob and Leandro
Date It Happened: March 08, 2007
Summary: Bob Bishop and Leandro from the Company come visit Claudine in John Jay Dormitory. she wants answers, like why she cant remember things and why there's an implant. A believer of Occam's razor and not of conspiracy theories, she takes his explanations with a grain of salt and agrees to become an agent of the Company. Dun dun dun!
Becoming an Agent
John Jay Dormitory, Columbia University, NYC
Things have just gotten way too confusing. First there's that Johanssen woman, and then there's Magneto pointing out that she has a tracking device on her neck. Not fun. Claudine's a mess, and as a mess, she has decided not to leave the dorm. She has lots of studying to catch up on afterall, but she cant concentrate.
It's early afternoon and she grumbles while looking over her notes and wrinkles her nose. "Gah..everyone has an agenda.." she mutters under her breath, not quite sure what or who to believe anymore. Fortunately, her roommate is out, so the room is actually clean for once. Huzzah!
It's not often that Bob Bishop leaves the grounds of his organization to take a personal interest in cases. It's even less often that such excursions would bring him to the dormitory of a young woman. He isn't nearly so confident in his own safety that he hasn't brought a friend along: a tall man, dressed quite plainly, with a weathered look to his face. He stands two steps behind Bob, his interest in the surroundings rather than the door before them.
Bob, however, has a pleasant enough look on his face. He certainly isn't threatening. He lifts a hand, knocking on the door to Claudine's room.
"Hold on a second!" Claudine cries out as she yawns and stretches her arms into the air as she quickly fixes her bed. If there's going to be company, she should at least have her bed made. Once that's done, she opens the door, still dressed in a large shirt with Tweety Bird on it and a pair of blue pajama bottoms.
There's two men at her door. One's really tall, and the other's kind of balding. Um..okay? "Um..may I help you?" she asks curiously, not knowing who they are and whatnot..
"Hello, Miss Salonga." It's Bob who does the talking, a smile breaking across his face when Claudine answers the door. "You can call me Bob. I'm a representative of Primatech Paper." It doesn't matter that he doesn't actually have any affiliation whatsoever with Primatech. "This," he says, sweeping a hand towards the taller man, "is an associate of mine, Leandro." The other man simply stands in the back, looking suitably intimidating and bored. He doesn't so much as glance to Claudine. Bob doesn't seem to mind. "May we come in?"
She looks a little dubious, but well, there's been lots of people going to her lately, telling her things and so she might as well listen. "Um..of course..do you want something to drink? I have some coke and sprite.." Claudine offers as she moves from the door and heads over to the mini-fridge to pull out a diet coke for nherself as she looks over to the others, waitnig for their response.
"I understand how strange this must seem," Bob explains as he and Leandro step inside, the latter nudging the door closed with a quiet click. The taller man stands in front of the door, disinterested in the conversation between Bob and Claudine. "I'm fine. Maybe Leandro would like something. Leo? Sprite?"
For the first time, Leandro looks to Bob, meeting his gaze, and simply nods.
"Okay. Sprite for the big guy," Bob says, looking back to Claudine with a smile. "I'd like to speak with you about your experience at our rehabilitation facility here in New York. May I?" He motions to a chair, but doesn't await a response before taking a seat.
Claudine becomes a little wary once she hears him talking about the rehabilitation facility, and then she realizes why they're here. They probably work for the Company, but she still hands Leandro the can of Sprite. She was about to say something so that he could sit, but Bob already did, so it would be moot at this point. "Um..so you work with the Company then.." she says softly, as she flops onto onto her bed, looking at the two once again.
"I..I have a lot of questions about it. Why..why cant I remember everything?" she says, first and foremost, because, it's rather frustrating that all of the past week wa a blur except for hazy images and experiences nhere and there. Her training seems to be the only thing she can remember fully. She'll bring up the tracking device later.
Leandro takes the can of Sprite without a word, but there's a flicker of a smile for Claudine. It looks strange on his rough features. Out of place. Sort of like the can of Sprite he's now opening with a quiet hiss.
Paying no mind to the creepy antics of his companion, Bob leans forward in his seat, both hands planted on his knees. "I thought you might have questions," he says, offering her another quick smile. "You remember why you stayed in our facility, don't you? You stayed with us to learn to control your power. Before our help, Miss Salonga, your abilities were… out of control. You experienced a massive outburst that overwhelmed your senses. When that happens, sometimes the subconscious will repress the memories in order to protect the conscious mind." He smiles apologetically. "Unfortunately, it means that people who experience outbursts like yours often have no memory of the event."
That makes sense..sort of. She decides to keep mum about Max saying they fudged with her mind, as well, this is a more logical explanation, and as a scientist-in-training, she prefers those over conspiracy theories. "Then..okay..I get that..what about this then.." Claudine says while pulling some hair to reveal two little marks on the back of neck. "What is this?" she asks, still not sure what to think about what happened..
Bob doesn't have to crane his neck to know what she's asking about, but he keeps up appearances of inspecting her neck closely. There's a frown that streaks across his face, one of obvious concern. "It's a tracking device," he says candidly, sitting back in his seat. "It allows the Company to find you anywhere in the world. It's a safety measure we take in order to protect our patients from certain people with… more malicious intentions. Some of their practices are questionable. Were you to ever be in trouble, we can use that tracking device to locate you and provide you assistance." He's dancing around the subject, but it's fairly clear that he's speaking of kidnapping.
"I..I dont really like it.." Claudine says matter of factly, as it does have a rather Big Brother feel, but when he mentions kidnapping, she chews on her bottom lip once more. "Speaking of that..there's a woman..Rianna Johanssen of the Johanssen Foundation. I remember Dr. Suresh telling me to contact you all if I know someone..and well..she knows..she knows about you guys. She was reading my mind and..yeah..I didnt like it."
"I assure you, Miss Salonga, we use the device only in emergency situations," Bob says, his tone reassuring and warm. There's a moment where his composure falters when she says the name 'Rianna Johanssen,' and the frown is quick to return to his brow. "Rianna Johanssen is a dangerous woman," he says, again sounding apologetic. "Her foundation is concerned only with destruction and political gain. She has no interest in helping people. She's one of those we protect people like you from, Miss Salonga. Her foundation employs somewhat… questionable measures in order to scare and intimidate people like you. Were she to ever abduct you, the tracking device is the only way we could be certain we could find you again to come to your aid."
She didnt need to be told that part as she nods, "Well yeah..she knew about my powers. I..I had applied for an internship with her foudnation before, but I turned it down once I found out she was in my head.." Claudine says matter of factly as she sighs and takes a quick chug of her diet coke. There are so many agendas, and it's hard, but she wants to believe Bob, cause well, she knows she owes the company a lot.
"Okay..well um..those are my questions..so..what can I do for you gentlemen?" she asks with a warm smile, now that her nerves have been calmed..somewhat. She still isnt going to mention Max yet..
"We'd like to offer you a position with Primatech Paper," Bob explains, settling his hands back onto his knees again as he watches the girl closely for her reaction. "Specifically, we'd like to offer you a position in our PR firm." Because all paper companies need good public relations, right? "Publicly, you would be affiliated with Primatech Paper, but your actual position would be within the Company's rehabilitation centre. Your responsibilities would include making the other patients comfortable, answering questions they might have about their stay and what we do. Quite simply, you would be responsible for putting a more human face on our work and why it's necessary."
Now that was something completely unexpected and she coughs alittle, almost spitting out her drink when she's offered a position. "I..I'm still in.." and she mulls it over a bit. She does remember how she told Orion she wanted to help out the Company for all that they've done for her, and she's true to her word. "I..I'm really flattered, and I'd like to accept..as long as it doesnt interfere with my studies too much.." Claudine says with a warm smile. "I'll do what I can. It seems, from what ms. Johanssen was telling me that you have a lot of enemies. What you do is quite admirable, and so I'd like to help out..maybe make people understand that what you guys do is necessary.."
Shaking his head quickly, Bob explains, "I understand that your studies are important to you. We wouldn't ask you to put your academic future at risk by working with us." He smiles again, kind and compassionate. "If you ever feel like we're asking too much of you, all you need to do is tell me. I'll understand. You would be an asset to the Company, Miss Salonga. The people we want to help, they need someone like you to make them understand why our work is important. They need your help to gain control." As he rises from his seat, he withdraws a card from his pocket, holding it out to her. "I've taken the liberty of arranging a more formal meeting where we can go over specifics and contracts. If you're interested, you can call me any time. My number is there. And please, if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to call."
Claudine takes the card and looks it over a bit, before putting it on her desk in her little planner. "OF course…Bob.." she says, feeling a little wierd to call what could potentially be her new boss by his first name. she's always wanted to help people, and maybe this is her little way of doing it. With that, she smiles warmly and says, "I'll give you a call. Dr. Suresh gave me that cellphone with which to call you if I needed anything, so I'll stop by when I have time. I'm still a little behind in my classes.." letting out a soft chuckle of amusement under her breath.
"It was a pleasure meeting you," Bob says, extending his hand to shake hers, should she be so inclined. "I sincerely hope we can work together in the future." He says nothing on the subject of Dr. Suresh, but he could easily be pressed for time. "I'll see you soon." He offers one last warm smile, then moves towards the door.
Leandro, meanwhile, has finished his Sprite. He sets the can down on the table, then pulls the door open. Etiquette would dictate that he should allow Bob to step out first, but the tall man is the first one out, casting a cautious glance down the hallway each way. He pauses momentarily, listening. Finally, he steps aside and allows Bob through.