2007-09-13: Bigger Fish

Starring:

Noah_icon.gif Claudine_icon.gif Orion_icon.gif

Summary: Orion and Claudine share how they spent their vacation after Noah gets an interesting report about it. Noah is not amused.

Date It Happened: September 13th, 2007

Bigger Fish


Noah's Office - Primatech Paper - Hartsdale, NY

A couple reports rest upon the very nice wood desk in a very neatly organized office. The reports are thick and have a few marks with red ink here and there, a pen with a red cap showing that the owner of the desk was the source of the added notations. These are mostly covered up by a decent sized piece of tin foil, which is rolled out to reveal what was once a couple of sandwiches, now reduced to a few mere bites. Sandra makes a mean BLT after all. The thermos filled with wholesome chicken soup rests right by it, along with a can of V8. A classic lunch for a classic sort of man.

The man enjoying the lunch, the Man with Horn-Rimmed Glasses, seems to be eating quietly, just waiting for the two people that he summoned via text. It took him a little while to remember how to send text messages, but thankfully, he remembers Lyle's tutorial enough. He refused to put emoticons in the message on principle, but perhaps one day his son would understand why it had to be so.

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The immediate assumption on Orion's behalf is that HRG did not include emoticons because, really, how do you make a Noah emoticon? It would look a lot like the Gendo emoticon: [/]-[/]/

Not that Orion would share such an assumption, even with Claudine. The tall man escorts the Filipina from the training facility in Hartsdale to Mr. Bennet's office calmly, dressed in his typical 'agent' attire. Overcoat, dress pants and shirt, tie, well polished shoes. Granger knocks on the door, once, as is his standard protocol. He casts a glance to Claudine while waiting for a response from within… The Office.

__

If she knew such a thing, Claudine would never let Orion live it down, so it's a good thing he hasn’t told her. Of course it took a while, as she wanted to take a shower and get all fresh and clean for the bossman before the meeting.

She's dressed rather conservatively with a pleated skirt and a white button down blouse as she comes in with her arm hooked around the tall man's. It's her version of 'agent' attire and she waits alongside him, seeming nervous.

"What do you think this is about?" she whispers to Orion.

__

"Come in," is the reply. It's not quite a shout, but projected in a way that it carries through the door decently enough. Unsurprisingly, the door to Noah's office is remarkably good at keeping out sound.

As the two come in, they will find the Company Man wrapping up his food, likely planning to eat the rest later. Even away from her tender eyes, the loving husband would consider throwing away Sandra's food a sin. "Please, both of you take a seat." There are two seats placed in front of his desk. One seems taken from another office, perhaps Noah not used to talking to more than one person at one time in his office.

__

"You shouldn't need to ask that question," replies Orion in as quiet a voice as he can manage. When Noah's voice carries through the door, he opens it with one hand, ushering Claudine in ahead of him. Once she's inside, Orion closes the door behind him, because he knows HRG's protocol for meetings… Or, at least, all of the meetings Orion has ever had with HRG have happened behind closed doors. Granger promptly makes his way toward the available seat.

She had a feeling what it might be about, but she still had to ask, cause well, HRG has always been intimidating, even when he's been quite nice to her. Claudine takes a few steps forward and eases on down in one of the chairs before crossing her legs as she fidgets a little, remaining quiet until he starts speaking.

__

Putting all but his V8 away into a mini-fridge near his desk, Noah glances over toward the two. "Mr. Granger, Ms. Salonga. I am glad that the pair of you could make it. I was wanting you both to review the report you made in person verbally to me." Taking a slow seat, the man withdrawals two waters. "I recommend you each take one. This might take a bit." Regardless if they take the water or not, his eyes rest on Orion. "You're the senior agent… You may begin the report."

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The tall man accepts the water, though he doesn't open it yet. He sets it down on the desk in front of himself and fixes his eyes on Noah. Granger doesn't flinch; he restrains himself like any well-trained, reasonably seasoned Company agent should. He takes a moment, perhaps a moment and a half to compose his thoughts, before he starts speaking.

"We had arrived in the Philippines approximately a week earlier than the start of the events in the report. We spent a week with the Salonga family before moving on to a resort in the San Nicholas area where we encountered unusual weather patterns.

"While at the beach, doing some surf fishing, I took note of a young Filipino child, no older than 10 years of age, who was apparently creating, controlling, and playing with clouds in his hands. When he was accidentally struck, he began crying and the flash downpours started all over again. An older Filipino man, presumably his grandfather as the boy referred to him as 'Lolo', picked the boy up and started singing to him.

"The boy's powers temporarily cut out, as did my own, and I believe Ms. Salonga's powers were also briefly disabled, though not as persistently as my own."

__

There's a sigh of relief as the revelation that a few of her brothers seemed to have manifested some anomalous abilities has not been mentioned, but surely they know already considering the genetic tests that they performed and all. Claudine remains quiet as she takes a deep breath and crosses her legs to get more comfortable in the seat.

"'Lolo' is Tagalog for grandfather, and it's not clear whether the term was actually him being the grandfather or not. But yes, my own connection with the earth was cut off, and well, it was a slightly disconcerting experience.." she explains.

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"Please continue, Mr. Granger. Ms. Salonga, if you could please refrain from interjections until he has finished his report." That is the only reply offered by HRG, still calmly sipping his serving of veggies in liquid form as Orion continues. His face is a calm neutral, though there is an interest in his eyes. With his glasses only serving to further hide his true motions, Noah's poker face is up and in full form.

__

Orion does not sigh. He anticipates Claudine's interjection, pausing about a half-second before she speaks and waits until after HRG's reprimand. Orion's been through a fair number of these, it's fairly simple to notice the patterns of behavior. At Noah's unspoken behest, Granger returns to his tale.

"Subject Designate 'Lolo' promptly waded back to shore with the child. As a result of the situation and my having hooked a rather large and obstinate yellow fin tuna, we were not able to immediately tail them back to shore. When we did return to shore, they were still there. 'Lolo' was relaxing, presumably having had a long day of fishing, while the child was busy playing around.

"We engaged them in idle banter and discovered that there would be a pageant of sorts the following evening within the walls of the resort, put on by many of the local children. I spent much the night attempting to regain access to my ability, which did not return until mid-morning. I am unclear of why 'Lolo's' ability was particularly effective on me."

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Her cheeks flush a bright tinge of red as she simply nods and goes quiet as she wrinkles her nose and lets Orion speak… and she'll be this way until it's her turn to speak.

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The Company Manager just gives nod of the head as a nonverbal cue for Orion to keep on going. It's a lot of information, but Noah has to have a reason for having Orion say all of this, right?

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"Upon regaining access and control of my ability, I went to sleep and slept through the afternoon. Ms. Salonga left for the afternoon and returned to make sure that I made it to the pageant. After several intriguing displays of what, at the time, appeared to be high-quality, low budget special effects in the telling of each myth, one of the children started telling the tale of a god of storms. The child, the same that was with 'Lolo' on the beach, created an indoor atmospheric disturbance that resulted in my being struck by lightning."

Granger pauses a moment, eyes flicking away from Noah and toward the water bottle. The expression on his face is as inscrutable as he can make it and the action itself seems to be unconscious and difficult to read without the facial cues to go with it. Presumably he is either expressing some guilt for being struck by lightning or is briefly reviewing his memories surrounding being struck by lightning.

"I woke up in a hospital in the nearest major city, approximately an hour's ride away from San Nicholas. Once I could both gain a nurse's attention and think relatively clearly, I demanded a discharge from the hospital and rented a vehicle to drive back to San Nicholas. I used my ability to maintain a clean environment over many of the most serious electrical burns on my body."

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Claudine chews on her bottom lip as she recalls his being struck by lightning and closes her eyes, taking a deep breath. Fortunately, no earthquakes, phew.

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There are no notes written, no sounds of affirmation or questions for more information. Noah continues to listen. He breaths slightly, the closest thing to a reaction that Orion and Claudine get to a response. His gaze remains on Orion for a time before shifting to Claudine, as if there was some unwritten guide he was following.

"When I arrived in San Nicholas, I contacted the father of one of the children that had performed and an apparent former friend of Ms. Salonga. He informed me that 'Lolo' was holding Claudine in the former Salonga family barn and that he somehow was aware of my abilities and was looking for me as well. I told the man, who displayed no powers of his own, and his son, who was able to make flowers grow, to stay at their home until I returned."

Granger pauses a moment, regarding Noah's look toward Claudine. The tall man arches an eyebrow, perhaps inquiring if he should be continuing with his tale.

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Claudine raises her brows as she looks towards Noah, unsure whether she should interject at this point. She chews on her bottom lip and fidgets a little in her seat, remaining quiet for now.

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When you have a perfect poker face, even the smallest details can tell a lot. A twitch or two occurs upon Noah's lips. The beginnings of a frown are starting to form. Despite this, the one order is given with a calm tone. "Continue."

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"I approached the Salonga farm and breached the barn, to find a large hole in the floor leading to a subterranean cavern and a small series of tunnels. I climbed into the hole after fully enveloping myself in metal and followed the sound of 'Lolo's' voice until I found a cavern in which he was holding Ms. Salonga captive and unconscious, apparently manipulating her abilities with his own."
Orion pauses for a half-second here, eyes narrowing very slightly as if he were reliving the memory.

"I intervened, eventually nailing him to the floor with a spike extruded from the mass of my metallic exoskeleton. He jibbered for several minutes about how he could not interfere with what he had done to Ms. Salonga and that if she could not survive his enhancements to her powers that she was not worthy of the gifts of the gods. He also made reference to a local god of metallurgy with regards to myself, but I was more concerned with how to awaken Ms. Salonga from her unconscious state without causing her undue psychic harm. Time, however, was not on my side due to a growing, localized earthquake.

"I eventually succeeded in rousing her and we escaped with 'Lolo' in tow once the earthquake had subsided. I made arrangements for a local Company team to assist in cleaning up the aftermath and in securing transport back to Hartsdale with 'Lolo'."

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Claudine remains quiet still, trembling a little as she seems to remember that as well, sighing a little while running her fingers through her hair. She looks over to Orion and forces a smile to her lips as she reaches out and pats his hand gently.

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The V8 is finished as Orion continues his tale. The fear in Claudine's expression is noted, Mr. Bennet also notes the hand pat. The can is soon discarded in a trash can under his desk before Noah shoots Orion with a look and a simple "Hrmhm". Yep, time to keep this going on for awhile.

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"If Ms. Salonga's abilities have been radically enhanced and/or altered, then I believe we will have to extend her training timeframe so that she can be adequately re-trained in the use of her abilities for what had been, heretofore, well-trained techniques and uses of her abilities."

Granger pauses a moment, arching his eyebrow at Claudine briefly before looking back to Noah again.

"As for subject designate: 'Lolo', I believe we should keep him in isolation lockdown. As far away from other Evolved individuals as is possible. Persons seeking to 'visit with him' for whatever reason should visit his cell with no less than two other persons if anyone in the group is Evolved. If there are no Evolved individuals involved in a particular visitation, then I believe two persons should suffice to keep 'Lolo' under control.

"He has already proven himself to be an exceptionally dangerous, intelligent, and patient person. I believe, permitted to be in proximity to other Evolved individuals, he will continue to be a danger to himself and others. At the very least, he may attempt to organize another Evolved up-rising.

"As to the children of San Nicholas, I do not believe they will continue to be a threat, however we may wish to consider bringing in subject designate: 'Boyie', the child that Ms. Salonga and I observed as being in the most contact with 'Lolo'. He may attempt to continue 'Lolo's' plans or he may simply be swayed by his prior experiences and become a threat, intentionally or not, using his weather manipulating ability."

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Claudine opens her bottle of water and takes a swig, still remaining quiet the entire time, as she wasn’t told to speak yet.

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"And that is all you have to report?" Brows are raised as Noah glances toward Claudine and Granger. He settles someone in his chair. It appears that Claudine's chance to speak will come soon, but not quite yet.

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"That is everything that I included in my report and everything that stands out in my mind as being relevant to the matter at hand," replies Orion. He stares evenly at Noah, waiting patiently for some sort of response.

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"That was a very through report. I appreciate that and the work that you both have done. While I am deeply sorely for the hardship you both received, particularly you Ms. Salonga." Noah frowns as he finally allows himself to show emotion. After all, he knows what it's like to be a prisoner having it happen to him more times than he would like. Still, empathy doesn't really buffer the words he says next, which are firm and without remorse. "However, there is a critical mistake that was forgotten on both your parts. You have thirty seconds to tell me what that was. You each have one guess," Noah looks to his watch. "Make it count."

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Orion arches a brow at HRG's assessment. He tilts his head very slightly to one side as he ponders things over carefully in the back of his mind.

"We maintained surveillance of the situation too long."

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There's a hrmm for a few moments and she wrinkles her nose as if lost in thought for a bit. She mulls over the question, tapping her fingers over her chin as she thinks she got it, her eyes widening as she raises a finger. "Sir.." Claudine says meekly, bowing her head, "Is it that we did not ask for assistance from the Haitian to help wipe the memories of the other parties involved, such as Enrique, the father of the boy who had other abilities or perhaps any other bystanders that were nearby?"

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Noah has been silent for awhile. Finally, it is time to speech and while his conversation tone is level and calm, it's clear from the content that he is far from pleased. "During this entire report, I did not hear of the time you checked in with the Company while the mission was underway. No progress updates, notification of changing factors, or the fact that personnel staff was taken prisoner by an Evolved. I understand that during the heat of battle there are times when people are forced to act within perceived best interests for the Company, but there were at least three times when you could have called in. When you should have called in. If this Lolo was suspected as Evolved from the start and acting in a manner that interfered with your powers that suggests a rather high control of his ability or a powerful ability in and of itself. That alone should have been enough to report in your findings to your higher ups. What if he permanently disabled your abilities or was able to copy them? You had NO idea."

He pauses to get himself a bottle of water and drinks from it. If someone tries to speak, he will just give them a simple, "Hold that thought, I'm not done yet."

After refreshing himself with some water, he goes on. "Following that, there was the matter that when your partner is considered MIA. Your partner was MISSING. Instead of notifying the Company that there was kidnapped, you decided to go off on your own. Instead of letting US find her, you trust the locals. I am hoping that you will be able to consider the folly of this… If not, we might have a long night ahead of us."

Finally, Noah gives a glare at Mr. Granger. "Also, if I ever in my entire career here discover that you were stopped from doing your job a SECOND time by you catching a fish, I will make it so that every single person in this Company will beat you with a frozen tuna so you CAN say fish stopped you from performing your job properly. Do I make myself clear?" Noah is NOT in his happy place right now. Despite the rage in his voice, it is level the entire time, the Company Man almost always in control of his own emotions. Claudine currently only gets a look from Noah from time to time, perhaps Noah not having gotten to speak to her or assuming that everything Orion gets accused for goes for his partner as well. After all, he's the older Agent here.

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Orion remains silent, weathering Noah's verbal fusillade with the practiced calm of any other well-trained Agent. When it is finally through, Granger tips his head slightly to Noah.

"Understood, sir, but I should point out that we were, technically, on vacation at the time. We were not scheduled for a check-in for another forty-seven hours at the time of 'Lolo's' capture."

Granger pauses here for just a second. He regards Noah calmly for a moment before he continues.

"I concede, however, that I should have checked in to make, at the very least, a preliminary report on the matter, but I was unsure of the size of the Evolved population that we would need to contain. My initial plan had been to hold off on my report until after I had used the pageant as a convenient intelligence gathering option."

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And then they get chastised. Noah is quite the scary man and she fidgets in her seat, wrinkling her nose the entire time as she looks over towards Orion quite apologetically. Claudine seems to feel it's her fault after all and takes a deep breath sighing for a few moments before idly tucking some loose strands of hair behind her ears. It's kind of a nervous habit.

She was going to say something about the vacation and nods, chewing on her bottom lip nervously. The older man is so scary after all!

"With all due respect sir, if I may speak, I should have been more careful as well. And like Agent Granger said, we were on vacation. There was no planned mission in the Philippines."

With that said, she squirms a little, her cheeks turning a bright tinge of red not quite sure if Noah is aware of their relationship after all.

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Orion's words are given Noah's full attention. He nods from time to time, perhaps seeing some logic to his words. There are concessions and realizations, which seem to calm the underlying rage. The tone is still noticeably harsh though. "You started on a vacation. But when you saw that Evolved? Your vacation should have ended right there. This Company isn't something that you decide when you’re a part of it. It's a choice that you carry with you. Everything you do, wherever you go, you are Company material." To those that know the true Bennet would understand that he is trapped by his own words, the same sort of speeches used against him as well. However, whenever he gets such talk, his disobedience is far more direct and the punishments far more drastic. Last time, his daughter was in danger because of it. "Your responsibility is to report in any unknown Evolved you see or any Evolved that we are currently keeping in observation. This is not a mistake that I expect will EVER happen again." Noah's gaze drifts toward Claudine, taking in her words but saying nothing directly on it. "Am I clear?"

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"Yes, sir."

Orion's response is calm and resolute, clearly avoiding all of the arguments running through his fool head at the moment. Granger promptly falls silent, folding his hands neatly in his lap.

The young Filipina nods as she decides not to argue with the older man and smiles warmly. She idly runs her fingers through her hair and takes a deep breath, sighing softly.

"Yes sir. Crystal."

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"Good. For now, the only punishments will be two weeks without pay. I hope for your sakes this mistake is not repeated again. If your relationship as partners is to blame for this, I suggest you get things set into order before others resolve the situation on their own." Loss of pay for a couple of weeks and an official scary warning. Not the best, but they are coming out of the meeting without a death threat of any sort. "However, I will be likely running an Intervention and Assistance course to remind people in how to handle the situation we have here from time to time. Your attendance for these events will not be optional." If he gets the go ahead, everyone's gunna have to do these classes. Even Mohinder. Well, Noah takes that back. Molly won't, but Noah might try and recruit her for something else (sadly, not anything as cool as hitting people with frozen fish). "Unless there are any problems or questions, you two are free to go."

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"Understood, sir."

Considering how long Orion's worked for the Company, two weeks without pay isn't likely to do him grievous financial harm. Fortunately we haven't reached the point in time when the American economy goes down the drain, so Granger is blissfully unaware of potential future financial shenanigans.

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"Yes, sir."

Claudine winces a little at the thought of two weeks without pay, but that just means she has to be really stingy for a while, which isn’t that bad. She's a cheap date after all. She looks over to Orion and offers an apologetic sigh before turning her attention back towards Noah.

"Sir, would you recommend that I undergo additional training so perhaps something like this wouldn’t happen again?"

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"You both are attending the recommended classes. While I understand most of this conversation was directed toward Mr. Granger, I want to make sure there are no mistakes of this magnitude made for some time, if ever. Moving toward the office door, Noah's hand soon is sliding around the doorknob. "That said, you two are free to go unless there are other matters the pair of you need to discuss with me. Thank you for your patience. The hand twists and the door is opened for both Claudine and Orion to walk out of.

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Granger stands up as Noah moves around the desk. He quietly nods to Noah's on-going chastisement, moving along with a quiet and determined sort of stride. For the most part, his face is emotionless, though it's a tough call if he's just numb or really trying to hide his emotions.

"Nothing springs to mind, sir."

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Claudine eases on up at the same time Orion and Noah do. She nods, trying to make it clear that she understands while following the elder agent, chewing on her bottom lip the entire time. She takes a deep breath and forces a smile onto her lips before bowing her head towards HRG.

"Likewise sir…" and with that said, she'll just follow Orion out.

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Once the two agents leave, Noah closes the door with a small sigh. At least he knows his Sandra's BLT will never let him down. His thoughts going back to his food, Noah gets out his meal and quietly finishes his lunch as if hadn't been interrupted at all.

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