[THREAD]

[manofdust]

Who: Adam Keaton and Jack Hauk.
Where: Outer Heaven, Terra
When: 5th of January, at 10 pm.
Summary: Just your average business meeting between a government spy and a retired terrorist leader.
Rating: PG, most likely.
Other:N/A

Comments

[magna_nimity]

There were a lot of things Big Boss couldn't stand. Among them: definitely nosy reporters and their interviews. He had initially not wanted to agree to a meeting, but he had a certain reputation to uphold and free advertising for the club was always a good enough excuse. Although lately, it felt like Outer Heaven was getting more attention than it should, especially from people that really shouldn't be frequenting his club as much as they did.

He could already guess who the reporter guy was when he entered the club; watching the entrance from the lounge area. Strangely enough, he had some sort of familiar air about him, and Big Boss scratched the skin under his eyepatch in thought.

Probably nothing.

He stood up and waved the young man over.

[manofdust]

Ah, there he was. He was easy to spot even without EVA's description, standing out in the crowd with his height and distinct look. And... there was something else, a hint of familiarity, like they had met sometime before.

Well, nothing to worry about. Adam couldn't very well keep track of every single Tom, Dick and Harry that crossed his path. For all he knew they could have passed each other on the street or there could have been a picture of the older man in the paper. He could figure that out later, right now he had more important matters to deal with.

Showtime.

With a slight smile and a confident swagger he approached the man.

"Mr Hauk? Adam Keaton, NG Nightlife. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

[magna_nimity]

He quirked a brow, and moved to shake the hand of the other man firmly.

"So you're the editor-in-chief and the assigned reporter. How convenient."

Or rather, what an amazing coincidence. This alone already made him suspicious of the other man, but maybe he was just too paranoid lately.

"A pleasure," he smiled wryly. Big Boss had decided to not make a secret out of the fact that he hated giving interviews. He gestured 'Adam' to follow him upstairs and to his office, where it hopefully would be much quieter. He knew it probably wasn't the best idea to lead him there, especially considering that there was no security camera whatsoever in his office, but he was sure he could handle the situation. After all, it was just an interview, right.

What made him so damn wary of this man?

[manofdust]

"We're still a very small magazine, sir. At times I have to take on tasks I'm not assigned to."

He brushed it off with a shrug, it wasn't that uncommon for the editorial staff to work as reporters when they were low on manpower. Besides, he felt a lot more comfortable acting as the man in command - everything would go through him, no need to invent a faceless higher up.

Adam followed the older man, taking the opportunity to take a closer look at him as they walked. He was almost certain that he had seem him somewhere before but couldn't for the life of him remember where. Jack had a very distinct look so it couldn't just be a vague resemblence to someone else. Even his voice and speech pattern seemed oddly familiar.

Whatever it was his instincts told him to be careful - whoever 'Jack Hauk' was it was clear he wasn't a man to underestimate.

[magna_nimity]

"I see," Big Boss remarked dryly.

Small magazine and then already trying to catch the big fish? If he was thinking right, Big Boss was pretty sure that this guy had been lucky to even get a response from him -- a magazine he'd never heard of and...

Maybe he should have checked for earlier issues. Oh well, too late for that now.

Once they entered the office, he got the additional chair out of its corner and placed it in front of his desk. Then he went around it and sat down, languidly, and took his time to lit himself a cigar because he could. He was not polite enough to ask if the other man would mind, why should he?

Gotta uphold my reputation, after all.

"So. Ask your questions already."

Smooth.

[manofdust]

He sat down and placed a small tape recorder on the desk with a look that quite clearly said that he didn't really care whether Jack minded or not. It was a matter of superiority and most of all control - he might be in enemy territory, so to speak, but that didn't mean he would let the other man call all the shots. Flicking it on Adam prepared to get to work.

"Meeting with Jack Hauk at Outer Heaven, 5th of January 2008."

And then he stopped himself for just the fraction of a second, distracted by a whiff of cigar smoke. It wasn't strange for a man in Jacks position to smoke cigars, it gave an air of respect and fit in well with his image but... there was something.

Never mind. He composed himself just as quickly, leaning back in the chair with a relaxed expression.

"Let's start from the beginning. What gave you the idea to found Outer Heaven? There's plenty of night clubs around, there must have been something that made you feel that it would stick out from the crowd, so to speak."

*2009, you mean xD

[magna_nimity]

I needed something to finance with and to function as facade for FOXHOUND.

He stared at Adam for a second, contemplating, wary gaze, playing with the cigar in his fingers and slowly letting the smoke leave his lungs.

"It was my dream since I was young," he began, in a ponderous tone, "to create a place where men and women from all social backgrounds could come together and being treated equally. This is what makes Outer Heaven unique: equality and individual freedom. Anybody can come here, doing whatever they want. I'm lenient, and as long as nobody steals pieces of the interior or plays vandal, I will not restrain them."

He took another drag from his cigar.

"In other words; nobody here will be judged."

ffff you should have told me when I could still fix it /headdesk

[manofdust]

"A real utopia."

It was an admirable ideal, he couldn't deny that, especially in Neo Genesis where the gap between the social classes was so clear. Still it was hardly more than an ideal, the importance of hierarchy applied everywhere no matter the good intentions.

"While we're on the subject of interior - you seem to have a very biblical theme. Is there a story behind that?"

psht, it's no big deal xD

[magna_nimity]

"The garden of Eden," Jack said.

"It stands for paradise; utopia, as you said. Adam... and Eve were expelled from that paradise because they were tempted to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The tempter, in this case, was none other than the devil; under the guise of the serpent -- a snake. This is also called the original sin, the one we all inherited and have to atone for by trying to be good and lawful and obedient all our lives. Outer Heaven is my idea of a place were people who have learned to differentiate between good and evil can find shelter, and make their own decisions without being judged. A haven, if you will. A second Eden. This little story, true or not, is essentially my inspiration for Outer Heaven."

He was surprised. He hadn't really been lying up until now; just not been telling everything. The cigar, after exhaling one last time, was ground out in the ashtray on his desk

[manofdust]

"History does have a habit of repeating itself."

Jack was more willing to talk than he had expected from his initial attitude. Not that he complained, it made this a whole lot easier even though they had just begun to scrape the surface. So far he had kept the questions safe, not even bordering on anything that could be considered risky territory. That would have to change though if he wanted to leave with anything worth while.

"An establishment that welcomes just about anyone would see it's fair share of trouble makers. I take it security must be an issue?"

[magna_nimity]

Well this is where the questions became tricky.

"Oh, of course we have security, but it's kept within reasonable limits. There's another outlet for visitors to release their stress however, after hours, so we don't have as many troublemakers here as you would think."

Again, this part was true -- except for the security for the B2 basement and the elevator. But those were the places visitors shouldn't be venturing into, anyway.

A faked apologetic look.

"I can't divulge any details though, I hope you understand."

[manofdust]

"I'm sure you need to take your customers privacy into account."

Ah, now they were getting somewhere. For all it's idealistic appearance Outer Heaven still harbored it's secrets - but what didn't? And if it was something that Jack didn't want in print it was bound to be of questionable nature. Free advertising could still be bad for business after all.

Adam leaned in with a feral smirk, tone of voice indicating that this was more of personal interest rather than professional.

"Not even off the record?"

[magna_nimity]

He returned the smirk gladly and also leaned in, one arm on the desk, as if he would honestly answer. Two could play this game; and by now, Jack knew that this man definitely had some kind of personal interest. It wouldn't surprise him if the earlier questions had just been a warm-up.

"Not to a man that comes into my office carrying a Makarov PM," he spoke slowly, with a low voice, pointedly looking at Adam's waist.

[manofdust]

So he had spotted that, huh? Not that it made much of a difference. To be honest Adam was a bit surprised that it hadn't come sooner - after all carrying a fire arm to a business meeting wasn't exactly common practise.

"Not your preferred model?"

[magna_nimity]

"Doesn't matter what I prefer," he replied, and he thought there was a hint of nostalgia in his words. Where it came from, however, he didn't know. "But how good you can handle the model. That aside, I'm sure you understand that I won't talk about my security measures or my customer's privacy to a man that comes armed to a business meeting with poor old me."

So, in case this guy was up to something, he would never know the best way to get out of the affair unseen. Jack doubted that he had spotted all the security cameras and password protected locks.

"Unless you're not here for a business meeting?"

[manofdust]

"Old habits die hard, you never know what you can run into on these streets. As for how well I can handle it..."

He had to restrain himself in order not to whip the gun out and show the old man just how well he could handle the weapon. A bad idea, so he settled for a grin and an ambiguous gesture.

"What else could it be?"