Quote Originally Posted by InTheMachine View Post
Double Date
Emi glances over at a John again. I’ll be sure to let you know if you go too far.

It’s usually Grayson and I, Emi replies. He’s quite good at figuring out how to ask the computer the correct questions to find the answers we want, then we’d usually sift through information together. He’s actually already found something on the name Raphael just gave us. I’m going to connect him briefly to our conversation, if you don’t mind.

Uhh… hi John, Grayson mumbles into John’s head. I found the name Alexander Feris attached to a hedge fund, SilverMillennium Investments. He has a picture up on their website that matches what Emi showed me. Looks like he’s a manger there. That was my only real hit though. I can dig deeper, but I doubt we’ll find much on this guy.
It’s good to speak with you again, Grayson — although I would much rather be hearing you speak about the stars than attending to this. It would not surprise me if you would not find out more by tracking back the history of the hedge fund and its backers rather than trying to track him specifically. That said, I would be cautious about too many associated searches. Given who we are researching, he likely has a good bit of experience in not only covering his tracks but in watching for when his tracks are being followed.

I may know some people who can conduct such an investigation and it will appear as normal due diligence. That will raise fewer red flags.

So long as Feris doesn’t trace such an investigation back to him.

Don’t panic about the fact that Emi has been chatting with Grayson while she has been on a date with you, John thought to himself as he noted his pulse elevate slightly before it began to settle back down. The appearance of a centuries old vampire is a very different situation than having decided the food is good and your feeling the need to touch base with your really good friend who you have gone out on quasi-dates with to tell him all about it.

He has been her friend and research partner for some time and she knows she can trust him and call on him for help at times like this. He’s an asset to your investigation and, in case you have forgotten, you liked him. And she is trusting you enough to know that she has been speaking and working with him.

It’s okay, John. This isn’t the ultimate, worst-case-scenario instance of things going south at the end of a day of situations going south on you. Everything is fine. We’re all fine here.

How are you?

Focus, John.

It is interesting to note that Grayson’s stutter either does not translate to telepathy or he has gotten comfortable enough with you that he is not stuttering — even when speaking with you while you and Emi are on a date. It’s probably best not to make that observation now, as you don’t know if he will hear you make that observation or not.

He was also somewhat concerned that this unofficial investigation was an inter-agency operation. AEGIS might know about Raphael but he could not be sure Myriad did. And if Grayson — or whatever AIs were monitoring Grayson — were able to piece together the fact that Feris was a vampire, it might connect back to Raphael.

It was one thing for him to have sketched out a contingency plan on how to address Raphael should he succumb to blood lust. He was pretty sure none of West Side wanted that as an off-the-shelf plan in Myriad’s database — even if there was likely already one in AEGIS’ databases.

He didn’t want to consider how many individuals, groups, and entities had developed such plans to try and counter or neutralize him. And he really didn’t want to add Iron Station’s vampiric community to that list.