Slow Motion From the Shadows ((Emma Frost first & then others))

[vesper_verde]

Marcelo Jaoquim Alencar da Silva double-checked that everything had been in order before he left the penthouse. This business meeting was vastly important. It had many aspects he had to juggle in both parts. He had gone through the right channels to get this meeting at Frost International.

Sage and Stephanie had given him pointers on things outside of the realm business. The business end he could handle; everything else that mattered he would take pointers on. He had a ring on his right hand to block cursory telepathic scans. He was assured if Emma Frost really wanted in his mind, she would get there. So, he had to be careful not to think of things, even in passing, about his secret identity. The ring would help remind him.

He walked confidently into Frost International in his tailored dark gray suit. The appointment had been set. He had made sure it was before school started at Stephanie's alma mater and it was with Emma Frost herself. Patrolling had been light the night before so Marcelo moved smoothly into the building.

He caught his reflection in a surface. There was a brief satisfied smile at what he saw. His double-breasted wool suit fit perfectly. His white, cotton shirt helped his emerald green silk knit tie stand out as an accent. He reached up and adjusted his cotton pocket square slightly with the hand not holding his leather briefcase. His silver cuff links caught a sparkle of light from the motion. His newer leather ankle boots, thankfully, did not squeak as he strode across the small expanse of floor to the reception desk.

"Bom dia," he greeted the receptionist with a smile. "Marcelo Alencar da Silva to see Ms. Frost."

Comments

[ngm_parents]

Emma's face, as usual, gave nothing away. She simply sat there and listened to him speak. She didn't press to read his mind, though she could have. He had been straight with her previously and she was of the habit of giving people a slight bit of benefit of doubt.

Or rope with which to hang themselves, depending upon the circumstances.

She shifted slightly in her chair when he mentioned having allowed his Shaw contracts to run out. That interested her.

"Tell me why I want greater access to Brazil."

[vesper_verde]

If there was one thing Marcelo tried to be on top of a businessman, it was to be an unofficial ambassador for his country. He did not seem at all put out having to explain the benefits.

"It is a developing nation, and that will give more opportunity for growth. With Lula's handpicked successor for President will keep things on track. We are the fifth largest economy in the world, second in the Western Hemisphere. So, we're one of the world's most rapidly expanding economies with a broad and broadening middle class and vast resources, many of them largely untapped. With the economy being inward-oriented, Veridian can offer your company an in."

[ngm_parents]

"I presume you've come prepared with reports and the appropriate analysis. I'll want my own people to look things over. I may even need to make a trip to Brazil."

[vesper_verde]

"Sim, I have." He leaned over slightly to grab the inch-thick file folder he had prepared. It contained all the reports he thought she would need for an informed decision about his company and his country.

"But of course. If you visit personally, let me know. My father likes to welcome any potential business partners to the country."

[ngm_parents]

"I appreciate that," she said, taking the file from Marcelo's hand. Pale, perfectly manicured fingernails glittered with a sort of inner sparkle as she accepted the file from Marcelo's hand. She placed it to her left, to give it an in depth study once he was gone. If he was serious about this proposal, it was going to require more than just a perfunctory glance. Emma had built Frost International from the ground up, on her own, and she hadn't done it by being foolhardy. She was an intelligent businesswoman in her own right, telepathy or no.

She then looked up at Marcelo, ready to give him her full, undivided attention. "Now," she said. "Might I offer you some refreshments before we get down to the topic of the erstwhile Ms. Shaw? Coffee? Scotch?"

[vesper_verde]

He was serious about cultivating more business relations in America. If his branch of Veridian Dynamics was going to flourish, he needed something more if their industrial diamond creation business was to flourish as predicted.

"She prefers Mrs. Shaw da Silva currently," he said with a small, affectionate grin before he could catch himself. He licked his lips and nodded. He needed to keep his mind on track even with the weak telepathic shield he wore. "A scotch, please."

[ngm_parents]

"If I were her, I'd rather run away from the Shaw name entirely," Emma said. She pressed a button on her speaker and bade her assistant to come into the office. "Be a lamb and fix us a couple of drinks, darling," she said, once the pencil-thin blonde woman walked into the office.

Once the drinks were made and set in front of them and the assistant had scurried back to her desk outside of Emma's expansive office, the blonde telepath turned an expectant eye towards Marcelo. "Well?"

[vesper_verde]

Marcelo agreed a little with Ms. Frost on the Shaw name, but it wasn't something to bring up. Stephanie wanted to use the Shaw legacy in her own way, and he could do no less than support her in it.

"Obrigado," he said as the drink was set down. He picked it up and took a sip. A small delay to steel up his courage. He noted it was good scotch but his mouth was busy with other topics.

"Yes, the more personal business I came to talk about. I am aware of your abilities since you were on hand to help Stephanie when her father had her mind..." He pointed two fingers to his temple and then waved them away. He wasn't sure the correct term, and he was sure the terms 'fucked with' would not portray himself in the right light. "I've been informed you have no great affection for Sebastian Shaw. I'm forming a group of individuals with much the same feeling. I've come to ask for your help in bringing him down from the throne of wealth and power he's put himself into."

[ngm_parents]

"Shaw is a deliciously evil opponent," Emma stated. Her own scotch sat in front of her - neat, in a glass reminiscent of a tulip - but she didn't touch it. Not yet, anyway.

Instead, she listened intently to what Marcelo had to say.

"I see," she said, finally. "Might I inquire as to the rest of the people you hope to assemble into your group?" If there was any interest on Emma's side, she hid it well. Since she knew that he knew what she was, they were both aware that she could have easily gone into his mind and plucked out whatever information she wanted. The ring would make it more difficult than it would have otherwise, sure, but Emma was an accomplished telepath. It would be akin to an escape artist getting out of a pair of special containment handcuffs. A setback, but something she could work around.

But one didn't do that to potential business partners. Not if one wanted to treat another with with respect.

"And is your wife aware of this, or are you planning on being a secretive knight in shining armor?"

[vesper_verde]

"Currently, it has Sage, whom I'm told you're familiar with, my wife, and myself. A small but select group. We'll maybe add one more beyond you, but I'm still assessing who can do what and get what from the rather serious chess game I'm in. I'm not looking for a direct confrontation with him. Though as things move along, there will likely be one. I know I personally can't handle Shaw on my own." He took another sip of his scotch. This was where he was gambling. Despite assurances by Sage and Stephanie, he wasn't sure the woman across from him would go for this idea.

"I don't want him dead. I want him toppled from the very high spire he's perched himself on. I want him alone, impoverished, and powerless. I need someone of your skills, class, and background to help me with that. Stephanie is aware because once Shaw Industries is wrested from his hands, it needs to go to better ones. To her hands."

[ngm_parents]

"You do realize the gargantuan thing you're taking on here?" Emma asked. "Sebastian Shaw is a powerful man, throne or not. Deposing him could possibly just make him a more vicious, animalistic enemy." She opened the top drawer of her desk, pulled out a small tube of expensive hand cream, and squirted a small glob onto the palm of her already soft hands. A gentle floral scent wafted into the air. Gently, Emma massaged the lotion in.

"Then again, death doesn't seem to take with him either, does it?" she asked as she placed the tube back into its home. "You'll have no choice but to destroy him utterly and entirely. Social standing, monetarily, all of that. You're already aware, I know, but it doesn't hurt to reiterate these things." Emma studied Marcelo carefully. Did he have what it took to bring Shaw down? Had stronger men already not tried to do the same?

Then again, there were different kinds of strength, and Marcelo didn't seem to be going into this chin first.

Certainly that was promising.

"Goodness, why not just pump him full of drugs and a mild strain of the Legacy Virus and shuffle him off to Madripoor?"

[vesper_verde]

"It is a massive undertaking, and one that must be done carefully. But it must be done. I doubt he will get more vicious than he currently is, but if he's animalistic, then it will just show how much we've won." He settled back into his chair more. Marcelo idly watched her and her expensive hand cream. He took another sip of the scotch. It wouldn't do to have such a good drink not serve its purpose.

He nodded with her assessment. His voice held every bit of determination he had. Taking down Shaw, while very hard, was nothing compared to his goal of destroying Brazilian gangs. He needed Shaw down to nothing so he and Stephanie can have peace. Even if it was just that front. "Monetarily, social standing, political connections, associates, and so on. He needs to lose it all. And at the end, he needs to know an idealistic Brazilian had a hand in it. He needs to lose everything and why he lost everything. Drugs and the Legacy Virus can be circumvented. He can come back from a tiny South East Asian country. It's all too good for a man who had his own daughter violated. I want him dismantled."

[ngm_parents]

"Oh no, I meant sending him there after you've well and thoroughly wrecked his life. Not before. It would be the drug-filled icing piping through the cake that is his destroyed life."

Emma studied Marcelo thoughtfully.

Finally, after what may have been too long a pause, she asked, "What do you require of me to aid you in this?"

[vesper_verde]

"Drug-induced haze could mean he forgets how he ended up there. I need him clear on exactly how he got where he will be." It was about power and the proper application of it to Marcelo's mind. Any power Marcelo would have over Stephanie's father would be gone if Shaw didn't know what happened.

As she studied him, he drank his scotch. It did feel a little awkward how long she was quiet, but as silence was sometimes Marcelo's domain, he did not seem all that ruffled about it.

"Your input, for one. The more people I have who have worked and dealt with Shaw and his associates, the better my ambitious plans work. Your telepathic skills when it becomes time. I have it on knowledgeable authority that you are one of the best. While I will be avoiding drawing anything sinister into my confrontations, there are others on Shaw's side I have to worry about." He didn't sound like he was trying to appease her at all. Just reporting what he had been told by two people he highly trusted.