HUMINT (Helena)

[Gabriel Constant]

Still learning what chaos kills
But whoever cares?
Nobody cares like you do
Why we’d abandon time, just shut the door
Why we come to the wall, claim less is more
-Chevelle, “Saferwaters”

Alias: Raven Keyes

16 January 2016
Vital Energy - American HQ
San Antonio

Compared to some of the other contacts she’d had to make, reaching Helena Rahal was the most difficult by many measures. Raven had been able to simply walk into Ark Industries’ headquarters like a normal person due to her connections with their government liaison, Drew Moynahan, who she trusted about as much as anyone else in the government; that is to say, she trusted him to act in his own interests, and in that moment that had included arranging an impromptu meeting between herself and his CEO. Others had been even more simple. She had the quality of being unknown yet feared; she was the person everyone suspected existed but never wanted to meet.

Because her existence, her position, spelled contrary intentions. And her presence always foretold trouble.

Vital Energy relied more heavily on one thing than its competitors, and, indeed, most increasingly technological companies: human contact. And while she could have used her talents to get into the company’s San Antonio offices quite easily, she doubted that approach would have done much to ingratiate herself with Ms. Rahal. And while personal and scientific interest had been enough to gain Mr. Moynahan’s assistance in her operation, she was fairly certain she would have to gain Helena’s trust as well.

Given who and what she was, she would be starting at a negative.

That was all right. She liked a challenge. And she was just as good at gathering human intelligence as she was at any other sort, in terms of learned techniques. She knew of the young woman’s current troubles, of her associations with various people and groups, even her past to an extent. Even most of her work with the Company was included in that.

Raven by nature had a very special security clearance.

She made her way into the building as a visitor would. Fairly tall, somewhat heavyset, hair pulled back in a long ponytail and dressed in a plain but elegant suit, Raven Keyes - for all intents and purposes - was imposing enough to be taken seriously, but walked with a sort of careful grace, the sort that inspired confidence and security. “I have an appointment with Ms. Rahal,” she told the receptionist, who looked surprised but checked the schedule. Raven discreetly touched the computer. Now there was an appointment with a Ms. Keyes for that day and hour. A bit of a cheat, but her task required immediacy. No planning.

“I’ll find my way up,” she told the receptionist, with a kind smile. Without waiting for a reaction, and fully expecting the receptionist to call ahead, she moved on through the building, up to Helena’s office, where she knocked lightly before opening the door. Whether the door had been locked before was largely academic.

“Ms. Rahal.” Keyes slipped in and closed the door quietly behind her. “Good morning. I apologize for the sudden visit, but given the nature of my visit, I did not have the luxury of making a proper appointment. You may not be aware of it yet, but we have much to discuss, and I’m afraid none of it can leave this office.”

She stepped forward and offered her hand. “Raven Keyes. A pleasure.”

[Helena Rahal]

Today
I looked for a sign,
With flames in my hands,
A line in the sand
Between yours and mine.
And it came
Like fire from below,
Your greed led the call,
My flag had to fall,
But little did you know.

Helena was at a crossroads as what to do concerning Vital and its continued growth and development. The new year was supposed to begin with a large presser that would have unveiled what had been in development for nearly four years. That presser would have revealed to the world the Valhalla Project, as it had been codenamed within the organization. However the arrival of Reier into her field and unlocking in mere months what had taken others years to scratch the surface of had derailed all of that.

The rest of the board was content to let Reier have his victory, for it was not the victory itself but its end goal that had been the priority. Still, they had been ever so close, with property secured, facilities built when they could not acquire them directly. Hundreds of additional personnel had been hired to construct and maintain those facilities, not to mention the acquisition of the volunteers who were to make the project a success. While her main volunteer had not wavered in her commitment, nor did Helena ever suspect that she would, the others had needed convincing.

What promises she had made to them, that they were helping save the world from itself by volunteering to be a part of her project. Maybe some of them believed her, maybe they did not, but still she had swayed at least a dozen of the potential subjects to volunteer their time and energy into her project. It did not matter if they had believed her grandiose promise of making the world better, about saving it, it only mattered that she believed it and could deliver something for all the time, capital, and resources poured into the project.

Limitless, cheap, and clean energy, it was going to be the biggest gift she could give to the world, taking away one of the barriers in the way to true world peace. Her facilities were spread across all six populated continents, linked by a nexus and support facilities that would keep the grid alight even if one of the major nodes failed. It had been a nearly three billion dollar project and now she was just supposed to toss it all aside because someone beat her to the punch? She felt gutted and yet even if she pressed ahead with its announcement, if Reier had beat her to the initial punch, he surely would beat her in her attempts to create competition...

Swiveling her chair so that her gaze went from the charts and emails opened on her monitor and to the window as the towering building overlooked downtown San Antonio. She remembered how she would come here in her childhood with her mother and there was always the one hole in the wall place they would eat at as they walked the Riverwalk. Dozens if not hundreds of others were walking down there now, as the warm winter allowed people to be out more than usual during the winter months. How many of them would have benefited from her project, to have the cost of living dip into a manageable range?

Her attention was diverted though when there was a buzz from the receptionist indicating that someone was on their way to her office. She quiped her eyebrow at that as she had not remembered scheduling any appointments, in fact she had made sure to cancel most of them as she was far from being in the mood to conduct business or interviews. The Company also knew better than to arrive at her business without good reason.

The door opened and a larger woman walked through and there was an immediate shift in body language from Helena as she became physically aggravated. The way this woman was dressed and carried herself meant that this was likely one of Lucius' government lackeys. Her interest was not piqued but she did not feel like having a shouting match with any of the triad who ran the country, each had their success tied to one another. To slight one was to slight them all, of which they undoubtedly took advantage of.

Reluctantly Helena stood up and took the woman's hand, smirking as she shook it. It seemed that Kilvayne had deemed the meeting of some importance if he sent a Special to come to this meeting. She hadn't learned how to discern a person's power, perhaps that was entirely out of the scope of her power, yet she could feel the chemicals that flowed through her blood and the extra synapses firing.

"What does the President deem of such matters of importance that he would come to me and desire my silence and assistance? Furthermore, why would he send a Special, a powerful one if I had to hazard a guess, if only to try and strong arm me into doing his bidding rather than an actual proposal of mutual cooperation?"

[Gabriel Constant]

And all the people say-
“You can’t wake up, this is not a dream!
You’re part of a machine, you are not a human being,
With your face all made up, living on a screen,
Low on self esteem, so you run on gasoline.”
-Halsey, “Gasoline”

Alias: Raven Keyes

It was completely fair that Helena should have doubts regarding her presence. It was completely justified that the young woman should be suspicious. From what Raven knew, Helena - from a business standpoint at least - had been taking considerable beatings from many sides, most significantly in Ira Reier’s domination of the energy race.

The details of Vital’s free energy project were not known to her, but she, and the government, knew that Vital had been working on something, due to the purchases, facilities, and personnel the firm had taken on in recent months. It was also clear that they, like the other energy companies and research firms in the country, had not produced a finished schematic in time before Reier announced his own.

That was what she was there to talk to Helena about, in fact.

The woman could not help the small smirk that grew on her lips as Helena linked her visit with President Kilvayne’s motivations. Surely the President himself, being still the head of the Kilvayne Corporation, had some stake in what Reier was doing; but due the the problem of running an entire country he had more concerns on his docket. Some responsibilities had been handed down. Not this one.

The change in Helena’s posture and body language was immediately noticed and noted. She would have to read carefully and talk quickly. Plus there was the fact that Helena had picked up on her ability. That was impressive. Not everyone did. A few of the most attuned Specials could, and Helena was apparently in that number.

“Oh, I can assure you that the President finds you highly important, Ms. Rahal,” Raven said, still in that mildly pleasant but straightforward tone, undeterred. “And, in the interest of some disclosure, I do work for the government. But I am here on my own terms.”

Operation Samhradh was of her design and under her direction. She had access to some resources through the agency she worked for, but mostly because in the intelligence-gathering filed, she was the Dreaded. No one knew her true name; it was scrambled or redacted on every official document. She had no background beyond some years of government and military service, and a private university education. Some called her “Cipher,” some called her “SIGINT,” most avoided calling her; but if you wanted information, she was the person you invariably sought out.

“I am overseeing an operation involving Ira Reier, his company, and his technology. I believe him to be false and his processes to be dangerous. However, I cannot prove it yet.”

She did not sit down, for she had not been invited to do so, but her posture was relaxed and her tone conversational, albeit urgent.

“As such, I am putting together a team. A few agents looking over his true background, some scientists studying what we can make of his processes. We are being fed more information daily, straight from the tap. But we need energy experts, more than the schmucks the government has on its payroll.” She rolled her eyes at her own comment. “That’s why I need experts. I believe you would be well suited to interpret the information we are gathering.”

Here she leaned forward, an eyebrow slightly raised. “And once Reier is removed, we will need someone to fill the gap he has created, in terms of free energy to the public. Above all things, even if you do not help me, this country - its people - need you to continue your research.”