Post by Christian Moynahan on Jul 18, 2013 21:58:25 GMT -5
There weren't many places to have a good lunch on or near UCLA's campus, unfortunately. At least, that was what the locals told him. Some of them were surely biased, having lived in the city at least since their college and university days. They knew better than he did, though. He had only been in Los Angeles for a month officially, and more like four months counting the hiring and transition process. He had a tendency to cook for himself or grab lunch quickly; his own meals were purposely healthy, while the fast food he got on the run was not so healthy, It evened out, he figured.
Today he had a particular place to stop for lunch, and more time than usual. As with everything else he did, that was by design. Image was everything in business, and he personally took an interest in watching articles and blogs about Ark, just to keep a finger on the pulse, as it were, of society's attitude toward the corporation. Among others, he had found a blog by someone who went by the name Siren, but who he knew to be, for all intents and purposes, Sereia Auzenne. It was easy enough to track someone's IP or otherwise uncover their identities, even when they took extraordinary measures to stay hidden as Ms. Auzenne had. Even he himself knew better than to think he couldn't be tracked, although in his case, he was part of the organizations that typically did the tracking, so that gave him a bit more security.
He was not looking for Ms. Auzenne, but for another young woman, who had commented on the blog in question. She had expressed concern over how Ark would attempt to recover itself after the April Fourth incident - an event he remembered clearly, but had not been part of on the Ark side at the time. She even planned to analyze footage of the press conference to see whether she could uncover some hidden message or some ulterior motive. He wanted to gauge just how successful she had been at that. While this was far from a game to him, he did consider it a challenge. It was a test to his mind. When he didn't keep his mind occupied in some way, he tended to fall off track in the worst of ways. He doubted Lucius or Gabriel would be happy to see him in that state.
Fortunately, the press only hounded him at particular times, usually when he was leaving Ark for the day, or occasionally when he was arriving at the building. They did not bother him at lunch because he seldom left the building for it. So today he found he was able to walk around freely, which was a nice change. The weather was warm but pleasant, with a slight breeze that riffled through his dark hair. Casually he strolled along the sidewalk, and, upon finding the little place where he knew his quarry happened to be lunching today, he stepped inside and moved toward the counter, striding with the confident gait of a runway model. There he ordered a veggie sub; while he was not strictly vegetarian, he did prefer to limit the meat in his diet, and gluten as well, but in this case an exception was appropriate.
The place was comfortably packed, that is, with enough guests that no one would look twice at him and he could have a quiet conversation, but not so full as to have trouble hearing. He waited for his order to be prepared before taking a seat, and loosened his tie in the process, for a more casual presentation. He had worn a dress shirt as usual, one that could have been called dark purple or maroon, but the tie was definitely purple, and despite the dark color of his pants, they could not be mistaken for anything but jeans. That and a pair of black Keds made his ensemble somewhere between too casual and not formal enough. It would provide an interesting read, he hoped.
Nireva Hale was easy enough to spot among the restaurant's patrons, especially since he had already seen her profile picture on the blog. From there, he had found she used the same username on Ark's own chatrooms, which had further led to different lines of information, which had led to this unexpected and possibly unwanted meeting. Veggie sandwich and cup of water in hand, he took a seat across from Niri. It must have been quite the interruption, to have Christian Moynahan slip into the booth across from her completely unannounced.
"Miss Hale. I hope I'm not interrupting." She would be correct in assuming whether his arrival was an interruption was a problem to him or whether he in fact cared. "I'm new to Los Angeles, but I've heard good things about this place. Not everyone can make a proper veggie sub." He had not yet picked up the sub, much less taken a bite from it, but he did take a sip of water before putting it down and offering a smile. "We haven't been formally introduced, not face to face, at least. I'm Christian Moynahan. I hear you're a student here. UCLA is quite an impressive university."
Today he had a particular place to stop for lunch, and more time than usual. As with everything else he did, that was by design. Image was everything in business, and he personally took an interest in watching articles and blogs about Ark, just to keep a finger on the pulse, as it were, of society's attitude toward the corporation. Among others, he had found a blog by someone who went by the name Siren, but who he knew to be, for all intents and purposes, Sereia Auzenne. It was easy enough to track someone's IP or otherwise uncover their identities, even when they took extraordinary measures to stay hidden as Ms. Auzenne had. Even he himself knew better than to think he couldn't be tracked, although in his case, he was part of the organizations that typically did the tracking, so that gave him a bit more security.
He was not looking for Ms. Auzenne, but for another young woman, who had commented on the blog in question. She had expressed concern over how Ark would attempt to recover itself after the April Fourth incident - an event he remembered clearly, but had not been part of on the Ark side at the time. She even planned to analyze footage of the press conference to see whether she could uncover some hidden message or some ulterior motive. He wanted to gauge just how successful she had been at that. While this was far from a game to him, he did consider it a challenge. It was a test to his mind. When he didn't keep his mind occupied in some way, he tended to fall off track in the worst of ways. He doubted Lucius or Gabriel would be happy to see him in that state.
Fortunately, the press only hounded him at particular times, usually when he was leaving Ark for the day, or occasionally when he was arriving at the building. They did not bother him at lunch because he seldom left the building for it. So today he found he was able to walk around freely, which was a nice change. The weather was warm but pleasant, with a slight breeze that riffled through his dark hair. Casually he strolled along the sidewalk, and, upon finding the little place where he knew his quarry happened to be lunching today, he stepped inside and moved toward the counter, striding with the confident gait of a runway model. There he ordered a veggie sub; while he was not strictly vegetarian, he did prefer to limit the meat in his diet, and gluten as well, but in this case an exception was appropriate.
The place was comfortably packed, that is, with enough guests that no one would look twice at him and he could have a quiet conversation, but not so full as to have trouble hearing. He waited for his order to be prepared before taking a seat, and loosened his tie in the process, for a more casual presentation. He had worn a dress shirt as usual, one that could have been called dark purple or maroon, but the tie was definitely purple, and despite the dark color of his pants, they could not be mistaken for anything but jeans. That and a pair of black Keds made his ensemble somewhere between too casual and not formal enough. It would provide an interesting read, he hoped.
Nireva Hale was easy enough to spot among the restaurant's patrons, especially since he had already seen her profile picture on the blog. From there, he had found she used the same username on Ark's own chatrooms, which had further led to different lines of information, which had led to this unexpected and possibly unwanted meeting. Veggie sandwich and cup of water in hand, he took a seat across from Niri. It must have been quite the interruption, to have Christian Moynahan slip into the booth across from her completely unannounced.
"Miss Hale. I hope I'm not interrupting." She would be correct in assuming whether his arrival was an interruption was a problem to him or whether he in fact cared. "I'm new to Los Angeles, but I've heard good things about this place. Not everyone can make a proper veggie sub." He had not yet picked up the sub, much less taken a bite from it, but he did take a sip of water before putting it down and offering a smile. "We haven't been formally introduced, not face to face, at least. I'm Christian Moynahan. I hear you're a student here. UCLA is quite an impressive university."