tushanshu_logs | Event | Turtle Dive | January 16 - 19 | Everything's better down where it's wetter~

Event | Turtle Dive | January 16 - 19 | Everything's better down where it's wetter~

Characters: Any and all PCs, plus an offering of Lieuen
Date: January 16th - 19th
Location: All Sectors
Situation: Tu Vishan begins to dive to the ocean floor and the city of Keeliai seems unbothered by the process. Bonfire funtimes are made available to all!
Warnings/Rating: Underwater situations; to be updated as noted

>See the comments of this post for various situations and areas available for tagging.
>Each header will be set for a date and/or area.
>A unique thread under the bonfires is available for discussions with Lieuen, should there be interested parties.
>Feel free to start your own header for specific situations.
>Refer to the two OOC posts for further details. 01 | 02

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, the plan is to be as far away from monsters or gangs as possible. Thus the yacht.

[He takes another drink, entertains a moment of brief pensivity.]

At least then we'd have control over our own fate in some small way.

[That 'we' implies that he'd be bringing people with him. Spoiled he may well be, but Bruce's public persona is very much a philanthropist as well.]

Until they catch up with you.

[And it's still you and not us, to her. She huddles slightly against the cold, and thinks longingly of her own cider, cooling beside her...but she's not ready to trust that drink just yet.

We doesn't make her think of philanthropy and rescue so much as this guy having some sort of an entourage, or assuming he wouldn't be alone, and she tilts her head at him, eyes narrowing just slightly.]

We?

[He smiles a little. It's unlike the ones he's used so far - this one actually seems quiet, genuine.]

I'm not in the habit of abandoning people.

[Hmm. CT notices that smile, watching him thoughtfully. Maybe he's worth reevaluating after all.

Maybe.]

Who are you planning to save?

Ideally, anyone who wants the help.

[But 'ideals' are rarely the reality. God knows he's seen it happen enough in the past.]

There's a lot of people here. That's a big yacht.

[It's a test, of course. What will you do, Bruce, if not everyone fits?]

[And he recognizes it for what it is, though he continues his feigned ignorance.]

I'm a rich man. The size wouldn't be a problem.

[Yeah that's avoidance, and she's done it herself enough to recognize it, but she's curious enough about his answer that she decides to pursue that instead. Rich? No one's rich here - they're all foreigners, and while it's certainly easy enough to make money, making a fortune is something else.]

How long have you been here?

I arrived about a month after the first 'foreigners' started showing up.

[Not true, but it was the first time he started announcing himself publicly as Bruce Wayne so he could distance himself from the concept of Batman.]

[Longer than CT's been here, then.]

So you've just been saving up for your yacht since then?

[A chuckle.]

Oh, you could say that, I suppose.

[She smiles back, a little, but she's still not quite sure what to make of him.]

How? I mean, you can't exactly come here and invest in real estate, right?

[And he doesn't exactly seem like the 'work 80 hours a week' type.]

[you would be surprised, CT. very surprised.]

I run a pharmaceutical company here.

Pharmaceuticals?

[wow nope. Nope. CT's eyes narrow, and she frowns at him, sharp and clearly disapproving. Apart from the obvious practical question of where did you get the drugs, there's a bevy of legal and ethical concerns that she feels sure haven't been addressed.]

Let me get this straight. You just showed up here and opened up a pharmaceutical company in order to get rich, in a place with no legal framework in place? No regulations? No oversight?

[He gives her a slightly incredulous look as if he literally can't even fathom why she'd be so accusatory.]

No, actually-- I spoke to the proper authorities, gone through the local regulations and channels, I've done up all the legal paperwork - which you're free to look at if you'd like, as it's all public domain - and I haven't duplicated anything from Earth that would be harmful to the people here. I do have a stock of antibiotics specifically for the foreigner population, though it's highly regulated and requires strict testing and a complete medical history before I'll allow anyone access to it. When I say pharmecuticals, I mean things like acetylsalicylic acid, insulin in the event that we have any diabetics arrive here-- one of the girls here made a request for birth control, which is fairly easy to synthesize with natural ingredients.

[And then he just arches an eyebrow.]

And for the record, I'm privately funded.

[CT's seen some shit, man. And she's not so willing to just take him at his word and let this go.]

I don't care who's funding you. You're still - you should still be subject to regulation.

[God, she's turning into Wash.]

How are you making all this? Are you a chemist?

I am adhering to regulation. I've drawn up copies of the local equivalent of the FDA and I'm following each of them to the letter. When they don't have a regulation for something, I've been working with local law-makers to come up with something suitable, and nothing is being implemented without proper observation of custom and care.

[NO REALLY if there's one thing he's good at it's playing by the rules in his civilian guise.]

Look, I appreciate your concern but what I don't appreciate is being interrogated. I'm a businessman, but my first and foremost concern is for the people who might be affected by that business.

No, you're a businessman and politician and lawyer. Who decides what proper observation is? You? Does the local population even understand what some of these drugs can do?

[She shakes her head, still hostile and clearly full of suspicion. Too bad for him if he doesn't want her to interrogate him - as far as she's concerned, someone has to.]

Regulation - oversight - is in place for a reason. And it's no good if the people helping make the regulations, the experts in the field, are the same people who are profiting from the business.

[She looks him straight in the eye, refusing to back down.]

People, or person.

The Emperor, if you care to be specific.

[But his tone is staying perfectly mild, because this is Batman we're talking about and frankly arguing like this is the least of his concerns.]

I cater specifically to the foreigners, people who have experience and exposure to what my company provides. I'm not flinging drugs into the street for the kedan to pick up at their leisure. Do you honestly think that anyone in their right mind would undergo an endeavour like this without proper safeties and protocols in place? Kedan physiology is far too complex to even begin to know how something as simple as asprin could affect them. My business is entirely transparent. If you'd like a tour of the facilities, copies of the paperwork, conversations with the local authorities as to the steps we're taking, you are more than welcome to them.

You're the one consulting with her. Telling everyone what needs to be done. What regulations are necessary.

[CT, on the other hand, is all over this. If she takes him at his word, he's covering all the bases. Most people wouldn't even bother to talk with the Emperor and make sure all the regulations were in place, not if they could avoid it. She shudders to think of what the Director would do in a place like this, with no oversight or accountability whatsoever.

And that thought, that firsthand knowledge that yes, there certainly are people with zero regard for safety or protocol, people who would take the opportunity for all it's worth without sparing a second thought for who might get hurt along the way - that's what makes her scoff openly at Bruce's question, staring at him in disbelief.]

In their right mind? Maybe not. But that doesn't mean there aren't people who would. People who do stupid, dangerous, illegal things every day, who - who get people hurt and killed because no one's watching them closely enough. Because they can and they don't care who gets hurt.

How do I know you're not one of those people?

I think you're giving me too much credit. The Emperor is by no means a pedestrian individual. She knew exactly the sort of regulations to apply to this sort of business without my having to offer input.

[And Bruce doesn't particularly like that, but at least she seems to have no idea of his alter ego.]

You don't know. Not for certain, and frankly given your attitude I doubt I could convince you one way or another.

[Bruce pauses a moment to take a drink, which he then cups between his hands.]

So. Come and work for me. Watch me yourself.

[What. Did she hear him right.

CT stares at him, unable to quite believe her ears.]

Work for you.

Work for you? Are you serious?

[And just in case her attitude wasn't coming through clearly enough on its own -]

You can't possibly think I'd fall for that.

Fall for... what exactly?

[The furrow between his brows is completely genuine, as far as Bruce Wayne-isms go.]

Work for you.

[no dude don't tell her you don't get this.]

Get put on the Wayne payroll. Sign the NDA, join the club, drink the kool-aid. Make your self-interest my own. Lose all objectivity.

[She snorts, and shakes her head, leaning back defiantly.]

Haven't you ever heard of a conflict of interest? I'm not putting myself in that position again. Don't insult me by asking.

[EYEBROW RAISE... no he's still pretty bewildered.]

I'm not meaning to be insulting. I understand your concerns and I'd like to do whatever's in my power to allay them.

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