"Miss Swan, Mr. Haddock is ready for you," the assistant noticed how Becca was staring at the coffee machine that was in the lobby. It was a new model that, thanks to the number of settings, levers, and buttons, not to ntion the portafilter-french press combo with so weird hooks on the sides, gave the machine an intimidating look to anyone who wasn't used to it, "Would you like so help?"
Becca smiled and shook her head, "No, thanks. I'll take this as a sign that I shouldn't drink coffee today. My stomach has been a bit annoying lately."
"Very well, please follow ," the assistant walked to the side before entering a long corridor. Unlike most people, Guilhermo Haddock did most of his work from ho. Or a better way to say this was that he worked from one of the buildings in his villa. This was just a small detached part close to the entrance. After leaving, he would just take a quick five-minute ride to his actual house behind the tree line in the back of this building. Still, this was a massive structure. It had two floors, a reception with a double staircase that would lead up, two large eting rooms on the first floor, as well as a dining room, a kitchen, and a small theater for presentations. The top floor had two massive libraries, a waiting room, an office, and a gym with so ditation mats and light training equipnt. Across the entire building, there were a few security guards. Usually, they wouldn't be needed, but ever since the Last Line of Defense beca active, those in the upper echelon of the Guild had increased security around them all the ti.
The assistant walked up the stairs and guided Becca to the middle room. Before opening the doors, she knocked.
"Co in. And Camilla, you don't have to knock when I'm expecting you to co," Mr. Haddock's voice seed sowhat defeated, almost as if this was sothing he had already given up on happening.
"Excuse , Mr. Haddock," Camilla turned to Becca, "You may go in, Ms. Swan."
"Thank you," Becca smiled and walked inside as Camilla closed the door behind her. The office was quite large. A few monitors on the walls surrounded the ivory desk with black walnut edges. Between the door and the table, there were four large leather chairs and one couch, as well as a small coffee table with so macaroons and biscuits.
"Please, Ms. Swan. Sit. I hope you don't mind if we have a more casual conversation. Even if you are no longer working for the Guild, we still consider you family," Haddock gestured to one of the chairs by the coffee table as he walked to the side, picking up a small teapot and two cups.
"I appreciate that," Becca smiled and sat on the opposite chair.
"Green tea? I'll warn you that this is store-bought. I quite like the flavor, and it's much easier to find around these parts than to import the leaves."
Becca shook her head, "I appreciate the offer, but I have to refuse. I ate sothing that is not sitting that well with , so it's better if I refrain from drinking anything."
"I can ask Camilla to bring you so dicine. Or to call a healer over."
"No need. I already took my dicine before getting here, and it's a bit embarrassing to call a healer just because I decided to eat spicy food for lunch," Becca chuckled, and Haddock followed her laugh.
"Very well. Now, you are the one who requested this eting. Would you mind telling what this is all about?"
Becca's expression beca more serious. She hesitated for a mont before letting out a sigh, "Ok, look. It's like you said. I don't work for the Guild anymore, but that doesn't an I don't believe in what it stands for and that I don't want to help. But ever since the Last Line of Defense leaked the footage of the attack in the centaur village, this all beca a shitshow. No one is telling anyone anything. People are scared of other races. Sorry, they want to be called species now, they are starting to push us away, and no one knows what is going on. The bottom line is I want to help. I know you have your PR team, and I'm sure they are doing their best, but they are an inside source. I'm not. My voice will not be taken with a grain of salt, especially since we parted on 'bad terms.'"
Haddock kept listening while preparing his tea. After Becca finished speaking, the counselor was still sipping and looking down at his cup. Without looking up, he spoke, "You stated a few facts but have yet to tell what you actually want."
Becca sighed, "I want sothing."
"Sothing?" Haddock raised one eyebrow as he looked into Becca's eyes.
"Yes. Sothing. Look, people are scared, and not knowing what is going on only makes things worse. We need to do so damage control, but we can't since the Guild is staying quiet. That only fuels conspiracy theories. People are saying that we, I an you, commanded the attack in the centaur city. That the one in Dzviery was a setup, and the centaur there was fake just to use as an excuse. So are saying that the Guild didn't imprison those who attacked but killed them all. Their families are saying that we are keeping them in a lab sowhere to do experints. Others believe that this was a failed attack at a base of the Last Line of Defense. That humans are at war against other species. That we are retaliating against sothing, that there is a war inside the MAZE that is kept away from the public, and we are losing. That's why the restriction to apply to be an explorer was lifted. I an, for fuck's sake, yesterday soone asked if the MAZE was actually real, and it wasn't so alien research lab."
"But giving information won't stop any rumors from being created," Haddock placed his teacup on the table and crossed his hands on his lap.
"It won't, but it will force the rumors to surround the information. Information that we can control. If we say that those who participated in the attack are in a hidden supermax prison, and we can't let them roam around because they are all extrely high-level. Then we can focus on the rumors that surround that. Just for the record, if this is really what is going on, it was just a guess. I don't have any inside sources. If I did, I wouldn't be here. The point is, by giving the people sothing, we can make them focus on that, and then doing the damage control becos much easier. So yeah. I'm asking you to give sothing. Ideally, we will talk in an interview, and we don't even have to have the entire topic being that information. We can have you talk about yourself, showing your daily life. Let people connect with you and see that you are just like them despite your job. Maybe share so interesting anecdotes about sothing that happened in your past and really influenced you. When we are done, and before I post it, I'll send you the full interview, and you can veto any parts of it or tell if you'd rather have a different question in the video," Becca explained.
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Haddock started to laugh loudly. His muscles pushed against his white shirt, and his short brown hair fluttered as he tilted his head back. At that mont, Becca noticed a small cut on his neck, probably sothing that happened as he shaved. Considering that Haddock was only around level 37, it wasn't that unlikely for him to have cut himself, but even so, that would require so strength. This could only an that he was stressed. The small rash just above the collar could also point in that direction. Then again, this could all be Becca overthinking things.
After a few monts, the man finally stopped laughing, "You know. I understand why Roo hired you. If you are offering sothing like that, I must say I'm not in a position to refuse. However, I can't give you sothing now. Since Roo left, we have been working with a board of directors, and I'll have to confirm what we can and want to give you. This shouldn't take long, but it won't be today, unfortunately."
"Wait, really?" Becca's eyes started to sparkle.
"Of course. Why? You didn't expect to accept this deal?"
"Sort of… I honestly thought it would take a while to convince you, and I would have to co here every day for a week until I annoy you enough to accept."
Haddock chuckled, "I think you are underestimating your persuasion skills."
Becca smiled, "Thank you. It's the first ti I'm having to report things without a crew, and getting the interview is a bit harder than I expected."
"That is not a problem. Now I believe I can have the information available to you in… five days. Let's say at 6. The sunset might give us good lighting. Would that be ok?"
Becca nodded, "Sure. That sounds perfect. I can set everything up now and then. Do you have soone to do your makeup?"
Haddock groaned, "Do I have to? I really don't like the feeling."
"I an, I won't force you to, but without it, people might think you are tired or focus more on your appearance than what you are talking about," Becca said.
"Fine. I'll have Camilla do it. She usually does that for any public appearances. Is there anything else you need?"
"No. Actually, yes. Two things. Could you just tell what will be the topic that we will be discussing? When you know of it, of course. I'll make a list of questions so you can prepare the answers beforehand."
"Of course. However, we might need to reschedule depending on when I can et with the rest of the board. Just to give you and enough ti to formulate everything. What's the second thing?"
"Sure. No problem. The second thing is. Can I film so of the rooms in this building? I might need so B roll for the interview, and showing your place of work can do wonders. Especially the pictures you have," Becca gestured to a few of the picture fras on the walls of the office.
"I don't see a problem with that, but you'll have to ask Richard. The chief of security. I don't know if a recording could compromise our defenses here. Camilla can assist you with that. And please don't film any pictures with children. I don't want my nieces and nephews to be harassed because of ."
Becca nodded, "Of course. I'll avoid any family pictures, and if I get one, I'll apply so effects so that only you will show."
"Then I think we are done. Correct?" Haddock picked his teacup again and got a nod as a reply from Becca, "I'll ask Camilla to assist you with the recording. Thank you very much for stopping by, Ms. Swan, and I hope our collaboration can help the Guild.
Becca thanked him one more ti and walked out of the office to see Camilla and Richard. They talked for a while, and the chief security agreed to let her film the area. However, he would be following her along, and if the angle revealed too much, he would veto it.
As they moved around the house, Becca showed what her cara would film on every single shot. However, what he couldn't see was the pair of windows right above her tablet. After all, this was part of the skill she got from the tower. This window had the point of view of the two caras on her earrings. While Richard and Camilla looked at her tablet, Becca created a small cara on the opposite end of the hallway. She raised it to the ceiling before turning the cara invisible. She repeated that process in every single room and corridor in the entire house, including a quick trip to the office when Haddock left to search for a book in one of the libraries. By the end of it, Becca had about 20 minutes of B roll and caras covering every single angle in the entire building, seemingly without anyone noticing. She even double-checked to ensure all the caras were working and everything was perfect.
Before leaving, Becca thanked Camilla and Richard and walked towards the door, feeling relieved for completing this part of the plan.
"Ms. Swan?" Camilla called just as Becca reached for the door handle, making her heart sink, "Could you co here for a mont, please."
"Sure," Becca walked back. Looking around, she counted three guards, plus Richard and Camilla. The path to one of the eting rooms was the farthest away from everyone, and there was a window in there. Maybe she could run for it. Fighting could also be an option. She was a fighter, after all, and she was confident in her speed. Especially after the tower, "Is sothing wrong?" Becca asked when she reached the reception desk.
Camilla smiled and reached for sothing on the table, "Every now, and then people end up overstepping, and they can only hope to be forgiven for that," Becca was about to start attacking when the assistant pulled a picture from a drawer on her desk and a pen, "But could I have your autograph. I'm a big fan!"
Becca couldn't help but laugh, "Girl, you scared . Why were you being so serious? I thought I offended Mr. Haddock sohow," she signed the photo. It was one where Becca was passing by a Halloween parade, and a few people took pictures with her while she covered the story. Beside her, there was soone wearing a pirate costu. Now that she paid attention to it, it was clearly Camilla, "Sorry I didn't recognize you earlier. But in my defense, you had a beard."
Camilla chuckled, "I never expected you to recognize . But I really appreciate the picture. It's one of my favorite mories. I t my husband a few minutes after this."
"I'm glad you enjoyed that parade. Honestly, I was pissed. I wanted to participate, not cover it."
"Did you have a costu?"
"No, the day they announced the parade, my boss at the ti said I was covering the story. I didn't even have a chance to dream," Becca shook her head, "Maybe next ti."
"I'll let you know when the next one is happening. If you don't mind, of course."
"Please do. I would love to be in one," Becca looked at the clock on the desk, "Ok, sorry, but I have to go. I still have a pile of work to finish."
"Oh, right. I'm sorry, you ntioned that before. Sorry for keeping you. Do you need to call a car?"
"Oh no. I drove here. Thanks," Becca waved at Camilla as she left, and she was back in her car in a few minutes. Driving back to the hotel she was staying at, the reporter walked inside her room, leaving the door open for a mont as she placed her bag on the table. She then closed the door and waved her hand, creating a soundproof bubble around her.
"Ok, the suspense is killing . Did it work?" a voice ca out of nowhere in the middle of the room.
Becca nodded as she saw her partner removing the invisibility spell, "Phase one was a success. Now for phase two."
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