The Cochrane Date

[Maxwell Tarn]

Maxwell stepped away and folded his other arm behind his back after Kurumi retrieved her coded data. As the liquid crystals slowly arranged themselves into letters on the display in front of Kurumi, he dutifully averted his eyes from the message and gave a friendly wave to one of the room's many disguised security cameras.

"Whatever the shortage is that prompted Provocateur Yoshida's recommendation, I'm sure you have the... Unique talents to remedy it."

He waited the few moments it would take to fully decrypt the data before speaking again.

"Do you find that this assignment piques your interest? If so we in the Inner Circle would naturally be willing to discuss proper compensation for your efforts, that is, if you have anything particular in mind."