Work that Desk, Desk Worker [Ninsianna, Alastair]

It was rather typical that Ninsianna requested the presence of some member or another of the Vandenreich, whether to assign them work or debrief them on a finished mission. This in particular was to be both in a singular meeting. Ninsianna had already sent a summons to the member of the Vandenreich she wished to see today, a letter written upon her typical official stationery.

Coordinator Eisfluch,

Congratulations on your recent promotion, and I hope you have settled well into the role. There are several matters which I wish to discuss with you, and as such, your presence is requested at 2:30pm tomorrow. I await your arrival so as to provide further details.

Best Regards,
Ninsianna Kishar

Unfortunately, Ninsianna had been held up by other matters. While she had certainly not taken so long as to be late, she was still in the midst of straightening her office, rather than already being finished with such a task. Not that there was too terribly much to do, but still.

Alastair had honestly been expecting to meet with the Grandmaster's Coordinator ever since his run-in with the Grandmaster on the streets of the city. He might have even requested such a meeting himself had he been given even a moment's time to sit on his thoughts. But there was no point dwelling on what might have been, so here he was. Waiting outside of Ninsianna's office at the requested time, he had been told that she was running behind on earlier matters and so busied himself with straightening out his dress uniform.

Finally entering the room, he was surprised to catch the woman in the midst of tidying. Wondering if, perhaps, he should have waited a few moments more, he stopped by the doorway.

"Apologies, Coordinator Kishar. I can wait outside if you are not ready for me?"

A hand rose in some form of apologetic gesture, but he did not yet turn to leave. Perhaps there was something he had missed, or he should just push forwards and take a seat. Either way, he waited for a response before acting rashly.

"No, do sit down. My apologies for the mess."

The "mess," so far as anyone might reasonably have been able to see, was in fact still leagues more tidy than most would ever wish to maintain. Every book on the shelves that lined the walls was immaculately in order, not a speck of dust anywhere. The only thing one could even call out of place were a few stray documents regarding recent recruits, and a single letter written on blank stationery and in such childish handwriting that it was clearly not penned by Ninsianna'a hand. Each was swiftly placed into her desk, the official forms filed away and the letter folded and placed carefully to the side, as if she still considered it a pressing matter to be handled at the end of this meeting.

"Your recent promotion, as you know, comes with several responsibilities. First and foremost, I wished to help you understand the access you have to resources as a coordinator. While we are by no means a luxuriously wealthy organization, the Vandenreich will gladly set aside its funds for the sake of its operations. If you find that you or your subordinates are lacking in necessary equipment, you will need to submit the following forms to the Albedochiffren."

As the paperwork simply manifested on Ninsianna's ever-present clipboard, as if it had always been there, she removed it and began to circle the most relevant sections.

"This is where you list your specific needs, and you will initial and date after each item in addition to your signature and date at the end of this. If the Vandenreich is unable to supply you with what you need, you are free to requisition funds in order to make the necessary purchases from outside merchants. There are several companies you are not to do business with except as an absolute last resort, detailed here."

Another form, more circling and underlining from Ninsianna. Anyone might have thought she had given this information countless times before, from the plain manner in which she spoke it. But no. That was simply her nature.

There was an air of professionalism to Ninsianna that Alastair respected greatly, it only took a moment of observing how she operated closely to ascertain that. His gaze did not stray towards her documents, they were her own business and he had no interest in them, and he took his seat without further issue. If his eyes had even caught sight of the strangely handwritten letter, they did not betray it as he simply stared at the Danava and waited for her to begin.

A stream of information was suddenly divulged in his general direction. Fortunately, Alastair had been prepared for such an occurrence and had already begun to make mental notes as quickly as he could manage. It was not enough to keep up, but, hopefully, it would be enough to get by most of the time. He was luckier than most in that he had Sophie's expertise to fall back on, but the last thing he wanted to do was to bother his girlfriend with actual work. She would probably be willing to help, however, it was a matter of principle.

"Thank you, I will be sure to bear these in mind when it comes to handling operations within my squad."

Collating the assorted forms before him on the desk, his eyes were focused on the circles and what each of them represented. To some, it might have been off-putting to have to handle this much paperwork, but Alastair welcomed this aspect of leadership.

"But regarding these companies.. Why do we make a point only to deal with them as a last resort? Surely if we accept that they can be dealt with, it would be more prudent to simply avoid distinguishing them from others?"

"It is unfortunately not quite so simple as that. The chief concern with them is their ties to enemies of the Vandenreich. While your success in the field is of course our top priority, we would prefer that as few of our funds be given to them as can be achieved."

Ninsianna was actually fairly impressed that Alastair seemed to have so effortlessly continued on in this conversation. She tended to assume that those she spoke with would have difficulty following her, and she did not blame them. Those who could keep up were relatively uncommon.

"We cannot simply force such major entities to cease operations, or that would prove greatly destabilizing. At the same time, we can certainly avoid supporting them any more than necessary, and can work to supplant their scope with that of others who lack ties to the remnants of Shadow Fall or even the Monsuta. Ah, but that is the realm of the Todgestalten. I do not mean to inundate you with irrelevancies."

One might have thought Ninsianna quite passionate, if they took her words on their own. And, to be fair, she did care deeply about her work. But her tone of voice, the way that she actually spoke those words, was still plain, detached, as clinical as could be.

"Naturally, though if we have concerns that businesses are still dealing with enclaves of Shadow Fall I would have presumed our hand would be forced into taking action rather than avoiding it."

He continued to straighten out the forms, placing the related requisition form on top and continuing to study it. Trying his best to keep pace with her as they continued to clash on matters of industry. His tone was similar to her own though, cold and factual despite the clear investment that his words alone suggested.

"Or are we in the business of denying funds to companies that once serviced such organisations? I trust that due diligence has been done to determine as such, but if we want to prioritise stability then a pragmatic choice would be to provide business to those that suffered most economically."

There was a naivete to his line of thinking, one that made assumptions with no real basis of an understanding for the Vandenreich's financial policies beyond the surface level. Perhaps he was overvaluing his opinion to even voice it here, but if he did not do so now then when would be the proper time?

"The concern is not simply that they do business with Shadow Fall enclaves or the like. Were that only the problem, we would simply focus on the elimination of said enclaves. But these are companies which are not only funded by Shadow Fall's members, but directly owned by their higher echelons. In all likelihood, they are simply fronts for Shadow Fall's operation."

Ninsianna handed over a secondary list to Alastair, lists of staff in said companies with several names on each of them underlined.

"These are those personnel we believe to be directly tied to Shadow Fall and Moksha Tisrah, and by extension, to be maintaining connections to Demon World that ought be severed as quickly as is possible. There are of course Todgestalten investigating the matter, but should you find yourself in America, do feel free to look into the matter. It would naturally help speed the process of stabilization along."

Summoning another set of paperwork, less robust this time, Ninsianna began filling out several forms, though she did not yet hand them to Alastair.

"However, I do have a more immediate assignment for you, which is the second matter I required you for today. To what degree are you familiar with Vastime? Both as a nation, and with regard to its relationship with the Vandenreich?"

Taking the latest form, his eyes scanned the list of names before placing it atop his own pile and offering a nod for her to continue. If the Todgestalten were already involved then perhaps he could use a bit of friendly leverage to get an edge on the hunt, but that was a discussion that he would need a couple of bottles of whiskey for. A mental note was made to swing by the store on his way back to the apartment tonight, some supplies would be needed.

"I will do what I can to liaise with local operatives and see this matter resolved."

At the mention of a more pressing operation, though, his gaze levelled upon her again. If there was something else that needed his attention with more importance than high-level corporate corruption then it was a matter deserving his whole attention.

"I am familiar with the country of Vastime, the customs to a lesser extent, though I cannot say I have had the pleasure of visiting before. As for relations, I believe matters have been rather tense ever since the resolution of the Fourth World War. Matters have grown rather cold, have they not?"

"That is correct, yes. Due to the unfortunate outcome of Jefferson City, several of our operatives have needed to be transferred to other assignments around the world. As it stands, the small number of Sternritter we have assigned to Vastime are currently without a leader. I do not intend to assign you to such a position, of course, as that is a garrison best left in the hands of a specialist in the Todgestalten."

Ninsianna handed over a stack of papers held together by a single paperclip, each one carrying a brief dossier of a Sternritter operative. The vast majority of each dossier was redacted, but there was still enough information for one to familiarize themselves with.

"I would only ask that you meet with each of these operatives and bring back any reports they may have made. Naturally, given the nature of their assignment, we cannot maintain the typical open channels of communication. It should not be too difficult an assignment, but it is one I believe you would be well-suited to. Simply treat it as a vacation, and you should have little issue."

"Then I suppose I will pack some sunscreen. I assume our agents are spread out across the country, so how long should I expect to be away from base?"

A cursory glance at the top form in the dossier gave him a hint of what to expect, raising an eyebrow as he read some of the information contained within. It was certainly going to be an interesting trip. Vastime seemed like a dangerous place though, and not just because he was a member of the Vandenreich. Their King had gone and no doubt that had impacted upon national stability, he supposed he would now get to see firsthand exactly what that had done to the country as a whole.

Adding the folder to the top of the pile of paperwork collating before him, he straightened them again and looked back to Ninsianna.

"Unless there is anything more for me, Coordinator, I believe I have to book a flight and would not wish to trouble you any longer than necessary."