All You Have Lived For [Eliane, Alastair]

"If it were that easy, I wouldn't have had to go through so much trouble to fake my own death. Breaking the signal will tell her something's wrong, and she'll be alerted to that. If that signal ever comes back on, it'll detonate just like that." Snapping her fingers to emphasize her point, Eliane then continued, "If you don't want to risk him, then have him come up with a solution based on the current intel. Take the leftover parts from my collars, and give him a video feed of the current one. Have me handle it alone. If it detonates, Antonetta and I will be the only ones it takes out."

There was faint impatience in her voice now, though Eliane was still more than skilled enough of a negotiator not to actually get mad at him. No, if anything, she was actively letting that impatience show through. She didn't care to show what was behind the veils of bemused cruelty that she kept up, and the thought that someone else might actually know how she genuinely felt about this was irritating. But it was still a small price to pay.

"The other me is the most dangerous factor here, maybe even more than Claudia. A version of me without a soul, without my memories and my attachments, and more than willing to eat out of Claudia's hand even into death. If you let her go, she'll just go back."

Drumming her fingers across the table exactly once, Eliane then rested her head on her hand, elbow on the table as she simply sighed, in the way one might sigh about having forgotten to buy something at the store. It wasn't defeated, or even particularly sad, but a resigned "it is what it is" sort of sigh.

"I guess it won't matter either way. The only one of us I think she'd ever trust to make more of is me. I've always been her favorite."

"That much could certainly be managed, should all the pieces fall into place, but you will be putting both of you at a greater risk than having a professional undertake the operation. I will speak to Mr Kleinmund and affirm his decision on the matter, but I would always choose the option with the highest chance of success."

This one comment was not born of particular compassion for Eliane but rather Alastair's near bottomless drive to preserve lives. These sisters might not be humans in the truest sense of the word, but they were all people in his eyes. None of them was inherently more expendable than him or anyone else. He could hardly get a read on Eliane before, and this sudden change of circumstance had hardly alleviated that weakness, but perhaps she would find that care amusing. Ultimately, it mattered little.

"Forgive me, I was not fully appraised on your creation, but this alternate version of yourself is lacking a soul? Yet she is still operational? Duly noted. Of course, we must take precautions to insure that the influence of the Duvalier Group is suitably curtailed before any of this freedom can be exercised. The same can be said of any of the Ovide siblings. You are all highly dangerous and, for lack of a better word, volatile. Our goals align, and I would rather work with you, but I cannot simply let the Duvalier Group be supplanted by another group of similarly amoral origins."

His phone buzzed. A message indicating that the documents were coming back good so far. That much was enough to draw out a sigh of his own from Alastair. It was never going to be an easy sell, and he was hardly a shrewd diplomat.

"So, will you submit to processing? The sooner we can get this done, the sooner we can start working on those collars."

He was so good natured, and Eliane had been planning all of this with that exact fact in mind. Was it taking advantage of him? One could probably word it that way, but she didn't think so. She wasn't lying to him, and the situation had been made pretty clear for him to make his decision.

"Our soul is how we keep our memories from body to body every time we die. If one of my bodies is active with me still here, there isn't anything in it other than whatever Claudia wants to be there."

The notion of losing access to the Duvalier Group's assets didn't bother Eliane terribly much. After all, she'd already lost that access as soon as she faked her own death. Anything she had was under completely different names, and certainly wasn't in danger of being caught up in a dissolution of the Duvalier Group.

"Of course. Do whatever you'd like to the Duvalier Group. I'm not really concerned with the business or whatever she has left after that disaster in Vastime. Give it to Arlette if you'd like. Now let's get to this processing of yours."

It seemed like there was always more to learn when it concerned the depths of Claudia's machinations. No doubt there would be more revelations before all of this was through. Tailoring these modified souls to bodies of her own making, made to be the perfect servants. In a way, it was a testament to how incredible this process was that they had begun to think and act entirely independently. But that was where Alastair's compliments would end. Whatever this had been, the sooner it stopped the better.

"Very well. We will take care of this business with Antonetta, and then the pair of you will be placed under close observation by the Vandenreich. Your assets, whatever associates you might now have, and any specialist equipment will all be subject to review. We cannot be too cautious in this age of terror attacks, so every precaution will be taken to ensure that you are not a danger to society and to keep you safe."

Was this even a negotiation at all? He supposed not. But he needed all these pieces to be in order or the board might flip again and send him back to square one. The Ovide siblings were, unfortunately for them, quite unstable even bereft of Lady Duvalier. The exact nature of this close observation was still up for debate. They could operate as Arlette did, for example, or find themselves somewhere much more restrictive. Alastair was kind, yes, but he was not foolish.

"You won't find I have much in the way of assets other than a small home in South America, and a compound in the wastelands in southern Azerbaijan. The latter is buried under a bit of a paper trail, given it was where I hid this new body of mine, but a little digging will tell you that much. Even Claudia hasn't found it yet."

Anything else she owned was, after all, not under her own name, nor could it be linked to her in any capacity. She was many things, but a fool was not one of them. Whether it was from Claudia or the Vandenreich, hiding the extent of her remaining resources was all the same in the end. It required a little bit of distance.

"As for associates, I would look into the Baku Civil Protection League. They've done quite well at handling the few remaining pieces of Duvalier stock I've 'lost' for my own means. Do feel free to take that for the Vandenreich's purposes. Call it a gift if you'd like, or a seizure of illicit material if that makes it more official."

She understood these things well, and even if her wording made it seem as though she was toying with him, her tone made it all too clear that she was still being serious. That was simply who Eliane was, after all. She'd never quite been made to be straightforward and helpful.

"But, I'm probably wasting your time with all this, aren't I? I'll need to tell it all to someone else anyway. Thank you for your help. If I didn't know you'd decline, I'd say you can have your way with me. But I'll be sure to give you my best in some more professional manner instead."

Being too direct, too perfectly formal and businesslike, simply wasn't in Eliane's nature. Trying to completely avoid who she was would only make the whole conversation seem fake.

Alastair hardly presumed that Eliane would give everything up at the drop of a hat. If she had been able to keep her assets hidden from Claudia for however long then it was certainly plausible that they would stay hidden from him too. Still, that did not prove malicious intent by itself so he was bound to the constraints of his morality.

"Indeed. This will all have to be thoroughly documented at a formal inquiry. I should thank you too, for your cooperation. I am glad that it was not as messy as I had feared. Continuing to act in such a manner is the best that you can do for us both."

Her comment about having his way with her was to be expected, given his knowledge of Eliane, but it still left the thought there in the back of his mind. It was a hard thing to shake after all. Pushing past that, though, this had been a surprisingly successful interaction. His concerns about not coming out of here alive had certainly abated. So he offered a satisfied sigh and turned to make his own exit.

"Unless there is anything else, Ms Eliane, Ms Antonetta? You have given me a lot of paperwork to fill out, but I will be in touch shortly concerning the device. Until then, I would get comfy."