Thread: Root of (Evil)² {HeavenSundered & darjeeling}

The reports for last month, ma'am. The suits on fifth floor ran into a bit of financial trouble at the mid point but the department is getting-- Fifth floor is...? Is...? Oh! The young intern swallowed nervously and shuffled her fingers through the paper, flipping for facts that weren't there as she dug and scrambled through the recesses of her mind. Having found it, her eyes lit up in the most obvious of manners. Marketing! Marketing ran into... yes, but they've found their feet and should be back to normal... ah, soon. She pursed her lips. I'm sorry, they didn't give me a final number-- Hmm, interesting. Her expression spoke otherwise, the tapping motion of her manicured nails evidence of her true thoughts on the matter as she glanced over the paperwork settled neatly before her. They were words she'd already seen long before, it was just to keep the interns busy and satisfied. Thank you, darling. She straightened up in her chair and nodded towards the exit, dismissing the girl with no more than a lazy wave of her hand. That will be all for tonight. Valerie Vincet chuckled as the little one stumbled out the door with a stammering thank you on the way out. Adorable, but not to her taste. Those lucky enough to be offered an internship at their appropriately named Sanctum were almost too eager to keep their positions for as long as they could. Difficult as it was to find proper employment in this day and age, any opportunity given was one to be treasured. Students with prestigious degrees usually found themselves working at corner shops or dry cleaning suits the more unfortunate ones would land themselves in seedy clubs or businesses set up in the numerous red light districts littering this area or that. Had she not been born in a comfy cot and raised with expectations befitting that of a modern-day royal, Valerie might have found herself in such a position and what a tragic loss that would have been. Their desolate fates were tied to incredibly underwhelming spectrum of blacks and whites and everything in between. Light grey was only a poor contrast to dark grey the skies were dreary and drab, muted clouds lazing across the sky and pregnant with rain of which it deigned to drop every so often down on their pathetic city. Aforementioned city was a cesspool of grime and crime, both of which Valerie could see with utmost clarity through her shiny new windows. Her office space spanned almost an entire floor on its own, stacked to the tenth floor where she had the perfect view of the insects crawling just down below. Gritty looking neighboring buildings painted in colors most dull, to match the cracked streets and pavements where an almost visible layer of pollution lay blanketed just above the tallest man's hatted head. The world might've been a scene in grey scale and coffee-stained sepia if not for the tiniest of streetlights winking like dilated pupils on every corner. A dozen alleyways cut and interrupted each block and people hurried along without pause, not even to survey the goods out for display through dirty shop windows. Valerie exhaled softly, the smallest of sighs spilling like silk as she took another sip of her wine, the liquid dark red and sidling like tiny waves against the sides as she set the glass down, her lipstick leaving a light bruise along the curve of a fragile rim. It was not yet evening and already she could see the sun dipping down below the metropolitan horizon. Days were short and nights were long here, and still the money kept time turning. The ambitious entrepreneur held a position of which many would be envious of, and indeed, there were those who sought to usurp her throne. Heading the largest business simply known only for their motto 'The Price Is Always Right!' and cheesy as it is, it was always true. For a paying customer, they could borrow right out of their nose... so long as they paid it back when it was due. If it was her choice, she would have changed the slogan, but there were some things even the head honcho couldn't touch, even if on paper, she had them all by the balls - pardon such crassness - but what use was that? Twenty-six years of age, the heiress had inherited the business from her father who had inherited it from his mother before him. Their business was a long-standing and well-established for being both merciful and tyrannical. They prided themselves in their sharply dressed employees with pantsuits and skirts, taking on only the most ruthless of them. Secretarial work was handled only by the most cunning, finance given to those who could balance a six-digit number into a four-digit loan. Both brain and brawn were employed here at Sanctum, where on the outside the building was one of the most pristine and clean and where the interior felt like a death sentence. It was an odd dichotomy and one befitting for this scummy reality. The people were ruled by those with power and the city was ruled by the looming skyscrapers and the suits squandering and laundering within. Sanctum didn't have their hands completely clean either. Their exorbitant loaning was only held up by the incredibly high interest rates, written and hidden within the fine print. The law might have stated such actions to be illegal but in this plane of existence, nothing really was. Crime bosses sat and ate breakfast in the same buildings as a minister might, and both might exchange looks but in the end, the law was merely there as a formality. Valerie found the whole political scene to be a bit of a pain to deal with, and so left the messy business to her lawyers and more importantly, the police force of which many she kept under her thumb from their own petty borrowing some lifetimes ago. Admittedly, that was a manipulation she was not intending to take advantage of, but amongst the millions of rules for success, opportunity was one of them. But the law-abiding ones were not the only ones known to borrow and borrow regularly. They had contracts from all walks of life the peons rolling in the dirt, club owners who needed new poles for their dancers, if there was one thing Sanctum did right, it was that they did not discriminate. If they had a life, they were given their right to borrow as much as they desired. Of course, it came with a hefty price and ones people were sometimes unable to follow through with. When that happened, it was always such a shame but Valerie could only feel mildly sympathetic for them. Was it her fault, really, when they didn't peruse the little words before signing away? More importantly, the business found itself dealing with the black market at certain times, funding drug smugglers and weapons and much more. She wasn't privy to what they used with their money, so she could at least say her conscience was clean. That was all under the bridge. Her only job was to raise the alarm if things went awry and her dogs would do the rest, with their beige hats tipped, long coats and fat cigars. It was almost comical how obvious their played role was in this rickety machine posing as society. Valerie smirked to herself and took another slow sip of her wine, her pen tapping away at the scribbled lines. There were deadlines to meet already, even in the new month, and files to be reported for report's sake and filed away. There was also the matter of chasing people down who had yet to meet their quota... she sighed again and reached for the phone, intending to make a few necessary calls and suspecting she might remain here well into the night. It was not so simple as a flick of a wrist, after all. One might also have to wiggle a few fingers and say the magic words. Hello. Yes, it's me. Valerie pursed her lips, brushing back a lock of blonde hair as the voice warbled on at the other end. I know he filed for an extension, but he's filed for five already. She chuckled sweetly. Honey, we're not a charity. We only have so much paper for one person. Be a doll and collect the payment, won't you? She closed her eyes. By tonight. Before any argument could be made, she placed the phone down delicately, cutting the call right where she wanted it. That way even if they chose to disobey, she might very well hold them responsible for paying off the money owed and humans... well, humans were not so kind. She smiled at the thought. Her eyes remained shut for five minutes before she picked up the phone once more. Hello, darling.