Scene #5214: Foodbringer - For Cooperation

Owner	Pose
Gawain	In a pastoral countryside, there stands an abandoned farm by a sprawling lake. Devoid of people nearby, but full of life, it's a peaceful meeting ground. Way better than an abandoned, haunted battlefield full of the ghosts of dead soldiers. While the Concord can arrive before the Paladins, the Foodbringer is not here, not visibly. If he's nearby, he's waiting to see who shows up first before he reveals himself.
Eryl Fairfax	Eryl shortly arrives. As the one who suggested and asked for this meeting, not being here would look as if he had no confidence in it. And that won't do. He squelches through the muddy ground as he paces, waiting for anyone to arrive. His fine shoes and pants are going to need a thorough cleansing after this.
Haguro	Haguro is here! She's... Actually looking fairly confident for once. She's also arrived fairly early, taking advantage of that extra time to set up tables and chairs for everyone to sit at for the discussion. THere's also a refreshments table off to the side with teapots, cups, and several baskets full of bread and butter. Fitting, considering the person that'll be the focus of today's proceedings.
Priscilla	At this point, it should go without saying that Priscilla is there. The choice of location had even been her arrangement; somewhere that spying from third parties would be extremely difficult, with a lack of concealment at distance, but plenty close at hand, in case there arose a need to pull Silas out at the last second. It's also miles out of any city, for obvious reasons. So for a weird change of pace, Priscilla is waiting around, visible, before anyone else really is. As seems to be an expert talent for someone who never wears shoes, she's managed to completely avoid mud and wet sand, and the hem of her white dress is pristine.
Rebecca Chambers	Wearing a light jacket over her uniform, Rebecca Chambers arrives not long after. She gives a salute to those she recognizes and then goes to survey the general area. She's got a fairly good idea of what's going on here so far, but wants to be ready in case something else comes up. After all, you can never be too prepared in a time like this.
Ainsley	Ainsley arrived after Eryl did, showing up in her police-like black uniform with her book and her longsword. The sword is, however, peace-bound, a white cloth tying it down so she can't draw it out of its scabbard on short notice. She has specially-made boots on and just walks from where she parked a fairly mundane magitech car nearby. She offers her silent greetings to those present, providing a cordial smile and a wave. She looks around for the 'Foodbringer,' scratching at her jaw line in nervous uncertainty because of his apparent absence. She eventually settles into one of the seats Haguro provided and produces a notepad and a pen from one of her pockets so she can review what notes she wrote down about what she wants to speak about today.
Gawain	It's approximately two and a half minutes after the Paladins have arrived and settled in that he appears. Dressed in survival gear and a jacket, the exact outfit he was wearing in the video that started all of this, as well as his signature clay mask. The Foodbringer comes in from the farmhouse, and appears to be entirely unarmed. As he approaches the group, he does not take a seat, instead moving over and resting against a tree that overlooks every person present, sizing up the Paladins. It's another minute until he actually speaks. His voice is young, but firm, and sounds as if it has hints of a Southern-like accent. "I'm here. Eryl Fairfax, Grandmaster, yeah? Recognize you from the press briefings. The people call me the Foodbringer. I hear you all have questions for me. I'll let you start, then. Ask away."
Eryl Fairfax	It's very awkward to be hanging around the Concord! Last time they met, it was less-than-happy circumstances. Eryl spends the time until the Foodbringer comes trying to figure out how to bring it up and maybe sort out whatever bad feelings may be lingering. But before he can chart a satisfactory conversational tree, the man of the hour arrives. "Mister Foodbringer," he says cheerfully, showing his open palms to the man in the mask. A gesture of peace, saying 'I'm not armed.' It's pretty hollow, since Eryl has weapons in his limbs, but the symbol is there! "Thank you for agreeing to this meeting. And thank you to the Concord for helping to arrange it." He bows to the members of the rival faction in succession before turning to regard the Southern man. "Please, let us sit." He gestures to the tables Haguro has set up (with a thankful smile to the shipgirl) before producing some kind of written contract from his coat. "I'll just need you to sign something. Don't worry, I've translated all the legalese myself." And indeed, each section has a post-it attached that summarizes what it says in plain English. It basically stipulates that, in exchange for the Foodbringer's cooperation and honest answers during this meeting, the Paladins will suspend all legal action against him for the duration, plus four hours after it has concluded, giving him time to go back into hiding. Anyone fluent in the dense language of contracts would be able to confirm that this is an accurate translation. "We just need your signature, plus some witnesses willing to sign. Those of you from the Concord would do nicely."
Priscilla	Contracts. Oh boy. Technically that's Priscilla's job. Even more technically, it was her job way before this. Of course, this is all ink on an easily shredded piece of paper, instead of oaths on one's soul, but for that reason in of itself, it strikes her as something relatively harmless to indulge in. As she reasons, the Paladins stand to lose much from breaking a legal agreement, and the Concord very little, as they should be capable of defending Silas by force if necessary. Peering over the edge of the paper, she gives Eryl something of a quizzical look at the backhanded, bureaucratic gesture of goodwill, before approving it. "If thou and thine compatriots are committed in full to making productive use of it, then this meeting is of little trouble." Slooowly, Priscilla sits down, curling her tail into her lap. Visibly, she is unarmed as well, but when did that ever mean anything?
Haguro	The lack of anxiety is an odd feeling for Haguro, considering the tense situation and the parties involved. THere's quite a few familiar faces, though, which certainly helps matters as she approaches the table with a polite smile towards Eryl in return. "Thank you for coming, everyone. Please, enjoy yourselves. The contract..." That has the shipgirl looking just a little more worried. Not because of mistrust, but because of the dense wording (notwithstanding the post-its). She checks each section and respective post-it, some of the apprehension fading after a while. She looks towards Priscilla, seeming torn on whether to sign it or not or to let the dragon lady do it herself! If Haguro does get the go ahead, though, she'll totally sign it as a witness. Better her than the leader of the Concord, right?
Gawain	The Foodbringer eyes the report, but doesn't move, just yet, because Priscilla is. He'll allow his ally here to check over it first. When she moves to actually /sign it/, he's stepping away from his tree to take the paper and writing implement, and looks over the entire document slowly, before moving and signing with the pen. His signature is slow and forced, and he appears to be purposely trying to hide his regular signature style - additionally, it's simply 'Foodbringer'. "Alright, you've got your signature. You've signed it as well, yeah? I'm all ears, then."
Eryl Fairfax	A false name with an alternate writing style. Eryl expected this, which is why he wanted witnesses. The fact that the man is so intent on hiding his face might make proving it was him harder down the road, but he does seem attached to his persona, so that might help. "Very good. Thank you for humouring our bureaucracy." He takes the contract and slips it into his coat pocket before sitting down. "Now, we all have questions for you I'm sure, so please answer as they come. I'll start with a simple one; why are you doing this? What is your ultimate goal in disseminating your strange food to the masses?" Eryl's tone and voice bears no judgement, no implication that he has a suspicion as to how Silas will answer. It's the look and sound of a man who wants to be informed.
Ainsley	Ainsley only finishes looking over her notes when Eryl initiates by producing a contract. She looks aside to it in idle interest, leaning to get a proper look at it from where she chose to sit down. It probably isn't that far from where Eryl is, of course. She follows the path of the contract as it changes hands, and then naturally looks up to the Foodbringer's face. The way her eyes subtly lid at the very deliberate obfuscation of his name and writing style, the language-oriented creature noticing such a purposeful act quickly. The words 'strange food' gets her to turn her head slightly away from the Foodbringer, blue eyes flicking toward the Grandmaster as if that specific part of it distracted her. "Although evidence makes this hard to prove, I believe you truly wish to help the people you give that food to," she begins, starting with a hopeful note. Her voice is soft and the only accent she has is of calm, deliberate neutrality, like someone taught to speak without such language frills. "Since it is clear you are also uncomfortable with providing personal details, I will not ask anything about your identity. Instead... How do you acquire or manufacture all of that food? I needn't hear the deeper details, I am just curious about the general nature of what you do."
Rebecca Chambers	Meanwhile, Rebecca is watching intently with her arms clasped behind her back. She's not saying anything for the time being, more like she's acting as security detail for now.
Gawain	The document is signed, and the Foodbringer is asked questions. He zeroes in on Eryl's first, placing a hand on the chin of his mask. "Because, Mr. Fairfax, food is a right, not a privilege of any form. There are too many people without access to food, who must scrape or starve, many times the latter. I've seen it far too many times." His tone sounds rather personal, actually. "And I admit that Everria is a strange place to start, in that regard. So I'll pre-empt questions about it. Everria was a testbed, seeing how much I could create and distribute in a short amount of time, so that I could gauge my capabilities for later runs on more needy worlds. My end goal at this juncture is the erasure of want for food, for everyone to be able to eat when they need to." The Foodbringer moves over to Ainsley afterwards, crouching to be eye-level and theoretically make eye contact, despite the fact his eyes aren't visible. It's not hostile, according to his body language. "I have means of cloning and duplication. Everything starts from organic, legally grown produce, and then I duplicate, grow to ripe, and repeat. Currently, this method works best on seed-based products, because growing a cow would probably be terribly messy and inhumane." A hint of humor in his voice at that last line.
Priscilla	Priscilla bristles very faintly at 'strange' food, though whether that be her part in it, offense that Eryl would indirectly impugn on Silas like that, or whether she too agrees that it's strange after seeing . . . well, what was in the trunk of his car, is a Rubiks cube of missing context. All that's obvious is that she dislikes it being implied as abnormal. "I speaketh for certain when I say that Sir . . . Foodbringer's alms art entirely healthful in nature; a fact that Everria's men of authority couldst easily verify with even the most cursory, proper examination. Certainty, they hath much on hand."
Haguro	Haguro's relaxing a little more with each passing moment, between the lack of direct hostilities and the Foodbringer revealing his motives. Whether they're his true motives or not is another matter entirely, but it certainly sounds good to the ship girl. WIthout having anything planned to ask ahead of time, though, she's also looking just a little awkward sitting there. So she gets up. She circles around the tables, picking up teapots to pour some tea for each person in attendance. It'll keep her busy for the time being, at least, and it might even help both the Paladins and Concord and Silas relax a little more!
Eryl Fairfax	Altruistic intentions then. And with that mask on, Eryl can't check for any tells that the Foodbringer is lying. Although, he wonders if the Foodbringer has let slip more than he intended. 'To test his abilities' he says. That may imply he only received them recently, or has never really had cause to test them. However, he does catch Priscilla's bristling at him using the word 'strange,' and moves in for damage control. "I apologize for my language. Perhaps 'unusual food' would have been better phrasing." He does catch that little jab at Everria though, and replies. "Please understand their concern; if they were so healthful, he could have gone through the proper channels." And with this, he looks to the man in the mask. "Although, based on what you've said, and some other things I've learned, I suspect you did. Didn't you?" And with that, he lets the question hang while sipping Haguro's tea. Hey, he's a cyborg, his system can probably deal with any potential additives.
Ainsley	Ainsley uses her notepad to scribble down some of what the Foodbringer has said. His reactions to the idea of starvation gets a long series of notes that takes up a whole page, while his answer about methods gets far less space. Which is fine. "It's encouraging to hear that you have such a genuine motivation. I have lived in scarcity. It is ... difficult to describe how it feels to prioritize food over the well-being of others." She smiles at him, but it's strained, making it clear that she has personal feelings on this as well. Her voice wavered at that last part just enough to be audible. The emotional glimmer fades almost as soon as it arrived. "Thank you," she murmurs to Haguro, surprised by the hospitality. She also sips from the tea cup, because it's tea and she loves tea. Only after she gets some sugar, though. She also has a tremendous sweet tooth. "There is a cult that has risen in the wake of your actions, and some manner of unknown organization has taken it upon themselves to harass them... How do you know them? And the cult?" It sounds like a follow-up to Eryl's question, to supplement where the questions are leading to.
Rebecca Chambers	When the mention of cults is brought up, Rebecca listens more intently to what Ainsley has to say. She also takes out a notepad and begins writing some things down, as this was not something she initially expected to hear about.
Gawain	The Foodbringer doesn't reply to what Priscilla says, only glancing in her direction briefly, before he turns to Eryl. If he was offended by 'strange food', it's impossible to tell, because he never voices on it. "You're a smart one, Mr. Fairfax. Yes, I applied for non-profit status a couple months before my first run in Everria. Since I know you'll check, it was under a pseudonym, Jin Enrum. Was 'official enough' for them to approve, atleast, for reasons I can't and won't use my actual identity. Add fake IDs and paperwork as well as bad puns to your laundry list of crimes on me, will ya?" He laughs, before turning back to Ainsley. There's a long glance at Priscilla before he actually speaks. "I only learned about the cult not long before the raid. I asked the Concord to handle that for me as part of our own agreements, I'm not a messiah and I don't want to be worshipped as one. I've only had the briefest of encounters with those who weren't arrested by you. The unknown organization, though..." There's hesistance in his voice, which makes it clear he knows quite a bit about them. It takes him a few moments to speak up. "A few weeks after I sent in the non-profit application, along with some evidence of my methods, I was called by someone claiming to work for whoever handles that stuff. They wanted me to bring them some more samples and do a face-to-face interview. Address was an office building in the middle of the city, so it seemed legit. I show up, walk inside, and the building's empty, which puts me on edge. A guy shows up, tells me he's here for the thing, so I follow him, and get led into an ambush, two of his buddies waiting upstairs." There's another pause, before the Foodbringer diverts from that side of the story. "They were definitely not soldier-types, and I didn't get a MIB shady government vibe of them. More like thugs. Corporate goons, maybe?"
Haguro	Haguro is pleased by the tea drinking! She settles back into her seat once she's done making sure everyone's got at least one cup poured for them, and just in time for when the news about the trap is brought up. There's a concerned look, then a confused one, then a thoughtful frown forming on the cruiser's face. "How could they have found out you sent in the application? Maybe..." Haguro pauses, and then her eyes widen slightly. "Perhaps there's someone else working against you inside the government? Someone leaking information, with the right contacts in there, or..." She starts to hunch over, apparently thinking hard on the possibilities! And also going quiet again.
Eryl Fairfax	'Jin Enrum.' Eryl commits that to memory right away. Falsifying government documents is also illegal, so that is actually added to the Foodbringer's rap sheet. As he answers Ainsley's question, he says nothing but listens intently. This is the important answer, so he does his best to discern any falsehood in the man's words. "Do you remember the address of the building? If whoever was behind this attack owns it, either personally or through a string of shell corporations, we'll find them." He looks to Haguro, and does want to comment... but with the Concord as witnesses, he really has to watch what he says. He is recording, but they might be too. Anything he says might be used against him later, so he only says, "It's possible."
Ainsley	"A man with a desire to help others tries to use official channels, albeit not using his own name, and this draws the attention of some kind of powerful organization. This organization attempts to lure him into a building alone to apprehend him without the help of authorities, doing so in a clearly clandestine and illegal way. No police presence means they can't have that many contacts, or they didn't want to draw too much attention. You were already trying to conceal your identity, however... It seems like a strange coincidence that they would target you for your specific methods in the wide Multiverse of possibility." Ainsley's thinking aloud, following the train of logic. "I apologize if this seems accusatory, but did you take this duplication method from them? Could that be part of why they are after you?"
Gawain	"Probably corruption inside Everria's government. I haven't digged into it." The Foodbringer is glad that the discussion is going the path it is instead of another one, as he rattles off the address to Eryl. "That's the building. I didn't dig. Government was obviously against me at that point." And then, the Foodbringer glances at Ainsley's direction. His tone is concise, matter of fact. "There is nobody alive, besides myself, who knows my method. I did not take or steal it. If I have to give a guess, they see me as competition. Free food means death to food services, farmers, all those sorts of things, income-wise. It is impossible that this has anything to do with me as a person, under the mask. I can state that as a fact."
Eryl Fairfax	Eryl has the address. He has something to follow-up with. Smoothly, he rises from his seated position and nods to the Foodbringer. "Well, I would hate to keep you. Should this information prove accurate, we will certainly follow up on it. Attacking someone, for whatever reason, is illegal, and the Paladins will not stand for it." He pauses for a moment and adds, "Although, even if that proves true, that does not erase the crimes you did. Should it be a matter of conspiracy against you, however, I suspect that your offenses will only add up to fines and community service, something you had intended to do anyway. And if you would be willing to assist the Paladins with their own charitable efforts, we could deal with that fine. That, of course, hinges entirely on you not lying to try and protect yourself. We shall see." He offers a smile to he and the Concord. "Thank you for meeting us. As mentioned, you have four hours. If you don't want us to swoop in, I suggest you make haste to leave. Good day."
Ainsley	Ainsley, seemingly satisfied with what she has heard, finishes her tea and gets up to a stand. She offers a sweet-voiced, "Thank you," to the Foodbringer, the soft quality of her voice making for a heavy contrast from the nigh-stoic tone she utilized while questioning him. His answers for her seem to have cheered her up, and she clearly has no objections for Eryl's assessments of the crimes commited.
Gawain	"Don't think that'll be happening for one reason or another, but I appreciate the sentiment, Mr. Fairfax. Now I'm off to be a wanted fugitive. Let's hope that in the end, this mess gets settled." And then the Foodbringer picks up some of Haguro's refreshments and begins heading back up to the farmhouse. He'll be gone by the time anyone can come up to pursue him, with no traces.