A Mutual Friend (Alain)

[Ethan/Kifen214]

Before the fall of Dallas...

The criss-crossed structure of the John Hancock Building loomed far above above the streets below, glinting with the warm blaze of the sun. An expensive white car pulled around in front of the building and skidded to a neat stop. Kifen214 stepped out of the driver's side door, dressed in a smart navy-blue suit jacket and pants. Being nervous wasn't something Kifen did, really, but this would certainly be an understandable situation for it. While Kifen was 'funding' the bizarre projects that took place in this building--an Empire demand forced upon him after Ethan's father's death--the controller he was meeting today was a much higher rank than he was. He was technically her boss, but in the same instance she had no reason to be afraid of him.

Kifen brushed his fingertips against the shoulder of his jacket, then slammed the car door closed and pushed the lock button on his keys. The car let out a sharp beep as he moved around it and stepped up onto the sidewalk. The controller valet--standing at the curb--was an older man, his wrinkled face stretched in an empty smile. Kifen dropped his keys in the man's hands, and then approached the entrance to the towering John Hancock Building. Standing in front of the double glass doors was a woman, clad in a black dress and heels, dark wavy hair brushing down to her shoulders. According to Ethan's immediate input, her host was an attractive female, but what Kifen first noticed the hard line of her jaw and the stiff way she held herself. Sedra149. Or, more aptly, Sub-Visser 42. The controller in charge of this building.

A cool smile slipped onto the Sub-Visser's face, and she extended a hand out in greeting. It was a very human thing to do, but some yeerks had been playing at being human for many years now. It became a habit that they didn't even think of sometimes. "Kifen214, a pleasure to have you here."

Kifen shook the Sub-Visser's hand and offered her one of Ethan's pleasant smiles. "Pleasure to be here. I hear you have someone very important to show me." Kifen's visit to the John Hancock was more than a simple business visit. Kifen had been directed by the Empire to assess whether or not the Sub-Visser was doing a proper job. This meant a tour of the building itself, its experiments, and some show of progress in all the areas she was in charge of--including the government facility that was located out in the middle of the Nevada desert. From what he'd heard so far, her 'progress' had meant flying some poor yeerk scientist into Chicago and parading him in front of Kifen. The YPM had been more than happy to hear about Kifen's job, as he would be able to provide an inside look to the mechanics of the John Hancock Building--a facility that the Animorphs had even had trouble breaking into. So he had heard.

The Sub-Visser motioned with one hand for Kifen to follow her. He did so, listening to her as they walked inside. "Yes. He's very bright for one of his rank, and I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear that he's contributed a great deal to the Empire's interest in weapons research. It seems he may have designed something that has the potential to be useful."

***

Ethan unbuttoned the front of his business-suit jacket, then stuck the lit cigarette in the corner of his mouth and leaned back. His shoes were locked under the stool's footrest, and he tapped lightly--if not a bit impatiently--on the bar's polished counter as he waited for his drink. There was, of course, a limit to the amount of alcohol the yeerks were willing to give voluntary hosts on their off time. Even though Ethan--and the others around him--were 'free', that didn't mean that they had any real control over what they did to their bodies. They were allowed to drink just enough to relax, but not enough to get tipsy or worse. Ethan thought it was stupid, but he could understand the reasoning behind it.

Sitting next to him was the other host that had been a part of the important meeting earlier. While the woman hadn't turned out to be voluntary, sadly, the man had. The company was unexpected, as most people he and Kifen came across weren't voluntary, but Ethan was always happy to see a familiar face. Even if he'd met said person while being controlled by Kifen.

After exiting the pier area, Ethan had sat himself next to Alain to strike up some conversation. The other two humans in the voluntary room were busy with a game of pool, and hadn't given Ethan or Alain a second look when they'd entered. Ethan gave Alain a glance and his mouth twitched in a small, friendly smile.

"I'm Ethan," He said, holding out one hand towards the man. A swirl of smoke rose from the cigarette between his lips. "Nice to, uh, meet you for real."

[Alain]

Alain's eyes were locked on the game playing on the tv behind the bar. It was old of course. The yeerks did not allow their hosts to continue playing sports. Alain had always loved football and as he watched the players run across the green field it saddened him to think that there would never again be a football game. The scores were all in, the endless fight to be the best was over.

Someone sat down next to him but he didn't pay them much attention besides for a short glance. He didn't like interacting with other voluntary controllers much. He found most of them sleezy and unpleasant. Most of the ones he'd come into contact with had given up their lives for what Alain saw as very stupid and shallow reasons. Not that he could completely judge them. Maybe that is why he avoided their company, he didn't like thinking too deeply about their choices and his own.

But the one next to him introduced himself and it would have been rude to ignore him. Besides, Alain was aware that even here, what they did may affect their lives and the careers of their yeerks. This man was a host of a much higher rank than Diya and Alain had no desire to get on his bad side.

"Alain," he said with a slight smile as he turned to accept his hand. He let go quickly enough and glanced back up at the game before giving his attention to the other host. "Enjoying your visit I hope?" Alain asked innocently enough.

[Ethan/Kifen214]

The bartender shuffled over to where the two of them were seated, and then placed a square napkin in front of Ethan. On top of that, he set down a glass of bourbon. The ice cubes jingled softly against the glass as Ethan picked it up and swirled it idly. His gaze rested briefly on the game playing on the TV screen above, where Alain seemed to have his attention partially focused. Years ago, Ethan had had a passing interesting in sports, enough to know his way around the different teams and rivalries. Now, that sort of knowledge was useless.

"Well, I'm not exactly visiting here. We've been living here in Chicago for a good five years now, if memory serves me right. We've just never been out to visit the actual facility--mostly because it wasn't really needed before, especially since the funding only started maybe a year or so ago." Some of this conversation had already been navigated earlier by their Yeerks; Alain would be aware that Kifen funded some of the projects happening in the John Hancock, that Sub-Visser 42 had just recently come into possession of the place, that the facility was under some inspection by the Empire. "But I like it here in Chicago, it can be nice. I basically grew up here, so it's comfortable."

Leaning forward, Ethan took a large gulp of his drink. His face scrunched up briefly as if in pain, and then he shook his head and let out a satisfied sound. "Good stuff." He leaned back once more, one of his hands resting on the bar counter. "How about you? I heard you were flown in from some place? Or something?"

[Alain]

Alain didn't have the best grasp of who ran what out here. He didn't care that much and Diya certainly didn't. Diya hardly looked after his own career, he was too busy burying himself in the science. Of the two of them Alain was the one that often reminded him to observe the niceties of his culture, as much as they existed just so that they could continue to fly by under the radar.

Alain nodded along as Ethan listed off the credentials of his yeerk, pretending to be interested and trying to figure out if any of this would matter to him or Diya later. The bartender came back and Alain ordered another beer even though the quality of beer available was horrendous. It was steadily getting worse and worse and Alain was surprised they still had alcohol at all since the yeerks didn't seem all that inclined to keep up the trade. The liquors were doing ok and would be ok for the next century or so since they took so long to age. Even the ones on the shelves would last a while and there were more in the barrel waiting to be bottled. But the beers which had a shorter maturation rate and a much shorter shelf life were falling to pieces. There was nothing he could do about it though and he enjoyed a beer every now and again in solitude.

"I got moved up from the weapon's facility in Las Vegas," Alain responded as the bartender pulled out another beer and opened it for him. Alain nodded in thanks. "But I'm from this area originally, well, a couple of degrees down in St. Louis anyway."

[Ethan/Kifen214]

"Oh, I thought so," Ethan replied, taking another sip of his drink. He was already running short on the bourbon he'd been given by the bartender, and most likely wouldn't be given another one. At least, not very soon. "Never been to Las Vegas or St. Louis. Though, I've always wanted to make it out to Vegas. Go and see the casinos, see the Strip, gamble. All that crazy stuff." Not to mention that the 'weapons facility' was Area 51. Ethan, like most people, was more than curious about what was in there--even though it'd been converted into some white-washed Empire-approved facility. There had to be some decade old alien artifacts locked up in the closet somewhere in that place.

Ethan tapped the tip of his finger against the cool glass, thinking. He glanced over at Alain. "Did you ever end up gambling over in Vegas? Or is it just all business and no play with the Yeerks over there?" Even asking that question, Ethan was beginning to sense that this guy might not be too into talking to him--or perhaps he wasn't too into talking to people in general. Ethan had met a few people who just liked to zone out during their free time in the voluntary area, people who liked to frame their thoughts in some other time period besides this one. Ethan thought it was wasteful, but some people were like that.

He set the cigarette on the ash tray, gray smoke twirling upwards from its end, then leaned back in his bar stool and let his gaze wander the room. The only real sounds in the place came from the occasional thunk of a cue ball making contact with the pool balls and the background noise of the football game in play above the bar. Not too busy of a day. Of course, the voluntary controller area didn't have a huge clientele as it was.

[Alain]

Alain shrugged. "I never gambled in Vegas before it was, well, before all of this," he finished quickly. He didn't want his words to be construed as traitorous. "I was never really into throwing money at things you know." His family had never been rich and, the truth was, he had visited Vegas once on a trip in college and hated it. He and his friends had hit the town in all the predictable ways, strip clubs, casinos, night clubs. Alain wasn't much of a partier, he didn't like liquor that much, the girls in the club had been impersonal professionals and, to top it off, he found he couldn't stand watching people treat money like toys. There was just a deep emotional rejection of the entire practice rooted in his family's struggles to make ends meet.

"Diya, my yeerk, he doesn't gamble much. Maybe a bit. But it's definitely not all business over there. We never really got into any of the hard stuff but there is hard stuff to be had if you want it and you know the right people." Alain remembered some of the rumors he'd heard about what was going on in Vegas. Sadly enough they were fairly similar to all the rumors about what had been going on in Vegas before the yeerks took over so he couldn't really blame the yeerks for their indulgences. They were learning from the best.

"You should take a trip out there sometime if you want to see it. I'm sure you wouldn't be disappointed."