"Looking at the situation objectively," Lucas replied, "you're a hazard to the organization. You've broken orders multiple times practically since you first joined up; that isn't behavior we usually tolerate in grunts. Better judgment says the risks of keeping you around outweigh the benefits. As for why I'm going against that..." He shrugged one shoulder, blinking slowly, "I personally executed my own partner and dear friend because he was deemed hazardous to our organization. It's not like he was actively trying to bring the place down or work against our cause, and he probably would have turned it all around in a heartbeat if he had known what was really at stake. What a waste, right? He was a smart guy, really talented. I don't know much about you besides what's on your file, but I know that if you want to live, you can find a way to make this work. As long as that possibility exists, I think your death would be wasteful." Blue eyes that had been watching the intermittently changing screen of his pokedex lifted to Izaya. "Naturally, if it comes that I can no longer imagine you fulfilling that possibility... I don't think you need me to say what happens next."
Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2014 11:29 pm
Personally executed his own partner and friend...? Okay, that hadn't been in the informant's mental file on the elite. He wondered how he'd missed it and just who this person had been. What could they have possibly done to warrant execution? "And you...weren't able to imagine that partner of yours fulfilling that possibility?" he asked, trying to process what he was hearing.
It would have been one thing for another elite to have ordered his friend's execution, but if Lucas had really thought his partner could have turned it all around, why hadn't he tried to make it clear to him what was at stake? Had the guy not even gotten a warning? It hadn't seemed to occur to Izaya that any Rocket aside from Lance (if he even counted) would have gotten themselves even as close as he had gotten to being executed (except maybe 1337), let alone actually terminated by the organization.
"Oh, no," Lucas rebutted with a shake of his head, "he absolutely could have. But I had direct orders to deal with the situation, and going against them meant forfeiting my life and his. I wasn't an elite or anyone even remotely influential, so I wasn't in a position to do anything." He gestured to himself lightly, "Now I am, and I fully intend to exercise my right to mercy whenever I can."
Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2014 11:05 am
"Ah," the grunt acknowledged, looking sobered. "Um...one more question, though I hope you won't take this as being impertinent. If Faleen or anyone else who asks me a question ends up not wanting to know every single thing I have to say on the subject, how will I know if I've answered them 'fully'?
"Couldn't it be considered omission if I'm asked, for example, if I'm hiding anything under my clothes and I neglect to mention my underwear, its color, its brand, and its size?" He chose to reference an example Lucas had mentioned earlier, though was careful not to show any sort of humor in his features.
"Well, naturally," Lucas began with a slight lift of his brow, "someone who's asking a question has something that they want to learn, and you can usually gauge roughly what that is from the context and the nature of the person asking. A colleague asking if you're hiding something under your clothes is most likely referring to weapons, pokeballs, or other tools that you might be concealing - versus, for instance, someone on the other end of a sexy phone call, who probably is asking about your underwear in a coy kind of way. Start with the basics of what you believe to be relevant to the situation, and invite clarification so they can continue if they want to know more.
"The idea isn't that you flood the asker with so much information that they give up asking but rather that you don't deliberately hide things. If you fail to mention the gun in your underarm holster because it's something you don't want found out, you're lying by omission. If you say there's nothing in your pockets and then find a gum wrapper in them later that you honestly forgot was there, that's just a mistake - and probably not a big deal anyway because who cares about a gum wrapper. Does that make sense?"
Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2014 8:33 pm
Yet again he found himself smiling - this time at the idea of flooding an interrogator so much that they gave up asking. Now what gave you any notion that I'd do a thing like that?
"Very well; I just wanted to be sure I was trusted to gauge what they want to learn from the context and to provide accordingly. After all, you said not to make assumptions, and it seems we already had a discrepancy in viewpoints prior as to what might be considered a 'mistake'. I think I have a better understanding now, though. Thank you."
Grunt Nakura dipped his head in gratitude. "I believe those are all the questions I had, Elite Agent Lucas." Disregarding the ones I don't feel safe asking at the moment, like who your partner used to be, but I guess I can find that out myself from Rocket records at a later time. "Is there anything else you require of me before I carry out your orders and report back to Agent Faleen?"
"Ah, I suppose you're right," Lucas ceded, scrolling through the transcribed text on his pokedex and opening up a widget to make edits. "Let's amend that one, then. 'You will not make assumptions about people's thoughts, feelings, or behavior without giving them an immediate invitation or opportunity to correct you.' That should be a bit more reasonable."
He nodded and lifted his pokedex slightly to indicate it, "I need to prepare this and get it sent off to Faleen before you speak with her, so give me a little bit of time for that, maybe half an hour or so. I'll tell her to expect you no later than two hours from now."
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2014 7:15 pm
"Much better," the grunt agreed with a nod of his head. "Sounds good to me. Feel free to take all the time you need. I think I'll require the majority of those two hours to recover from the most nerve-wracking, civilized-seeming seated near-death experience I've faced in a long time." He smiled wryly.
Izaya considered getting up before stopping himself, sensing some sort of cautionary warning at the back of his mind. Oh, right. "...Permission to be dismissed, Elite Agent Lucas?"
Lucas nodded, his own smile mirroring Izaya's in its nature, "Don't think anyone would hold that against you. Yeah, you're dismissed. I'll send the transcription of your orders to you shortly, but go ahead and take it easy for the time being."
Sending the transcription to Izaya would only take Lucas as long as it took to type the grunt's name into the recipient line of his 'dex's messaging function and attach the relevant file, but for the version sent to Faleen, he would include a few additional explanatory notes.
Sending: Elite Agent Lucas Receiving: Agent Faleen Subject: Verdict on Izaya
I have determined that Izaya will return to probation under your care. He has been issued the following orders, verbatim:
First, you're going to tell Faleen about your real intentions for that excursion. You're going to tell her what your first and most fatal mistake was and the reason you made it. You're going to explain everything in full, no details left out for any reason, and if she has any questions, you're going to answer just as fully. If she tells you that any of your assumptions were wrong, you're going to believe her. You're going to believe whatever she tells you, because she's your partner and has no reason to lie to you.
Next, you're going to tell her why you haven't been treating her as a partner - distrusting her, making assumptions without even thinking about asking, putting your pride before your good relationship, so on and so forth. You're going to tell her about all your weaknesses, fears, and insecurities so there's nothing left to hide. You're going to tell her what your goals are and what your motivation is.
One way or another, you're going to reach an understanding with her; you are not going to stop until you understand her point of view and she understands yours. Once you reach a point where you're both satisfied, you will then go down to medical and schedule yourself to meet with a psychiatrist once a week indefinitely. You will send that schedule to me along with the name of who you'll be meeting with so I can ask them to get in touch with me when they believe that your trust issues have been sufficiently resolved.
In the long term, you will not lie, conceal truths, or deceive people. When you are asked any question, you will answer fully and truthfully. When you're worried or doubtful about something, you'll bring it up and work out through proper communication. You will not make assumptions about people's thoughts, feelings, or behavior without giving them an immediate invitation or opportunity to correct you. If in six months Faleen has zero negative reports about you, we'll consider lifting or lightening some of your restrictions. When your probation ends depends on your own performance.
If you lie about anything, even something as irrelevant as the color of your underwear, that will be it. This extends to lies of omission and technical truths. Naturally, lying isn't the only thing that can seal your fate. If you exhibit any behaviors that lead Faleen to believe that your continuing survival is not to the benefit of this organization, you will be terminated.
Izaya will report to you no later than 5pm. You are free to abdicate responsibility over Izaya at any time that you feel your partnership is no longer productive or beneficial, and he will be detained until another eligible supervisor can be identified.
Very sorry if I've signed you up for an unpleasant conversation. :(
Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 8:46 pm
With a shallow bow at the waist, Izaya gave a loose salute and turned to leave the room. Elite Agent Lucas certainly was an interesting one. The grunt was mildly surprised the man hadn't seemed sarcastic when he told him to 'take it easy for the time being'. The informant might have expected the higher-ups to have some negative preconceived notion of a person who had gotten himself into that much trouble even if they had never met him before.
Unlike those Orihara was used to, though, this competent, open-minded elite actually reasoned things out and gave facts to back up each case without appearing to take things for granted. He seemed to treat them as hypothetical situations, perhaps to humor his conversation partner, to see things from their point of view, or both. It was refreshing, if unusual. Izaya began to wonder if it was the numerous hardships he'd been through that had made him that way or if it was his natural disposition. Either way, he couldn't deny that he was grateful to Lucas. He probably even owed him.
Casting one last glance back at Faleen's superior, Izaya regarded him curiously as he typed on his 'Dex. Then he left through the door and closed it softly behind him. His hands were still shaking with the strain of the mental pressure he'd just endured as he walked back to his room.
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