"A tad late for that, I fear," the senior officer responded in regards to the cancer metaphor, scowling darkly down into her tea. As if to make a show of not rushing, she took a sip. "I don't think the scope of the conspiracy can grow much grander, but those behind it can do much to shore their defenses and cover their tracks. Therefore, I see the wisdom in your words. We just have to make sure we avoid whatever traps the hidden agents-- or AppraisalMan-- have prepared for us. Easier said than done."

"You have the right of it. This may be the last time we meet like this, until the work is mostly done. What some saw as my brazen witch hunt offers us now at least one advantage: their eyes will all be on me, allowing you the leeway to operate. You'll be forced to make some tough judgment calls, I'm sure." Her cold blue eyes looked especially cold now, as she wrestled with the difficult situation she was placing a very new officer into. "At least no impulse you act upon could be any worse than what my other so-called allies have already decided to allow," she scoffed by way of a joke, but it felt too grim to call it that.

The question of Patrolman actually brought a smirk to her face. "He is not a hard man to watch, especially considering his unprofessional interest in me. If he is part of the conspirators' plan, I see two likelihood. The first and better: that he is being left clueless and will fall off like spoiled fruit with the rest of the branch. The second and worse: that our enemies expect us to go after him as the low-hanging fruit and will rally against us when we do. They must know that his incomprehensible corruption sticks out like a sore thumb."

One eyebrow raised sharply as Pirouette reacted to another unseen message. She began to ask her subordinate to share, given the danger of secrets in the present situation, but backed off for the sake of decorum once she realized how Pirouette had been affected. Still, she offered unsolicited advice: "do not get distracted. Now is the time in which vulnerabilities will be exploited." She closed her eyes, sighed, and took another sip of tea. To hear it told by gossips, she was pretty prickly about office romance, even during the best of times.

The next part was a sore point for Bayonet. "FashionMan is as twisted as his eye for fashion. GolfMan has been a blind spot for me, but his frequent association with FashionMan makes it easy to believe. AlchemyMan? A mad hatter whose usefulness propels him to heights that his personality ought to prevent him from reaching. In hindsight, he and FashionMan both have that in common... I should have linked the two earlier," she growled, seeming tense enough to break her tea cup. Rare pain showed on her face as she squinted her eyes, then averted them from the tea meaningfully. "But Aroma? I've worked closely with her all this time. She has contributed much in terms of not only finances, but even work in the field against the mafia, before my very eyes...! It's as though her name was put in with the others just to wound me, or to make me doubt the validity of the whole gift, part and parcel. I hardly know how I will treat her when next we meet... I suppose the topic must be investigated as discretely as possible. But would that I could simply ask her!"

Her expression continued to look stormy as Pirouette spoke; she sat forward in her chair with her shoulders hunched. It seemed as though she was battling between two answers. "You are right, of course. A body of NetPolice as corrupt as we currently find ourselves is as unreliable as a disbanded one. However, be mindful of your own safety. If we still have allies, then all well and good, but if those names you mentioned are with our enemies and they were to find out, there would be little I could do to protect you. You cannot imagine how much stronger they are than a lower ranked number such as myself," she winced, sinking backwards into her chair as though finally reckoning with the possibility. "Of course, I am a firm believer that the proper strategy can thwart any foe... But still. Let us pray it never comes to that."

Again, the grim smirk came to her face. "I wonder what body of judgment we will present AppraisalMan to in order to put him in those chains," she murmured. "A council consisting of the four from this room, perhaps? I intend no mockery, but I do hope an organization remains to pass judgment after all of this is over."

Bayonet nodded to dismiss Pirouette, with an expression as though all of this was giving her a headache and she couldn't afford to devote anything extra to the interpersonal issues Disappearance was experiencing. "We will handle the matter of your payment. I will simply distribute it to your email. Expect a generous one, so that at least our resources will go to some cause of tangible good," she finished with a slight smile.

Once Pirouette broke free from that conversation, she found herself met with a disappointing lack of engagement from her coworker.

Quote (Disappearance)

"There is nothing to make right. My [REDACTED] will go away with time and I can handle it myself. You seem like you have plenty on your plate already. Let me handle this, at least."

It seemed Pirouette wouldn't get the face-to-face she wanted, at least not today. The woman's insistence on the matter was just as obtrusive as her mask.

By the time they reached the office, HoundMan appeared to be satisfied. For whatever reason, Disappearance remained either sullen or at the very least quiet-- it was hard to tell given the mask covering her face and her silence. The only thing for now was to assume she was slowly writing a heavily considered message in response to Pirouette's concern. Pirouette would realize that she probably wasn't going to receive the response until the meeting was already underway.

On the other hand, Bayonet was quick to respond in the affirmative.

Quote (Bayonet)

Very well. I'll ask you to hold on after the meeting.

Once they reached the office, Bayonet appeared to take an unbiased pleasure in having her tea accepted by at least one of the mission participants. She lifted the teacup opposite hers to decanter, while Pirouette began. She nearly lost her composure at the news that AppraisalMan had not only broken his silence, but had also agreed to fully furnish the information he'd been withholding. "I'm surprised to hear that he's not tied up with the Mafia-- at least not yet, that we can prove. Still, I suppose there are criminals everywhere, even outside that organization," she sighed, not realizing how appropriate her words would turn out to be once more information was presented.

Clearly, of greatest interest to Bayonet was the idea that AppraisalMan was actively financing people within their own organization, to the point that she quickly wished to return to that point, rather than dwelling on AppraisalMan's techniques. Disappearance, on the other hand, was affected by the information. "I really should have put that together. Well, on some level, I knew it. But I guess after all of that time I sunk in on my assignment, I wanted to think it was a puzzle with an answer," the masked woman muttered, clutching one hand to her mask irritably.

"NightMan and Bank were under his thumb? That's Internal Affairs and one of our chief handlers of finances, all in his pocket," Bayonet clicked her teeth, completely forgetting the tea as she adopted a sour expression. It was no secret that she'd been on the hunt for traitors within their organization for a long time. "We've been made to look like absolute fools. The very core of our organization has been corrupted. Even those not in the know have been relying on the fruits of that dark deal," she growled, narrowing her eyes. "I'm being too hasty... Please, continue. I'll try not to draw any conclusions until you finish."

The corners of her eyes twitched with greater irritation as she attempted to calm herself with a sip of her drink; hearing that NightMan had been moonlighting as an adult actress clearly didn't sit well with her either. "Well, there seems to be an epidemic of unfavorable adult situations that we aren't proud of ripping through the Netpolice as of late. Those we can manipulate to our advantage. Would that his doubling as an adult actress was the worst of his crimes, this would be a much easier matter to resolve," she spoke quietly after setting down her cup.

Pirouette ended by placing the data packet onto the table and explaining its origins. "Yes, let us open it. There is virtually no one I trust in this organization now more than those assembled in this room, until I can put my finger on everyone that AppraisalMan's got dancing on his strings," the commanding officer spoke grimly, allowing Pirouette to open the packet. The files that stacked onto the table were nothing more than AppraisalMan's own writing, done up in flowery cursive, outlining the current going on in more specifics than had perhaps been clear to this point:

Quote

NightMan-- or Lady of the Night-- is set up to take the fall as the one person inside the NetPolice with connections to me. He does this for the perceived good of preserving the entire structure of the Netpolice. With his suspicion and imprisonment, he wishes to draw suspicion from others within the group who have been accepting my loans with the questionable terms I set.

Several big names-- which I may or may not have supplied to you already-- are poised to fall if you blow the lid on my scheme, which could conceivably send half the house of cards that is the NetPolice tumbling in on itself. The domino effect will be splendid and glorious! I will perceive as much of it as I can.

In particular, Bank is well-informed and supports the plan to have NightMan take the fall. Her hope is that you have gathered enough evidence to support that outcome and that I have guided you there as well. It is unlikely she suspects that I have a greater plan in all of my reckless financing. My strong belief is that she thinks I'm driven by money and although I have my thumb on the detonator of a metaphorical bomb, I have no reason to push down on the trigger. By this point, you may know that I am positively giddy for the opportunity to press that button! Her incorrect assumption is going to cost her everything.

Go ahead and throw the two of them-- my Lady and Miss Bank, that is-- in the slammer together! I'm always giving you folks nice gifts. Consider this just another on top of the pile.

Bayonet grimaced even harder and clutched one hand to the armrest of her chair. "This insufferable lout realizes exactly the position he's put us in. He's talking like he's a chum of ours in this message, but in reality, he's forced us into a terrifying position: he's saying we can either leave cancerous tumors inside of our organization and live comfortably on a deadly timer, or we can excise them and suffer. In NightMan's case, his long absence was an inconvenience in the grand scheme of things-- a drain on resources, but one easily managed. If Bank were to take the fall along with him... we would lose proprietary knowledge and experience, not to mention the faith and loyalty of Internal Affairs agents who have worked with her for a long time."

"I don't get it. This means she's a criminal, right? It sounds like the right solution is to take her in, aroo," HoundMan pointed out, looking at things through a simpler lens.

"It's not that easy. We're already suffering through various hits to our reputation as of late. He was right to state it as though it's a house of cards. If new recruits begin to doubt our virtue... If long-time members begin suspecting all of their allies as I have of late, allowing it to consume all of my waking hours... If other beneficiaries of those same funds begin to scramble away from the NetPolice or covering their tracks in a discrete manner...!"

"You're saying we have to let Bank get away with it..." Disappearance spelled out, sounding displeased.

"It's a tough choice, at least until we have the names of all of the other major actors in this plan," Bayonet admitted. "I want justice dispensed more than anyone, but it's clear that this is just another of AppraisalMan's tricks. He's given us information we can't actually act on without doing irreparable damage to our own organization. Damn it..." Her brow knit in consternation. "I can already guess how far it goes. My own close friend, Aroma, must be in his snare as well. Blast! The amount we stand to lose if we take her out of the field and out of finances...!"

"I understand your position. However, after looking into the situation for all of this time and being manipulated by Bank, who knew what was happening all along, I'm not going to report back to work under that [REDACTED] [REDACTED]. At the very least, Bank has to go down now. She looked me in the eyes and told me to debase myself for that [REDACTED] for months..." Disappearance argued back. Her face was hidden behind her mask, but her voice stern.

"You're right, of course. Yes. We will take Bank into confinement-- discretely-- and pump her for information. We'll also extract what we need to have someone take over her role in an official capacity. How would you feel, Disappearance, about slotting into that role? This is not a bribe-- it is simply that I have no one else I can trust there at the moment. You've been an assistant to Bank for quite a while, haven't you?" Bayonet offered.

"Yes... I wasn't expecting a promotion, but I'd be happy to take it, just to make sure nobody else just as bad gets slotted in there," she agreed.

"Congratulations!" HoundMan piped up, clapping his hands in a tone-deaf expression of pleasure that didn't acknowledge the dismal attitudes of everyone else in the room.

"Pirouette, it goes without saying that I'm thankful for this information, but it's more than that. I must ask you to be my right hand going forward. Everyone inside the organization already knows I'm on the hunt for traitors and the cockroaches will begin to scurry once they notice Bank and NightMan are both in lockup. You may be my best weapon for continuing to handle the situation," Bayonet explained, leaning forward with her gloves folded beneath her chin. "I may not be able to directly order you to look into the matter going forward-- not without rousing more suspicion-- but I ask that you keep wary and vigilant in all of your actions. Report anything that seems suspect, no matter how small. I'm asking Disappearance and HoundMan to do the same."

"Yes ma'am," HoundMan agreed, though if anyone was lacking the eye for picking up sensitive tells from suspicious people, it was probably him.

Disappearance nodded as well.

"You two are dismissed. Pirouette, please stay behind. I'd like to discuss the matter of what to do with Bank a little more, before we part," Bayonet spoke evenly. Her face, all business, made it look as though she probably would have wanted to speak with Pirouette further, even if she hadn't been instructed to.

HoundMan snapped a salute, then smiled gratefully towards Pirouette. "Even if things are getting confusing, I'm glad I can still trust you, ma'am! I'll be looking forward to working with you again in the future! Or going out like you talked about! Either way, respectfully!" he finished, stumbling over his words a bit at the end. With a chipper attitude that didn't match the rest of the setting, he left first.

As usual, Disappearance was slower to move. She nodded towards Pirouette, indicating she trusted her to handle the rest of the matter, then walked to the door. As she opened it and moved her caped form outside, she also shot Pirouette the message she'd been composing:

Quote (Disappearance)

I'm sorry if I seem despondent. I was mistaken about the relationship that I'd formed with HoundMan over the last few months. It was probably just the situation we were both trapped in that made me think things were more intimate than they were. You and I both have too much on our plates for me to compete with you and I think I already lost, anyway. Please don't worry yourself over it.

"I'm glad as well. All that you've asked, I shall provide to you," AppraisalMan returned her smirk; his smile cut a long, thin line across his crystalline face. "You're getting this favor for much, much less than my going rate, you know?" he added with a chuckle, leaning back in his chair slightly and raising the slight protrusions where eyebrows would be on an ordinary human face. As she adopted her chosen expression and drilled him again on the authenticity of the information, he narrowed his eyes, but kept his expression the same otherwise. "'Da,' it's very good. There's no one better suited to give you this information, because I'm the one that engineered each of the deals. These sums were large enough to warrant rigorous record-keeping and you must understand that all of my amusement was tied into how they used them; as such, I demanded very thorough reports and checked every last zenny, hm hm hm..."

His gaze remained bright but unfeeling as her hand reached towards his face; he didn't flinch, nor did he seem to get a rise. He did respond, while closing his blue eyes with a smile that was nearly sympathetic. "You're quite right. Neither one of them ever tried this," he confirmed, then opened his eyes a half-shade to study the private area he'd been offered a view of. "If you're acting, you're doing a very good job, Pirouette. I'd rate it... a solid 51," he shrugged. "Are you classically trained?"

His jokes were more callous than legitimately worrying, in the face of Pirouette's other concerns. "Oh, it gets better. You know how to use just the type of dirty talk I like. Let's bump it up to... 55, since I'm feeling generous," he cackled, showing the tips of his diamond teeth as Pirouette continued the strip-show, showing discomfort at every step of the way. The man's crystalline hands were undesirably sharp-edged and cold as Pirouette grabbed hold of them and lifted him into place. One of his eyes was still covered by an appraiser's monocular lens, which extended back and forth for an uncomfortable degree of close inspection. "Not a lot of folks present themselves to me so fully for my appraisal. I suppose that the low opening score scares them off."

He clicked his tongue lightly inside his mouth while exploring Pirouette's body with surprising delicacy, perhaps a necessity given the jagged edges covering his hands. Each minute motion threatened to cover her pale and delicate skin in red cuts. "Truth be told, I'm fine that way. I told you that my appraisals are low as a matter of course-- I pulled back the curtain on that little fact earlier-- but the other side of it is that I really do find most people's appearances absolutely revolting. Especially without clothing. If you were to ask me my type, I'd say, 'I'll tell you when I find it,'" he rambled on, while flipping his hand to begin running the flat, cool surface of the back of his pointer finger around the exposed area. "But this sort of emotion you're showing me... scared, vulnerable, and repulsed with both me and yourself... I like that quite a lot. Even if it's all an act, I like having the scenario in hand to think back to whenever I encounter you in the future. I--!"

His words stopped short as Pirouette finally rejected her own performance, pushing off from him and shoving his hand down onto the table with a clatter of gems against metal. "Oooh! You might expect you'd lose some points for that sort of behavior, but that's actually just what I was looking for. And look! You've summoned him!"

Before Pirouette even had a chance to make it to the back room, HoundMan was perched in the frame of the window into the next room, wearing an uncharacteristic expression with his lips peeled all the way back from his jagged teeth. His behavior was more Hound than Man, as his ordinarily green visor lit up red and he threatened to pounce into the prisoner's interrogation room. When she ran past and for the door, his protective nature won out over his vengeful one, and he ended up chasing after her on all fours.

"'Da,' yes! I'll be looking forward to how you've thought to improve your evaluation by another 2 or 3 points in our next encounter!" AppraisalMan cackled after her, now wearing a face a bit reminiscent of when he'd barely resisted the urge to masturbate to his own ingenious manipulation of NightMan earlier.

-----------------------

HoundMan was back in his armor, a stark contrast to Pirouette, who was in only a marginally less dire state of wardrobe distress than she had been while entertaining AppraisalMan. The dog-like man stood up straight like a statue, while listening to the newly smiling Pirouette unconvincingly reassuring him that nothing had occurred worthy of a violent reaction. "You really got him to agree, huh? He did a complete 180," HoundMan grumbled, looking like he was half disappointed that he hadn't gotten the go-ahead to execute the guy. At her reassurance, the green lights showing at the ends of his goggles half-shaded; he still seemed worried, like a child (or a pet) having a hard time absorbing a lesson. "He's the one you're giving the act, not me, right?" he questioned, while keeping his posture straight and wearing a despondent frown.

He managed to turn his mood upside down, although not his frown-- even at the best of times, he wore a kind of alert, bated-breath frown, one step away from panting excitedly. "O-Oh, you've got no responsibility to show me-- or the right man-- anything, ma'am! Unless you want to! Respectfully, ma'am!" he snapped his salute once more. Once she was decent again, he nodded eagerly. "Let's go get Disappearance now!"

-------------------------

Disappearance was eager to leave the room with NightMan; the latter went wholly silent and didn't encourage any of them to speak to him any further. Disappearance seemed like she had just about worn herself out trying to pump some kind of new information out of him. "I hope you two found something more than I did. Nightman has clammed up like a [REDACTED]-- well... you know," she murmured behind her blank mask.

"I think Pirouette got something pretty good! I'm going to let her handle the talking, though," HoundMan reassured her.

Disappearance seemed to calm down; she might even be smiling behind her mask. "Well... Are we reporting to Bank?"

"No, Bayonet, aroo!"

At that, she didn't seem quite so excited. Bayonet might be higher ranked than Bank, but Disappearance was still Bank's direct underling. She was probably worried about what sort of sensitive topics they might get in to that Bank would later rant about being kept out of the loop on. "Should I send Bank a direct message...?"

"... I wouldn't," HoundMan answered her with a tight frown, seeming to sense that the information Pirouette had garnered might be meant only for very particular ears. "On that note, we better hurry while we still have the first say in this story, aroo."

With that, the three made their way back to Bayonet's office.

------------------------

When Pirouette arrived, leading the group with the others close behind her, Bayonet was in the middle of a call with an unseen net-navi. "Yes, well, if there's nothing further you need from me in regards to fund-raising efforts, I'll leave you to handle the rest," she finished. "I have a pressing appointment." The steely-faced woman nodded into her view-screen, then dismissed it with a flick of the wrist. At this point, she rose to her feet, then gestured to a low coffee table with, conveniently, four seats surrounding it. "Please, give me your report and any data you've collected immediately. I'll prepare tea and coffee for those of you who wish to partake."

"Just water for me," HoundMan responded. "Ma'am!" He added a salute.

"... I'm fine," Disappearance spoke up.

At this point, Pirouette would likely remember the data packet she'd accepted earlier. It was up to her to decide whether to hand that, unopened, over to the bigwig herself, to analyze it herself first, or to simply keep it as a trump card of her own.

"Good records, yes. All of my pay-sheets and databases are coded to prevent prying eyes from seeing what I'm not ready to show yet, but I can provide the codes as well," AppraisalMan chuckled, easily resting his chin upon the back of his hand and looking pleased by the girl's willingness to accept his guidance on the matter. "What a gaff, that they let someone so straight and narrow sit in the same room as me. I've just been waiting for the right opportunity too, you know?" The appraiser said no more than that about the matter of the revelations timing and instead went back to smiling silently.

At her agreement to pay him another time with a recording between herself and Disappearance, he gave a narrow smile. "My lady, in this business, a vague promise like that is only as good as one's character. If I can trust yours and you deign to trust mine, does that make us equals in the arena of respectability?" he questioned, showing the jagged points of his teeth in a grin. "But yes, that will suffice. You seem to be one to take a promise very literally and faithfully, so I have no doubt you'll make good on it. Even if not, this is a mere bonus-- a side pot I've allowed to grow on the off chance that I get to cash it in some day. It will please me if I get the opportunity, but it won't trouble me if I don't."

He nodded along with that same sly smile, seeming to appreciate that she understood how much watching the house of cards fall meant to him; whatever pleasure the crystalline criminal would derive from disrupting her plan would, supposedly, pail in comparison to how much collateral suffering stood to occur at the larger scheme's failure.

The last question barely changed his expression; he cocked one corner or his thin smile and spread his arms. "I think that one can be easily arranged. I'll answer you on that matter and in return, you can do something mutually beneficial for us both. I've enclosed the answer in this data packet here," AppraisalMan explained, while sliding a diamond shaped packet across the table. "Before you pick it up, I'm going to give you the chance to do something that will make our interrogation here believable. What you've done so far was surprising, but not particularly outside the realm of what Disappearance had already tried, besides dropping the barrier and approaching me. Just give me something a little more... something you don't think she and the dog will have tried yet. That way, I'm entertained and your bases are covered. That sounds fair, right?"

It was pretty clear by this point that the villain derived only a thin sliver of amusement from erotic displays, but the humiliation aspect of it did appeal to him. It was up to her to decide if entertaining him was worth it or if she wanted to just snatch the packet off the table.

I hope she will take all the time she needs, the stuff here will wait. Wishing her and ya'll the best!

HoundMan did his best to stay in control at Pirouette's behest, but relying on him for anything more than poise right now would be a lost cause for her; deductive reasoning wasn't his strong point. He was still somewhere back near the start of the interrogation in terms of understanding the mystery.

As for the Lady, Pirouette's words had just the opposite effect upon her. "You're right, I'm already deep in the hole! If you keep going down this road, you're going to throw some innocent people in there with me!" the angry woman shouted, banging her fists on the table as though she was willing to try anything to get Pirouette's attention. Any words that seemed focused on her own redemption were discarded out of hand; she seemed solely focused on encouraging Pirouette to let her take the fall that she'd been set up to take. However, hearing her loyalty questioned caused her to release a scoffing, humorless laugh. "I sure hope nobody else's loyalty to law and order on the net is ever tested like this, that's for damn sure."

If Pirouette liked seeing the officer sweat, there was someone else who liked it even more. The sadistic man sitting across from her grinned wider still; the blocks of his teeth flashed along with the rest of his body as he shuddered with laughter. "I appreciate that dedication to the naked truth, Pirouette. You're a model officer, not like Lady of the Night over there! Let's hear what else you have to say," he goaded her on, while resting his chin on both of his pointy palms. When she asked to dismiss herself, he covered his mouth to stop his own smirk. "Leaving me hanging at this critical juncture? Perhaps we're not so different after all! You seem to enjoy dishing out a little bullying yourself." He squirmed in his seat as he waited to be called upon again.

HoundMan had no idea what to expect when he was led away, but once he heard that she wanted to continue the interrogation alone, it was clear he wanted to object. Even as he questioned that order, he was confused further, receiving a kiss on the lips that caused his tail-like armor extension to stand upright. He was, perhaps, not the ideal kisser; he began hesitantly, as though still waiting on an explicit order to proceed. His hands remained frozen at his side for a moment longer, before moving to grab hold of her shoulders so that he could lean further into the embrace and return the gesture fully. It seemed a bit that if he was let off his leash, the kiss would probably involve a lot of tongue, but for now, he still played the part of an officer.

"Ma'am... Yes ma'am! When we're off duty, ma'am!" he returned, cracking another sharp salute as she regained her distance. That appendage behind him swung back and forth eagerly, as though he wanted to leave the room and get started right now...

... And why wouldn't he? There was nothing pleasant about the task left to Pirouette. She could hardly be blamed if she decided she wanted to run off with him now, but instead, she returned to her seat.

AppraisalMan immediately broke the silence with a quip: "You're looking about as aroused as I am now." When she continued on anyway, he shut his mouth, regaining some of his old, stoic demeanor as he watched her with half-lidded, bright blue eyes. "Ha ha ha!" he suddenly giggled, covering his mouth with one hand as his eyes bent back into crescents and he squirmed in his sight. "Pffft! One must suspect you're onto something with this corruption idea. If you managed to accomplish that much and drag them all out into the daylight, then I'd actually be some kind of hero for putting you on the trail, wouldn't I? Do you think I could get promoted within Internal Affairs?" he joked, while tapping his feet up and down like a child. "Of course I'll help you! I wouldn't have helped them build up their little sand castle if watching it fall into wet dirt wasn't going to be so wonderfully satisfying! On oh so many levels~"

Pirouette could probably trust that promise as far as she could throw it, but she continued on anyway. "Hehe! As you keep building yourself up as the savior, the one who's going to perform a corruption-ectemy on the NetPolice, I do have to admit, the possibility of seeing you crying into the backs of your hands and sobbing like a child grows more and more appealing. That's why this is such a win-win for me. There is no happy ending; one or the other proud individual will be left a quivering wreck by the end of it. Ah, no matter how it is, I just want to be involved~" he cooed, patting his hands up and down upon the table.

"Oh, dear, I would have told you for free at this point. But if you're giving favors, I'll certainly take one! How about... hmmmm... Why not call Disappearance back up and ask her about her time with HoundMan up to this point? For the past... how long was it? Many months, I think. Ask her what all she's been up to during that time," AppraisalMan clapped his hands together, then shifted in his seat and recrossed his legs. "Ah, or ignore it. We do have juicier topics to pursue."

Nodding eagerly with her inquiry, he folded his hands atop the table, trying to look more like a dignified businessman navi and less like a giddy child. "I have meticulous book-keeping showing funds paid throughout this department. There are some to NightMan, which, of course, trailed off sharply once he agreed to be my collateral. The nature of slave labor is you don't have to pay them. You will, of course, see Bank's name prominently featured there with a very large payout. The one who distributes the money must get the largest, yes? Oh, are you going to weight the sins and worthiness of punishment based on how well or poorly you suspect the recipients used the money?! I'd be very interested to see how that goes!"

He kicked his leg under the table gently, then raised one hand and began counting off his fingers just for show; there was no way a navi, especially not one like himself, needed to use his fingers to count. "Let's see... Beyond those... The other big ones are Aroma, FashionMan, and GolfMan. AlchemyMan used to be a big recipient, but he stopped receiving payments long ago. Have you not met them yet? My dear, if you've yet to meet those ones, then you've flipped ahead to the ending without reading all the chapters!" the glimmering man snickered. "Beyond that, the others are so small-time I can't remember their names, but I'm certain you'll see them all if you keep digging at this. When you do, I hope you remember not to let them put you in Virtucuffs, hm hm hm..."

"Once I'm allowed to access my files and resume work, I'll be happy to hand all of the evidence you want over to you. Though, the fact that I've been bold enough to name so many already must be encouraging, right?" he grinned widely. "Tell me, tell me! What are you going to do next? Should I expect to see them all in the interrogation room right behind me? What's your plan to bring the hammer down on these guys?" he questioned, tilting his head at an extreme angle once again. "If you want to see some really good evidence that I've let you on to something big, go tell Bank that you're on to her! That ought to be good for some laughs. I'd like to see her face when you tell her~"

"Oh darling, please. If I want to read you, I'll read you. I'm the kind of person who gets his kicks from swapping my own cover onto a book, not reading it," the blue diamond navi responded, keeping his wry smile and narrowing his eyes. "But I'm not angry about your refusal. After all, I already made very clear the intentions of my appraisal and the difficulty of raising it. I can hardly blame you for not rising to a challenge that you've already been told is futile."

After that quip, however, AppraisalMan really did get a surprise; for once, the crystalline mask of his face faltered a bit and his his hairless brow raised. Contrary to how he'd read into Pirouette's statement, it seemed his bluff was being called after all. If AppraisalMan was confused, HoundMan was even more so, staying as quiet as a mouse. The depth of his silence and the stillness of his face showed that he was probably expecting that kiss, all told.

Pirouette lay out the contradiction as she understood it; AppraisalMan gave that giddy smile, as though he was fighting his urge to jump in and give more hints, confirming details or shooting them down. He actually clasped both hands over his mouth to stop himself from interjecting.

"You have a point, Pirouette," Disappearance spoke over the other line. She sounded, perhaps, relieved that nothing too crazy had happened in the interviewing room. "It's strange that as AppraisalMan is feeling more loose-lipped, Lady is tightening up. Maybe it's just my interrogation technique."

As for HoundMan, he nodded along with her question, although she could easily wonder what she might see if he stood back up. AppraisalMan's grin showed that he was wondering as well and perhaps trying to ask him to stand up and present to the class, if he was really feeling sexually relieved. Instead, he stayed quiet and let Pirouette continue. Once she did, he just seemed to grow more excited. "Oh, please! Please keep Lady of the Night on the phone as we continue. I think she'll get a real kick out of this game of twenty questions we have going," the man giggled, rubbing his hands together with a scratch of stone upon stone.

"Very well! More hints. I would hate for you to think of me as a liar, of all things." He clapped his palms together with a clang, then grinned shamelessly. "You asked me who has such a stake in his keeping his moonlighting secret, correct? I answered you honestly: that's only him. Ha ha... You talk about bargaining power, but you've given me the ultimate win-win! You see, if you're a woman of your word, you'll owe me something very saucy after this juicy piece of information I'm about to give you. I, on the other hand, will derive terrible pleasure from giving you this same information, dooming our mutual friend in a way far larger than having his blossoming camgirl career exposed!"

"The son of a bitch has gone mad! Don't trust a thing he says-!" a woman's voice came from over the line, but he simply raised his hands and continued talking.

AppraisalMan's eyes were two tightly clenched crescents of sadistic pleasure as he showed all of his diamond teeth in a big grin. "You think I'm NightMan's blackmailer, right? That I somehow found out about his new hobby and then held it over him? False! A certain group of people gave me your superior as collateral, to do with as I pleased, and he willingly submitted to it! I chose a fun new career path for him and in return, they got oodles and oodles of money. Now you know my secret relationship with the lovely Lady of the Night. I think she'd finally gotten to the point she was enjoying herself too... Before you in the Police started really digging your heels in and investigating his disappearance along with my finances, that is."

His gems seemed to flash with light as his breathing quickened; suddenly, he was panting, now seeming sexually excited for the first time. "You said you'll treat me as an honest person, if just for this exercise, right? Then believe me a bit further: one of NightMan's own allies is the one who granted me the use of NightMan! And why did he submit to that order? Because he's a loyal officer! He's not so different from Disappearance, you see? Both such good officers, following orders unquestioningly for so long!" He dug the sharpened points of his teeth into his lip with a quiet moan. "Mmm! Someone tried to tell you to let NightMan take the fall for this, didn't they? That person tried to cut off your means of investigation, didn't they? Remember? Didn't all of that happen?"

HoundMan stared in confusion, while slowly rising to his feet, holding one hand against his wrist as though he was prepared to activate a sword at any moment. The reason was evident: AppraisalMan was quickly becoming a completely different person, no longer a stone-faced sadist, but instead, a quivering wreck of ecstasy. The fact that his body was flashing like a broken LED screen was proof of that.

"Allow me one more puzzle, Pirouette! A hint to a question you haven't even asked me yet! I can't hold it in any longer!" he quivered, his face flushing darker blue as sparkles gleamed off of his body. "Maybe this will be the final piece that lets you put it all together! You were asking me about the wrong secret. The fact that NightMan is posing as a prostitute is hardly critical. It's the kind of hobby someone can enjoy, even. Harmless, victimless. There is a much larger secret, one that affects so many other people! Keep digging at it please! I can't wait to see the landslide-- the avalanche! Carelessly brushing over all the dominoes to clean the floor has the same end result as if you'd flicked over the starting tile! Ask me what the collaborator did with that loan I gave them. Pleeease?" Now it was his turn to beg, as he tossed and turned in his seat like an over-anxious child.

Lady of the Night spoke over Disappearance in the other room. "Officer Pirouette, every moment you spend talking to this lunatic is not just wasted, but dangerous! Look what he did to me! AppraisalMan is a slow, corrupting poison; you don't want any part of this trap he's setting!" It sounded like she was freaking out about as hard as AppraisalMan was. "He's dragging you, Disappearance, and HoundMan into something you won't be able to climb back out of! Believe me as your senior officer, if just on this last point, then lock me up or whatever you have to do. You have to drop it!" Disappearance could probably cut the line or force NightMan to stay quiet, but she evidently thought there might be some value in listening to him.

"Poison?! Is that any way to talk about your master?" the gem-like maniac cackled. "Hey, ask me Pirouette. Ask me ask me ask me. Ask me what they did with my loan, then ask me as many more questions about it as you feel like. You can leave your clothes on if you want. This is the stuff I really enjoy~"

In at least one sense, Piroutte found that HoundMan was quite capable of keeping it up for her. He'd been sporting the same uncomfortably apparent, throbbing affliction since the moment the two had entered together and started their master and pet routine. At any rate, he received the message and tried very, very hard not to return the sort of sharp salute that came naturally to him as a form of affirmation.

Luckily, as aggravated as he was, positive reinforcement turned out to be a pretty good motivator for him too. Following the instructions, he asked: "Would you like to appraise my bitch a little more closely? Aroo?"

For once, AppraisalMan chose not to hinder progress. Smiling, but not so much as shifting in the seat otherwise, the man grinned wider and nodded. "Oh, by all means. Please do."

The dog-armored officer approached the side of the screen and released it, allowing Pirouette to fall forward, then quickly running back to allow her the slack in the leash she needed. This maneuver could have ended pretty painfully if Pirouette hadn't had the foresight to significantly lengthen the rope. Once she'd fallen through to the other side, AppraisalMan lowered his workman's glass to inspect her with the naked eye instead, wearing a pleased expression that seemed right at home on a wealthy man, but still a might strange for one detained by the NetPolice.

Even then, with her womanhood presented so thoroughly to AppraisalMan, it was hard to break the sense that HoundMan was being affected by it far more greatly than the intended recipient (unless, despite Pirouette's determination to stay focused, the movements really were for her fellow officer's benefit).

His interest did seem to perk up once she began asking questions. "The dog can talk!" he joked, then clapped both hands lightly with a jeweled, jingling noise. "She talks and more! Hm hm. Please, continue." The first question caused his eyes to shimmer with a sadistic light and his grin widened all the further, now nearly bisecting the angular, narrow flat of his face. "Oh? You want to know? There's no going back once you know, you know?" Without giving her time to reconsider- as unlike as it was that she would have- he continued. "Ah, well, this is one of these situations where you've phrased the question in a way that keeps me from giving you the good stuff. The truth? No one is relying on that particular secret not becoming known, except for NightMan. He's the only one that stands to lose from it getting out. Well, I suppose I also lose that one little blackmail card I've had hovering over him, but we're both just waiting for that shoe to drop, in all honesty. He knows I'm sadistic enough that eventually, my lips are going to get loose. Please, do tell anyone you'd like! I'll find that endlessly amusing. Maybe his coworkers will start showing up to her performances!"

Annoyingly, it sounded like he had sort of evaded the question, but there might still be something useful to take from that answer. The next question caused him to smile more sympathetically. "Oh, my dear... What a question. I'll answer as truthfully as I've answered everything else. Nothing you can do will make me raise my appraisal to that level now that you've said you want it. My greatest delight is guiding others to improve. If you reach a level we're both so satisfied with, you'll have nowhere left to go, will you? You can reach... 69. 69.999999, even! But I will not allow you to reach 70. Or will I?"

HoundMan looked like he was dying to step inside the room himself and hear what was being said, but instead, he allowed her to continue whispering without listening in... Unless his canine hearing was advanced enough to let him hear anyways, that is. His blank frown and unblinking eyes betrayed very little of his emotions right now, although other parts of his anatomy left at least one emotion pretty evident.

"These questions are very entertaining, Pirouette! Please, feel free to ask more. Oh, and if you'd like that appraisal at 70, I did think of something I'd enjoy. If you were to sexually relieve that fine gentleman behind you- however you see fit- while narrating the contents of one of the messages you've been sending outside the room as you perform this interrogation, I think I'd enjoy that experience quite thoroughly. No, not just narrate it! I want to hear you speaking on an open channel with whoever you're talking to. You can leave their voice private, if you like. I'd also like to watch. If you do that... easily, 70! I'd be happy to give you 70." The man's shoulders shook with the giggle building from his chest into his throat, as he grinned almost literally from ear to ear. "You don't have any reason to object, do you?"

While Pirouette would be forced to struggle with her greatest internal debate in a more direct sense than ever, Disappearance's message came through from the other room.

Quote (Disappearance)

"He's clammed up, Pirouette. I'll need another technique or another lead if I'm going to get anything else out of him. He just keeps telling me to stop poking at it. How's it going with AppraisalMan? Is HoundMan doing okay?"

Police work and animal behavior continued in parallel as Pirouette shot another message to Disappearance, all the while pawing at the screen separating herself and AppraisalMan. No response came right away from the other girl... doubtless she was refocusing her efforts and would send a message once she'd learned something new.

Whatever HoundMan needed to calm himself, it wasn't having his inappropriately returned by the push of Pirouette's rear end against his own groin, nor the puppy-dog eyes she was giving him, whether they were acting or genuine. The sudden, adorable head-patting and nuzzling routine seemed in contradiction with the very, very obvious boner he was sporting. He tried to keep himself contented with gently scratching at her hair; the answer via direct message took a bit for him to compose.

Quote (HoundMan)

I'll follow your lead, ma'am. Do whatever you think you need to!

For how long he'd paused, it wasn't much of a message. Doubtless, he'd mentally typed and retyped the message a few times before transmitting.

AppraisalMan's smile remained amused... whereas HoundMan looked flustered, uncomfortable, and painfully aroused, he looked calm, comfortable, and annoyingly either very well in control of his libido or completely lacking in that department. His angular chin rested upon the back of his knuckles, both so sharp they would have cut the other, if not for both being made of the same jagged crystals.

Seeing the sign, HoundMan ran forward, then coughed into one fist. His voice came out in a kind of a growl a few times, before he finally managed to make the words come out right. "Well, AppraisalMan? How would you appraise my.... bitch?" The disrespectful word sounded so foreign coming out of his mouth that even he seemed confused once he said it.

AppraisalMan may not have looked like he was sporting much of an erection beneath that robe of his, but he did seem delighted by the recent developments, evidenced by the crescent shape of his smiling eyes and the gemstones flashing inside his mouth, shaped like a human's teeth. "Appraisal, hm? The numerical system... it's fallen a little out of fashion by now. Do you really still want it, HoundMan?" He seemed determined to drag the conversation out longer than Pirouette's somewhat straight-shooting partner probably wanted.

The dog-like man growled for a moment, then coughed the growl to a stop again. "Yes, please."

"As a cute doggie? I'd give her a 50/100. She's very cute. That's not what you asked though, is it? As a bitch? Hmmmmm..." The man stroked his chin lightly with two slender fingers, then shrugged with an annoyingly uncaring smile. "Does she meet that description? Perhaps it's time you made her your bitch, officer. It looks to me like she's the one leading you around... As a bitch, she's more like a 2/100. I can hardly call such a talented, attention-commanding actress a bitch, can I? Now, as her bitch, I'd say you're a solid 30/100!"

HoundMan didn't know how to respond to that one; the other guy was obviously moving the goal-posts in order to get under Houndman's (and possibly Pirouette's) skin, seeing he was the weak link in the team.

Distracting Pirouette from her current situation, another message came through.

Quote (Disappearance)

He told me something weird. He told me that his predicament isn't about him... It was like something out of the movies. He got real quiet and said a lot of people were relying on this info not getting out, not just him. He started mumbling and said something about money... I asked if he was saying that he used his Lady-of-the-Night stint to bring in money and he kind of laughed and said, "sort of." I really don't know what to make of it. He told me "it looks like I'm set up to take the fall, so just let me take it already." He seems like he's run out of hope that he can escape the situation in any kind of favorable situation. I have to assume that whatever arrangement he had with AppraisalMan, he thinks it's all over now... 'All over' in a bad way, I mean.

I'm trying to calm him down about the adult actress thing. It's not like it's a punishable offense. It's okay to have hobbies and all that. But he just keeps making this sigh like I'm missing the point.

Is it possible AppraisalMan is paying him to be Lady-of-the-Night? That doesn't seem quite right either, does it?

Is it instead possible that NightMan has finances tied up in AppraisalMan's businesses that he's using to fund something? I can't imagine what, though...

Any way you could get some more information from AppraisalMan in there? How's it going?

"Roger roger, ma'am," HoundMan saluted once more, leaving on his standard gear and allowing Pirouette to touch it up. Ordinarily, that sort of attention might have set him alert and excited, but the bar for that kind of reaction had gotten pretty high, at least until today's event finished.

Once she went in and got started, HoundMan's rapt attention became an issue; she found her leash tugging on her neck as HoundMan failed to advance along with her, instead standing by the doorway. Once he saw her straining, he quickly bounded forward to follow her, with all due speed but not exactly the grace that Pirouette was putting into her dog performance. They both appeared to be playing the part of the over-eager dog instead of the master.

AppraisalMan watched quietly; his lips were curled into a smile, as always, though his gem-like teeth were hidden; he hadn't broken a grin. He remained totally quiet throughout the performance; it was easy imagine that habit of his led the other officers to desperately beg him for an appraisal at some point so they could break off acting and may have been punished in their appraisals for doing so, if there was any rhyme or reason to his system. His smug expression still seemed eager for something... it was hard to tell if that smile was asking for a pause in the action to offer his wisdom, or perhaps threatening that if the show stopped, the critique would begin.

For his part, HoundMan was having a hard time doing any acting at all; he was standing ram-rod straight with the leash in range, his lip pulled up tight and his ears twitching sharply at various parts of the performance. Pirouette had been worried she was going to need to reign in AppraisalMan if he got handsy, but remembering her earlier training with HoundMan, it seemed it was taking every bit of his discipline not to go wild, with her butt almost fully exposed and often shaking playfully in his direction. A small whimper had built inside his throat, making his issue painfully clear.

As she'd worried, he was in no frame of mind to request an appraisal. AppraisalMan, for his part, seemed to be in no hurry to give one. Something about this situation seemed to amuse him the more it went on; a grin began to break through, showing his shiny crystalline teeth.

Pirouette would perhaps begin to fear the worst (best?) as she felt HoundMan approach her from behind, leaning his head over her shoulder. As it turned out, he was just trying to whisper to her, intentionally or unintentionally forgetting that private messaging would be the best way to go about doing so. "Sometimes he takes a long time to give an appraisal," he warned her, his voice already ragged with exertion. Pirouette could feel something very unprofessional brushing against one side of her thigh from time to time, in this position. "Keep tapping the glass if you want me to lower it for you."

It was a dangerous proposition, but he clearly sensed that Pirouette wouldn't have mentioned the glass if she didn't want him to lower it at some point. Whatever the case, AppraisalMan was keeping his name-sake from them in a surprisingly stingy manner.

Pirouette probably wouldn't care about it much now, given her own trials, but she received a message from Disappearance as well, outlining how the other interrogation was going.

Quote (Disappearance)

"NightMan has apparently been working as Lady-of-the-Night, an adult actress. He's asked me not to spread that around. He also says that AppraisalMan has nothing to do with it other than using it to blackmail him. I asked him why and he said it's just a hobby. I take that to mean it's something he does for his own enjoyment. Doesn't sound like AppraisalMan is making him do it, but that could be a lie. My understanding is that AppraisalMan found out about it and used it to blackmail him... but honestly, that doesn't seem sufficient to explain the hold AppraisalMan has over NightMan, does it? If it was just that he knew about the acting, NightMan could have called it a fabrication or denied the allegations. Either he has some more concrete evidence, or else, NightMan has committed some other crime AppraisalMan is holding over him.

... Or then again, maybe NightMan is just really embarrassed about it and doesn't want it getting out, even as a rumor... I'll keep digging.