| Undercovers Passing in the Bar |
| Summary: | Caitlin Fairchild, a mole inside Project: Rebirth, slips out to send more of her encrypted message traffic to Professor Xavier. The bar she chooses happens to be where a SHIELD undercover agent is monitoring some Eastern European scumbags. |
| Date: | 2014-08-08 |
| Related: | Various |
| NPCs: | NA |
| Scene Runner: | NA |
| Social/Plot: | Plot |
| Players: |
 .. .. |
Caitlin Fairchild signs out from the base and hops onto the bus that leads to New York City. She makes it in at Penn Station and hails a cab. For some reason she has no reason with getting someone to stop for her. She makes it to her usual spot, Jack's Pub, at the usual time. She makes her way in and smiles sheepishly to the bartender before taking a seat in a corner booth. She orders a beer before pulling out her phone.
A moderately upscale English pub in New York City isn't where one would expect to find a wretched hive and scum and villainy. And to be fair, that isn't what's going on in Jack's Pub. But there /are/ some overseas folks who are in town, and have gravitated here for their evening's entertainments. And that is why a particular SHIELD agent has been carefully embedded here as a waitress, so that she can serve drinks and observe the gun runners, without raising any suspicions. The tall redhead comes in, and the average-height black woman with very short hair nods to her when she takes a seat at the booth. She walks over, smiles, slides a coaster down, and asks what she can get, then returns with the beer as she starts up a tab. "Anything else you need?" she queries in a lovely British accent.
Caitlin Fairchild blushes as she looks up and shakes her head. "No, thank you. I.. probably won't be here overly long. Thank you." She says, trying to be as polite as possible. She pushes her glasses up higher on her nose as they continue to slide down. Once the coast is clear, Cait takes out a small device and hooks it up to her smartphone through the data jack.
Nanali nods. "Certainly, Ma'am. Your tab will be at the register." That said, the black woman backs off, and keeps doing her job. She keeps her senses peeled, wondering about the redhead. She notes the scrambler attached to the phone, and activates one of her tap-trace units in the tiny pocket of her apron to try to catch what she can of the call. This woman doesn't look like she'd be associated with her targets. But one never knows.
Caitlin Fairchild takes a couple swigs of her beer, attempting to look normal. The files are already on the phone, and encrypted. All she needs to do is scramble the frequency and connect to the specific cell tower that had been set up specifically for this purpose. She taps the screen and begins the upload once the frequency is set. She puts the phone to the side as she looks around the bar, taking in stock of all the patrons, including the crew with the Eastern European accent getting louder by the round.
There are no telltales for the tap-trace unit in Nanali's apron, so she won't know until later that it failed to grab the redhead's call, since its' frequency spread wasn't aimed at a standard tower. She'll have a mystery to deal with then. She too is keeping an eye on the Eastern European contingent, though she's doing so under the guise of asking them what else she can get for them. she doesn't mind the noise, and it's helping her to get an idea of who will be more talkative when and if they get them into interrogation. That won't be tonight, of course.
Caitlin Fairchild checks the phone. Due to it connecting only to one tower, the upload takes a bit of time. Any additional towers would add exponentially to the risk of getting caught. She's about 25 percent done. She finishes her beer and motions for Nanali when the busy woman gets a chance to come by. "Could I.. get another beer and an order of nachos, please?" She glances over at the group, motioning. "They're new. Are they treating you good?" She asks, deciding to emerge from her mousy shell in order to make herself less of a target.
The attractive black woman with the British accent smiles and returns to Caitlin's table soon enough, after delivering another round of drinks to the Eastern European contingent. "Certainly." she offers, getting that added to the tally on the phone she's using for order-tabulation. "Mmm?" she queries, then glances in the direction of that little motion of the redhead's. "Then? They're OK. A little grabby, but nothing I can't handle. We'll see how well they tip. They're enough that the eighteen percent is required, not optional." She notes one of the men getting out his phone, and her hand disappears into her apron to activate another tap-trace unit, hoping to record everything she can of the call. "You have lovely eyes." she comments to Caitlin. "You should consider contact lenses. You could show them off better." Of course, with Caitlin's curves, who would ever look at her eyes? Apparently, Nanali would.
Caitlin Fairchild notices the motion of the hand and the apron, but she just takes it to be something completely innocent. She nods. "Well, I hope you do well then. This isn't the seventies, when that kind of thing was expected, nevermind tolerated." She scoffs, sharing a bit of a girl-power attitude. She thanks the woman for the add to the order, making sure to keep in mind she leaves a good tip, but not too good. She doesn't want to stand out. The compliment completely dumbfounds the young woman. "Wha… Oh!" She blushes, her face almost as red as her hair. "I… thank you." She says as her gaze goes to the table, stuck there a while before raising back up to the woman's face. "I.. work in a lab. With chemicals. Contacts are unsafe due to spills, or particles getting trapped, so.. glasses it is." She smiles, continuing to blush. So much for trying to stay inconspicuous. "Oh!" She says, as an after-thought, her manners kicking in. "You.. shouldn't be here." She points to Time Square. "You should be out there." She says, awkwardly. "Oh! I mean, on a billboard, not.. walking around like a pro…" She shuts up, shaking her head. "Thank you." Genius, huh? You can MacGyver a phone out of twine and a thimble but you can't take a compliment.
Nanali chuckles softly at the redhead's awkward attempts, but apparently doesn't take any offense at any of it. "Well, I can understand why you need to wear glasses at work. But you're not at work anymore." She notes the comment about a lab, and chemicals, and files that away with all of the other details about the tall, gorgeous redhead. Definitely a mystery there, and part of her wants to crack it. But Caitlin isn't her assignment tonight. The Europeans are. "You're right, though. It's not the seventies. But if I cause a stir by rejecting them completely, the tip won't be nearly as good, and they won't stay and rack up a bill." That said, she slips away to put in Caitlin's order, and will be back soon with that beer and those nachos. Yum!
Caitlin Fairchild nods slightly. "Possibly. I'll look into it. Thank you." She then nods. "True. The hospitality business is a complicated one. How to make the most money while holding on to as much dignity as possible." She says, not intending it to be an insult even if it does sound like one. She smiles and sends a little wave to the woman as she walks away. She checks the phone again, this time it's 50 percent. She sighs, a bit disheartened since she never receives word back. She hopes that Charles is well and still getting this intel, or else the risk is for nothing.
The Eastern Europeans get a bit more rowdy, and it's up to Nanali to walk over there and calm them down, talking them into another round and some snacks. As expected, she has to put up with some overeager hands, but she does so adroitly and calmly, without letting anything escalate or become confrontational. It's an art form. And it gives her a chance to place a few more tracers and bugs on them in the process. Then she returns to put in their orders, and comes back with Caitlin's, delivering it with a smile. "Don't worry. My dignity is intact. But thanks for caring." she smiles. "I hope your recharger there is working. I know I always get a bit crazy when my phone dies on me. You waiting on a call?"
Caitlin Fairchild smiles and nods, thanking the woman once again for the order.She pales slightly when the woman mentions the phone, and the "charger". "Oh! This? Well, I'm waiting for an email, actually. No one really uses these to actually make voice calls anymore." She smiles and shrugs. "The phone shouldn't die on me. I'm pretty good with those things." Hush now, back away from the topic. She grabs a few of the nachos and tries them, giving a smile. "They're great, thank you." She says. "You must be new. I'm here every friday and this is the first time that I've seen you working here." Turn the tables…
Nanali smiles and nods, apparently accepting Caitlin's words for true. At least, she doesn't question them. "I am new. I've worked in similar places, but when I moved I needed to find a new job. It's been good, so far." She doesn't seem to mind having the tables turned. Then again, she's a professional spy with her cover story in place and well-studied, natural. "I'll have to keep you in mind for next Friday." she comments.
Caitlin Fairchild smiles and nods. "Please do." She says, as she sips her beer, grabs a few nachos, and checks the phone. 75 percent.
The lovely black woman with the British accent continues to maintain excellent customer service, while keeping an eye on her primary mission objective, and whatever she has left for the mysterious redhead with the curves, wondering just what secrets she's keeping. That there are some is obvious to her. She'll be even more convinced of that when she discovers that her tap-trace unit got nothing on Caitlin's call. But if there really is another Friday night, then she'll be able to do more about it then. Surveillance on the Eastern Europeans, though, has already yielded enough intel to bust up at least seven criminal enterprises engaged in felonies, and possibly more before the night is out, all without arresting any of the ones she has been watching tonight. What a treasure trove they are!
Caitlin Fairchild finishes her nachos and beer just as a slight *ping* is heard from the phone. She checks it and smiles as it reaches 100 percent. She cleans up her area, placing the two beer glasses on the plates. She stands, not looking at all tipsy or sluggish from the beer or the food. She makes her way over to pay the tab, cash in hand. No need to leave a paper trail. "Thanks for everything." She says to the woman. "I hope tonight was worth it."
"I'm sure it was. See you next week." Nanali offers, as she cashes out Caitlin and sees her off. Definitely a profitable if very curious evening. Imagine the mysteries!
Jack's Pub — Chelsea
A low lit, well furnished, standard English bar. Jack's Pub has quiet music playing in the background, sometimes an actual piano is being played for tips. The bar itself is located in the center part of the room and is well manicured, polished, and decorated. The waitress' all wear short, black skirts, yet still hold the feel of beauty and elegance. The bartenders all wear tuxedo shirts and bottoms and have a smile wanting to serve you.
- Contents:
- Caitlin Fairchild
- Obvious Exits:
- [O] - Chelsea and Garment District -