Unlike during previous visits, there doesn't appear to be any activity outside of the building. The building looks largely the same as the last time Renala was here, though the area around the building shows a marked improvement, with decorative shrubbery now lining the building as well as the large fence surrounding the perimeter being fully repaired.
#RedrockAgency – February 16, 2014
Renala arrives at the building, in armor with a Locust strapped to her hip. She looks around the area, a little perplexed by the lack of activity outside. She makes her way through the gate and towards the entrance.
The door slides open, revealing the lobby, which is now in a mostly-finished state. The boxes have been removed since her last visit, and all that remains is the receptionist's desk, chairs lining the wall, and a few paintings. There's nobody in the lobby, but the door behind it is unlocked.
Renala glances around the lobby, but makes her way through and opens the door she remembers lead into the room they had their briefing in.
The door slides open. The 'briefing room' appears to be pretty much the same as before, although there's a noticable lack of coffee in the coffee pot. Jason, wearing his usual blue-and-white hardsuit, is sitting atop a desk, using the desk's chair as a footrest in front of Mendez' desk. Mendez is at his desk, fully armored, and leaning back in his chair. The two seem to be engaged in a conversation.
Leah, who is just wearing a brown hooded jacket, some form fitting pants, and a pair of large black boots, seems to be doing her own thing at her desk, not paying much attention to the other two.
Jason shakes his head profusely at Mendez. "Not a chance. Asajura blows it out of the water. It's not even a comparison." he says, waving off whatever it is the larger man said.
Mendez snorts loudly, "How can you even think that!? You're from Earth!" the man shouts, his deep voice carrying well throughout the room, "Football is a real sport."
Renala enters through the door, glancing around the room; nodding in greeting to the people present. "I used to love Asajura," she announces casually as she makes her way over to a deask near the other two. "So, what's up?"
Jason looks towards the asari. "See? At least someone here doesn't have their head up their ass." he says, hopping off the desk, "Sorry for the short notice, Renala. Just had a lot to deal with these past few days and wasn't sure how to handle this. Looks like we're just going to be jumping right in."
Mendez looks up at Renala without making much effort to move from his spot. "Looks like it's going to be you and me today, princess." he says plainly.
Renala nods, raising an eyebrow at the other human's nickname for her; though doesn't commend on it. "Nothing to worry about, I'd just be sitting on my ass working on my door-opener otherwise," she says. "What's the job, then?"
Jason taps at his omni-tool a few times, causing the screen against the far wall to turn on. A picture of a human male who looks to be in his late 40s or early 50s appears on the screen. "That's Jonathan Perkins. Works for Hnipinn Minerals." he says, glancing over his shoulder at the screen before retaking his seat on the corner of the desk. "Well he did before he stopped showing up for work last week without any warning. His employer hasn't been able to get in touch with him since." Jason gives a frustrated sigh, "We have a security contract with Hnipinn, and they suddenly think that this means we should be the ones looking into their missing workers. Obviously that's ridiculous since it didn't take place at the mine, but we're not really in a position to fight with them. I'd like to avoid losing this contract if at all possible, so we're going to do a little looking around, see what we can find."
Renala hums thoughtfully. "Do we have something to go on?" she asks, "or do they see us turning every little rock in and around the town?"
Mendez glances towards Renala, "He's the third one to go missing in less than two months." Mendez says, attempting to further fill the asari in, "I run security over there. I just watch the place overnight. Make sure nobody tries to sneak inside, steal anything, stuff like that. Nothing too big."
Jason shakes his head at Renala's question. "To be honest? Not really. Maybe if they brought us in on this when it started... The first one that pulled a vanishing trick, Laurence Shaw, was a bit of a loner. His apartment has already been rented to a new tenant. His shit was probably just tossed out." Jason leans back, putting his hands flat against the desk to balance, "So there's not much chance at us finding anything there. But I made a few calls, talked to a couple of Perkins friends, and found out he was dating someone, thought it was getting serious, too. They said she had just moved in with him. So I want the two of you to go to his place and talk to her. See what she has to say." Jason gives a slight shrug, "It's as good of a place to start as any, right?"
Renala nods in agreement. "Yeah, it sounds like our best chance so far," she says. "So, how are we approaching her? I don't know about her, but I wouldn't consdier two armed mercs knocking on my door as anything but trouble."
Mendez looks from Jason to the asari and back. A small smile creases his lips, "A little fear make loosen her lips." he suggests grimly.
Jason shakes his head at the man's comment. "No. Renala is right. Leave the weaponry behind. We're not trying to scare the poor woman... I don't see why she'd be against helping us when she realizes we're trying to help her. Besides-..." he continues, furrowing his brow, "Show a little compassion... Her boyfriend just disappeared. She's probably going through a lot right now."
Renala nods. "Don't worry, I'll be nice," she says with a smirk. "But I have my biotics if she seems to be somehow in on it." She places her Locust on the desk.
Mendez sighs and stands up. He unfolds his M-23 Katana from his back and sets it on his desk. "Don't you dare touch it." he threatens, pointing at Jason with an accusatory stare. "And for the record, I was kidding." he adds.
Jason nods at the asari, "Just be patient with her. Like I said, she's probably going through a lot right now. He then turns to Mendez with a wink, "Don't worry, big guy... It's in good hands." he teases, "And maybe we'd know when you were kidding if you had more than one facial expression. Seriously, I was considering picking you up some laxatives. You look tense."
Mendez gives Jason the finger and turns towards the door. "I'll have a shuttle sent to pick us up. Meet me out front when you're done dealing with his shit, princess." the large man says as he stomps out of the room.
Renala stands up, as well, chuckling. "Will do, stone-face," she says. She turns towards Jason. "Is there anything else I should know about all this?"
Jason waits until Mendez has left the room, and passes a glance towards Leah, who appears to be lost in whatever is on the datapad she's reading. Jason leans in and clasps a hand on the asari's shoulder, "Yeah..." he says, before quickly shaking his head, "No... Not about this, anyways. But the salarian at the bar, the one that contracted us? I spoke with him..." Jason sighs, "It's not good. He didn't have much to say about his part in-... Well, whatever that was at the Respite. But he did seem pretty upset with our interference. He also said it was a mistake for us to let the turian's 'second-in-command' go." Jason shakes his head, "Just keep your eyes peeled."
Renala raises her brows. "What?" she says. "Oh, fuck, that can't be good. I've seen her around, so she would definitely recognize us if they have pictures of us."
Jason shakes his head, "There's nothing we can do about that right now. We did our job. We were paid for the turian. We handled the turian. If it manages to find its way back to us... We'll deal with it." he says, purposely remaining vague as he removes his hand from Renala's shoulder, "Right now, let's focus on one thing at a time. Mendez has the address."
Renala steps back. "Yeah," she says. "I'll do more than kick her in the head if I see Miss Singularity around... so for her sake, they better not. Might have to get to her before Victoria, though." She smirks.
Jason chuckles and takes a step towards Mendez' desk, placing a gauntleted hand on the Katana, "I try to operate on the belief 'we've got nothing to worry about, until we do' so I'm not going to let it keep me up. I just thought you should know. Pass along the word to the others if you talk to them before I do. Just so they have a heads up."
Renala glances towards the door out. "I'm not much of an optimist, people keep telling me," she says with a smrik, "but yeah, I won't let it bother me too much. And I'll let the others know if I see them." She starts making her way out of the room.
Jason nods to himself before seeming to remember something. "Oh!" he calls out after her, "I hired your friend... He's going to be working as security at the Respite." he says, "I didn't make a mistake, did I?"
Renala turns back to face Jason, smiling. "No, you haven't," she says. "He's a good man, and I'm sure he'll keep the place safe."
Mendez is standing beside a shuttle with the door open. He raises his arms as he spots Renala exiting in the building, as if to ask 'What took you so long?' He sighs and climbs into the shuttle, causing it to visibly lean to one side.
Renala crosses the distance between here and the shuttle with slightly quicker steps, kind of getting what the human meant. She climbs into the shuttle on the other side wordlessly.
Mendez glares at the asari for a moment before relaying the address to the driver and taking a seat.
Mendez sighs and leans his head back against the shuttle wall. "I'm sorry, princess. It's this fucking job." he slams a fist against the seat, causing a loud thump, "We shouldn't even be getting involved. They're practically blackmailing us! I'm down at Hnipinn Minerals every night. There's just a skeleton crew. I do my job. I know this couldn't have happened during my watch. The employees that went missing don't even work during my watch!
Renala frowns. "It's not like they could have called the police to report it," she says. "If Jason accepted the contract and assigned us to it.... Or is there anything more to it that I'm missing?"
Mendez shakes his head, "This isn't a contract. They're saying that since we run security for them, it's on us to figure out what happened with their employees. All the contract is for, is a night watch. That's it. I patrol the area and make sure nobody tries to sneak in after hours. They know that we can't afford to lose their business, so they're strong arming us into this."
Renala sighs. "Oh, that's bad," she says. "Are we going to get any sort of compensation for tihs, or are they just being assholes?"
Mendez shakes his head once again, "Nothing outside of the normal monthly payment we receive. I'm sure Jason will kick a little extra our way, but he'll be taking a hit on this one."
Renala | "I wonder what made them think they were so important?" she says. "It doesn't have to be that much. I'm still living on my pay from the last job."
Mendez gives a shrug. "No idea, princess." he says, "Guessing it can't be too easy finding employees qualified to run those machines in a place like Freedom Falls." He glances out the shuttle window for a moment before looking back at the asari, "I knew Jonathan." he says plainly.
Mendez | "Well... I guess I didn't know him. But I seen him just about every day. He would be leaving work just as I was showing up for my shift. We spoke every now and then. Just idle talk, but he seemed like a nice enough guy." He leans forward in his seat a bit, "Don't get me wrong. I don't mind helping these folks. I just don't like having my choice taken away from me."
Renala frowns. "I'm sorry," she says. "We'll find him. And maybe the others too, if their disappearance is linked."
The shuttle begins to slow down and the driver speaks up, "It's right up here on your left." he says as he pulls the shuttle over.
Mendez nods wordlessly to the asari as the driver calls out. He stands and exchanges a credit chit with the man before opening the shuttle door and hopping out, causing the shuttle to teeter back and forth slightly.
Renala waits for him to pay for the fare and steps out of the shuttle, before walking around it to meet up with him.