Charlotte looked up from the folder and realized everyone was shooting her glances as they too looked through their packets. Dimitri cleared his throat and brought all attention back to him.
"Officially, this is just a preliminary, cautious investigation," he said, and his voice was carefully level. "GeneCo, as I know we all know, is a company that has been rising in profit steadily and rapidly in the last five years. I spoke with the Senator on Friday about what he and his team have been looking into. Obviously I told him that I'd prefer he never met any of you, but he insisted that he explain to you his interest in this company." Dimitri looked a little exasperated. He walked to the wall, where a remote activator linked to a projector that floated silently near the ceiling above the conference table. He pressed several buttons, and the projector came to life with a quiet hum. A moment later, it was throwing light onto the table in front of the team. The light morphed before their eyes into the shape of a man – or at least his chest and above. Dimitri dimmed the lights very slightly as the figure began to speak.
"Good morning, agents," Senator Hammond spoke. "I wish I could be there to meet with you in person, but I of course completely understand your director's need to reveal your faces to as little people as possible, and I fully respect that need for anonymity. That's what helps you get the job done undercover, after all! But I wanted to find some way to talk to you, to stress the importance of the job you are about to undertake."
Hammond's recording was rotating slowly on the spot, so when his face reached Charlotte, she could see that he was an older, balding man, with thick-rimmed glasses and a beard a couple of days old. He looked ahead, trying to imagine the people he might be talking to, as all recordings did when they were speaking to a camera.
"My team and I, which consists of eight other representatives in government, have been tasked with looking into privately owned companies, banks and various corporations. In some cases, we look at shareholders and benefactors of these companies, those that much invested or lots to lose. We're not advertising what we're doing, but we're not a secret group either. Mostly we have existed to remind companies that the government is not standing for the reckless behavior which has slowly been bankrupting our country for the past 60 years.
"Our council has found some rather disconcerting information concerning GeneCo, which you may have heard of. If you're not familiar with the company, GeneCo provides artificial skin and muscle tissue mostly, for plastic surgeons and hospitals across the country and some internationally. Their stock has been rising rapidly in the past couple of years, mostly because of the country's growing obsession with plastic surgery." Hammond's recording looked dismissive. "But the government has also put some amount of funding into GeneCo, because of the health benefits we see from their work – after all, they do supply our hospitals with much needed resources, such as various surgical machinery and of course, their artificial tissue for replacement. The company is also expanding into medical research."
Again the glances toward Charlotte to see her reaction. She stared ahead at Hammond.
"In other words, GeneCo is primed to become one of the largest and most profitable companies in the country," Hammond summarized. "Now this may all sound like great stuff, nothing wrong at all. But we're a little uneasy about this rapid expanding, and if the government is going to continue to support GeneCo, then I've got orders that we need to take a closer look. That's where you all come in. I can't exactly storm into the offices of GeneCo and demand to see their books, their labs, and their lists. We need you to build a basic profile of the company, and learn a little bit more about its leadership, what they're working on, and what their goals are.
"Dimitri has promised me he will fill you in on anything else you need to know, but I wanted to address you in order to stress the importance of this job. I understand I have not given you much to go on, but I really need you all, whoever you are, to find out everything you can about this company. Thank you for your service to our country." Hammond nodded and the recording flickered and switched off. Dimitri pulled the lights back up to their normal strength.
The team was quiet, looking confusedly at Dimitri.
"Look," he said, his voice guarded, "I know this doesn't sound exactly like one of our normal jobs – no international terrorism, no mobsters attempting robbery. But the Senator came to me, very earnest in his belief that there is something going on behind the scenes at GeneCo that is a bit… undesirable. So all we're going to do is build a profile, a blueprint of the company. That's it. Shouldn't be a long job, because it's all research and some undercover."
"Undesirable?" Mike asked, the skepticism in his voice plain.
"That's what I've been told," Dimitri said.
"So, he didn't give you any specifics on why he wants the FBI to infiltrate this company and learn all of its dirty little secrets?" Mike pushed. Dimitri frowned.
"Specifics – not exactly. He's got his own team and sources to protect as well," Dimitri said. "What he was able to tell me was that GeneCo's upper management has not been especially forthcoming with any kind of information, even when Hammond explained that in order for the U.S. government to continue to finance some of GeneCo's production, they would need to know more about all their business deals and their research. Hammond's impression was that they've got more going on behind the scenes then they're letting on publicly. Hammond wants to know about it, but he wants to keep good face with GeneCo, so that's why he's come to us. He thinks that something is going on, but he can't be demanding an investigation of the whole damn company."
"Boss…" Alex began.
"I know," Dimitri said.
"He thinks?" Alex looked wary. "He has a hunch that the company stinks, so we're going in?"
"We're not going to be doing anything about the company, and we probably won't even find much worth reporting," Dimitri answered. "Just looking. Building a profile, seeing what we see. It's simple. We're going to do as much preliminary research as we can, then do a little bit of undercover. If you'll open your packets, we can go over the job in a bit more detail."
The team all did as he requested, and Dimitri continued. "Brief history of GeneCo, and there's more detail in the file, but the company was founded ten years ago by Rotti Largo, entrepreneur and businessman. He's not exactly your typical rags to riches story – he made friends very, very quickly, and for a startup company, GeneCo has come a long way in a short time. You all have undoubtedly heard of Largo – he's very much the face of GeneCo. Operates and oversees every part of it, but makes sure that audiences know him. He's made a scene in the tabloids lately – got a little too pleased with his fortune and became the toast of Manhattan. Married a wealthy heiress, throws and attends parties, known, unfortunately for his wife, for his wandering ways. He's got a flair for the dramatic – everything's a show with the Largo family.
"Rotti has several VP's, secretaries, directors, etc. in the top tier of GeneCo. They're all pieces of the pie, but remember, Rotti controls everything, and it's very much his company. We're going to build files on all of them – who they are, where they grew up, where they were educated, how much they make, what they're interested in, what their stake in the company is and if they have any connections that we should be concerned about. We're also going to look at the labs, the lab directors, basically everyone we can." For the third time Charlotte was subject of glances. She continued to study her file.
"We're going to begin with a couple of days of just plain research. See what we can get through sources, hacking, whatever. We are going to be doing undercover next week, and our cover," and Dimitri smirked slightly, "is going to be as representatives from Industrial Workers Union 537J, which the janitorial staff, receptionists, clerks, and lower level lab workers are part of. GeneCo employees have been with this union for a couple of years now, but we're going to check in for an annual meeting, and to discuss the future of the partnership." This sentiment was greeted by a couple of snorts. "This will allow us," Dimitri said, unable to suppress a smile, "to tour GeneCo's facilities, interview the workers and meet with tons of the upper management, including Largo himself. If you'll all look at your new identities and start thinking about them."
Charlotte flipped a couple of pages until she found a separate packet. A passport, license, birth records, her membership card to the union, notes and more were paper-clipped together. Charlotte stared at her own picture, but it wasn't her name on the documents. She was now Anna Freir, Vice President of Employee Relations, elected to the union leadership board nine months ago. Charlotte perused the notes quickly. Anna was married to an international businessman who was often traveling for work, and had no children. Anna had studied law at UCLA and moved to New York with her husband, where she quickly began work for IWUW 537G, and rose through the ranks.
"As reps for this union, you're going to be in meetings for a couple of days with Largo and his management. You'll also be able to interview a couple of the lower level workers. We need to use these meetings to find out everything we can about what GeneCo's working on currently and what their future holds. Befriend anyone if you can: remember, you're union reps, so it's perfectly natural for you to want to know about the state of the company and the workers who work there.
"GeneCo should be mostly cooperative with this. We've been working on this cover all weekend, and we just received an early morning approval from Largo's offices, that he and his staff will be pleased to meet with us next week. Remember, Rotti Largo knows how to work a crowd – he's a favorite with people for his work at hospitals – so he'll want to be seen as the kind of guy who can peaceably work with the union for the betterment of his employees."
Dimitri stood up behind and walked behind his chair. He looked at all of his team members closely, waiting for questions.
"It really is going to be simple, guys," he said when no one spoke. "We've done tougher stuff. Essentially, we're just gathering information."
Charlotte looked around. Each member of the team was engrossed in the packet before him. She glanced to her right at Mike – she couldn't make out the name on his file, but there was no Union card. Before she could lean over to get a better look, he flipped the file shut and tossed it casually on the table in front of him. He looked at Charlotte, and his gaze was unreadable – pity? Worry? But next moment his face was turned to Dimitri.
"If it's good enough for you, it's good enough for me, boss," Mike said. Dimitri smiled and nodded.
"That's what I like to hear," he said. "If you all don't have any immediate questions, I think we're all done here. I'd like to continue to look over your packets and think of any questions you might have for me. I'll be around to see all of you individually today, so we can talk about it in more detail. Other than that, I think we're good. Thanks guys."
The chairs creaked a bit as the team got up to head back to their respective desks, Sam and Alex pausing by the bagels to take a couple more for the day. Charlotte got up to follow Mike, but hesitated at the door.
"Charlotte, can I speak to you for a moment actually?" Dimitri's voice came from behind her. She turned and walked past Sam, who was the last to exit. She closed the door behind her.
"Sir?" she asked, even though she knew what he wanted to talk about. Dimitri sat back down in his vacated chair, and indicated that she should do the same. She sat down.
"I just wanted to check in," Dimitri began. "I hope I didn't make that too awkward for you. I know it's a bit of a surprise."
"No, it's fine," Charlotte said. "I guess I was a little shocked that it was GeneCo, of all companies, but I'm fine. It wasn't awkward." She smiled at him.
"Ok, good," Dimitri said. "It was a bit of a shock for me too, when Hammond first came to me. The next thing I need to know is this: are you going to be ok working this job?"
"You mean because of Will?" Charlotte asked.
"Yes," Dimitri answered. "How open are you with him about what you do?"
"He knows that I work with the government, and that my work is classified," she said. "I hardly ever give him information other than just to let him know if I'm traveling. But he's always been great about it. Never asks too many questions. He trusts me." Charlotte took a breath. "It freaks me out a little that we'll be investigating the company my husband works for, but I think that also gives me an interesting insight. I can do the job, no problem."
Dimitri paused before speaking. "You're sure?"
"Yes," Charlotte said, and her tone was firm. "It's fine. It's the job."
"Right," Dimitri said, still looking at her closely. "Ok, then. That's a relief. I absolutely trust you to be able to carry out this investigation, but I wanted to make sure you were comfortable with it."
Charlotte smiled to reassure him. Dimitri was absolutely the level head of the team. If the others were the brothers she horsed around with, teased and was teased by, then Dimitri was the oldest brother making sure she was comfortable and that the team didn't lose it completely.
"The other thing I wanted to talk to you about is part of the job," Dimitri continued, and now he looked determined. "You saw your new identity?"
Charlotte nodded and Dimitri clenched his jaw ever so slightly. "As a VP for the Union, you're going to be sitting in on meetings with GeneCo, and with Rotti Largo in particular. I'm sure you're aware of his… reputation?"
Charlotte hesitated before nodding again. Rotti Largo, billionaire playboy. Absent husband and father, ruthless businessman and womanizer extraordinaire.
"We don't know what is going to happen when we send you all in there," Dimitri continued, his eyes never leaving Charlotte's as they looked for any sign of unease. "We don't know how any of them are going to react, if they're even going to like any of you." Charlotte laughed softly. "But… are you prepared to do whatever you can to get information about GeneCo? You're going to be spending some time with Rotti himself. If he's interested, and if you think it will bring us information we need…"
Charlotte knew what was coming. It was part of the job.
"…are you willing to sleep with him?"
She smiled back at him and patted his arm reassuringly.
"Dimitri, you know me," she said. "I'll do whatever it takes."