Stupidity

Pearl kept her head down over the next several weeks, watching her businesses slowly grow. Silverback Deliveries won a contract to ship SOLDIER to monster hunts, and Benson and Sons continued to make money. But then she hit her limit.

There was a lot to keep in mind when running five businesses at once. Much of it was pretty routine, but there were certain sensitive details she had been trying to keep off paper as much as she could. The problem was, there was a limit to how much she could reliably remember. She had had to hire administrative staff by this point, to keep track of various runs, but the problem with that was that they could be suborned. It wasn't that admin staff were more corrupt than anyone else. They didn't move around as much as drivers, though, and had knowledge of more than any one single run. That could be a problem as things developed.

She needed somewhere safe to keep all this stuff. 'Safe', meant outside Midgar, or Junon, somewhere not exactly out of Shinra's reach, but far enough to make them have to specifically send someone to look at it. Somewhere in the wilderness would take more effort to investigate, so they might not bother, or could be noticed if they did. Certainly it would be difficult for ordinary business rivals to spend that much energy on her.

Benson & Sons were making money, but not enough that she could start buying up property. She had to use some of that money to bolster the other businesses, which Theo and his daughters were not perfectly happy about. She was starting to build up a cash reserve again, but not so much that she could do what she wanted.

She still had title to property in Banora that she'd been trying not to think about ever since she found out about it, but by this point it was worth looking into. All her neighbours were dead, so nobody was very likely to dispute the boundaries if it was in the general area. And she had an idea on where she wanted it. The airstrike would have left the place in ruins, and it would all be grown in by now, so she' have to send someone to map it out before making further plans. A survey team was easy enough to send out for a reasonable fee.

Another meeting with the Samazi got no farther than usual, although she was beginning to build a relationship with her ornamental bodyguards. They seemed capable enough, though, and hadn't betrayed her yet. They got to know each other over the next few weeks, enough that she brought them along the next time she was called in to act as a negotiator. This time, she went by the name Angeline Silver, and was 'called in' by Theo Benson to smooth over a brewing dispute with the slum crime gang the Corneos. Cursory research (also known as asking Den) didn't help much, as he knew no more about the Corneos than any random slums inhabitant. Close ties to the Honey Bee Inn and rumoured influence within Shinra itself. Weak in terms of personal muscle, though. Pearl kept her facilities very well guarded, so in a conflict he would lose people needlessly. Hopefully she could smooth things over quickly.

Corneo had inexplicably taken offense at the heinous act of selling oranges in his district, and Theo Benson had called in a negotiator to discuss increasing his cut. She took her new bodyguards through the district for the sake of appearances, and because bringing Samazi crew might stop him from doing something too stupid.

She brought them as far as the heavy security door, where the Corneo crew refused to let in a Samazi affiliated crew. Reasonable enough, on the face of it, but she would have been unlikely to agree without enhancements. Even so, one of her bodyguards pulled her aside before she left their care.

"You do know we're not equipped for a siege, right? We can't come in and get you."

"I understand. Will they let you walk away?"

"Maybe." He said, calmly, eyes already moving for threats.

"Okay, well, wait an hour if I don't come out, then walk. Let your bosses know what happened."

"We're not going to go to war for you."

"Oh, I know that… just courtesy. Good luck."

He didn't reply as she walked inside, the heavy security door clanging shut in her wake. No, she wouldn't do this as a normal person. But if they pulled anything, they were in for a surprise, and if a third of the Don's reputation was accurate, it might be easier to negotiate as a woman alone.

She could smell blood from the stairs to her left as she was escorted into the main room, where the Don was at his desk. Two of his people were standing on either side, with one more directly behind her chair, between her and the exit. Silly display.

The Don, in a truly awful purple and orange pinstriped suit, stretched out his arms. "What can I do for you?"

It would be a mistake to underestimate him, he hadn't survived this long by being stupid. But according to Den, Corneo kept his most loyal people close, rather than his best, and kept them loyal by indulging their appetites, which didn't make for the most alert or fit lackeys –she could also smell the fumes.

"Do for me? My impression was that you had problems with my people."

"Ah, yes… I should ask, what can you do for me? I have some ideas…"

Something hard and round pressed into the back of her skull. In genuine shock, Pearl stared at him. "Are you really this stupid?"

She wasn't in much danger, here, but there was some.

The Don looked unamused. "You're gonna tell me you have powerful friends, right? Well, so have I. Now, who are you and why are you meddling in my territory? With Samazi guards, no less. Tell it to me now politely, or tell it to my boys downstairs in… less pleasant circumstances."

"You… really have no idea what you're doing, do you?" Pearl rubbed her eyebrows behind her sunglasses. She could just take them off, but then they might panic and shoot, forcing her to slaughter everyone.

"By which you mean…" The Don sounded genuinely interested.

"To start, if your friend here fires, it's going to come right through my skull and drill you in the face." It would have been true if she'd been an ordinary human. Their faces flickered, and the man with the gun to her head jerked in surprise, giving her enough time to break his skull off the desk. She came up with his gun in hand and shot three times at one of the lieutenants while he was drawing his own. He went down, and Pearl ducked out of the room and put her back to the wall to the left. Another lackey came out of the other room, and lined up perfectly with her sights. Turning by reflex, she fired into his ear without fully intending to dramatic effect. It stopped the others from coming out, but left her pinned against the wall, unarmed except for a small looted pistol and materia. She could kill them all, but probably not without breaking cover. Her stolen gun was either a six or eight shot, and she'd already used four. The Don had still a gang in the other room plus his bodyguard, which she could hold pinned for a while, but she wasn't such a good shot that four bullets were going to be enough.

"Get the grenades," the Don said to his remaining bodyguard, in a carrying voice, intended for her to hear.

"You do that," Pearl called, "I'm sure glad I'm not in an enclosed space."

"Touche," said the Don, with what sounded like genuine amusement. "So, kiddo, what's the rest of your plan? Kill all my guys, break down the door, then fight your way out through the rest of em?"

"Beats going downstairs with your colleagues," This was pretty hard. She had to act like she was in more danger than she was, while pretending to someone thinking they were in serious trouble but acting as though she was in less danger than she was. And she still had no idea why this sudden gunfight had happened. She glanced at the security door at the main gate of the mansion. She could break it, but not quickly or easily, certainly not under fire. So she had to do something convincing for a normal person and selected 'panic' as her best option.

She jumped straight forward over the balcony, hoping that this was a fall normal people could make, rolled on landing, and fired her gun empty as the thugs burst out of the sideroom. By luck she hit one in the shin and he went down, which left her facing four armed men emerging onto the balcony with no ammunition and no sword. The Don himself did not emerge as his men fanned out, covering the angles pretty well. It would be a mistake to underestimate these thugs as well, they were not stupid or incompetent, merely made lazy by years of overindulgence and peace. Her tally so far was two dead, two wounded enough not to fight, which would make them respect her. They still couldn't match her, but this was still a difficult situation. Pearl, sitting on the ground underneath the balcony, considered her options.

"So, what is your plan now?" The Don's voice floated out of the room.

"What's yours? What's the point of this? You just lost four people for no reason!"

"Well, you're unarmed now, aren't you? Think it will go so well this time?" The Don emerged onto the balcony, thinking her helpless with her stolen gun dry.

"Unarmed?" Pearl let herself smile. "Am I?" She let fire dance on her hand.

That was plausible for an ordinary negotiator, just. But she saw the Don's pupils contract as he put that together with sunglasses and calmness in the face of four armed men, confirming that he was actually more intelligent than he looked. Not the best time to find that out.

"…come back upstairs", the Don said quietly.

She slowly got to her feet and ascended the stairs, trying to look nervous. She was good at keeping her face blank, but not so much putting emotions on it that didn't exist. And now that he was on guard, this would be much more difficult. He dismissed his people this time, they were talking alone.

"Shall we discuss compensation for the loss of my men?" he asked eventually.

"No, I don't think we will. You drew on me, I've nothing to answer for. What was the point of that, anyway?"

"I could protect him, but he nearly got me killed, so you can have it for free. Your own Theo Benson, promised me a higher cut if I got you out of the way." He could be lying, but it was something to consider.

"He's lying or stupid. His contacts with his suppliers all come through me, without me he's nothing." She had dedicated considerable time and energy to making sure this was the case. She didn't want to replaceable.

"So, then, what's left to discuss?"

"You have to convince me not to kill you and all your men." Pearl pointed out.

That shook him a little, but he covered it quickly.

"I don't think Shinra will be pleased if you do that."

"Probably not, but you're not so important I'd be jailed or executed. I might get shouted at a bit." She wasn't sure if that was true, but it was plausible.

"That's all? Do they know what you're up to down here? You seem to be making some effort to hide the extent of your operations. What if my people make a phonecall?"

"You think they don't know? Really? I'm good, but not enough to hide from the bluecoats. I'm keeping things low key out of convenience, because it'd hurt sales to have my fanclub following me around, not because I'm hiding from Shinra. You want to call, call."

Behind her blank face, she was thinking hard. She could kill him, but if she did, she couldn't stop there, she'd have to kill the rest of them. There was no way that would be kept quiet. Alternatively, according to her research, he possibly had enough ties to Shinra that they would know what he knew, and if he had sources within her companies, he would know a lot. It was a risk either way, but the balance of probabilities came down on the side of letting him live. But…

"I'm moving all people out of your district." She wasn't stupid enough to think that this would stop him from getting her produce, but it meant he would have to send his own men to get it and distribute it, forcing them to waste their time hauling around crates and bargaining with vendors. It might actually be good for their health, but they'd hate it, so the Don would have his hands full keeping newly fractious minions happy. It would keep him out of her hair for the moment.

"I can live with that." He said, nodding. "Are we done?"

"One more thing," Pearl said, and snapped out her hand around his throat and pulled him towards her over the desk. She was choking air, not blood, because she wanted him awake and listening to her. "I'm not sure you've quite got the message. You didn't do a fantastic job of convincing me not to kill you. Your people drew guns on me, and I have a general policy not to let that pass. But since I'm such a nice person, I'm willing to let you walk away. This time. You understand?"

He managed one nod, but she waited until he was unconscious, put him back in his chair, and walked away. It might not be helpful, but she wasn't going to pass up the chance, with someone like him. Her tolerance for unnecessary bullshit was waning as she got older.

None of his lackeys dared to intervene as she went down and opened the door, to find her four bodyguards drawn up in formation in front of the door and a large mass of Corneo thugs beyond them, presumably drawn by the gunfire. Most of them looked fat and lazy, but there were a few that seemed like real quality, the type even someone like her had to worry about. Her and her four guards could make quite a dent in their numbers before that happened, but it would be such a stupid way to die.

Things could have got difficult, then, except the Don himself came out and told the massed thugs to let them go.

"Good negotiation, then?" the youngest bodyguard asked, once they were clear of the dangerous area.

She glanced at him. "Gunfire gave you that impression, did it?"

Another bodyguard patted the first's head. "Keep walkin' son."

Once out of the Don's district, she made a direct path to the (newly expanded) premises of Benson & Sons. Theo was there to meet her, and she could see in his eyes that he hadn't expected her to come back. The noisy protest when asked to move operations out of Corneo's area of influence confirmed her suspicions. Somewhat.

She didn't have time to deal with this, really, she needed to get back to the SOLDIER floor because if the Don made that call to Shinra, there would probably be complications she had to deal with. Lacking time for a more elegant solution, she had one of her Samazi guards teach her how to kneecap someone.

It occurred to her on the way back, that she was probably officially a mob boss now. She could put the quotation marks around 'legitimate businesswoman'. It wasn't how she wanted things to go, but why did violence have to be the only thing people would respect? She didn't have time for delicacy.

Anna found her almost the moment she got back to the SOLDIER floor.

The message?

"PR wants to talk to you."


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