Log:Dovetailing into Diplomacy

2021/01/08 Victory|Wayne Indira Lien Violet Wyndell 1

The Andromedan Embassy is temporarily housed in offices within Starguard HQ, shared with the SPDA. It's been that way for a while due to security concerns with ACE attacks on aliens and Ambassador Paxis. There's a waiting room with a dry bar hosting an assortment of coffees, teas, and muffins. The receptionist for the offices is behind protected glass, and the main door is locked with a scan panel next to it for security. She asked Wayne to take a seat while she lets the Ambassador know he's there.

The seats are comfy enough and the wait is brief before a young woman with brown hair tied back in a bun and dark green-rimmed cateye glasses steps out with a tablet in hand. She looks a bit winded like she hurried there, dressed in a blouse, slacks, and jacket. "Um, Wayne Lockwood?" she calls, then looks up and sees only him in the room currently. "Oh, I'm guessing that's you," she smiles shyly. "I'm Violet, Ambassador Paxis' personal assistant." Violet looks to be in her mid-twenties.

Wayne is dressed in a suit that's been borrowed from Wade. Unsurprisingly, it fits quite well. He smiles, "That's correct. It's nice to meet you, Violet." His hair is neatly styled as well.

Violet smiles and steps forward, hugging the tablet to her with one arm as she extends the other to shake his hand. She's smiling, taken by his good looks. "Ah, pleasure to meet you. The Ambassador is looking forward to meeting you."

Wayne shakes her hand firmly, but not too hard. He smiles again, "I'm glad to hear that. I'm looking forward to meeting her as well."

Violet holds on a little longer, for a moment lost for words. "Oh, yes, um," she lets go quickly and smooths a loose lock of hair behind her ear. "Follow me," the bookish young lady says as she leads Wayne through the now open door and down a hallway lined with offices and meeting rooms. There's even a more open area filled with cubicles. She finally stops at a door further down and knocks on it.

Inside, there are two voices inside, speaking in some alien language. They fall quiet at the knock and one says in accented English, "Come in." The accent sounds like a mix of French and Italian in accent. Something else mixed in maybe.

Violet opens the door and motions for Wayne to go inside. The interior is a large office. On the left wall is a small seating area with couch, single seat, and coffee table. On the right is a large desc with upholstered seating chairs for meetings. There's a number of holoscreens opened up showing various buildings. They begin to wink out, but not before Wayne can see various properties being views on real estate websites. Indira rises from her seat and steps around, walking in slow, graceful steps to greet him. "Hello, Mister Lockwood," she says welcomingly as she extends a hand to shake his.

The room is filled with natural light from the windows opposite the door.

He walks over confidently and shakes her hand. "Hello, Ambassador." He smiles, and seems completely at ease. "Thank you for the interview."

"Certainly. Your resume is impressive," the blue flora alien compliments with a smile. She motions to the seat in front of her desk as well as the couch. "Please, take a seat of your choosing and we shall conduct the interview. Whichever makes you comfortable. I know some humans are accustomed to formality."

Violet offers, "Do either of you need anything to drink? Er, I mean." Her words trail off as she realizes she's offering a drink to an android.

Indira smiles. "A cup of hot water for me, please."

Wayne smiles and shakes his head. "Nothing for me, thank you." He goes ahead and takes a seat, unbuttoning his jacket so it doesn't bunch up on him. He opts for the couch, going for something a little less formal, even though he knows it's a bit of a test.

Indira smiles and walks to the single seat that's angled toward the couch and sits down. She's wearing a long sleeved dress with high collar. The trim goes all the way to the floor, concealing her feet. It's made some some synthetic material with some glowing patterns. Definitely alien in design. It has an elegance to it that goes with her slow, flowing movements. The Ambassador moves slower than a human, but isn't sloth-like. Violet closes the door as she heads to fetch Indira's drink.

"Aridot, could you please pull up Mr. Lockwood's resume for me?"

"Of course, Indira," a friendly choice responds, sounding like the other voice Wayne hear in the room. A stretched octogonal holoscreen expands by Indira's left hand side with his resume pulled up. "Ohhh, is this the terran AI?" Aridot asks in interest, her voice coming from a speaker near the desk.

Wayne nods at that. "Yes, I am. I was created originally as a duplicate of Wade Lockwood, one of the current local Starguard Gamma agents. I believe you've had some interactions with him in the past. Our sets of memories overlap significantly, as do our skills and abilities."

Indira smiles. "Yes, I remember meeting him at one of his father's fundraising events. A charming, promising young man. And by your resume, even more impressive than I had the chance to learn in our brief meeting. In that case, you may already be familiar with one of my employees, Lien van den Brand. She was accompanying me as my, hm, plus one and bodyguard."

Wayne thinks about it. "I believe I have met Lien previously, yes." Or was that Wade? Either way, it's HIS memories. So it must count. It has to count.

Indira looks kindly and friendly. "Good, you remember her. I had heard something in the news about when your existence was made known. I'll confess...my head of security looks into all candidates and provides briefings on them prior to interviews. He is very insistent on these screenings. I take it your own...hm...individual existence is only recent, yes?"

Wayne nods. "My background and creation is...a bit recent. I was programmed originally by a villain known as Laksman, working for VENOM. He intended me to be a replacement for Wade. But..the plot was stopped. The malicious code that was within me was excised by Starguard, and now...being a true AI, I'm working on securing my place in the world, and deciding exactly where I belong. And, perhaps more importantly, where I can do the most good."

He motions to the his resume. "The reference I've given for the Dr. Steinmetz is the Starguard technician who did the work on my systems."

Indira nods and looks over to the floating copy of his resume. "Yes, we made a call with him. He was very certain of his work there." There's a knock at the door after Wayne finishes and Indira says, "Come in." Violet comes in and sets a tray with a tea pot and a cup for Indira. "Thank you," she smiles before Violet steps out again and closes the door. Indira pours herself a cup of just plain hot water and sits back, regarding Wayne kindly. "It must be difficult, being a true AI in a city...even a world, where there are so few. How have your experiences been so far?"

Wayne thinks about it. "I have been fortunate. Initially, I was treated poorly, since I was viewed as a weapon against Wade. But since that time, I've managed to forge more of an individual identity for myself, and I have several good friends, including Wade himself. So, I would say...that it hasn't been easy, but it could have been far harder than it was."

Indira sips her water lightly as she listens. She smiles gently at hearing that he's made friends. "I think many find life to be difficult, but your difficulties are uniquely different. So tell me...what makes you wish to work in diplomacy? I can see your skills are suited to it. You speak several languages, and through your shared memories, I would guess you are familiar and comfortable around aliens, yes?"

Wayne nods. "I wanted to do something with dovetailed with what my skills are, first off. I think that my skills with diplomacy and linguistics would make me a good fit for the position. But in addition, I wanted to do something different, to distinguish myself from Wade. He has gone the military route, working with Starguard. I figured it would be a good idea to try a different path."

Indira smiles at Wayne's answer. "From military to diplomacy. It's definitely different. Though with the tensions toward aliens, there may still be risks involved in the position," she advises.

Wayne nods, "I do have skills appropriate to such situations as well. I am an expert hand to hand combatant, should it be necessary."

Indira smiles faintly at that. "I would hope such skills would not be required," she says optimistically. "Though...should it come to that, I would hope you would focus on keeping yourself and bystanders safe. My...security experts sometimes forget that is their primary assigned mission and they become focused with my own safety."

Wayne smiles. "I am afraid my focus would be on your safety...and that of bystanders first. My personal safety is less of an issue for me."

Indira smiles, but gives a good-natured soft sigh. "As long as bystanders are safe. It would grieve me of civilians were harmed merely due to my presence and species. What I could use more is a diplomatic assistant. My office is small and we only recently were sanctioned to establish a small embassy in the city. I often must travel and need someone else to assist, and at times travel."

Wayne nods. "I am quite skilled in that regard, and I don't believe that travel would be an issue at all."

There is a polite knock on the door, followed by a not-quite-as-polite prompt opening of said door. It's not Violet whose face appears in the door, but rather Lien's more ... decorated one. She wears a firm expression and extends a hand through the slightly-open door to give a brief wave to catch The Ambassador's attention. The hand then makes a brief series of gestures.

Wayne looks over in the direction of the door.

Indira nods at that. "Transportation would be provided if needed." She sips her tea. "I'm curious why you were interested in working for my offices in particular," she starts, then looks up at the knock and looks to Lien's hands as she signs to her. "Halai? Very well," she says, then smiles at an idea. She looks to Wayne. "I am most sorry, there is a minor emergency that requires me to translate for a distressed citizen of the Andromedan Republic. It should be but a moment. Though this may be a good time for you to meet one of my security staff. This is Lien van den Brand," she motions to Lien with a graceful wrist turn in her direction, then gestures Lien to come in. "She may have questions of you, but more importantly, you are welcomed to ask her questions about myself. It may prove useful to have another human's opinion on me," she smiles and rises slowly after setting down her tea. She bows her head as she steeples her hands before me. "I shall endeavor to not be long."

Wayne nods. "Of course. I understand...emergencies do come up." He smiles and nods to Lien, "Miss van den Brand. It's nice to meet you."

Lien was opening the door wider for Indira to exit, and gives Wayne a nod. She wasn't expecting the part after her introduction, though; a brow raises at The Ambassador, though Lien recovers quickly with a shrug. After stepping fully inside and aside, so that Indira may tend to things, she takes a long moment to look Wayne over. As she does so, her free hand pulls a ruggedized qPid out of her thigh pocket.

Indira chuckles softly, the scent of jasmine accompanying it. "It -is- part of the job." She looks to Lien. "Lien, this is Wayne Lockwood. You saw his resume with the others. He is here for a diplomatic position, so please answer any questions he has of me or the job while I am absent," she speaks graciously. "Many pardons, I will return swiftly," she says to Wayne before stepping out. While she is attempting to hurry, again, being a plant-based entity, she's a bit slower than humans are in movement. She closes the door behind her.

Wayne smiles and looks to Lien, "So...what is it like working for the ambassador?"

Lien considers that question a moment, a bit of smirk growing ... or perhaps smile just made uneven by the nature of her countenance. She taps out something on the device, then flips it around to display her response. A response that happens to be in Mandarin.

INTERESTING. NOT ALWAYS EXCITING, BUT NEVER TRULY DULL. WHEN THE AMBASSADOR IS NOT MAKING MATTERS DIFFERENT, HER APPOINTMENTS DO.

Wayne reads the Mandarin, and nods. "What is the most difficult situation you have had to deal with while you've been working for her?"

Lien considers Wayne's response, and question a moment, flipping the device back to herself. The prior smirk fades to a neutral line as she taps out and flips. This time the response is in Russian.

KEEPING THE AMBASSADOR ALIVE AND HAPPY, SIMULTANEOUSLY, IN A THREAT SITUATION. FORTUNATELY FOR THE AMBASSADOR, I HAVE NO ISSUE ANNOYING HER AT TIMES.

Her smirk returns at the end of that.

Wayne smiles slightly. "I see. So, how would you describe her as a boss?"

This question, at least, seems to require no deep consideration before she answers. The response is even in English.

SHE IS KIND TO A FAULT, A GOOD JUDGE OF CHARACTER, AND WORKS VERY HARD.

Wayne smiles at the answer. He nods again and thinks about it. "I don't think I have any other immediate questions. Did you have any questions for me at all?"

The door handle turns and Indira steps in, closing the door behind her. She smiles apologetically. "It is dealt with for now...but I will have to attend to some things after this meeting," she explains. "I hope your questions were able to be answers so far?" she asks Wayne as she returns to her seat.

Wayne smiles as he parses that. "Yes, absolutely, thank you."

Indira reclines and gets comfortable in her chair. "Are there any concerns you have about this position?"

Now that The Ambassador has returned, Lien moves to stand behind the desk, to her right. If she has any questions of her own, she will let them know.

Wayne shakes his head, "I've done enough research to know that I think I'd feel quite comfortable working for you. I guess that if I had any concerns, it would just be to make sure the job duties are clear. But you already mentioned exactly what you were looking for, so that has been cleared up already."

Indira smiles sweetly. "There may be things that occur that may cause us to adjust, but I think you will be well suited to applying your judgement." She reaches for her tea cup and sips the warm water within, taking her time. Or maybe it's that Asrani slowness which leaves some silence in the room before she lowers her tea cup. Her smile grows. "I have a good feeling about you. I am sure you have other position offers, but I would be pleased to extend you one if you would consider," she says with cheerful politeness.

From Indira's flank, Lien offers some input. Namely a grin, albeit a lopsided one, and a thumbs up, to Wayne. Just a suggestion.

Wayne smiles, "I am definitely interested in the opportunity. Thank you."

Indira looks delighted at that. "Do you need more time to decide? If not, my assistant Ms. Violet Wyndell can work with you for any paperwork that is required, and we can speak of salaries and benefits."

Aridot chimes happily, "I look forward to another AI on staff. I can alert Ms. Wyndell." While Aridot has not manifested, the resume holoscreen vanishes now that Indira has expressed her satisfaction.

Wayne smiles and thinks about it. "I think...I'd like to hear what the salary and benefits would be, but assuming those are acceptable, I would be happy to accept."

Lien may feel that compensation packages are a matter best discussed with a bit more privacy, or maybe her legs are tired. She steps back from the chair to move to the far end of the couch beyond and takes a seat.

Indira smiles. "Ah, this is what I am told I am bad at negotiating," she chuckles. "There are six weeks of vacation and sick days in addition. Full benefits of health, though in your situation, I am sure Earth has some alternative to suit you better, such as repair, replacement, and upgrades. If it does not...hm...we will have to provide something customized to you needs. There is matching for your retirement, life insurance, and disability insurance. Now...what were you looking for in salary compensation?" She's very relaxed as she goes over the general details. The legal signing stuff is poor Violet's job.

Wayne smiles, and states...an appropriate salary for the position. Clearly he's done enough research that he was prepared with a rough idea in mind.

This is where Indira proves to be bad at negotiating. "For your skills and experience? Hm. No. No no, unsatisfactory," she says in disapproval, which sounds bad until she counters with a salary higher than what he's asking, leaving him in the mid-high range for such a position. It's what she did with her other employees as well.

Wayne smiles as he's offered a higher salary. "That is...very generous. I happily accept."

Indira looks pleased at his response. "I hope it is enough. I sometimes find difficulty in understanding Earth currency value, but I know that non-Asrani often seem to ask for less than they are worth in such things. I will have Ms. Wyndell work with you on whatever documentation you need. You can also tell her what day you wish to start." She sets down her tea cup and rises slowly to her feet before extending her hand to him for a handshake. "I am most pleased you have accepted. Welcome to my staff. If you have any needs or concerns, you are always welcomed to speak with me."

Wayne nods. "I will be sure to do so. Thank you again for the opportunity." He stands up and shakes Indira's hand again. "I look forward to working with you."