Rusty Ruin - Conclusions of Grandeur

[Wren]

For a rival, Dr. Starline was a big fan of Eggman's work.

He made no secret of this-- that Eggman's work was to be emulated, not disregarded. That he set a standard that followed a certain type of genius. The only thing that differed between him and Eggman was a desire for results with no petty rivalry in his way. Starline dealt with his enemies swiftly, Eggman preferred to toy with his enemies who would inevitably crush him and start the same cycle over again and again. The world had been brought to the brink of destruction time and time again, and Starline had enjoyed every single attempt, watching the world squirm beneath his grasp... he was invested in technology that would change the world, literally its surface, and today the focus of his interest were none other than the Chaos Emeralds.

There was one in Central City now. And finding it was of the essence.

"A night club..." He mused, looking over his reports on a transparent monitor. "Interesting."

Of course, he wouldn't be getting it himself, though he prided himself on doing his own dirty work. He needed to induct new recruits. He was working on something that would give them incentive to stay loyal... but it would be in beta for a long time now. And then there was the question of ethics. Tch. If given the choice, Starline preferred people who desired to stay out of free will, but secrets were essential to the biz. So he was toying with a few failsafes.

He sent out a message to the rest of the building, for anyone who would answer.

"Chaos emerald located. Looking for people who would be interested in infiltrating, pretty please. I'm not asking."

With a Chaos Emerald, his research would expand. With more of them, he could bolster their power. And maybe, just maybe, he'd cross paths with Eggman. What fun would it be to get coffee with him and talk about methods!

Maybe some other time.

[Val]

Finn’s room wasn’t exactly something one would expect. A large HD television flanked with shelves and shelves of manga and anime boxsets. The jackal lay on his plain white bed and turned the page to the newest volume he’d ordered when his heads up display flashed in his cybernetic eye.
He let out a groan of irritation as he closed the manga as Starline’s face popped up in a small window in his peripheral. A Chaos emerald? Finally something that might be worth his time. Obtaining an emerald for Finitevus would prove his worth as well as open new potential upgrades and technology to make himself stronger.

As he rose and walked to the door, Finn reached out to the small podium by his door with a silver mask resting upon it and slid it over his head.

As Infinite strode into the main computer room, he fixed Starline with a glare with his one visible eye. “This better not be a waste of my time.”

[Wren]

"Wasting your time would be wasting my time. Luckily, I have no intention of doing such a thing."

Wiretapping that loudmouth of a celebrity's dressing room had proven worth his while. He picked up on the location of the Chaos Emerald within the building, all he needed was confirmation of where it would be and boom, he'd gotten the information rather easily. Talking about a nightclub located in the city, where a private auction would be held... naturally, Starline didn't believe in bidding for the jewel. Why pay money for what you can take? Pulling up several photographs on his enormous clear monitor, he pointed out the exact location.

"Apparently, a chaos emerald is going to be the leading item of a private auction. Now, we have plenty of dirty money we could throw at the gem, but I think we'd better make use of a five finger discount instead. Are you up to the task?"

[Val]

“The fact you’re even asking that is an insult.” Infinite crossed his arms as he stared at the monitor.
A private auction would attract a lot of attention from various sorts. He’d dealt with this kind of scenario during his mercenary days and it was a guarantee that other criminals would be after the jewel aswell. It could turn violent in a heartbeat and assuming the seller wasn’t an idiot, they’d know too.

“We won’t be the only ones trying to steal the emerald. Your intelligence better help us get past any security. Whoever is selling this is either a fool or knows to keep it well guarded.”

[Wren]

"Oh, you never know. You could've been too busy catching up on a season of... annie-may, whatever you call it."

The good doctor was not beyond teasing, but relented at that much. He pulled up images of Nevermore and photographs of the inside. He didn't know where the gem would be held, just that it would be somewhere here. He'd have to wiretap this place as well. He'd send someone less... conspicuous than Infinite for that job, though.

"We won't, of course. I know that because I have the information, others must as well. And nothing is so sought after in this world as a Chaos Emerald. It would provide a great power source for my experiments, but ah, it'll probably be up to the boss to decide what to do with it..."

[Jammerlee]

Toward the end of the room, a door cracked open. Leaning through it was a black and white pangolin with a pair of rose-tinted glasses on his snout. He glanced between Starline and Infinite. "You know, I'm being awfully clever over here and there's no one to appreciate my genius at the moment."

[Val]

Behind the mask the Jackal was practically foaming. One thing that irritated him beyond rationale was mispronouncing anime or manga. It wasn’t hard, why did so many people get it wrong?! Idiots, all of them.
His hand clenched into a tight ball when Finitevus appeared, drawing his attention. Though he had no interest in whatever tinkering the doctor was up to, he wasn’t interested in hearing Starline prattle on if he wasn’t being sent out on a job yet.
Raising a clawed finger to jab in the platypus’ face. “Figure out a way to get the emerald then.” before storming off in the direction of Fini, less out of curiosity and more for a dramatic exit.

[Riyami]

Not long after Finitevus made his appearance, Isis came walking up just behind her employer. It wasn't uncommon to see the two together, Isis being more or less his personal bodyguard when she wasn't sent out on Dark Legion business.

She waited just outside the door. One of her tall ears twitched as she overheard two of the familiar voices from her Dark Legion 'comrades'. She didn't care for either of the two's different ways of melodrama, but even she recognized the significance of the Chaos Emeralds enough to know when it was better to work together. Although she would leave planning the specifics to the others.

Isis glanced down to Finitevus and gave a silent nod, standing at the ready.

[Wren]

"Ah, so the boss calls..."

Starline powered down his station so the guidelines to his plans wouldn't be so carelessly left up, and followed the jackal over to see what exactly Finitevus was doing. He was obviously invested in his own plan, of course, but the emerald wasn't secure yet, and therefore, it wasn't of the most dire attention. He gave Isis a nod as he passed her, a cordiality he usually afforded her.