19-04-2019, 11:01 PM
"Good afternoon, Mr. Equals." The voice of Leonard Whyte CBE, said on the other end. "I hope it's not bad form to call you on this line. I mean, you have it listed."
"I suppose I can't have a problem with that." Troy replied, finishing making his sandwich. "If you're looking for La Contessa, she's out shopping right now. It's quite literally 'all over the news,' and you can tell Helen and Rita apart, so I feel safe telling you."
"That's all right. I can see her on the TV just fine. No, I wanted to have a little chat with you. 'Man-to-Man,' as we used to say before everything became required by law to have a double-meaning."
"So, this isn't a formal business call, and I don't have to address you as Commander Whyte or Mr. Whyte CBE?"
"I'll let it slide this once." Whyte replied.
Troy sat down on the couch and grabbed the remote to see if he could find Helen on TV.
"Are you calling to make me an offer, Mr. Whyte?" Troy asked. "Am I Helen's Tom Hagen? Or is this my 'I could use a man like you in my organization, Mr. Bond' moment?"
Whyte's response was a chuckle.
"Heh. No. I recall the name of your other business, Mr. Equals. I suspect you'd enjoy that far too much. Plus, you're a very loyal grandson, so I'd have to be a fool to think YOU had a price I could meet. If I thought I could buy any of you, it'd be Mr. Clean's Childhood Bully. Have you had fun looking over my finances, tracking down all my dirty dealings? You're not downtown with La Contessa and her entourage; one of whom I presume is Mrs. Equals. No, you're special. She'd keep you safe behind a desk, all on your own, following the money. You know you're not 'gathering evidence' for her to take to the security officer, right? That she's not looking to 'build a case' against me here."
"Yeah, I figured that. Helen's never been the 'trust cops and judges to solve my problems' type. She's out to destroy you, so she's got me finding every dirty little operation you've got a cut of, so she can shut it down. I've gotta tell you, Mr. Whyte, if you were a videogame boss? Hong Kong would be the glowing part of the flamethrower on your back that we should have been shooting at all this time."
"And you have no issue being a party to that, Mr. Equals? You struck me as an ethical man; law-abiding citizen and all that. You know what she has planned for me, don't you?"
"There are certain questions that I don't ask Helen, sir. Like 'Why did Wade start a race riot fifteen minutes after we left the prison,' or 'Why would you need to know how to launder an island?' 'What happened to Ramirez's predecessor,' or 'Why is the music of Daftpunk outlawed in San Finzione?' But once I knew who you were, 'Why do you want my help destroying Leonard Whyte CBE financially' wasn't one I HAD to ask, sir. I also don't intend to ask her about any other plans she has for you."
"Well, you'll make certain all of my money goes to worthy causes, I'm sure. Everything I've ever done, there's some group opposed to it. Not going to keep any for yourself? Processing fees, and so on?"
"I've been meaning to ask you, Mr. Whyte, about the money thing: Are you coming on to me? I'm sure you're thinking 'he's Greek, he's probably down,' and, well, yeah, I AM Greek; so of course, I've tried it once or twice. Turned out it wasn't my thing, but you be you. I'm not going to tell someone else how to live. Well, except most people who call this number; but they're generally asking me to do that."
"Almost as much a pity as learning I've blown my shot with La Contessa." Whyte replied.
"Well, you DID have her stabbed, sir. I am aware that is not sufficient reason for La Contessa to rule out a potential lover in and of itself; but neither of us has 'evil' listed as one of our turn-ons. Well, not 'corporate evil,' anyway."
Troy found a channel reporting on Helen. There were a lot of close-ups of her with shopping bags, where Troy could see her mouth making the word "darling" repeatedly. The volume was muted, but the images on the screen looked like they should be accompanied by an 80s dance song with lots of keyboard; perhaps I'm Too Sexy. Occasionally, in a blur as Helen moved and the camera tried to find her again, Troy could make out a vague sub-blur that looked like one of the outfits that Julie and Susan had been wearing when they left. He didn't see Mander, but figured that meant that he was doing his job.
"I suppose I can't have a problem with that." Troy replied, finishing making his sandwich. "If you're looking for La Contessa, she's out shopping right now. It's quite literally 'all over the news,' and you can tell Helen and Rita apart, so I feel safe telling you."
"That's all right. I can see her on the TV just fine. No, I wanted to have a little chat with you. 'Man-to-Man,' as we used to say before everything became required by law to have a double-meaning."
"So, this isn't a formal business call, and I don't have to address you as Commander Whyte or Mr. Whyte CBE?"
"I'll let it slide this once." Whyte replied.
Troy sat down on the couch and grabbed the remote to see if he could find Helen on TV.
"Are you calling to make me an offer, Mr. Whyte?" Troy asked. "Am I Helen's Tom Hagen? Or is this my 'I could use a man like you in my organization, Mr. Bond' moment?"
Whyte's response was a chuckle.
"Heh. No. I recall the name of your other business, Mr. Equals. I suspect you'd enjoy that far too much. Plus, you're a very loyal grandson, so I'd have to be a fool to think YOU had a price I could meet. If I thought I could buy any of you, it'd be Mr. Clean's Childhood Bully. Have you had fun looking over my finances, tracking down all my dirty dealings? You're not downtown with La Contessa and her entourage; one of whom I presume is Mrs. Equals. No, you're special. She'd keep you safe behind a desk, all on your own, following the money. You know you're not 'gathering evidence' for her to take to the security officer, right? That she's not looking to 'build a case' against me here."
"Yeah, I figured that. Helen's never been the 'trust cops and judges to solve my problems' type. She's out to destroy you, so she's got me finding every dirty little operation you've got a cut of, so she can shut it down. I've gotta tell you, Mr. Whyte, if you were a videogame boss? Hong Kong would be the glowing part of the flamethrower on your back that we should have been shooting at all this time."
"And you have no issue being a party to that, Mr. Equals? You struck me as an ethical man; law-abiding citizen and all that. You know what she has planned for me, don't you?"
"There are certain questions that I don't ask Helen, sir. Like 'Why did Wade start a race riot fifteen minutes after we left the prison,' or 'Why would you need to know how to launder an island?' 'What happened to Ramirez's predecessor,' or 'Why is the music of Daftpunk outlawed in San Finzione?' But once I knew who you were, 'Why do you want my help destroying Leonard Whyte CBE financially' wasn't one I HAD to ask, sir. I also don't intend to ask her about any other plans she has for you."
"Well, you'll make certain all of my money goes to worthy causes, I'm sure. Everything I've ever done, there's some group opposed to it. Not going to keep any for yourself? Processing fees, and so on?"
"I've been meaning to ask you, Mr. Whyte, about the money thing: Are you coming on to me? I'm sure you're thinking 'he's Greek, he's probably down,' and, well, yeah, I AM Greek; so of course, I've tried it once or twice. Turned out it wasn't my thing, but you be you. I'm not going to tell someone else how to live. Well, except most people who call this number; but they're generally asking me to do that."
"Almost as much a pity as learning I've blown my shot with La Contessa." Whyte replied.
"Well, you DID have her stabbed, sir. I am aware that is not sufficient reason for La Contessa to rule out a potential lover in and of itself; but neither of us has 'evil' listed as one of our turn-ons. Well, not 'corporate evil,' anyway."
Troy found a channel reporting on Helen. There were a lot of close-ups of her with shopping bags, where Troy could see her mouth making the word "darling" repeatedly. The volume was muted, but the images on the screen looked like they should be accompanied by an 80s dance song with lots of keyboard; perhaps I'm Too Sexy. Occasionally, in a blur as Helen moved and the camera tried to find her again, Troy could make out a vague sub-blur that looked like one of the outfits that Julie and Susan had been wearing when they left. He didn't see Mander, but figured that meant that he was doing his job.
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