A Simple Request (Tino)

[Vash Zwingli]

Vash hadn’t been at this work long, not really anyway. A month or two maybe? he had honestly lost track of time there, all of the tasks that he did or meetings he arranged in accordance with the patterns that he had set up in order to minimize any risk of being found out. It really helped improve security too, as the guards themselves were having to get themselves into shape in terms of their discipline. He hadn’t really interacted with any of the guards individually much though, at least not outside of the short exchange to make sure things were running smoothly, and so this would be a little interesting. Vash had kept his distance in terms of the guards, as he was just as wary—if not more so of the guards than the mutants in the underground altogether. This damned job was something like playing with fire, and he knew it was a very dangerous test that his father was giving him. All just to see if he was well disciplined and loyal enough to still be considered part of the family. Yeah, it was killing his patience and his paranoia wasn’t getting any better in the slightest. But he needed to communicate with them at least somewhat, as they were his employees and he did not, under any circumstances, starting to doubt his authority.

Of course, this was the perfect time to demonstrate it, since that same paranoia that was keeping him distant in terms of one-on-one communication with his employees was causing him to question the knowledge of a particular mutant. He didn’t know the names of any of them, nor did he really care to know any of their names—keeping himself as separated from everyone was the key to success in his mind. However, that wasn’t to say that he hadn’t frequented the underground to check on them, see the level of security (as he had to) for each mutant with their given specific powers. Since if any one of them got out for any reason, it would be on his head and he didn’t exactly wanted to deal with the chaos that would no doubt ensue if one of them got loose. Even less so still, was the desire to deal with any one of them holding the knowledge that he too was a mutant. Not like them, he was far from that…and he would never come close to accepting or admitting that logic since they were all born like that, and made to be lower class—he was not. At least that is what he had been raised to believe, but it was also the logic that got his family wealth to some degree…so of course he had to believe it. He knew that everything he did in this job was high-risk for himself and he wasn’t exactly happy about it, but he didn’t have much of a choice. And so when he came to the conclusion that one of the mutants was watching him closer than he would like, he resolved to remove it from the underground. And by removing it, he thought that termination would be the only assured means of doing so.

He had been informed that the most skilled of his employees for doing something of this matter was someone by the name of Tino Väinämöinen, that was one hell of a last name and Vash wasn’t exactly sure that he would ever be able to pronounce that properly so…he just wouldn’t try. But either way, he seemed to have a good amount of skill at discretely terminating the undesirable, and that was just what he needed.

However, Vash wasn’t very well going to just walk out and ask Tino to kill someone for him, no. While he had control over the life and death of the mutants in the underground, it was not normal to just order one of them to be killed without someone raising a few questions as to why. He could lie and give an answer if he needed, however he would rather just keep it quiet altogether so he wouldn’t have to be put on the spot about it. Therefore, he would need to have this conversation in private.

Vash had made a point of toying with all of the cameras and the sound in the room so that it appeared like it was empty—he had learned his way around the camera system (in his room at least) earlier on just in case he ever lost control in his office so that no one would see, it would be secure to do it there.

“Tino, I need you in here in two minutes, there is something I want you to do and it requires immediate attention.” he spoke formally, keeping the anxiety out of his tone as he spoke on the radio he was given to communicate with each of his employees, depending on the channel he used.

Placing it back in its holder, he couldn’t do much more other than wait for his first private meeting with one of his employees—he didn’t even know what Tino looked like as he hadn’t distinguished any of them from one another when he had spoken to them last. Well, and usually he spoke to a higher line of command anyway, as he didn’t need to deal directly with the guards—but nor did he want to have many people know about him and Tino having a meeting, and he did prefer to do things in a more….direct manner.

[Tino Väinämöinen]

this is my word

HEART BREAKER, GATEKEEPER, DREAM MAKER, LIFE TAKER

Tino had been working down in the Underground as usual, sweeping out the staff lounge and wiping down the counters. He hadn’t been scheduled on mutant duty today, which was odd, as he normally was. Instead he was scheduled on a watch, simply standing guard at a door to make sure no unauthorized people went in, and no mutants went out. As simple as the position was, it was an important one. Some mutants had the ability to shapeshift, and it was easy to hide in a blindspot of a camera, sneak out of a cell and take the form of a guard to attempt to flee (Tino read about these attempts, some successful, some foiled). He wasn’t about to have any sort of slipup, but the position was so dull because traffic was nonexistent, so his partner on duty excused him to bring them both a cup of coffee. Tino stalled, tidying the filthy place up before pouring them both poorly brewed liquid. Tino grimaced at the clumps of coffee grinds that trickled out of the pot.

Well… fiber, right?

He turned and left, two Styrofoam cups in hand as he propped the dual swinging door open with his back end, carefully edging himself out and back to the main exit.

Janne was waiting for him.

“Christ, what took you so long? Grow the beans yourself?”

“The kitchen was messy, I just wiped it down and gave it a brief sweep.”

“Jeez, what are you, a woman?”

“Oh shut up!”

"Y’know, if you wanted to be a housewife, you applied to the wrong career.”

Tino puffed out his cheeks and reddened as he passed Janne his cup. Cleaning and kindness was a part of the cheerful visage he wore. If Tino wasn’t playing pretend, Janne would be wearing said coffee and be met with a snappy ‘Go fuck yourself.’ First the nickname of Dwarf fluttered around the lounge, now Housewife was making its rounds. Tino preferred the diminutive name over the feminine one…

He massaged his temples and willed himself to refrain from strangling the sharp-tongued coworker today at work. He was tempted, oh so tempted…

The sound of the elevator cables grinding echoing through the room pulled Tino’s attention from how to make a guard’s death look like an accident. He quickly downed the remains of his terrible, gritty coffee, and tossed the cup in the garbage can. Standing at the ready, both he and Janne blocked the entrance to the Underground hallways. The sound was coming from a higher floor, grinding down to this level. They didn’t often get visitors between shift changes, and Tino wasn’t off schedule for another four hours.

The elevators soon arrived and both doors parted. However, there was a cage over the door with swipe and biological access. A face that Tino didn’t recognize eyed both of them, before resting on him.

“Tino Vana…monen?”

“That’s me… and it's... Väinämöinen,” Tino said slowly, feigning a cautious tone. Now what was this about? Someone ....from the headquarters sent for him…? Odd. Normally a summon was delivered in the form of a text from a false name, ‘Janette’ in his phone asking him to go on a date. It was simply in case his phone was ever stolen or hacked into (the MIA was obsessed with security). And yet, now a messenger boy came to him.

What a stupid move from above personnel. Tino looked like he was going to be fired, or something similar. To be called up directly from the above office and not Eliza suggested he messed up big time, as Janne was already casting him wary glances.

Perhaps… he had. They might have caught on to Tino’s ploys to gain trust with mutants, and one in particular… Tino had tried to be sneaky, avoid cameras and microphones near Berwald’s cell, but the Fin had purchased a contract with the Swedish mutant a while back, and regretfully missed his company at home. Tino felt a pang of panic tighten in his stomach.

What if they thought he was compromised? He’d have to repeat his exam if they had reason to believe he had.

Tino swallowed thickly as the man motioned him over to the cage. His fingertips twitched as he placed his hand on the scanner, an affirmative ding signifying the recognition of his prints. The caged door creaked open and Tino stepped in the elevator, standing meekly beside the much larger man. He nodded and crunched a button, closing both sets of doors as the elevator began to rise.

Only moments after Janne was out of sight, Tino stiffened his expression and flicked his eyes over to the other. Mask off, his child-like features melted into a venom filled glare.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Want to blow my entire operation and cover? Because if so, you’re doing a hell of a job.”

“You’ve been summoned. It is a very urgent matter.”

“On who’s orders? The fucking Pope? This better be good, because thanks to your supervisor, I have to come up with some excuse as to why a scrawny, newbie guard was called upstairs by a high ranking employee.”

“Director Zwingli.”

Director Zwingli. Vash Zwingli. Vash fucking Zwingli.

Vash Zwingli oversaw the MIA. Vash basically ran the Mutant Intelligence Agency and had the controlling hand in the discipline and control of mutants. Vash Zwingli was Tino’s official ‘new’ boss, after the old one had died of a heart attack in his sleep (or so they said). He was the man that Tino took most of his orders from (although always through a messenger). Vash Zwingli also oversaw the new training regime and exam for MIA agents. Tino narrowed his eyes and refrained from putting his fist through the wall.

“Fucking peachy.” Tino snapped, crossing his arms. He hated Vash, and the fact that Vash was calling him up promised bad news. Why would one of the Directors meet with him one-on-one and not just have the agent exchange information with one of these nameless suited bodyguards?

Last time Tino saw a Director, it was when he took his exam. Seeing a Director promised a storm. The Fin pinched his lips together into a firm line, masking the unease with annoyance at the fact that he had drawn attention to the meeting.

When the elevator stopped at the top floor of the building, Tino stepped out silently and immediately stormed to the ornate doors that housed the Director’s office. He nearly stepped up to the doors and flung them open without a knock or word of warning, but first impressions were slightly important and he couldn’t be as rude to Vash as he had been to his little radio bird.

He knocked twice before dropping his hand to his side, his stone face blank, but eyes blazing. He had yet to see how truly terrible this new Director would be.

1149 WORDS

Vash Zwingli

FINALLY DONE

deltra of gangnam style

[Vash Zwingli]

THESE ARE THE DAYS WHEN I HATE THE WORLD HATE THE RICH, HATE THE HAPPY, HATE THE COMPLACENT. TV WATCHERS, BEER DRINKERS, THE SATISFIED ONES. BECAUSE I KNOW I CAN BE ALL THOSE LITTLE HATEFUL THINGS AND THEN I HATE MYSELF FOR REALIZING THAT. BE SAFE, BE SAFE.

1221 WORDS Tino Väinämöinen TAGGED FINALLY MADE A REPLY NOW YOU'RE IN THE HOT SPOT HAH notes

Vash had started pacing his office as he waited; this matter was something that was keeping him from focussing on any sort of work what so ever as he waited. Not like he exactly had time to sort through anything in two minutes either way. He’d abandoned his cup of coffee on his desk for the mean time as he waited. While he’d been well….consuming more coffee than he probably ought to in a day at this point thanks to all of the sleep he wasn’t getting, it still gave you the jitters if you consumed too much of it in a day and well…especially if you were prone to fretting over matters on the top of your mind. He needed to get this done now and he needed to get it done quietly. The last thing he needed was people asking questions. Well, really it was unlikely that the general public would, but the guards could. Sure, he had an excuse, but he knew that excuse wouldn’t be so convincing for those that worked with the guards more directly. He really didn’t need people who worked for the underground and as part of the government or MIA starting to question him, he really didn’t. At the same time however, if this mutant got into the wrong hands and told their owner that well….they thought that he was indeed a mutant…then that could cause a lot more questions than simply justifying killing a mutant. Especially since he could at the very least argue that this one was simply too dangerous to be left alive—what with his size and the fact that his….mutation gave him extra strength. It was, naturally extremely difficult to contain something of that force when it came to actual security measures, as there wasn’t much that could be easily done against simple “brute force.” And that, was exactly the argument that Vash Zwingli, Director of the MIA was going to use to kill the mutant that he was sure had figured him out. Hearing the knock on the door put a pause in his pacing and internal rants. To which, he expected that it would be Tino—his employee that he had been told of, and warned of his skill in combat. A few of the secondary directors had mentioned how they swore one day that Tino was going to be the one to bring an end to their operations if he ended up siding with the mutants. So….might as well test that loyalty a little anyway, also he was positioned in the best place to perform the task that Vash wanted done. As for his skill, he was sure that Tino was the best for keeping something done quietly, from how he’d been trained anyway. Vash walked over to the door and after a brief moment of unlocking all of the locks he’d installed on top of the standard security system (that he’d already tampered with so that he didn’t have to worry about the cameras catching something that they shouldn’t, and thus he needed some sort of supplementary system to account for this loss in security.) Vash much preferred to actually open the door himself so that he could block their entrance if it was needed, and well, needed to an extent due to the supplementary security system, but either way it gave him enough time to peer through the door to get a glimpse of who was knocking and potential weapons that they would have on them. As he opened the door further, he could tell very well that this was the Tino he had asked for—despite the fact that he was quite petite and unintimidating in size, the look on his face promised a bloody end if the meeting went south. Not that Vash was intimidated, but he was weary of what exactly it was Tino could do—and if what he had been told was correct, that was quite a bit. He kept his gaze cool and collected as his eyes flickered over the other—taking note of his stance, weapons, potential places for hidden weapons and what sort of threat he would pose overall. Vash figured he’d be able to knock him over in a fist fight alone—due to his own centre of gravity being lower to the ground and his stance wider overall, however he had a feeling that he would be at a distinct disadvantage if a knife was involved. In terms of firearms, well that remained to be seen—Vash was fast with guns…incredibly fast, but his speed with the weapon had been based off of necessity and hunting—Tino had been trained to kill mutants…ones that no doubt had much more control than he did. “Would you like any coffee?” His tone was crisp and clear and his gaze centred on his face—waiting to see his expressions but also allowing him to see any potential sudden movement of his hands or feet in his peripherals. Vash held the door open for the other and nodded to a sitting area where there were two rather lavish looking chairs (all for show of course, and provided by the government’s funding as he certainly would not have paid so much money for something like that himself) by a broad curtained bay window. In between the two chairs sat an elegant glass table and on top of it, was a fresh pot of coffee and some biscuits on two saucers and cups to match. Yes, the office was rather lavish and looked like something out of the Rococo period with the way it was decorated. Of course, it was all for show as it was supposed to represent the classical power that the Russian governments had during their imperial age—and all of the lavish decorations kept any and all of the security features well hidden. All of the glass in the room itself was bullet proof and triple layered, as well as it had the self-repairing glass feature, out of need as Vash’s work was indeed, high risk. He closed the door behind Tino and he, himself walked over to the sitting area and sat down—back straight, suit perfectly pressed, legs crossed and watching Tino’s every move. Naturally, the only part that was slightly out of place was his gloves that he wore. Over the course of the past few months, most of the people he’d encountered had just accepted that they didn’t come off…but that didn’t mean he was ever going to be relieved of the strange looks from those that he hadn’t previously come across. Vash was, however, slowly learning the Russian customs here and that was precisely why he didn’t bother stating his name—and it was a good reason to avoid shaking his hand too since Tino was technically “below” him in terms of the logic of the city, since Vash was the director of well…what Tino did and didn’t do to a degree. “Your profile is quite impressive, I felt it was about time to meet some of my employees and I figured I would start with the best one. Of course…I also have another purpose for asking you to come here.” He spoke clearly, but still waiting for the time being to tell Tino what he really wanted from him.

deltra of gangnam style