First contact (Irene, Edita)

Before dawn, May 8th

A foggy and cold spring night

Irene meeting with The Family ( @Edita )

Erast was a very shitty place, Irene thought to herself as she stood waiting on the sideroad. Not only was it shitty, it was also incredibly dangerous. Even in her most unassuming anonymous outfit she felt like there was a big sign on her that said ‘rob me’. Which is why she had a tiny handgun hidden away in the lining of her black trenchcoat – not that she was planning to use it, but just in case. This was probably the most dangerous thing she had ever done for this job and she prayed to Iosta that it was going to be worth it in the end. That the contact would be legit and that the organization would give her what she wanted. But only time would be able to tell.

The street was mostly empty at this early in the morning. The fog engulfed everything in a dreamlike haze, illuminated by the few yellow street lamps that were – otherwise, it was almost pitch dark. And it was cold. The sun wouldn’t be up until another hour or so. She wrapped her arms around herself as a black car drove by. She could’ve sworn the driver had been eyeing her as he drove by, but it was also entirely possible that she was just paranoid. She had never been to Erast before. She had written a piece once about the failed attempts to gentrify the neighborhoods. The problem was that even with the best intentions of the government to make the place somewhat livable, nobody really wanted to move to a place with such a high crime rate – and this many nachon residents. The project had quickly been scrapped in favor of stricter policing of Erast. Which hadn’t been super effective either, if one was to trust the statistics.

But one thing was writing about crime in Erast, another thing was being there. She shifted nervously as she waited. Perhaps meeting with the mafia to get a bloody contact point was amongst the more reckless ideas she had had in a very long while. If she survived this, her boss was going to kill her. She better get a damn good interview out of this.

As a university student, this was an ungodly hour to be awake at. Edita could almost hear her bed screaming for her to come back, her duvet begging her to envelop herself in it, her pillow crying after her sweet head. Edita was definitely not a morning person, and for some reason especially not this morning. Before she had left her dorm, she had chugged an energydrink, just to wake up a bit. She should probably learn to drink coffee soon - she seemed to remember to have heard that coffee was healthier than energydrinks once. Nevertheless, she was up now, and walking down the backstreets of Erast. She was wearing simple jeans, a black hoodie, and a leather jacket to truly stay warm in the cold - nothing that would stand out and catch anyones attention in this area. Not that there were anyone out and about at this hour anyways, but you could never be too sure.

It was actually not supposed to be her that should meet with Irene Ford, the renowned journalist of The Cirrane Press Society, this morning. But alas, her brother who was also involved with The Family had other matters to attend to (if she knew him right, then that other important matter would be a party that was not finished yet…), so she had to step in. A car drove by her, the driver giving her a nod. That was Tommy, he would be frequenting the area as long as Edita was present, a precaution her father still insisted on whenever she was out on business. It annoyed her to bits. She had her gun on her anyways and she was quite a good shot! It just felt like her father could never really let go of his little girl, who, mind you, was not so little anymore.

Edita saw Irene Ford long before the journalist could notice her. Long before. That might exaggerate it a bit too much. Really, Irene was just standing with her back towards Edita, so there’s not much more to it than that. She walked up to the woman and as she was about to pass her she quickly said: “Irene Ford, walk with me.” and continued walking. Standing still was always more suspicious if any policecars were out and about, but two women walking together would not raise the same suspicion.

“You wanted something from the Family?”

Irene all but jumped in surprise at the sudden appearance of the girl, before hurrying after. For some reason she had half expected a large rugged man or something representing the mafia, not some girl in her twenties. Edita wasn't short, per say, it might just be that Irene was a tall woman. But still, she felt like she towered over her. Could she really be safe in this profession? Either way, it wasn’t Irene’s business, so she decided not to question it further.

“Yes,” she spoke. “It’s for an article. Is it possible for you to get the contact details of the organization known as the EFA, so that I can arrange an interview?”

She couldn’t quite shake the feeling that they were being watched. But it was, after all, very possible that somebody was watching over the girl. She at least hoped so. This street looked exactly like the kind of place people got stabbed in the movies.

A silent sight of relief ran through Edita as Irene quickly followed her. Sometimes people, especially first-timers, would stay put, confused as to why they should follow her. This was something that often happened to Edita, which she guessed was because of her small frame and lack of intimidating looks. It was always slightly embarrasing having to repeat yourself, whenever this happened, before people would follow her. Therefore, by only having been in Irene's presence for less than a minute, Edita already liked her. She was clearly ready for anything. An attitude that Edita appreciated in people.

"It should be possible," Edita at least couldn't see why it shouldn't be possible. Tracking down the EFA shouldn't be that hard... Someone somewhere must have seen some suspicious activity, Edita would only have to follow every trail she could come across. It might take a while if they were really good at hiding, but people rarely were, even if they tried. "Although, I cannot promise that they want to participate in an interview..."

They turned a corner and as they did they walked through the light of a blinking lamppost. Edita looked down the street, eyeing if anyone was following them or at the very least noticing them. Not a soul was out and about on the streets, so Edita assumed that they were safe. But you could never be truly sure about that...

She followed the  girl down the next shady street. Irene had half the thought that Erast was even worse than she had imagined. Why on earth would someone live in a place like this? Well, if they had much of a choice at all, that is. Every building seemed to be tainted with graffiti, and garbage littered the streets. There were faint sounds of rats squeaking somewhere further down the road. Everything smelled faintly like decay and pollution.

A small smile spread on her lips when the girl confirmed that it was possible to get in contact with the EFA. Perfect. Now, it was true it didn’t guarantee that there would be an interview as that also required their own participation. But there was no doubt in her mind. After all, they really stood to gain more than she did in this exchange. For her, this was simply an opportunity to take her career to the next level as a journalist who really wasn’t afraid to get all parts of a story – for them, it was the simple golden opportunity to be heard. She’d be the first journalist ever to get a statement from the infamous group.
“They're going to want to, I’m sure,” she said with confidence in her voice. “How much is it going to cost me?”

Edita could not keep a smile from appearing on her lips as the woman beside her exuded of confidence. She was very impressed by her character. Before Irene might notice Edita's smile, she shook her head and returned her face to a neutral look. A face that seemed as if the conversation bored her and was of no interest. She couldn't seem to eager or else someone that might had seen them would grow suspicious.

"This is not an easy task, ofcourse," Edita said, tucking a piece of stray hair behind her ear. She couldn't remember if her brother had told her any pricepoint when he called her a few hours ago, when he told her of the case. Honestly, it had also been quite hard to decipher what he had told her since there had been extremely loud music in the background. But since she had taken over the case from this day moving forward, she would also be the one to decide the price. "So it will not be cheap." And she told her the price that Edita thought would be fitting for this type of job. And it was definitely not cheap.

A dog began barking somewhere, and Edita looked up in the direction of the sound, instinctively moving her hand under her leather jacket to touch her gun, which was securely placed in her shoulder holster. It might have just been a cat that had annoyed the dog, Edita thought.

She flinched at the sudden noise, before realizing it had just been a random dog. She released her breath before nodding decisively. She had the money and it would be worth it in the end. “It’s a deal. How will I receive the information?” She asked, already mentally planning out the interview. This would be the scoop of the century and exactly the right kind of controversial. Perhaps balanced out with a statement from the Godia and the Iostonian Monastery as well, to avoid being accused of extremism. There wasn’t a shortage of critical press about the EFA, after all. "And how do you want your payment? Cash?"

She could already feel the growing excitement at the prospect. She’d write the outline immediately as she got home. Then the questions.

"Indeed it is." Edita said. Another deal and another job she could add to her to-do-list. Sometimes she was impressed at herself at how much work she got done, both in The Family but also with her schoolwork. Maybe it was soon time to have a day off and just let loose so that she would not be lost in all of her work... She reached within her leather jacket and pulled out a zeal for communication. "I will contact you on this - it it untracable, but can only recieve one message."

Edita handed the zeal to Irene Ford. "I will send you a time and meetingplace where we can exchange the contact information and payment - preferably in cash." Cash was much easier to launder. You just had to be smart about it. She looked up as a car passed them - it was Tommy. None of them made any sign of recognition, as Irene was present. She looked back at Irene. "Got any questions?"

She nodded, placing the communication device in her coat pocket. She eyed the passing car – wasn’t that the car she saw earlier? Or maybe this place was making her a tad bit paranoid. It was no wonder the streets here were so unsafe. This atmosphere was enough to make even reasonable people trigger-happy.

“Yes,” she spoke. “When should I expect to hear from you?”

She almost flinched at  the sound of a car alarm suddenly going off, somewhere far away in the distance. She almost couldn’t wait to get home to the safety off Cirrane, where the worst kind of crime being committed was tax fraud. At least no one got violently jumped there. She once again reminded herself that this would be worth it, once she had her interview.

She looked in the direction of the car alarm going off in the darkness. It was far away. Probably nothing to worry about. At least it was not something for her to worry about.

Edita shrugged her shoulders at Irene Ford's question. Honestly, Edita had no idea how difficult it would be to track down the EFA. Additionally to convince them to give an interview. So far the rebellious group had never openly given an interview, and they had rarely - if ever - openly given a statement to the public. This had every potential to be a really difficult job in terms of convincing the EFA. "It could take me a week, maybe more, maybe less," She finally said.

She glanced at Irene Ford, thinking how out of place she must have felt walking down these streets. Had she ever been here before? Edita almost couldn't imagine a life without Erast. It had been a crucial part of her childhood, and definitely shaped her as the person she was today. It had undoubtably wired her in a certain way. But Erast was for some a mysterious place of violence and danger where one never went. The thought of it was very strange to her.

Irene nodded. That settled that matter, then. No matter the risk, she was getting that interview sometime next week. She was sure her relation to Robert would survive it. And she wasn’t worried about her career, she always landed on her feet. Although, this would be her first public scandal, she assumed. No matter if the piece she wrote would be positive or negative, well, the very fact that she had spoken to the group would be controversial. There was another rush of excitement, but this time it was mixed with nerves. Had Robert’s worry gotten under her skin? Maybe.

The two women soon wrapped things up from there. The agreement was made and Irene headed home to Cirrane.