^^ Lillian ^^

--- Gregor ---

Just before the doors opened, Lillian grumbled something about 'white-washing', and then snapped her fingers. Her clothes changed swiftly, to khaki pants, black heels, a white-cotton shirt, and a dark grey suit jacket.

Then, she fluffed her hair, tossing it over one shoulder, and stepped forward with the confidence of a queen, just as the door opened, parting before her as if they were trained servants.

I fixed my hair into a tail and followed, shadowing her footsteps like she was a charge to protect, and opened a set of double doors for her. She didn't even skip a step, again, gracefully striding into the room.

Tina saw me staring at the woman in awe, and smirked, then mouthed 'Bro's got a Cru-ush' teasingly.

I ignored her, and focused on Lilly, as she stopped at the table. "Hello, everyone. This is Greg Atkinson, my intern, and also a prospective employee for the Stock and Investment sector, as well as a friend of mine, Valentine. I was watching her today, because I didn't think I'd have much to do. Now let's get to business." She said swiftly, and took a seat.

She stealthily gestured at the seat next to her, and I sat down, looking at every person at the table to get their measure.

Tina sat next to her on the other side, and smiled at an elderly, strict-looking woman with silver-framed glasses.

The woman smiled back a little, then looked at the two men and one woman at the head of the table. "Alright, we're all here. What's the emergency?" She snapped, her features settling into a disapproving, cold look.

The woman, sitting at the very head of the oval table, opposite Lillian, cleared her throat softly. "We are experiencing a wobble. It's nothing too serious, but the owners are urging us to purge risky stock. Does the board agree?"

Lilly sighed. "We haven't even seen the graphs, Alexia, don't get ahead of yourself."

"A-ah, right. Yes." The woman tapped a small tablet, and the wall turned into a computer screen suddenly, making me jump. "Sorry, I was just trying to get this finished quickly, I forgot you all weren't up to speed..."

"Rookie." Lilly muttered derisively.

The woman blushed, angry, but didn't react outwardly, which confused me a little. Lilly was in shape, and obviously the physically and mentally superior of the two, but the other held a higher position, but even acted weaker.

The screen covered itself with a graph, showing several stocks shaking up and down over the past three days.

"So that's why it's called a wobble..." I hummed softly.

Lilly smirked a bit, then flattened her mouth. "Alright, it's definitely on a downward trend, and Wobbling... I agree we should get rid of our more risky stocks." She said, and leaned forward, placing her hands on the table, fingers spread wide.

The table lit up, and I almost flinched again, but controlled myself.

The others nodded and placed their hands on the black glass table, and it lit up under each of their hands, one by one.

"Alright, unanimous, now let's choose the stock." The man to the left of the head woman said, and tapped the table.

A list and graph appeared in front of every person, even Tina, and Lilly gently moved her hands away from it before she could mess with it.

I hummed and read the numbers and names, and then blinked. The reason they were selling was to stabilize their profits, which were dropping.

"How much do you need to stabilize without selling?" I asked Lilly quietly.

The head woman heard me, however, and snapped her eyes to me, along with every other person in the room, from the lawyers to the others I couldn't identify.

She blinked slowly. "Say that again?"

I cleared my throat slowly. "I asked how much she needed to stabilize, without selling." I repeated myself.

She frowned. "Not an option. And in the future, don't tell us how to do our jobs."

"You're extremely insecure and being emasculated every time you screw up, which I don't doubt is quite often, so I'll forgive your insulting tone, but I asked a question. Don't put your fears of incompetency upon me as an outlet of your lack of confidence." I responded clearly, staring her in the eyes.

Lilly snorted loudly, and covered her mouth, then cleared her throat. "I apologize, that was rude of me. Mr. Atkinson is from Svalbard, an archipelago in the Arctic. He is a very sturdy man, but he is also socially inept, when it comes to being subtle."

The older woman spoke up easily, fixing her glasses. "Yes... but, dear child, he is correct, at least, that he didn't do anything wrong, and only asked a question. And also, you need someone to tell you how to do your job, apparently, because you didn't think of that before him, the man who only recently learned how our economy works. Capitalism is still new to him, I'd say." She frowned disapprovingly at the woman.

Alexia set her hands in her lap to hide them, but her flexing forearms told me she was clenching her fists tightly. "I suppose... that you are correct... Mrs. Altivera. I apologize, Mr. Atkinson, for my hasty speech, and haughty tone. You're correct, of course, that inputting money to stabilize would be the... pragmatic choice."

"So I was correct? Especially seeing as if you keep those stocks, when the market stops Wobbling, the prices will rise again, as a result of everyone wanting to re-buy the risky stocks. Selling at a later date, or trading into a more stable stock, would be preferable to losing the stocks you have, right?" I asked, looking at the charts again to make sure.

Lilly nodded, and the man to Alexia's right smiled a wolf's smile. "He's good. And yes, you're correct, but that kind of capital is extremely hard to come by on such short notice. We would need close to $7million for a basic stabilization, as well as selling some of the bigger stocks and shares."

I smiled a little. "I can have a large piece of that by tomorrow at noon." I said clearly, staring the woman in the eyes to detect the slightest amount of weakness. I found an overwhelming majority of it, and frowned, unimpressed.

He leaned back, and Lilly hid a smile behind her hand. "Oh?... I see... usually, I'd say that you're wasting our time and our money, waiting, but you seem to be serious. Alright. Tomorrow at noon. Deadline. If you don't manage to have gathered $4million in investments or stock portfolios, then I will use my Board Clearance to reject your application, regardless of Ms. Wong's approval." He said simply.

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You want to go to war over a little-, well, big- thing like this?" She asked, curious.

"Not necessarily, but someone would have to take the fall, for the investors to be satisfied." He responded easily, lacing his hands behind his head.

I nodded and stood. "Then I'll get to work. Good day. Pleasure you meeting." I said, and bowed a bit, turning to leave.

"Ahem... 'pleasure to meet you' is what you meant, child." The Elder woman said politely.

"Ah, yes. I appreciate your guidance, Ma'am." I nodded and opened the door, stepping into the hall.

Lilly stayed, and I listened as they began conversing, with Tina playing on the computer/table. The old woman has changed her screen to a small building scenario, where she stacked playing cards to try to build a house while wind blew sporadically, and she was absorbed in the challenge.

"I like him. He's got guts, and good instincts, as well as he knows how to put people in their place. Good skills, in a businessman." The elderly woman, 'Mrs. Altivera' said, chuckling a bit under her breath.

"That's why I recruited him. He's got talent. A little spit-shine, and he'll be interesting to work with." Lilly said carelessly.

"Of course, he still has a lot to learn about professionalism and subtlety, but the direct approach isn't always bad..." the man who sat at the right of Alexia, the one who'd spoken to me, said.

"George, we all know you enjoyed that a little too much. Challenging Ms. Wong like that was simply unprofessional of you. You're one to talk about the new man's manners!" One of the other CEO's sighed.

He chuckled in response, unabashed. "Maybe a bit... Plus, I really like his accent. Not quite Hollywood Russian, but close. It's great!"

"Do you think he can get the money within 22 hours, though?" Another asked him.

"I don't know... but did you see his eyes? I think he can try, I just don't know how he'd do it... Lilly?" He asked.

She cleared her throat disapprovingly. "Ms. Wong."

"Sorry."

"Well... I don't know, either. If he manages it, though, it will be great for our organization, hmm? The International Exchange will get a little boost from this as well, right Mr. Faust?" She asked a man around my age, I thought, but when he spoke, his voice was much older.

"Perhaps. It depends by how much we deficit... if we do not deficit at all, or, gods willing, we profit, then the international exchange would receive a very healthy kick... I will ask my investors to buy international commodities, in preparation."

"You're sure?" George asked.

"Yes. I have a good feeling about this man, and his prospective profits for our companies. But Mrs. Monroe, please, do not be so rude to new people... it give us a bad image." He chided the woman as if a child, and then leaned back in his chair, apparently done speaking, for now.

Lilly hummed softly. "If Mr. Faust says so... I'll buy some copper, I think. I like copper, the color suits me." She nodded.

Tina looked up at her earrings, which were indeed copper hoops. "Bronze would suit you better, Miss Lilly. You should ask big bro Indra. He is good with making things." She said, and then went back to her building.

Lilly hummed. "Bronze, hmm?"

Tina nodded, and then clicked a button, and suddenly her creation, an entire Scottish Castle made of playing cards, was displayed on the big screen.

Mrs. Altivera clapped politely. "Very intricate! Good job, little one!"

Tina beamed, happy to be praised, as always, and then removed a single card, shattering the entire infrastructure of the main building, and leaving only the foundation and towers standing. Four cards had to be removed to cripple each tower, then four more in the foundation.

The old lady blinked, surprised. "I've never seen a card-tower that needed more than one card removed to take it down! However did you manage that?"

Tina blushed and mutely pointed to the rewinded footage, where each piece was separately anchored, to allow for damage and movement, but not stress on the joints, just like the Chinese did with their palaces, which could survive Lvl10 earthquakes with barely even cosmetic damage.

The footage played again, and she nodded, as if it were simple.

"Oh, dear... now that is a talent I've never seen before... not just architecture, but planning, physics, an understanding of earthquakes and even hurricanes? Impressive, dear child." She smiled and patted Tina's head.

She blushed and ducked to hide under the table, embarrassed now.

"Alright... now back to business?" George commandeered the screen, and I blinked when I heard Lilly's voice in my head.

"I will handle this, and watch Tina. Go make those bank accounts, and then get those Portfolio's. I like the way you think, but that's an incredibly risky thing, what you just did."

I grinned. 'Bet big, win Big.'

I started down the hall as she rolled her eyes, and went down the elevator to the lobby.

I set my bag in the scanner, and ducked through the metal detector, then collected my bag.

"See you. Have a nice day." The guard sighed disinterestedly.

I nodded, and paused. "Hey, do you know of any banks nearby that can make a bank account in a few hours or less, and can handle very large monetary transactions?"

"How much is very large?" He asked.

"In the Tens of Millions. My boss, one of the gals upstairs, wants a new bank account, and I need to be ready for when she asks." I lied smoothly.

He nodded. "Gotcha... well, the Federal Reserve has a branch just down the street, maybe four buildings down. If you make a bank account with Regions or Navy Federal, and trace it through there, you should be fine."

I hummed. "Okay, so I'd make the account at the Bank, then take that information to the reserve?"

"No, no. Get it all done in one place. The reserve has people from most major banks, but Navy Federal is a Credit Union, which is better for big transactions, I think. They'll help you out, man." He nodded slowly.

I grinned. "I appreciate it... man."

"Cool, dude." He chuckled slowly, and I belatedly smelled something chemically wrong with him, like he was drunk.

I hummed and waved, walking out, then stopping a random man on the phone. "Which way to the Reserve?" I asked simply.

He went to brush me off, but looked up at me, and pointed doubt slowly, towards the bay. "Four buildings that way..." he said.

I nodded. "I appreciate your assistance." He toddled off quickly, and I hummed, looking around, then continuing down four buildings, and coming to a building marked clearly.  'United States of America Federal Reserve, Manhattan Branch'.

I nodded and opened the door, and stopped at the security guard's checkpoint, setting my bag on the table, then smiled. "Hullo! I am looking to open several accounts today, is this possible?"

He nodded. "ID?"

I removed my wallet slowly, and pulled out the plastic card they had given me, which showed my face and name on it.

He scanned it, then nodded. "You're cleared for entry. The blue stall is the Navy Fed booth, the Red is Army Reserve, the Green is Regions, and the gold is one of our associates here. Anything else? Oh, and you'll need to leave the bag here, sir."

"Not a problem, take good care of it, those files are very important. I'm starting work at the Exchange, just a few doors down? Yeah. I need a briefcase, but this is what I've got, so far." I explained.

He nodded. "I'll put it in the Safe, Mr... Atakinson?" He barely mispronounced my name.

"Atkinson. Yes, that's much appreciated, sir." I smiled and walked past the metal gates, (which he had to buzz me through; I was quite pleased by their security,) holding my papers, ID, and wallet.

I approached the golden booth, and leaned down to look in the little windows. "Uhm, hello?" I asked.

"I'm here, sir, your angle makes it hard to see me. What do you need today?" A male voice chuckled.

"Ah, alright. Well, my family and I moved to this country just recently, and gained full citizenship, and I was hoping to open a few bank accounts, for the adult members of my family, as well as a separate savings account?" I asked.

"That's doable, sir, would you like to trace through a Credit Union, or direct-link to the Federal reserve?"

"Credit union, I like the sound of Navy Federal? I was in the Navy in Sweden, I think I've still got a soft spot for Sailers and Salty Tars." I chuckled.

He chuckled as well. "Ahh, I see. Well, then I can do that, yes indeed... I can create the accounts, all of them, today, and then at a later date you can come change the ownership of them, or add access rights, which basically means I can make them today, but they're all in your name, and later you sort them out, which massively simplifies this current process, and shortens the time-frame to just about an hour."

I nodded. "That's wonderful! Perfect!"

"Alright, so multiple accounts? I can give them names, to help you later. List them for me?"

"Alright, well... I need one Checking named 'Valentine's Allowance' and another named 'Indra's Allowance'-"

"Indra? I-N-D-R-A?"

"-right, and then one named 'Tara's Checking', T-A-R-A, then one named 'Anza's Checking' A-N-Z-A, then 'Gregor's Checking,' and finally one named 'Work Checks'."

"Okay, so that's 1-2-3-4-5-6? Six checking accounts?"

"Correct."

"Alright, and now Savings, I assume?"

"Very good. First, it's 'Tara's Savings', then 'Anza's Savings' and 'Gregor's Savings', then 'Gregor's Portfolio', and finally one named 'Tithe'."

"Okay... I've got them, so that's five Savings, Six Checking's?" He verified.

"Correct, yes." I nodded.

"Alright..." he started typing extremely quickly, and I lost track of what he was doing. "Alright, that's done... and if I could have your ID? You're already checked in, and I have your information on file, but I have to check again, it's standard procedure."

I set the ID on the counter.

"Annnd... good. Alright! You're all set, now there's just the matter of the activation fees? 50 for each account, totaling $550? I assume you're paying cash?"

Anza reached around me, surprising me, and set a collection of Twenties in the slot. "Indeed we are! Hullo!"

"Oh! Wow, she's stealthy, huh?" He started counting, and then gave back a $10.

She stuck it in her shirt, then set a stack of $100's on the counter. "And a deposit, for Anza's Savings?"

The man hesitantly pulled it into the slot, and sighed. "Alright... for anything over 2,000, I have to ask my manager to witness, so it'll just be a moment..." he typed a bit, and a man walked over briskly.

"What's up, Dugal?" He asked softly.

"Deposit, says $20,000 on it... and I believe it. So...?" he asked softly.

"So enter it. I'm your witness, let's go, I've got things to do, and I'm sure they're busy people." The manager said testily.

My representative nodded and unwrapped the money, setting it in a counter.

I looked at Anza. "Please tell me that's..."

"Got it fair and square. Sold a few Vinyls to a very generous hippie." She shrugged.

"A what?" I asked.

"Dunno. Seemed nice, but very odd. And on a massive amount of drugs." She grinned.

I nodded. "Ah. A Hippie. Got it."

The money finished counting, at exactly $20,000, and he nodded, wrapping and tagging it, then setting it in a black box, and locking it. "Alright! And I will get you those Cards... now."

A small machine next to his computer began slowly dropping multicolored cards into a tray, and he nodded as the last one dropped. "Good, there we go... alright." He set all of them out in front of me. "The red card is the 'Anza' checking and savings, it'll draw from checking until empty, and only then draw from savings."

Anza snatched it, and grinned. "Ooh, I like the color! A bit darker than mine, but ah well."

"Uhm... okay, I guess you're Ms. Anza? Can I see your ID, and I'll transfer ownership?" He asked.

She set her ID on the counter. "Here you go!"

He scanned it, then nodded. "Alright, and the account is officially in your name, with your... brother, as Co-Owner, and Founder."

I nodded slowly. "They're all connected to my main card, though?"

"Yes, you'll only have two cards, one for the normal accounts, the silver card, and one for the Work Checks, the gold one, which I assumed would be important?" He asked.

"Yes, I appreciate that. And these others?" I asked.

"Alright, the Blue is connected to the Valentine account, and the green to the Indra account. You are Owner and Founder, but those cards allow purchases, under a limit you set, and you can turn them off anytime you like, for as long as you like." He explained.

I nodded and tucked them into my pockets. "And the black is the Tara account?"

"Correct, sir. Same as the others."

I tucked it next to the others. "Alright, and is that everything?" I asked.

"Yes sir, that's everything. You're actually lucky you came in today. Just yesterday, we were still using a long set of paper questionnaires to get your info for your accounts. Now that information is on your ID! Very convenient." He nodded slowly.

I grinned, tucking the silver and gold cards into my wallet. "Very nice... have a nice day, Sir!"

He nodded. "And you as well, sir."