[C] Interviews or Interrogations [Closed, Alexander]

OOC: By the Gods, including Rao, I am so sorry that there has been such a long wait on this post. I've been having some serious computer problems, but I didn't realise it'd been two weeks already. Had I known it'd been so long I would have typed something up on my tablet. (Which is difficult, but I could have at least gotten the job done on). I hope that you are still interested in threading and, now that my computer isn't spontaneously turning itself off/busy melting itself, I should be able to do posts more quickly.

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New beginnings. Though the sudden transfer to the Second Division, of all places, had given Alexander a sense of discomfort and apprehension, made all the worst with him already in the midst of other personal 'changes', once he'd settled, and accepted the things that were happening to him, the young officer quickly found himself feeling a sense of 'liberation'. Instead of finding himself thrown into an uncertain future, he looked at it as a fresh start. He could abandon any of the mistakes that he'd made in the past, the dank pit of despair that he'd found himself, that rundown empty 'office', with it's boarded up window and peeling wall paint, that stagnant existence without purpose (or company), with only failure, dismissal from his position, and who knows what else looming on the dreadfully not so distant horizon. He could put all of that behind him.

He was looking at people (especially other men) and the world differently now. His latest transfer and Promotion, the later point he would find himself happily focusing on, gave him a proper office, with an actual budget to get things done with and, quite frankly, and this is opposed to what he had before, an actual department of his own to lead. Of course, having himself some new quarters wasn't exactly terrible. He now had room enough for entertaining guests, floorboards that didn't creek or let off dust if you stepped on them the wrong way and a Double bed, albeit a small one. It would only be a dream, at least for now, but the thing about having a double bed was that you had the opportunity to perhaps, one day, make full use of its size, perhaps with one of the aforementioned guests that you were 'entertaining'.

The 'new' job wasn't anything too unfamiliar to him. Alexander's career had largely been spent in an office with a pen in his hand, so there shouldn't be any particular difficulty for him when it came to the paperwork. He was also fairly confident that he could handle himself in a fight, should the need arise. As for the exact details of his duties, keeping an eye on the whole 'Vaizard' situation, it was basically what he'd already been doing when he'd been stuck in the First Division, except now he'd have a staff with which to do. So while he'd never exactly had people working under him before, he could now, at last, claim to be an 'experienced' officer.

Once he'd gotten over any and all of his concerns Alexander, the newest member of the Second Division, had found himself eager to get started. He'd made short work of his new budget, putting his remarkable accountancy skills to use and put together a new plan in short order. He was going to start off small, four people to begin with. He'd go through the Second Division roster, going to his superiors should he need to look outside of the Division, and find the best available candidates to bring onboard. There'd be one person per Division, someone to handle matters that required communicating with Third Division, another for Fourth and so on. Alexander himself, as a former member and someone who already knew most of the people there, would handle the intermediary between his department and First Division. After that was set up, he could see to hiring and bringing aboard more people as was needed, either on a temporary or permanent basis.

By and large, he wasn't entirely sure what specifically could be done working with the Fifth Division, apart from having them report general suspicion among their ranks. On that front then, he'd purposefully chose someone young, inexperienced. Their responsibilities wouldn't be too severe, but there'd be enough work there with which to test them, to teach them. He would provide a younger, newer Shinigami a place to learn and develop. Before he never would have really considered doing such a thing, let alone think himself someone suitable to be a mentor.

All the preparations for getting started had been made by him days before he was due to get started, and so, when Alexander walked into the Second Division for his first day as the new Fourth Seat, he would do so confidently, and why shouldn't he? When the spectacled Shinigami looked into the mirror that morning, the person he saw, he thought, wasn't all the bad looking. He perhaps wouldn't have thought as such before, but now... well, let's see... Despite the various fights he'd seen over time, he'd managed to maintain a rather handsome face, kind of cute, in fact. His hair was frankly gorgeous. He was in fairly good shape. The smile certainly helped... It was something he'd not seen on himself in quite some time. He also found that his uniform actually suited him better a little loose. He'd always been such a stickler for the regimental look, but what was wrong with letting just a bit more skin around the collar show? (Not that he had to go overboard though). Also, his hair; by the looks of it he'd say he was due another trim but, actually, maybe he'd let it grow out a bit...

The only thing he'd not considered, or had overlooked, was the more physical setting up of the new office of the Second Division's Fourth Seat. At the very least, his own desk and chairs had already been delivered and put in place by the time his Staff had arrived. However, as he addressed the four newest members of his team there would still be people delivering the furniture. In Alexander's defence, they were running a little late. Unusually, given Alexander's usual personality and behaviour, he'd speak to his new staff in an almost laid back manner. He'd stand with his back to the front of his desk, leaning back slightly on it as he calmly, but confidently, spelled out his current plan and the assigned duties he'd be giving each of his people.

"... so while your role working with the Fifth Division will probably not involve as much directing of effort, I definately want you to... Yes! If we could get the desks lined up, two on either side, just up against the wall facing this way, I'll have my staff give you a hand in a moment... I still want you to remain observant and try to keep everything you're doing in mind as a chance to learn, and as a chance to use your own initiative and bring anything that seems suspicious to you up for questioning. Now, Aizawa, as the oldest member of Second Division here, I'll probably be relying on you heavily to help navigate my way around, as well as to help direct any investigations I'll be having any available folk here in the Division undertake. Obviously, I'm new to the Division, so I won't know the lay of the land so well, but I'm sure you can get me settled in soon enough. So, with all that said, any questions?"

There's a gratifying silence.

"Good. Well if you can help give these fine Gent- Ladies and Gentlemen get our 'equipment' into place, I'll be sure to go into more detail in regards to the specifics we'll be working on today. In the meantime, I'm going to get started on some of the paperwork, and perhaps figure out what else we might be able to do today, should we have time."

With the first meeting having gone smoothly, Alexander turns to his desk and settles, quite satisfied with how things went. He bounces slightly in his seat. If there was one thing he wasn't going to miss about his old 'office' it was the chairs. His enthusiasm for his new 'comforts' would have to be tempered slightly, not wanting to appear smug in front of any of the people currently engaged in manual labour. To that end in fact, to avoid any guilt, Alexander would quickly turn to the papers that were already upon his desk. It wouldn't be long however, before he found himself surreptitiously glancing up, unnoticed, at one particular male member of the delivery staff, with a coy smile and, not for the first time, wondered how obvious latest acquired inclination was, or would be, to another so inclined.

Word Count: 1386
Total GP: 27

Given that Alexander was only just getting started as an Officer in the Second, you perhaps wouldn't expect him to have much, of for that matter, any paperwork to do. However, it would be quickly apparent that this Division was one in which high ranking Officers were in short supply. The young spectacled Shinigami would barely have time to put his ass on his new seat before the work would come rolling in. Well, he guessed, he wad now the third highest ranking member of Second now, and his first day of active duty had to be marked on somebody's calendar. In fact, some of those boxes of office supplies piled up outside were filled with documents and files that needed his attention, stacked in amongst the inkwells and black sheets, and had actually made it here before his desk. Of course, had the moving staff gotten this done yesterday, as they were supposed to, perhaps Alexander wouldn't be having this problem. Well, he could at least bring some of the boxes in and put them by his desk, rather then have them out there, in the way. Finding out which boxes had work in them, and which one were their new coffee cups, would be a matter of trial and error. It wouldn't be long though, before another side to the job, one that Alexander had perhaps a little less experience with, would arise.

Working for the Second Division was going to be interesting. Not only were the impeccable at keeping track of who had made appointments to see the, of sometimes, more terrifyingly, who had appointments to be seen by them, but their watchful eye on everyone in the Seireitei also gave them a pretty good idea of who might be coming by unannounced, why they were there, their darkest secrets, and what they had had for breakfast that day. A quick, but detailed, written description of the individual at the front desk, provided by the 'secretary', and internal security would already ave a rough idea of who it was out of their list of possible candidates for unannounced visits that day.

Asking for the man's name was a sort of afterthought, not something asked for initially because anyone who was trouble wouldn't use their actual name. If anything, it was a test. After having the name, rank, division, blood type, place of birth, sexual preferences, favoured sleeping position, etc, of the person waiting at the front desk, she would only be seeing whether of not the man was using his real name, or else being incredibly foolish, and tying to get by with a fake one. As it happens, should Alain have been using another name, other than his own, a penalty probably would have fallen also on the young, fresh out of the Academy, recruit who, despite having not been there to hear which name their guest was using, had escorted him to an Officer and had announced them as 'Alain Merrick', the person he already knew he was escorting, but hadn't in anyway been introduced to. It was a point of suspicion that the Third Division Shinigami perhaps could have noted, having only given his name to the secretary, right before she'd ushered him through, without a word, to his escort through the building. Then again, perhaps the fault was with the lady at the front desk, who hadn't openly introduced and given Alain's name to the new recruit. Either way, had there been a problem there, it would have been Alexander's job to sort it all out and give the pointers to the newest staff member, and the reminder to the 'secretary' who should have been more mindful of the recruit's greenness.

“Ah, good...”

Alexander had been informed that someone at the front desk had been requesting a chance to speak to an Officer. Seeing as he was strictly speaking available, and that this was a part of the job he was going to have to get used to, the young new Officer had agreed to it.

“... send him in, will-” [you?]

However, the young recruit was already gone. There was a few moments of silence as Alexander sat there. Okay, the guy was fresh out of the Academy, but he was sure if he'd been a Captain the boy wouldn't have run off like that without having been properly dismissed. Then again, Alexander was new, perhaps it'd take time before people started acting more... mindful. Eventually Alexander rose to his feet and, sidestepping a desk being carried along by a couple of Shinigami, headed for the door. He'd only stop briefly on the way, to reach over and, almost absentmindedly, effortlessly, pushing up from underneath with one hand, lift clean off the ground another desk that'd already been moved in (with much effort on the part of the other Shinigami), before placing it back down in a slightly more neatly placed position, before carrying on as if he hadn't just performed a herculean feat of strength, but rather a task less effortless than correcting an askew picture on a wall. This would be done outside the line of sight of the man waiting outside in the corridor, but would nonetheless have the staff moving the furniture silently dumbstruck. Alexander would carry on, unaware of their awe, instead going to the doorway and poking his head out, looking both ways before...

[Oh! Wow! He's hot.]

There would be only the briefest of moments of hesitation as Alexander not only found himself surprised by the appearance of the newcomer, but also by his own initial, instinctual thought and reaction to them. Nonetheless though, there'd be no external signs of Alexander's surprise and the British Shinigami would remain as poised and composed as always. Such thoughts about another person, upon meeting them for the first time, were hardly befitting, and it would perhaps be a sign of his more Victorian upbringing that he'd have such an opinion (though not if it'd been a woman involved oddly/suspiciously enough). Whatever the case, Alexander wouldn't miss a beat. His accent would become slightly different from before, when he'd been speaking casually to his staff, and had sounded exactly as he was, someone from the Rukon districts. Now there was a posh, educated elocution, that one might have expected from a nobleman.

"Ah, Mr Merrick. Sorry about the wait and I hope that you don't mind the staff helping me set up in my new office. Please, come in."

It would be as Alexander turned to walk back into his office that he'd notice the strange looks he was getting from the other people there. Naturally he found himself concerned, trying to think what it was that was eliciting such a reaction from everyone else. Had it been something he'd said? Perhaps his way of speaking had been a little off? Had he suddenly, accidentally, been camp? No, he knew that wasn't how he sounded. Despite the unexpected strange looks, and Alexander confusion, a curious raised eyebrow was all he'd give them in return before carrying on back to his desk.

"So, tell me, what is it we can do for the Third Division today?"

Word Count (Total): 1193 (2579)
Total GP: 51

"Oh... well, I'm sure I can..."

There was an actual marked hesitation on the part of the new Officer who, especially given the specifics of his duties, was more than respectful of the need for some to more private audiences. The whole thing had caught him somewhat flat-footed. Well, he'd say this for his newest guest, he was direct. Leaning back slightly, Alexander would glance down, looking at the drawers of his desk.

{I swear I must have put the keys in one of these...}

His search would have wait for a moment as he snapped to attention, heeding the Third Division member who'd begun explaining their reason for visiting today. The new, young Officer would listen with a careful attentiveness, with only a single brief glance down during, indicating that he was still contemplating the location of his keys. As it happens though, Alexander would soon find himself with his brow furrowed slightly at the newcomer's, almost insubordinate, and curt response, spitting Alexander's kind and innocent enough question back at him. He could understand if the man was impatient after having had to wait, but he was speaking to an Officer after all. Furthermore, if you were just going to show up without an appointment beforehand, expecting to find someone who could meet with you, when they most likely had work of their own to be getting on with, you should count yourself lucky that there is anyone available to even meet up with you at all. This would all come to mind quickly to Alexander, who was steadily, and firmly, reminding himself of his elevated position in this situation, when he'd once again find himself caught off guard.

"Oh... well... I..."

'How had he known his Division?' He'd forgotten instantly about the newcomers more brash attitude. Had he messed up just then... no, not exactly. It was more a case of him still getting use to the Second Division's peculiar attitudes and general efforts to create a sense of mythos. He was sure the correct response was a coy smile and some enigmatic or cryptic response that didn't really tell anything, but it was a bit late for that. There was a deep breath, and Alexander regained that calm but confident composure he'd held.

"Ah...

...Well."

He spoke slowly, but calmly, mostly to give him time to think more than anything. A slight cough to clear his throat, and he'd have that more 'posh' accent again.

"An educated guess I'd say... My recent transfer from First Division where I worked for a good few years meant that I know most of the people there. You're not from Second. You could be from Fourth or Fifth, but..."

There was the briefest of hesitations. He'd been doing fairly well up until that point. The more elocute speech slipped again, slightly, giving way to those little East Rukongai tangs, which only made him seem more and more like someone from a common background trying to sound up market.

"... well, you... erm... don't strike me as either a Soldier..."

A stroke of inspiration on that point as he glanced down at the newcomers hands.

"...from your hands, or a Scientist who, ah...

He was out of any sort of explanation on that front.

"... generally tend to have a certain 'feel' about them."

He had to conclude lamely.

"Ah! Not that I mean to insult you at all, I'm sure you have plenty of practice at combat, but I've known some real battle veterans and they just look...

There was a flash of recollection for Alexander, a very heavily scarred woman from Fifth Division that he knew by the name of Victoria. He interrupted his own hanging sentence.

"And then there's the 'Down & Outs' from the Divisionless barracks, but I spent some time there as well and you seem to be here with a purpose in mind."

Of course, he could be here to petition for a chance to join the Division. This was a point he'd notice, but would have to skip quickly passed, having no explanation there. The 'story' Alexander told had a few holes in it, but then he was never the best liar.

"Ah! ... and since I worked for a time in Third Division myself, and don't recognise you, at least from your face alone, I'd have to say that you're a fairly new addition, if I'm not wrong."

There was at least a slight sense of triumph for Alexander on that point, though he supposed he only had something to be proud of there if he was actually right..

"Anyway..."

The spectacled Shinigami would say calmly, regaining his composure and a more flawless upper class accent, which did not, it should be noted, sound fake or as if from some form of parody, but would seem rather genuine, were it not for the occasional slip when the man found himself flustered. It came from a real source, Alexander having spent some of his Academy years mingling with the upper crusts, and having had with them a number of grueling, but attentive, lessons on 'proper' speech. He'd glance back down at the drawers of his desk, hoping to move past that part of the conversation quickly.

"... As I was going to say..."

There was the sound of wood sliding on wood as Alexander would open a couple of draws, than a quite exclaim of triumph as he found what he was looking for.

"Hah."

A not too heavily populated, and at the very least, helpfully labeled, set of keys on a chain where fished out and placed on the desk.

"I believe that my new position gives me access to the interrogation cells, I'm sure there's an empty one in which we can have this conversation. Confidentiality is particularly important in my particular line of work. If there are details regarding some of our prisoners that we need to discuss, it'll be good to be able to do so somewhere we can do so freely. Please..."

He stood and gestured invitingly to the door.

"Hmm..."

He paused briefly, glancing back and contemplating his new office.

"Going to need to install some big sliding doors..."

It was one thing to be able to look out at his staff at their desks, so he imagined he'd have those doors open most of the time, but he needed to be able to close the doors and make his office a private space for moments like this. The whole thing shouldn't be too difficult, there was definately enough space.

Word Count (Total): 1086 (3665)
Total GP: 73

"Hmm..."

Alexander, while still relatively new to the Second Division, had at least been shown some of the ropes. He knew how important it was not to intrude or interrupt a questioning in progress. As such, he'd take great care to check which rooms were in use and which were free. There wouldn't seem to be much trouble in terms of availability though, leaving Alexander spoilt for choice. It must be a slow morning for the Second.

"Ah."

Poking his head into one room, he was happy to see that one of the rooms fitted with a more modern setup was indeed unoccupied. They'd be minimalist, cold and metal, but he could at least have himself a table and a couple of chairs to work with. The first door that he'd put his head through had put him on the side that was usually behind the mirror, where silent observers would sit unseen, in waiting, but a flip of a light switch and the glass partition would be transparent, as Alexander hoped to be during this meeting.

"This should do..."

Entering the door a few meters along, Alexander would invite his guest in. The room would be large, well lit, with the other half of the room perfectly visible through the glass. There'd only be a table and a couple of chairs, hardly a comfortable setting, but it'd suffice. Usually Alexander would be concerned over such a lack of hospitality, but this Shinigami appeared to be all business. He was certain they wouldn't mind having to conduct matters here. Still...

"I do apologise about this, I really must see to it that I can take such matters privately in my office, but since we're only just now getting the department up and running, one must expect a few glitches along the way. Still, as long as we have some privacy, a table and a couple of chairs to work with, I'm sure we can both make do. So then..."

The young officer would stop suddenly, having spotted something. He'd been fairly happy with the room they'd found themselves in, despite the sparseness of the environment. A redeeming quality was the place's cleanliness. There was no blood on the walls, dried or otherwise, no scratch marks anywhere, and was, as far as Alexander had been able to tell, a place in which everything had happened neatly and above board. However, having spotted evidence to the contrary, he'd now find himself quickly whipping out a tissue from a pocket and, while remaining seated, stooping down to the floor. Perhaps it was too late, his guest having already seen it too, but Alexander would nonetheless make a point of quickly throwing his paper handkerchief over the dislodged tooth that he'd found. It'd serve the purpose of both covering the unpleasantness from sight, as well as preserving the evidence as Alexander carefully picked it up, giving a brief peer into his tissue to confirm he had actually seen what he'd thought he'd seen, before wrapping it up carefully and placing it back into his pocket.

{I will definately have to have a word with someone regarding that.}

The look on Alexander's face, as well as a steady, almost growling, exhale, denoted his disapproval, but this was a matter he was going to have to put to one side for now.

"Sorry about that, most unpleasant. So..."

Wanting to move swiftly on from that, Alexander would return to the original subject at hand. This being far from any sort of interrogation, or vigorous questioning, Alexander's attitude is open and friendly enough, and when he does pose an actual question, it sounds more as if he were simply asking out of curiosity.

"You were wanting permission to review some of our prisoners? Well then, let's take a quick look at this list of names you've put together and see if anything leaps out at me. I may be new, but I've at least made a point of familiarising myself with some of the more dangerous and notorious amongst our guests. By the way, what is it exactly that you're wanting from them? I only ask because we do have our own dedicated medical staff in our internment district."

Alexander will, of course, be referring to the more publicly and widely known prison area, as opposed to the more discreet and lesser known, subterraneal facility that holds some of the Seireitei's more dangerous criminals and enemies.

"If it's some form of medical examination, or even if you're looking for subjects for some sort of new drug trial, we do have people of our own, cleared to work with our inmates, in the prison environment, who can most likely perform any sort of proceedure required. Not that I imagine their medical knowledge holds a candle to that of anyone in the Third Division, but we do put a high priority on security."

Word Count (Total): 814 (4479)
Total GP: 89

It seemed that his guest was observant enough to see what it was that Alexander had spotted and had moved hastily to remove. In all honesty, Alexander had had no idea what sort of reaction to expect and, as such, wasn't found anymore surprised by their nonchalant as he would have been by any other possible response. At the very least, Alexander had to find himself in disagreement with their reply, considering it to be, in actuality, a 'counter-productive evil', but he wasn't there to discuss politics with an Unseated from another Division. As for their seemingly taking an actual interest in regards to who it was he was speaking to...

"It's an internal security and management department, which I know sums up most of the Second Division. Specifically, Vaizards and what I tend to refer to in shorthand as Proto-Vaizards. I suspect I'm going to have a lot of work coming my way before long, but there's no reason I can't stay busy whilst getting that ball rolling."

Taking the page that this Shinigami had torn off and passed to Alexander, the spectacled Officer gives the six names a scrutinous examination, trying to recall any details he may have seen regarding any of them. Fortunately, nothing specific jumped out at him, but it was more than possible that his recollections of the higher security cases are less than photographic. At the very least he could see that the former Second Division Captain currently held in solitary confinement was not on the list, which given the fact that this was something they were trying to keep quiet, meant that Alexander didn't have that problem to deal with.

"Hmm... Regarding these two medical practitioners, would you happen to know the exact reason for their incarceration? If it were, for example, due to the research they conducted, there may be complications. I'm not thinking so much on our end here. It would be conceivable for the Second Division to release such information, if it were to be used for life saving medical use. However, there's every chance that your superiors in Third would object to the use of knowledge acquired through unethical research. Though I suppose that's more of a point that you need to consider and, for that matter, I may be completely off the mark here.

If there have been some incidents lately involving erm... this more specific type of injury, it's more than possible that, whichever members of Second Division assigned to investigate, that they'll already be consulting with these people, or other people like them with similar expertise. Failing that, I can easily inquire with our detention centre whether or not these two specific individuals are being consulted in regards to any ongoing cases. If not, I can see if it would be possible for you to speak with them, and perhaps you yourself can pass on to our investigators the contact details of these experts if, after speaking to them, you think they may be of any help."

A little bit of upside down reading and Alexander got a general idea of what Merrick was noting down. Alexander thought to mention that he'd had the idea in mind for those 'drug trials' to be voluntary, but he supposed that was something his guest would have to bring up with their prison warden. Though it did give Alexander a slight feeling of being ill at ease, especially given the signs he'd thus far seen in regards to the Second Division's treatment of detainees. This wasn't something to be addressed now though and he'd move on.

"As a general rule, if a Recruit such as yourself has access to files regarding our prisoners, than those prisoners themselves are probably more or less accessible by the public. Though you'd still need permission from an Officer in Second, it's very rare that we'll have someone on public file who very specifically needs to be kept in isolation. As for being allowed to access our records, that's a fairly simple matter. I could probably walk you over to that department here in Second right now. The level of security access you'd possess would be the same as it'd be anywhere else, so you probably won't get the chance to see anything above your pay grade, that is if our people do their job right.

I believe most of our files and records are still on paper medium, but I understand that we have been using more modern, electronic devices for the purpose of archiving file names and their specific shelf placements. You should be able to speak to any member of our staff there, who should be able to find whatever you're looking for. As for being allowed in and out of our archives, this would basically be a simple matter of getting there and back again without anyone stopping you on your way, which should be simple enough to sort out at our front desk, as long as we already know what you're coming for. Then again, there's every chance that, if you walk confidently, look as if you know where you're going, and aren't straying too close to anywhere important, you might also manage to get by that way as well."

Alexander was fairly new, so he wasn't entirely sure how accurate that last piece of advice was, but he'd give a slight reassuring smile at the end. The man also mentions an interest in Vaizards, which was a subject that Alexander couldn't disregard. Again, he'd make a careful note that no mention of Nagisa Chinda had been made, and all the better that none had been.

"It's quite fortunate that you've found yourself speaking to me, in regards to consulting any of our Vaizard detainees. I can tell you straight away that we don't currently have any that I'd want anyone to speak to, but if you're looking for expertise on that matter I can certainly provide what knowledge I have of the subject, at least, what information is open to the public."

Which most likely meant that Alexander couldn't tell him anything more than he already knew, and that information regarding Vaizards is something still very much guarded.

"My inclination would be to give you permission to see any person in our detainment centre that you can find on file, in our archives, as long as you inform me and give me a day or so to double check that you're not seeing anybody too dangerous. As it happens anyway, you should probably be giving our prison district a day or two to prepare for your visit, so you're not really being slowed down by keeping me in the loop. You should also know that they'll probably be communicating with me as well, asking me to confirm each time that I've given permission for this and that, so I'll be knowing one way or another. Not that I wouldn't have any reason not to trust you. That said, despite saying all this, I am required to ask what this is all in relation to. I would have assumed that this is something pertaining to your duties with Third, though it's more than possible that this could be related to something personal, just as easily as this could be part of some assignment. It being part of a personal project should not by any mean, inherently, count against you. But, either way, I will have to as exactly what this undertaking of yours is."

Word Count (Total): 1244 (5723)
Total GP: 114