|
Post by Neo Queen Serenity on Jan 6, 2009 17:32:49 GMT -5
"And again I thank you," Usagi said graciously, trying not to blush at the man's kind words, though she could not prevent the rosy flush from spreading on her cheeks. He was either sincere, or the most skilled flatterer she had ever met. After being duped by a few courtiers who only sought to obtain power through their silver tongues; Usagi tended to be suspicious of too grand or too many compliments. But somehow she just knew that he was unfeigned in his speech.
She smiled at his reply, turning to head into the Celestial Room which was just around the corner. "I am glad to hear it... Though do keep in mind that Luna is different from anything you've ever seen before."
Miharu was in the room with the coffee service, and the smell of fresh-brewed coffee filled the air. The room was of a medium size, with an arrangement of settees and chairs around a stained cherry wood coffee table. Since Miharu was with them, Usagi thought they would be alright to sit until Luna arrived.
It didn't take the feline long. Usagi felt a little disappointed to hear 'your majesty.' The formalities were always so stiff, but she could imagine why Luna would use it; though she was not as sure how her guest would react if she told Luna to call her by her first name. "Thank you for coming, Luna," she acknowledged. "This is Khalid ibn Maleec. He is the Vice President of UAE Oil. Maleec-san, this is Luna, my advisor."
|
|
|
Post by Khalid ibn Maleec on Jan 6, 2009 17:49:50 GMT -5
Before Khalid could respond to Usagi's thanks, she was warning him again about Luna. His eyebrow raised even higher at the warning. "She must be rather unique since you've warned me twice now."
He smirked slightly at the smell of coffee. It smelled good, but weak, in his opinion. However, he was not surprised that that was the kind of coffee he preferred, and the stuff that the non-Arab world considered coffee was not bad - it just wasn't coffee.
Before he could take a seat - only after the Queen of course - he heard a voice and turned to see who it was. He blinked for a moment, his carefully guarded expression registering no surprise other than that. It was only a moment before he remembered the recent news, and he realized that he should have remembered the name, or at least realized it from the Queen's repeated warnings.
"Of course." He bowed to the cat, "I should have remembered your name from the recent news. Forgive me for my momentary rudeness. It's a pleasure to meet you, Luna-san."
|
|
Luna
Senshi/Shitennou
Advisor to Neo Queen Serenity
Posts: 185
|
Post by Luna on Jan 6, 2009 18:42:08 GMT -5
Luna watched Khalid curiously as Usagi introduced him, surprised to see so little reaction from him. She had expected something more then just a little blinking, even after her 'coming out' the other day. She sat down and curled her tail around her paws before once again bowing her head slightly and responding, "It is a pleasure to meet you as well Maleec-san. However, there really isn't any need for apologies."
|
|
|
Post by Neo Queen Serenity on Jan 6, 2009 21:25:41 GMT -5
"Unique doesn't cover the half of it." Usagi sat on the far side of the settee, smoothing out her skirt. Khalid seemed to react appropriately; she could tell he was slightly surprised, but he certainly didn't show much of it. Usagi was relieved; though perhaps she should have expected this would be the extent of the man's shock-- he was very put together; probably followed the news, too.
"Thank you, Miharu," Usagi told the aide as two cups of coffee were set out in bright white china cups and saucers. Since he was her guest, Usagi would have to take over from here with cream and sugar-- but Maleec struck her as a black coffee sort of person. Usagi found it too bitter without several tablespoons of cream and four lumps of sugar. "Do you take your coffee black, Maleec-san? And would you like anything, Luna?" she asked politely. It seemed slightly amusing; even though Luna was in many respects human, to be worried about etiquette with her cat was one of the surreal aspects of rising to power and showing the stranger aspects of her life with the world. I can see it now-- in five years I'll be to talking cat diplomatic etiquette what Jackie Kennedy was to diplomatic entertaining, she thought wryly.
|
|
|
Post by Khalid ibn Maleec on Jan 6, 2009 23:33:25 GMT -5
"I see that." The corner of his lip turned up momentarily in a smile. It lasted only a second, but it did indeed happen.
"Very well then, Luna-san. It is truly an honor to meet you."
When Usagi sat, only then did Khalid sit. "Yes, Majesty. I prefer my coffee black, but I do appreciate a bit sugar, just one lump." Of course in this coffee, his normal two lumps would be sickeningly sweet. Oh well, he'd enjoy a cup of real coffee in his hotel room later.
He watched the queen. She was quite an interesting person. There was a warmth that he would not have expected from the ruler of the world, and as much as he took comfort in formality, he got the feeling that she hated it.
|
|
Luna
Senshi/Shitennou
Advisor to Neo Queen Serenity
Posts: 185
|
Post by Luna on Jan 7, 2009 0:15:57 GMT -5
It did not take Luna very long to figure out that she was playing chaperone once again, but as usual she didn’t mind. If it would help keep Usagi’s honor in tack then she had no qualms with interrupting her afternoon nap in favor of joining this meeting. She hesitated a moment trying to decide if it would be alright to just take the cream, after all she wasn’t really a big coffee fan. Finally, she decided that she was indeed a cat at the moment and so it would hardly seem odd that she would want just the cream, in fact it would probably be more rude to just sit there and not take anything.
Twitching her whiskers just a bit and doing her best to stay as dignified as she could, Luna glanced over at Usagi and murmured, “Just some cream please, majesty ...”
Once again Luna found it very odd to be referring to Usagi as majesty when for the last seven years since she had found her she had been nothing more then Usagi. To be so formal in her relationship was disconcerting to say the least, especially since more often then not she still tended to view Usagi as the hyper-active, big hearted, kind girl that she had first met so long ago.
Luna turned back to watch Khalid curiously as he in turn watched the queen. For the moment, Luna remained fairly quiet as she had no real idea what the two were discussing. She would best serve by watching and being alert to anything Usagi might miss. She had learned long ago that you could get the best information simply by being quiet and watching.
|
|
|
Post by Neo Queen Serenity on Jan 7, 2009 7:08:54 GMT -5
His brief smile did not go unnoticed. Usagi smiled to herself as she looked down-- the man should do it more often, in her opinion. It made him a little less serious, showing a sense of his charm. At Khalid's request, she used the tongs to deposit one lump of sugar into his cup. After assuming the crown she had spent hours in etiquette training, and had managed to learn something, unlike the finishing school she pretty much flunked out of during that brief spell of attendance, back when they were battling Beryl. Her opinion on etiquette in general, however, had not changed-- more intricate, silly, ridiculous rules of formality that further complicated life and communication between human beings. Everyone had told her it was all about respect, but Usagi knew from experience that one could follow every minute rule of etiquette and still be extremely disrespectful and malicious towards someone. Actually sometimes being 'killed with kindness' was worse-- the other person knew how cruel they were being, the receiving person felt it, but the horrid deed would never be acknowledged for what it was because it sat under the cloak of 'etiquette.' Usagi's dim view of formality was that it was just one more way for human beings to hold power over one another and compete for attention. But it was expected: so like everyone else, she followed along.
With these thoughts, it took significant willpower for her not to grimace as Luna called her Majesty again. She didn't mind it so much from someone she had just met, like Khalid, although she had stopped herself several times from telling him he could just call her Usagi. But Luna? It just felt so uncomfortable to hear that form of address from her.
Usagi pulled out another saucer and poured the cream into it, placing it at the far end of the table, before pouring a sizable amount into her own cup and adding four lumps of sugar. "Maleec-san and I were discussing the upcoming energy contract, Luna," she explained, reaching under the edge of the table and pressing the first button. The middle section of wood depressed inward and then folded away, leaving a blank screen. She reached out towards the mounted plasma on the wall, 'grabbed' and 'threw' the image onto the tabletop screen. Motion cameras in the room recognized certain gestures and allowed her to move back and forth between the two screens. She pressed her palm onto the surface, and let it scan the print before logging her into her account. She made a small noise in embarrassment as the log-in clip played. Oh, God, I completely forgot about this...! There she was, on the screen, skipping away from the camera in her coronation gown and diadem, turning to wink and blow a kiss, with an animated heart popping up from her hand.
"I... really need to change that," she stammered, flushing a bit. Good job, Usagi! Sign in and show him your goofy login greeting, why don't you...
|
|
|
Post by Khalid ibn Maleec on Jan 7, 2009 10:57:55 GMT -5
"Why?" Khalid had watched the greeting image and had found it amusing.
However, the image was more than amusing. It told a lot about the Queen herself. Some, he reflected, would probably see it as a sign that the Queen was self-involved and self-important, after all how vain would someone have to be to use themselves as their greeting. That was not what Khalid saw. Instead, Khalid saw someone who wanted to remind herself to be herself, to have fun, to not lose sight of herself, even with all the pressure and responsibilities that would be part of being the world leader.
"There is nothing wrong with that. It's... charming."
|
|
Luna
Senshi/Shitennou
Advisor to Neo Queen Serenity
Posts: 185
|
Post by Luna on Jan 7, 2009 16:20:02 GMT -5
Luna nodded in understanding as Usagi told her that they had been discussing the upcoming energy contract. However, the moment she saw Usagi’s log-in clip, Luna twitched and inwardly groaned. Usagi-chan ....
She was rather glad that Khalid hadn’t seemed to find anything wrong with the image that Usagi had chosen to use. Luna knew that some people would have found the image to be distasteful, but she was beginning to see that Khalid was not the normal courtier. Of course she herself didn’t really think there was anything wrong with the image, it just wasn’t what one might except a queen to have.
Luna shook her head in dismay before returning her attention to the screen. She knew a little about the energy contract, at least things she had heard people discussing around her. She hadn’t actually taken the time to read anything on it and so she didn’t bother commenting at the moment. Luna still considered this to be a meeting between Khalid and Usagi, she didn’t want to interfere unless she had something to say that was relevant to the conversation.
|
|
|
Post by Neo Queen Serenity on Jan 8, 2009 19:25:54 GMT -5
Usagi found herself flushing again. He didn't seem bothered by it, but she was thoroughly mortified at forgetting about this. "Well, thank you, but... It's not exactly work appropriate, is it?" she asked nervously. "My generals and ministers don't seem to mind, though it's like an inside joke around here. It was taken right after the coronation, we were all just goofing off... Just a moment I like to be reminded of every day," she shrugged. Usagi had thought about using the guest account to sign in, but that would have meant they would have low priority when it came to bandwidth.
Clearing her throat, she tried to move on, querying the presentation files and spreading them out on the table using the touchscreen. "Anyway, as I stated earlier, the contract deals with our supply lines, all over the world but the problem is most critical in underdeveloped theaters where we can't tap into the local power grid and the developing clean energy sources. The places that need to be pacified the most are also the most underdeveloped. You can't pacify without forces, and you can't have the forces without the energy, and you can't have the energy without the oil, and you can't have the oil if critical supply conveys are attacked. And you can't stop the attacks without pacifying the area. I think you're seeing the paradox we're all living in."
She pulled up a map of Central Asia, colored dots making ugly blooms over passes and routes. "These are all attacks; you can see they're clustered around critical passes in the mountains; there is no place better to illustrate this problem than Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the mountains give you few options for supply lines. Since opening new routes through the old Soviet satellites of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, we now have 30% of our petrol coming though Khyber Pass instead of 40%, but an attack there two months ago pretty much put operations inside the country at a standstill because of the lack of oil. We might as well paint a red crosshairs on our convoy trucks. Enormous amounts of resources are built around defending these supply convoys, costing lives-- and using up valuable resources where they should be forward deployed and used in capacity building. Seventy percent of our tonnage is petroleum-- more than food or ammunition."
She discarded the first map and then pulled up a table of data. "The fact is, it's difficult to come up with an alternative solution. The energy has to be able to be stored and transported, yet we need something that deployed forces can collect themselves, instead of relying on vulnerable supply convoys. So even if we switched petrol with ethanol or another biofuel, we would be having the same problems. Building a pipeline is just building another target for attacks. And unless vast improvements are made with solar, that option doesn't seem to be too attractive either-- to use Afghanistan as an example again, the geography makes it ineffective a good deal of the time; the winters are very harsh since it's in the range of the Hindu Kush, and there is significant cloud cover for weeks. The small percentage of energy stored would not be be able to efficiently cover energy needs. There's a report on findings-- I'm not covering the half of it, but I think you can get the drift."
|
|
|
Post by Khalid ibn Maleec on Jan 9, 2009 17:00:31 GMT -5
"It's perfectly appropriate, Majesty." He offered her a small smile. He found it odd that he did not think scornfully towards the Queen for the greeting, but for some reason it just seemed right. It seemed to fit her, and it sent a message to to those who might see it about who she was.
Khalid nodded, listening and looking closely at the maps and charts that she put up. "Wind energy could be developed there, eventually. But that does little to help the current energy needs. We have been focusing primarily on solar energy ourselves. The biggest problem you'd run into with transport with the current technology and solar energy is the size of the batteries required, and being in an area where they cannot be allowed to recharge means that they won't last long enough to do you much good. We're working on that, making the cells smaller, but you need something now."
He steepled his fingers and leaned back in the chair, thinking. He was not a scientist, though he was kept current on the state of the R&D department. "Even once that area is stabilized, you'll probably not want to rely on nuclear power. Not only do you have the very real danger of a local power going vogue, but there are still the dangers of mining for the fuel and storing used fuel safely."
"Solar remains the most promising source, but as you said, the technology is not enough to be reliable yet. The problem is storing the energy so that those places which get plenty of sun can provide for those that don't, without creating a social imbalance. Of course, careful social engineering can make it that those places of the world that rely on others for solar energy can provide some other necessary good to balance the ledger." He waved his right hand, not to dismiss the social ramifications, but to indicate that that was a problem for someone else.
"If I may?" He moved his hand to reach into his jacket, not wanting to startle anyone. He pulled out a disk and slid over to the queen. "That's where our R&D currently stands on the issue developing solar energy cells. They are significantly smaller than any of the one's on the market, though the charge life is not as long as we would like. They recharge quickly, but currently would not solve the problem in regions such as Afghanistan."
Normally, he would have kept this secret closer to his chest, but he felt compelled around the Queen to be more concerned with the good of the world than the future of his company. A realization which made him distinctly uncomfortable.
|
|
Luna
Senshi/Shitennou
Advisor to Neo Queen Serenity
Posts: 185
|
Post by Luna on Jan 10, 2009 1:18:16 GMT -5
Tail tucked neatly around her small paws as she sat silently in the chair, Luna continued to watch both Usagi and Khalid as they discussed energy concerns and possible solutions. Occasionally she would flick an ear as she studied the pair, but other then that she remained still. She didn’t really have any knowledge of these sorts of things and so she figured it was better to stay silent and perhaps learn something.
Luna was an advisor of the heart one could say, she worked better helping Usagi through whatever sort of hardships she might be facing or even as a handy chaperone if need be. This sort of meeting would probably have been better left to Artemis as he tended to understand things like this better then she did. However, he was no where to be found.
Since she really didn’t have anything important to add to the discussion, Luna continued to silently study her companions, most especially Khalid.. As far as Luna could tell, he seemed to be an admirable man, one that Usagi could put a lot of her trust in. However, there was just something about him that made Luna feel distinctly uneasy as she watched Usagi working side by side with him.
|
|
|
Post by Neo Queen Serenity on Jan 10, 2009 22:39:38 GMT -5
Khalid actually smiled at her. She wasn't wrong, there was a sense of warmth underneath his formal exterior. Usagi relaxed a little, enough to be able to listen and nod as he spoke, instead of feeling too flustered.
"Yes, we didn't even investigate nuclear power for just those reasons. And of course we'd like a fix now, but I'm willing to invest in long-term research if that's what it takes. The contract is two-pronged, development of a replacement source of energy and improving energy efficiency with what we have right now. Most of our military hardware is legacy; what's being produced now to replace it is as light and upgraded as we can make it, from vehicles to cartridges. Every little bit helps," she said with a shrug and a smile.
She nodded when he reached into his pocket, not feeling threatened in the least. "Yes, go ahead..." She thought it was some kind of business card or pamphlet... Usagi did not at all expect to be given a disk with cutting edge research. Her eyes widened in surprise.
This guy is definitely for real. To just hand over his company's secrets like that? If the government was corrupt, they could just take it and run; they hadn't signed a contract with UAE Oil. Khalid was putting a huge amount of faith into her, and Usagi immediately made up her mind to do the same. Part of her said that her ministers wouldn't like it, they would tell her that this could all be a scheme, that he would know she would react like this, but she had to trust in her intuition. Khalid ibn Maleec was the real deal, and as far as Usagi was concerned, she had made up her mind when it came to the contract.
"That is no small gesture, thank you. The information will be closely guarded." Usagi reached down as he slid the disk over to her, her fingertips just brushing over his as she took the disk.
It felt like she had been scalded. A thrum of power seemed to vibrate throughout her being; her mind grinding to a halt. The hairs on the back of her neck and arms stood straight up, and Usagi couldn't even feel the disk in her hand as she picked it up and pocketed it. It felt like an electric current was pulsing in her veins. She smiled at him, glad that the strange sensations were not evident, but wondered if Luna had sensed the change in her.
I feel like I know this man. I don't know how I know him or where I know him from but I am either going insane or there is something I'm missing... That was no static shock.
|
|
|
Post by Khalid ibn Maleec on Jan 11, 2009 15:01:21 GMT -5
Khalid nodded, acknowledging the Queen's thanks. "I trust you, Majesty." He would not have given her the disk otherwise. He was sure that his father would have several choice words for him if... when he found out that he had done more than give the tiniest preview of what they were currently working on.
What was perhaps the most unsettling for Khalid was the fact that he did not entirely care what his father's response would be. He knew that he had done the right thing - whether it was right for company or not, it was the right thing to do. Khalid had always been honorable, but probably not quite as magnanimous as he was just being - at least not in business.
Khalid was quite certain that he was no longer losing his mind - he already had lost it.
|
|
Luna
Senshi/Shitennou
Advisor to Neo Queen Serenity
Posts: 185
|
Post by Luna on Jan 11, 2009 15:30:15 GMT -5
Luna watched Usagi take the disk and immediately sensed a change in her. She knew Usagi well enough to know that something had happened, though she wasn’t entirely certain what it was. She would have to ask Usagi the moment this meeting wrapped up, but until then she was determined to keep an eye on Khalid even more. Luna was still uneasy with him around, even if he had done nothing wrong. In fact, she was very much aware that he had just done something that no good business man would have normally wanted to do.
She really couldn’t understand it, there was just something about seeing the man in the same room as Usagi that made her very uneasy. Luna hoped that this meeting would be drawing to a close soon. The sooner Khalid left, the more relaxed Luna would feel.
|
|