Doppleganger (Early AM 1/3 Minako/Open)

[Aino Minako]

Minako hung up the phone and finished dressing, the pink blouse slipping easily over her head. A pair of sandals complemented the outfit well enough, without looking like Minako had tried hard to dress in the middle of the night. From her closet she pulled out a night cap and set about pulling her hair up on top of her head, securing it to each side in odango’s as though she were Usagi. The cap fit neatly over her head, and she pulled out two sections of blond hair on each side to mimic the appearance of pigtails poking out from under the cap.

Her quarters had a side entrance for staff that led into the maintenance halls Lucan had referred to. She was certain there were camera’s there as well, and she grabbed another hat and coat, slipping both on over her clothing. Both were oversized and bulky, easily hiding her form. Then she headed from the room, attempting to appear unsuspicious, not that she felt she was all that successful.

A few turns into her walking, she took off the jacket and hat and dumped them in a staff bathroom before heading out of the maintenance area and into the main walkways of the palace. She knew the way to the situation room, even if she'd never been there before. A palace map was one of the many documents Usagi had given her to read (and memorize) when she'd had to sign all the paperwork to become her queen's back-up.

As she approached the situation room, she could hear the commotion inside. Someone was angry, yelling, and Minako flinched for a moment before putting on her easy, breezy acting face. This was a movie, and she was Usagi. She knew the queen better than most people ever would - ten years of friendship had given her a perspective of Usagi that most of her advisers would never have.

Then she pushed open the doors and entered the room, sweeping in just like a queen. "What's going on? Lucan informed me that my presence was requested?"

[Neo Queen Serenity]

The yelling abruptly stopped, and Eigo turned from his stand-off with a tearful and shaking Hikari to face 'the Queen.' For a brief moment, he looked almost disappointed to see her. Hikari looked so relieved that she almost collapsed into a nearby chair, but instead came to give Minako a brief hug.

"Serenity, thank goodness... I don't think I can take it anymore," the Chief of Staff whispered to her. "Sorry..." she pulled away, looking slightly embarrassed. Hikari usually wasn't so demonstrative.

"Ah, there you are," Eigo said crisply, his tone of voice regaining its oily texture instead of the shrill bullying he had been using just a moment ago. Staff in the situation room slowly began to return their attention to their computer screens and relax, though they still watched the group with obvious unease. "Where have you been all night? This isn't the time to be hiding away, he had no right--"

"Enough," Hikari hissed softly. She was obviously a bit intimidated by Eigo, but not enough to put up with him.

"--there's work to be done," Eigo continued without interruption. "Don't tell me you have no idea what's been going on?"

[Aino Minako]

Minako returned Hikari's hug - Usagi would have done the same. The she turned toward Eigo, her expression stern but devoid of anger or malice. "He has every right, Eigo. That's what I employ him for. You would do well to remember than next time in the future." Minako breezed into the room moving easily to Usagi's chair. She lowered herself with less grace than normal, her motions mimicking the queens almost perfectly. "There are reasons that are not your concern at the moment, Eigo, but no, I don't know the full scope of the situation. I'd appreciate an update, and I'll appreciate if we could focus on what needs to be done and decided."

[Neo Queen Serenity]

The room froze in shock at 'the Queen's' stern expression. Eigo was the first to recover, simply responding with a bow, though he was a bit unsettled. Serenity didn't speak to him like that, everyone knew she wasn't good at giving orders.

Other advisors frowned at this development, but knew better than to speak up. Hikari looked immensely relieved and considerably more cheerful, and behind Eigo's back, two of the Queen's aides were simultaneously lifting their eyes skyward and thanking God for this new and unexpected development.

"There's been a NNEMP blast taking out the entire ward of Shinjuku," Hikari quickly explained, quickly passing out briefing materials. "It occurred at about 11:51PM this evening. The Metropolitan government of Tokyo is completely in the dark, and the police communications and cars are down as well. Hospitals are being evacuated, but there are fires that emergency services are having trouble attending... The effect is localized, but we need to know if we assume central control of the electrical grid or let it remain in the hands of TEPCO."

The arguing broke out immediately. "There's no way she can do that," Eigo said flatly, looking at Minako. "You need to appear in control, and this is only one ward of Tokyo, not all of Japan or Asia, it's too small to warrant the nationalization of the electrical grid for a day or two."

"It's not like we can plunk a new transformer down and flip a switch," another advisor mocked. "We'll need to seize control eventually, this damage will take months, years to fix. We can't let this turn into our Hurricane Katrina."

"And how are people going to feel if the government just snatches up control from one of the largest electrical companies in the world and takes over all of Shinjuku? They'll see a bunch of stormtroopers walking around--"

"Eigo, respectfully, spare us the melodramatics," drawled Minister Sawyer. "I do believe you're getting the emergency seizure of grid control, which can be localized, with instituting martial law." He turned to Minako, and gave her a friendly smile. "The latter of which, your Majesty, I do not recommend or believe is necessary. However, I've already taken the liberty of drawing up the paperwork for the temporary control of the grid, should you decide to do that."

"Your Majesty, we have only an hour or so to make a final decision on whether to allow the stock exchange to open," piped up Takahashi, an economic advisor. "Shinjuku being what it is, stocks are going to go crazy tomorrow."

"Oh, let's just take over everything," Eigo sneered. "You'll turn a slump into a crash that way. TEPCO's shares will be worthless by the afternoon, and while Shinjuku is a great loss, everything else is still running and has been climbing--"

And so it went, the neverending back and forth. Hikari took a seat next to Minako, leaning over to whisper to her while the advisors bickered amongst themselves and the Ministers grew more irritated. "Are you alright? I've never heard you speak like that... I mean, not that I mind, it's probably a good thing..."