Carmen Sandiego (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
doitrockapella) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
retrospec2017-09-03 01:47 pm
doitrockapella) wrote in retrospec2017-09-03 01:47 pm
text ❖ cause the kind of girl like me, they're running out of in the market
Carmen Sandiego
9/3 near *̸̗͈͔̺̙̥͐̏͐͊̅̀̇͊͌͞/̴̛̼̦͍̟̑̀̆͋͜*̵̠̣͍̓̏̋̌̑̌̐͜͜͝ͅ|̸̻̪̰͔̇͗̊̃͋͊͢͝͠*̸̢̧͓̦̫̞͖͌̈́́̎̇͞͡͝|̘̤̩͙͇̯̱͊̔͐̚̚*̡̧̜̹̗̆̿̂̄̃̀͠͠͠ͅ\̴̨͉̱̼̜̭̀͑̇̇͆̔͜͠*̢͓̯͕̩̙̬̏̽͂̃̅̃̂͡A few brief notes:
1) Good luck and best wishes to all the students gearing up to start school this week. While I know the end of summer vacation and the onset of the school year may seem like an event to anticipate with a sense of mounting dread instead of enthusiasm, remember that — in the words of South African activist and former president Nelson Mandela — "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
Increasing access to education is one of the main pursuits of the Sandiego Foundation, and we share American statesman Benjamin Franklin's opinion that "an investment in knowledge pays the best interest." We pride ourselves on the number of scholarships we're able to offer to students of all ages and educational goals, as well as grants and other financial support. If you're getting ready for school and finding that you'd welcome some additional financial assistance in the coming semester, please don't hesitate to make contact; we still have plenty of scholarships as yet unawarded, and will continue to accept applications for them through the end of this week.
It's your job to chase your dreams. We at the Sandiego Foundation want nothing more than to help you get there.
2) Speaking of the Foundation, we're still in the process of getting our fall calendar of events fleshed out, and I'm always open to new ideas for community functions that people might like to see and take part in. One can only attend so many dinners, socials, and golf outings before things start getting tedious. So, a poll for the masses: what sort of event would you most like to see come to Recollé?
(At the risk of invoking a verbal cliché, I really would like to put the "fun" back into "fundraiser" on a much more regular basis.)
3) The usual daily mail contained a number of packages that I was expecting to see delivered, and a few unexpected ones marked with what seems to be the Retrospec logo. Experienced recipients, is there anything I should be particularly concerned about before I open these?
4) On a more personal note, I'm interested in hiring the services of a sketch artist, for a certain project I'm hoping to further. If you have the skills, time, and interest — or know someone who may be available for hire — please feel free to get in touch with me at your earliest convenience.
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[She accepts it without hesitation, glancing at the label and offering a smile and a nod of approval.]
Come on inside. I put the boxes in the kitchen, and that'll give me the chance to get this open and find a few glasses.
[And she will lead the way through this vast estate of a place with her cat trotting helpfully along behind, and it is legitimately stupid how utterly massive it is with each and every room they pass through on the way to the kitchen.]
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When they eventually reach the kitchen, which I assume is plated with solid gold, Yato stands around and tries not to touch anything because he probably wouldn't be able to pay off the damages if anything happened. ]
Your house is pretty big.
[ eloquence ]
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That's essentially this house. A modern-day pyramid, of sorts.
What's curious, though, is that even Carmen seems a little bit exasperated with all of it; the general tone she seems to take to her surroundings is more one of nebulous impatience than of revelry.
Still, it's equally clear that she's aware of where everything in her house actually is, because she deposits the wine on the counter before fishing down a pair of glasses from a cupboard and setting them on the granite-topped island, which helpfully has a row of padded barstools tucked under an extended lip for comfortable sitting.]
I wasn't the one who picked it out, believe it or not. My mentor arranged for it for me, when he politely insisted I come here for the foreseeable future.
[She nudges aside the two Retrospec boxes piled neatly on the island, making some room, and then goes to dig in one of the drawers for a corkscrew.]
I think the idea was that I was supposed to relax and recuperate. Who could've anticipated I'd end up doing anything but.
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[ Where can he get one like hers?? He cautiously pulls out a barstool and parks himself on it. ]
Is he an art insurance detective too? You guys must get rake it in.
[ IT'S ACTUALLY A LITTLE SUSPECT... ]
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[Corkscrew found, she comes back over and starts working it into the bottle with methodical efficiency.]
My father was an art dealer, and a successful one at that. My mother worked for years doing the same thing I used to — being an art insurance detective. So as you can see, they had a common interest, and that's also how they met.
[Doot doot doo, in goes the screw.]
Eventually, my mother decided to strike out on her own — stop working for people and start working for herself. She founded a company, which trains future art insurance detectives. Essentially, it teaches people how to do what she did for years, and they do it well. I should know; I completed the program myself, once.
[She pauses.]
But naturally, a company has a lot of moving parts, which means you need more than just one person to keep it running efficiently. Division heads, a chief executive officer...they were family friends, along with being business associates.
Everyone knew what to do with all of my parents' assets after they died. I think the only thing they weren't sure what to do with was me.
[With her eyes still on the bottle, she shrugs.]
I was lucky. One of them — my mentor — volunteered to become my legal guardian. And they all kept things running in trust for me, until I was old enough to know what I wanted to do with it all. These days, I'm more than old enough to know what to do with myself, but it doesn't stop him from acting like a father toward me, regardless.
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For all the time he's spent as a bum, he doesn't begrudge anyone the riches they inherit -- not anymore. As long as they're not raging douchebags about it, anyway. Carmen is a nice and knowledgeable lady, so really he's glad that she's not financially wanting, even if she isn't completely comfortable living amidst all this splendor. ]
That's great. If you were a character in a book, you'd be living under the stairs while your mentor made off with all your cash. Your mom must've found good people for her company.
So are you running everything now?
[ Since she's on extended leave from field work?? ]
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[She sort of blinks, though, her hands coming to a standstill for just a fraction of a second, as though she'd just sort of processed what she'd said herself and found it clunky in her mouth, somehow.
Regardless, it only lasts a second; then, she regroups and pops the cork out of the bottle, and retrieves the glasses to start pouring.]
Actually, the day to day operations are still seen to by the same people that were handling it when my mother was in charge. They're the experts at what they do, already; I didn't see much point in trying to tell them how to do what they're good at.
My role is more...to shape the vision that the company follows, moving forward. I talk to them frequently, sign off on major decisions, that sort of thing. But I don't handle the running of it, specifically.
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Sounds like a tidy arrangement. While they're stuck with the paperwork, you're out sleuthing and busting art thieves. You really are like something out of a comic book.
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That's pretty much it, to be honest. I realized early on that I wasn't made to be confined behind a desk.
[She pauses, fleetingly.]
Or in a gilded cage, for that matter. I have these talents, I know what my strengths are — and my weaknesses. To not use them to their best effect, where they can make the most difference...that doesn't make a great deal of sense to me.
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[ Not even for the law! He jogs one foot on the stool and pulls a wine glass closer to him. ]
So if all this is your life now, what was your life before? Seems like a tough act to match.
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That depends on what you mean by "before", doesn't it? Before I came to this city? Or "before"...in the memories we all seem to be getting back?
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Before in your hallucinomemories. I haven't met a person yet whose other life was more boring than the present one.
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...I remember falling from something high up.
[She gazes down at her wine glass, mulling a bit before she goes on.]
A boy and a girl were watching me, and I fell over the side, backwards...but somehow I wasn't afraid? There were no ropes, no tethers. And yet I felt...right. Like I was doing something I was supposed to be doing.
[She pauses.]
But the first one I ever had happened when someone grabbed my wrist. I remembered someone else doing that, too...but I don't know why.
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Yeah? Maybe you could fly.
[ Totally straight-faced as he says this... He'll believe anything now, honestly. He eyes the Retrospec packages stacked between them. ]
Maybe those'll give us a clue.