PRIVATE - The Puerst Residence

[Voshkod]

The Puerst Residence

Yuri Voshkod steps inside the Puerst residence. He smiles to Mr. and Mrs. Puerst.

"No, Mr. Puerst, I am not with SAW. And thank you, Mrs. Puerst, some tea would be very nice. I am Yuri Voshkod, the Director of Operational Security Incorporated. It was my men that stopped your daughter's activities at Harton Public Hospital. In the newspaper, she made certain . . . allegations against my men. I'd like to speak to her about that. If there is any truth to what she said, I'll make certain the offender is handed over to the proper authorities.

"I'd also like to speak to her about what she was doing at the hospital that night. I am not with the police, so, of course, she does not have to speak with me. But, if she is honest with me, I am quite certain I can make the situation with the authorities easier for her."

 

[von Streusser]

Mr. Puerst gives Voshkod a long appraising look. Mrs. Puerst, on the other hand, bustles off to the kitchen, returning shortly with a teapot and a plate of hot chocolate chip cookies. Her cooking is excellent, her tea is so-so. She makes sure everyone is comfortably seated in the living room.

"You're the head of that security firm?" asks Mr. Puerst, still uncertain of his visitor. "Well, I don't know that you'll get anything out of Hattie, she's a right pain. Going through that 'question authority' stage, and honestly, I was hoping the cops would keep her a little longer-"

"Alan!" yips Mrs. Puerst, obviously disagreeing. She turns to face Voshkod. "Hattie's fallen in with the wrong crowd, that's all. She's a good kid, but the people she spends time with now..." Mrs. Puerst tsks. "Hanging out at that Vampire bar and chewing the Topa root...the people she hangs out with, that is, not Hattie."

"You found the Topa root and the matchbook from that Freak Bar in her room! Of course she-"

"It's not a freak bar Dad!" Hattie Puerst enters the room, wearing a black t-shirt with a red anarchy symbol on the front. She says Dad like the word has a bad taste...her tone is typical of a teen addressing their parents, in that 'you're the stupidest person on earth' sort of way.

"It's a bar where freaks hang out! A freak bar!" Mr. Puerst, quite animated by this point, turns to Voshkod. "Vampires...have you ever been there? When Susan found their matchbook in Hattie's room, I went to go check it out. That place gives me the willies, I swear, where have all the decent God-fearing people gone-"

"Like, who are you?" Hattie, ignoring her father, turns on Voshkod. "I'm not talking to any more cops, I like, know my rights and stuff."

Mrs. Puerst, in the meantime, has gone bright red with embarrassment at the behavior of her family in front of guests.

 

[Voshkod]

Voshkod stands, bows slightly to Hattie. "Ah, Miss Puerst, just the young lady I was hoping to see. I'm glad you know your rights, Miss, but I assure you I am not a police officer. In fact, I am in a position to help you with them. But first. . . ." He turns back to Mr. Puerst.

"What bar, Mr. Puerst? Do you still have that matchbook?"

 

[von Streusser]

"Vampire's...and no, we threw that thing out, along with the Topa Root. You can thank my wife for that." His tone is a bit snide.

"I'm not going to see my daughter incriminated for holding onto things for other people" says Mrs. Puerst, indicating that the idea that Hattie might be involved in something improper is beyond the realm of possibility.

Hattie, for her part, rolls her eyes at Voshkod's bow and sits down on a couch, alone, arms crossed. "I don't need any help with the cops. I was just walking around, since when was that a crime? And if I was at a hospital, what if I was sick? Is The Man just gonna arrest people who disagree with his fascist state? The cops ain't got nothin' on me."

Vampire's (bar)

 

[Voshkod]

"I see," says Yuri, reaching into his coat pocket to turn on a small tape recorder, and to retrieve a notepad. "Vampire's bar. Thank you, Mr. Puerst."

He turns to stare at Hattie. "Now, Miss Puerst, you say the cops have nothing on you. Quite true. But my men have evidence you broke in; fingerprints, tapes, eyewitness. I can make all that evidence disappear, but you have to help me.

"I don't think you understand how much trouble you are in, young lady. You are the only person caught so far in these thefts. The government needs to score a victory, make an example of someone. Especially now that your friends have started stealing radioactive material.

"There is a lot of stray talk now, Miss Puerst, about terrorists. Stealing blood, organs, radioactive isotopes. There's talk of bringing the American CIA in to help find the thieves." He leans forward. "Have you ever heard of Guantanamo Bay, miss? Do you really think you'll have any rights after the Americans get involved? Do you remember what they did in Farpoint?"

"So tell me, Hattie, why are your friends stealing blood, organs, and isotopes? Where can I find the leader of your group? I want to help you, Miss Puerst, because helping you helps my company - to be blunt about it."

 

[von Streusser]

"I don't have to do nothin' for The Man." Hattie says, defiantly. "Everyone knows I was at the hospital, but since when was it illegal to go to a hospital? When was it illegal to be on the streets at night? It's fascism man, fascism. And I won't play into it."

She snickers at the mention of the CIA. "The CIA? They can't find jack. Everyone knows they're a joke. Should I list the things they've been looking for lately and haven't found? Man, they couldn't find their way to the bathroom without a map.

And now we see what you need me for...man, capitalism, it's like the force of decay in our will and our life. And stuff. It just, like, sucks your soul right outta ya man."

Mr. Puerst has rolled his eyes up so far he seems to be trying to look at the inside of his skull.

 

[Voshkod]

Voshkod now wears a smile that could freeze ice. "What a willful young lady you are, Miss Puerst. I suppose, then, that your last outburst about capitalism would forstall you from accepting my penultimate offer?"

He opens the briefcase and pulls out to 5000-ducat bundles of new bills, and drops them on the coffee table.

He turns to Mrs. Puerst. "Wonderful cookies, ma'am. So well baked. May I ask (one cook to another), do you have a gas oven?"

 

[von Streusser]

Hattie doesn't even skip a beat, or glance at the bills. "Not only is property theft, Dr. Voshkod" she says with a knowing glance, seemingly a personal jab against his Russian heritage "but it sucks your soul right out of you and stuff. The more you own, the more you have to own, until you become your money, or your nice Ikea furniture, or whatever.

Personal property, and money, it kills, man. Ever read Thoreau? Back to the woods and stuff. Go to the woods, relax, like, be with your people, throw off your worldly goods...that's what it's all about man." She hesitates for a moment. "That's what it's all about."

Mrs. Puerst, meanwhile, responds cheerfully "Oh thank you! No, I have an electric, it gives me a devil of a time too. You see, I think the temperature gauge is broken, because you have to set the dial about 50-100 degrees cooler than you actually want the oven to be, so the bottoms of things burn all the time! It's such a bother."

 

[Voshkod]

Voshkod looks at Hattie Puerst for what seems to be the first time. He waves a hand to his bodyguards. "Gentlemen: I'd like to speak to the Puersts alone." He waits for them to leave.

"Miss Puerst. No, Hattie. You are, apparently, a most remarkable young lady. One who has found a philosophy and actually intends to live by it." He puts the 10,000 ducats back in the briefcase.

"So I shall not try to bribe you, or to threaten you. Instead, I will say this: If you, or the people you know, are stealing blood and organs, then you are murderers. You are killing people. People who need that blood, that liver, that kidney. You are killing sick children and killing the souls of their parents. What would Thoreau say of you? 'It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.' Is what you are doing right, Hattie Puerst?"

Last chance, little girl, he thinks to himself. He glances around at the heating system, seeing if it is gas or electric.

 

[von Streusser]

Yuri's inspection of the room yields only a vent in the floor, perhaps a foot long by eight inches wide. The TV is stashed in a corner, and under the TV stand Doctor Voshkod can see the edge of a metal grate, perhaps bigger than the other vent.

Hattie, for her part, is taken aback, beaten for the moment at her own game. Her jaw hangs slack at Voshkod's use of Thoreau. "I...I thought they burned books like that in Russia..." She seems to be thinking hard about something, and Mr. Puerst is burning a glare in at her. Mrs. Puerst, however, objects.

"Now, sir, that's just not right. Hattie hasn't stolen anything, so I will not stand here and let you call my daughter a murderer! She's a good girl, a bright girl, and just because she made the mistake of associating with some of those hooligans doesn't make her a thief or a murderer."

Hattie, apparently reassured by her mother's show of support, stiffens her lip. "That's right, I ain't no killer. I just object to the law, to the Man, to the corruption of our society with material goods. It sucks, dude."

Mr. Puerst rolls his eyes and mutters to himself. "Oy, what happened to my little girl...she never used to be like this..."

 

[Voshkod]

"They burned a lot of books in Russia, Hattie, but not poetry. All Russians are poets at heart, you know. Mrs. Puerst, I know Hattie's not a murderer. But if she's consorting with people who are stealing blood and organs, then she knows murderers. And I think she knows in her heart and soul that what she's doing is wrong.

"It's not the Man's blood, Hattie, it's human blood. Blood donated by selfless people, people who are acting for the good of others. Blood that keeps needy people alive. What are they doing with the blood, Hattie?"

Yuri rubs his temples slightly; the smell of his own bull is giving him a headache, but the alternative is just too much trouble. For now.

 

[von Streusser]

"I ain't doin' anything, and I don't know what these people you're talking about are doing either. I never broke into no hospital, and everyone knows that. But I'm done with this crap." Hattie, clearly agitated, jumps up from the couch and storms out of the room. Stomping can be heard as she makes her way up the steps, and then the slam of a door. A few moments later, loud bass starts to vibrate the walls of the house.

"I think it's time to go, Dr. Voshkod." Mrs. Puerst says matter of factly. Mr. Puerst nods, and goes to open the door.

 

[Voshkod]

OOC: Is it possible for Voshkod to get some sort of "read" on how honest she has been? He's been surrounded by children (junior officers and enlisted personnel) trying to put one over on him for most of his career, and might have some ability to smell a lie. Thanks.]

 

[von Streusser]

Dr. Voshkod, for all his years of experience, doesn't think Hattie's said anything that she believes to be untrue at any point.

 

[Voshkod]

Yuri Voshkod stands. "Thank you, Mr. Puerst, and Mrs. Purest. I am sorry for the scene. I hope Miss Puerst's problems with the police are resolved quickly and in her favor."

He opens the briefcase, and pulls out two 5000 ducat bundles. "Perhaps this will help with her legal bills."

He heads for the door, gathers his bodyguards, and gets in the car.

"And that, gentlemen," he says to his men, "is why I never had children."

He settles back in his seat. "We're going to the Vampire Bar. Did anyone bring a cross?"