Little Black Cook Book

Posted on Fri Jul 26th, 2024 @ 10:11 by James Jenkins & Duke Anthony Cavendish

Chapter: Besieged
Location: Undisclosed, London
Timeline: Early morning, Tuesday, 26th of January, 1993
1457 words - 2.9 OF Standard Post Measure

The tea was a traditional drink, it said a lot about a man how he choose to drink his tea. Whether it was the whole tea then milk, milk then tea debate, or what flavour one choose. Or, heaven forbid, if they choose to use the same teabag for a second cup like those vile stingy Dutch across the water. Anthony and James were two men who had found each other in how they drank tea, and how they judged others for their choices in tea. Anthony's son, who was slowly but surely getting more involved in the HPL but not present for the current meeting, chose to drink his tea weak, not pitch black as God and the Queen intended. It said something about the man, who in the eyes of his father was still young, inexperienced, and soft. Perhaps a conversation with the people over at Sandhurst was in order.

"Just a few more hours and the General and Doctor Hohenberg can start their work in earnest." All day yesterday and this morning the BBC was reporting on leaked documents detailing the installation of the Genetic Oversight Unit. A press conference later today by the Department of Health and Social Care would confirm most of the rumours, except for a couple that were planted to make the whole thing seem worse. It was a neat little tactic to be able to dispel the worst fears, implement strict policies, and still have the public let out a collective sigh of relief. Like they were not going to be setting up concentration camps for mutants. Not yet at least.

Whilst Anthony had a son he acknowledged, James was surrounded by women having nothing but daughters from 30 years of marriage. He did not worry, none of his daughters were a bit of a bother thankfully but none of them were overly interested in what he did but he knew that would be slowly changing. "I have secured them working in an old insane asylum that the NHS was about to demolish after they had cleaned it out in their changing attitude to that type of thing. It will work to keep people away from the day-to-day workings and allow security." He assured taking a sip.

"Inspired." Anthony knew how the early 20th century asylums were built, and it was perfect for the purposes of the Doctor and General. "Our mutual friend had plenty of irons in the fire, perhaps it would be good to disclose to one another things we have in the works, so we might benefit from each other's resources."

James inclined his head at the compliment. It had been why he had considered the asylums, they were solid buildings and the NHS wanted them used for other purposes or knocked down. "It is about time that we have that discussion yes." James has been wanting to have it for a while but it had never been the right time or place to have it. But they were so close to their dream it was finally possible.

"There's a research division that I want to fold into the G.O.U. in due time. They're working on finding a cure. They've sent a recon team to this new island Genosha who are advertising with a cure as well, see what we can glean from there." The investments in the pharmaceutical company was going to pay itself back tenfold if they ever did successfully find treatment for mutants. "Most of my other efforts are around keeping the database up to date, since that's about to get a whole lot more legal I'm sure I can divert some attention towards other projects. Like following up on whatever happened on Halloween that seems to have affected the mutant population up north." Those weren't all of the projects he was working on, but it was a good start to the conversation and to sus out what Jenkins had going on.

"Whilst you have been doing that I have been funding research into controlling the mutant population and making them null and void." James passed over a file that was heavier than many they had exchanged over the years. This was one of his finest achievements after his children. "Suppression collars." He said simply.

Anthony had heard about the efforts in regards to suppressive technology, especially in his own pursuits for a full cure. It was good to know that his compatriot was working that angle as well. "It would be good to have, to protect our boys in blue." It was always a good line to shop. People knew the police force was necessary, and that they were putting themselves in harms way. People allowed for a lot of leeway in regards to their protection as a result. "When can we expect them on British soil?" He knew, either from the little black book or from earlier conversations, that they were being field tested elsewhere.

"Within the month if South America continues to go well." James was not willing to trial anything in Britain until he was sure that it was able to counteract all levels of mutations. He was starting to see how big the variety was after Halloween, how many different quirks there were to the mess of genetics.

"We could really use them for the first of February." Anthony remarked, knowing that if they were to enforce the registration act, there would probably be some dissent. Sure there were lawsuits being filed to prevent it from going into effect, but they didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell. Not with the dirt he had on the judges overseeing them. "So, anything else in your ledger worthy of note?" He was holding back on a little bit of information to see if there was anything more the other man would share. It was new for them to be this open about their goings on, but it was a good idea.

“If I was aware that they were needed sooner I would have pushed through progress. I can get a prototype here but it is exactly that a prototype.” James commented taking a sip of his coffee. He was unsure what else the man wanted to know or if they were fully sharing for the first time ever.

"Not sure if absolutely required, but would've been nice to have had them." He leaned back a bit, "I have an asset inside Avalon Institute and it seems that there's rumours of them hunkering down and outright refusing to comply with the law." the lawlessness of the situation was something that irked Anthony, on top of the fact that it was a blemish on his reputation of course. If he couldn't get his own child in line, how was he supposed to be at the forefront of this crusade against the genetic plague spreading across their nation. "I've provided the General with our intel on the school grounds, but our asset feels like there might be other areas they cannot access at the moment."

"You have an asset inside the institute?" Now that piped his interest more than anything else they had spoken about so far. James had avoided too much involvement with the school for the freaks looking at the wider world but that was interesting as it could not be his daughter but who else would he have gotten inside.

Anthony's stoic face remained unchanged. "In the interest of their safety I won't disclose any further details, but indeed. We've been trying to get an asset within those walls as early as '88. The stance of the institute following the Sentinel attack gave us a way in." He pulled a letter from his inside pocket and passed it on to James, "We might want to get in touch with a good prosecution solicitor."

"I have several for my companies that I keep on the payroll they will be at our disposal." James could not help but marvel at the enterprising that his colleagues had been doing whilst he had been doing things far and wide. "Is there anything else business-wise?" He wondered thinking that there could not be any more or he was going to have to up his game more than he already was.

"I think that'll be all." Anthony took off his reading glasses and sat back in the armchair. It seemed odd that the man who was his senior in more ways than one seemed to defer to him on many points when it came to the running and planning of the HPL activities. Perhaps it was due to the recent successes in their endeavours, and the fact that the public perception was shifting in their favour due to efforts undertaken by their small clandestine organisation.