Summary:Astryd brings some findings to Fenris and Sif from the Embassy Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Astryd has been undercover at the Asgardian Embassy for about a week. Bringing her in just after Thanksgiving had allowed her to slip somewhat under the radar and in a building that seemed to teem with blondes, she didn't stand out too much.
That aura of hers caused some problems, but she covered it off by alternatively flirting or playing imposing. It might be amusing to watch.
Monday evening sees the blonde leave the Embassy and head to a restaurant a few streets away. It's a nice Korean BBQ place, that Sif might enjoy. She's running a little late which means those she's meeting should already be there as she enters and heads to the table she booked.
Fenris is waiting at the table.. He doesn't come by - or even very near - the Asgardian embassy. He might give the game away. But this is far enough away. Anyone who sees him with Astryd might just assume that he's out with a mortal. That is IF they know who Fenris is. Maybe they assume he is a mortal too.
"Hello Natasha. Come. Sit. You look like you worked hard today." Natasha. The name she uses in her mortal guise.
Sure enough, Sif is already there seated across from Fenris, having stopped straight in from one of her usual afternoons of meandering about Manhattan. She's already started on an appetizer, mostly because she knows that Astryd won't mind and it means there will be food seared over the convenient in-table fire ready for the Valkyr the moment she sits.
"Well met," She says when As— Natasha gets there. "You should sample this.. I'm not sure what this strange little curled white creature is, but it is flavorful." She prods a prawn tail sizzling on the grill.
"Hello Ulric…" The blonde greets the man and slides into a chair. "And Lady Sif. It was very nice of you to invite me to dinner." It's all a cover, in case anyone is following - are they? She doesn't think so, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
"I did work hard today. We were going through the staff files and organising them. Is there anything to drink?" She smiles a little at Sif "It's called a shrimp. Seafood." That might prompt all sorts of questions.
"Do you know who was responsible for your record keeping between four and two years ago, Lady Sif?" Astryd asks casually, grey eyes meeting the God Wolfs as she does. "And you, Ulric? Have you been busy?"
"Shellfish." 'Ulric' supplies. He motions a server over who comes with menus. And beer. One for Fenris. Possibly one for Sif if she hasn't decided the weak fermented hops water isn't worth it. The Old Wolf is used to midgardian spirits.
"Busy enough. I've been looking around at various prospects." Some of which have not been on this plane of existence but Fenris does know how to get around. And he can be in seven impossible places before breakfast if he has a mind to be.
"I have only been residing here since the weather started warming — spring? but I do know that the hiring was done by one of the housekeeping staff that had wanted to become an apprentice scholar in the palace libraries. They returned to Asgard shortly before I arrived. Kitchen rumors cited a broken heart." Which, in her mind, is NOT a valid reason to abandon one's assigned post. But then, she wasn't consulted on the matter.
She looks at the sizzling pieces of shrimp, using her own knife to turn them and reveal their nicely charred side. "Seafood? Shellfish? Odd names. We are not near or on the sea, and these do not resemble any fish I have seen on Asgard or Vanir."R
"They have hard outer shells. That one has already been shucked prior to being served." Not quite the same as a clam, which is also a shell fish of a sort. The Old Wolf cracks his beer and takes a sip, hands a menu to Astryd and looks over what he might want. Sighting a few, he requests them and lays the menu aside.
"Interesting change. Why do you think that is significant, Natasha? Was there something amiss during that period of time?"
Beer. That will do. Natasha takes Fenris' and takes a long pull. "He'll have another, thank you." She tells the waitress.
She's quiet as she considers that, putting her tablet on the tablet open to a page that both can see. Fenris *should* be able to operate the device, she's been teaching him to for years now. It's a list of employees that were hired during that time. Including photo's and 'Realm of Birth'.
It's interesting to note that many are listed as Asgardian but about a third of them have dark hair and dark eyes.
"It is interesting don't you think, that Asgard had so many dark haired children?"
Sif is okay with Midgardian beer, it's like a child's drink, mild to the point of having no effect at all. The kimchi on the table, however, that she has pushed as far away from herself as possible. When the tablet is produced, she leans a bit closer to see what is being displayed there.
"There ARE dark-haired children on Asgard, but not THIS many. Not that I remember." She was, after all, something of an outlier with her very black hair. And even so, her eyes are pale. She looks at Astryd and then Fenris. "Do you suspect that these files are falsified?"
"Not exactly the most common hair color on Asgard no." Fenris says leaning over to look at the tablet. He cycles through a few pages. He, of course, would not know if these people are asgardian or not. Nor would Sif, likely, but one would EXPECT to see a lot more blondes in this line up. A LOT more.
"Well, Sif, unless you and a few others have something to tell me, I think that's a possibility we have to entertain."
"I'm not sure what I think, Lady Sif." Astryd answers, drinking more of Fenris' beer as they look. "Falsified, probably. But in what way? Why did no one question this? Let's conjecture that the Embassy staff at the time were predominantly Midgardian and really wouldn't know to question it. That's a possibility, a small one but still…"
"What if these people did come from Asgard. Or rather … through Asgard, so they look like they are Asgard citizens. There's nothing that I can see about their features that would indicate one of the other realms… wouldn't you agree?"
They might. Fenris has a different way of looking at things to Astryd. Maybe he'll see something she's missing.
"So maybe the files are falsified themselves. Maybe the employees initial records were."
Sif considers Astryd's suppositions, looking at the image left on the tablet. "They could possibly be Vanir. But why list them as from Asgard if they're from Vanaheim instead? That's as nonsensical as listing Midgardians as being from Asgard." She plucks the shrimp off of the grill and sets them on a plate in front of Astryd, then replaces them with some mushrooms and onions and turns the slices of beef.
"This makes less sense, unless the falsified records are to distract from how the spy might be, since Midgardians do typically have darker hair and eyes." But, how did they get into the records to this level?
"No they all look Asgardian. But then Asgardians and midgardians are often a bit difficult to tell apart outside a caber toss competition." Oh. The next time Astryd gets the crazy bug in her, Fenris is going to suggest that they take Sif down to some Scottish Games. If they're lucky, she'll come home married to Mel Gibson.
Or at least having won the caber toss.
"Are you saying that the spy, or someone, falsified records of entirely fictional employees? To what end?" There has to be a reason. Maybe to produce cover that could be used to impersonate Asgardians later?
Or as a test for something more daring.
Oh the Scottish Games. Astryd *loves* those. All those men in kilts … ahem.
"Oh no, not entirely fictional, Ulric. These people are real and they worked at the embassy. Some of them still do. But someone fabricated their backgrounds. Possibly to make people think that there more dark haired people in Asgard than there is really is. Which would make it easy, don't you think, to sneak a spy or several spies in? Or simply to prove it could be done."
This is disturbing enough to make Sif almost want to not eat. Almost. She starts plucking the mushrooms up with her knife and eating them straight off of the grill. "That would certainly made introducing a spy easier. Though, I still struggle to understand why they went to that level of trouble, considering that there are a fair number of Midgardians employed in the Embassy at all times."
Wait, except for the guards. They are ALL Aesir, with a couple of Einherjar mixed in. Because. "Were any of those dark-haired individuals tasked with guard duty?"
Please say no.
The grey eyed blonde takes some food with a fork and eats it as Sif asks those questions. Fenris' replacement beer finally gets there in that time. "Some were. Some were also tasked with managing our archives, the records that show where we think some of our artifacts have ended up over the years, as well the location of Asgardian descendants."
It's bad. Very bad.
"Let us eat for now, Lady Sif. Review the records that I have and identify who is still with us. Getting the casket now, I fear, is of upmost importance."
Sif will need to speak to Loki, won't she?