The Second Collaboration, Part 2
Curaçao's eyes flickered with a gleam as she watched Ningguang and Ganyu across the office.
They had learned in advance that only the two of them would be present at the Jade Chamber today — and here they both were. Whatever reason they had for not trailing Camu, whether overconfidence or something else, this was a rare opening. She could only hope Camu would make the most of it.
Meanwhile, Camu had indeed given the bathroom a miss. Relying on information from the Jade Chamber employees his organization had bought off, he was steering clear of the surveillance cameras, preparing to slip into the server room that housed the Akasha Terminal's Japanese systems.
"And what do you think you're doing?"
Just as Camu was about to start cracking the keypad lock on the door and step through into the space beyond, a woman's voice sounded behind him, sharp with accusation.
He instinctively tilted his head aside — a streak of violet light flashed past, and a thin line of blood opened along his cheek.
His eyes darted, taking in the fresh gash carved into the steel door in front of him by some unseen force. Without any telltale movement, he pocketed his lock-cracking tools, raised both hands, turned around, and put on an innocent smile.
"My apologies — I'm one of the representatives here to discuss a partnership with Miss Ningguang today. I got a bit lost just now and wandered over here by mistake. Do you work for Miss Ningguang as well? Might I trouble you to walk me back to her office?"
As he offered his explanation, Camu studied the woman who had appeared so abruptly at his back.
Twin purple pigtails, violet eyes, a purple dress — nearly every part of her was that same color, yet it didn't come across as monotonous. If anything, it carried a certain striking elegance.
Her brows were drawn together now, her eyes raking over Camu with razor sharpness, but she didn't bother poking at the riddled, leaking holes in his excuse.
"I'm Keqing. I run Jade Chamber Corp's operations in M Country." She stared at him for a moment, gave her name, and nothing more. Then, brisk and clean as a blade, she turned and gestured for Camu to follow.
Camu glanced back once at the door so tantalizingly within reach, sighed inwardly at the wasted opportunity, and fell into step behind Keqing.
It wasn't that he hadn't considered subduing her, here where they were alone, and pressing on with the mission. But first, the two organizations were on the verge of a partnership — he couldn't afford anything excessive that might derail it. Second, he had no idea what that strange technique of hers was; moving blindly against the unknown would very likely end in failure.
And so, regretful as he was, Camu decided to cut his losses and do as Miss Keqing wished.
Before long, the two of them arrived outside Ningguang's office.
Inside, the negotiations between Curaçao and Ningguang had already reached their final stages.
The broad outline was settled: Ningguang's side would supply the technology to upgrade and harden the organization's information systems.
Naturally, this work would not be handled directly by Ningguang's company. Rather, her side would provide their latest AI source code for the organization's software engineers to reverse-engineer; they would use it to build the organization's own intelligent systems, reinforce its firewalls, and develop their own version of the Akasha Terminal, among other things.
In exchange, the organization would leverage its network of connections to spread Ningguang's newly developed Akasha Terminal across Japan in short order.
In the office, Curaçao suddenly caught the sound of footsteps approaching — more than one pair — and her nerves tightened. Was Camu among them? Had something gone wrong? Who was this unexpected extra?
Then came the knock. Curaçao turned her gaze toward the door just as a violet-clad young woman strode in, with Camu — freshly returned from his supposed trip to the bathroom — close on her heels.
The moment the young woman entered, she cut straight to the point, brisk as a gale. "You're still not finished? That's painfully slow. I assumed everything would be wrapped up by the time I got back — instead I have to come lend a hand."
Ningguang nodded and offered Keqing her thanks with a smile. Then she turned to Curaçao and explained who Keqing was, making clear that she, too, was a party to these proceedings.
Once Ningguang finished the introductions, Keqing sidestepped a few paces to reveal Camu behind her, briefly recounted what had happened, and then leveled her gaze at Curaçao. "Your organization's people can't even manage a simple walk without getting lost. Your competence must not be much to speak of."
"Ah, well, what can you do? I've simply never had a head for the layout of places I'm visiting for the first time." Before Curaçao could get a word in, Camu jumped in from where he stood, all smiles. "I promise you, if I come here a few more times, there won't be any more incidents of getting lost."
The cut on his face was still untreated, blood tracing a slow path down his cheek — paired with that utterly untroubled smile of his, it was the kind of sight that would send an ordinary person's heart into their throat.
But the people facing him today were, quite clearly, no ordinary folk. Not one of them so much as blinked. Ningguang simply bypassed the subject altogether, turning to Curaçao to bring the day's negotiations to a close.
Camu watched it all with a quiet, festering frustration. Ningguang and Curaçao were trading turns pinning down the last few details; Ganyu was organizing the key points of the agreement; even Keqing had stopped paying him any mind, walking over to Ganyu's side to review the terms of the partnership.
Everyone had something to do — leaving Camu standing alone in the center of the office with nothing at all to occupy him.
Out of options, he could only return to his own seat.
Not long after Camu sat down, Ningguang and Curaçao finalized the substance of the agreement.
Of course, since Keqing had caught Camu red-handed, Ningguang made sure to extract a little something extra from the organization at the end, citing the Black Organization's insufficient sincerity in this partnership.
Given that the fault lay with her own side, Curaçao was in no position to haggle too hard. She had little choice but to agree.
"We still have plenty of time, and an opportunity like this is rare. Might we be permitted a tour of your company, Miss Ningguang?"
Curaçao still did not want to walk away today with nothing but a signed agreement to show for it — Rum would certainly not be satisfied with that.
She intended to make one final push, at minimum to get a read on the inner workings of Ningguang's company. The employees they had bought off knew far from everything, and if she could see the company with her own eyes, then even without any special aids at her disposal, Curaçao was confident her memory could capture the bulk of the details.
The negotiations concluded, Ningguang rose to her feet and was just about to have Ganyu see Curaçao and Camu out when the request for a tour reached her ears.
She considered it briefly, then agreed, instructing Ganyu to escort them through the company.
Everything she truly wanted was already in Ningguang's hands; there was no harm in tossing the organization a few scraps. Besides, Ganyu knew perfectly well which areas were off-limits, and she would hardly lead their guests anywhere they shouldn't go.
And so Ganyu led Curaçao and Camu on a circuit of the company, answering along the way whatever questions it was safe to answer.
"You know, I never would have guessed that someone as gentle as you, Miss Ganyu, would join such a shadowy underground organization." Walking at her side with one hand in his pocket, Camu turned toward her with a smile that didn't quite manage to hide its malice.