==Warehouse, Jdeideh==
Hedeon hadn't been at the garage, but Nano had been instructed to go drop by a warehouse nearby. When she pulled up, she saw Hedeon having a smoke outside. He was dressed a lot better than the last time, face a little red from drinking. Antoine agreed to stay in the car, as Hedeon had proven that he was willing to trust the woman.
"Ah, you're not dead after meeting my sister. I am surprised." The Russian chuckled and took a drag, blowing smoke out of his nostrils.
Nano stepped out of the car, tying whats left of her hair into a bun. "Yeah, that was rough, i'm not gonna lie... You did warn me. I don't regret it, and got some good intel." Her dark eyes scanned him from head to toe. "Hey, you clean up nice. I'm underdressed." She brought attention to her jeans and wind breaker. "Is there a dresscode here?? I'm embarrassed.. "
"What the fuck?" Hedeon stated, voice and expression dull. "I am meeting you outside my work on the day I do my rounds. You are not coming in. What do you want?" He took another drag and then reached to his jacket's pocket with the other hand to pull out a metal hip flask. He rolled the top to open it and took a swig before pocketing it again. (edited) Now Nano really was embarrassed. "Hey, i know that, i was just poking fun. Besides, i like someone who gets straight to the point." She laced her fingers and put them on the back of her head, possibly showing her stress on her sleeve. "Your sister mentioned they're slinging Black, but i don't know where to find any. I want to get it tested and figure out what it is before I decide i'm gonna go on a rampage to yank people off of it. Hedeon looked at the woman with some amusement, but then shrugged his shoulder. It was her funeral. "Most of the Black moves through the super nightclubs in Jounieh's Maameltein area. Whorehouses for men who don't want to meet an Arab girl's family. Lots of girls from all over the world stuffing their panties with dollars." He held up a finger in caution. "If you want to get it tested, you might get in trouble. The Kurds don't like people trying to push on their turf and they don't do business outside family and blood ties."
"I'm not looking to push. I'm looking to learn what exactly Isabel has gotten into so i can figure out how to get her out." Nano pulled out her own pack of cigarettes out and hung a coffin nail off her lip while switching her pack with a lighter. "Whorehouses. Not one of the places i want to be caught in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"It doesn't matter what your intention is, it is how they'd see someone trying to smuggle their premium drug out. I would not touch this shit even with my finger, it's worse than heroin. Turns people into maniacs." Hedeon sneered and looked about the place. "How about you just forget this Isabel and focus on getting rich, hm? I don't need any more trouble than what I already have. If the Kurds come asking me about you, I will drop you like a bag of rocks and let them take you. You understand this?" The Russian stared at Nano intently, making sure she knew that she'd be on her own if things went south with the Kurds. (edited) Nano huffed a breath, blowing some loose hair from her face. “You speak wisdom. I’m part of a team looking to figure out what it is, but honestly, I promised your sister I’d deliver the oh so secret item in lieu of Isabel since Isabel dropped the ball. I just want to stay on her good side.”
"Staying on her good side is smart. Staying away from her is smarter. Forget the Black, that's my advice. You're already under so much suspicion that I suspect you will get burned in Jounieh. If you need to get something from this Isabel, set a trap for her and capture her on your own terms. You will not catch these maniacs by chasing them, they're too paranoid." Hedeon grunted and threw down his cigarette butt before stepping on it. "Or get a Kurdish friend to look into things, if you can. Best of luck."
“Thanks, hun.” It was good advice. Get a Kurdish friend to do it. That seemed like her style.
* * *
Bryson had gotten in contact with Nano through Asun, and told her that they needed to meet up for a quick exchange. When they met up, Bryson presented to her a little box, inside of which was a new android smartphone, and Bryson explained. "I've had some of my people do some digging, and some preparations for our work." Bryson said. "Here's a new phone. It's got some nice security measures installed onto it, that way we can skirt around the issues you had mentioned about phones being dangerous, and a good way to make use of phones even when people shut down service." Bryson informed her as he nodded to the device. "My gift to my team members. It'll help us share info and keep in contact." The phones were Google Pixel 5a's, released a little under a year ago. They weren't top of the line, but they were utilitarian. 6.34" screens, 6 gigs of ram, 128 gigs of storage and a really nice 4680 mAh battery. They were 5G phones, but Lebanon hadn't managed to get a network upgrade done due to the economic crisis so 4G LTE was all they'd get for connectivity.
The instructions supplied explained the functionality.
There were two operating systems installed to the phones; the stock Android operating system and a special 'LineageOS' operating system. If the user started the phone with their finger on the fingerprint sensor and held up the volume button, it'd boot to LineageOS. Otherwise it'd act like the normal phone.
The phones were all linked through Briar to a communication network inside a program called the Android Team Awareness Kit, or ATAK. ATAK looked like a more fancy Google Maps app, though it showed everyone connected on the same map. It had the usual chat messaging functions and was able to incorporate various different feeds.
The solar-powered chargers that came with the package were connected with USB to the phone and also included GPS radios with a few kilometers of range that would allow the devices to function even without cell service.
Nano’s expression didn’t change as she opened the box and took out the phone. She turned it on and explored it a little, impressed by the setup. “So what is it you need me to do in the valley.”
“We still need to have a bit of a debrief with everyone, but for right now, I’m working on figuring out the agenda.” Bryson replied. “Asun mentioned there is a super drug thing going on with your friend Isabel. Tell me what you know about it, I have some of my people doing some digging to figure out what to do about it and how.”
Nano put the phone in her jacket pocket. “yeah I started to look Into black but hit some walls. It was recommended to me to avoid it altogether and have a Kurdish friend look into it for me.”
“A Kurdish friend?” Bryson asked, the man tilting his head. “Is Black what the drug is called? Why Kurdish, are they the suppliers?” Bryson asked her quietly, glancing around a bit as a cautious measure to see if anyone was around before refocusing on Nano.
“I think it was racist code for expendable. People who look into this tend to disappear. Are we sure we want to dive into this head first? What is the benefit of knowing? To prevent Guinea pigs? I’m against mind control as much as the next guy, but I keep being told that Isabel is in way over her head in all of this…” Nano’s fingers began to fidget. (edited) “Do you actually think it was a code for expendable, or do you think it’s because Kurdish people can look into this without disappearing?” Bryson lifted up a hand slightly. “The benefit of knowing is that we know what we’re going up against, what sort of complications we’re going to be dealing with.” Bryson explained softly. “Do you want to find Isabel? Do you want to stop things like the Mövenpick situation from happening again? Are you against corruption and the destruction of societal morals? Or do you just want to get paid a lot of money?” Bryson asked her, before he gestured towards the phone in her pocket. “I have an interest in all of those things. If you’re up to cooperate and get one or any of those things, then watch that phone, and look for the chat. I’m gonna be sharing information with the rest of the gang once my people get back to me with what they’ve found about this situation.” Bryson told her with a nod.
“What are the actual effects of the drug in question? It’s a super brain drug, any side effects you’ve heard about? Where is she getting them from?” Bryson asked her again, the man glancing about again before he made a gesture to urge her to answer quickly. Nano’s mouth twisted to one side of her face while she considered what he said. “Okay, fine. I’m in for the time being. But I’m gonna put my survival first.” She took a breath and continued. “They’ve been hocking it in The Valley. I can get some ears and eyes out there before we head out there.”
“Not just yet, I have someone gathering information right now. They’re safer than eyes and ears actually in the valley, even if they don’t give us as specific intel just yet.” Bryson said. “What are the effects of the drug, what side effects does it have, and are the Kurdish giving it to Isabel to sell?” Bryson asked again.
"The Kurdish have to be handing it over to Isabel to hock, otherwise she'd be dead instead of rich. I have some friends to make if we're going to pursue this."
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