trans_9 | "Listening to others, considering well what they say" (Part 3: Maingate Hotel)

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"Listening to others, considering well what they say" (Part 3: Maingate Hotel)

The Maingate Hotel was pretty extravagant, and an entire section of it had been eked out for the crew's use during their stay. They had several suites, three communal areas, a conference room, their own kitchen with a chef on call if they required her.

They were all teleported from the main teleport pad of the hotel into the conference room, which was a large enough room to be able to hold a group their size and had plenty of chairs arranged in a circular pattern so they could mostly all face each other or whoever was in the middle of the room.

Everyone had to settle down so they were all able to talk, and the meeting itself would have to be carefully controlled so they wouldn't all talk over each other. But they were up for the task, right?

[ooc: Guardian Setup, General Mingling, Clone Checkup, Newbie Briefing, General Briefing, More Mingling, Back to the Meeting, and The Idea Guy sections are open. Backup characters introduced to the plot can join in the mingling subthreads if they want. The opening of new subthreads will be announced here and the ooc. Please read the linked OOC post for a plot timeline.]

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"I've frequently done this sort of thing," he answered easily. He's met with Presidents, Dictators, Royalty, and rival CEOs. This was all old hat to him. "There's a rhythm to it all, once you get used to it." It was just a matter of getting his dance partners to follow his lead.

"You, at least, managed to keep your cool." There was a very subtle tone of Well, at least you're not a COMPLETE screw up, in hos voice, despite the pleasantness.

"Oh really? In what capacity?" The archaeologist asked curiously. Daniel didn't know in what universe negotiation was the same as completely strong arming someone into doing what you wanted and making them want it.

Gee thanks. He might as well have said the backhanded compliment out loud. Daniel had heard that kind of thing from a few professors and fellow academics before, although they got a lot less subtle after his last lecture. Luthor just happened to top the rest of them by backing it with such pleasant look that you almost wondered if you were just overhearing things. And he was being patronized in the same breath, as if he'd never done a negotiation or first contact with a culture before. As if he needed some reassurance.

Daniel gave him a tight smile. "Just doing my job. We're not going to get anywhere by yelling and chest beating at them. Besides, it bought us some time."

Clearly Daniel had never been in a board meeting. "As CEO of LuthorCorp, the largest and most successful R&D firm on my world." And one could guess how he managed to make it such a success.

"Hopefully in that time, cooler heads will prevail." Though he doubted it. Even a quick glance around the room could tell him that the rage was only narrowly being kept at bay.

"Though, if you don't mind my asking, Dr., what's your opinion on this society, in general?"

CEO of the biggest R&D firm in the world. That explained a lot about Luthor in so few words. Daniel liked CEOs as much as he liked politicians, which wasn't very much. He found them too focused on their own self-interest, too willing to step on people to get what they wanted. More concerned with what results would benefit them and their PR than something that might be benefit, might change the human race. Like the Stargate.

"Sorry. Can't say I've heard of it," Daniel shrugged. Not the most polite thing to say, especially since there was obviously some pride on Luthor's part there, but it was true . He'd never heard of it. "What kind of R&D does LuthorCorp do?"

At least they could agree on one thing for sure. They did need cooler heads if negotiations were to resume. Looking around, Daniel had to wonder if they had a chance.

The question was innocuous enough. Could have been curiosity. Daniel didn't know Luthor well enough to tell. Anyway he wasn't going to withhold information just because had misgivings about Luthor's conduct back there. He supposed to be a cultural adviser this mission, so he did have a job to do, and that did include keeping everyone informed. He just wasn't going to wear his actual opinion about the treatment of clones on a sleeve.

"They're highly advanced in terms of technology, more so than back on Earth. In terms of a social system, they have a caste-system in place, although I haven't had the chance to find out if there are more divisions than just clone versus non-clone," he said. "They seem very dependent on clone-labor, so much that personally, I suspect the society could suffer a collapse if something happened to it. They're very concerned with propriety and appearance, but they don't seem to understand why anyone would be upset over clone labor, which make sense in light of their system. I haven't noticed any evidence of religion being a major factor in their current life style."

"Sadly, my corporation is multinational, not multidimensional," Lex responded in understanding. Though one could practically hear the word Yet hanging off the end of that sentence. "The company is... or rather was... primarily a defense contractor. But we have our hands in a little bit of everything." Even the illegal stuff.

He had to like Daniel's objectiveness in how he delivered that answer. But Lex didn't necessarily want total objectivity. "I imagine their historical data must be pristine and well preserved. Over five millennia of history and development, none of it lost to things like poverty, revolution, war, and pestilence."

Yeah. 'Sadly'. "I'm sure your company would find something of interest from the Galileans. They've got some pretty advanced technology."

Daniel wasn't surprised to find that Luthor was connected to the arms industry. Well, not solely, but mostly. The fact that he was something of a jack of all trades, intensely ambitious wasn't a shocker either. That wasn't the friendliest thing to think, was it? Daniel suspected part of his reaction to Luthor was because he was a big time CEO, because who knew, maybe Luthor was perfectly nice outside the job. Until he remembered what happened only a few hours ago. Someone who was all around a good person didn't do that. Bad people could do good things and good people were just as capable of doing bad things. But the ease at which Luthor manipulated Allin, and the fact he hadn't hesitated at all, made Daniel suspect it was something he did pretty often. You didn't get that good at crushing someone on your first attempt.

Daniel searched his eyes. Sarcasm, right? Unless Luthor already thought that highly of the Galileans. "If that's what they'd want you to believe. Many cultures clash with each other, and I'd be surprised to find if there wasn't a single war in their history. But whoever wins writes the history books."

"Oh, there's a lot here that I'd be interested in." And one could only imagine what he'd do with that kind of technology.

"Oh, I don't know. Once would think that some mention of it would survive in a history book, somewhere. Though, I admit what strikes me, five thousand years of peace and prosperity, yet it was only ten years ago that the ethical argument about clones comes to a head. You'd think that in any diverse, civilized society, such a debate would have raged on for years.

"Interesting that there doesn't seem to be one."

Luthor had an ulterior motive. That was just great. And he was part of the negotiations. Daniel didn't harbor the illusions that anyone was perfectly selfless, but being able to personally gain from a negotiation when you were negotiating on behalf of an entire ship and people was a big problem. What if they found they could bribe him? Daniel lifted an eyebrow. "I'm sure there is, Mr. Luthor. Just remember we're not here to personally gain from these negotiations."

As for the history books, you couldn't take them as gospel. Each culture had its own version of the same events, and it wouldn't take much for the dominant caste to write their preferred way of things.

"Who knows, it's not like we've read every book on the planet. I'd rather do some digging myself than rely on the data banks they select for us. " Flippant but all their information was coming from Allin and the powers that be. People very invested in keeping their society as it was. They weren't even absolutely sure when cloning had been perfected on Galilee, what the system was before. Five thousand years could be an exaggeration. Daniel continued. He had a good idea where Luthor was going with this but wanted to hear it from the man himself. "What exactly are you implying?"

"I suppose not. But all negotiations are about getting as much as you can, and giving up as little as is necessary to get it. I see no reason to simply settle for what the GIA has tasked us to get on their behalf, especially since it allows the Council to drive the price up, and what they're asking for is already incredibly costly. Forcing them to put more on the table will make them rethink their terms." So, yes, Lex has an ulterior motive, but it was, well... an ulterior motive, not the driving force. Lex could put others before himself, but he never saw that as a reason to not get something for himself in the process.

"I'm not implying anything, Dr. I'm simply wondering why the only voice of dissent regarding the clones comes in the form of terrorism."

He just stared silently at Luthor for a moment. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, which basically came down to 'I'm here, working, might as well make it profitable for me while I'm down here'. As talented as Luthor was at maneuvering people, at public speaking and charisma, and keeping a coold head, Daniel was starting to think they'd made a mistake putting him on the diplomatic team. The archaeologist found his voice again.

"They were already forced to rethink their terms when we refused to deal with them further."

Was it only terrorism? Again, they only had Allin's word and whatever they decided to give them in terms of information.

"If there were attempts at nonviolent resistance, do you really think Councillor Allin would tell us? Much less even give us complete access to their data banks."

There's nothing wrong with taking advantage of an opportunity for yourself. At least, that's how Lex saw the world. "Yes, but we didn't set an actual bar for them to reach for. That works against us, rather than having a concrete list of items we want."

There was almost a smile at Daniel's question about Allin.

"My guess would be no, not an image conscious society like this. However, even if he won't give us the information, it would be something worth learning; give us a more full view of this society."

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"Listening to others, considering well what they say" (Part 3: Maingate Hotel)

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