more bang for your buck
closed starter for @driverowdy-smashcrazy
In a room full of brains, the CIA operative felt more than a little stupid. He stood not more than an arm's length from the man hosting the conference of minds, the keynote speaker, a guy by the name of Friedkin. He'd gotten the hint that this guy was deep government, which Jet found laughable, given his status as a splinter operative, but he had to admit all the hush-hush around whatever agency this dude supposedly represented was a little unsettling.
He did his best to eavesdrop without really listening, scanning as Francoise had taught him, for anything useful. Without her enhanced sense of hearing, however, he was limited to the man he'd been assigned to babysit. The more he listened, however, the less vacuous he felt. Either Friedkin was eons ahead of his time, or he was a grade-a moron. But a dumbass kid from the UWS couldn't make that distinction, could he?
Jet thought, perhaps, he could, his mismatched eyes scanning the crowd for anything suspicious as his ears tuned into other, more interesting conversation. There were biogeneticists, nuclear phycisicsts, robotics specialists—at this category, he scoffed inwardly—and every brain in between.
Presently, it was time for his charge to take the stage. Escorting the man proved almost too easy, save for the talking bit. Friedkin wouldn’t stop talking at the agent, who politely waved off his inquiries of “do I look like someone people would trust?” and “am I sweating too much?”
The more he spoke, the more the whole thing felt fake, like a setup, but perhaps that was just paranoia. Jet positioned himself off to one side (grateful to be away from the incessant, inane questions... was this how he sounded to Albert? He made note to apologize the next time he met up with his friends). as the lights in the conference center dimmed, save those in the central staging area. It was more like an amphitheater than anything else. The design struck Jet as more than a little egocentric.