Taroutachi || 太郎太刀 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
toobigtohandle) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
recolle2017-08-29 09:59 pm
toobigtohandle) wrote in recolle2017-08-29 09:59 pm
Entry tags:
Law & Order - Retrospec edition
WHO: Kenta Ooshima and Ardyn Izunia
WHERE: Ardyn's office in the law building of Recolle University
WHEN: 8/29
WHAT: Kenta has some concerns regarding the way Retrospec gets its data on his users and decided to contact Ardyn after being given his name by Grell.
WARNINGS: Nothing much, maybe some mentions of illegal activities.
Kenta knew his way around campus after having spent almost 6 years there as a student. His own studies did not normally take him to that part of the university, even though some of the law school professors had sometimes given seminars to his class on various aspects of business law. Kenta honestly couldn't recall if Professor Izunia had ever been one of them. That was the kind of details he usually just forgot as soon as he learned it, mostly because there was no pressing need for him to remember it.
Of course it was just his luck that the man was the older brother of Jirou's new cop friend. Kenta would have to be careful about how much he could say. The professor was a lawyer, but he wasn't his lawyer and he couldn't operate on the assumption that their discussion would remain completely confidential. But he was used to having to embellish the truth or protect it behind smokescreens.
He knocked on the door firmly when he reached it at 2pm on the dot. No need to waste anyone's time. He simply wanted answers, even if he wasn't sure if he would get them here. At least he would have tried.
"This is Kenta Ooshima. May I come in?"
WHERE: Ardyn's office in the law building of Recolle University
WHEN: 8/29
WHAT: Kenta has some concerns regarding the way Retrospec gets its data on his users and decided to contact Ardyn after being given his name by Grell.
WARNINGS: Nothing much, maybe some mentions of illegal activities.
Kenta knew his way around campus after having spent almost 6 years there as a student. His own studies did not normally take him to that part of the university, even though some of the law school professors had sometimes given seminars to his class on various aspects of business law. Kenta honestly couldn't recall if Professor Izunia had ever been one of them. That was the kind of details he usually just forgot as soon as he learned it, mostly because there was no pressing need for him to remember it.
Of course it was just his luck that the man was the older brother of Jirou's new cop friend. Kenta would have to be careful about how much he could say. The professor was a lawyer, but he wasn't his lawyer and he couldn't operate on the assumption that their discussion would remain completely confidential. But he was used to having to embellish the truth or protect it behind smokescreens.
He knocked on the door firmly when he reached it at 2pm on the dot. No need to waste anyone's time. He simply wanted answers, even if he wasn't sure if he would get them here. At least he would have tried.
"This is Kenta Ooshima. May I come in?"
no subject
Right on time. That's good, at least.
"Come in."
Already he's preparing to stand, so that he can offer Kenta a handshake when he walks in -- currently unaware that he may be met with a familiar face.
no subject
"Thank you for accepting to see me on such short notice, Professor. I hope I won't take too much of tour time. Dr. Sutcliffe recommended you regarding some of the... legal aspects of Retrospec."
no subject
"Of course. It's my pleasure to answer any questions you might have, especially where Retrospec is concerned."
Even if the answers themselves might be disappointing, he thinks to himself, but isn't inclined to voice this just yet. However, he does make a slightly more casual remark.
"You were at my home not that long ago, weren't you?"
no subject
"Ah, yes. Jirou took me along to the... cookout? that your brother organized. I must have missed you there or I would have introduced myself in person."
He doesn't seem surprised that Ardyn would have seen him, though. Kenta is quite a hard person to miss, after all, and he is used to that.
"I have been told that my questions probably won't find satisfactory answers, but I have to ask them if only to understand what I've ended up involved in. There are certain aspects of this whole situation that are concerning to me on a rather personal scale. I cannot give you all the details and I hope you'll forgive my omissions, but I have to be careful with what information I share."
Kenta is aware that this could seem shady, but he is planning on being totally honest, within reason. He cannot go and say he's the son of a Clan who makes money thanks to criminal activities, but most of his situation can be explained without mentioning that fact. At least, he thinks so.
"To make a long story short, my location must remain confidential from certain people due to attempts that have been made on my life in the past. That was the main reason why I was sent to live here by my family, and my safety implies that I remain out of sight of some people. This includes both physical location and possible electronic traces. So I suppose you can understand I don't like having an app I did not download nor consent to giving personal details to broadcast my name and location to hundreds of people I don't know. And the same goes to being told that the corporation who makes this app has my physical address and will be sending me packages to that same address."
no subject
He raises a brow at the preamble, but he won't prod further. Ardyn knows when it it best to keep an arms-length from certain details, until or unless they become completely relevant to the situation at hand. For now, he would do well just to listen.
"So what is it you wish to know? What can be done legally about this, or how they are managing to gain such personal information?"
no subject
If anything could be done, of course. Kenta frowned, looking down at his hands in his lap.
"I have heard that attempts to investigate by the police have been thwarted rather thoroughly and that an officer is missing. As for the how... well, I'd be happy to know anything you might tell me about that, really."
He had a small smile as he recalled something he'd heard.
"You brother mentioned others approached you about suing Retrospec. I have to deduce that this wasn't feasible somehow."
If it were, Kenta would have been first in line to put money on the table for it.
no subject
"You're correct. While there are a multitude of things that we could sue this company for -- a graceless invasion of privacy being one -- the problem is, as I've told others, is their lack of transparency."
He huffs out a laugh, though it does sound relatively humorless.
"While Retrospec was certainly an entity that we could interact with more due to the extreme circumstances of last month, in general, they are difficult to pin down. No paper trail which points to the creation of their company, no one to actually sue. No point of contact, unless they deem it so. No avenue of interaction. It's as if they simply do not exist, when it's more than clear that they do."
A shrug of broad shoulders, a little sorry because he knows this is probably not what the other wishes to hear.
"Basically, there is no place to start. No one physically present to hand papers to. I imagine you can see why this is an issue."
no subject
"But they have a building, don't they? In town, I mean. I've definitely seen it. So if they have offices, there must be people there. The people who have been interacting with us on the app have to be somewhere. And as you said, people met some of them last month, so..."
The fact that there's no trace of the company being created is more worrying. How can a company not exist and yet have a physical office, people who work for it and all those crazy effects on reality...
"Has anyone tried investigating this from a... different angle? Not by legal means, I mean."
The police certainly has access to a lot, but if even they can't find anything, maybe a search by more aggressive and covert means might turn up something.
no subject
"In that case, then yes. There have been a few who've already done this, though they do not find employees inside. Nor anything that would actually help with the litigation process. Only clues to what the company has been up to, though perhaps in the long run this will lead to something more concrete."
He offers something a little apologetic.
"I know that's not at all what you wish to hear."
no subject
"So the building is virtually empty? Why even have one, then?"
And where do employees work if not in that building.
"I was thinking more along the lines of tracking the money... no matter how you look at it such an operation would require huge amounts of it, and there are ways to track money that doesn't transit through normal channels."
Ways that usually required one to be well aware of the other ways money could be moved around and made to look legitimate.
He shakes his head as Ardyn looks apologetic.
"I was warned in advance that I probably wouldn't like the answers I was likely to get. It would have been easier if something could be done through legal means..." he trails off for a second. Again, there are other ways than the legal means, ways that he is no stranger to but doesn't want to elaborate on right now. "Even if you couldn't really do anything, you experience is more significant to me than some of the theories I have heard floating about... or some of the reactions I have seen."
Well, there is also the fact that he asked around originally just after the app appeared on his phone, where his indignation at being so localized and singled out was at its peak. He's still angry about that but the last two months have shown him so many things that seem impossible that he understands better what some people have said before.
no subject
At the question of tracking money, Ardyn raises a brow.
"Finding points where money exchanges hands, bank accounts and the like... I do wonder if anyone has tried, and if there would be any results from such an endeavor. I can only assume that the police might've thought along these lines at some point, but I can't be certain."
Ardyn leans forward in his seat a bit, still looking at Kenta.
"I've had this app since February. There are some oddities that I've just... come to expect, and you'll just have to forgive the newer people. They simply cannot wrap their minds around it the same way that I can."
no subject
"I... have access to certain people and methods that law enforcement doesn't. They're out of the country though, so I am unsure of whether they would be able to find anything. I can try asking, at any rate."
And if there is no result at least he will have tried something instead of just waiting for things to happen.
"This will not help my situation much in the near future, but from what you tell me there isn't much to be done about that, unfortunately."
no subject
Ardyn has the feeling that there are some thing in which he should not ask about, especially since law enforcement was mentioned -- in the capacity that they would not have to investigate.
"Though I would ask that if you find anything, you'd share it with the rest of the community."
no subject
Maybe he cannot share his source, but Kenta won't hesitate to share results, if he gets any.
"I didn't even have any social media accounts before this, and all of my mail was sent to a PO box. I managed to stay under the radar for eighteen years and now this..." he says with a sigh.
He really hopes this isn't going to ruin everything his family did to keep him safe. Although of course, given what Retrospec can do, safe is relative even if rival Clans don't find him. But if everyone is right, his parents won't notice the Retrospec stuff.
no subject
"Under the radar? Allergic to technology are we? That's a long time to go without touching social media in this day and age."
no subject
"I'm not, but as I said, there is an actual risk on my life if I am found by certain people. Besides, I've never really understood the appeal of social media, to be honest."
Jirou is a big fan, but Jirou needs to show off and parade around, and his fans love it. Kenta's phone is encrypted as much as is possible, but he still uses e-mail and the internet.
"It's a bit strange for me to see people actually embracing Retrospec and using it as their primary social media."
no subject
He looks at Kenta a bit curiously.
"Might I ask why you're in such danger? Or is that better left unsaid?"
no subject
Well, he's not very likely to start posting pictures or anything of the kind, but he'll keep a close eye on it.
"I can disclose any details, really."
But he figures he can give a cursory explanation, even if just to thank the man for his time.
"Let's just say that my father has powerful enemies. Enemies who stooped low enough to attempt kidnapping and assassination on me when I was only five years old, and who wouldn't hesitate to do it again now if they knew where to find me."
no subject
"Then I'm quite sorry to hear it, not to mention perturbed for your sake."
He's silent for a moment, regarding the other.
"It makes sense, then, why you would be concerned for the information that Retrospec has on us getting out. And yet, perhaps I can offer a modicum of comfort -- anyone outside of the app does not have access to it."
no subject
Kenta remembers something else then, and smiles a little.
"I already told your brother, but I am really grateful that he brought Jirou home when he got hurt last month. I don't know all the details of what happened there, but I appreciated it."
He bows his head slightly in thanks as he says those words. Of course, Fynn would be pretty astonished to hear all of that, since his impression of Kenta is that he is a jerk.
no subject
"Yes. Fynn did well, from what others have told me. I'm proud of him, though I had been worried that he had pushed himself too much. He was sporting quite an injury himself during one of the weeks, and I was-"
Forced to heal him.
"Had to help him recover."
no subject
The month was hard on all of them, truth be told. And there was at least one death that Kenta remembered being announced, even if he didn't know the person who died.
"Well, Thank you for your time, Professor. I'll keep you informed if I find anything of interest through my connections."