Preparation Part 3

Nekane sat down in the conference room by Cappi. She had cleaned up and gotten dressed in the floors massive bathroom and was looking as professional as ever with a black skirt, white button up shirt and mustard yellow blazer.

"Good morning Cappi"

"Good morning Nekane. How was your weekend?"

"Find thank you, how about yours?"

"It was great! Me and-"

"Good Morning Team" Sergio's voice boomed through the chatter around the room, including Cappi's attempt at small talk. Nekane was relieved, and then she was guilty she was relived. She should really put some more effort into her friendships and Cappi was probably the closest to a friend she had. But anyway, down to business.

"As you may have heard, we have a significant contract we have a chance of bidding for. This is nothing new. However, the potential client is a new one. They have never worked with us, and really, they have never worked with anyone. The Frads are a family that has existed for sometime, but has never been significant enough to be in play at any level. Recently they seem to have had a fair bit of success and are interested in spending some money it would seem. They are renovating a large portion of their former neighborhood starting with a block large compound in the center. The Frads are interested in fortifying their compound with defensive and potentially offensive outfits. They are bidding not just the work but the permitting and regulatory aspects of the project as well.

This all matched up with Nekane's own research she had completed over the weekend. It seemed like the Frads were not a new family per se, just recently relevant. They had been stuck in poverty in the 56th sector of the city for about 50 years or so up until as late as last year. They weren't really even a family, more a community relying on each other to make it through a hard life. There did seem to be a few people with the actual surname Frad, but she wasn't sure exactly how much sway or power they had within the group.

It was unusual for a faction not related by blood to overcome such poverty. Usually there would be one or two successes and the person would move on for greener pastures. As hard as it was to escape poverty, it was tenfold harder for a group to do so. Unless tied together by something stronger like family ties or shared trauma most people were interested in looking out for themselves and their direct family. No one could blame them either.

"We will be sending a small delegation today to make contact with the client and see the job site. There seem to be no security concerns, either for us or for the compound as a whole, so I will not be sending any added security along with our delegation to keep it small and unintimidating."

"Trig, we have the specs from the client, at least enough to perform initial pricing, but they are a little lacking in a few areas." A thin wirey man looked up and nodded as he scratched some notes on his notepad. Trig was the head engineer and he looked every bit of one, although not unhandsome in his own way. "I'd like for you to go and reconcile them at the job site. They are also building much of the compound from scratch, so you can also give recommendations to the foremen for anything that will make the job easier for us."

"The Frads seem to be quite liberal with their cash, so I don't think we need a representative from accounting to go as long as we can explain why we may be a bit more expensive than any other bids they may receive. That will be up to you as our sales concierge, Nekane."

Nekane nodded. Trig could be a little anti-social, but like her he was good at his job, and this was an interesting one. The culture and backstory behind the Frads were intriguing to her, and she knew that as curious as the Frads contract was, her real mission was going to be even more so.

"Okay every, let's break. Trig, please read your briefing packet if you haven't already done so. The Frads have some... unconventional cultural dress, even for engineers. If you and Nekane need to stop and get you some attire, please do so. If you cannot finish the scope of work tonight, you are approved to acquire lodging either with the client or nearby in order to finish in the morning."

"Dismissed"

Everyone hustled to it, ready to devour the work set in front of them. Only Nekane stayed sitting, ready to follow up with Sergio. Cappi offered a smirk and a wink as she ran out of the room.