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| That is what you would expect, in Vega addicts, but Boone believes the dealers are getting correlated. | | That is what you would expect, in Vega addicts, but Boone believes the dealers are getting correlated. |
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| They point to the committees, models, and risk monitoring devices His nemesis in this theory is his commanding officer, Sir Stuart Palmer Jenkins, who encourages the team to embrace the technological devices and process that will replace seat-of-the-pants old style policing. Chatbots, Google glass, distributed ledgers, even though he is not really sure what any of those things are. He has a gift for the acronym, and a well developed sense of bluff.
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| COO cautions him to stick to his remit. “Look after the pounds and the pennies take care of themselves.”
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| “But — ”
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| “I know, Opco, but that is not in within our mandate.”
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| “But — ”
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| “Opco.” A stridency, now, to her voice. Impatience. Dislike, even.
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| Opco gets up to go.
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| “Oh, one more thing. We have a new recruits into the department. I’d like you to be his buddy. Help him get acclimatised, oriented.
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| “since when did we have headcount?
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| “We don’t. It’s a secondment from the traffic unit.
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| “Who is it?”
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| The coo shuffled her papers awkwardly.
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| “Who?”
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| “It’s Graeber.”
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| Oh Jesus F. Christ! Why me?
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| “Get your account reconciliations in, Boone. We need them by Friday. You don’t want another disciplinary. Graeber can help you.
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| “Fat lot of good he’ll be.”
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| Boone meets with Graeber, and explains the role. Netting compliance. Suggests he start with something easy like Luxembourg.
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| Palmer-Jenkins, who is a drill-sergeant, police captain from central casting, dresses Boone down and assigns Kommandant Kurzweil of the Double-O unit to manage and supervise Eagle Squad. Anxious to avoid the kind of disruption or embarrassment that loose cannons might yield while the World Regulator Business Day Convention is in town, Palmer assigns Boone and weirdo and conspiracy theorist Officer Graeber to netting detail and put on the Belgian beat. “See if you two can’t stay out of trouble rousting Belgian avocats for a week.
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| As Palmer’s bad luck would have it, ''L’Hôtel des Grandes Moules Frites'' in Rue John F Kennedy in ''La Quartier Belgique'' happens to be hosting the Business Day Convention.
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| Boone and Graeber promenade about the ''Manneken Pis'', Graeber harping on about his absurd (but consistently prescient) conspiracy theories, based on what he saw in Baker Street.
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| The pair shake down a Luxembourg netting counsel, who babbles insouciantly about aleatory contracts and is just about to launch into a lengthy description of what a company isn’t when,
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| they are distracted by the VIPs and motorcades rolling up to the conference. Graeber spots the grey sedan and calls boone’s attention to it. Boone sees ... ''the child from the alpha den’’. She is dressed immaculately and bejeweled and in the company of ... Wickliffe.
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| Boone follows the pair into the L’Hôtel, where there is a surreal sequence like a ghost train of different sessions, plenary sessions, break out sessions, tea breaks and so on. | | Boone follows the pair into the L’Hôtel, where there is a surreal sequence like a ghost train of different sessions, plenary sessions, break out sessions, tea breaks and so on. |