Cane Office

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Cane Office
Type	Fixer Office
Leaders	Nemo
Members	Bada Martina
Appearances	Library Of Ruina

“	Us small fries can watch the giants clash without worrying about getting caught in the crossfire; in fact, we benefit from such conflict!	”
–Nemo's Page

Cane Office is a wealthy notary public Office directly sponsored by T Corp. Seeking the secrets of Singularities for profit, Cane Office gets more than it bargained for from its client, and is coerced into visiting the Library, becoming the twenty-ninth Guests received.

The reception of Cane Office occurs in the Star of the City chapter, appearing as the first battle of the rightmost column.

Composition

Character	Description
Nemo	The President of Cane Office. He is an overtly greedy, opportunistic, and somewhat unorthodox businessman, and despite his dire circumstances, he encourages Bada and Martina to do their best to fulfill the bogus contract and not to think too seriously about it. Armed with a walking cane, he is capable of shooting a large energy beam from his prosthetic head.
Bada	A solemn, no-nonsense Cane Fixer who wields a pair of piston-powered gauntlets. He is strict and precise in his personality, but this also helps him to make clear judgements when the situation demands it.
Martina	A quiet Cane Fixer who wields a briefcase filled with sharp tendrils. Her face and body are obscured by her long hair and large, drooping clothes. She is ordinarily languid, but can respond incredibly quickly in a dangerous situation.

Story

Episode 1

Pre-Battle

“	See, ol’ oblong? I don’t care about what you think; I just want you to keep the promises you made with me. Besides, T Corp. directly issued the same order to you, so you have to be there anyhow, no? Seething with anger at us won’t spare you from going to the Library.	”
–Argalia

The episode starts inside the Cane Office as Nemo, Bada, and Martina discuss a new request given to them by T Corp. Though Martina is worried, Nemo is jovial about the chance to uncover W Corp's Singularity. As Bada says, the situation is playing out like what The Blue Reverberation had promised them. Nemo affirms that the last step is to retrieve the books with information on W Corp. from the Library... the only problem being that the Library is a Star of the City. Nemo assures the Fixers that this is not a problem for them. Answering Bada, he says he will auction off the Singularity information to the highest bidder in order to make a profit, intending to seize the opportunity. He expresses disbelief at the success of Argalia's plan, but then brings up his one concern just as Argalia and Pluto walk in.

Pluto and the Cane Fixers argue over their contract

Aggravated, Nemo calls out Argalia and Pluto for doublecrossing them; they are forcing the Cane Fixers themselves to enter the Library and retrieve the books they want. Argalia reveals that he was listening in on the previous conversation and calls out Nemo for his sudden change in tune, asking whether he is scared. Nemo angrily reveals that he is terrified while Martina and Bada murmur about the situation from the sidelines. When Pluto speaks, Nemo turns to him and rants about what he believes to be the Blue Reverberation's motive: after Nemo enters the Library and is killed, the Library would have the books of three Wings' Singularities (L Corp, W Corp, and T Corp.) Anyone who recovered said books from the Library would make a huge profit at a time when a patent war is imminent, accusing Argalia of working for someone behind the scenes.

Argalia, insulting Nemo with various puns related to his robotic head, laughs at Nemo's accusation, calling him "idiotic" for assuming that his motive would be purely for making a profit. He shuts down Nemo's protests and tells Cane Office that ultimately, "promises are promises[,]" ordering Pluto to demonstrate. Pluto shows the Fixers the contract they made with him, and though he concedes that his wording was ambiguous, he tells them that they are now bound to fulfill the terms of their contract. Martina and Bada attempt to argue over the wording until Pluto reveals that the most significant, binding detail was hidden in fine print. However, Bada still refuses to obey the "fraudulent" contract.

Pluto demonstrates his powers on Bada

Argalia orders Pluto to explain his powers as Yesterday's Promise. Pluto tells the Fixers that he can take whatever he wants from them if they do not obey his contract. Demonstrating, he removes Bada's heart from his body and returns it moments later. With the threat given, Argalia tells Nemo that he cannot escape his fate, commenting that T Corp. would have forced him to enter the Library anyways. Nemo still wants to know what Argalia is planning, and he responds that he will host a performance to "break down the boundaries of loneliness we all have." Pluto gives the Fixers a time limit, and they leave. Left alone, the Fixers can do nothing but proceed. Nemo concedes defeat, but he stays enthusiastic to maintain morale towards their coming ordeal.

Back in the Library, Roland and Angela talk about Pluto and his powers. Angela recalls reading about his potential involvement in an incident in a guest's book, but is even more disturbed seeing "Yesterday's Promise" in action. Roland acts unfazed, saying that manipulative behavior is common in the City, and Angela agrees. She doesn't find it fair, but chooses not to press the issue. However, she does say that she and Roland are both using each other, assuring him that she still trusts him. Roland says that he has been truthful with her, though she notes that he is still hiding some things before dropping the topic. Roland wonders why she did so, and she says she's learned that staying curious about others is important for keeping relationships with them.

At the Library's entrance, Nemo cracks numerous grim but witty jokes, enthusiastically shouting about the opportunities to profit off of the Library while his subordinates listen straight-faced, calling him out for his excessiveness. Martina and Bada discuss Nemo's greed, while Nemo chimes in saying he would still never cheat his employees out of their pay. When Angela arrives, Nemo immediately becomes polite, treating her like a potential business partner while Bada and Martina comment on his change of attitude. Angela lets them in.

Post-Battle

Angela asks Roland about patent wars. Roland, giving her a basic outline, says that groups fight each other over technologies, but in the end the true winners of the war are spectators like Cane Office which can reap the rewards without actually fighting the fight. He offers to tell Angela his own stories of patent wars, but she tells him to save it for later before asking whether R Corp. had been involved in patent wars. Roland doesn't know, but says that many Wings use other Wings' Singularities, and R Corp. would be no exception, having to pay any Wings whose Singularities they are using. Angela deduces that obtaining the secrets behind other Singularities would allow R Corp. to cut down on their expenses.

Background

A notary public Office draws and enforces contracts. They are responsible for mediating disputes between the holders of the contracts. This is done to ensure fairness in a deal between multiple parties, and the notary public Office is authorized to step in and handle situations when one side of a contract disobeys their terms. Cane Office is one such notary public, particularly renowned for its high level of professionalism and its capability of handling Star of the City-grade work. In fact, Cane Office has completed eleven Star of the City-grade requests, and its expertise has brought it under the direct sponsorship of T Corp.

Mediators like Cane Office are uniquely suited to profit in situations such as patent wars. When both sides of a patent war, often Wings, have exhausted their resources battling each other, these intermediaries can come out of hiding to benefit from whatever confidential resources and information is revealed to them.

Cane Office's plot to gain the secret of W Corp's Singularity was first shown in the Urban Plague chapter during the story of the Gaze Office. Gaze Office was hired to plant a device on a different group of Fixers who were boarding a WARP Train. This device was rendered useless because of the nature of the WARP Train, but the involvement of a mysterious group led to the disappearance of many passengers from within the train, forcing W Corp's cleanup crew to enter the Library. With their failure, their books containing the secrets of W Corp's Singularity became available in the Library. Thus, Cane Office could uncover the secrets of the Singularity and sell them to the highest bidder. They could then give it to T Corp, which had hired them to recover the info, for an additional profit.

The sole caveat was the client of Cane Office who proposed the scheme in the first place: The Blue Reverberation. While Nemo simply wanted more money, Argalia's goals were much deeper, and once Cane Office had held up their end of the deal, the only use they had left in his eyes was to be food for the Library.

Key Page stories

Nemo’s Page

We live in turbulent times when Wings are destined to fall behind in the market if they don’t respond to patent disputes effectively, big or small! It’s one of the reasons patent wars are that much important. Those megacorporations sue one another for patent infringement, or accuse one another for stealing their patent… Us small fries can watch the giants clash without worrying about getting caught in the crossfire; in fact, we benefit from such conflict! There are unspoken rules that you need to remember to keep your stake in a patent war: One must patent their technology separately for areas outside of the Nest or other domain under their jurisdiction, one must avoid admitting to infringement before carefully reviewing the lawsuit, the rights to a technology cannot be protected if its details were publicized through advertisements or such before the patent was registered, et cetera… Patent wars break out for so many reasons, it’ll take a day and a half to list them out!

Bada’s Page

Contracts should be signed on equal terms with the consent of all parties involved. And the Offices must fulfill the terms of the contract following the mutual agreement. It’s a societal boundary that keeps us humans from betraying each other’s trust as we must coexist. Although these principles are rather abstract, they exist to prevent anyone from devising lowly schemes and ensure that each party gets just benefits. The Head’s rules don’t cover every small detail, so you can say this is a necessary addition to fill those gaps.

Martina’s Page

Notarization is the process of drafting a document to officially certify a deal between two Offices in case things happen… A notarial act is fairly powerful. Through these documents, you can verify various facts and secure executory force. Meaning, if one side doesn’t carry out their part of the contract… The contract can be enforced on them. There’s no need to argue about who is to blame. Notary acts exist to stop unnecessary disputes from occurring, and it’s the job of notary public Offices like Cane Office to help with that… Oh, and the City is divided into domains… It’s similar to how the Zwei Association sets territories for policing; it’s fair to expect at least one notary public Office in every domain. This isn’t to say that you can only use the notary public in your domain; if you can’t find a notary public, or if the Office isn’t functional for whatever reason, you can always go to other domains… Though it costs a bit more… A lot of people still choose the latter since they need to get business done in a hurry. Not every notary public Office has the same level of professionalism, after all…

Battle Symbols

There are 3 Battle Symbols related to this guest group; see the reception page for more details.

Gallery

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  Nemo

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  Martina

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  Bada

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  Cane Office dialogue background

References

Cane Office
Characters	Nemo - Martina - Bada
Key Pages	Nemo’s Page - Martina’s Page - Bada’s Page
Combat Pages	Absorb Impact - Energy Shield - A Golden Opportunity! - Energy Conversion - Devastating Thrash - Ready Up! - Uncanny Strike - Energy Beam