MOD:WCU:Monte

Monte is a pretty big mystery. Let's see if we can figure out something about him:

1. He dresses well, but maintains he is a poor man, and seems honest (to me).
2. He says he knows about secret organizations in Gemini, and proves it.
3. He is known to Masterson.
4. He gets references about Burrows from Murphy, Tayla and Goodin.
5. He corresponds via ecrypted capsules with a high-ranking Retro.
6. His real name is not "Monte"; he says so.
7. He comes to New Detroit temporarily, on some kind of secret mission.

His getting a reference on Burrows from Tayla would seem to point in the direction
of his having a pirate affiliation on some level. But he does not know how to pilot
a ship, so if he were a pirate, he could not be a standard career pirate.
We don't know much about Murphy. Best guess is that she works for Merchants Guild,
which might imply some association with pro-Merchants' Guild mob boss Damien Lang.
But the third character Monte gets a reference on Burrows from is Sandra Goodin, a
career Confed officer.

Prior to these three references, Masterson says that Monte has already received
good references about Burrows; --just not enough of them. Besides Tayla, Murphy
and Goodin, who else have you done missions for? Answer: Lynch and Cross.

He seems to be independent, the way he's "going into hiding in Nexus", etceteras.
Yet he seems too professional about his ways to be considered an "amateur". And
this would seem to make him all the more mysterious: You'd think someone dressed
in a business suit wouldn't gain such trust from pirates, unless he had money for
them, which apparently he doesn't.

All indications are is that he's an information dealer of sorts. What he gives to
pirates is what he gives to Burrows, I say, and what he gives to Masterson, Murphy,
Goodin and the retro informant: Information. Valuable and accurate information,
obviously; which has gained him their trust. And to maintain that trust, he also
must have achieved a reputation for never betraying those who confide in him, and
provide him with information in return for information, right?

But there's a problem with this model: For people to trust him, it is not enough
that he have a reputation for accuracy and non-betrayal. There must be some kind
of understanding about his motivations, affiliations and future plans. Accurate
information may be his way of introducing himself to a party; a way of saying,
"My business is information; and here's some unique info you can verify. Trust
me." You verify the info and say to him, "Very well, I'm listening." But to make
a long term, trusting, info-exchange relationship, you'd have to know what he's
all about. In other words, during RF he makes first acquaintance with Burrows;
but all the other game characters he's connected to know more about him than you
do as Burrows; --a lot more, probably.

If they all know and feel so confident about him, it means that they all know the
nature of his goals and pursuits; and that the latter are compatible with their
own goals and pursuits.

But the interests of retros, pirates and confeds are pretty much at odds. The
story he sells to them about himself must be something!

One pretty recurrent pattern, in life as much as in fantasy, is when someone is
initially aligned with a certain group and later changes position out of personal
moral principles, becomes an opponent of it, and suffers or is in danger for
having taken that position. We could guess that, for instance, Monte used to be
part of Military Intelligence, which gradually was being subsumed by the Secret
Operations division, which itself was being subsumed into the Belisarius Group.
And we could further assume that leaving the organization was no easy matter.
Two assassination attempts and a change of identity later made him "independent".
But he's no amature information broker. He did not start from nothing. And while
he may have originally orchestrated infiltrations of pirates, retros and mobs,
using agents only known to him, like Tayla; he later "came clean" to those very
groups he was working against, by convincing them that they all share a common
enemy...

Such a story or something similar could gain him the trust of former "enemies",
as well as that of Belisarius Group opponents within Confed, like Goodin; and
Steltekers like Masterson.

So far so good. Now, what's his business in New Detroit?

New Detroit is probably undergoing big transitions. Lynch used to control Bronte
and, through it, had monopoli over New Det's food supply; and he was also the
main sponsor of New Det's local militias. Now New Detroit is falling into the
hands of Menesch. Resistance is futile. Bronte will become aligned with Menesch
or cease to exist. Remember that only Bronte's HQ is on New Det, but they have
to import food. Now retros doing Menesch's bid are blockading New Det, and it
can only mean bankruptcy for Bronte.
Now, Bronte is a food corporation. What other players do we know in that biz?
There's Rondell, who were originally aligned with Damien Lang, but later kicked
his butt and switched to Menesch, as the latter could provide them with the means
of exacting revenge against Bronte.
And there's Damien Lang, who presumably is still in the food business, even
after losing Rondell, and who is associated with the Merchants' Guild; and,
through them, indirectly, with Lynn Murphy.
We could speculate that Damien Lang, having been kicked by Rondell, and hearing
that Bronte no longer has Lynch, might fancy doing business with Bronte, now.
And given that Monte is a specialist on underground organizations in Gemini,
he'd probably know Lynch and may have met Bronte officials; and he probably also
knows Lang. Ergo, he might be on New Detroit on a diplomacy mission; --one that
would have the added benefit of containing Menesch's expanding influence.