Kaoru Hibiki
Information & Leisure Go Drink In Hand
(a.k.a. Kaoru)
“I can’t pay for a bottle.” Demyan’s throat wobbled as he swallowed, shoulders hunching in his jacket.
“Ah. No matter, I have a feeling you’ll be... worth the cost of admission.” The man stood and dusted off his tie. “Or is it admonition? Silly me. Oy! Ferdi, the Sato-Kun and a couple glasses!”
“Yes, boss!” Ferdi, a woman with her electric green and yellow hair up in a tight bun, plucked a bottle from the middle shelf, a couple clean glasses and trotted over. “Bottle of Sato-Kun and a couple... oh ain’t you a cutie for sure. Good eye, Kaoru, Sir.”
“That’ll be all, Ferdinanda.” Kaoru waved her off, and she trotted back hefting her bra to better support ample cleavage.
“You own the club.” Demyan’s eyes chased her, from shoulder to toes. At least London was full of aesthetically pleasing figures.
“I own the club.” Kaoru’s smile deepened as he sat in the booth with both arms over the padded top, nodding to the bottle then Demyan. “Pour, you can check the seal with your comp lenses.”
A former Canadian ex-pat living in London, Kaoru is ultimately a man of business. As of 2092, I've personally met the man once and cannot say the meeting was pleasant.
"Not fair, love. It was an awkward situation and he did help in his way. Kaoru isn't an idealist, his major desire is himself."
You are far more altruistic.
"Am I? That's a biased take I don't know many of our enemies and allies would agree about."
Does everyone not have a bias? Machines included? If we take Kaoru's bias as self-focused, I suppose his actions are... adequate. Kaoru Hibiki is a self-centred business man who protects his investments. If you align with his goals, he's more than willing to... schmooze... and help you, if you don't?
That's business.
I met him in 2092 at the behest of Demyan, who thought he might actually get off his profit margins and help us. He was as good a contact as we had available at the time. A staunch reminder of how low events got in the push toward escape from London. He ran Kaoru Tea House and hid the secretive in tunnels suspended between the foundation of the building and the old inert Underground lines... for a price.
Endearing, lybly, how you get protective. Kaoru protected our assets, when we couldn't. Yes he did it for selfish reasons, I'm still glad he did. Always count on the consistent to be consistent, unless something mega changes.
Mental
Personal History
2038
Born in Canada to mixed-race parents, Kaoru fell in love with his Japanese grandparents' stories of growing up around the Shinto shrine their family tended for hundreds of years. The glitz of Japan's technological advancements called to him, and although he had no particular skill in the Sciences, Kaoru knew whatever he did would tie into his two loves: The accumulation of comfortable wealth, and his Japanese roots.
2059
Life in Toronto took him through Business School, and into the Entertainment Industry, until the writing on the wall told him to exit before the holographic bubble burst. He cleaned out his investments in Canada and moved to London in time for the Flag War to plough through his former country. When the Conglom took the majority of the West Coast, and the Syndicate claimed what was Quebec and the rest of Atlantic Canada, Kaoru shrugged. He was always lucky.
Lucky in his choice of friends, one of whom casually offered him a position in a Conglom-run entertainment sector in the knick of time.
2070's
By the mid 2070's, Kaoru developed music and entertainment content for Conglom Leisure Services, listening and recording secrets along the way. In 2076, with tempers running high and the rumours of moles & double agents about, Kaoru drifted from the Conglom payroll and purchased a run down Syndicate-owned former department store turned club in Picadilly Circus.
Cage/Wire.
2079
Always one to favour multiple sides, Kaoru was both outwardly corpocratic with his business associates, and taking money on the side for the Idless. He was aware of the attempted capture of Crypt.AI by accident, a slip of a few drinks to the right mouth, the right information courier to provide payment into his coffers... nothing he didn't do in the War. Yet, when a young veteran in a red leather jacket not only entered his club, but showed up in clear need of a place to lie low, Kaoru's loyalties were further complicated.
Enter Demyan Anastas.
Intellectual Proclivities
A consummate schemer, Kaoru is a genius at knowing when to speak up and when to scarper. While proficient in creating entertaining experiences for the leisure class or corporate elite, what Kaoru's true talents underpin is a natural born ear for intelligence and information.
He is, beyond all else, an information courier. A wheeler and dealer who plays all sides and is loyal only to his own. While this can be useful, it is difficult to trust someone so fastidiously curated in his sentiments with more than the cursory.
Early learning in Audio Visuals, holograms and talent management combined with business sense taught by his corporate manager father and artist mother.
The wisdom to know when to share information and when to whisper is his greatest feat. His second greatest is weeding out those who may or may not be useful.
Wealth
A man of means, Kaoru has between his companies and personal assets, a small fortune. While few can tell how much Kaoru actually possesses and how much is on credit or company dime, he keeps himself impeccable.
Some of his wealth is taken from those unfortunates left behind, in the inevitable shake ups from the information trade. It must be quite a simple endeavour to pick up one's leftover things and accounts, when one knows they're about to be raided. I want my necklace back.
And I do love being the top.
- English
- Japanese
- Arabic
Sexuality
A confirmed bisexual, Kaoru is as free with his sensual delights as he is a consummate bachelor. Few long-term relationships ever come to the surface, preferring the unattached or transactional to keep things in their place.
Physical Attributes
Perpetually smartly dressed in a variety of fine suits, Kaoru is never one to be seen in a state of undress. His hair is worn straight and long, at most tied in a ponytail at the base of his neck. While fetching, he is fairly average in appearance and prefers it that way, having avoided the cosmetic surgeries of his elite compatriots.
Social
Kaoru is a man everybody knows, most have a positive opinion of but few could count as a solid friend. He's perfectly sociable, well mannered and wonderfully likeable.
Few, if any, are truly close to the man. Eventually even the closest people in his life are alienated as a turn of course, never get too close they might see you with sweat around your collar.
Affable and warm enough, Kaoru is curated in his mannerisms depending on who his conversation is with.
Known Associates
- Hal Grundy
- Demyan Anastas
- Baiko
- Ego
- Tara
Amazon Top 300 Cyberpunk + Genetic Engineering Sci-Fi
"I never thought science fiction could be so beautiful."
AI meets gene-splicers, when the Idless & the Conglom fight to define Lieben and thus, the world. Seven decades later, Aderastos sets the human race against its’ next stage in evolution, if he can survive long enough to rescue his fellows, and Max.
Will Lieben help, or hinder?
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