Too Good to Be True? Naaaaah. (IC)

[Cubist]

Jay Xavier nodded his approval as he pored over the electronic 'blueprints' al Misri had provided. The feline had, himself, drawn up zeroeth drafts of designs for a superhero team HQ; while the plans he was looking at now shared very few specific details with his own plans, it was clear that whoever al Misri had tapped to create these documents, that person (or persons) had been thinking along much the same lines as Xavier.

Meanwhile, it didn't smell like Silhouette was entirely on board with al Misri's proposal—there was a little too much Fear and Doubt in the air. Makes sense; the main reason I'm buying in, is because the man's scent told me he's utterly sincere. Without my educated nose, I'd probably feel the same as her. But Fear and Doubt or no, she was still here, which suggested that whatever suspicions she might have, she was merely being cautious. If there was more to it than just simple prudence, it wasn't likely that she'd accept contracts from the man! No point in telling her why I'm in; if i was in her shoes, I wouldn't trust the cat-freak to tell me the unvarnished truth. And hell, if it turns out that al Misri knows how to lie with his scent, I'll be the one who's screwed.

And then Silhouette gave Xavier custody of the tablet she'd held, asking his opinion of the device.

"Maybe we should compare notes on whether claws or gloves are the worst obstacle to tablet use. Personally, I've found a stylus to work just fine, like God and Bill Gates intended. The battery won't be a problem if this beast can be charged via contact-free induction. As for size, let the man know how big your pockets are; we'll see what he can come up with to fit them. And since I already carry a vest-full of toys that aren't bulletproof, I don't see where the durability, or lack thereof, will be an issue."

[Aoiroo]

"Really I just thought it'd be solar powered."

Silhouette snorted at the last part,

"When's the last time anybody's had enough time to even aim a gun at you, let alone shoot it."

She took the tablet back and felt around her pockets, the seems were hard to see, but if you looked closely there were one on each leg with a small flap held down with velcro. There were also two smaller ones on her upper arm,

"Eh, screw it, the materials too tight around the skin to fit something that won't bend. Have to put it somewhere else, I can think of something it'd be faster for me to make another pocket then it would be for you to make a smaller tablet. I'd lose the stylus though,"

She flexed her fingers for a sec,

"I think they make gloves that have thinner material on the tips to let the heat through."

She wished she had those now, she really want to play with it a little, but she wasn't willing to take off her gloves either. Heck if she was gonna hand over a possible finger print just cause she wanted to play with a tablet,

"Either way, it looks nice, this all looks great. But, what's the catch here, I don't mean the whole villianous plan to use us for some sinister plot, you wouldn't tell us that if you had one, I mean, what more do we have to give for this sort of thing to work. Even if I did accept your help, I wouldn't want any of it anywhere anybody could see it. I don't like attention, I can guarentee you'll never get me in front of a camera, or making any statements to anybody about anything."

[TheAbsurdist]

"Actually, that is out of skunkworks division. That is a prototype. The reason to build it? Care to guess what something like would be worth if it was mass produced? And that is not counting the other tech that gets developed in the process. But that is not really relevant, is it?" He crossed his arms across his chest, and he looked at them both for a minute before be walked over to the large window facing out, and looking at the cityscape.

"You wont believe me Silhouette, will you? No matter what I say, you will be expecting that other shoe to drop." Looking over his shoulder at her, for a moment, his eyebrows raised. "I do not need any of this. I can walk away from this fiscal empire right now, and live like a king for the rest of my life. But I wont. The reason I wont is the same fundamental similarity between us, the reason we are talking right now..." and he turned towards them again, pausing for effect, "...we all want to do good." He rocked back on his feet, a little for effect.

"There is a difference though, one that is quintessential: I have built, and will continue to build up, an empire. To do that I have to be something of an unreasonable man. I have to be prideful, I have to possess ambition and drive." He paused a moment, his mouth playing over a small smile, "Of course I expect both of you have something snarky to respond to that, and I welcome you to it. But there is no catch, I do not need a catch. Whether or not you help me, or accept my help is not going to deter me. Just like whether or not you accept my aid will change that you are going to put that suit on again and wade through the Fens, and try to make things right."

[Aoiroo]

"Yes,"

She said it quietly,

"I do always believe the other shoe will drop, I just don't think you'll be the one dropping it."

She walked forward and looked out the window,

"Nobody has to be anything. Not a hero, for certain, or even a villain."

Turning around she leaned against the window. She crossed her arms and thought about her next move. He had more or less caught her off guard, no one had ever offered to help her like this before. Dragonfly helped, but she knew her, she was a friend. This was a sponser, she knew the concept well, she almost had one in middle school, it was one of many pressures that had her come to the decision to drop competitive gymnastics. But this wasn't her doing flips in front of a crowd, this was something different entirely.

"You already know I'm a cynic, you know I'm hard to find almost certainly. I can tell you right now, you likely wouldn't of if I didn't trust you. But then again, it's not you, I don't know you, not really. I can't, but you are a hero, I do trust heroes. Whatever else you may be, you have saved peoples lives, and you didn't have too, and as you said you likely will in the future regardless of how this goes. So,"

She scratched the back of her head for a second through leather and cloth,

"I can go along, dispite my misgivings, but as I said, whatever else you do, people shouldn't know we're connected. My enemies aren't flashy, in fact most of them are business men, though not your type, no they don't even bother to do with things like legality to destroy their competition and there are plenty of middlemen that they'll throw out there to get it done with their own hands clean. One reason why Max and Zoom users are such popular muscle, mortality rate even if they win means mouths stay shut."

[Cubist]

"Actually, that is out of skunkworks division. That is a prototype. The reason to build it? Care to guess what something like would be worth if it was mass produced? And that is not counting the other tech that gets developed in the process. But that is not really relevant, is it?"

Jay Xavier nodded wordlessly; what al Misri had just described struck him as a textbook example of 'doing well by doing good', and he didn't have any problems whatsoever with that.

"Of course I expect both of you have something snarky to respond to that, and I welcome you to it."

Here, Xavier interrupted the heroic financier, but only just long enough to say, "Take a rain check, al Misri. Snark is how I cope with idiots, and you're not stupid."

And then Silhouette spoke of enemies, and keeping certain information concealed from hostile eyes; Xavier approved of her caution.

"… One reason why Max and Zoom users are such popular muscle, mortality rate even if they win means mouths stay shut."

"Good thinking," the feline said. "'It's not paranoid if they really are out to get you', as the saying goes. Hrrrmmm… How easy is it to trace your scent?" It was obvious that Silhouette had taken steps to conceal her identity, but did her security protocols extend that far?