Martin Stein. A Kabal employee. Talented. A killer. A powerful mutation and a keen mind. Lenna had contacted him about his current employment.

Lori and Lenna had agreed to a sort of merger. Two powerful women with two powerful companies could work together towards common ends. Money was a good common ends. And Lenna had agreed it would be better to funnel that money and effort into supporting Lori's faction, rather than what once had been Slate's. It would require less retooling and reordering. This meeting was about one such instance of reordering.

Upon arriving, Mr. Stein was greeted professionally by a tall blond man with strong features. He was brought to the board room, where Lenna sat at the table's head, waiting in a gray business skirt suit.

They'd met before. She knew he'd know to keep his distance. The last time he'd gotten too close, he'd gotten quite ill. Since then, though, her aura'd gotten nastier, and her range had doubled. What solution did she have to this problem? A simple one.

Lenna had put up a sign.

"Keep your distance. 10 feet, Mr. Stein."

It was printed in bold black on white cardboard, held up by an artist's tripod. She thought it was quite a visionary move, herself.

Luckily for Mr. Stein, the board room's table was long and round. With her seated at the head, and him on the other side, there weren't likely to be any problems. Hopefully.

Martin was wearing gray that day. A suit as it happened. Of the rather expensive variety. He had left behind all pretense of being a low-level low life of one of the more gang-riddled parts of the city. Nope. That gray suit screamed businessman, successful, from about a mile away. The metallically shimmering tie might have added another few feet to that. And once he had entered the Kabal headquarters, the building known to the world as Mondragon Medical, he had also removed his unnecessary straw hat. A thing that looked so ridiculously strange on him he had worn it for just that reason. It had made his suit an obvious disguise. Now it wasn't any more.

No more hiding? Probably. Possibly. Truthfully: He enjoyed misleading people to a certain extent. Only that that was not wise with colleagues. At least not in this obvious a fashion. So instead of a straw hat he was now armed with a smile, thin and razor sharp. Just for you, it said.

He greeted the assistant with a friendly nod. There was, after all, no need to talk yet. He also followed him to the meeting room where the talking was to take place. The straw hat he had left with a somewhat irate nine-fingered secretary. On her desk.

Three eyes blinked mildly surprised at the message on the tripod. Three eyes. Note the slight deviation from biologic norm. He took his seat opposite from Lenna without any more hesitation though. And without an outward show of irritation, though he filed that information away most certainly in the back of his mind. One day he would have to get rid of those headaches. But that topic might come up later. Now it was the following of business routines. Normal things, not mutations. Normal things like greetings.

“A good day to you, Miss Lenna. I regret not being able to shake hands, but as I see you remember my reasons. If I may inquire toward your reasons for this meeting?” Yes, Martin could talk formally. With his teeth showing like a strip of white through his lips. His voice was friendly to that business-talk extent that was like a noncommittal shrug in more relaxed conversation. The gray mans hands were unclothed, white and lay on the meeting table. Alien spiders. They might hurt. Not you. But you never went unprepared. Not even to your employers base.

A third eye? A joke. Lenna smiled. At which one, she wasn't sure. The smile vanished as she explained her reasons for the meeting.

"This meeting concerns your employment and loyalty to the Kabal, Mr. Stein." She began. "There have been some changes in its leadership, as of late. Currently, I'm working on a merger with The Order. You're free to stay employed here, if you so wish, or to stay on as a mercenary and pledge loyalty to no man. Either way," The smile returned. "I have work for you, still."

Three eyes, all very much steel colored, closed in unison at Lennas explanation. Something like a sigh escaped from his lips as well. Regret? Possibly. The eyes opened. He had noticed the 'I' in that sentence. “I fear the Order is much too...” Here the hint of a smile crept unto his lips. Orderlings. Pfff. He knew of them. He had actually met some of their people once or twice he thought. But they, if he recalled Romania, were not much of a help in anything much. Except when it went for massive carnage of the non-mutant population. Not that he vehemently opposed such carnage, mind you. He just found it severely distasteful. Not to mention wasteful. “...blatant for a person of my persuasion.” Stealth, murder and maybe poison. Not mentioned was said mass carnage. Because that was what he did not do. He was acutely aware that he had gone here without a knife, too. The regretful sigh, it had been for a good employer gone to waste. It had also been an admonition of himself.

Do not get too comfortable.

Back to business then, maybe? His hands rested calmly on the tabletop. “You are nevertheless welcome to hire me. My fees might increase slightly though.” Because, the smile, that non-entity, said quite well: The Orderlings are much too blatant. And you’re one of them. There goes a good employer indeed. On afterthought he added: "Who is currently leading the smash-up-boys anyways?" A hint of disdain might be detectable there. Make that a bucket.

"I see." She said. There was no disappointment in her voice. The Order was a bit... disorderly, as of late. It was something she had hopes they could do something about. She had no plans to reveal that to him that moment, though. It seemed like words would just be words.

Actually, scratch that thought. 'Smash-up-boys?' Hmph. Indeed.

"The Order is not as disorganized as you think, Mr. Stein. However. If you wish to continue to think that, you're free to your thoughts. Mercenary work is just fine." Just fine. She would not defend more than that single line, and she would move on to the more pressing matter of business. "As I've said, I have work for you." She concluded. "Are you interested?"

He simply nodded. Once. Maybe the Order had other smash-up girls than one Ms Isabel Duskmoore. Now that was a thought. Lenna, Lenna, aren't we... naughty? At least that was part of the things going on in his head at the moment.

A good employer gone indeed. “I will need the details, if you please?” Now curtsey was always nice and wise. Especially with people who hired a person like himself. Be they interested in blowing things up or not.

Lenna gave him the details of the mission.

It was a set-up. Complex, but clear. She gave him everything he needed to know, because unlike some leaders, she shared important information about missions. Where she could.

Next time, she decided, she would not make mercenaries state their loyalties. She'd simply change things without telling them, and pay good money for them not to ask. It was annoying having to pay more for what was really just the same job. And also... she needed to hire someone to do this contacting. Dealing with people? Yeah. Not her strong suit.

Once the meeting was concluded, she politely excused Mr. Stein. Thankfully, the meeting had gone without incident.