Despite what most people thought, Danny actually had a modicum of intelligence. Well, more than that. It was just that for most people, the phrases "intelligence" and "self-preservation skills" were interchangeable, and Danny wasn't very good at the second one.

Okay, absolutely terrible.

But that didn't say anything about his intelligence. He was actually quite smart when he wanted to be. For example, this whole mess with the Sanctuary and the X-Men. They hated each other. He was perfectly okay with both. But he knew he had a volatile and extremely destructive mutation, and if he were them, he'd want himself on... his... side? Yes. Because a walking, talking, immortal bomb is an attack nobody would ever see coming. Which meant, naturally, Danny had to carve out his own space in the world that would be totally okay with his fluctuating morality and wouldn't even think about backstabbing him should the opportunity come up. He'd thought about it, and so step one had been to establish himself as a gang leader. Yes, a gang leader. With the saddest gang on the planet, mostly composed of reformed and kind of sad ex-cons looking for a job, but a gang nonetheless.

Step two? He needed an arsenal, because if things started to go downhill, he had to have some sort of backup plan other than walking in and blowing up. And after some extensive research (see: Internet stalking), he'd found the perfect guy - a Richard Bent from Hong Kong, apparently currently in New York looking for lodgings and a job, and an engineering prodigy. But after some more research, Danny discovered something else unusual - this guy had a very unusual method of doing things, apparently, consisting of doing nothing on a project before boom, something amazing happened. Naturally, Danny suspected that he might be a mutant, and deciding that helping him filled his quota for good deeds this century, picked him as his first choice for this new job of his. So, he went and found one of the kids he helped - who had proven himself to be some sort of hacking genius - and got him to get Richard's phone number, and then he went and promptly called him.

"Hello?" Danny asked cautiously, as the person on the other end picked up. "Is this Richard Bent? Because if so, I heard that you were in New York, and I've a job for you. I think you'd be interested."

Richards phone rang. There was nothing unusual in that aside from the fact that Richard had just changed numbers and had given this number to no one. Richard did not think that marketing companies would be that efficient. So it was with more curiosity than anything that he answered the phone.

"Hello? Is this Richard Bent? Because if so, I heard that you were in New York, and I've a job for you. I think you'd be interested."

Richard listened with growing interest. a few things stood out to him. Firstly, as unlikely as it might be, there was no denying that this random stranger, who as yet had no name, could, in fact, turn out to be his new employer so polite replies should be the order of the day. Secondly the fact that Mr Mysterious and slightly creepy had the resources to get his number less than two days after Richard had gotten it evidenced the resources that might be at the caller's fingertips. No conclusion could be drawn yet as there was still to many unknowns.

"Hello, this is indeed Richard, who is this? Your information is remarkably accurate, I have indeed recently arrived in the lovely city of New York and am indeed searching for employment. I assume that if you have gone to the trouble to obtain my less than two day old number that you will also be fully aware of my skills and talents. In that case, I would like to know more about this job offer."

Richard wondered how this would all turn out.

"Hello, this is indeed Richard, who is this? Your information is remarkably accurate, I have indeed recently arrived in the lovely city of New York and am indeed searching for employment. I assume that if you have gone to the trouble to obtain my less than two day old number that you will also be fully aware of my skills and talents. In that case, I would like to know more about this job offer." Well, he took that remarkably well. Danny was surprised - most people would panic over the likely illegality of said job offer, considering the likely illegal methods used to just obtain the guy's phone number. But that was good. He preferred it when people weren't surprised when weird (coughillegalcough) things happened. Anyway, his response had been pretty blunt and to the point, so he'd return that favor.

"My name is Danny de Carabas, in interest of full disclosure, and I -" He stopped suddenly mid-sentence, and, well, mid-step. "Dude, are you at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden?" Because there was a rather recognizable man on the other side of the pond Danny was currently standing above on a small bridge. Not only did he look suspiciously like the images Danny had located of his prospective employee, he was on the phone, and only then did Danny realize he hadn't spoken when Danny had and was mouthing words - inaudible from his location - at the same time he'd heard Richard speaking over the line.

Huh. That was... not entirely expected, to be honest. It took Danny half an hour to get to this place from his apartment, so he was only rarely there, but spring was starting, after all. But wasn't that a coincidence.

"Er, hold on, I'm headed to you," Danny said, walking off the bridge and in the direction of the other man on the phone.

"My name is Danny de Carabas, in interest of full disclosure, and I -"


Hmm, mr mysterious and slightly creepy with proper slightly pompous sounding name "de Carbas" was playing it straight! Something Richard could respect. When in the profession of an engineer, one often needed to sift through titanic amounts of hot air to get at the plain straight forward truth. Listen to a client wax lyrical and poetic about some project they want you on for hours in order to distil their requirements down to one single sided, double spaced sheet of project requirements and specifications.

So when Mr "de Carabas" started off by not playing mysterious and creepy but straight out identified himself he earned a point in his favor. He then proceeded to state the intent for full disclosure, for that he just earned himself an additional point. If he then suited action to words he would earn many many many more points, as Richard placed a high value on truth, honesty and keeping ones word. Richard also had a hatred for half truths.

"Dude, are you at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden?"

Hmm he sounded surprised, and Richard noted the change in tone and language from formal to street slang, such as "dude". Hmm this could indicate that Mr de Carbas was of the millennial generation or at least no older than late 30's. Once again, the previously displayed indications of power and resources displayer by Mr de carbas counciled Richard to maintain a professional polite air when replying.

"Umm.. That is correct Mr de Carbas, why do you ask?"

Was this another showing off of Mr de Carbas's wide variety of resources? Who was this man? someone who perhaps worked for some secret organization? Should he be on his guard for unmarked black vans or the like? The callers' next statement dispelled that, slightly.

"Er, hold on, I'm headed to you."

Richard turned to see a lithe muscular man stride confidently toward him. Mr de Carbas looked young but something in his posture cautioned Richard against any such assumption. There was something in the set of his shoulders, in they way he held himself the way he walked that indicated that he had perhaps experienced much sorrow and trouble and was far wiser that his years or that he was far older that he looked. If it was the latter, either Mr De Carbas had undergone a plethora of life changing rejuvenation treatments or he aged extremely well indeed. But what was with the metal glove? Part shadow figure with unknown resources and part thug perhaps?

"Very well, see you soon."

This was turning out to be more interesting that Richard had first anticipated. Richard hung up and patiently waited to meet MR DE CARBAS.

Richard wasn't that far off, so it took Danny a mere few seconds to reach him. He felt rather stupid at not having noticed him before just now, considering Danny had been in the garden for a couple of hours already, and at his prior exact location for at least twenty minutes before. As he neared the taller man, he held out a hand for Richard to shake. "Well, this is awkward," he said in as friendly of a manner as possible. "Makes it more convenient, though. So I'll cut straight to the chase - I'm looking for an armorer." He stopped talking suddenly and frowned. "No. Weaponsmaster? Arsenal...manner?" There was a word for it, he just couldn't remember what it was. Oh well, he was trying. "You get my point. I need somebody to build me weapons, and maintain and upgrade the ones I have. Never hurts to be prepared, if you know what I mean."

Richard took the firm handshake and returned it likewise.

"Well, this is awkward Makes it more convenient, though. So I'll cut straight to the chase - I'm looking for an armorer."

So the man kept his word, at least in the short term. Richard's opinion of Danny rose some more. Wait, did he just say Armorer? Up until now Richard had applied for such jobs as Automation engineer, mechanical designer, software programmer, for companies in the medical or manufacturing business. It was exciting enough that he would not get bored but hardly life changing. As old as he was, which might not be that old if the vibes he was reading of Danny were anything to go by, Richard was still a boy at heart, as the saying goings boys never grow up they just grow older. So the thought of working with weapons and things that went Boom had Richard INWARDLY, foaming at the mouth. Only his skills as a debater and presenter allowed him to show no trace of the joy that was bubbling inside of him, aside from the slight gleam in his eye of interest.

The man started talking again "No. Weaponsmaster? Arsenal...manner?

Richards day kept getting better and better.

"You get my point. I need somebody to build me weapons, and maintain and upgrade the ones I have. Never hurts to be prepared, if you know what I mean."

Danny had just handed Richard a slice of heaven as far as Richard was concerned. he did not really care what Danny meant. Him being in England and then in the remote and all consuming Colorado University had limited his exposure to the horrrific events of the Mutant registration act and the atrocities visited on mutants in the camps so he was not sure what Danny meant, but hey, it was always good to be prepared.

"It would be my pleasure and delight to accept. When do I start? Where  would I be working? What sort of hardware would I be working with? Also is this an appropriate time to inquire about employment benefits?"

To be honest as long as Danny paid Richard enough to live on and perhaps provide descent medical insurance, Richard could not care two pence about salary and benefits but he key his professional demeanor, up till this point nothing was on paper, everything was just words. Later after the deal had been signed and Richard was alone, he would go and dance around the room singing for joy. But that was for later, for now he would continue to be the professional engineer.

As Danny spoke, he could see Richard getting gradually more and more excited, and he smiled inwardly, sure he'd landed himself an employee. And, in fact, his next words confirmed it.

"It would be my pleasure and delight to accept. When do I start? Where would I be working? What sort of hardware would I be working with? Also is this an appropriate time to inquire about employment benefits?"

Oh. Crap. Professional questions.

You see, while Danny might be intelligent, he didn't have the experience needed to answer any of those questions properly. He hired somebody to handle the financial stuff for him, and that person was a very nice and very intelligent yet homeless teenager made not-homeless thanks to Danny's somewhat impulsive choice of buying an apartment complex to house those who needed it. He gave the guy a place to live in exchange for his help, so he didn't actually pay anyone anything. Thus, he had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to say.

"Well," he said, trying to stall for time yet sound as confident as possible. "Um." Well, this was going well. "You could start, technically, whenever you wanted - I have your working quarters set up already. As for said working quarters, I have your phone number, so I'll text it to you when you need it so you won't forget. Uh, hardware. You pick and choose. Right now, most of the weapons in storage are kind of ancient, so they'd need to be maintained in order to keep them in pristine condition, but you're to command the grunts who do the petty maintaining and do the bigger things yourself. You'd have free reign, really - as long as you make stuff that vaguely constitutes as weapons, you're actually kind of free to use the available resources however you'd want on the side."

Now, employment benefits. What in the world were those? He'd watched television, so he knew vaguely that it was stuff like healthcare and dental and the such. But he didn't have anything specific to say.

"Er, healthcare benefits. Whatever you need, I guess?" Danny said. "Yes. Whatever, really. I'd be fully prepared to provide you with even a place to live if you need one." Well, it was true. He doubted that the guy would, considering he had to be living somewhere at the moment, but no harm in sounding enticing.

(OCC: Hope the post is not too long, Richard's mind works like that. If you want to I can cut it down a little, but that is how fast he thinks)

"Well...Um. You could start, technically, whenever you wanted - I have your working quarters set up already. As for said working quarters, I have your phone number, so I'll text it to you when you need it so you won't forget. Uh, hardware. You pick and choose. Right now, most of the weapons in storage are kind of ancient, so they'd need to be maintained in order to keep them in pristine condition, but you're to command the grunts who do the petty maintaining and do the bigger things yourself. You'd have free reign, really - as long as you make stuff that vaguely constitutes as weapons, you're actually kind of free to use the available resources however you'd want on the side. Er, healthcare benefits. Whatever you need, I guess? Yes. Whatever, really. I'd be fully prepared to provide you with even a place to live if you need one."


As odd as it might sound, Richar was getting the impression that his employer was not very confident in matters of employment. Perhaps he had recently come into riches or decided to cash in numerour investments. Regardless, if Richard wanted things sorted out it was becoming apparent that he would need to be perahps a tad more direct.

"Fare enough Mr De Carbas, can we put that in writing so we can both sign it? Something like you are hereby willing to pay x dollars per month/year for services rendered and provide medical insurance, dental, vision plan and retirement benefits etc would be most appreciated"

As sweet as this deal was appearing to be Richard would not rest completely easy until he had a signed legally binding contract in his hands, no sense getting the rug yanked from user your feet at the last minute, no matter how pretty or perfect said rug was. Right now that was sorted down to more practical matters.

Taking the paper Richard looked it over with a critical eye, nodded with approval and signed a copy. He was now an official employee of ..... some corporation of which Mr De Carbas was the CEO? Head? What did it matter, the pay was higher than the average market rate, the job description was Fantastic and all seemed well and good so far, almost too good.

"As for housing, I appreciate the offer but I believe that I have found suitable accommodation already thank you." It was all well and good to have a caring employer happy to provide for your every need but Richard did prefer some independence and freedom as regards personal space. Now on the the job description. Richard was on a roll here his brilliant mind processing and assessing information logically and attentively

"Regarding hardware, pardon me for being direct Mr De Carbas but I will need something a little bit more directed than to just "pick and choose". I am an engineer not an inventor, I take existing technology and either improve it slightly or combine it in such a way as to produce something that meets your requirements. But for the present lacking further direction this is how I intend to proceed. Firstly I am assuming that when you say you want to "be prepared" that you are intending to potentially ward off chaos and riots and the like and not to, say, invade a country or declare your own fiefdom. In that case you will probably want a small to medium sized well stocked arsenal of pistols, probably 45 caliber, sub-machine guns, assault rifles to start off with. I am assuming that your "grunts" are competent at handling such weapons as I am not qualified to instruct them, I am no sharpshooter or shooting instructor. Next you will probably want something with a bit more punch in case the need arises, as such I would suggest a small stock of sniper rifles, multi-purpose rocket launchers, mortar units with a variety of rounds, perhaps some heavy machine guns and a variety of explosives. I believe that I could select and maintain them. That I would not consider overkill and would probably be sufficient to secure any premises or guarantee passage even if New York turns to complete chaos and rioting."

Richard paused for a breath, logically he had started with personal defense as he assumed his to be employer was no Alexander the great reborn and assumed he did not desire to start taking over states and countries. So his employer would, most likely, be thinking of potentially mounting a defense or escape should things go very very south. Right, now that hand held weaponry and defense was dealt with, next came transport.

"Next, mobility, I would assume that you probably will want varied forms of armed or at least armored transports. I think that tanks and self propelled guns might be a bit of an overkill, limit mobility, be illegal and bring the attention of the authorities so I plan to steer clear of those, as exciting as they may be. I would suggest a variety of four to eight wheeled armored transports, all with the option of mounting weapons. helicopters and boats would also be an option. Finally there is the category of robots. Something like the Segway RMP440 LE would be a good start as that has sufficient payload to mount some weaponry as well as sufficient sensors and computing power to create a autonomous defense or attack robot. You could also think about a variety of multi-rotor vehicles and UAVs, as well as surface and subsurface ROVs."

Richard paused for another breath as he mentally reviewed his list. Had he missed anything?

"Of course price and budget size as well as time frame will dictate how much we can do. I am after all only one man, so to create one single robot may take a number of weeks, whereas to purchase and tune some guns could be as quick as a few days."

Richard was interested in how serious his employer was, how far he was willing to go and how much resources he wanted to put towards this titanic "project". He cocked his head to one side. "Yeah, I think that about sums up my initial thoughts. What do you think Mr De Carbas? Oh also do I need to think about potential fortification of.. Um.. where I work? Where exactly will I be working anyway?"

Richard wondered how his employer would react to the veritable fire hydrant of information that he had just unleashed in his direction.

[OOC: No worries! Also, sorry for the super late post, finals were terrible but I'm out of school now, so I should be posting more often.]

Well. He certainly knew what he was doing, and Danny was more than happy to let him take charge here. He had a contract all written up, as he had been almost entirely confident Richard would accept, and he pulled it out from where it had been tucked inside his coat.

"As requested, everything you asked for, and that x dollars per year is 100K. I hope that's not too low." He handed over the packet and watched as Richard scanned it critically before signing it.

And with that, Richard launched into what was pretty much a full-blown lecture. Danny was able to keep up, being well-versed in the latest in military technology, but was still impressed by the sheer amount of information he knew. Only once he was finished did Danny finally speak again.

"Here, walk with me," Danny said, motioning to Richard as he started to head to the exit. "So you clearly have a pretty good idea of what to do, which is good. But I need something a little bit more. Namely, something that would work to combat mutants." Well, hadn't he been blunt about that. "X-Men and Sanctuary mutants, to be exact. This may require a bit of research or inventing, though, because I need combat-optimized gear that will neutralize the brunt of their abilities. I can compose dossiers on the ones that I'm mostly worried about, if that helps." Yes, this was a bit paranoid, but he wasn't a very trusting guy. And if he had protection from both sides, he'd have leverage if anything went the wrong way. "Let's just say for now that your budget is rather significant. Mutant-related weaponry takes priority, then weaponry for minions."

As the two neared the exit to the gardens, Danny walked over to where a black car with tinted windows was sitting at the curb. "As for your workplace, that's our next destination - if you're not busy, that is." He was relatively confident, though, that he had piqued Richard's interest enough for him to want to see the warehouse Danny had set aside for this specific purpose.

[OCC sorry for the ultra short post. Work has been a little crazy of late. If I am not giving you enough to work with let me know.]

"...100K"

Richard almost choked, almost. As he accepted and accepted his employer's invitation to walk with him.

"Hmm, well, mutants is a whole different ball game. What do you define as neutralize? Something that will let you survive a single attack? Multiple attacks? or prolonged siege? Also dossiers would be appreciated as trying to combat different powers will need different approaches. You do realize that if I succeed, each invention will probably only be able to combat one specific set of powers but we will have to see."

Upon hearing that the next item on the itinerary was the workplace, Richard happily accepted. "Lead on boss." This day just seemed to keep getting better.

Danny nodded along as Richard walked with him to the car, describing what he'd need for the weapons, and sliding into the shotgun seat as Richard sat in the back. Driving the car was another of Danny's minions, Ike - a rather quiet guy, really, but he could drive well and could convert kinetic energy to any other type as his mutation, which was rather helpful in combat.

"One per mutant is fine," he said to Richard, craning his neck backwards a little as the car started to move. "Only so many of their mutants have dangerous, combat-optimized abilities, and those are the ones I'm worried about. I'm also not interested in being able to neutralize mutants who won't be dangerous to me, and by that I mean most telepaths and ones utilizing immediately fatal force." Danny took a folder out of the compartment in front of his seat, and handed it back to him. "These are the mutants I'm most worried about. See if you can recognize any for now, and I'll provide dossiers for those that you need them for. If you don't know any, that's fine too."

By the time Richard had finished reading and poring over the list, they'd reached the warehouse. Danny opened the door and ducked out, and Ike dodged out to open the door for Richard. And with that, Danny walked over to the door, which was locked only with a keypad, as the warehouse itself was an only recent acquisition. He typed in his code, and lightly pushed open the door.

Inside, the large building was full of people bustling around. The back of the warehouse, where a garage door was located, was open, and people were moving equipment and more menial things inside. While the better part of the space was open, offices lined the right wall, one of them bigger than the rest.

"So, what would you like to see first?" he asked pleasantly, looking back at Richard.

> "One per mutant is fine, Only so many of their mutants have dangerous, combat-optimized abilities, and those are the ones I'm worried about. I'm also not interested in being able to neutralize mutants who won't be dangerous to me, and by that I mean most telepaths and ones utilizing immediately fatal force. These are the mutants I'm most worried about. See if you can recognize any for now, and I'll provide dossiers for those that you need them for. If you don't know any, that's fine too."

Richard duly accpeted the files. He was happy that Danny was only interested in defending against mutants that were a threat to him. And his intention was to create defences against them and not to attack them or hunt them down. It made Richard feel better.

"I am sorry but I don't know any of these mutants. Although I can see why you would want to take precautions against them. I already have a few ideas."

By the time Richard finished reading the dossiers they had reached the warehouse. Richard duly noted the security measures, the thermal & optical cameras that looked as if they had been recently installed. He was struck by the size of the building and as he was ushered into the interior and observed the size and scale of what was happening he once again wondered if there was more going on that he knew about or met the eye at Firebird industries.

>"So, what would you like to see first?"

"Umm, to be honest I would not know where to start, lead on sir." Richard was a little overwhelmed by said facilities and looked forward to learning more about his soon to be workplace.

"Sir? Danny didn't realize someone was talking to him at first, having grown accustomed to never being the one addressed. "Uh, sir. We have a bit of a problem."

Suddenly registering that the awkward-looking scientist shifting his weight back and forth was talking to him, Danny turned rather quickly to face him. "Uh, yes?"

"The NYPD is doubting the current legal status of our operation, sir," the man said quietly. That was... not expected, to be honest. Everything was legitimate - Danny had gone out of his way to make sure that it all was, just to prevent situations like this. He paused, thinking it over.

"Are you sure they're NYPD?" Danny said after a moment, having no other conceivably sensible excuse.

"Uh, they have Eastern European accents," the man said, and that was enough incentive to get Danny to decide that he'd be a lot better off checking out this situation.

"Show Mr. Bent here around, would you?" he said to the scientist, before addressing Richard. "Sorry. I'm going to have to go handle this. You have my number; just call me if there's an issue with anything, but Dr. Lanier here should be more than capable of detailing what you're doing to you. Thank you for your time, sorry about ditching you, and have a good day!" Maybe not the pinnacle of professionalism, Danny thought as he scrambled off, but that wasn't relevant.

Now. To handle these Russian gangsters trying to chase him off his own turf. He'd just known Mayokovich wasn't going to be happy about this.