Recent Posts

Getting employed was exciting, but it was also hard work, particularly as his employer had not given him the easiest of job descriptions. After a long day at work Richard was looking forward to getting home to his apartment, cooking himself a nice meal, perhaps he might have a glass of wine, or a finger of whisky to unwind. Tomorrow he would look for a climbing gym in town. Climbing always helped clear his head. He got into his his Golf GTI and began the commute home.



The weather, it seems was a bit schizophrenic. It should have been the start of spring. But without warning, it had turned from sunny from overcast, the temperature had dropped and it began to rain heavily, Cold wet rain began hammering on the roof of Richard's car. He was thankful for heated seats and waterproof cars. He was still driving on autopilot crusing slowly homeward when something fimilar jolted him out of his reverie. That hair, it was fimilar, that gait. It was margo! He pulled ahead of her and found a spot she would pass by. Should he call out to her? Was she crying? or was that moving of the shoulders shivering from cold. Richard could not tell. Were those tears running down her face or was her face just wet from the rain. One thing was for certain she did not look happy nor did it look like she had had or was having a good day. He rolled down the window and yelled. "Margo, you ok? Need a ride?" He gestured with his head for her to get in and popped the passenger side door. She looked chilled to the bone and no friend of Richard would be allowed to stumble about in the rain shivering with cold (at least that was what it looked like).

(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.

I had a question. If an Ex-Kabal member reappeared at Mondragon Labs having been absent for years, who would he meet there? Hades is returning soon and he has been out of contact with the world for the past 5 years who would he meet and who would be notified if he returned and tried to use his 5 year old access card? I know that Mondragon Labs has had some remodeling since then but I was hoping to use this to create an open/ Ex-Kabal/Order) intro thread for Hades when he returns. Any suggestions?

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.

"Thank you,As did I. But really, once you get past the fact that you're thousands of miles away from home, it's not really that different. I suppose it varies wherever, whenever you are. For me? I just appreciate the fact that I'm getting an education."

"I see, I guess so. Out of curiosity, which boarding school do you go to, as come to think of it, I was not aware the New York had any. You don't have to tell me if you would rather not."

To Richard, boarding schools were something that one read about but never encountered, and had a somewhat mythical quality about them. Hence the questions.

"I do enjoy a good hike,"

Wait, hold on a minute, what? Did she just pose him a challenging question and then evade responding to it? Richard mentally smiled, "not so easily Margo" he thought to himself. Smiling inwardly he casually asked.

"Perhaps we should go hiking sometime, or have a picnic, there is much of New York that I have not seen, I hear that there are some beautiful mountains in parts of New York. But back to your excellent question" Richard smiled slightly cheekily. "So Margo how about you? How do You feel about the growing mutant population in New York, come to think of it, what do you think about mutants?"

Her answer could affect how far this budding friendship would go, especially if Richard's suspicions about himself were confirmed.

(Note that this first post is intended to cover the span of at least a week, posts there
after will be in normal time, as the scene will ahve been set)

Richard had moved to New York not long ago and was in the process of negotiating an employment contract. He had also recently confirmed his suspicions that he was a mutant, a fact that he was still coming to grips with and processing through. He read online the the Sanctuary offered lodgings to
mutants and welcomed all so he headed there. He was not quite in a mood to talk to anyone at the momeny and sought something to calm his mind. So, after getting a room and a bite to eat at the canteen, which was thankfully empty, Richard headed to the place that made him feel most comfortable, the machine shop. Or... what they called a machine shop.

"Hello? Hello?" Richard called out to the dark and dusty room as he fumbled for the light switch. Recieving no reply and finally finding said device, Richard turned on the lights and was greeted by a dusty room that looked like it had not entertained anyone for quite some time. There was dust and puddles of unidentified substances on the floor, half of the lights did not work, the machines were covered with dust and did not look well maintained, all in all a considerable state of dilapidation. (OCC: Order leadership, I hope tis ok to describe the machine shop in said state of dilapidation, if not, PM me and I will change it)

Richard was astounded, who would leave machines in this manner. He had noted that there did
not seem to be many people about and had noted wear and tear about the building but this, this was unacceptable. Here was something he could do to take his mind off things, here,  Richard could restore a world that made sense. designing and manufacturing always made  sense. No matter how good or how bad a day you were having, if you placed this metal in that machine, adjusted the setting so and controlled it in this manner, you would always get the same result. It was orderly and logical, unlike life. So Richard set to work.

Observing that the computer in said machine shop was old Richard moved his own laptop over and got to work. He also powered up "Cheeky" a robot that he had built for fun during his research. Cheeky, looked like a supersized roomba and performed a similar function. Cheeky was designed by Richard to clean machine shop floors, to remove everything from grease, lubricant, spilt liquids, shavings and dust from floors. Cheeky had an aluminium exterior and was controlled by a credit card sized computer called an odroid. Cheeky was capable of accepting simple voice commands, could perform S.L.A.M and observed the world from an Xbox connect bolted to its top. "Cheeky, Charge! Map! Clean!" Cheeky beeped in response and went off to dock at its charging station before heading out to bap and clean the floor.

Having put cheeky in charge of the floor, Richard got to work categorizing what was salvageable in the machine shop. His progress was slow as each time he used his power, he could only "scan" a small part of each machine, and the energy it took was considerable.

A week went by and there was some visible progress. There was a pathway from the door to a workbench and drafting table where one could actually see the concrete floor. On the drafting table and pinned above it were 11 x 17 inch drawings of what looked like a cross between an artichoke and a bullet (OCC, point of interest, please feel free to ask about this as well as Cheeky)
as well as engineering schematics for a robot that looked very similar to Cheeky, who now boasted a metal plate with the name "Cheeky" engraved on it , on it's side. There were a few machines that were in the process of being cleaned and examined. Richard was in the process of opening the coverings to see if he could fix them.

It was then that Cheeky bumped into a foot by the door way. It backed up and tried again, 'Bump'. It proceeded to beep angrily and start to flash its lights. Richard looked up. "Hello?"