Freedom City Champions #1!

[Papa Bear]

Seamus McDougal

CEO and Lead Designer; NuTech Inc. (Secretly Vendetta)

---

"All joking aside, though I'm afraid I'm not very funny.  Its an honor to speak with you, Ms. MacLeod.  I've long been an admirer of your father's work." Seamus lied.  It wasn't like he didn't respect and admire Dr. MacLeod... but the 'long been an admirer' bit... Seamus hadn't been smart enough to even know who the head of Astro-Labs' Freedom City R&D was... heck, he hadn't really even known there was an Astro-Labs.  But she didn't need to know he'd only been smart for a few short years.  "I mean... uh... not that I don't admire your work." he quickly added, stumbling over his words.  "I mean... I don't really know you... I mean, I know who you are, of course,... who doesn't?" He grimaces.  "...But... um... I.. I'll shut up now."

 

Edited May 18, 2023 by Papa Bear (see edit history)

[Zelphas]

Alfie reads the message two or three times after getting Bella up and ready for school, sighing quietly to himself after each reading. Looks like whoever his family's job bothered in the city has started to make their case more strongly; it might even be this "Adrian" whoever-they-are. Trust the old Carbone bad luck to kick in right when everything else does.

He could always re-certify as a P.I., if worst comes to worst. It would mean worse hours (though daylight might be nice), worse pay, and a fair bit more stress, but he had wanted to do something like that once. Before... everything. He'd still probably be sending Bella away most nights, just to work extra hours to make ends meet.

Alfie shakes his head at his own line of thinking. Giving up before he even knows what's happening; good to know his sunny disposition's still intact. Flipping open the message once again, Alfie shoots off a quick reply:

If he's still around when I start shift, I'll give him the tour. Thanks for the heads-up.

Hopefully his pessimism is wrong this time around, but he can't be sure...

[Jedaii]

Freedom City, 9:03 a.m.

 

Vendetta:

Winona giggled on the other end, "No, it's fine Seamus - um, can I call you Seamus? I feel like I know you so well from talking with DeAndre - and he's so personable - if he wasn't so dedicated to you, I'd snatch him up in a heartbeat -" she took a measured breath and lightly cleared her throat - "Firstly, I've been trying to reach him since last night after -- is he - okay?" She paused,

then "Second, ASTRO Labs has no immediate intention of attempting acquisition of NuTech - but we have been paying attention to the provided data. Umm ... over the last quarter, NuTech's reported profits have been exceptional, at the least. You've established a considerable benchmark in a remarkably short period of time, all without, from what we can discern, any commensurate investment in marketing or profit-sharing. That, Seamus, is a phenomenal degree of bootstrapping -" she took a deep breath and sighed - 

"Who's your business angel, Seamus? Or maybe more importantly, your creditors? No one produces the kind of enterprise value NuTech has without an at least equivalent level of economic growth. I mean based on the data, you're making millions while almost literally selling cutting-edge technology out of the trunk of your car. It ..." she takes a deep breath "... doesn't make sense. I apologize if I'm being too indiscreet but, ASTRO Labs is prepared to make a major investment in NuTech's OPEX - the marketing side of things. At the least. Initially? But, I'd really like to know what you're doing over there, Seamus ... and how you're doing it ..."

 

Ironworks:

Jake entered Oscar's office: it was Oscar, standing and looking antsy, but it was none other than DeCosta Construction's owner and CEO, Frank DeCosta, sitting behind the desk!

 

The site supervisor, Ian Wilcox, stood with his back leaning against the opposite wall, "'Mornin', Jake. Have a seat. Mr. DeCosta here -" the owner waved Ian off and spoke, "You know, Jake, my family enjoyed the Astrolight Diner. Only a few times a month - usually I was too busy to accompany them, but my wife always brought me a piece of that incredible apple pie they made. Best pie in the city, if you ask me. I'm no food critic - just a simple man with a high school diploma who worked every day - but that pie ... it made the rough days easier to swallow, if you know what I mean." He spun around in the chair and stood, looking out the window at the work site, "Your family's Freedom City, right Jake? Good people. Hard-working, law-abiding folks just looking to carve out a piece of the American Dream. That's important - vital even, to have roots somewhere. To be a member of a community - right? Without people like your family, well, it all falls to ruin. Like that madness last night. Thugs. With nothing better to do with their lives than produce villany and chaos!" He turns and looks at Jake, "Angelina, my wife, and our children were there - downtown. They were nearly slaughtered by ---" His face gets red and twisted as he balls his fists in anger - "Then those - other people - vigilantes I suppose - they saved my family, Jake. I never took a stance, publicly at any rate, about the Moore Act and the politics of vigilantism. But, as sure as I'm standing here - they saved my family. People think it's always about the money, Jake - but it never is. It's about family and I know you of all people understand." DeCosta looked at Ian then turned back to look out the window ...

Ian raised an eyebrow at Jake, "As you probably heard we're doing some things with the workforce, Jake. Dealing with the city and the Union and all that stuff. I won't bore you with the details. So, everybody knows Oscar here is leaving soon for Texas. New opportunity for him, and his family, and of course we all wish him well. Thing is we need somebody to fill that position. Now, as you know Ronnie is next in line due to seniority and all but, we've been watching you Jake. You do really well out there with the guys, and your work is always great. Oscar here's been jawing at me about giving you a raise for weeks, believe it or not." Oscar smiles and nods at Jake as Ian goes on, "Then of course Mr. DeCosta keeps his eye on everything and knowing about your family and your employment record. If DeCosta Construction was a sports team like the Rayguns, Mr. DeCosta would be that great 'player's coach', you know?" 

Oscar cuts in, "Yeah and we don't lose like they do. You see that game last night? Two minutes from goin' up 2-1 and they lay an egg!"

Ian's like, "Awww don't get me started again. Fifty bucks! I lost half a shiner on those -"

Mr. DeCosta coughs, "Gentlemen -"

Ian continues, "Sorry, Mr. DeCosta. Anyway Jake, what we're saying is we want you to take over the assistant super spot. It'll include a nice raise, better benefits, and you'll have real input in local business decisions."

Oscar walks over and extends his hand for a shake, "Don't worry about Ronnie - I'll make it over with him. You're a great worker, Jake, everybody knows. Time you got rewarded for it, no?"

DeCosta raises his head as if looking at the window's reflection of Jake ---

 

Edited May 19, 2023 by Jedaii (see edit history)

[Papa Bear]

Seamus McDougal

CEO and Lead Designer; NuTech Inc. (Secretly Vendetta)

---

"DeAndre is fine." Seamus answers the immediate question.  "Shaken up a bit, of course.  But he's fine.  Said some ... uh... well I'm sure you've seen the YouTube videos.  I can't wrap my head around it yet.  But they saved his life so I'm grateful." He adds, then listens to the rest of her spiel.  "I give all the credit to DeAndre Phelps.  He's a magician.  Mostly, I come up with the ideas and he finds the markets and makes the contacts.  I'd just be a broke inventor with a few ideas I can't finance if I hadn't met him."  He says. "So no, you can't have him." He says with a bit of a nervous chuckle.  A company like Astro-Labs could offer a man like DeAndre Phelps anything he wanted.  Then where would he be?  Granted, with his knowledge and proven track record of success, he'd easily be able to also pick up a high six figure salary or better... but he'd have to answer to people, he'd have project managers looking over his shoulder and that just wouldn't do.  Not for Seamus, not for the Vendetta Project.  

If there was a way to ensure that he could not have DeAndre 'take over', he'd just make Phelps the CEO.  But NuTech wasn't a publicly traded company so having controlling interest over the company wasn't insurance.  Going public was far too many headaches.  The only way he could ensure that NuTech got to do what Seamus wanted it to do was to remain President and CEO... Even if DeAndre basically ran the company.

These thoughts scared Seamus a little.  He knew he'd gotten lucky when he founded NuTech and recruited Phelps.  Not only was he a wizard at what he did, he didn't ask too many hard questions and seemed to be a legitimately honest man.  And honestly, even if Phelps was skimming from somewhere, Seamus really didn't care as long as he had all the money he needed to fund the Vendetta Project.  And he did.  DeAndre seemed to understand Seamus's genius and funneled all the money he needed to whatever mocked up R&D Seamus proposed.  Part of it was the fact that it was Seamus's company, but another part was that Phelps trusted Seamus too.  At least he hoped Phelps did.  The alien artifact sent his brain into overdrive when it came to advanced knowledge, far beyond the realm of earth science, but it didn't give him special insight into dealing with people or Business models and finances... well, maybe it had, a little. It had 'super-charged' his brain.  But not enough. Not for those things.

"But the operating expenses are... well, DeAndre can tell you things I don't really understand.  But, you know, we save a lot of money by 'operating out of the trunk of my car.'" he says, a bit of a smirk in his voice. "To coin a phrase."

[pesukarhu]

Jake shifted his weight back and forth nervously. Did DeCosta somehow know? What had he messed up? Or is this dumb luck? Well, he's in it now.

"'Morning, Mr. Wilcox, Oscar." He was comfortable with Oscar, not so bad with Mr. Wilcox. He knew where he stood there. But Mr. DeCosta, that was out of his league.

"Mr. DeCosta, I'm glad you like the diner. I basically grew up there, I'll pass on your kind words. My folks are starting to pull back a bit there, but my brother and sister are taking on more of the running of the place. I just get called when they have something heavy to move or a pipe needs soldering or something." He was rambling now, oh boy, better get to the point.

"And I'm glad your family's safe. That was a mess. Me and some of the boys were at Shaughnessy's, and we could hear it from there. I'm just glad it got shut down before anyone else could get hurt, right? Even the diner was shot up, a little while back." To the point, he was usually smoother than this, but was this really just a lucky break? Plus he did kinda like doing the actual work.

"But assistant super, I mean, that'd be amazing, but don't you think it'd seem funny to the guys?  I know I've been working hard, but so've a bunch of the other guys. I just don't want it to seem like I'm getting this 'cause of my family's diner. I want to stand on my own two feet, you know?" He looked between Ian, Oscar, and Mr. Wilcox, trying to make some sense of this.

OOCStreetwise roll to figure out what the guys would think of all this.

Conversation roll (I guess) to be reasonably articulate and smooth and try to prompt for more information in a friendly totally non-suspicious way.

[Jedaii]

Freedom City, 9:07 a.m.

 

Vendetta:

Long pause. Then, "Well, before you make up your mind completely, at least take a look at what we're offering - and think it over. The weather around NuTech has been idyllic for some time, but the wind's beginning to blow, Seamus: ASTRO Labs isn't the only corporation interested in you - just the most civil. I'll have those figures over to you soon along with my contacts. Thank you for this talk." She ends the call and Seamus' cell immediately chimes signaling an email ...

ASTRO Labs offer

The meat of ASTRO Labs' package includes a projected 900% NuTech revenue increase, a new Freedom City HQ, 100 new personnel for NuTech's marketing and R&D, a $25M investment in NuTech marketing, a $600K salary for Phelps and a $10M salary for Seamus. No board of directors but NuTech would get a Chief Communications Officer who acts as a liaison with ASTRO Labs. Seamus would still have 100% control.

 

Ironworks:

 

Ian sighs, "But you have earned it, Jake. You've been the perfect guy for the company, doing everyth-"

DeCosta turns to face Jake while looking at Ian, "I think we should let Mr. Faber consider the offer. It's a big decision, right? One should never rush into anything without putting some thought to it. I know I don't. Now, I have a previous engagement -" DeCosta walks for the door stopping to shake Ian and Oscar's hands, "Ian, I want to see those figures on the new project this evening. Oscar, good luck to you and your family, and thank you for dedication to the company. Jake -" He extends his hand for a shake, "- we'll touch bases later in the week and you can let me know then what you think, fair?"

[pesukarhu]

Jake grins, looking a little sheepish, and shakes DeCosta's hand, careful, as always, not to squeeze too tight. "Thank you, Mr. DeCosta. It's more than fair. It's a great opportunity, I do see that, and I really appreciate you givin' me time to think. I just want to do the right thing."

He brightens a bit at Ian's comment and quietly says in reply, "Thanks. That actually helps a lot, coming from you. You guys have been great."

After DeCosta leaves, he looks between Oscar and Ian. "I hope I didn't just screw that up."

[Papa Bear]

Seamus McDougal

CEO and Lead Designer; NuTech Inc. (Secretly Vendetta)

---

When Seamus gets the details, he is impressed (and a little concerned) with the numbers. What was Astro-labs so interested in that they would make such an outrageously 'good' offer. Did they know? Did they know, somehow, about the alien artifact and his over-night brilliance? Or was this a legitimate business opportunity? Seamus had to admit that he hadn't followed Astro-Lab's business practices. Did they do this kind of thing all the time? Knowing something like that would help him understand just what the situation was regarding the investment. Yes, he would definitely need Phelps's help untangling this web. Yes, DeAndre would know.

Seamus calls DeAndre after forwarding the details of the offer and leaves a message. "DeAndre, Seamus. Got a call from Ms. MacLeod from Astro-Labs. She made me an offer that I've just forwarded to you. You know how I work and how to run the company, so let me know what you think."

[Jedaii]

The Starlight Room, 9:33 a.m.

 

Grigori:

Despite the gnarly traffic, Thomas had made it to the Tremont Hotel with time to spare. High above the streets several stories up was the Starlight Room, one of the city's finest restaurant-bars, and the place he might turn his life around ... as he walked towards the entrance, Thomas had the sudden sensation he was being watched. Instinctively looking around he's blinded by a brilliant flash of blinding white-light, and an unexpected thought crosses his mind:

"It is a good viewpoint to see the world as a dream. When you have something like a nightmare, you will wake up and tell yourself that it was only a dream. It is said that the world we live in is not a bit different from this"

Then the world blurs to a crawling semi-silent, slow-motion - Thomas sees across the street two men dressed as Catholic priests wearing black hats staring at him. One brings up a cigarette, lights it and taking a puff, passes it smoking to the other priest - both never dropping their gaze on Thomas - but unlike the vehicles and pedestrians and bikers creeping by in slow-motion, the duo move normally as if outside whatever Thomas is experiencing! In the bizarre silence Thomas could hear his own heartbeat accelerating ---!

He's startled back to reality when a Tremont doorman touches his shoulder, "Thomas? Mr. Dare said to take the elevator up and he'd meet you at the bar." As the man smiled, the city had returned to normal speed - and the two priests were gone ...!

Entering the lobby, crossing the decorative tourist-filled lobby and entering the elevator, Thomas couldn't shake the strangest feeling ...

 

Freedom City Youth Center, later that day

 

Preserver:

As he arrived at the Freedom City Youth Center, Paul saw a FCPD officer exit the building and walking towards a cruiser parked just outside the entrance, he locked eyes with him --- then the officer nodded in salutation, got in his vehicle and left the area. The door opened again and there was Monique, looking around until she saw Paul and waved him over. Her expression was serious ---

 

Lantern Hill Cemetery, later that night

 

Lamplighter:

Alfie had made it to work and completed his rounds, but as the night crept by there was no sign of any "Adrian". Walking through the area to check on something he'd forgot, the nocturnal groundskeeper was surprised while passing the graveyard to see a lone figure in a dark longcoat standing beside a grave staring at the tombstone ---

[coreal]

Paul Petrovski

---

Getting the eye from a cop isn't that uncommon. He's got a cheap car, runs gig work, and doesn't look all that clean cut. Getting the locking gaze and the nod though... well Monique said something was up, so who knows. Maybe that mask and jacket should have gone into a river last night... or tonight for that matter. Well, no time to dwell on that now.

Paul hopped out of the car and grabbed the bag with the collection of mugs that hopefully would go over well. He'd ended up going right along with the suggestions of the energetic sales associate with just a little input of his own on the target audience. But he just left the bag dangling from one hand as he approached Monique, leaving the giving of mugs for after whatever serious business has sprung up.

"Hey Monique... hopefully nothing too serious?" he asked with a tip towards the now empty space vacated by the police cruiser. The involvement of the police isn't that uncommon with their work, with the more than average runaway and other delinquent behavior cropping up with kids in the system, but this just has the feel for something more than that.

[Jedaii]

Freedom City Youth Center

 

Preserver:

Monique moved forward and put a hand on Paul's shoulder while covering her anguished face with the other! "We're in a losing battle. These kids - I thought we were making ground with them - but ..." she gestured him in as she turned and entered the door. Inside was the Reception Center with a collection of run-down furniture for guests and whoever else wanted a seat, at the moment it was three kids:

Emmanuel "Manny" Jiminez; a bad kid from the Lincoln projects who never met trouble he didn't like. He's clever though, pretending to play by the rules just long enough to figure out how to break them. Manny's a bully but in a psychological way that puts other kids (and staffers) under his thumb. His parents are on the run from the FBI for human trafficking and racketeering.

Jayson "Jay" Kendricks; a good kid who likes sports - because he's good at them. He's that fun, 'go-along' kid that draws other kids to him but the problem is he's as thick as thieves with Manny and that leads to group issues. Jay isn't a bad kid - it's just bad is all he's known growing up with drug-trafficking parents. His father's a MIA former Freedom City Heroes (Pro-Football) player.

William "Billy" Rogers; usually the 'quiet-kid', Billy was prone to following along with the others just to grasp a sense of belonging. His mother had abandoned him and his bank-robbing father years before he ended up at the center when his dad was finally imprisoned. He's smarter than most kids but hides it to fit in.

Manny looked up and smiled at Paul, "Aaaay, Mr. P! What you doin' here?" The other two kids tried not to look at Paul with guilty looks on their faces ...

Monique pointed at Manny, "Nope! I said to sit quiet. You know what you did." She looked at Paul, "So now we're into breaking and entering people's houses. This time it was a video game. The resident caught them coming out a window - a window?!? - and called PD. They just got brought back by an officer I nearly had to bribe to let us handle everything on our end." She moves close and whispers, "I have to write out the reports. Can you PLEASE talk to them, Paul? You ... you've been where they are. Maybe you can ... I didn't mention the 'other' part: remember Michael Lawson? Our prize candidate with a family waiting in the wings? HE was the one that called PD AND tried to 'apprehend' these kids. Like those vigilantes from TV. He vanished when FCPD arrived on-scene I guess and who knows where he is. The other kids said Michael calls himself 'Paragon'. Is this real?"

Monique gave Paul a wild confused look then walked off towards her office pointing at the kids on the sofa again as she left, "Don't try me: I am NOT the police!"

 

[coreal]

 

Paul Petrovski

---

Paul gives a whispered, "I'll see what I can do... hope Michael is alright" as he turns his back to the kids and reaches for a fourth chair to pull around so he can sit down and join the three, positioning himself so he's facing them as he swings into the seat. "I'll keep an eye on them..."

Then he drops down into the chair and leans in closer to the kids, "Alright boys, what's going on... you really were going through a window and stuff? " he flashes them a conspiratorial grin, "Bet there's a real story you don't want her putting in your file..."

At the end he lets his gaze settle on Jay, the more likely to talk of Jay or Billy, and less likely to spin a pack of nonsense to try to weasel his way out of something like Manny would.

[RedRajah]

Thomas shook his head to himself, trying to push out the weird thing he just saw. Like something out of one of those old horror flicks from the 90's ("Jacob's Ladder" was the one his brain settled on). Stress from last night, no doubt. Coupled with unresolved fear/guilt from his "incident". The human mind had such capacity for not wanting to draw attention to what was bothering them at any given time -- even when it was something that probably should be addressed immediately.

For Gadriel's part, the angel was on edge at the odd perception and time dilation. Something was wrong here. We should leave, Thomas... The angel didn't know if his host perceived what he just did.

But Thomas quickly punched the number 10 in the elevator. Not now, Gads! Just -- just let me have this, alright?

You saw them too, didn't you?

I don't know WHAT I saw! It's nothing...nobody's getting shot AGAIN or anything... Thomas gritted his teeth. The last thing he wanted was to look crazy right now in front of this major label. Talking to himself in the elevator on its security camera would be a pretty damn big red flag in his eyes. Just some local fundies gearing up to preach against body autonomy or something. The young man almost sounded like he believed it himself.

Almost.

Thomas shifted uncomfortably as he leaned against the back wall of the elevator.

[Zelphas]

Alfie tries to smooth out the hitch in his step from the sudden appearance of a person in the graveyard; hopefully it looked like a little stumble over uneven ground, nothing more. Not that he has any reason to be wary; just because a figure in a dark coat is standing before him in a graveyard doesn't mean that there's anything dangerous going on, right?

 

Right. And oxygen is the only type of air that people use to breathe.

 

Regular social awkwardness mingles with his wariness, and by the time Alfie comes within speaking distance of the other person he is noticeably uncomfortable, his hands clasped tightly in front of him to keep them from fidgeting, his eyes downcast. He speaks in a voice much quieter than his enormous height would suggest; a fitting tone for their sepulchral surroundings, perhaps. "I'm sorry, it's past visiting hours. But I-I can give you some time, if you need..."

[Jedaii]

Freedom City Youth Center

 

Preserver:

Two of the kids, Manny and Jay, spend nearly a half hour describing their mini-expedition across town: how they wanted to go read comics at Millennium but heard screaming from a house and climbed through the open window to help and a crook was hurting a lady but ran away when saw the kids, dropping the video game he was going to steal and when the cops came they saw the kids with the game. Both swore to their innocence, as Billy remained silent and looking down. Manny asks Paul if he plays video games and which is his favorite. Jay said the sports games were the best, but Manny argued the first-person shooters were superior as they rambled on ...

 

The Tremont Hotel

 

Grigori:

 

The elevator stops at the 7th-floor and a waitress holding a covered tray enters - Thomas surprisingly recognizes Myra Haydermann, phenom-drummer for the popular local band, Crossbones. She notes the Starlight level is lit, nods at Thomas and leans against the mirrored elevator wall. Then she looks at Thomas again, "Tommy? What you doin' here, man? Heard you slayed Infinity last night - before the 'Purge' started ..." She grinned --

 

Lantern Hill Cemetery, later that night

 

Lamplighter:

 

The man looks back - then up - at the groundskeeper as his eyebrows raise. He hands Alfie a business card and looks around, "You're doing commendable work here, Mr. Carbone, is it? Adrian Ellman, Freedom City Historical Preservation Commission. Pastor Dickenson assured me you would be on-call this evening. Apologies for my untimely arrival. In my work, time is like a circus, always packing up and moving on."

He almost smiles then looks around, "So what possesses someone to maintain a graveyard?"