“Yes.”
“No chance.”
Abby and Two Gun stared at each other across the table. Kaleb had spent a great deal of time explaining Madden’s offer. Afterward, the two had very different responses, and Kaleb was surprised at the division. He would’ve suspected that Two Gun would’ve been all for it and Abby against. But the short black-haired woman was apparently all for the Alderman’s plans.
“Why not?”
“If you think we have a target on our backs now, just watch what happens if we accept that man’s offer. Shit, we are already dealing with a hostile police force, paperwork delays, and increased scrutiny.”
“Exactly! So why hold back? What else can they do to us?”
“Corporate espionage is no joke, Abby.” Jar-lock said over steepled fingers as he sat back in his chair.
Claire snorted. “Espionage? Like what? Are they going to send a hit squad after us for attempting to create another Hero Organization?”
“Of course! Why do you think no one has done it? Not only would they have to wrestle contracts out of the HLO’s pockets. But they would also have to deal with whatever spy shit the HLO sent at them. Believe me, right now they are only pissed at the Professor. But if we accept Madden’s offer, we will all be considered competition. And that’s not what we want to be right now.” Two Gun argued.
Kaleb waggled his head, non-committal. “Also, let’s not forget about Madden’s true goals. Whatever they are.”
“Worrying about something we can’t plan for isn’t productive.”
“Neither is letting the unknown jump up and bite you on the ass, Jar.”
Jar-lock raised an eyebrow, but nodded his head in concession as Kaleb took a sip of his coffee. The hangar’s coffee pot was nothing compared to the restaurant's high-end brew. But Kaleb was doing fine with it. He glanced at the other silent members of their Super Group. D34d-I was rapidly tapping away on his datapad, taking notes and looking up information. Vivienne was biting her lip and looking concerned as she watched the rest of them have their heated discussion. Kaleb’s stare caught her eye, and she smiled at him.
“I kind of agree with Abby.”
The small woman in question raised a fist in triumph and practically crowed.
“I just mean that we are already dealing with a lot with the HLO. If we are careful with how we proceed and we extract the proper rewards from Madden, we should be able to manage. The hangar is pretty secure with all the Hunters and Brutes. Not to mention the Professor’s protections.”
Two Gun grunted, but seemed to be coming around. “What do you mean, ‘rewards from Madden?’”
Vivienne sat up straighter as she explained. “Well, we would technically work for him, correct? So he would have to supply us with something. I mean, does he just want us to trade on his name and hope for the best? No, he’d do everything in his power to help us… so long as it helped him in the long run.”
Kaleb pointed a scaly finger at Vivienne in agreement. But D34d-I spoke up before he could voice anything.
*Quack*
“But that all comes down to how much power the man wields. Which, by my estimates, isn’t much. He is a young, but well-liked, Alderman with more grass-roots support than political allies. But he does have several outspoken enemies. His opponents claim he doesn’t look at the broader picture and is more concerned with Austin rather than how Austin fits in Texas politically.”
“Isn’t that his job as Alderman of AUSTIN?” Kaleb asked, confused.
*Quack*
“Yes, and no. He needs to be able to navigate the greater Texas political structure while also supporting Austin’s needs. It’s a balancing act. One Maxwell Madden doesn’t seem to have down yet. If we get into bed with him, we’ll be starting on the ground floor.”
“Sturdy buildings are built on solid foundations.” Claire intoned.
“Yeah, but they can also be broken much easier.” Jar-lock answered.
The table sat in silence as they mulled over everything. Kaleb sipped away at his coffee as his mind whirred. Around them, the hangar was alive with movement. Hunter teens and brutes were rushing everywhere and moving in supplies. Farrah was over in her command center, monitoring the streets of their district. Police chatter had been especially quiet since their little cereal caper. But the Trilli-O’s parent company had forked over a decent sum for the contract. Kaleb tapped a robotic finger on the table as a thought hit him.
“What about taking more corporate contracts?”
“Professor, please stay on topic.” Abby whined.
“Apologies.” Kaleb rolled his eyes. “I just figured we all need time to digest Madden’s offer. So in the meantime, I move that we table it till the next meeting and go ahead to new topics. Anyone else?”
“Seconded.” Claire said quickly.
Jar-lock rubbed the knuckles of his hands as he sat forward in his chair. “The motion has been seconded. All in favor?”
“Aye.”
“Aye.”
“Aye.”
*Quack*
“All opposed?”
Two Gun, Abby, and Jar-lock all raised their hands. Equal looks of annoyance spread across their faces. Clearly, all three of them wanted to have this out as quickly as possible. But Kaleb was fed up with political nonsense for one day. In his mind, if they accepted Madden’s offer, he’d be stuck updating their defenses for the next week. He planned on doing that anyway, but he’d rather not have the pressure.
“Mass abstains as usual, and this meeting does not include our NPC members. So the motion passes.” Jar-lock said sadly and Vivienne reached over and patted his arm. The big mage gave his girlfriend a warm smile before centering himself and addressing the table.
“So then on to new business. The Professor has brought up something. But I believe we should go over the finances before we hit on it. Just to put things in perspective. Dead.”
The alien duck stood on his chair as he was addressed and held up his datapad.
*Quack*
“The payment for the Trilli-O’s contract came through and they were generous. They got their equipment back safe and sound.”
“Whatever it was.” Two Gun muttered.
*Quack*
“However, they did dock us a few thousand credits because they had to deal with the HLO’s nonsense to get their tech back. But overall it was a successful contract.”
“How much are we looking at?” Kaleb asked.
*Quack*
“After deductions and fees? Eight to ten thousand credits. Taxable. And most of it is ear-marked for repairs and Hangar upgrades.”
Abby sighed. “Spent before we even see it.”
“That’s how our cash flow works.” Jar-lock shrugged. “Almost everything goes to the SG. But in return, the SG provides a lot for us.”
“Not a complaint. Just an observation.”
“What’s the next upgrade we’re looking at?” Kaleb asked.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
A lot of the Hangar upgrades had come from rooms. Kaleb himself had built the defenses, so he was curious. D34d-I checked his datapad and swiped a hand across its surface. He met eyes with Kaleb as he looked back up.
*Quack*
“We have several options for floor-plan upgrades and magical defenses. You and Jar-lock did a great job warding the place. But now we can cement that protection with system-granted bonuses. We just need to purchase the correct items and the system will do the rest.”
“Like the exercise ‘room.’” Claire stated.
*Quack*
“Correct.”
“I also want to direct more power to the shield.” Kaleb stated. “If what we discussed with Madden gets out, we may have some overeager lookie-loos come out our way.”
“Oh, yeah.” Two Gun said. “I always forget that thing is there.”
“Forget to wear your SG badge and the shield will remind you it’s there. But I want to strengthen it a bit and maybe make the energy use more efficient.”
“How long will that take?” Abby asked.
Kaleb could only shrug as he waved a hand at the hangar they called home. “This place uses a lot of juice. But we are also outputting a hell of a lot of energy thanks to our patented generators. We could be doing a lot more energy-wise. Which is why I want to take a portion and devote that power to defense.”
“Could we also use a portion to power some social areas below?” Claire asked.
“Social?”
“Yeah, like a common area or break room from the Hunters and Brutes. Most of them spend their free time loitering in the hangar bay. Why not give them a place to crash between shifts?”
“I like it,” Abby said as the others nodded their heads.
“I do too.” Jar-lock admitted. “It also dove-tails nicely into our next subject: getting more personnel. We have a good number of hands thanks to the Doc and the Hunters. But we need to do more. We should recruit NPCs from the surrounding neighborhoods.”
“To what purpose?” Vivienne asked.
The big mage shrugged. “Garner goodwill, create jobs, maybe find specialized NPCs to help like the Professor has.”
Kaleb arched an eyebrow and looked around the table. He was trying to think of any specialized NPCs he had. But other than Daivor, he couldn’t think of any. His friends rolled their eyes at his obvious cluelessness and Abby spoke up, exasperated.
“Professor, you have two NPCs in your workshop designed to help you out in the forge. You’ve got another running our Command Center. Not to mention you found an army of lizard people genetically designed to be bodyguards.”
“And that’s not including the Legacy Superhero and the Gnome Master Builder. Face it, Doc. You’re an NPC magnet as well as a trouble magnet.”
Kaleb could say nothing in his defense, so he kept his lips shut as the others discussed finding the types of NPCs they wanted. No mention was made of expanding the SG’s player numbers yet. By silent agreement, they all decided to wait until the current crisis with the HLO was over, or at least not a major issue.
Instead, they fell into a lengthy discussion of finding and recruiting civilian staff to their respective areas. Abby wanted a legion of spies and information-gathers, Jar and Vivienne wanted more mages to help build their sanctums. Claire and Two Gun wanted to train up the guards and see to the welfare of the Hunters. And D34d-I wanted help in the office. The little business manager was doing great on his own, but he wanted a staff to handle the grunt work.
Kaleb stayed out of the conversation. Mostly because his section was full of talented workers and friends. Even now, Daivor and Roy were cooking something up, while Terrance and Marie were managing the day-to-day stuff. They had a steady stream of weapons out-flowing to the Brute Clan while they took deliveries from junkyards all the time. All in all, the Mechanic’s bay was doing great personnel-wise.
“Which leads us to the most important bit of new business and the one the Professor stated earlier.” Jar-lock said, bringing Kaleb back into the conversation.
“Corporate jobs?” Two Gun asked.
*Quack*
“Our mild success with the Trilli-O’s company has opened some… rather interesting doors. Since your release, you’ve received several requests from other companies in the Austin area. Although one even came all the way from Hornsby. They all want to contract us to do some work for them.”
“What kind of work?” Abby asked, sounding cautious.
*Quack*
“Nothing untoward. In fact, they’d be hard-pressed to try something like that. Corporate contracts are heavily scrutinized by the government. Most are like the one we did for the cereal company, asset retrieval. If a villainous group or corporate rival gets a hold of something they shouldn’t, Supes can be requested to retrieve said items.”
“So why weren’t we already doing this?” Claire asked.
*Quack*
“We weren’t on the corporate radar, so to speak. Also, frankly, we couldn’t take the time to do them. Most of them are out of our district and we needed the community to see us out and working. Farrah and I had been discussing alternate ways to supplement our income. Especially with the way the police have been acting.”
“Careful, Doc. The duck’s moving in on your digital girlfriend.” Abby smirked at Kaleb.
Kaleb simply rolled his eyes and ignored the petite shadow-wielder. Instead, he looked to the other to gauge their interests. In truth, he was pretty sketchy on taking corporate contracts to fill their time. But with the HLO stone-walling efforts in their district, they had to get creative. Everyone seemed cautiously optimistic about the idea. Aside from Abby, who was still smirking at him.
“We’d have to manage public sentiment while also going on the corporate contracts.” Jar-lock said. “Which would mean our goodwill missions will increase. But also we’d get a massive influx of credits, right?”
D34d-I nodded at the question.
*Quack*
“Correct. Corporate contracts pay out as they are completed. Which is good because we aren’t going to be making money taking down criminals anymore. Not with the way things are going. Thankfully, we hit our quota for the month with the Demon incursion, though. So we don’t have to worry about our charter being pulled.”
“So some of us will go on goodwill missions and the others will tackle the corporate contracts.” Kaleb said happily. “I bet I could make specialized equipment for tracking things down.”
“Easy, Professor. We’ll take the jobs that come our way and that we all agree on. And teams will be determined by the skills needed for the job.” Two Gun chuckled.
“Just make sure I’m off the roster for tomorrow.” Kaleb said as his first chemistry class started in the morning.
“Oh yeah! Our Professor is going to be a professor.” Claire laughed. “Are you ready for that?”
Kaleb rolled his shoulders and bobbed his head. “Surprisingly, yeah. Abby and the others going over stuff with me helped cement how I want to do things. Now it’s just fitting it into my schedule. Like I said, I have a lot of stuff I want to accomplish in the hangar. Not the least of which is getting our shit repaired.”
Everyone’s face turned angry as they all thought about how the HLO had handled their gear. Obvious attempts had been made to break their equipment. Kaleb was sure the bastards had even cataloged and thought up ways to counteract all their toys. The other Basilinoid at the HLO holding cells came to Kaleb’s mind and he scowled. If the lizard thought like him, then he wouldn’t give up on examining Two Gun and his pistols.
He wasn’t an idiot. Kaleb knew what the lab-lizard was trying to figure out. Daivor and Roy’s alien battery had been used as the power source for all three weapons. Proprietary energy sources weren’t new, but Kaleb was aware of how energy efficient his stuff was. Not to mention powerful.
“Are we sure we checked the stuff for bugs?”
Jar-lock rolled his eyes. “Yes, doc. The gear is free of magical or technological means of detection. Calm down.”
“Jar, if it were me, I wouldn’t give up so easy. Not with the power source we have in our weapons. I’d do everything I could to claim the design as my own and sell it to the highest bidder.”
*Quack*
“I wouldn’t worry about that. All your tech is patented. Remember? You had Farrah ask me to fill out the paperwork, so all SG equipment was licensed as proprietary technology. Even if they get a hold of it. If they are caught replicating it without paying you, they’d go to jail for a long time.”
“Wait, I did what now?”
Kaleb stared in confusion at the small duck alien. He was sure he had never asked Farrah to do something like that. Which meant the rabbit-woman had done it herself. Something a NPC would never do unprompted. Kaleb felt his eyes go wide.
“Oh shit! I did, didn’t I? Man, how could I forget something like that? Wait, that means we could make some profit from my inventions, correct?”
“Like what? You going to sell your taser eggs and enhanced blaster pistols?”
Kaleb shook his head as D34d-I opened his mouth to speak. But Kaleb cut the duck off.
“No, the battery would be too difficult to replicate. It uses the sludge Doctor Kersait invented and I still don’t know what the hell that is. But things like my armor or my defensive shield could be put on the market in our district, right?”
*Quack*
“We’d have to contract out the work to make mass-produced versions. But I don’t think anyone would work with us on that scale. Stick to making things, Professor. If the opportunity arises to make money from your creations, I will let you know.”
Kaleb rubbed his hands together evilly. A slew of new ideas crashed into his brain as he thought about things. But Jar-lock cut off his musings abruptly.
“I think that is all for this council meeting, correct? First item of business for the next one will be our decision regarding Maxwell Madden’s offer. So everyone make sure to think seriously about what you want to do about that. Meanwhile, D34d-I send the best corporate contracts to Farrah and we’ll go through those at a later date.”
Everyone nodded as D34d-I made a note on his datapad. Afterward, everyone explained what they would do for the remainder of their day. Claire and Two Gun were going to go off on patrols, while Abby was going to hunt the neighborhood for spies. Jar-lock and Vivienne were going to get their magical defenses firmed up. But by the way they were looking at each other, Kaleb doubted how much work they would really get done. For his part, Kaleb was going to be repairing and altering the group’s gear. The HLO had done some damage, but nothing he couldn’t fix.
The meeting was adjourned, and immediately the others spread out to accomplish their tasks. Kaleb looked down at his empty mug and sighed. He walked toward his workshop as big lizards and teens milled about the place. Their conference had gone mostly ignored, but now that the meeting was over, they were all drawing stares. Kaleb ignored the looks and ducked into his Workshop. The smell of melting metal and the sound of machines whirring calming his heart.
He grinned as he looked around at Roy and Daivor off in their own world, building something. Terrance was at the forge, pulling the slag off an ingot. Marie was working at her own bench, head buried in a book. Kaleb made a beeline for his own bench. It was piled high with the group’s gear. Claire’s breastplate perched on top. Kaleb moved everything to the floor and took a seat. Without looking, he grabbed the first item and brought it up to his table. As his hands worked, his mind wandered to tomorrow.
He would have his first class as a professor of chemistry. He didn’t expect it to go super well, but he was at least confident he could teach the class now. The skill made his knowledge on the subject easier to recall, and he had a stack of notes ready and prepared. He wondered about the class and the people he’d meet. What bonuses or adventures would he find there? He was sure the game would throw a few bones his way, right? He wasn’t just going to be a teacher teaching a bunch of twenty-somethings chemistry… right?