Chapter 6: 5 Negotiation

Once again I was feeling an emotional split between myself and my passenger. The idea of meeting a team of villains led by a powerful thinker should terrify me. My passenger was just ecstatic over the idea and I had to put real effort into not getting caught up in his enthusiasm. It was hard to maintain a sensible level of caution when every thought about how this could go badly was met with overflowing feelings of excitement and enthusiasm.

I did end up going for that run, as much to blow off steam as for the benefits of holding my workout schedule. After all, Tattletale might have been needling me but I still needed to keep up my conditioning. After I grabbed a quick lunch I started preparing for the meeting.

Despite the optimistic feelings from my passenger I was determined to go into this as prepared as possible. The question was what did I want out of this? I didn't think opening with a prognostication of Bakuda's imminent attack would go over well, but countering that was my immediate goal. What could I get from the Undersiders that would help with that objective?

Well, money is the obvious answer. I have no idea the legalities of accepting cash, but at this point even a few hundred dollars would make a huge difference to my resources and schedule. Baring that I would take equipment and materials. The thing was I doubted they had access to much on that front. I'd researched their history and their typical job seemed to land in the mid to low four figures. Taking into account a four way split and any group expenses and I'm not sure how much cash they'd have on hand. They were also a contained team, so that meant no territory to draw resources from and no henchmen or businesses under their control.

One thing I could get was information. If Tattletale was as good a thinker as my passenger seemed to regard her as then getting information on Bakuda or the ABB was a real prospect. That was also the kind of thing that I'd be able to get without compromising myself morally, so it would probably be the best thing to push for.

The question was what did they want from me? I knew how vulnerable tinkers were without group support. Thankfully my reinforcement and alchemy powers put me on much better footing than most tech heroes so a team wasn't absolutely necessary in my case. There was a real possibility I could be looking at recruitment. The idea excited my passenger to no end, but I couldn't see the logic for it. Given their limited resources I doubted there was much they could offer, not unless they had outside support that I wasn't aware of.

When prepping for the meeting I decided my full loadout would probably be excessive. I could change in a nearby alley, but the combination of the coat, belts, and bandoleers would be a bit much. If I limited myself to my mask, coat and bracer I would have at least 90% of my combat effectiveness and not need ten minutes to suit up. The coat could hold some essential reagents, enough to get me out of this if things went bad. My passenger was absolutely certain the meeting wouldn't go that way, but I was determined to be careful.

I headed out early with my jacket, mask, and bracer in a backpack. From what I remembered there was something of a network of alleys in the area that I would be able to hide in. The exact alley was easy to find since there was still the big crater in the middle of the street. The city had put traffic barriers around it but seemed in no hurry to do any actual repair work.

I slipped into an alley that branched off from the meeting place and got into the minimal version of my costume. A bandanna around my head and another over my face, then my mask/visor on top of that. I slipped on my coat and closed it up to cover as much of my t-shirt and jeans as I could. Then I snapped my bracer onto my left wrist and felt the surge of durability. I was still wearing a shin guard as a reserve defensive item, but the security from the heavy steel was massively reassuring. I hadn't brought my baton as concealing that length of steel would be difficult.

Also I was limited to the collection of reagents I had prepped in the pockets of my coat. It wasn't the massive loadout I had gotten used to on Sunday night but it was enough for the moment. In addition to a set of buffing and recovery reagents the handful of dark alchemy formulas I had prepped were enough to level a building. It should be overkill in the event this meeting turned sour.

I sulked at the back of the alleyway and waited for the meeting time. My natural nervousness was somewhat countered by reassurance from my passenger. I wasn't as in sync with him as I had been a few days ago, but I knew he was invested in my wellbeing and if he wasn't overly concerned then that was at least a good sign.

Just before 2 o'clock four figures darkened the entrance to the alley. All of them were in street clothes making me feel a little self-conscious. Just from their silhouettes I was able to pick out Grue, Regent, and Tattletale. The forth was half hidden behind the others. For a second I wondered if Bitch had come along as well, but the figure was the wrong body shape. Tall, but thin and lanky.

Tattletale was in a denim skirt and long sleeved t-shirt while Regent was sporting a white jacket that looked designer, or at least expensive along with jeans and some fairly flashy sneakers. Grue if anything appeared more impressively built than he looked in costume. He was around my height with his hair in cornrows and wore a basic t-shirt, jeans, and boots. The last member of the group was wearing slightly baggy clothes and had her hair tied in a manner that seemed uncomfortable and designed to conceal her face. She was hanging back, trying to get a look at me without giving herself away.

As they approached I tried to pick out some hints from my passenger, but he was so excited about the meeting it was hard to parse anything specific.

"See, back of the alley behind the crates. Just like I said."

I took Tattletale's statement as a signal to step out. There was a ripple of reaction through the group as the light from the alley mouth gleamed off my mask and bracer.

Regent elbowed Grue in the ribs. "In costume too, pay up."

"Like a tinker was going to show up without gear. I told you, no bet."

I felt like I needed to take some initiative here. My passenger might be big fans of them for some reason but I was still meeting with a team of villains. It didn't seem like a good idea to let them completely set the tempo. I gestured towards the new member who was looking seriously uncertain of herself. "You're a bit over capacity. Care to fill me in?"

Tattletale spoke up. "New recruit. She insisted on coming, wanted to be part of the deal."

"Ah." I glanced across the four of them, trying to figure out what I could from my passenger's emotions. He was still caught up in the excitement of the meeting which meant I wasn't getting much helpful out of him. Instead I decided to play things casually. I shifted over to one of the crates and gestured to the rest. "Well, welcome to my alley. Pull up a crate and let's hash this out."

Regent snickered at that and was the first one to approach, settling onto one of the large boxes. Tattletale was next followed by Grue with the new girl hanging back. Grue extended a hand. "I'm Brian, by the way."

I was surprised by the gesture, but my passenger wasn't. Did they do this often, or was it just something he expected of them? I was starting to have serious concerns about the situation, but for the moment decided to follow his reaction and shook the offered hand.

"Lisa." Tattletale introduced herself. She seemed to be trying to maintain a confident front. Regent had no such issue.

"Alec."

My passenger was calming down enough that I was able to get some impressions again. I had the sense that Grue was being open here. There was some sense of duplicity on the part of Tattletale and Regent. I didn't think they were exactly lying, more like were both under new identities. Yeah, from the feeling of my passenger something had definitely happened in both of their civilian lives and they were trying to distance themselves from it.

I wasn't sure how to respond to this. All my prep and I still didn't have a cape name ready to hand out. Plus they were clearly trying to build a rapport and not engaging them would put me at a disadvantage. I didn't like this kind of social manipulation but I also didn't know how to handle it. Instead I peered around Brian at the half concealed final member of the group, if just to buy a few more seconds before I would be expected to introduce myself.

I thought I had felt the limits of the intensity of emotion my passenger was capable of. The feedback I got ranged significantly from consistent background support to occasional peaks around certain topics that highlighted opportunities or potential threats. There were the odd spike of positive or negative feelings that took me by surprise but I thought I'd gotten a good handle on the range of what to expect.

I was wrong.

I can't accurately describe the reaction of my passenger upon seeing the final member of the Undersiders. There was a weight, a significance that dwarfed every sense I'd gotten before. There was momentous consequence to the person standing in front of me that I couldn't even begin to unravel. I was looking at the most important person in the world.

And she was a skinny teenage girl in ill-fitting clothes trying to avoid attention while hiding behind her hair and glasses.

I thought I was prepared for this. I figured my passenger would have some good impressions of the Undersiders that I would be able to filter out to get a decent result from the meeting. Personal affection on his part wasn't enough for me to compromise myself and I was ready to ignore any good chummy feelings and stay focused on my objectives.

That plan was out the window now. If you looked under the glaring intensity you could see a similar affection for this girl as the other Undersiders, but that wasn't the driving force behind my passenger's reaction. Whoever this was she was vital, absolutely vital, to everything.

How do you even begin to parse something like that? How to you deal with the absolute certainty that the person in front of you will save everything in existence? Just trying to feel out the scale of it was incredible. It wasn't just talking about my life, or the lives of the city, or the future of humanity. She was vital to the continued existence of the actual planet.

My passenger's capacity for foresight was something I didn't completely understand. Actually, I wasn't sure how my passenger arrived at most of his insights. I didn't know if it was precognition or a good understanding of current conditions that allowed accurate predictions. What I did know is he had a broader perspective from the outside of what normal people could perceive, but my ability to comprehend it was limited. One thing I was certain of is his desire to steer me away from serious threats. He knew how dangerous this world was, he was often frustrated by it, but was still determined to see the Celestial Forge built here.

There were a lot of his reactions I'd started to doubt but his ability to assess threats wasn't among them. One thing he was absolutely certain of was if anything happened to this girl the world was fucked.

The long period of silence had been getting to the girl and she looked ready to make a break for it. I made a snap decision to keep that from happening.

"You can call me Joe."

The girl stared at me open mouthed. The reactions of the rest of the Undersiders were a mix of surprise and reassurance, with Lisa defaulting to smug.

"You're pretty open about that." Alec inquired.

I just shrugged and tried to play things with an irreverence I didn't actually feel. "I don't have a cape name yet and it's not that much to go on." I felt a nudge from my passenger and looked at Lisa. "And besides, I'm guessing she could figure it out if she wanted to."

That got another flicker of emotion from the blond girl that she quickly suppressed. The new girl didn't look too comfortable with that, but at least wasn't ready to run off.

"How do you know her power?"

It wasn't much, but at least she was engaging me. "She was able to pick up some stuff about me from the other night. That and the way she tracked me down clued me in." I considered if I was comfortable revealing anything more. It couldn't so much harm considering Lisa had already screamed it to the world. "Also part of my power kind of gives me hunches about stuff. That helped me fill in the blanks."

The girl's eyes darted between Lisa and me. Right, stuck between two thinkers. That can't be fun.

Alec just laughed. "Lisa screamed and ran away when she figured out someone was giving her a taste of her own medicine."

The girl seemed shocked at that, but Lisa made a placating gesture. "Just got spooked. It's part of why we're here."

The situation seemed to be weighing heavily on the new girl and I was worried she was going to bolt. Instead she gave me a hard look, then nodded. "I'm Taylor."

"Nice to meet you." I did my best to ignore the reaction from my passenger which could best be described as the hallelujah chorus on repeat. Instead I turned back to the rest of the group and did my best to act casual. "So, what's this you wanted to talk about?"

Tattletale reached into her bag and pulled out a container. It was an old style child's lunchbox with a picture of Armsmaster on the front. Taylor's eyebrows rose when she saw it but she kept quiet and watched Lisa. She handed it to me and waited while I opened it.

I stared blankly at the eight stacks of bills inside the box. Two grand in cash. My mind started processing how long that would cover personal expenses, what I could buy with it, sources of equipment and materials, and what it would mean for my tinkering.

For some reason my passenger was particularly, almost insufferably amused by this situation.

"And this is for?" I left the question hanging.

"You took on Oni Lee for us. We owe you for that. So, you can either take that as a lump sum right now, or you can hear us out."

I considered my options. I'm pretty sure this was stolen money or at least off the books. I wasn't totally up on the laws regarding something like this, but it was probably illegal to receive gifts if you had probable cause to believe it was connected to a criminal venture. By taking it I could be tainting myself and any plans to be a hero would become a lot more difficult.

If I did what she flippantly suggested I could walk away and report this to the PRT. There might be a way to claim the money as a windfall, or that whole spoils nonsense that people go on about online. If not I could probably leverage the event to a meeting with some heroes who would be willing to help me get support. If you pitched this idea earlier today I probably would have done just that despite the fact that I knew it would go against what my passenger wanted.

That was before meeting Taylor, before feeling my passenger's reaction to her. I pretended to consider the deal as I picked through the complexities of it and happened upon a detail that was actually terrifying.

The most juvenile level schoolyard element of cape debates is the 'who would win?' question. Armsmaster vs Chevalier. Myrddin vs Gavel. Rime vs Cinereal. Whenever a cape debate got going you always had the idiots who would default to the Triumvirate, and if beaten to that would go straight for Eidolon. And if someone else was arguing for Eidolon there was always an asshole who would bring up S-class threats.

Thanks to my power I was able to play 'who would win?' with my passenger. He knew the terrifying extent of the power of the Celestial Forge and had a rough idea of how much of it I'd need to counter certain threats. It's how I learned that eventually I would be able to kill an Endbringer.

I also learned I shouldn't kill an Endbringer, that killing an Endbringer without dealing with some other aspect first would result in a worse situation than the current one. But that didn't change the significance of that fact. Eventually. I. Would. Be. Able. To. Kill. An. Endbringer. For me a feat the world had regarded as impossible was just a matter of building enough connections to the forge.

I had been able to evaluate my chances against various other S-class threats. There was always a point where I would eventually be able to handle the challenge. For something like the Three Blasphemies it was actually a lower investment than what I'd need for an Endbringer. To counter Sleeper it was significantly higher, but there was always a point, some level of investment into my power where I could handle things without risk.

So I thought, whatever Taylor will do, whatever she's meant to counter, I should be able to handle that, right?

Wrong.

Even with the entire forge behind me my passenger was only willing to give me long odds against whatever this threat was. Everything I would be able to build, everything I would be capable of, and he couldn't' guarantee I'd be able to handle it. Without Taylor I would be better off fleeing to another solar system then trying to step into her shoes.

Uncertainty is one of the hardest things to deal with. I had come into this meeting with a decent idea of what I was willing to put up with and how I expected it to go, but that was out the window now. I could still walk away from this, but after the bombshell my passenger had dropped that just wasn't an option. I couldn't let this go.

"Alright." I closed the lunchbox. "Let's hear it."

For some reason Lisa seemed momentarily surprised by that, but recovered quickly. "Essentially we want to offer you a partnership arrangement."

That was something I had anticipated, but I didn't expect them to be so open about it. As usual there was a lack of surprise and the feeling of general amusement from my passenger. This was a lot further than I had considered acceptable. This was working with villains, and that wasn't something you came back from easily. Still, with Taylor apparently being of paramount importance to the future of existence I had an obligation to at least hear them out.

"What, you want me to join up?" Interestingly Taylor seemed to react badly to that, but did her best to keep it hidden. "You in the middle of a membership drive or something?"

Brian quickly shook his head. "It's not that. We're looking to commission you."

"Bitch voted against recruitment." Alec ignored the dirty look Brian gave him. "Which is bullshit by the way."

Lisa cut him off before he could say anything else. "We know you're still getting set up. That's a vulnerable position for a tinker to be in." Behind her back Alec made air quotes and mouthed the word 'vulnerable' before rolling his eyes. "We can get you some support without having to stick your neck out there. Not before you're ready."

She was framing it as support without obligation which sounded too good to be true and probably was. "What, you're just going to fund me until I get set up?"

"Not exactly. You agree to this you get two grand a month, no questions asked. That's the same all of us get."

They were salaried? How the hell did that work? "Get from who?"

"It's what the boss pays us to stay active. Take the deal and you get cut in with no obligation for the jobs."

When Brian said 'the boss' alarm bells started ringing from my passenger. Whoever it was they were working for it was bad news. Seriously bad news. A quick glance at Lisa confirmed something. That feeling that she was threatened by someone was registering the same way as the mention of their boss. There was a bad history there. I didn't think she had gotten into this arrangement under the best conditions.

I glanced over to Taylor. This boss was a threat, a serious threat. And one of the people working under him just happened to be essential to the future of the world. If I walked away and something happened to her we were all fucked.

A worse thought occurred. Publically the Undersiders were regarded as a random gang of petty thieves. The fact that they had a boss wasn't common knowledge. There had to be something else going on here. The team's earnings were marginal enough that I couldn't see them sustaining themselves if they were giving a significant cut to someone above them. Additionally they were all getting monthly payouts. Whatever this arrangement was it wasn't about the money they were bringing in. If I had to guess I'd say it had something to do with their raids on other gang's assets.

If I walked away now I would be able to reveal the existence of their boss to the authorities. That would put the actions of the team under greater scrutiny. They wouldn't be able to be used as a third party agent. Best case scenario he cuts ties and the team withers or falls apart. Worst case he steps in to deal with anyone who might be able to compromise him. That would definitely be Lisa, but I couldn't guarantee Taylor's safety either.

I was starting to seriously resent this situation. All I wanted to do was get some information or resources to counter another tinker and suddenly I'm shepherding the hope of the entire world. But what were my other options? Throw Taylor to the wolves and start work on a generation ship and a plotted course to Alpha Centauri?

"So." I spoke slowly, doing my absolute best to hide my emotions. "What would my obligations be under this arrangement?"

Brian cleared his throat. "We've got a big job coming up. High risk, bit of a hard sell, but the idea of some tinker support going in boosts our chances. You agree and we'll cover the costs of materials and equipment and work out a fair price for anything you make."

"So you want my tech." I glanced between them. This was not the worst option. The Toybox managed deals with villains while still holding tenuous rogue status. If I played things carefully I might be able to do the same. There was just one question. "No offence, but do you even know what I can make yet?" I looked at Lisa as I spoke.

Alec cut in. "How about that grenade tanking trick from the other night?" Lisa looked frustrated. I'm guessing she had tried to explain it multiple times already.

"Not going to work." I shook my head. I didn't like sharing information and I couldn't explain how the effect functioned even if I wanted to. Instead I just kept things vague. "I can't set that up on someone else."

He looked like he was going to say something, but Brian cut in. "Call it a show of faith. Two grand up front, two grand a month. We'll work out the details later. If what you do can't work for us we'll split ways, but guarantee three months payment right now."

"You're willing to offer me eight grand when you don't even know what you're getting out of it?"

"That funding's coming from the boss. He's doing it to support this job. After the first run we'll be covering the cost of our own gear."

The boss. The logic behind it was clear. On the scale tinkering worked at eight grand was nothing. Any major gang would be able to throw out that kind of cash without a second thought. The point wasn't to secure services, it was to conflict loyalty and create financial entanglements. The deal would be a liability in any interaction with the Protectorate and encourage me to maintain good relations with the Undersiders. It was a not terribly subtle way of nudging me into the boss's sphere of influence.

On the other hand, if I was a rogue tinker with no aspirations of heroism then this arrangement would basically amount to a hefty down payment and ongoing fee for the privilege of being one of my customers. That's a level of brutal capitalism that you don't typically see outside the higher end Boardwalk boutiques.

The objectives I entered this meeting with were completely out the window. Bakuda was still a priority, but to my amazement I actually had bigger problems than a potential city wide tinker tech bombing spree. There was no way out of this without endangering Taylor. And I suppose the rest of the Undersiders as well. I didn't completely share my passenger's affection for them but that didn't mean I wanted a bunch of teenagers to fall to the mercy of a mysterious crime lord.

I felt a familiar shift and closed my eyes, supposedly in consideration, but mostly to focus on the Celestial Forge.

A new constellation approached and my power was latching onto a mote from it. It turned out to be the 'Crafting' constellation and the mote was 'Smithing'. It covered all aspects of metalworking for weapons and armor to a frankly ludicrous level of skill. Before, my knowledge of metal work in other fields could let me muddle through. With this power I could make weapons and armor that are works of art. Combined with my other skills I'd be able to work faster and better than ever before.

I opened my eyes and looked at the Undersiders. I felt trapped by this entire situation and was beginning to resent everyone involved, even Miss Savior-of-the-World over there. But fuck it, I wasn't going to let loose Armageddon over my own frustrations. Still, I could at least try to mitigate things.

"I'll have some conditions."

Brian brightened. "We can probably work with that. What were you thinking?"

First priority was keeping as much of a lid on what I was making as possible. "For one, anything I make is for your use only. No selling it off, and I'm building for you, not your boss." I definitely wasn't going to be supplying whoever that was. Not with my technology.

He nodded. "We can agree to that."

"We work out a price and production schedule ahead of time. I'm not taking this deal if it means putting off all of my own projects. I'll prioritize your first order, but everything else gets scheduled and negotiated." Negotiations that would no doubt happen with a person my power was regarding as a terrifyingly powerful thinker. Yeah, those were going to go well. Still, I felt I had to say it.

He looked over at Lisa who nodded. "Shouldn't be a problem. We can come up with a timeline and pay scale we agree to." I'll bet you can.

Final point, and the one I was most concerned about. "Lastly, I don't know what this big job is and I don't expect you to tell me. But I'm trusting that you're not going out on some murder or kidnapping spree here. Stay within standard conventions, nothing that breaks the unwritten rules or brushes against a kill order. As long as that's the case I'm willing to work with you."

"Excellent." Lisa stood up. Frankly I had expected more pushback on those points. Either they hadn't been issues from the start or they had absolutely no intention of following them. "Now, want to get out of this alley so we can talk business?"

Well, that was a transparent move. Obviously I couldn't walk around the city like this. Everyone else had exposed their faces and was in civilian clothing. I didn't really have a way to insist on keeping my identity concealed without breaking the momentum of the discussions, which I was absolutely sure Lisa would be able to take advantage of. And if I would be working with them would I actually be able to keep my identity secret from a thinker of Lisa's caliber?

No, on that my passenger was absolutely certain. If she didn't already know who I was she would by the end of our next meeting regardless of what steps I took to conceal my identity. Maybe if I limited things to electronic communications and blind drops I'd be able to buy some more time, but that would defeat the entire purpose of this venture. I had to stay close to them and that meant my identity was going to be compromised.

If it was going to happen I might as well do it on my own terms. I looked at the four of them, then reached up and pulled off my mask and bandanas. I watched their reactions while I rolled them up in my coat and shoved it into my bag.

Brian's entire body language relaxed the moment I took off my mask. He shared a meaningful glance with Lisa who expression had shifted to smug. Given how that seemed to be her default expression I didn't know how much I should read into it. With her power it was hard to trust any reactions I was getting, but through the conversation it seemed like she had been reacting to my passenger's emotions as often as to my own. I didn't know if that meant it was easier or harder for her to get a read on me. Alec seemed largely indifferent to the action and just grinned and hopped off the crate he was perched on. Meanwhile Taylor looked somewhat conflicted by the whole situation.

It was still hard to deal with the intensity of my passenger's reaction to that girl. I hoped, desperately hoped that he knew what he was doing. Not that it mattered now. I was committed to this path and knowing the potential consequences I didn't think I would be able to walk away with a clear conscience. I had committed to building tinker tech knowing it would be used in the commission of a major crime, and somehow that had come out as the best option. Or at least the best option I could arrive at under this storm of emotions my passenger was bombarding me with.

It made me wonder if it would really have been so bad to end up with a passenger who just gave you the type of 'fight the world' instinct that typically required an inferiority complex and a fifth of rye. I mean, you did essentially end up a combat meat puppet for an alien computer, but had to be less complicated than this mess.

Putting that out of my mind I turned to the group. "So, where to?"

Brian looked to Lisa for conformation and she gave him a slight nod.

"Come on. We've got a place."

Jumpchain abilities this chapter:

Smithing (Thundercats 2011) 200:

The ancient art of working with metal to forge weapons and armor. You know how to make beautiful equipment that can survive countless battles and you could even forge a legendary weapon if you dedicated enough time to it, although it'd probably take at least several years to complete.