Rapprochement
30th August
06:13 GMT -4
"…review of the LexPharma research schedule at seven, followed by a meeting with the department heads at nine."
I watch through the hush tube as Lex nods to Ms Graves, taking a bite from his jam-covered
muffin as he does so. Strawberry, if I'm any judge. There's a small pot of coffee which the two of them appear to be sharing. Ms Graves appears to favour muesli.
Rather
domestic.
Ms Graves' eyes move from her tablet to Lex's face as she moves to the next item. "The interim report from the Special Projects auditors is at one, but that can easily be moved if the meeting or lunch overrun."
I
stride through. "Or you could just-" Lex chokes slightly and Ms Graves shoots to her feet, gun arm prepped. "-cancel the whole thing." I grin and spread my arms wide as if offering to hug any volunteers. "
Because I'm baaaack!"
Ms Graves' eyes flick to her employer, who is trying to dislodge muffin from his windpipe without appearing at all unsettled.
"And I bring you the gift of
seeds!" I toss a sack of Deca seeds to the floor next to the table they're eating from. "Trust me, those things are
amazing."
"Grauhugh." Lex takes a breath, then a sip of water. "Grayven. You look well."
"You have
no idea how good it was to get away from this planet and go somewhere where I could just
ram fixes through." I gesticulate. "See arsehole, cut arsehole in half with giant sword. I needed that
so much."
"I'm.. glad to hear that your vacation went well. Might I enquire as to-" He raises his eyebrow at the seed sack. "-where you went?"
"If you're still alive in sixty years, look towards Vega and you might see me waving." I grin. "But what have you been up to?"
Lex sighs faintly, then makes a small motion with his right hand which prompts Ms Graves to sit down and stow her gun. "Damage control, mostly. The regulatory regime LexCorps is now forced to operate under is
onerous in the extreme. I've had.. feelers out, trying to acquire assets that might have been missed when the businesses owned by other members of the Light were…"
"Brutally slaughtered like the Pig-Dogs they were?"
"…
yes." He sighs again. "Unfortunately, the legitimate parts of the businesses they owned were owned with several cut outs between
them and any
overt criminality. I suspect that their managers are quite happy knowing that their late employers will no longer be making any demands on them, but that does mean that my leverage is unusually limited."
"I'll have a poke around. I know Savage's next of kin, I'm sure I can sort something out."
"I imagine that the entire Human race is descended from the late Mister Savage to some degree."
"No, his
actual heir. A woman he raised to be a majordomo, or.. something." I take a step towards the table and crouch down. "But what about the other thing?"
"The.. other thing, Grayven?"
"Yes, the other thing." He looks somewhat blank. "The other thing? You know, I persuaded Horne and Lane not to have you killed, then I came here and we had a little chat?"
"I.. remember the incident
extremely well."
"And… I said that I wanted you to assemble.. a group..? People with skills on a level with the late members of the Light, but less stupid? You remember that, right?" Lex looks impassive. I turn to Ms Graves. "
You.. remember that, right? I didn't just
stroke the whole thing, did I?"
"Grayven." Lex sighs. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't fulfill that demand. Every one of my.. contacts in that sphere is avoiding me like I'm a plague-bearing Rat. They believe that having contact with me risks bringing down the wrath of the government, the Justice League, or
worse,
you. And if they weren't..? Why would I bring them and risk losing their skills on the end of your sword because you did not consider them to be suitably 'rational'?"
"You-. You.. mean you haven't got
anyone?" Whaw, I was…
Not expecting that. "I mean, we're not exactly short of supervillains around here."
"Oh,
certainly. I imagine that I could dodge DMA snipers for just about long enough to make contact with a few
utter unknowns. People who would add little to your efforts. Would you like me to write down their contact details for you?"
I screw up my face. "
No? Of course not. I just…" My hands flap around as I try to organise my thoughts on the issue. "They didn't even
have to
be supervillains. I thought you'd-."
"I'm not a miracle worker, Mister Grayven. As things stand I'm not even certain how much
I can help you. Though do feel free to destroy my window again: I've almost gotten to the point where I
miss Superman doing that."
This… Is… Disappointing. And
irritating. I lower my head slightly, sighing under my breath. "Can I assume that -if you can do so without being shot- you're still interested in participating?"
"I tolerated Klarion. I'm sure that I can tolerate
you."
My jaw tightens, and I jab my right forefinger at him. "
Not an intelligent thing to say to me, Mister Luthor." Okay. "Right,
here's what we're going to do.
I'm going to find people instead. I'm going to talk to them about our ideology and how working with us serves their interests too. And you don't get a veto anymore! I'll just pick people, and they'll… And they'll
turn up, and you can like it or lump it! I was
not expecting
you to fail to
network."
Lex appears unfazed, taking a small sip of coffee as I try to get my breathing under control. There's a quiet 'clink' as he sets his cup down in its saucer. "And.. I.. wish you the best of luck. I'm not sure where you hope to
find such people-."
"You'd be
amazed where I can find people."
"I'll look forward to meeting them. Have you…" He gestures to his table with his right hand. "Had.. breakfast? I'm sure that we can-."
"I'll be eating breakfast in two hours with my household,
thank you very much." I turn away from them. "Mother Box, boom tube."
BOOM!
Ugh, but where am I actually
going? The Mountain? No, I'd just be hanging around. Tamaran? No, I should get on this recruitment thing as soon as possible.
Who's going to be awake and active at this time of day?
…
30th August
09:16 GMT -1
I stride through the portal and into the Venturian palace, couriers looking around as I approach the table around which she and her inner circle are seated. "Queen Clea, sorry to barge in like this-."
She straightens slightly on her throne-like chair at the head of the table. "I would be
astonished if that were true."
"Okay, it's not. I'm just being polite."
"Thank Atlan for small mercies." She puts down a scroll. "Since you're here, I assume that you want something. Are you going to tell me what it is, or do you want to pontificate for a little while first?"
"The second, obviously." I fold my arms behind my back and start pacing across the area in front of the throne. "I'm putting together a little coterie-."
"I've
participated in those before. I can't say that I enjoyed the experience. Or profited much by it."
"This is more of a think tank than a fighting force. Like-minded individuals pooling resources in order to achieve greater things than they could by themselves. If you're interested, I'm planning a get-together in a few days. You can get to know the other invitees, see if you think they're people you could work with."
"Anyone I know?"
"Hopefully
one at least."
"Hm." She thinks for a moment. "My biggest problem at the moment remains what it was the first time we spoke: King Orin. What do you think that your 'coterie' could do about
that?"
