Growth Industry (IC)

[Fox]

"Probably. Clever design. Imagine it's very durable...would have to be. But mechanically collapsible...imagine it must be made out of--no, joints would fail. Interesting!"

Mara was stuck for a moment as her mind did what it always did, spinning out ideas and improvements and redesigns...none of which were quite satisfactory, as they weren't quite in the spirit of the weapon in the first place. could take it apart - no, bad idea - probably wouldn't let me anyway - I wouldn't let me - will have to see if I can recreate later - get data on approximate user strength for testing? - can't hurt to have a spare - curious "Am...impressed," she admitted, a little grudgingly. "Simple, but effective, assuming it meets durability requirements. Unique, too. Important. Leaves impression. On more than just heads."

[Electra]

"I don't know exactly how it's made," Erin admitted, "but it's very, very durable. I've only broken one in two years, and that was against an army of Omegadrones." She flipped the bat horizontal, extended it to Mara for the taking. "It was originally a training aid. I didn't have a lot of control at first, hit too hard for safety when I was supposed to be fighting regular people. I don't really need that part anymore, but I learned a lot of techniques with it, and I like the pinpoint control it gives me. And the extra reach. Trevor made this one for me after the first one broke."

[Fox]

Mara hmmed and mmhed and made careful inspection of the bat, looking at it from different angles and carefully collapsing/expending the weapon with her eyes closed to feel out how it moved. She seemed...oddly impressed, and a little reluctant to hand it back.

"Very impressed," she admitted, tilting her head. "Skilled. Trevor, I mean. Very. Have a lot of respect for solid engineering. Don't have to be able to build entropy drives that power buildings to make something very well - simple, strong, uncomplicated. Reliable. Probably would have been tempted to put power source in handle, myself - allow for taser-like use. But understand why you wouldn't - balance, durability, reliability."

[Electra]

"Don't really need a taser," Erin pointed out. "A hit to the right spot will drop an opponent just as fast." She grinned, an expression that came and went so quickly it hardly seemed to happen. "Mr. Archer at Claremont commissioned the prototype for me, and I don't think he wanted me to be any more dangerous at that point. "If you want the blueprints, I might be able to get them for you. I have a spare at home, but it never hurts to have access to one in a pinch." She took the bat and collapsed it with a single expert flick before tucking it away again. "It's not a practical weapon for most of the security force. Tasers and guns should do them okay."

[Fox]

"Agreed, though batons - normal batons - might be good. For anyone with training," she quickly added, furrowing her brow a little. "More dangerous than they look. Sometimes useful to be able to hit things, physically - without shooting them. Would appreciate blueprints - can't hurt. Might be able to scale down for in-company use. Weaker metal, probably. Strong, still, but not that strong. Not necessary for anyone else. ....Harrier, maybe. Imagine he has his own tools."

[Electra]

"Yeah, he's got a power pike, but that's disguised too," Erin confirmed. "I guess the hope is that we don't need to worry too much about what kind and how many weapons we'll need right away, but it's good to be prepared. Getting back to the problem of the guy who might be trying to disappear you, is the building going to have a teleportation shield on it? I mean, so that your own teleporter can get in and out, but anyone else has to use the doors? In a building this size, with four or five guards on at any given time, teleporters popping in are going to be one of the big weak points. Well, popping in, or popping people out."

[Fox]

"Mmh." Mara frowned, hunching a little as she considered that. "....wasn't in original plans. Haven't run into many teleporters. Probably within his means, though. Will think about it - not a bad idea. And not too hard to do; might take a few days to build, but worth investment. Good idea."

She tapped her finger against the spool, mind assembling, revising, and disassembling plans for an anti-teleportation field. "Other noticeable security weaknesses? Good to think of them before we open. Get things installed, updated."

[Electra]

"I don't even know if it's possible, but a psychic dampening field would be a nice feature," Erin said thoughtfully. "I mean, the psychics I know personally are really trustworthy types, even more so than most average people, but not every psychic out there is a hero. You don't want anybody doing corporate espionage stuff without ever having to come into the building. But I don't know much of anything about that," she admitted. "My friend Psyche definitely would, I could ask her if she knows about anything like that coming down the pike. I guess you probably have all the electronic security and data security sewn up already, so no one can get in through the network."

She chewed absently on a knuckle. "It's just a fact that we aren't going to be able to keep out every threat. Supervillains can just do too many different things. But if we can close off the biggest holes, it'll be easier to deal with the ones that do slip through, even with a small staff."

[Fox]

Mara nodded, pondering. "Have to prepare as best we can. Deal with what we didn't prepare for. Or what we did, when preparations are insufficient. Psychic field....very hard. Not completely impossible, but much harder, and harder to test. Still. Doable. Some existing work I could build off, mine and other people's. Maybe convince someone to let me play with law enforcement power repressors - technical term? 'Power dampeners'? Harder to generalize to a field, but would be a start. Will see what I can do."

"Small staff is a concern, too. Don't need more than that most of time...sorry, the time....but would be good to have more on demand. Will also consider drones. Would have to be relatively small to supply in force, but may at least buy time or help with evacuations."

[Electra]

"Yeah, I've had to wear one of those, they aren't much fun. Be useful to have them as cuffs, at least," Erin mused. "A lot of times they'll take the fight right out of someone just because it's so disorienting for the first few minutes. Miss Americana has a nullifer up at The Lab, I used it the other week to, um, when I needed some medical stuff done." Color washed her pale cheeks for just a moment. "Anyway, good equipment can go a long way toward making up for a small staff. Training, too. We'll do a lot of training, especially at first, till everyone's up to speed and working together."

[Fox]

Mara raised an eyebrow, looking up at Erin with vague amusement. "'Medical stuff,' mmh. Could probably build you a nullifier...for doctor visits. Or whatever."

"Training," she continued, switching tracks as some other part of her thoughts got control of her mouth, "will leave up to you. Not used to working in teams, anyway - another reason to hire somebody - you - for the job. Will probably have hands full training scientists, engineers. Small teams, but will probably have to know a little of a lot. Have too many other things to spend personal time on, would ideally only personally do projects that were interesting, or that they couldn't."

[Electra]

"Oh, no," Erin said hastily to that offer, the color spreading to cover most of her face. "That's not really necessary. For, uh, anything." She leapt on the new topic like a starving lion with a steak. "That's okay, I've had a lot of training, and have done training for younger students before, so I already have kind of an idea of how to do it. And having a few more weeks before opening will give me time to look stuff up, ask people at other places what they do, stuff like that. I can run everything I'm going to do past you first, but you shouldn't have to worry about it too much. Do you have a training simulator set up?"

[Fox]

"Don't trust them," Mara replied, flatly. "Always find a way to go wrong. Can supply you anything else you need, though. Combat drones, supplies, will probably arrange a low-power holographic projector for maps or modelling, could be used to create targets for target practice. Will have a couple heavily-armored rooms to use, too - mostly soundproof, good for training in. But no full simulators. Asking for trouble."

[Electra]

Erin frowned at that, but Mara was the boss, so she didn't argue the point. An armored room was all well and good, but how did you know how someone really fought till you were in a fight alongside them? Maybe she could arrange for Trevor to fix something up for her offsite... but that was a consideration for later. "Hmm," she said instead. "If I could get the personnel files as you hire security people, that will probably help me to personalize training routines. Gotta know things like who's already good at what techniques, who needs more practice or to get into shape, stuff like that."

[Fox]

Mara shook her head. "No." Mara nodded her head. "Yes. I mean - will have them before hiring. Try - I try to have final say in employees, and will save you trouble of weeding out obviously bad applicants, but will be letting you do more final selection than I do. Will follow the process, of course, but will be your team, not mine. Important to me that they do their job well, but think you will make sure of that, so actual people filling the teams...up to you. Will pass along files as I get them for your review, might make suggestions, but actual hiring - your call."

[Electra]

Erin's eyes widened a little bit at that. "I don't know a lot about hiring people," she demurred. "But I guess if it's just filling my security team, I can figure it out." The idea was appealing and a little frightening at the same time. All at once the reality that she was going to be supervising actual real people, normal non-super people for the most part, came settling down like a weight on her shoulders. The thought was more intimidating than most of the villains she'd ever faced down. "You've got a tough job," she finally decided after a moment's quiet reflection.

[Fox]

"Yes." It wasn't so much a regret or admission as it was a basic stated fact, like she was saying what color the sky happened to be that day. She shifted a little, and shrugged, moving to tug her suit jacket back into place before giving up and just undoing the buttons holding it closed. "But it's my job. I chose it. Built it. It's mine. Life isn't easy, anyway - never is, probably shouldn't be. Have to...phrase...'square shoulders' and keep going. Pick fights, deal with fights that pick you. Other options suck."

[Electra]

Erin had to nod at that, it was a philosophy she could understand. Life tended to suck, so you just had to deal with it and enjoy the good parts when they happened, for however long they lasted. "Well, if there's anything you need me to do in the meantime besides the hiring stuff, you should let me know. Otherwise, I guess eight am on November first?" She figured there was probably also paperwork that needed to be signed, documents to be looked at, but that wasn't exactly her field. It would all get sorted out eventually.

[Fox]

Mara nodded, pushing herself up off the spool and dusting plaster dust off the back of her pants and jacket. "Eight am works. Will probably get in later most days, but first day...should probably be on time. Phrase....'can sleep when I'm dead'?" She shrugged, putting her hands in her pockets and glancing around. "Should check on drones before I leave...make sure they aren't doing things they shouldn't. Are doing things they should. Usual drone problems. Will send you paperwork...think you have my e-mail address in case you need to reach me?"

[Electra]

Erin nodded. "And you have my new mailing address for the papers, so that should be no problem. She took a deep breath, let it out, then smiled. "I just want to say, thanks for giving me a job. I know there are people who look better on paper, but you're taking the chance on me. I'll do a good job, I promise." It felt as though the cloud that had settled on her when she'd left ArcheTech, one that had deepened when Oliver left, was finally starting to get a little bit lighter.