[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/klHHPfB.png?2[/img][/center] [center]And[/center] [center]Briley Patton CEO of Poseidon Energies[/center] [center]And[/center] [center]Hound Dog[/center] Briley Patton took the card for Hound Dog, she had already spoken with her Board, even though the final decision fell upon her to make she at least wanted half of their approval before moving forward. It wouldn’t be easy and since the HoH have been targeting those who ally with Heroes it was a major concern, but one she and the board felt that they send a message to these criminals. Heroes are here to stay, and they cannot be terrorized any longer. Poseidon Energies will put its full weight behind the Heroes trying to support their endeavors. But first she needed Heroes on her side, Eva had brought her Hound Dog’s contact card, who best to stand against the HoH than a Hero publically affected by their organization’s naming convention. Taking hold of her luggage handle Briley departed from the Airport into Pacific Point to an awaiting car. Dialing the number shown she pressed the phone to her ear as she rummaged through her bag looking for a compact. As the phone rang Hound Dog looked at the number, it was an unknown caller and as he laid in the hospital bed after the nights surgery his right arm hung in a sling. His Mother had been in and out all morning and he lingered looking at the phone, but if someone was calling him there was a chance they needed help and he couldn’t afford to not answer. “Hey hey. You’ve reached the radical Hound Dog.” Briley reached for her head, as she tried to justify a response to his greeting line. “Yes. Well then I am Briley Patton CEO of Poseidon Energies, I hear you aided in the cities defense. And I have some reasons myself to be grateful for that. I would like to thank you and discuss another matter I hope you could help me with.” Hound Dog remained silent as the woman continued on, holding the phone to his ear by his shoulder. “Poseidon Energies is moving forward in the face of change, S.T.R.I.K.E. has been crippled if not completely destroyed. Heroes will need further aid to take on there terrorists. One I hope we can provide. And I was hoping you could tour one of our facilities.” Hound Dog had never met a corporate type, and only held vague stereotypes as to what they’d be like always looking for a profit or edge to inch forward ahead of their competitors. “I’d love too, but I’m kinda indisposed. Be a few days before they’ll let me out of the Hospital.” Though if there really was someone who needed help he’d have jumped out of bed pretty quickly. “I was not aware. My sympathies, good to know it wasn’t anything serious. Perhaps we can schedule something in the next few days then, I’ll be in town for the week overseeing the final repairs done to the facility here.” “I might come round to check things out, no promises though. Got my own duties once I’m well enough.” He replied unsure to even accept a tour, or what motives Ms. Patton might have. “Quite understandable then. Hopefully you can visit. I do have a few things I would like to thank you for in person.” There was a brief moment of silence, as Briley pulled the phone away to end the call, before going through her contacts and bringing up another number she had saved.. With a ringing tone coming from the speaker she waited for someone to answer. “Mr. Arthur is presently unavailable at the moment. This is his assistant, Minerva. May I ask who is calling?” A woman’s voice answered on the other line. Briley responded promptly. “Briley Patton of Poseidon Energies. I would wish to speak to Mr. Arthur about a business venture. I hear he’s in Pacific Point at present, can a meeting be arranged?” “Hold one moment,” Minerva told Mrs. Patton. After a few moments of silence, Minerva began to talk again. “He is scheduled to leave tomorrow morning, but since he’s using a private plane, I guess he could push that back a little.” “That would be lovely. Is there a venue? I’d rather not meet in his hotel room, for obvious reasons.” “Mr. Arthur does not own any real estate in Pacific Point. Do you have any recommendations?” There was a brief Silence. As Briley’s car passed an old timey restaurant straight out of the 50s. “Perhaps I do. Have him meet me at this address.” [hr] [center][b]The Next Day[/b][/center] There was the clink of a spoon as Briley stirred in some creamer into her coffee. The shop had just what you’d expect from a Malt shop from days gone by, black and white tiled floors with red leather seats in every booth and stool. The counter was white with a black top. And Briley sat in a corner, waiting for Chris to walk inside. The walls had all sorts of memorabilia of muscle cars, photos even David Hasselhoff’s picture with the owner hung on the wall. After an hour past the supposed meeting time, Chris finally walked into the Malt shop. He pulled off the pair of sunglasses that he was wearing and slide them into the pocket in his sports coat before he scanned the room for Briley. Once he spotted her, he strolled over to the table and took a seat. [color=C0C0C0]“So, are you reliving the glory days?”[/color] Chris asked once he took his seat. “Perhaps.” Briley said as she lifted her coffee, that had been continuously topped off to keep it hot. “Thought this was no where near fancy enough for your girlfriend to assume this was a date, though you never know. Still I am glad this turned out well last night otherwise I don’t think we’d be having this meeting so soon. Now I have a proposal Mr. Iron Knight. S.T.R.I.K.E. is gone, heroes are facing a new homegrown crisis. And Poseidon wishes to back heroes despite recent events. They have done much for society although their existence has created a power vacuum it is far too late to sweep it under the rug and erase them from the board.” There was a sip as Briley let some of this sink in before she continued. “Now to prevent the Hounds from amassing far too great a power and to ensure villains do not run our streets we have decided to throw our lot behind the heroes providing them with support and assistance with stopping and catching villains. I’d like it if you could help us, a business partnership as it were. There will be profits, Poseidon is a business after all, but I wish to keep focused on aiding heroes over our bottom line though it doesn’t seem entirely possible to keep money out of the equation. As villain tech and powers could be a substantial boon for research opportunities. What is your opinion thus far?” [color=C0C0C0]“I’m pretty sure I’ve already painted a bull’s eye on my back from the first day I worked with S.T.R.I.K.E. I have just as much at risk as the heroes who actually have powers. I’m not entirely proud of some of the things I did with S.T.R.I.K.E., but now that they’ve got no strings on me anymore, I’ve already had some ideas for helping out.”[/color] “I have read what files I could, I imagine S.T.R.I.K.E. has the more, confidential and controversial ones in lockdown in some file cabinet in the Pentagon. Though I am not wholly concerned unless those files turn up something truly ugly. However given your hero status, I doubt that you’re the type who would murder innocent or have such horrid skeletons in your closet from inhumane acts. And I am assuming you’ve dug up information on my history, I fear for my niece, she is in a world she nor I fully understand. I wish to extend aid to all heroes to prevent mass casualties like what Icon recently faced; I do not think we could have done much to help him but there is always a possibility. I hope we can keep each other in check, provide aid and advance science. All while within the confines of the law.” [color=C0C0C0]“Kids these days. They find a magical sword and they then believe they’re invincible,”[/color] Chris said. [color=C0C0C0]“But to get back on more serious matters, once I get back home, I intend on looking into these Hounds of Humanity. One of the local speedsters helped me catch some criminals who appear to be associated with the Hounds. They were gathering up metahumans. Whether they were doing this for human trafficking or collecting them as human weapons, I cannot say for sure.”[/color] “Either way it cannot be good. I hope my niece takes care of herself out there I would tear down a city block by block if she were kidnapped by these Hounds. But do we have an accord? If so perhaps we can draft an official document later regarding business goals and operations. I’ve also reached out to see if a few heroes would be willing to throw their lot in with us. Wouldn’t hurt to have a few more well known heroes backing such a project.” [color=C0C0C0]“Just get in contact with my people and we’ll finalize the details.”[/color] “I hope things improve from here on out, by the way. You should take some pie with you, it’s quite delicious. I’m sure your girlfriend would love some.” [color=C0C0C0]“I’m sure I can also find some at home. I guess this is where we part ways.”[/color]