[b][i]Mikael Peacemaker: Anadine District[/i][/b]

The paperwork was done, the Company was officially listed in the city archives, and Mikael purchased office space in New Haven's Business/Midtown District in order to store archives relating to employees' resumes, accounts of income and expense, and basically record everything related to administration, management, and finance. He had purchased land for a laboratory elsewhere; it was an amateur mistake to have both the business and research ends of any given firm in the same building, especially with terrorists moving about and razing any attempts at researching one's way to resolve the coming tensions between Variants and Non-Variants.

Where did he plan on setting up said laboratory, by the way? It was initially going to be in Vines, but Anadine was easier to overlook by both legitimate businessmen and wannabe criminals alike. And the Breaking News had shown up on his Omni-Tool as his Self-Driving Limousine drove to the site where behind a grove of old oaks, an old schoolhouse was being repurposed into a state-of-the-art laboratory. This was where his research was going to be done, where he'd prove to the world that peace was possible between Variants and Non-Variants by replicating the powers of the former, resulting in a new age of symbiosis. All he had to do was wait, hope... And get a decent partner.

Even as his car drove up and parked at the building, Mikael was sending a flurry of online messages to potential allies and contacts and a few actual friends, requesting info on various Nobles and Vigilantes who were not too public but had both a strong powerset and a lot of combat experience. He also put in a request for more information on the disappearance of 'Maximus' and 'Kid Kilowatt'; he was suspecting that this was a program of deliberate kidnapping, not murder, otherwise their bodies would be floating up in the Bayou by now.

Yes; he was willing to pay, his family wasn't descended from Gilded Age Industrialists for nothing. He noticed the small woosh of his car's doors opening, allowing him and his security detail - All normal folk for now - to walk out and inspect the building as a small renovation and construction crew, paid extra to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement which was as binding as it could be without breaking the law, installed an ammonia-powered generator at the back of the former schoolhouse.

The foreman was a nice person, a resident of the Warehouse District trying to keep his family away from Shanty; Mikael knew that he was competent enough to deserve help in that. So the small blond boy approached the tall black man in worker's overalls, a polymer vest that was incidentally bulletproof, and a hard hat that was much the same, waved his hand in greeting, and asked, "Hey, Pierre, how's it going?"

Pierre responded a little gruffly, "Shift's almost over; it's getting late. Also, have you seen the news? Fire in Midtown; laboratory like this one got burnt down."

Mikael's eyes widened a little in response as he asked, "Worried about anything? I can increase security arrangements..."

Pierre looked at him as though he was an idiot and said, "You should be more worried about yourself, kid. You're sixteen; Noble or no Noble. Get a bodyguard; Ignoble might spare us if he or she attacks but not you." He sighed and said, "Kid, you've been good to us; better than most other employers. But the world will chew people like that and spit them out if they're not careful, so get someone who can watch your back."

The boy nodded and said, "Most folk who fit the bill are from the Pariah Underground; I don't think I can hire them. And I don't trust most Nobles; they [i]like[/i] being special." He then looked at Pierre and said, "Been thinking of 'sponsoring' a Street Kid. Getting them registered and taken care of in exchange for them helping me."

Pierre nodded and said, "I know the rumors. Some kids named Remy the Rat and another named Flip are roaming around the less well-off districts using their fancy powers to do what they want. Don't tell anyone this, but I think Flip's an 'illegal'; you might have luck catching him with the promise of a Green Card and cash." He chuckled, "Not to stereotype, though. That said, fair warning; I'm a working man, not a gossip column, and definitely not a 'trafficker'. If you want eyes trained on them, that's your circus; keep me out of it."

Mikael was now speed-typing on his phone, offering $150 for any bit of discreet information about Remy and Flip, and $200 for videos of them using their abilities to various 'interested parties' looking for a quick buck. But deep inside, he had decided against trying to employ Remy the Rat except in the most desperate instance. No, after reviewing what he could about Flip, the latter could serve his ends well, but just in case, Mikael [i]also[/i] sent a message to his contacts in the US Immigration Service inquiring about Variant Illegal Migrants or Asylum Seekers...

[@Eclektik][@Expendable][@RBYDark]