[center][h3]Fae[/h3][/center] [i]- A little while before the party[/i] “Good morning, Mr Enzoani. I’ll cut straight to the chase: it has come to our understanding that you have been recently contacted by a group known as the Denizens Of The Damned” So spoke a plain looking man in a plain looking suit, hat and sunglasses who had arrived in a plain looking vehicle, and had then promptly invited himself into the back alley studio-clinic, while remaining undetected by all but one of the security systems, of the person he was addressing. That person skilled in their work, fingers of ivory and gold pausing their dance across the spinal column of a woman who’s cybernetics he was repairing, before just as swiftly resuming what they had been doing. There where a few small flashes of arcana, and then the hands withdrew “There, that should resolve the jitters you were having” the man who had been operating told his patient, before adding “Now rest assured, I could suture you back up in my sleep, so I hope you don’t mind if I speak with my ever so rude guest while I do?” A mere courtesy, given that they were currently anesthetized. The man turned around, leaving his mecha-tendrils to do the work of closing back up the patient’s back, and in so doing revealing his face to the plain man who had asked him a question. Even in the dim light of his out of the way clinic, and surrounded by the scent of blood, solder and sorcery the man still managed to look like an immaculate picture of beauty, at least if the multiple parts of body that had been replaced with cybernetic components didn’t ruin the view for you. “Please, call me Fae darling, everyone else does” the doctor replied at last, before promptly pausing to take a small sip from a glass of water, and then continuing “well, everyone I’m on friendly terms with at least. Are we on friendly terms mr …” “West” the plain man responded simply, before reminding the doctor that “I asked you a question, mr Fae” “Yes, yes, I know I know, mr [i]west[/i]” Fae replied, not at all believing that was his real name, yet also finding it interesting that Mr West had (mostly) bowed to his wish in terms of his preferred address. As a result of that, after setting the glass down, he explained that they had come “A few days ago in fact, attempting to harang me into assisting them with some farcical venture. Dark One this, new world order that. I turned them down, of course. I’ve been working the backstreets long enough to smell trouble a mile away, and those fellows positively reeked of it” “We know” “Yes well, spooks like have been trying to monitor me for long enough I quite hope that you know that I know-” Fea began to go on, only for the man to interrupt him by clarifying that what he knew was “That you turned them down” Fae paused, before beginning to enquire “Then have you come to me to find out what they’re up to? Because I’m not particularly interested in-” before being cut off again by the clarification “We know that as well” Fae raised a hand in light incredulation, and then sighed, before requesting to know “Then why, my dear, are you even asking?” In response the plain man reached into his suit and handed Fae a golden envelope. After making a comment about how out of mode such a thing as the written word was, he sliced the letter open with a scalpel tipped finger and then proceeded to scan the contents, remaining eye widening and then narrowing as he did. “You wish me to believe that not only was everything those delinquents said true, but that the illustrious Unity Organization seeks my help in trying to stop them” he said after he was done, before asking “Is this some kind of a joke?” “Not at all” Mr West replied, before explaining that “As you know, we’ve been aware of you for quite some time, Mr Fae, and though I, we” he corrected himself “do not particularly approve of your work, we do believe that you are, as they might say, on the level. Your actions a few days ago are additional proof of that. You also have a particular set of skills that can be put towards the cause of keeping a rather … diverse team in one piece, as well as the combat skills to keep up with them” Mr West indicated to a hereto irrelevant carcass of a laser burn riddled and partially dissected nightmare of metal and flesh from the wilds that was taking up a large portion of the room. “You’re also desperate, if you’ve come to me” Fae filled in “I’m hardly the only combat capable engi-tor in the world” though admittedly it wasn’t a particularly common profession “and if you couldn’t get them, what makes you think you can get me? You should already know I don’t take bribes or sell out, so what could you possibly-” Mr West calmly pulled out another, much plainer, envelope and handed it to Fae. He rolled his remaining eye at this, and then opened and read the letter inside, this one, it seemed, personally written by a rather distinguished researcher who was now working at the UO. After reading through it twice, he had to conceded that “well then, it seems you have my attention” "Then we shall inform the Organization to expect your arrival” Mr West replied, before snapping his fingers, and causing both of the letters to spontaneously combust and turn to ash in an instant. “Yes yes. Now be off with you Mr West, I have a patient to discharge” Fae told the man dismissively, as his mecha-tendrils finished flawlessly stitching the skin of his patients back back together, leaving not a hint that she had been being operated on mere moments ago. Mr West nodded, and without another word, left the way he came. “Uniting weapons to bring world peace. Ridiculous” the doctor muttered to himself disbelievingly, but even as he dismissed that, and started to wake what might be his last civilian patient in quite some time, his mind was already wondering at the marvels those weapons and whichever ancient places they dwelled within might hold. The promise of priority access to those had been, he had to admit, the perfect offer to make him. It was certainly enough to convince him to travel to the center of town to join this little party of theirs at the very least. As such, he took the next train from the outskirts, the magitech marvel cruising along artificial ley lines at a blistering place, and arrived at the venue with plenty of time to spare. He certainly drew some looks as he entered, striding into the resplendent halls of the HQ, and once seeming to fit right in with his immaculately kept appearance and flowing garments of a classical bent, and yet at the same time sticking out like a sore thumb with his extensive mechanical augments. His mecha-tendrils click clacked on the floor as they walked with him, while his holo projector created a small 3d model of a human with most of their internals on display which the doctor openly tinkered with as he walked. He did at least have the decency to put the body horror show away when he sat down at the table where people were eating (he himself ordered only some light horderves after flash-forging a mostly illusionary chair he could actually sit in while still wearing his backpack), and instead switching to working on something wholly mechanical. He proceeded to tinker away for a while, openly displaying designs that would put the work of many corporate cybernetics departments to shame, and doing so without a care for who saw what to them would have been top secret information, till the commotion the Chairwoman caused caught his attention. The entire spectacle was, he had to admit, highly amusing, and had Fae not so subtly laughing behind a raised hand at the chairwoman’s embarrassing escapade. “Well then, this already seems promising, if I am to have such delightful company in this endeavor” Fae said, mostly to himself but not at all minding if the boisterous woman overheard him, before deciding to speak more broadly to those of his fellow invites who had arrived “Ah, but where are my manners, I’ve been antisocially tinkering away instead of introducing myself” Upon saying that, he stood and proceeded to do just that “I am Ferdinand Altori Enzoani, humble seeker of the perfection of the human form, but you can call me Fae darlings, I much prefer it. A pleasure to make your acquaintances” He gave a short but thoroughly theatrical bow, one set of arms held to his chest, the others spread out to one side, before inquiring “Now, if you don’t mind me asking, to whom [i]do[/i] I owe that pleasure?” as he sat back down, intrigued to know if the others would turn out to be just as delightfully eccentric.