Imperial Construction

With the current success of Vexus’ tower in NYC, she thought it time to further her investments into the current Meta-Human climate. She hired a number of business individuals in order to help her search for excellent location and what area would benefit the most. Not only from a post to help out new heroes, but an establishment that would offer job security, living arrangements, and a brand new state of the art facility that would help set a standard across the world.
The studies that her scuts conducted gave her results that the more densely populated areas would receive the most benefit of her efforts. This being somewhere in the LA area, central Texas, southern Florida, or the Las Vegas area. It would be a lie if Vexus wasn’t bias in her decision to place her newest faculties in Las Vegas. She had kind of always wanted to be a big shot casino owner.

Due to some recent events that had left her slightly drained in the power department, she traveled by regular means in order to scope out land for development in the Vegas area. Landing with her private plane, her guards escorted her where she was met by a realtor. She made it a point to find someone who was new to the land-selling business, but still knew the area exceptionally well.
”H-Hello! You must be Miss Elena Vexus! It’s such an honor to meet you ma’am!” The younger gentleman nervously went in for a handshake, but was met with a bodyguard’s torso. Vexus pushed the large man aside and apologized.
”Its a pleasure!” she said accepting the hand shake.
The two got into the larger armored vehicle and began their tour of the city. Most of what she was being shown had already been developed, or would require heavy alterations. She was paying more attention to finances this time around, as she was still working on breaking even for her last project. Everything facing her at the moment would be a hefty expense she could not invest in at this time.
“”I understand your financial concerns at the moment, Ms.Vexus, but currently this is all we have to offer” said the realtor as they drove towards the outskirts of the city. The mountain ranges graced the horizon, and Elena had an idea.
”My friend… Can you sell me a mountain side?”
They seemed bewildered at the question.
”I-I mean.. It might be possible… I can go through a few different channels to see if that’s even an option…But… If cost was a concern. The absolute insane cost of building into a mountain would- I mean you could destroy and rebuild an entire city for less than the cost of building something into a mountain.”
”See what you can do for me. Even if I just have the property, I can always figure out building into it in the future.”
The realtor started sending a few text messages and emails from their phone. They had worked with wealthy clients before, but this was definitely a first.
Vexus leaned over to one of her assistants riding with them. ”Start searching the globe for Geomancers. I think someone with such an ability would be absolutely necessary if we want to build something of this caliber without literally spending every penny to my name…”

And so the hunt began.

Vexus was returned with the information that she was permitted to purchase the required land she wanted, and the realtor received the commission check of a lifetime. Meanwhile Elena had dedicated a whole office in her NYC hub towards researching a potential Geomancer for hire. This proved far more difficult than obtaining land that wasn’t technically for sale in the first place. After weeks of research, one of her employees came across something.
It seemed that There had been an establishment erected in the Los Angeles area that would have taken weeks if not months, brought to completion in a matter of days. And the structure was gorgeous.
”Find them. Find them and get my jet ready to go to the nearest private runway. We need to secure this individual as quickly as possible…”

And just like that, Vexus was on her jet towards LA.
”Madame, research has brought us some details of the individual. Her name is Niao. Chinese in decent. New to the scene apparently, but incredibly gifted.”
Vexus sipped some champagne. ”Excellent. Have someone contact them if possible. Is there a meeting space in the area that we can have made up for us? We’ll land and stay a night while we have everything organized. Put us up somewhere nice. I want to enjoy my stay out here. Especially if we’re going to be traveling to Vegas shortly after.”
Elena took another sip of her beverage and relaxed in her seat as her assistant took a bow and moved quickly to set up the arrangements she had requested.

The attempts to reach out to Niao would be via email, phone calls, text message, and even if/when those all failed Elena would send a field agent to find a invite her to the luxury hotel Vexus was staying at in order to have a meeting about constructing her the most beautiful and lavish casino this side of the planet has ever seen.
Elena would be in a large meeting room at the end of a long wooden table. A glass of sparkling wine held between her fingers. The natural light from the wall of windows danced through the space as she waited patiently for her esteemed guest to arrive. There were a number of other personnel in the room as well. Lawyers, accountants, etcetera. She was prepared to make a deal, and close, right here and now. Vexus was most certainly powerful when it came to combat, but often overlooked when it came to her power as a businesswoman.

HOTEL LOBBY

It was only a matter of a couple of hours from agents reaching out to the transformed tea shop, to Vexus’s staff dropping off a pair of characters at the front entrance of the Hotel. The attendant opened the door for the passengers, ushering them into the hotel lobby.

Drake Lu was every bit the modern, sharp dressed young man in a gray three-piece suit and coat, but with black sneakers and his transitional glasses doubling as shades. He wore his hair long and he hadn’t spared the time to shave, but otherwise such as sight was completely ordinary and no one paid him no heed, save for a few pretty and well-off ladies who eyed him up. He returned their glances with a grin, before offering a hand to the second passenger.

People definitely took notice of the second figure, a very short and slight woman in very heavy, very formal historic period robes from the Qin dynasty, a riot of black, red and gold. Quite a few people stopped in their tracks. Was there some kind of historic event? A play? A re-enactment? People took out their phones to take pictures.

As they passed through standard hotel security, the metal detector pinged loudly, causing Niao alarm and to stop at the noise. “What is that?” She asked, speaking mandarin.

“It’s a metal detector. Do you have metal on you, aunty?” Drake asked in the same language. In response Niao brough out a Jian- a Chinese style rapier- from within the folds of her robes.

“You brought a sword? Why did you bring a sword?” Drake whispered in frustration. He was not aware she brought a friggin sword.

“What? Even courtiers must have means to defend themselves. You brought that handheld arquebus!” she protested, while Drake nervously said nothing, knowing she referred to the ceramic polycarbonate weapons he carried for self-defense.

“Sir, the hotel has a strict no weapons policy. Please inform your… sister…? To surrender her weapon or be turned away.” The reception manager had come over to see what the commotion was. Seeing as this was a priority guest, they were given a chance to be reasonable over simply being turned away immediately.

“Very well. If I must put my safety into their hands.” Niao untied her entire Jian and handed it to the manager, who looked at the exquisite weapon before having it sent to safety deposit... the only sword amongst deposited guns.

With a sigh Drake and Niao followed one of Vexus’s personnel to their conference room.

VEXUS’s CONFERENCE ROOM

Vexus's staff discreetly opened the door ever so slightly to inform their boss.“Miss Vexus, our guests have arrived. They are-” suddenly, the metal double doors swung open wide on their own, Drake visibly face palming as his much smaller aunt moved to the center of the room, clasped her hands in greeting, and loudly introduced herself in ancient mandarin, in formal court etiquette no less.

“Greetings and Salutations! I am Lu Tong Niao, first half dragon daughter of the luminous sage, Lu Feng. Former magistrate of Guandong Province, Former adviser to Emperor Shi Huang Di, Former Caretaker and Chief Librarian of the Luminous Library of Lu Feng. I have returned to this place to seek knowledge and purpose! I am honored to meet you!”

Drake let out a tired sigh and stood behind his flamboyant aunt, providing a much more grounded introduction. “Oh hey. Uh. I’m Drake. This is my… aunt… Niao, she’s from overseas. Nice to … ugh… meet you all. We’re here for a project?”

Vexus was delicately informed that her guests had arrived. Honestly fantastic timing, with what research she had found on this individual, she had assumed locating them in such a large city would have proved time consuming. In no time, the woman she was after burst through the doors in a grand entrance. This put a grin on Elena’s face. Niao introduced herself formally, and followed by her relative that was appropriately dressed for their meeting.

[cololor=#ff0099]”Hello! What an honor it is to meet someone of such high status from one of the world’s greatest Empires! I am Elena Vexus. I have summoned you to these walls seeking a business opportunity! Please! Have a seat, let us chat!”[/color]

Vexus spoke powerfully, Niao’s English seemed pretty good, but she did have a translator with her just in case. Elena has almost every language downloaded and at the ready for herself to speak, but sometimes enjoys employing individuals to do the work for her.
A waitress came around with a cart of beverage offerings. After offering Niao and her nephew something, she made her way to Vexus who she poured a generous glass of champagne for in a glistening crystal glass.
”Can I get you two anything beside what was offered? Any snacks or treats? Anything at all!”
Vexus took a sip of her champagne and set it down on the table with a distinct clink.
”SO! Business at hand. I have brought you here because I have seen some of your fantastic work. A form of Geomancy it seems? I was hoping to commission you for a project.”
A projector screen descended behind Elena and the lights dimmed. On the screen appeared a almost mythical looking structure. A massive building that looked to be built into the side of a mountain. It looked like a crown for the land below it.
”Here I have some mock up and blueprints of what I think to be one of the most breathtaking buildings has ever been conceived by the human mind. I’ve commissioned architects from all corners of the globe to make something of this caliber something feasible in this reality… And the last piece of the puzzle here is you… I need someone powerful and well versed like you in my entourage. You can be, quite literally, the cornerstone of this project and many in the future…”
Some different videos and slides played through on the screen behind her. Showing a number of different angles, flyovers and in-depth details of this building that Vexus was looking to construct. The 3D renderings showed that it was clearly a casino, slot machines, tables, bars, and bright lights danced through the presentation. Vexus continued to talk about different points of the project, and important details about the surface parts.

”A small preview of what I’m looking to make here. But of course there is more.” she said with a devious smile. She then made eye contact with one of the door guards and he gave a nod, following he and all the other personal began to exist the room. The waitress however stopping briefly to top off Vexus’ champagne.

”As I stated, my name is Elena Vexus. I have been on this planet but mere minutes compared to the centuries you may have witnessed. Be though as it may, I have accumulated wealth, knowledge, and power that exceeds any governing body both past and present. In order to continue my hold and broaden my reign on the unsuspecting realities I need spaces to conduct research… Before I continue with this information, there is something I will ask you to sign.”
Her left eye shifted and emitted a subtle pink glow. She positions her hands as if she was holding a pen in one and a piece of paper in the other. What quickly appeared were exactly that. A mysterious sheet of paper and a quill.

”I do believe in complete transparency. What I have here is a Non-Disclosure Agreement. The information I am about to share is not to be repeated or shared by any living creature. You will not be permitted to communicate this information, or relay it via any form of media. If you do, there will be incredibly harmful consequences. This NDA Is just for the information I am about to share. We are not agreeing on going forward with the project, or any others in the future. This is not financially binding in any way either. Despite this being a magical contract, your past and future will not be effected so long the conditions of this NDA are kept…”
She gave a slight pause, the quill and paper floated over to the two of them. If they decided to sign, as soon as they touched the pen to the paper their name would signs automatically binding them to the contact. If they declined, they would still move forward with their meeting, but Vexus would simply leave out details about her secret laboratories that she wanted constructed underneath the casino.

”Do we have any questions…?”

Drake was already sweating from the sheer scope of the powers at play in the room. But he provided a means to smooth over communication until Niao had a good grasp of modern English. “Uh… I could totally go for a Guiness.” He turns to Niao and asks. “Aunt Niao will have jasmine tea.”

An assistant quickly caters to their requests, as they take a seat near Vexus and get to business. Niao listened attentively, like a good student, taking in the high-tech presentation while asking Drake about modern concepts such as electricity, HVAC, plumbing and communications.

“Yeah no, we won’t be in charge of those game machines, we’ll be focusing on the structural elements…”

“The state is gonna build a water pipe… But it’ll be good… yeah water towers are a great idea, it’ll save on water and HVAC.”

“Yeah there are people who throw away money like that.”

Once Niao got a good grasp of what a “casino” was, unironically describing it as a den of loose morals and iniquity, she began pointing to the drawings and schematics, her nephew barely keeping pace with her questions.

Then the people in the room were suddenly made to leave, leaving only the Lu’s and Vexus. Drake stood up to leave, but Niao insisted he stay. “There is much I yet to know about this world. You are a builder here, you are my adviser.”

“I mean… She’s not my first shady client…No offense ma’am.” Drake made a goofy smile at Vexus. “We just build for them. And hey, drug dealers do this at gunpoint. An NDA is no problem.” Drake had his own personal sign pen for signing agreements and signed without a hitch.

“Very well. I accept this generous offer.” Niao stated, pulling out her personal solid gold stamp, topped with a eastern dragon. She flexes her metal control powers, as she presses the stamp to the paper and it leaves a Chinese signature made of an incredibly thin layer of gold. Drake whistled at her making a signature. “Now that is a baller signature.”

Niao puts her stamp away and stands up, getting closer to the large granite conference table. She really was a non-imposing entity, being below 5 feet in stature. Drake helping her up looked like a child being hoisted up by an older relative, but Niao demonstrates her fine ability control when the granite was broken down into fine black sand… and she starts modeling the entire casino, like a real time physical 3d model.

“A few questions, lady Vexus. Mostly on how concerned you are of security, so we may adjust wall thickness… Hmm… and what else…”

Drake decided to chime in as well. He asked rather jokingly, “…You wanted a platinum LEED green building rating as well?”