When Opportunity Comes Knocking [Saileyra]

The rapid click-clack sound of someone typing on a plastic keyboard was absent from the office of one Adam Greyrose though he still sat, transfixed; laboring away, working on an intricate computer program of some sort. The reason for the essential silence inside of the office was that he wasn't working on a plastic keyboard. His fingers flicked and flew through the air passing back and forth through a holographic display while his eyes kept track of his progress by watching a second hologram that hung in the air in the middle of his office, slowly rotating. The insubstantial image was that of a partially constructed hexagonal prism. Closer inspection would have revealed the geometric shape was composed of innumerable Greek letters separated by the occasional odd out punctuation symbol. The construction moved swiftly without interruption or pause as he flung his digits back and forth, glancing off to the side every once in a while at the monitor attached to his desk.

From the outside looking in one might have thought that the masterful coder was in some sort of race against time that had even the likes of what was possibly the smartest human being on the planet worried. The observation would also have been correct. Normally, Adam would have maintained a calm expression as if nothing were wrong. He'd long since come to the conclusion that a strong facade of calm and confidence was the best way to be perceived but when he sat alone, much as he was now there was no point in masking his emotions. No one could see the way his eyes kept flicking back to the screen or the way his brow furrowed slightly and his lips pursed with a small amount of consternation. It was because no one could see it that it was ok for him to let his feelings slip into his face.

The thing Adam was racing against however was something most people battled against their whole lives. Time itself. He had decided he wanted the program finished by the time his 2:00 was meant to arrive. It had nothing to do with her visit or anything, he had simply decided it needed to be that way. It was a self imposed test really. He was trying to prove to himself that his fingers could keep up with his mind as he sculpted a new idea within the depths of his conscious. As of late, he'd been beginning to wonder if his body could handle the intellect inside of him. Sure he could simply produce a clone or two and have finished the entire thing an hour ago, but that would have defeated the point.

As the clock ticked down to 38 seconds remaining, the hexagon flashed brighter for a moment and rotated in reverse direction and enlarged itself so that its creator could inspect the final work.

"Yes! I don't have to replace my hands with robot fingers anytime soon! Eden, document the time that took and calculate the average rate of my work and file the test please," the teenage CEO spoke to the air before receiving an affirmative response from a warm male voice that exuded from the room itself.

Pushing himself back from the sleek silver desk he used, Adam popped to his feet and stretched his arms high into the air before sweeping a hand through his hair. He was elated enough to cartwheel his way cross the room to a closet just as there was a chime from his desk alerting him to the fact his secretary wanted something. Undoubtedly given the time, it was to inform him that the woman he was scheduled to speak with was present and waiting.

"Answer. Arthur? What is it?" he said as he pulled off the t-shirt he had been wearing and tossing it to the bottom of the closet with some of the other discarded more casual clothes that collected there over time.

"Uh...Yes, sir. I have your 2:00 here if you're ready for her." came the crisp, if slightly nervous voice of his assistant. Well the sound was nervous to Adam at least, to most the slight emotion the young man had in his words would have been imperceptible. As it stood, Arthur was still somewhat intimidated by his boss and Adam was aware of such. He had come to imagine the nervousness was because it was technically a high end sort of job that paid five figures to the recent college graduate, but was more nerve wracking it seemed was the fact that the 25 year old worked, directly, for a 17 year old boy who had built the engineering company from the ground up in just over a year. Feeling obligated to call someone 8 years your junior 'sir' made the man nervous and it usually just amused Adam.

"Send her on. I'll be ready by the time you get here," the teen replied, dropping his shorts around his ankles and stepping out of them and quickly made a change of clothes to something more appropriate for this sort of meeting. His gray slacks and pale blue button up did little to hide the fact that he wasn't wearing shoes but that was neither here nor there in his mind. It was afterall, his own personal office. If he chose not to wear shoes in the building he built, then he wasn't going to and any 'snooty' investor could keep their money because the company and definitely it's owner wasn't that hard up for funds anyhow.

Two chimes and a holographic image of security footage of the two approaching people told Adam that he had approaching visitors and he made his way to the comfortable seating area off to the side of the door and waited for the sound of requested entrance to his office.

((OOC: I'm going to take a couple of liberties here so just let me know if you think I overstepped and I'll edit the post. No worries I'm not controlling your chars or anything ))

Poised to greet his visitor Adam hesitated to speak up as she entered. The way he lifted his head and the slight parting of his lips was easy enough to pass off as polite and kind faced acknowledgment of her presence, however behind his eyes his mind was suddenly in red alert. So many things were wrong with this situation as she seated herself. Flags went off as his hyperactive perceptive abilities dissected the few seconds of activity between the door opening and the woman crossing her legs.

The way she walked in her shoes was the first thing he noticed. The slight wobble that would've been ignored by everyone else that said she wasn't used to wearing heels that high. However the muscles in her legs betrayed that she had a powerful physique. Her calves were well formed like... an athlete's. Then there was her case. Not too out of place on the outside looking in, but it seemed somewhat better weighed down than as if it carried simple posters and cardboard. Further, she opened with the fact that she wanted to keep this meeting short which raised the question, why bring presentation aids in the first place then? If she meant to keep it short she also probably would have begun with setting up the posters for him to see. On top of that, presentations were usually a thing reserved for board meetings or pitches and this was a much more private meeting. Then of course there was the entrance itself. Even if it was meant to be speedy, there was no offered handshake between the two of them, a very common western practice that had even infected the east. Which played off of his next idea. Her name, Saileyra. Etymologically it was difficult to place and she hadn't given a last name at all, which was a little odd for this sort of thing. From her face, skin, breast size, and hair color he would've thought perhaps Israeli or some other middle eastern descent but no accent to work with either and her eyes were an abnormal color for the people of that area.

The blond's eyes hadn't missed the presence of her singular bodyguard which would have also meant that she was important and in need of protection or perhaps it was what she carried but either way, he hadn't attempted to make sure the office was secure at all. Curious. Did that mean that his position was usually outside the room because he wasn't supposed to hear what was about to be said or was it because he'd just delivered his package to its intended location? Was this about to turn into an assassination attempt?

Reaching nonchalantly into his pocket he slipped his personal phone from his pocket. It may have been a little rude but as it stood, his life could very well have been in danger and time therefore was of the essence and social niceties could hold the fuck on for the approximate three seconds this would take him.

His personal smartphone was the old version of his own Smart Box, a miniaturized supercomputer spliced with a smart phone so it was a quick matter to access the security system of the building. He'd taken a lot of time to set up the security for the entrances and exits of the building and the floor of his office so it was much better than the common measures. A few flicks and he had a camera on the bodyguard. Another flick and he was being scanned for broadcasts looking for a phone or the radio signal his earpiece was patched into only to discover...it wasn't even on nor did the guy have phone on him which wasn't too abnormal for a high security job Adam supposed but another flag to add to the rest. Constant connection to the web of internet and radio signals that wrapped the planet was a practical necessity in the First world. These two were anomalies.

" Excuse me. Sorry about that. Just figured I should turn off the ringer for you. We don't need any interruptions. It's nice to meet you as well, Saileyra was it? Beautiful name. But anyhow, I presume you mean the US Military? And what do the men and women of the service need from Duplicity Enterprises? Or if you prefer we can make this meeting even faster and skip the pretense that you're here to talk about some military related proposal and you can tell me who exactly you are and why you're here?" the blond genius offered with a slight smile, placing his phone beside himself on the couch.

Though he wasn't showing it at all, he was a little nervous or perhaps anxious was the better term in this instance. His nerves were ready to respond to any command his mind sent them and he didn't feel any need to be afraid, so nervous didn't make sense here he thought as he tried to keep his muscles from tensing. Beneath his clothes the majority of his nanite constructed Singularity suit had already crept across his flesh and empowered the barrier around itself. He was too confidently sure that his identity as Plural was still unknown to think that his second life had anything to do with this. He'd put a lot of effort into keeping that secret or so he thought. That meant that if these two were here to kill him they probably weren't aware of his superhuman ability and he intended to keep it that way. All he needed to do was determine what it was they wanted and then dangle it in front of them to regain the leverage of the situation. For the moment all he had were his wits which were enough to unsettle most anyone when he brought them to full bear. In all honesty, he'd just taken five seconds to dismantle the well constructed ruse set in front of him so he wasn't too concerned yet.

"Don't feel bad. The cracks in your disguise were really small and I did cheat just a little bit just now, what with the phone and all but it's whatever. Let's just not insult each other here and I'll see if I can get you what you want without too much trouble, eh?"

As the woman moved and shed her disguise, removing the unstable shoes, the claustrophobic jacket and relaxed her posture to something far more casual, an impression of arrogance wafted over Adam. This woman had some air of authority or power around her even when the facade fell off. He was mildly impressed though not at all intimidated.

There was little reason to be on his part as she had come to proposition him for his aid which meant her power base, though stable, wasn't nearly as complete as she wanted it to be. The ball was in his court and the leverage had passed to him. He had...no, he was what she wanted. The question, however, wasn't really about him. The question was what this OCEAN could do for him. As it stood Saileyra's intel was seemingly lacking because she had only come to requisition his intellect, meaning she was unaware of his other 'talents' as it were. She was hoping to dangle a challenge in front of him and see if he'd bite by baiting him with futuristic technology supposedly beyond his imagination.

"Well I'm intrigued. This isn't the first time my... aid has been requested in certain endeavors to maintain some semblance of balance in the world. What I want to know more about is the philosophy behind your organization. You see threats and wish to balance them. How exactly do you intend to accomplish that goal without losing your own sense of morality? I could agree that civilian deaths are inevitable what with so many selfish and dangerous individuals with, for lack of a better term, super powers running around but shouldn't it be percieved as a failure if you have to go through the innocent to reach your target? You want me to produce technology, namely I'd imagine implements of war, for you and to handle the technology you already possess. As far as I can tell you have no sanctions from any standing government to carry out your task. At least not any official ones, so you're asking me to partake in grand scale vigilante anti-terrorism on the grounds that I get to play with cool toys. So what I think......is that you need to convince me a little further. Sway me to your cause," he said leaning back into a more comfortable position.

Chances were in Sai's favor that the genius would lend her his skills but he still wanted to make her sweat. He had never been the sort ot just roll over and take it or jump into things without any real information.

Adam's gaze moved away from the woman before him to briefly glance over the ...man? who had accompanied her. It was clear from a cursory glance at his face that the man had something odd about him as he possessed red irises. He had, of course, also noticed the magenta hue of Saileyra's as they spoke but anomalous eye coloration told him little given the plethora of potentials that those could point to.

The more masculine figure's costume was much easier to pull off it seemed as little was really out of place with it on the surface which made Adam wonder if the other person wasn't really pretending to serve as a body guard. Granted the man who stood in the suit was also most likely less skilled at passing off a ruse than his mistress but then again acting was seemingly a rare talent. Pushing his lightspeed thoughts deeper into his conscious mind, the blond returned his attention to his guest properly as she spoke up, nearly making his eye twitch.

Had she really just suggested that he had made a misconception and worse still, a common one at that? As she continued he didn't hear her exactly say he was wrong just that he misunderstood, passing off his probing about sanctions from the government as unimportant but also not denying that she didn't have any.

"You said worked for. Who was it that previously employed you and why'd you go separate ways? This isn't exactly an acquired taste what you're suggesting here. You've done this before. Judging from you musculature and antsy nature, you move around a lot, indicative of a warrior or someone who doesn't enjoy standing still at all, meaning you may lead but you do so from a front line position rather than strategically from some other vantage point like most commanders. So I'd propose that OCEAN is a paramilitary organization and a relatively shorthanded one at that. Further you're looking for exceptional people which means you've probably added several metahumans to your roster yes? Mostly a measure to even the playing field. Tell me about them if you would please. Tell me about your resources and exactly how you intend to have me help you out," the youthful CEO posited as his mind pieced together further clues. There was no reason to not lay most of the cards on the table here. She didn't want to play his 3rd favorite game so he was going to treat this exactly like what it was. An interview.

The only question that remained was who was interviewing who?

Adam could respect this Saileyra a little more as she explained herself a little further. Espionage which meant she, much like he, understood the importance of discretion and further, information. She'd been inserted directly into clandestine danger before and was considered excellent at it it seemed. The title 'Ultimate Weapon' got thrown around a lot but those who received the moniker tended to deserve it for some reason.

The mystery behind her eyes however was also quickly revealed along with admission of some sort of time dilation involved with her arrival to their time. That raised the question of past, future or entirely unrelated timeline but he quickly decided it was mostly irrelevant. This woman was very interesting and probably held a few months' worth of questions and answers for him to explore if he had the time but as it stood, she was quite unlikely to subject herself to his 'research'. A shame really but what was he to do?

The dark haired soldier before him also went on to divulge further information about the inner workings of her organization, something that worried him. She was very forthcoming with this information. She was being quite presumptuous that he would accept her offer which also worried him. What was it she'd attempt if he declined the offer? The entirety of these 6 divisions were composed of metahumans who could have any number of abilities, least among them mind wiping he was sure.

"Extraterrestrial time hopper. Exotic," he spoke up following her latest round of revelations before continuing, with a playful twinkle in his eyes."Fine I don't doubt your credentials or your sincerity. If it's an elite taskforce the likes of which the world hasn't seen assembled in this age, I only have one more question for you. I'm sure it's going to come off rather selfish sounding, but what exactly do you know about me and my abilities? What drew you to me. Was it really just my ah...test scores I believe you referenced? What was it that set me apart from the others exactly. It's obviously not my money. I'm still technically underage by legal standards so I could be seen as a liability in some cases. I'll openly admit, few have shown the aptitude for learning or understanding I've actually bothered to reveal. So did someone vouch for me or was it something else?" he pressed, his forest green eyes focused solely on her as she answered.

"So, in short you picked me based on an educated guess? An assumption basically? Well then I suppose I'll lend you my assistance in your endeavors, because it seems you just might be in need of it. That statement will hold true as so long as I can trust you and the other operatives on your team. You said you wanted me to plan and make tactical decisions for you. Well, I'll let you know that you've stumbled across perhaps the greatest resource you could find for such a thing, Saileyra," the CEO replied, rising to his feet.

No one had ever deduced or suggested to him before that he might well be metahuman based solely on his intellect before and even further, she had posited that he was a masked 'vigilante'. These were both facts that were as plain as day from the outside looking in, in Adam's opinion. Sure he hid it well enough but given that he used his powers to have one of himself wandering around in civvies, putting together that a duplicating superhuman was also smart enough to use his abilities to put together a viable alibi was as simple as breathing.

"Now, I must admit I feel the need to educate you on something. The reason superhumans wear costumes and masks to go out and do what they do is a very simple combination of ideas. What they do is fundamentally illegal on some level, and for the most part, they don't intend to undermine the society they're apart of but they do by using their abilities to thwart crimes. they take justice and authority into their own hands and avoiding persecution requires anonymity. Further, do you see how most people out there treat celebrities? Paparazzi, stalkrs and the like would make it impossible to have a bit of respite from the responsibility and would put families and friends in direct danger. Masks create a wall between a superhuman's lives. That wall is integral to mental health, safety, and the freedom to clock out as it were. Does that make sense to you?" the boy asked as he strode over to counter against one of the walls. With a wave of his hand, a menu of sorts appeared in the air in front of him.

"Now that we're on friendlier terms, can I offer either of you a beverage?" Adam asked. Of course it would've been more socially normal to have asked at the start of the meeting, but as soon as the two had walked in earlier, he hadn't quite decided if he needed to subdue them but they'd, made quite a bit of progress over the last few minutes of conversation. It was very nice that this Saileyra woman had a good understanding of the need for expedience, he thought in passing, a smile crossing his lips.

"Hmm. Domestic or imported? Ah never mind, you seem like you'd like a good import," Adam queried as he mulled over Sai's most recent words. A few strokes of the holographic menu and swipes of his hand later, and a condensating pair of bottles were resting on the counter, one water the other a European beer.

As he turned with them in hand, his mind toyed back and forth with the chances that all of her operatives were as loyal as she would have liked. The blond was well aware of the annoying habit of the human psyche that compelled it to lie and steal and swindle and pretend. Then again there was not much that implied all of her agents were human. She wasn't and little dictated that they had to be either, though from the sound of things, she had acquired the majority of them once arriving in this timeline.

"So I take it that in your timeline, things don't go well for the planet? I'd normally ask for proof but well, the signs are evident. Most of the people on this planet, powered or otherwise, have a tendency to forget that this lump of water and carbonates is inherited by their sons and daughters. It's always about the now and the immediate and never the future but it's just how we're hardwired I guess. Most can't seem to fathom what the world should be like in 20 years but then again they also have little ability to influence the world around them well enough to be able to decide, not predict mind, to dictate what things will be in 20 years. Luckily, they've got people like you and me," the teen mused as he walked back to his guest and handed her her beer, easily peeling the metal cap away with a pair of fingers, a feat of strength and precision any human would've been jealous of.

The genius had to admit, it was nice to be joining a group of superhumans again. Though he hadn't met them yet, he knew that working with them would be an excellent experience and if he could help it, one that would keep the world spinning on its axis until the sun went nova. The Talons had been an interesting rouping, but the honest truth was that they were a bunch of children, and a robot, who weren't fully ready to cope with consequences and necessary decisions needed to make a difference in the world. The way Saileyra spoke however, OCEAN would be composed of adults who knew precisely what they were signing up for and had been dealing with the sorts of consequences he knew were needed.

"Do you have a track record as of yet? When you said earlier that you weren't famous I assumed that meant you're still a little green when it comes to saving the world. " he asked turning to move towards the line of windows that overlooked an expanse of the city and in the distance, a teal colored strip of the Pacific.