Brick by bloody brick

Mathers looked up at the building before him and frowned. It was one of those modern, trendy buildings with weird angles and a color scheme that was supposed to scream 'dangerous' in the light of a neon sign. In the middle of the day it just looked... normal. He checked the business card the receptionist at the civic center had given him and back up at the multistory nightclub. It seemed like a regular nightclub but he'd been warned again and again that his 'kind' wouldn't be allowed within which seemed odd given that he was about as normal as you could get. Well, at least that's what he assumed.

He approached the building and knocked sharply on the front door and asked for a Mr.... crap, what was his name again? Digging through his things he found the email printout, ah right, Gabriel Baltimore. After getting an appraising gaze from the doorman he was eventually let in and sat at one of the clubs tables and looked around with a soft whistle while the man went to find the owner. Even without the myriad of strobes flashing he could tell this place was a cut above the other clubs in the area. The decor was trendy without being gaudy, the place was pristine, and from what he could tell the bar itself was stocked with everything a customer could want.


For all of it's splendor and grandeur however, something felt off. The hairs on the back of his neck had stood up as soon as he'd entered, and the doorman himself had felt strange, almost emotionless. He shook his head and tried to relax. His superiors had joked that the island was full of demons and strange creatures of all sorts, a poor attempt at hazing the rookie he assumed. After all, there were no such thing as monsters... right?

@Poppy

Mathers took the man's hand and shook it firmly in a business-like manner and took a seat next to Mikhainon. "Oh, nothing for me thanks." He smiled at the man's question. "No, no of course not Mr. Baltimore. Your nightclub is perhaps one of the most code adhering businesses on the island."

In truth the place had seemed almost too good to be true. Every record he'd come across had been in perfect order and filed appropriately. A more cynical man than he might declare that alone to be indicative of something fishy.

"As I mentioned in the email I am an architect of sorts. More specifically I am a part of the Manta Carlos Disaster Recovery and Prevention division. Our job is to try to protect the island from the dangers both internally and externally and to help rebuild after the fact. The recent tsunami, for instance, was a big project for us."

He paused and gave the owner an appraising look. Mathers was generally quiet about his own abilities and he had no idea who on the island might actually have powers of their own or if people even generally knew about them. Best tread carefully here.

"I... this might sound odd, sir, but are you aware of... well... gifted individuals on the island?" he asked, hesitantly.

@Poppy

Mathers nodded, it was odd that the nightclub had weathered the storm with so little damage despite many of the neighboring buildings being washed out with the tsunami. Whoever had reinforced the place was to be commended.

When the picture was produced and shown to him he glanced at it with practiced interest that he used whenever it came to proud parents and blinked in surprise. Well, okay so she had some bony protrusions in her head... and the tail, THAT was probably one of those fashion things kids wore to stand out among their peers, yeah, and her feet... well, maybe they were... specialized...shoes or something...

Holy fuck I'm dealing with a demon.

The continued explanation left him in a minor daze. He'd known there was something a LITTLE off about the island when he arrived but he'd thought that meant people with skin conditions or mutations that made it hard to fit into everyday society, not that people worshipped demons enough to start mutilating their bodies to look like them! How the hell was he supposed to-

Mathers sat stunned for a few moments then drew in a deep breath. There would be time to freak the hell out later. He was at a bar with a demon worshipper going over a business proposition, as long as he didn't offer his soul or anything he would probably be fine.

"I...see. Well thank you Mr. Baltimore, I'll... I'll have to process that later." Well this wasn't going precisely as planned. Still, cultist or not he could still benefit from his initial offer. "Since you already know about powers existing I guess that makes this easy. I'm an artificier of sorts. I can expedite repairs to any building given the right materials. That, of course, is standard. Part of my job and all that.

What I wanted to offer YOU specifically is a further extension of my abilities. I can, for lack of a better word, attune myself to an area and this provides a series of benefits to both myself and the building I attach myself to. First of all damage from weather and the general passage of time halts. Mildew doesn't grow, leaks don't develop if they weren't already there, simply quality of life things. In addition I get the sense of the overall state of the building and can respond quickly if something directly threatens it."

He took a breath and plunged on, trying not to think about what might go on here in the late, late hours of the night.

"What I get out of this is the ability to transport myself to the location, inside or out at nearly any time. Of course I'd be appearing outside out of courtesy but you should be made aware that I CAN appear inside if need be. Your club is set in the middle of the strip and would be an ideal place for me to pop through if I need to get anywhere downtown. On top of the passive protection of the building I would place the safety and wellbeing of this place on a higher priority than others in the event of an emergency. Does... does that interest you at all?"

@Poppy