AN: Nothing mine, not making money. I am merely borrowing Tesla and the worlds of Sanctuary and MFU for a bit and take them for a little spin. ;)
„Go away, I'm busy."
Tesla brushed past the man who had just come gliding into his lab oily as a sardine. He made sure to pass by him close enough to make the other step back without risk of accidentally touching that disgustingly modern suit. The fashion of the 1960's was truly the worst since cravats went out of style. He wiped his hands on his handkerchief anyway once he reached the other side of the cramped room.
"But Mr. Mandić, you haven't even heard my offer yet. I am sure…"
Nikola made an impatient gesture with his hand while searching for something on the table.
"Spare me. I am not interested, no matter what you are offering. Now go away."
He wondered how this person had even heard of him, let alone why he would think that Dane Mandić had anything worth bargaining for. He obviously couldn't go by the name of Tesla any longer since that man died alone and impoverished in a New York hotel in 1943.
He heard the funeral service was quite nice.
Nikola made a show of ignoring the intruder and started organizing his pens by size and in groups of three. It would not do to lose his temper and rip out the ape's throat. Especially because it would create such a mess. Blood stains would never come out of the carpet.
Who could that tall obnoxious fool be working for? Surely he wasn't from the government. Not from one of those confusing organisations that went by acronymic three-or-more-letter-names and yet somehow were all the same underneath.
A private group then. And surely this was merely a foot man and not the head of whatever corporation or rich men's club he represented here.
"We know you are short on funds, Mr Mandić, and that your experiments are costly. We are willing to finance any and all of your projects as long…"
A sharp glare and an angry sound stopped the sales pitch mid-sentence.
"As long as you can then come and take my work and use it for whatever villainous scheme you are hatching? Do I look like a fool to you?"
He stepped around the table and stalked towards the stranger angrily.
"My work is my own and I am not for sale. Especially not if your kind is making the offer."
The man nervously straightened his skinny tie. Had he imagined it or did Mandić's eyes look darker all of a suddenly? He resisted the urge to step back again. But only just. He told himself that he really had nothing to fear of a short and skinny looking foreigner.
"Now, really, there is no reason to feel insulted by our offer. We merely wish to support unappreciated genius like your own. A mind like yours should be able to follow every idea without having to worry about such mundane things as money."
"You are the fool then. That was never the way of the world and it never will be. Progress has always been won through hardship and adversary. And more fool whoever believes that what you are offering does not come with so many strings attached that you can control the poor soul like a puppet master controls his puppets."
"No, that is not our intention at all, I assure you. We don't want you to work for us. We want you to work for yourself. We shall support whatever use you have in mind for your inventions. We might make suggestions for their use but we'll of course leave it all up to you, in the end."
The stranger put on his best car-salesman-smile, designed to look trustworthy and friendly, yet falling short on both accounts.
Nikola went past him again to pick up a half empty bottle of very dry red wine that was standing on the window sill. He filled a wine glass precisely three-quarters full then swirled the liquid around the glass a bit before taking a sip. Only after thoroughly appreciating the taste did he turn back to his unwanted guest.
"Why are you still here? Haven't I made it clear enough that I have no interest to fall into your trap? Surely you are not so stupid that I have to use pictograms?"
The fake smile turned into a much more real offended frown. Tesla smirked and took another sip of wine.
"There really is no reason to insult me, Mr Mandić. This is just a friendly offer from a group who has been following your work for a little while now. We think a partnership would be mutually beneficial. We also realize that with the trips you take to Europe and Asia regularly and your good taste in wine you have been more than once forced to earn your rent by … shall we say…being very good at counting cards?"
Nikola gripped the glass tighter, having to use every effort to remain calm.
"And now you are accusing me of cheating at cards? I give you exactly five seconds to leave my lab before I am forced to remove you myself."
Seeing that the carrot wouldn't yield results the intruder switched to the stick.
"We are not the kind of people you want to anger, Mr Mandić. You should want to stay on our good side because our enemies tend to have a very short life expectancy."
He followed the thread with his most menacing glare which only managed to make Tesla roll his eyes.
"Three seconds…..two….one…zero."
Nikola grabbed the modified Taser lying on the work bench and without another warning shot the intruder with it.
As soon as the body on the ground stopped convulsing he walked over with a disgusted look on his face. He checked for a pulse and when he was satisfied that he had not killed the stupid oaf he took out his wallet to see which organisation exactly he had just made his enemy. The only business cards the man carried had a stylised picture of a bird in flight on it. No name, a post box address and a New York phone number.
He sighed deeply. It seemed he would have to go through the annoying steps of going underground again. What a fortunate coincidence that a lead to the lost city of Bhalasaam had just turned up. And a very promising lead at that. He flicked the card onto the unconscious man and started packing.
