Corporate capers

"The corporation seemed to have taken on a monstrous and inhuman character, like a thing out of primal myth or cosmic legend, whose very name invoked dread and unease in those who dared to speak it."

Vincent Morrow, occult physician, was still in a somber mood an hour or so later. He replayed the conversation with the girl over in his mind, he needed to come up with a plan for that particular issue but as of yet nothing obvious was forthcoming. He sighed and leaned his chin onto his hand and stared out of the window of his blue classic convertible. It was weird not to be the one driving this particular car he mused watching the dark rain soaked and stained buildings pass by as they drove through the streets of Arkham. Steel gray rain clouds, remnants of the big storm, continued a dull drizzle that padded gently on the folded roof top above him. Outside a slightly damp chilly breeze buffeted the pedestrians.

Beside him, looking very scrubbed up in a crisp looking suit and tie, Eric Gast lifted one hand from the wheel and inserted two fingers into the neck of his collar, pulling the material away from his throat a couple of times. He made a face as Morrow turned his attention to watch him. "I feel like my neck's in a sling." The paramedic muttered, stretching his neck slightly.

Despite himself Morrow gave a slight smirk. "It's not so bad and besides It won't be for long, this is the last company. If we don't find anything here then we are back to square one with zip."

Gast cast a glance at his traveling companion. "That's easy for you to say, all you did was change your lab coat for a jacket. Which I have to say…if we added a cane and switched your tie out for a bolo tie you'd look like Colonel Saunders." He watched road and added in a mutter "A creepy Colonel Saunders."

Morrow pursed his lips "I could do without the fashion critique thanks." He grumped picking a spec of fluff off of his jacket sleeve. As Eric chuckled he added "Besides you were the one that insisted I ditch the lab coat. This is your doing."

"Well if we are going undercover as interested investors it makes sense to look the part."

"Hrumph" Morrow responded, crossing his arms and turning to look back out of the window. "I've invested in plenty of things without dressing myself up like this."

"Dressing yourself…" Eric gave him an incredulous look "…You changed your jacket and took off the damned gloves for once, hardly a massive makeover!" He shook his head, bringing the car to a stop at a red light.

"Is it my fault my wardrobe is more sophisticated than yours and you only apparently wear a suit for court dates?"

Eric scowled and turned to look at the dark haired man. He opened his mouth to respond with some scathing comment about the Doctor and caught the expression on the older man's face. His brow was furrowed and despite his retorts he was clearly lost in thought. Feeling the annoyance drain slightly Eric gave him a sympathetic look instead. "Thinking about Harri?" He asked.

"No." The response was immediate, lighting quick almost, giving Eric his answer. "Why would I be?" Morrow said without looking over.

The Light turned green and traffic moved again. Eric gave his shoulders a slight shrug. ""Just wondered. You're both very alike, you know."

"We are nothing alike." Morrow said flatly

"Ok." Eric agreed. "I just meant the both of you seemed to be getting on well enough before…"

"…Before she proved how dangerous she has the potential to be?" Morrow interrupted.

"I was going to say before you insisted on continuing the exam."

Morrow did turn to look at him again at this. "Meaning what?" He bristled.

"Meaning…well…now don't fly off the handle but do you think that maybe if you'd have taken a slight break when she said she was tired you could have avoided the whole thing?"

Morrow stiffened, he seemed to be pulling his emotions back in, retracting the outburst Eric had been waiting for before it came out. After a few seconds his face set into an impassive sort of expression. "Regardless of what happened or why, she is not human, she is dangerous and therefore needs to be treated as such. You are not to go into her room again unless I say otherwise."

"Fine" Eric sighed; they had already argued about that point after she had collapsed and the maelstrom of magic had dropped off suddenly as if someone had shut a window on it. Morrow wouldn't even let him approach the prone form of the girl on the floor, ordering him back and dealing with her himself. He had been permitted to help move her back to her room and then been cast out, forbidden from entering again. "But Eventually you'll need me to go in to do something or change the bed or whatever. And you need to think about what you are going to do long term. You can't just keep her in that room indefinitely."

"This isn't what we are here for, stay focused on the task at hand." Morrow said decisively, ending the conversation.

Carefully Gast eased the car into a parking space. "Ok." He said again "but you know I'm right."

The revolving door into the building moved soundlessly admitting both Morrow and Eric into a brightly lit marble lobby. Gleaming white walls and a black floor dark as the abyss gave the place a cavernous sort of feeling, making the space look bigger than it naturally was. It was lit from high above by a huge opulent glinting chandelier. There were large leafed potted plants in the corners and a heavyset desk in front of two shiney black elevator doors but no other furniture. The sole occupant of the lobby appeared to be a man with a gray uniform and peaked hat sitting behind the desk.

The man gave Morrow and Eric a quick appraising look up and down then looked back at the crossword he was working on as if he had deemed them unconcerning.

Morrow and Eric exchanged a look and with a raised eyebrow each approached. Once they were directly in front of him they waited. Morrow cleared his throat expectantly.

The peaked hat man gave a sigh and put the crossword to one side. "Welcome to Synchrony Cybernetics. How can I help you today?"

"Good day gatekeep. We, my colleague and myself, are eccentric rich types who have more money than we know what to do with. We have become interested in investing with your company as opposed to buying a strip mall or a seat at a million dollar poker game. You know how it is," Morrow said smoothly, leaning on the desk with one elbow and looking around in a bored fashion as if the grand opulence of the lobby did little to impress him. "If you'd be kind enough to direct us."

The man and Eric both blinked at Morrow. Eric recovered quickly however and cleared his throat "We're here to talk to Mr Carter." He added.

"Uhhh…" the guard said, apparently derailed by Morrow's statement, "I'll need to see your ID and I'll need to search you both before you go up that includes your bag…" he said looking at the Gladstone in Morrow's right hand. "And I'll need to confirm your appointment." He added looking at a huge leather bound ledger book in front of him on the desk.

Again Eric and Morrow exchanged a look. Morrow rolled his eyes and put his hand into the inside jacket pocket.

The guard ran his finger down a page of the ledger, he picked up a telephone handset and lifted it to his ear when a cough drew his attention up from his pages to the men once more. The older one with dark hair held out two fingers with some folded notes between them to him. Licking his suddenly dry lips the guard kept his eyes fixed on the money as he replaced the handset in its cradle. He reached his hand out to take the notes and made eye contact with Morrow. He blinked and stared for a second as if unsure of what he was doing.

"Now, how about you skip all of that hassle and open the elevators for us" Morrow said with a smile "There's a good chap."

A few minutes later, as they ascended in the privacy of the mirrored elevator cab Eric turned to his employer seemingly nonplused. "What was that?"

"What?" Morrow asked, nonchalantly checking the watch on his wrist.

"Back There! The gatekeep thing and the money? You know I called and made us an appointment. They had a note of us, there was no need to bribe the guy."

"Maybe, but I didn't want him poking around in my bag and at least now if there was any suspicion about our arrival it'll be quelled."

"You think? I'm surprised the guy didn't just have us thrown out."

"And if he had opened my bag and saw it was bigger on the inside? Do you think he would have let us on by then?"

Eric ran a hand over his hair. "Why'd you bring it then!"

"Pfft like I'm going to wander into potential enemy territory without my tools!" He turned his head to frown at Eric. "Are you feeling alright?"

Eric rolled his eyes. "You could have totally blown our cover!"

"I doubt it. You are thinking so one dimensionally, I just added credence to our backstory, is all."

"How do you figure?" Eric growled

"Simple, no one in their right mind would turn up impersonating anyone who was possibly up to corporate sabotage or espionage and act in such a manner ergo we must be telling the truth."

Eric looked at the other man as if he couldn't believe his ears.

"Besides, nothing says shhh like 500 and a mild Hypnotic trance."

"You gave him how much!? And hypnotized him?! Why!? How!?"

"Well technically it's called glamouring, the process begins with eye contact between a practitioner and a respondent. Once eye contact is made, the respondent is held in a trance, making them susceptible to the power of suggestion, until the glamour session is ended. The money is just an insurance policy in the event it didn't stick." Morrow sniffed and checked his watch again.

"I thought glamouring was making something look different." Eric said looking confused.

"Oh you've been paying attention, ok Glamouring is a supernatural form of mental compulsion or influence as explained that tends to be specific to vampires however as demonstrated can be learned by intelligent beings such as myself, whereas A Glamour is a spell which visually changes the appearance of something whilst not changing its actual form. Quite different."

Eric stared a moment. "Why couldn't we have done that for this then?"

"Because A) only I have the ability to cast said glamour and it's tiresome to cast and maintain one for others and B) where's the fun in that?"

Again, as often happened when his employer discussed magic Eric mentally had to remind himself that this was all real and he wasn't standing aside a mad man. Well…

"Ok fine…" he said "…but from now on stick to the story. I made the appointment under the name Kipps so try not to make any more ad-libbed changes or acts of magic to the script ok?"

Morrow gave a slightly wicked grin. "Sure. Whatever you say."

Any return from Eric had to wait however as the elevator came to a smooth stop on the top floor and the doors slid seamlessly open into a massive space with an array of frosted glass walls and doors.

Just across from the elevators was a mahogany desk that sat in the middle of the floor with a smattering of black leather sofas surrounding it. The rich scent of coffee wafted from a machine sat on a mahogany and glass cabinet in an alcove by the sofas. The noise of a water fountain faintly sounded from the right.

Morrow and Eric stepped out and looked around, the water feature was a waterfall sort of affair built into the only solid wall. The water cascaded from the ceiling into a deep crevice set into the floor. It was lit from behind somewhere with colour changing bulbs changing the water from pinks to blues to greens to yellows.

At the desk a young woman in business attire with her fair hair tied up in a messy bun bounced to her feet, tapping an earpiece she wore as she did so. She gave them both a bright smile as they approached.

"Good afternoon, Welcome to Synchrony Cybernetics. How may I assist you gentlemen?" She chirped in a bubbly voice, eerily similar to the words her colleague had used downstarirs, she gave a wide smile.

Morrow and Eric exchanged one brief glance before the Doctor stepped forward. "Hi there, I'm Doctor Vincent Morrow and this is my employee, Mister Kipps."

Eric tightened his fists and fought the urge to slap a hand to his forehead instead he settled for what he hoped was a believable smile.

"I'm an interested investor and part time inventor, I have some ideas that I'm looking to find a partner to develop and of course to invest in their company in return. Particularly the medical supply sector. I heard on the grapevine that your company has some exciting projects in that area. We have an appointment with the manager." Morrow said with a charming smile.

The woman's smile grew even wider as he finished "Oh Absolutely Doctor Morrow. My name is Hollie and I'll be happy to help you." She turned away to tap at a sleek looking computer for a moment. "Ahh yes I can see Mr Kipps made an appointment that's just fabulous!"

"Isn't it just?" Morrow agreed, matching her enthusiasm.

Hollie beamed at him "Just great!" She said as she tapped her earpiece and spoke quietly, so quietly that despite how close they were all they could hear over the fountain was her say something about next appointments and then she was nodding to some disembodied voice in her ear "Yes sir, of course sir. Right away sir." Her smile did not falter for one second during this. Tapping her earpiece again she refocused on Morrow and Eric

"I do apologize Doctor Morrow, Mister Kipps. Mister Carter, the manager, is currently in another meeting that has run on I'm afraid, but I've let him know that you're here. In the meantime if you'd like to wait here I'll just see that the meeting room prepared for you is ready and Mister Carter will join you there shortly. He is excited to talk with you and will be happy to tell you all about our projects." Hollie replied with a bubbly smile.

"That sounds great." Morrow agreed giving her another smile as she hurried off into one of the glass doors.

They sat down on one of the leather sofas to wait, taking in their surroundings. The walls were adorned with posters of various robotic exoskeletons and prosthetic limbs. It all looked very futuristic and advanced and yet there were no other personnel milling around. In a few of the frosted glass offices they could just make out one or two shadows moving from time to time but that was the only sign of life.

"Inventor?" Eric hissed. Morrow shrugged as if it mattered little and said nothing exposed in the open as they were. He took on his bored visage again but Eric was poised at the edge of his seat. The palms of his hands had started to become clammy just as it had done the last two companies they had interviewed only this time it was worse as for whatever reason the Doc had decided to act weirdly this time! He took a deep breath and tried to steady his nerve, he was not cut out for espionage.

They didn't wait long before Hollie was back beckoning them through the frosted glass door she had exited by which it transpired led into a corner office. Two chairs sat opposite a third around a carved and impressive desk, she ushered them to the seats.

"Please make yourself comfortable. Can I get you both anything to drink while you wait?"

"A coffee would be fantastic." Morrow said "A double espresso, black. Actually make it a triple, three sugars."

"Coming right up. And you Mr Kipps?" She turned her beaming smile to Eric.

"Oh, just a plain coffee and cream, no sugar for me, thank you."

"Of course sir I'll be right back." She said and closed the door behind her as she left leaving them in the room alone.

It surprised Eric for a moment that they would just be left sitting unsupervised in one of the offices. Then he reminded himself of who they were supposed to be and that likely there was CCTV somewhere. Not that there was much to get into in the room itself anyway. One wall was all window showing the gray drizzle of downtown Arkham while the other two were plain with non discriminate swirling colours that apparently passed for art work on them. There were no filing cabinets and the desk had no drawers or papers anywhere.

"You need to relax." Morrow said, leaning back comfortably in his chair and crossing his ankles. "Do you want me to give you something to help? I'm sure I have a tranquilizer in my bag."

Eric cast a glance at the door as if he was sure they would be heard. "What are you playing at?" He hissed quietly

"You can talk normally. I cast a muffling spell, it'll disrupt any recording equipment and stop people hearing outside the door."

"When did you do that?"

"When we came into the room."

Eric frowned slightly. "I didn't see you perform any magic." He said his voice was still low just in case.

"You seldom do." Morrow said surveying the art canvases on the wall.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, just that you don't always notice when I do magic, it's not really your fault you're still learning and not all magic is slow. That's the point of sleight of hand after all."

Eric took a second to digest this and found himself counting slowly to ten. "Did you cast this muffle thing the last place?"

"No. I didn't feel the need to."

Grinding his teeth Eric said "Why aren't you taking this seriously!"

"Oh contraire, I am taking this very seriously. Certainly, more seriously than I took the other two. There's something different about this place. Can't you feel It?"

Eric blinked and looked around the room as if searching for some elusive 'thing', a sign perhaps that this was any different than the other offices they had visited. More simplistic and with an air of expense perhaps but he knew deep down that's not what Morrow was talking about. "No." He said eventually

"Well believe me there is. Now just play it cool, follow my lead and try not to spill the coffee."

Before Eric could respond Hollie was back with a small silver tray. She placed a perfectly white espresso cup in front of Morrow on a saucer

"Shouldn't be too long now." She singsonged "can I get you anything else?"

"No thank you, this is more than sufficient." Morrow said, taking the cup and casting a glance up and down the young woman as she handed Eric a mug.

"Tell me Hollie, how long have you worked at Synchrony Cybernetics?"

Hollie seemed delighted at the opportunity to gush some more about her employer. "Oh about about 4 years now! I was 19 when I joined first as a deputy customer service associate and now I'm Mister Carter's executive assistant. I moved here from Seattle with him when the company opened this branch last year."

"Deputy customer service associate?" Eric asked

"Yes, I worked in one of the call centers dealing with customer enquiries. That sort of thing."

"Oh troubleshooting and faults and things?" He asked genuinely interested.

Her smile flickered a wavelength or two dimmer. "Oh dear no!" She laughed "we don't have troubleshooting because…well we don't have trouble here to shoot ahaha!"

"Ahaha…" Eric echoed somewhat confused by her comments and unsure what else to say. "You…don't get customers who…need help if their products don't work or break or whatever?"

"No, no, none of that." Hollie said, looking horrified at the very idea of faults of any kind. "No it was my job to put through calls and emails from parties like yourselves and organise the shipping of things ordered and ensuring each customer had a personal touch."

"I see." Morrow said frowning ever so slightly at her "And do you like working here?"

Again the smile dimmed for a split second before it ramped back up, so much so her eye teeth were visible. With a slightly blank expression otherwise the woman stared directly ahead and answered. "Oh yes of course I am very satisfied with my work here. Synchrony Cybernetics gives me the opportunity to explore my talents and climb the management ladder. I am so fortunate to be involved in something that is at the cutting edge of the industry, we are all making a better today by creating a better tomorrow."

Like an actress in a commercial. That was what Eric thought. That's what she was: an actresses playing a doting assistant in a commercial. He had a brief flash to the movie 'The Trueman show' stereotypical assistant pleased with visitors and her work. Pretty, efficient but too nicey-nice to be real. He glanced at Morrow with a slight frown.

The Doctor was watching the woman with the same small frown as before, his coffee still clutched in his fingers untouched. He had uncrossed his ankles and looked like he was about to stand when…

"Thank you Hollie, that will do." A slightly hoarse voice from the door said. "You can go about you other duties."

Both Morrow and Eric turned to see a balding man in a pair of hairy brown tailored pants and pink shirt in the doorway. A small puff of smoke came from the nearly done cigarette in his mouth.

Hollie looked up at him and blinked as if she was only just aware of where she was.

"Yes sir, Mister Carter." She said softly and moved past him to the wider office.

The man closed the door behind her and moved to the seat opposite Morrow and Eric. He stubbed out the cigarette in the ornate glass ashtray on the desk and offered his nicotine stained hand across to them

"Gentlemen." He nodded to each as he shook their hands. "I'm Richard Carter, manager here at Synchrony, sorry to have kept you waiting." He gave a dry cough and sat back in the chair to observe them both. "So, what brings you to our company?"

Morrow smoothly moved into his role almost before Eric could do more than place his untouched mug on the desktop.

"Glad to make your acquaintance Mr Carter. I'm Doctor Vincent Morrow, this is Edgar Kipps, my assistant. We were glad you could find time to meet with us today."

Carter nodded, his gaze lingering a moment on Eric and then back to Morrow. He didn't speak so Morrow continued.

"You may be aware of an old friend of mine, David Decker?" He asked.

Carter raised an eyebrow. "The stockbroker?" He asked.

"Yes." Morrow smiled. "He and I have done some transactions over the years and from time to time he throws me a hint of any opportunity that he thinks might be worth my time." Morrow spread his hands.

Carter watched Morrow placidly for another moment and Eric began feeling uneasy. He didn't seem to be buying it. The clammy feeling in his hands returned and he felt his stomach twist into a tight knot. Automatically he began checking the windows and the door for an exit point.

But no body guards swept in, the opposite happened in fact. Carter gave a hearty laugh, punctuated by another short cough, "and he sent you to me did he?"

Morrow nodded once "He did, I have some ideas he thought you would be interested in and some money that he was sure you would be."

Carter laughed again and took a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket. He put one into his mouth and offered the packet across the desk to Morrow.

The doctor scrunched his nose slightly and eyed the packet somewhat distastefully "No, thank you." He said

Carter shrugged, put the packet away and lit his cigarette drawing deep on it. "You're blunt aren't you Doctor. But I like that…How the hell is old Decker these days?" He asked around a plume of smoke

"A touch of rheumatoid arthritis, but his minds just as sharp." Morrow said

Carter nodded "That so? Well tell him I was asking for him when you next speak. Now I have to tell you that in terms of investment…we are a multimillion dollar company Doctor Morrow." He let the implication hang heavy in the air as he puffed on his cigarette.

The corners of Morrow's mouth turned up as if he understood the man's message and found it…quaint. He went into his pocket and withdrew a piece of folded A4 paper which he handed across the desk to Carter "I don't foresee that being an issue. Do you?" He said while Eric tried to keep his expression neutral as if this was not at all news to him.

Carter took the paper and, unfolding it, studied whatever was written there, his face broke into a smile and his posture in the chair relaxed.

"Excellent. No of course not, however you can understand why I should ask."

"Of course." Morrow nodded

"Some of the people who come to see me are not as well…aware shall we say of the…substantial commitment such a company would require from a would-be investor."

"I can imagine," Morrow replied, nodding again.

Carter drew on his cigarette and gave another dry cough. "Well then…to the other matter, what did Decker think you had that would be of interest to us?" He gave a devilish grin and pushed the folded

Paper back across to Morrow "Aside from your money of course."

Morrow pocketed the paper again and joined in the laugh at the man's last comment and continued "I own a private medical facility here in Arkham. I'm always on the lookout for new technology. What I heard is that you're doing some cutting-edge work in the field of cybernetics and that some of it might be complementary to my work. For the right price of course"

Mr. Carter nodded, taking a drag from his cigarette again. "you heard correctly our focus is primarily on medical applications, you've probably seen much of our work or that of our parent companies." He blew smoke a second and seemed to come to a decision about something. "We're also exploring some more... experimental areas I suppose you could call them, that I can give you more information about if you are so inclined."

He took another drag and waited for their responses

Morrow raised an eyebrow. "Experimental areas? What do you mean?"

This didn't seem to be the response Carter was waiting for because he coughed again and waved the hand with his cigarette dismissively. "Oh, nothing too outlandish. We're just exploring some ways to integrate cybernetic technology into other areas of life. But it's all still in the early stages. Forget I mentioned it."

Morrow nodded, and tiled his head slightly, a preorgiansed sign to Eric that the Paramedic understood. Mr. Carter was definitely hiding something.

"Problem Doctor?" Carter asked, his slightly wary posture back.

Morrow reached a hand over and rubbed his neck making a face. "Not really, long night on a particularly bad mattress, if you know what I mean."

Carter relaxed again, a smile on his face. "I see. The sort of night where you don't get much sleep but not because of the mattress? Well I hope your neck wasn't the only thing to get stiff!" He laughed and Morrow joined in again.

Eric's skin crawled slightly and he had to exert some effort to keep his expression neutral.

"Anyway…"Carter was saying "…that aside, was there a specific area of our work that interested you?"

Morrow and Gast exchanged a glance. They had to play their cards carefully here. "We were hoping to discuss the possibility of creating some specialized cybernetic… prosthetics for medical purposes," Gast said smoothly.

Carter's expression brightened. "Ah, I see. That's definitely an area we can help you with. I'd be happy to set up a meeting with our research and development team to discuss further. Have you any ideas as to specifically what you're looking for?"

To Eric's surprise Morrow went into his Gladstone and pulled out some sketches and what looked like a blueprint.

"May I?" He asked indicating the desk.

Carter merely nodded as if this was an expected move, taking a deep draw from the cigarette he coughed gently around the smoke some more and watched Morrow place his papers on the desk. He stood up to explore them when the Doctor was done.

Some twenty minutes later the two poured over Morrow's multi arm surgical back attachment. A device that even upside down looked to Eric like it was from an old Spider-Man comic. Something very similar to the sort of thing Doc Oc would wear. Something very similar to the squid things tendril back at Stonebride!

"This obviously would need to have gripping and exact precision movement." Morrow was saying, he was standing on Carter's side of the desk now while the man held up another blueprint. The doctor pointed "Some laser attachment abilities would also be useful. And those with a firmer grip here and here, so essentially you free up the hands of the surgeon but could still use retraction and suction. In essence a one man surgery machine that conveniently fits in a backpack."

Carter coughed around another cigarette. His first having joined the one he came in with in the ashtray. "Dunno about the backpack…seems clunky."

"If you have a way of making it more elegant please be my guest."

"Oh I'm sure we can think of something. Even if we have to look at grafting it onto the surgeon themselves." He grinned, his teeth were stained from a mixture of nicotine and coffee.

By his tone alone Eric wasn't sure if he was joking or not. He shivered as Morrow jovially shook his finger in a way that said 'aha you got me for a second.'

But before they could ascertain anymore a ringing sound from Carter's pocket diverted everyone's attention.

"Excuse me," Mr. Carter said, clearly irritated at the interruption. He took a slim vibrating metal flip phone out and opened it "Yes." He said brusquely "So? What's the problem? … Of course not. No. No, I'll be right there."

Mr. Carter hung up the phone and looked at Morrow and Gast apologetically. "I'm sorry, I have to go deal with an urgent matter. Can we reschedule this meeting for another time? Perhaps get some of the R and D boys in to look at your ideas Doctor?"

Morrow nodded. "Of course, however you'll understand if I don't want to leave the designs and if I seek other companies in the meantime."

Carter frowned, looking annoyed. He gave a short sigh as if in two minds about staying or going to deal with his problem. His hand clenched the phone. Indecision painted his features for another moment before they became firm. He gave a curt nod as if he expected nothing less. "Yes, regrettably, however I really must deal with this. Please understand that we are very interested in working with you, have your assistant." He nodded at Eric "Arrange something with Hollie and we will take things from there."

"Of course," Morrow said, standing up and taking Carter's offered hand shook it. As Carter left the office Morrow added conversationally "oh and Mr Carter?" The man paused in the door, "You should really see someone about that cough."

Carter's expression was unreadable but then he scowled and gave a nod as if he had heard it before. He didn't reply and simply exited the room.

In the silence of the office, as Morrow started putting his paper back into his bag, Eric ran a hand through his hair and stood to help. They didn't get any time to talk however as the assistant Hollie came bouncing back in to see if they needed anything further and set a date for their next meeting.

"Let's see…"She said, scrolling through an electronic diary. "Now you were very lucky to get a cancellation for today…Mr Carter is a very busy man. I'm afraid I have nothing for the next month…" she said, pouting and sounding genuinely upset at that fact.

"How about next month?" Morrow asked.

"Not a thing." She said scrolling "I am so sorry. Mr Carter is completely booked for the next three months." She looked genuinely apologetic "I am Sorry. There's nothing I can do."

They reassured her that it was fine and made an appointment for the next available slot. She insisted that she would call if anything opened up and showed them back to the elevator.

In silence they rode the elevator down and crossed the grand lobby. The guard in his hat was still sitting as they had left him. Slightly slack jawed, staring out over the top of his desk, his money still clenched in his hand. He didn't look at them as they reached the door.

"Ahh…He'll be ok in another hour or two." Morrow said to Eric's unspoken question.

Together they left the building and walked the short distance back to the car. It wasn't until he was seated inside with His hands on the wheel that Gast let loose a breath of relief and reached up to loosen the tie around his neck. He turned to Morrow. "Well, that went…well." He said.

"Yes." Morrow agreed "Very well. Almost too well."

"You aren't planning on waiting three months to see him again are you?"

"Of course not." Morrow shook his head.

"So now we go home and come back tonight to stake him out?" Eric asked

"Yes, gotta check in on The delinquent and Penny before we go back out." Morrow said.

Eric put the key in the ignition, "What did you show him?" He asked "On the piece of paper?"

Morrow was busy scrolling on his phone. "No idea…it has an illusory Script and a thought detection spell on it. He saw whatever it was that he wanted to see that would legitimately make sense. I imagine it had a lot of zeros however."

Eric blinked, "It was psychic paper?"

Morrow gave a small grin "Well done, yes for all intents and purposes it was psychic paper."

Eric pulled the car back out of its parking spot and, unsure what to say to that he settled for "Who are you calling?" as the Doc put his phone to his ear.

"A friend of mine over at Arkham PD, I want to see how much information we can get on Mr Carter before we come back."

"That may be the most surprising thing that's happened today." Eric muttered

"What's that?" Morrow asked absently as the phone rang out.

"The notion that You have other friends that I don't know about." Eric chuckled slightly and was saved by the small mercy of someone on the other end of the phone line saying "hello?"

"Darryl, it's Morrow…" The Doctor said with a withering glance at his driver. "I'm calling in a favor."