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After four days I have 4463 words. I need to average at least 700 more words a day than I've been doing if I'm to make the full word count this year. Meanwhile, here's some intrigue:
Victor was just then sitting at a glass and stone table in a well-appointed hotel suite, subdued in colour and lush in texture. Tasteful framed paintings of no subject in particular jeweled the walls. The chairs were sheathed in raw silks, and here and there tropical sprigs of pseudo-ikebana adorned a polished horizontal surface. Stairs led to a second level, and presumably a bedroom full of astronomically high thread count sheets and a hooker or two; or possibly a sniper ready in waiting. You never could tell with El Hazard; for this reason Victor carefully maintained eye contact with the older villain across the table in a tailored suit and a rather ostentatious red and gold tie, a sly allusion to his much better-known professional attire.
"You, sir," El Hazard was saying, "What exactly is it you do? The newspapers tell me you're some kind of ninja, but they're usually full of crap. Niinjas are usually full of crap too."
"I hide things," Victor answered, equivocating until he could decide what it was El Hazard wanted of him. Then he decided that if this was in any way a job interview, he'd better give a bit more detail. It was as well not to promise too much right off the bat. "I'm not invisible, but I can make still objects invisible."
"And what goddamn use is that, exactly?" inquired El Hazard. He was not disappointed as far as Victor could read in his pock-marked face; merely testing the waters. Victor cleared his throat.
"I can put hot items in storage until needed. Impossible to find, unless someone knows exactly where to look. I'm also in the business of building gadgets, any thing you might need for a ...project, I can place on the site ahead of time, ready and waiting for you or your men. Cameras. Weapons."
El Hazard remained silent for an uncomfortably long time. It was quite plainly a deliberate move. Then:
"I may have some work for you. Go back to your work and wait for a signal. My retainer will be delivered to you, the same way I first made made contact." No question of Yes or No. A monolith wearing a suit almost as expensive as that of his boss materialized at Victor's elbow, saying nothing. He didn't need to. Victor left the suite without a word or a handshake, but he knew that however he himself might feel about it, El Hazard now considered him an employee.
Victor was just then sitting at a glass and stone table in a well-appointed hotel suite, subdued in colour and lush in texture. Tasteful framed paintings of no subject in particular jeweled the walls. The chairs were sheathed in raw silks, and here and there tropical sprigs of pseudo-ikebana adorned a polished horizontal surface. Stairs led to a second level, and presumably a bedroom full of astronomically high thread count sheets and a hooker or two; or possibly a sniper ready in waiting. You never could tell with El Hazard; for this reason Victor carefully maintained eye contact with the older villain across the table in a tailored suit and a rather ostentatious red and gold tie, a sly allusion to his much better-known professional attire.
"You, sir," El Hazard was saying, "What exactly is it you do? The newspapers tell me you're some kind of ninja, but they're usually full of crap. Niinjas are usually full of crap too."
"I hide things," Victor answered, equivocating until he could decide what it was El Hazard wanted of him. Then he decided that if this was in any way a job interview, he'd better give a bit more detail. It was as well not to promise too much right off the bat. "I'm not invisible, but I can make still objects invisible."
"And what goddamn use is that, exactly?" inquired El Hazard. He was not disappointed as far as Victor could read in his pock-marked face; merely testing the waters. Victor cleared his throat.
"I can put hot items in storage until needed. Impossible to find, unless someone knows exactly where to look. I'm also in the business of building gadgets, any thing you might need for a ...project, I can place on the site ahead of time, ready and waiting for you or your men. Cameras. Weapons."
El Hazard remained silent for an uncomfortably long time. It was quite plainly a deliberate move. Then:
"I may have some work for you. Go back to your work and wait for a signal. My retainer will be delivered to you, the same way I first made made contact." No question of Yes or No. A monolith wearing a suit almost as expensive as that of his boss materialized at Victor's elbow, saying nothing. He didn't need to. Victor left the suite without a word or a handshake, but he knew that however he himself might feel about it, El Hazard now considered him an employee.
