Circe, A Little Bit Of Your Time?

[CRBWildcat]

Code: Select all

To: (redacted)
From: shopkittyapex@infinitedefense.gmra

Circe, this is Callista. I'd like to discuss some business dealings with you. Meet me at Underground Apartment #2 beneath the White Sands Hotel at your earliest convenience. I took care of my shopping early, so I should be free the rest of the day if you want to get this done immediately.

Oh, and bring an eyewitness; this is fairly important. I went ahead and loosened the security in the entry chute, so the both of you can just slide on down into the living room.

--Your landlord

*Callista gives her message a quick proofread, then clicks 'Send' and fires off the message across the universal divide. Grabbing a binder, she gets up and leaves her room as her mail program closes automatically. She takes a seat in the kitchen, drinks from a bottle of Faygo Redpop, and waits.*

[Circe]

*Not terribly long after the message is sent, Circe slides into the apartment.* Ha... Feels like it's been a while since I've done that. You here, Callista?

*Shortly after Circe enters, she's followed in by one of her maids - a catgirl in a blue dress.* So, you live in a place like this when you're not in Muffinville? Huh...

[CRBWildcat]

*waves them into the kitchen*

Hi there, you two. Go ahead and take your seats. *taps the binder a bit nervously* This is... fairly important, I figure. I'm not on a time crunch or anything, but I still want to get this done as soon as I can.

[Circe]

Oh? *Circe steps into the kitchen and takes the offered seat, followed shortly by her maid.* So, what's this about, then? I believe you said something about business dealings...?

[CRBWildcat]

Yeah.

...

*hesitantly* Recently, I've been giving consideration to cutting down how much time I spend in the Villes entirely. Cutting it down from five days to two so that I can spend more time at my home universe, barring stuff like Pokemorph Fighting League events or the odd overly impulsive shopping spree. I don't want to say that I'm leaving entirely, but... *looks away from them, visibly distressed* My thoughts have been trending in that direction off and on as of late.

So with that in mind, I've started reducing my holdings in both places so that they're not as much my responsibility anymore. You might remember Maria Kathleen; she's been renting one of my apartments for a while, but I went ahead and sold it to her outright yesterday.

My step-mom Zelas is going to own the White Sands hotel, but I've made it clear to her that if you so choose, the entry chute, this apartment, and everything associated with it will be yours to keep. I'll be keeping my personal effects and home computer, obviously, but I can get those cleared out in several days.

There's more to this offer, but I'll give you a few moments to process all this before I continue.

[Circe]

...I see. *Circe closes her eyes and stays silent for a moment. The maid looks like she wants to say something for a moment, but Circe speaks again before she can.* Well. If you want to step away to whatever extent then I won't stop you. I'm sure you have your reasons, and I doubt I'd make any compelling arguments when I haven't been all that active here myself... So, what else is there, exactly?

[CRBWildcat]

*Callista opens up the binder for them to see. Contained within are lists of the properties she's selling, all of the Infinite Defense-endorsed upgrades that have been applied to them, instructions on how to take care of them, photographs of assorted rooms, et cetera. The list of upgrades in particular is rather lengthy, with fourteen different changes applied to this apartment alone. Seems they wanted to make absolutely certain it would survive anything short of a universe buster.*

There are three other apartments in Spamville, plus the establishments over them (both abandoned and otherwise) that I'm willing to part with. I'll leave it up to you as to what you want to do with them, whether or not you want to use them as mini-vacation homes for your staff, small-scale laboratories, whatever. Dunno if the maids would be interested in the flight simulators, but the Infinite Defense can always pick those up if they don't want them. If you want to know more details about the upgrades, just ask me.

I'm still going to be keeping the last apartment--the one I had rebuilt after my step-mom demolished it--for myself, but that's the sole extent of the property I'll be maintaining in Spamville.

If you're wondering about my properties in Muffinville that aren't already occupied, I intend to sell those to Acutus/Bahija. Her perspective of me and life has changed drastically enough that I feel I can trust her with them.

Curtis' marquee: "As for the Mungojerrie sans certain suites, or Infra Station out at Zeta Aquilae... that's her faction's property, not hers. ...The fact that she has completely free use of them notwithstanding."

[Circe]

Ah. Makes sense... *Circe reads all of the documents carefully and nods along with Callista's explanations. The maid isn't too far behind.* Yes, I'm sure I could find some use for facilities such as these. I'll take them.

You say you're selling these locations, though, yes? What are you looking for in exchange?

[CRBWildcat]

A flat $20,000 for the whole collection. From what I've seen of your Manor and businesses, I'm sure that barely counts as a drop in the bucket.

I know that assessments would peg them as being worth much more than that, but I'm already one of the richest people in the Villes. I was planning on off-loading the money onto a charity I'm familiar with. They'd be able to get more mileage out of it than I would.

...Anyway, if that sounds good, then I can get the contract and deed filled out and printed so we can get them signed. *more to herself than to her visitors* Aldonza was nice enough to type up templates.

[Circe]

*Circe nods.* Honestly? Yes, I'd say that's more than fair for what I'm getting. Consider it a deal.

*The maid, for her part, mutters to herself indistinctly. It looks as though she's already considering ways to put those buildings to use.*

[CRBWildcat]

Alrighty, excellent. *fishes a splitting cookie out of her purse* Well, then...

*Callista bites down on the cookie, and Kaoru snaps into existence next to her. Callista rushes out of the room, while her tenant takes her seat.*

(BC)
While we're waiting for her to print those out, may as well give ya a quick update on the Harrison kids. Eebon and Ellen have both left the Villes to attend college in a safer location.

[Circe]

Hey, Kaoru. It's been a minute. *Circe listens as Kaoru gives her updates.* College, you say? Are they already...? *She sighs and shakes her head.* Time does go on, huh? Some part of me wants to keep thinking of those kids as kids, but even they're getting to be adults now...

[CRBWildcat]

(BC)
I hear ya. Amber tries to hide it, but it's clear she's dealing with empty nest syndrome. ...But speaking for myself, it's a strange feeling. The kids have been here almost as long as I have. Just shy by almost half a year. *leans back in her chair and looks off to the side* Not seeing them around just feels weird.

We get the odd messages from them. Eebon's attending uni at Aldonza and the gang's homeworld... trying to get a degree in criminal justice, I think. Ellen called in a favor with the Infinite Defense and had them locate a peaceful version of Earth she could study at. Her main goal for now's to compete in the Olympics as a swimmer.

[Circe]

*Circe nods.* Swimming, huh? That does ring a bell for her... And criminal justice? Is Eebon planning to be a lawyer or something?

[CRBWildcat]

(BC)
*snorts back a laugh* It would be funny if that happened, but given that Kittenoa has its own brand of superheroics, she's probably going to try her hand at that instead. If she gets a law career or something like that, it's probably going to be secondary.

Someone with Aldonza's group told me once that while their homeworld allows for heroing as soon as their powers develop, having a full understanding of how things are supposed to work definitely helps.