When I got out of the cab, Agni was waiting in a sleek black dress.

She eyed me up and down. “That’s the best you could do?”

“I’ve never worn a tuxedo before,” I grumbled.

The supervillainess rolled her eyes. “Learn. You look like a kid who stole his dad’s suit.”

“A kid?” I walked up to her. At my height of six foot three, she had to crane her neck to look me in the eye.

“Okay, maybe not a kid. Seriously, though, it’s easy to forget how tall you are sometimes.”

“Because I’m sitting down?”

“Because you’re usually in that ten-foot armor. Fine. We’re going to meet a couple of people, and for tonight, you’re going by Billy and I’m Nina.”

“Billy? I don’t look like a Billy.”

“Well, excuse me for not wanting to use your actual name.”

“Maybe we can go with Chan.”

“You definitely don’t look like a Chan. Any more appropriate names?”

“Let’s try Jack.”

“Did you watch a Jackie Chan movie before coming here?”

“In my defence, I was bored. Why are we here anyway and who are we meeting?”

“We’re here to meet Mr. Plavic, a supplier of rare and exclusive goods.”

“Are you taking me to buy drugs?”

Agni rolled her eyes. “Maybe you’d like to repeat that, so that any listening devices can record the evidence? No? Just follow my lead, and nod at the appropriate places. Say nothing unless I ask you a direct question.”

“Will this help us at London?”

“It will if you stop asking questions. Now take my hand and lead me in, like a gentleman should.”

As we entered, a maitre’d showed us to a private dining room. A round table with six seats occupied the centre, with a chandelier overhead and what looked like very expensive silverware.

A quick Observe showed me that the vessels were indeed silver-plated.

In short, everything about this very expensive restaurant screamed ‘class’ and ‘old money’. I wondered how much this would set me back. Could I even afford it?

Silly Belessar. Agni wouldn’t have brought me to a place like this if it was too expensive.

Would she?

“How much does this place cost?” I whispered.

Agni frowned. “It’s not for sale. You looking to make some investments?”

“No, I mean for a meal.”

“Oh, for crying out loud… Look, a place like this, you pay in advance. I’ve already done that. So stop worrying about the price and just focus on the meeting, okay? It’s important.”

“You haven’t told me why, or what Mr. Plavic sells.”

“Mr. Plavic is an agent of certain … individuals, who manufacture explosive devices. You may find these very useful for London.”

Ah. “Black-market inventech?”

“Exactly, and I’d prefer that you didn’t refer to it that way. As I said, let me do the talking.”

The door opened, and Mr. Plavic stepped in.

MIKHAEL PLAVIC

CLASS: ARMS DEALER

FACTION: UNKNOWN

LEVEL 6

HP: 100/100

RELATIONSHIP: NEUTRAL

SERVING AS AN AGENT FOR A CARTEL OF SECRETIVE INVENTORS, MIKHAEL PLAVIC IS A SHREWD NEGOTIATOR AND A DANGEROUS MAN TO CROSS. HOWEVER, HE APPRECIATES THE VALUE OF TRUST AND FAIR PLAY, AND HAS A TRACK RECORD OF DELIVERING ON HIS PROMISES. HE TAKES NO SIDES IN CONFLICTS BETWEEN ULTRAS, AND WILL HAPPILY SELL TO BOTH PARTIES IN A CONFLICT.

GOOD THING, TOO, BECAUSE THE BLACKHATS WERE AT ONE TIME HIS CUSTOMERS. FORTUNATELY FOR YOU, HE DOESN’T BEAR A GRUDGE.

Plavic regarded me with a curious gaze, then sat at the table. “Miss Nina. A pleasure, as always.”

“Mr. Plavic. My associate, Jack.”

“Associates are always welcome. I hadn’t expected to find you here, though, considering your… general aversion to this part of the world.”

“I go where the need is. Let’s get down to business, shall we? I’d like to know what you can supply.”

“A moment, please.” Plavic pulled out a small box and placed it on the table. “There. Now we can speak freely.”

LEVEL 4 JAMMING FIELD DETECTED.

ELECTROMAGNETIC, GRAVITIC, THERMAL, OPTICAL, ACOUSTIC SIGNALS BLOCKED.

FOLDSPACE COMMUNICATION UNAFFECTED.

… what was foldspace communication?

Plavic was continuing. “We have a variety of high-quality product available for your disposal. It depends on what your desired application is.”

“We need devices with specific energy yields at a minimum. The blast has to be directional - in the specific direction we want - and it has to be something that can be fitted to a specific delivery mechanism.”

“A missile warhead?”

“A projectile, something that can be thrown as well. Can you do one kiloton?”

“Whoa,” I interrupted. “That’s too much.”

Agni shot me an annoyed look. Plavic remained silent.

The supervillainess appeared to be debating something internally. Finally she gestured to me. “My associate has the details on what the exact yield, capacity, and performance of the devices we require are. He will explain the requirement. You’ll tell us what you can offer.”

Plavic nodded gently and turned to me. “You have an idea of what you would require?”

I mentally calculated. “I need devices with a yield equal to, say, sixty kilos of TNT. About two hundred and fifty megajoules. They have to be in a form that can be… mounted on a javelin and thrown, for instance. Or, if they’re compact, they have to be something that can be packed into a casing that can be fired from a cannon - and not explode in mid-flight. The detonation should happen when it hits the target, not when it’s launched.”

“Any specific mechanism for the detonation?”

“... The lighter the better, I suppose, and I’d like to avoid fallout so nothing nuclear please.”

“Would exotic particle effects be acceptable?”

“It’s in close proximity to civilians, so maybe let’s avoid anything that has nasty side-effects.”

“We have a few options. I would recommend a disruptor warhead, which will give you the desired impact.”

“What does it disrupt exactly?”

A momentary pained look passed across Plavic’s face. “I am not sure of the physics, although it does the job of wrecking anything in its path admirably. I warn you, though - it is an expensive proposition.”

“How much?”

“For the size you ask, three hundred and fifty thousand dollars per device.”

I swallowed. “That’s too much. I’ll probably need multiple units.”

“There are other options, such as nuclear. However, the high cost is due to your avoidance of all side-effects. A directed gamma ray burst would be a lot less expensive.”

“What’s that?”

“A device which sprays gamma rays in a specific direction, as opposed to all around. The advantage is that it will penetrate virtually all known types of armor and defences; of course, you’ll have to be careful aiming it. A hundred thousand dollars for each device.”

“Surely you can come to a discount,” purred Agni. “For an old client like me, at least.”

“My backers are firm in their pricing, and alas, I have to make a slight profit.”

“I’m sure you can come up with something, at least in regards to the quantity….”

After a few minutes of discussion, Agni managed to persuade Plavic to sell us three gamma-ray bombs for the low, low price of a quarter million dollars.

While they were at it, I used Analyze ruthlessly on the jammer. The device was a fascinating piece of technology, well beyond my ability to duplicate - but hopefully not for long.

As Plavic left, Agni rounded on me. “You don’t need to be cheap, you know.”

“Well excuse me, but I really don’t have that much by way of funds.”

“Oh for… Look, I’ll fund you if that’s what it takes. If you can actually take out a Carnotaur and survive, you can talk the British government into reimbursing you for the costs of the operation.”

“... I thought pay rates are fixed?”

“What’s officially fixed and what you can actually ask for are different things. Don’t be so fixated on the rules.”

“I’d be better prepared if you’d told me what we were coming for.”

The supervillain rolled her eyes. “Couldn’t over the phone. Just trust me, okay?”

“How about you trust me as well? Tell me what we’re going to do before you drop a blackmarket weapons dealer in my lap.”

“Fine, fine. We have one more meeting, with Mr. Nestor. You might find him particularly useful.”

“What type of explosives does he offer?”

“Actually, he offers shielding devices.”

Now that sounded interesting. “Would he be willing to share the technology itself?”

“... I don’t think so. Shielding technology is very, very difficult to develop. Less than a hundred inventors worldwide who’ve cracked the problem, which is why shielding devices are incredibly expensive.”

“I have one.”

“I noticed. How much damage can you take?”

“Not much - it soaks up about 100 damage, then it goes down.”

“Can you explain that a little less mathematically?”

“Well… it can take the hits of three bullets, but shuts down after the fourth.”

“Your armor’s tougher than that, right?”

“Yeah, about fifty times tougher. I just have to repair it afterwards. The advantage to shields is that they can be recharged after each battle…”

“Yeah, right, got that. My tactic is strike and teleport, so I’ve never really worried about shields. You, on the other hand, could benefit from something a bit more able to soak up damage, so I thought we’d go with buying some shielding equipment. But don’t hint to Nestor that you’re interested in the tech itself.”

“Why not?”

“It’s their intellectual property, and these guys get very angsty about trade secrets and reverse engineering and whatnot.”

I decided not to mention that I had an actual skill called Reverse Engineering. “Can we get a main shield for active use and some smaller test examples? Lower capacity is fine, just working ones.”

“Why?”

“I may want to protect some fixed equipment from being damaged by … minor things.”

“What fixed equipment?... Never mind, I’ll ask. Let me do the talking, please.”

“You asked me to speak.”

“Only because you interrupted. This time, if I ask you, stick to the technical questions.”