Dropping By (Mega)

Henry was in the middle of a video call with a colleague from a S.T.A.R.S labs. Well, he was part of administration now. So it was more like an employee then a colleague. "I have been testing the resonance frequency, and the photon reactions like you wanted. As you predicted, we still need a higher energy output to stabilize the field for greater lengths in time. I'm still amazed by the results we're seeing, even at this early stage," the scientist gushed with excitement. Henry remembered what felt like, to be excited by new discoveries. Now he was always thinking "how are they going to weaponize this?" or "who is going to try and steal my research and take credit for it?" among many other doubts. You would think his position would grant him SOME kind of protection. Not really. While his immediate concerns were his colleagues in administration, he still could not rule out all those beneath his position trying to take him down a peg.

"Increase the RPM and monitor the compound's reaction to the electrical stimuli," Henry signed to him. He signed off a moment later and was about to text Chessa that he was heading back, when he heard the loud thump on the top of the car. His heart skipped a beat as he heard more noises, followed by a brief moment where the car swerved. There was another thump before the sun roof opened. It was too late for him to warp out of this now as he looked up to find a woman literally dropping into his limo. His jaw tightened as she greeted him as if she didn't just take over his car. He wasn't sure if she knew he was mute, so on reflex wrote: "What do you want?" on his tablet screen. It went without saying that this was bad on all levels. Though in the back of his mind, he had to wonder if this was a "normal" kidnapping or something else.

That name sounded strangely familiar to him even though he could not recall ever hearing it before. Maybe it was from one of his visions? He had kind of stopped keeping track of them in his dream journal, so it was possible that was the reason. Nonetheless, he was still in the dark as to what it was in detail. Then as she told him what she wanted, he arched an eyebrow. There wasn't any need for a translation there. So this wasn't a kidnapping, as they were still taking him to where he was heading anyway. The fact they were still "allegedly" driving to his destination, eliminated a number of questions or concerns he would have.

This was one of many times he wished he could speak, as it would have provided a minor distraction so he could weigh his options. It didn't take him long to factor in that they were within a confined space, and anyone who was willing enough to high jack and drop into an armored vehicle warranted a great deal of caution. Given the space between him and the driver, Henry would be more comfortable with his situation- he may have even been able to get away immediately. But Lillith was currently an unknown to him.

Her question was an interesting one, and one he had not been expecting so promptly considering his thoughts earlier. His first instinct was to simply say he hated it. But that wasn't entirely true. He still liked it in theory, along with the research he did. But the people- "The job itself is fine. But some of the people I have to work with... makes me feel like I need to keep watching for a knife in my back." Henry signed simply. There was obviously a reason she was asking this, it was easy to figure out what she was getting at. Though she could have still resorted to kidnapping, it would have been the quicker and guaranteed way to get what she wants. Was she simply that confident in her own offer? Or was it that she thought he would prefer her offer to still working at S.T.A.R.S?

Henry made sure to memorize as much of her appearance as he could. Though he seriously doubted that it would matter one way or another in the end.

That much had been clear, so why not just kidnap him? Because working with someone was easier then forcing them to cooperate? She was literally offering him a job, to which he was interested. Very interested. As part of administration, he oversaw more things then he was able to do anything himself. That was the greatest problem he was having where people weren't involved. He did wonder how she came about this info, as security was tight at all S.T.A.R.S facilities. There was a possibility that it had been from someone on the inside. Though it was hard for him to narrow down WHO it could have been, based on her appearance it did not strike him as odd that she could have "persuaded" someone working at STARS to give up what they knew. Willingly or by force remained to be seen.

But of course there was the fact that she was... meeting with him in secret. So in all likelihood her "HIVE Academy" couldn't be up to any good. But... if he just suddenly disappeared and did go working for HIVE, then he'd finally be able to work in peace. Everything he had been working toward for personal projects had remained on the paper they had been written or sketched on. He could do so much this way. But he couldn't just start projects as often as he wanted. One could get away with something here or there, but for the project he really wanted... he was sure it would get unwanted attention from his colleagues. So why not just kidnap him or use any other means of force?

"I accept... though I would prefer that I didn't have to go through the trouble of resigning. Too many people would question it." Henry promptly signed in response. He would do it, he saw no other alternative if he was to achieve the goal he had set for himself.

So it was under Jump? Or atleast near enough to Jump. Guess he wasn't leaving after all. When she asked if he had any questions, he held up one finger to signify he only had one. "Why didn't you just kidnap me from the get go?" he signed. That was the only burning question he had right now, though he probably could infer her reasons. He just wanted to cut right to the chase instead of wading through all of the reasons it could have been.

Somehow felt that he should have painted this woman as very confident if nothing else. And he had been right in thinking that she thought her offer was too good to pass up. Though his expression was guarded (helped he couldn't speak), he was making a mental note of his interaction with his new employer. Overconfidence was the downfall of many throughout history. But he would keep that thought in his pocket for the time being. Still, it wasn't a bad idea for him to get an idea of what she was like for later reference. He could get a better idea of what working here would be like. It did pain him slightly that the driver had been killed, clearly being unconscious wasn't good enough and it still reinforced one of his prior concerns. Overconfident or not, she was willing to kill if she had the mind to.

When they finally arrived, Henry got out and nodded as he followed her. The Academy part was beginning to sink in finally and he wondered if there were any Metahumans here too. The Metahuman Researchers would be green with envy right now. But that was just a thought, he had other things in mind right now.

So this WAS a school. But a school for what? It was secret, people who worked in it were willing to kill... if he didn't know better, Henry would think this was just some secret lair posing as a school. That would save time in finding manpower for sure. When they got to the lab, he took a moment to look all around the room as if mentally envisioning what would go where ahead of time. Yes... he could work with this. Not even an administrator got their own lab, and had to simply find one not in use or "call dibs" on one for a day of the week. It wasn't that they didn't have enough labs. It was just the fact STARS labs were privately owned, and some labs had specific equipment required to perform the research you wanted.

This would do nicely! And for now he wouldn't think about the devil's share for the time being. "Not at this time. For now, I'll be putting a 'shopping list' together," Henry signed to her.

"The color reminds me of a home I had dinner at..." Henry signed in response, referring to a recent visit he had with one of the other employees' "family." Which his daughter left him at so she could abduct their daughter, which they both had been told wasn't there. It was entirely unpleasant and he made a mental note to do something about it later. Maybe more black would help balance it out.

"About how much access do I have to the outside world in terms of internet and news access? I try to keep up with current events happening around the world which catch my interest," Henry signed in response to her question. Since he was so close to Jump, he'd have no problem keeping track of current events going on here.