Office Room 042, Slum City

[Tailsdoll]

Jonathan stood silent as James talked, analyzing every minute detail to ascertain as much about the man as possible. Nowhere else to go. A desire to make things right. He was nervous, but kept control of himself. Clearly unexperienced in this kind of situation, yet able to adapt quickly.

"Hmm..." - he thought - "Perceptive enough to know when being scrutinised... Bold enough to stare back... Smart enough to know when it isn't working"

Truly, a wonderful catch. He might just keep this one.

"James, when I came to Slum City, all those years ago, I was surrounded by incompetence. From the staff, from the rulers, from the godamn ship, even from the bloody clients. I'm lucky if I get ONE client a month who knows what he or she is doing, instead of taking the first bargain they see. I've a wife waiting for me on Manhattan and I'm lucky enough to see her once every three months. Every day I wake up knowing I'll have to deal with Peter's mess. Every day I wake up knowing I'll have at least ten homicidal maniacs out to get us. Every. Godamn. Day, I wake up, knowing it will repeat itself until I'm too old to work" - he said all this while maintaining a perfectly calm composure, not a single hint of anything in his voice besides apathy - "If you want to be a part of this, I won't stop you, but I will require one thing"

Jonathan purposefully drank a sip of coffee before talking again.

"Tell me: why do I still do this?"

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<span style="color:#000000">The awful plight of he who cannot draw to save his own life.</span>