[sup][h1][center][img]https://www.superheldenfilme.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/marvelcharakter-prowler-hobiebrown.jpg[/img][/center][b][center][color=darkmagenta] H O R N E T[/color] [color=chartreuse]H O R N E T[/color][/center] [/b][/h1][/sup] [color=slategray]The husk pushed forward gently. Slid through plastic and a klaxon sounded. The pause was palpable, it pivoted on the rotating floor, before pneumatics move it forward again. A breath of air. Movement. Always moving forward. Always progressing. [color=white]"Hey, can we-- Can we get an actual car up there and going through?"[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]Well... it's a preliminary run-through to check the equipment. You haven't even hired the additional staff I advised yet, so, the process won't be as advised.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] Hobie said whilst never taking his eyes off the line to face the addressing voice. [color=white]"Well, if we're going to push something through anyway, might as well see what it will actually look like."[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]Every individual process was timed. If you try to push one through without a full staff its just going to get held up at pinch points, where the work's taking longer from the lack of staff. It's going to highlight inefficiencies in the system which won't exist. Give you the wrong idea about how it will all look.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=white]"Aaaaand what if, the additional staff won't be hired?"[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]Then I'll be very pissed that I wasn't notified before the final plant testing stage, when I could've actually made changes to the system to smooth over your decision to be less efficient than my advise...[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] Hobie pulled the 'kill' cable and the line stopped. He sighed, and turned to face the source of his irritation. [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]How many?[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=white]"Two."[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]Two. So you're probably going to want to pull them from Section C and Section H. It'll cost you about three cars every seven hours. To save... what are you paying these people? Somewhere between fifteen and twenty bucks an hour? Worst case forty bucks an hour. Just pay the people.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=white]"There's more at play than that. We hire the additional employees, takes us out of play for the Bronx Small Business Grant."[/color] Hobie was in his head trying to figure out how to smooth over the problem and the change in figures. [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]If you told me earlier, I could have re-worked the system... Maybe only cost you four or five every fourteen hours instead of six... Gonna pinch up at--[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=white]"No, we-- We like the system as it is. Comes to the 'right' figure'."[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]Well, yeah... but that's never gonna-- Oh. I see.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] They liked the production figures. How they'd sound to anyone, media, government... They just didn't want to hire the extra staff to make those figures actually possible. Happy enough to have plant that could [b]POTENTIALLY[/b] produce that many new Futura automobiles here in the Bronx. [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]Apply for an exception. Give a demonstration of the system to show the production's possible. Tell them how much difference those two people would make. When business takes care of the community, the community takes care of business.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=white]"What are you saying?"[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]What I'm saying is, that when a business takes care of the people it, people tend to make it their interest in taking care of the business. You could have a bunch of people in the neighbourhood, and people who work here, parking new Futuras in the employee lot... or parking some Japanese imports.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] Tension tightened, and was palpable in the other man. [color=white]"Need I remind you, when you took on this job you were required to sign an NDA about internal business practices. I'd be very disappointed to find sensitive information turning up in the media, Mister Brown."[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]I'm well aware. And I'm not going to say nothin'. But I'm also not the only one who'd know. Employees can pick up on cynicism like that. You think they're not gonna notice they could be putting out more cars and not wonder what's going on? Why things are how they are? Nobody needs to hear anything from me.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] Hobie picked up on the shift. The bitter cool breeze that stood in contrast to the furnace of rage. The bitter cool breeze which was projected whenever Hobie was like this to a client or an employer. A surface annoyance who'd more than worn out his welcome whose appearance was no longer worth the effort or money changing hands. [color=white]"Well, Mister Brown. All of your advise has been incredibly helpful, but I think we can take it from here..."[/color] [center][h3][color=darkmagenta]*[/color] [color=chartreuse]*[/color] [color=darkmagenta]*[/color][/h3][/center] [color=white]"Well, we'll take it under advisement..."[/color] [right][color=orange]"Yes, yes... I'm sure your inventions are very helpful..."[/color][/right] [indent][indent][indent][color=lightblue][i]"Hobie... just wash the damn windows, man..."[/i][/color][/indent][/indent][/indent] Hobie sighed as he loaded his gear back into his truck. [color=darkgray][i]Couldn't jush wash the damn windows again, could you, Hobie?[/i][/color] His phone rang, he opened the drivers door and answered it from his seat. [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]Hello? Oh, hey man! Y'know... wanna catch a ball game? My afternoon just freed up...[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] A few hours later Hobie and the person from the other end of the phone - one Randy Robertson - were eating Italian premio sausage with pepper and onions by the foul ball line. [color=red]"So, you get kicked again. Huh?"[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]...[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] A smile broadened across Rand's face as he took another bite and watched on at the game. He had all the answer he needed. [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]I wasn't wrong. Besides... they were only gonna pay me for another month.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] A solitary chuckle when the word came out that the silence was indeed its own answer. [color=red]"Well... except maintenance."[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]Nah. I know the man. One month in they'd have kicked me and tried to go someone cheaper who'll doubtless fuck up the service anyway.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=red]"There's still word of mouth. I mean you're running your own busin--"[/color] Hobie growled out a sigh. [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]I know there's word of mouth, Rand'. I've been runnin' my own business for a while. Do you think I need you to tell me I fucked up again, like I don't know, and that I need to learn how to keep shit to myself sometimes? Just watch the damn game.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] As if on cue, maple connected with leather as Aaron Judge hammered one with heat on it in their direction. [color=red]"Go! Go! Stay fai--"[/color] Randy urged the ball to stay in play, and got to his feet. Spin dragged the ball foul, where it went into the stands, rows beneath them one section over. [color=red]"That one was close..."[/color] Randy said, the fact Hobie never moved a muscle suggested he didn't agree with that assertion. He returned to his food. [color=red]"You know what you need. Someone to help take your mind off of--"[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]No.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=red]"What--?"[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]Your taste is... terrible. Like... Really bad. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were picking up women from outside a therapists office.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=red]"C'mon... you haven't seen anyone since, what was her name again--"[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]You know it was Mindy, man... Yeah, it's been a while but I've been busy. Starting and running your own business takes time, effort and energy.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=red]"It does. And you've done it. And you've got time now..."[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]Not for one of your projects, Rand'... Nobody has that much time...[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] The two had come from very different backgrounds to get where they were today. Randy was suburban from birth. His father worked hard to get him the best. To keep him out of harm's way. And some of his decision-making had been left wanting to say the least... he found his own excitement in life. But he meant well. He worked in community outreach, he'd tried his hand at journalism himself, and did charity work. Whilst Hobie came from as urban an environment as you could get, and through luck and sheer force of will his family yanked them out of that situation and gave him the best possible chance. Both had their own issues with self preservation, but while with Hobie it generally came down to his mouth and not knowing when to leave well enough alone, with Randy it was a whole other level of naivete. Which was why it grated on Hobie to hear Randy as the one giving the lecture. Despite having so little in common from their background, they did have a few things in common which brought them together. They both cared about their community, both wanted to see better for it. Both owed their lives to family who provided and loved them. And a mutual friend who one day brought them together. Not unlike what Randy was trying to do here, he supposed. [i][color=darkgray]Dammit...[/color][/i] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]Alright... What's her name?[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=red]"It's Norah Winters. I worked with her a while briefly, before I decided that--"[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]A reporter. You're setting me up with a reporter.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=red]"--before I decided that following in Dad's footsteps wasn't for me. Yeah, she's a reporter. But she's in the same place as you. She needs to find a way to hget away from work and have something else--"[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]So not just a reporter. A reporter who can't leave her job at the door.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] He shook his head. [color=red]"We dated briefly, but--"[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]And [b]YOU[/b] dated her. This is getting worse and worse all the time. Like I said, you got no taste. It's like you're a magnet for crazy.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=red]"We just realised [b]WE[/b] weren't gonna work. There's nothing [b]wrong[/b] with her. She's a good person."[/color] Hobie side-eyed his friend. [color=red]"She's just... a driven person."[/color] Hobie thought for a moment. [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]She's a work psycho, isn't she? You're setting me up with a work psycho reporter who didn't work with you, and are hoping she'll be less work psycho around someone who isn't also in journalism. That's what you're doin, isn't it?[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=red]"If she's around you, she's not going to be able to talk shop and be '[b]ON[/b]' twenty four hours a day. You'd be good for one another."[/color] Hobie shook his head again, not taking his eyes off the ball game. He needed beer for this conversation and regretted not grabbing one from the concession. [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]Can't we just watch a ball game, why you have to go dragging girls into this?[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=red]"I mean it, it'd be good for both of you. You both need more outside of work. After me she was seeing this cameraman, and that went bad. I don't think she has much outside of work."[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]She's got ex problems as well? You know, if you turn up dead, the police aren't gonna have to look any further than check social media to see who you're dating at the time. That's your taste. I don't know what makes you think I need more excitement outside of work...[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [i][color=darkgray]'Outside of my own personal hobbies...'[/color][/i] Hobie thought to himself. That didn't ring true to Randy this time. As long as he'd known him, Hobie had seemed a contradiction of sorts. He seemed small and quiet most of the time... but it was never long until his mouth would get him in trouble, and he'd go back to looking small and unassuming once again. Randy liked to talk about peace and quiet, but part of him always seemed to chase excitement and trouble which would threaten to pull him under. Hobie's upbringing had led to this. For his whole life, Randy had been an only child, with what would have been his older brother dying when he was still a baby. He'd been loved and cherished by his parents and held close. Hobie had grown up in a large family - the youngest of eight brothers, who mostly took care of each other - and from what Randy could tell, he'd grown up as the young brother who'd chirp. A younger brother who would find trouble and know he had older brothers to back him up from things ever going [b]TOO[/b] bad. But Hobie would need a push. While Randy did truly think this would be good for both of them, he knew there was only one way to get Hobie to go along with it. [color=red]"C'mon... I'll owe you."[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]You'll owe me..? Wow. You really are not sellin' this girl well...[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=red]"I mean it, she's a good friend, and great. But she needs something away from her work. And she still has to work with the ex..."[/color] Randy knew that on this, they were two of the same. If Hobie thought he was doing a favour, doing something [b]FOR[/b] his friend, he was far more likely to go along than if he were to explain that it was really what Hobie needed. Hobie sighed. Randy smiled knowing that the begrudging gesture, meant that something had to be ceded to, in order for the begrudging attitude to be there in the first place. [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]So 'Norah', you sayin' that she's--[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=red]"Yeeeees, she's white."[/color] Randy rolled his eyes, he'd been waiting for that question ever since he said her name. [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]Hey... don't give me attitude like it don't make no difference. It's not a deal breaaker either way, but still gotta handle things different cos of it. You didn't grow up in Harlem, 'Ridgewood' Robertson.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=red]"You barely grew up in Harlem! Your family moved to the Bronx when you were still just a kid!"[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]And yet...[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=red]"..."[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]Alright, do you have a brother who won't answer to his own name, and only responds to 'Ghostface Killah' or a variation of 'Ghostface Killah'?[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=red]"N--"[/color] But Hobie cut him off. [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]No, you don't. Like I said, some things have to be handled differently. You want this to happen.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=red]"Who's talking about introducing her to your family? I'm just saying take her out a few times and see how things go."[/color] Randy said, with a smirk. Thinking he was already getting too serious about this in his head. [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]There's sixteen eyes up in my business. I'd be watched less in prison. It's why I came here. I go home, they'll all know about how things went with Futura Motors before the end of the day. And [b]THAT'S[/b] assuming they haven't already found out.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] Randy nodded towards the game, and then watched him out of the corner of his eye. The Yankees young shortstop Anthony Volpe was taking a big lead-off, as Aaron Judge took some practice swings. [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]What? What else, man? You already got me to go along with--[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=red]"Just-- be careful going to get another client. I heard things are going to heat up in the city. So be careful around, like, warehouses and unused factories and--"[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]You just described ninety five to ninety eight percent of the places I do business... If it weren't for that one dentist job I got on referral, it'd be a hundred percent.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=red]"Dentist?"[/color] Hobie shrugged. [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]Pneumatics is pneumatics.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] Randy accepted it, unsure what else to really say about the matter, but wanted to make sure his point got across. [color=red]"I'm serious though. Just-- be careful. This came from Ben Urich. So it's solid."[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]That doesn't mean anything to me.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] Hobie played dumb. He followed the crimebeat and cape-print enough to be well aware of the man's work. [color=red]"Reporter on crimebeat. Pulitzer winner. If he says sources are telling him things are going to get dangerous, well..."[/color] Randy let the sentence hang as if it would give it more weight. What it really told Hobie was that Randy admired the guy, and would take his quiet unprinted word as gospel. After all, he'd briefly worked at the same publication as him, if not necessarily in close quarters with the man. Hobie found it difficult to imagine that Joe Robertson would willingly let his kid be that close to the action. Things hotting up in the Bronx would likely mean Tombstone was getting agitated. Either that, or a new element with designs on the region... which would in turn lead to much the same thing anyway. Hobie could dig. He had his own potential sources and lines. His own, much less willing, though. And if he played it right, they'd never even know they were. [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]It's work, Rand'. I'm getting asked to scope these places out on the new owner's request. So it's not like I'm stumbling around in the dark, looking for trouble in abandoned warehouses and factories.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] [color=darkmagenta]"[/color][color=chartreuse]You know me, man. No dumb risks.[/color][color=darkmagenta]"[/color] The crowd around them all groaned with sudden disappointment. Volpe had just been caught stealing for the third out, leaving Judge at the plate. [/color]