2013.10.05 - Keep Calm and Enjoy the Swag

The Queen Industries presentation is set to happen soon, in a hall that's been transformed into a miniature expo for all things Queen. There are kiosks ringing the hall featuring touch displays that visitors can use to virtually tour some of the company's factories around the world, as well as learn about its stringent guidelines for foreign partners, booths showing off the latest innovations from the company's environmental research division, and displays showing off the next year's worth of consumer products. Despite all this, there's an empty square in the middle that's been cordoned off from visitors; a bank of four widescreen monitors hangs from the ceiling above that space, each facing a different direction to ensure that the maximum number of people possible can see what's on them.

Thus far, that's been the company's logo and nothing else; presumably, they'll get around to throwing something else up there at some point.

At the entrance, a crew of volunteers is handing out reusable canvas bags with the company's logo to the attendees; each is stuffed with an assortment of goods, ranging from vouchers for deep discounts on solar panel installations to redemption codes for last year's hot new release from QI's gaming division, to books and magazines from its publishing arm. The contents of each bag varies, with one exception: there's a small digital camera nestled on top of everything else--the latest from the company's Q-Core division.

Rather than wait in a green room somewhere, the company's former/brand new CEO spent the morning helping the crew set things up, then promptly changed into his speaking attire - an olive blazer, a t-shirt dominated entirely by the colourful swirls and abstract shapes of a mutant artist's latest work, and dark slacks - to mingle and greet visitors personally.

The Queen Industries presentation is set to happen soon, in a hall that's been transformed into a miniature expo for all things Queen. There are kiosks ringing the hall featuring touch displays that visitors can use to virtually tour some of the company's factories around the world, as well as learn about its stringent guidelines for foreign partners, booths showing off the latest innovations from the company's environmental research division, and displays showing off the next year's worth of consumer products. Despite all this, there's an empty square in the middle that's been cordoned off from visitors; a bank of four widescreen monitors hangs from the ceiling above that space, each facing a different direction to ensure that the maximum number of people possible can see what's on them.

Thus far, that's been the company's logo and nothing else; presumably, they'll get around to throwing something else up there at some point.

At the entrance, a crew of volunteers is handing out reusable canvas bags with the company's logo to the attendees; each is stuffed with an assortment of goods, ranging from vouchers for deep discounts on solar panel installations to redemption codes for last year's hot new release from QI's gaming division, to books and magazines from its publishing arm. The contents of each bag varies, with one exception: there's a small digital camera nestled on top of everything else--the latest from the company's Q-Core division.

Rather than wait in a green room somewhere, the company's former/brand new CEO spent the morning helping the crew set things up, then promptly changed into his speaking attire - an olive blazer, a t-shirt dominated entirely by the colourful swirls and abstract shapes of a mutant artist's latest work, and dark slacks - to mingle and greet visitors personally.

The Queen pavilion isn't far from the Hammer Industries' pavilion, so the walk across for Justin and his date Fern is brief. The CEO, dressed in his usual vested suit and showing just a hint of a five o'clock shadow, holds the door open for his redheaded companion. "After you," he offers to her with a light grin before following her into the pavilion. It takes a few moments for his eyes to adjust to being indoors, especially since his glasses have the tinting lenses in them, and he relies on the young woman on his arm to keep him from running into someone accidentally.

As with most of the big presentations that have gone on at the Stark Expo, Michael Jon Carter--aka Booster Gold--is in attendance as a Stark intern. He is dressed in an unassuming way, but he does have his floating robot pal, Skeets, with him. Between the two of them they are taking holovid footage of the event. Michael also has one of the canvas bags because free loot is awesome.

Tousaint enters from: Queens.

Emma Frost had not made it to nearly enough of the Stark Expo events. She knew she would regret that later. But she was curious to catch the Queen Industries exhibit.

She was currently browsing the displays in the booth, with her newly acquired tote bag sitting next to her custom-made Dior hangbag. She was dressed in a white blazer, a vest (with no blouse, mind you) and slacks with silver detailing.

Some part of Tim is happy that the Expo is coming to a close. His teachers at Brentwood have been very understanding of his schedule, but it's getting old. Going without sleep is nothing new to him, but usually he manages to get a decent night in once and a while. Lately? Nope.

Frankly, the only thing keeping him going are Alfred's fantastic cappucinos. Unfortunately, they don't travel well, so he's nursing a reusable mug of the strongest brew they had from one of the coffee kiosks set up at the Expo. It'll have to do.

He's fresh from the Wayne Enterprises pavilion, so: nice jeans, vest and tie, with his WE Expo ID hanging from a lanyard around his neck.

Now, he's /supposed/ to be here doing a little harmelss industrial espionage, but... okay, even rich boys like free stuff. He flashes the trademarked Wayne smile (he's been practicing) at one of the attendants handing out the bags, then, with one on his arm, and heads into the crowd to do some mingling himself.

Fern steps in before Justin, then turns, pausing until he steps in and she can link her arm in his. "Why thank you, Mr. Hammer," she says with a smile, stepping forward with him, pulling back gently to stop him as a teenager, excited about the goody bag, hurries in front of them to find his friends. She's wearing a dress and heels, putting her a couple inches closer to his height, but still falling well short. The dress hits just above her knees, simple in cut, but adding a splash of color to the buttoned-up CEO's suit. She accepts a bag herself with an excited squeak, turning at once to show Justin. "Look, a freebie bag!" Contrary to the pseudo-sophistication of Hammer, Fern is just an average young woman who lucked out in the friend pool.

Well, Rain is curious. Her self-preservation instincts are on the fritz, and happily, this is a non-hazardous activity. She doesn't have a date for now, but that's okay. Hey, free stuff and a chance to see some interesting tech and people. She even bothered to dress up and seems to look a lot less scruffy than usual. Her path takes her here and there, peering around. She has a fountain drink in hand, sipping through the straw.

Tousaint has been at the Expo a few times each week since it has open, so he has seen almost everything the expo. He is intrigue by what Queen Industries is going to present tonight. As he makes his way to his seat, he takes a few moments to look around to see who else had showed up for this part of the Expo.

Karen Starr is here as a representative of Starrware Industries and also as its CEO. She attended a previous expo by Wayne Enterprises, but had to duck out a bit early due to something coming up. Now here she is in combination business/casual dress, her blonde hair done up with a psuedo-seashell hair clip, and wearing generally oceanically-colored garments. She's checking out one of the virtual console things to see about these factories, and in particular to see about what 'stringent guidelines' are in place for foreign partners, and the environmental research division. In her experience, there are a rather unfortunate lot of companies that make overtures of being environmentally friendly for PR purposes while burying toxic waste in places it'll leak into the water table several decades later without thinking that far ahead. She highly doubts that they'd reveal information like that in these kiosks that are supposed to be showing how awesome Queen Industries is, but Karen still wants to check the public face so she will be able to recognize any discrepencies if she sees them.

She doesn't really have any reason to doubt Queen Industries or its CEO at the moment, but forewarned is forearmed and all that.

Justin had passed on the swag-bag for now, not having much use for one. He's here to check out the competition. Fern's reaction does get a grin, though, and his glasses finally lighten up enough he can see properly. "Huh, wonder if I should have had my PR people put together something like that," he wonders aloud as he finally gets a chance to look around. Those who have seen the pair together before may note that Hammer seems a lot more relaxed in Fern's presence now, not standing nearly as stiffly as he used to when arm in arm with the redheaded waitress. "So, what shall we take a look at first?"

Fern takes a quick look into the bag, and there's a little reluctance as she pulls her attention away from it and slings the bag over her shoulder, putting her mind back on the matter at hand. She looks right... looks left... and takes the route that comes most naturally to most people, pointing to the right. "How about we start that way and see where we wander?" It's fun to see all the new technology, but with all the hours she's been putting in working at the Anita Bella booth at the expo, she's reaching the pinnacle of her tech-ability. Lately she's even been glad that she's not been able to buy a television yet. Her main aim tonight is just keeping Justin company. There are a lot of familiar faces in the crowd, most known only by sight and not by having interacted, so she's hoping it'll be a good night of making contacts for her date.

Kate Kane also attended the Wayne Enterprises part of the Stark Expo, just like Karen. She also had been called away on unfortunate business. Unfortunate because it mostly involved punching bad guys and not going wherever Karen went. The red-head notices the blonde readily enough, and now that she has a name to attach to the face (she did some detective work last time to make sure the sudden departure of the other woman wasn't related to the bad guys she wound up punching) she makes sure to approach. She's wearing a soft-yellow off-the-shoulder dress with lighter-yellow sunbursts all over it, and shoes that she won't have trouble maneuvering in if she winds up having to run -- while still looking stylish.

It will be a few more moments before she gets within talking distance of Starrware Industries's CEO, due to the general clamour requiring one either be fairly close or willing to yell over other people to be heard. On the way, she's taking a look at the set-up. "No circus this time," she mutters to herself, remembering the last one of these she attended. A glance around also makes her aware of who she thinks is Justin Hammer. Hopefully there won't be any 'product demonstrations' from Hammer Tech either.

Tousaint looks down at his cellphone, and lets out a frustrated sigh. He mumbles to himself, "I have to take care of something.."

"That works," Justin says as he follows Fern's lead and starts toward the right. He keeps a careful eye out for folks he knows or might recognize, always ready for a potential networking opportunity. A couple other high-profile people are noticed, along with the young dark-haired woman he thinks is called Rain. He idly wonders if she and Fern know each other yet before turning back to the displays. Hammer seems to take a special interest in the manufacturing kiosks, trying to deconstruction some of the processes in his mind. He's back in pure business mode. "Everyone's all about the environment these days," he absently comments to Fern.

Frost International had also had a feature at the Stark Expo, concentrating on only a few large booths featuring devices that connected the mind to machinery. A bit more high-concept, but she was always interested in more green technology to incorporate into her school and business.

She was casually reading the surface thoughts of those around her. A couple stock tips, and typical negative comments about the popularity of the "green fad". Emma did, however glance up at Kate Kane as she walked by and quirked a brow.

Michael is actually rather baffled by the whole eco-conscious, pro-green, conservation minded push that is going on; in his native era, these are not things that anyone is concerned with. This may be why he finds things like 'birds' so baffling. How do they even work? He hands off his canvas goody-bag to Skeets, who has extended a pincer arm to take it. The little robot is therefore floating around burdened by a bag that is three times bigger than he is.

"Well, it's an important issue," Fern says to Justin softly. "If we kill the planet, then what are we gonna do? We don't have anywhere else to go live. So isn't it worth making the effort?" She pauses, then adds, "Especially if it's what will get people buying your product." Fern isn't the most business minded person, pursuing a career in acting, but she's not an idiot. Give the people what they want, even if they don't know they want it yet. She steps aside easily as a woman brushes past her, bumping lightly against Justin's side, then stepping back. "It's crowded here." Those words prompt an automatic look around again. In specific, she's keeping an eye out for anyone who looks like they might be about to turn into a wolf.

Super senses are great. Less so in crowds, but being able to selectively tune things out is handy in those instances. Right now, Karen's just kind of generally 'listening' to things. Sure, maybe she can technically hear 'everything' but that doesn't mean she can hear EVERYTHING. ...For however much sense that makes. Snippets of conversation, someone's child crying about something or other, someone commenting about the environment over there somewhere... It all runs together into a mish-mash of sounds. So she's not really keeping as apprised of people around her as she would be if she were expecting trouble.

Still, after she's done with the kiosk she turns away just in time and in just the wrong direction to completely miss Kate approaching and start looking to see if she can spot the man in charge of all this. "If I were a CEO other than the CEO I am, where would I be?" Karen turns around almost in a complete circle scanning for some kind of stage or podium or something. People at the top like to be at the top, don't they? Usually? I mean, Karen isn't like that--okay, so her office is pretty high up in the Starrware building, but that's just because people expect it to be. And that's also mostly so it's easier to get out through the window unnoticed.

REGARDLESS, she spots a guy in a blazer who seems to look like what she recalls of the Queen Industries' CEO from news reports and such. She kind of has to keep track of this stuff. She looks at the gaggle of people around him and weighs the pros and cons of going over right now, all the while unaware that someone is approaching her.

In theory, Rain could shapeshift but she's not a werewolf and not about to out herself as a witch in public. For now, she drifts amidst the crowd, looking at things.

Ollie's circuit through the pavilion eventually leads him to that sectioned off area; there are, however, frequent pauses to exchange brief greetings, exchange handshakes, and so on.

When he's maybe two dozen steps away, the touchscreens begin blinking off, and the lights dim; upon reaching the barrier, he takes advantage of the darkness to let out a slow, calming breath and wipe away the sweat forming on his forehead with a handkerchief before crossing it and making his way to the middle.

A spotlight shines down on the makeshift stage that Ollie is occupying, and one by one, the touchscreens come back on--albeit with the same logo still hanging over the CEO's head, now. "When I they told me I'd be comin' back in," he begins, voice amplified by the pavilion's PA system, "they mentioned this Expo thing in passin'--told me they had it sorted out for this year, but that I could walk around and play ambassador, if I wanted. No pressure; nothin' to worry my pretty little head over." He's grinning impishly as he recounts the story and turning slowly in place to make sure he's not showing any one part of the hall his back for too long.

"They weren't too happy when I told 'em what to do with that idea," he chortles, clapping and clasping his hands together in front of himself. "The departments who found out what I was doin' to their plans, even less so, but that didn't stop 'em from pulling out all the stops here; they deserve medals for bringin' this all together for us." With a quick spin and an outstretched arm, he gestures to displays dotting the room, and upon coming to a stop, he slides his hands into his blazer pockets.

"Anyway," he continues, "y'all aren't here to hear about me, or even my staff; you're here because you wanna know what's next for Queen Industries--or, maybe, because you heard about the grab bags." The grin that's been ever-present on his face begins to slip away. "Either way: thank you for joining me here today."

Justin looks toward Fern when she offers her explination. The whole 'where else are we going to live thing' gets a deadpan look, but getting people to buy stuff gets a nod. He really should be concerned with the environment more, and as more environmentally friendly options are becoming more economical, he's starting to take interest. He turns from the kiosk he was examining and makes another sweep. He spots the young dark haired woman again, not far from where he and Fern are standing. "Yeah, busy evening," he returns to Fern's comment. "Hey, I see someone I think you should meet." He starts toward Rain, leading Fern with him. Once close enough, he offers a greeting to the witch. "Hey, fancy running into you here." It dawns on him that he never really did get her name- or he's forgotten it already. Dammit. The dimming lights catch his attention, and he looks toward the center area as Ollie starts his presentation.

The Queen Industries presentation is set to happen soon, in a hall that's been transformed into a miniature expo for all things Queen. There are kiosks ringing the hall featuring touch displays that visitors can use to virtually tour some of the company's factories around the world, as well as learn about its stringent guidelines for foreign partners, booths showing off the latest innovations from the company's environmental research division, and displays showing off the next year's worth of consumer products. Despite all this, there's an empty square in the middle that's been cordoned off from visitors; a bank of four widescreen monitors hangs from the ceiling above that space, each facing a different direction to ensure that the maximum number of people possible can see what's on them.

Thus far, that's been the company's logo and nothing else; presumably, they'll get around to throwing something else up there at some point.

At the entrance, a crew of volunteers is handing out reusable canvas bags with the company's logo to the attendees; each is stuffed with an assortment of goods, ranging from vouchers for deep discounts on solar panel installations to redemption codes for last year's hot new release from QI's gaming division, to books and magazines from its publishing arm. The contents of each bag varies, with one exception: there's a small digital camera nestled on top of everything else--the latest from the company's Q-Core division.

Rather than wait in a green room somewhere, the company's former/brand new CEO spent the morning helping the crew set things up, then promptly changed into his speaking attire - an olive blazer, a t-shirt dominated entirely by the colourful swirls and abstract shapes of a mutant artist's latest work, and dark slacks - to mingle and greet visitors personally.

Ollie's circuit through the pavilion eventually leads him to that sectioned off area; there are, however, frequent pauses to exchange brief greetings, exchange handshakes, and so on.

When he's maybe two dozen steps away, the touchscreens begin blinking off, and the lights dim; upon reaching the barrier, he takes advantage of the darkness to let out a slow, calming breath and wipe away the sweat forming on his forehead with a handkerchief before crossing it and making his way to the middle.

A spotlight shines down on the makeshift stage that Ollie is occupying, and one by one, the touchscreens come back on--albeit with the same logo still hanging over the CEO's head, now. "When I they told me I'd be comin' back in," he begins, voice amplified by the pavilion's PA system, "they mentioned this Expo thing in passin'--told me they had it sorted out for this year, but that I could walk around and play ambassador, if I wanted. No pressure; nothin' to worry my pretty little head over." He's grinning impishly as he recounts the story and turning slowly in place to make sure he's not showing any one part of the hall his back for too long.

"They weren't too happy when I told 'em what to do with that idea," he chortles, clapping and clasping his hands together in front of himself. "The departments who found out what I was doin' to their plans, even less so, but that didn't stop 'em from pulling out all the stops here; they deserve medals for bringin' this all together for us." With a quick spin and an outstretched arm, he gestures to displays dotting the room, and upon coming to a stop, he slides his hands into his blazer pockets.

"Anyway," he continues, "y'all aren't here to hear about me, or even my staff; you're here because you wanna know what's next for Queen Industries--or, maybe, because you heard about the grab bags." The grin that's been ever-present on his face begins to slip away. "Either way: thank you for joining me here today."

Arriving fifteen minutes late as usual, dressed in a rented black tuxedo and clean-shavened for once, Roy Harper flashes his invitation at the door, and then sweeps in, with his date in tow.

Said date, wearing a bright yellow sundress with a hello kitty symbol smack on her chest, is only too proud to applaud loudly, before giving Roy a reproachful glare. "I told you we were going to be late, Daddy!" Lian Harper glowers, as only a five years old could, her hands on her hips.

"Oh shhh..." Roy admonishes his daughter, before looking up.

"Daddy, Kate's here!" Lian exclaims. "Go ahead, say hi. I'll just..."

"You be nice to Grampa!" Lian admonishes, before going off to chase Kate down. And knowing Kate, she would probably return Lian to him... buzzed with a sugar high at the end of the night. Damn the woman.

Moving his way towards the wall, Roy leans back to watch Ollie's announcement, meeting his old mentor's eyes with a slight shrug and a crooked half-grin.

Kate pauses in her approach upon spotting Emma out of the corner of her eye. It's not because an eyebrow was arched at her and she used SUPER BODY LANGUAGE READING to determine the woman is a PSYCHIC or something. It's because, hey, there is a pretty lady and she is looking at Kate, and while it would be wise to put business before pleasure, Kate is not in the habit of doing the most wise of things. In fact, most people asked would say she is in the habit of doing the opposite. Either way, as she is halted momentarily, she flashes a smile at Miss Frost, waves a hand, and gives the blonde a once-over with her green eyes before turning her attention back on the Starrware CEO... But not resuming her approach. She's chewing her lower lip slightly, trying to choose between the blonde who doesn't know she's there and the one who does as someone to talk to, when the head of Queen Industries starts talking in the center of the area.

Well, Karen seems to be focusing on that, so Kate shrugs it off, listens and decides to stay where she is. No harm in introducing herself, right? It's not like something is going to happen THIS time too that will require she run off before doing any of that 'networking' that people like Justin are into.

Also, she can kind of appreciate Oliver Queen's attitude, and wants to hear more. 'Just let us take care of things, sir.' 'Lol nope.' 'What.'

Emma Frost always liked Oliver Queen's personality. She had never met the man in person to know if it was all an act, due to his demeanor he always seemed more genuine then most businessmen she had come in contact with.

After a pause she glanced towards Kate Kane's direction, meeting her gaze for just a moment and tosses her a wink before moving a bit closer to the main display to get a better look.

Rain is sneaky that way. She is wrapped in mystery with arcane sprinkles. Or something. There's a polite smile as Fern and Justin drift over. She seems retiring, even a bit surprised (aren't these two pretty important peoples?). She lifts a hand in greeting. "Hello there. And yeah. I couldn't resist," She admits quietly. Poor Justin. She goes quiet as the lights dim and speaking begins.

Fern sidesteps again, then smiles as Hello Kitty goes scampering past as she follows Justin's lead toward Rain. When her attention finally focuses on Justin's target, Fern's brows draw together thoughtfully for a moment, then ease and her broad smile returns. "Isn't she a friend of Sif and Thor?" she whispers to Justin, a moment before he greets the woman. Her eyes are drawn away by another shiny, the change in the monitors, then the appearance of Oliver Queen, and she reluctantly holds the question back from posing it to Rain herself. She'll ask it when the presentation is over.

Finding a good spot in the crowd is not an easy thing to do; fortunately, Tim is an expert at these things. He manuevers his way through until he doesn't need the monitors to see, and then takes a sip from his mug.

Ahh, glorious caffeine.

He watches with interest, eyebrows raised, because this kind of thing is his life now, and yes, Tim is a seventeen year old actually interested in the going-ons of the business world. Mr. Queen's speech has him smiling to himself in amusement. It's not as flashy as some of the other shows have been, but Queen's personable.

Justin pauses in his introductions to focus on the presentation. He had actually expected Rain and Fern to already know each other- since Fern seems to know most of the city. She does recognize the other young woman though, which doesn't surprise Justin in the slightest. With his attention on Ollie, he still keeps his arm linked with Fern's.

Karen manages to briefly exchange greetings with Oliver before he makes it into the middle of the area and starts up his speech. She is paying close attention, and less so what's going on around her. She can understand the 'go out and do stuff for yourself' attitude. She has to do a lot of that. Actually, she probably would even if she didn't have to. But it also means a lot of headaches when she has to deal with people who secretaries and assistances would normally keep at bay. She's interested in finding out more about Mister Queen, beyond just this expo. He might be someone she could work with to get stuff done in the world.

The overhead screens go black for a moment, then come back to life with a streaming collage of crime footage and photos gathered from the last several years. Some of it is from amateur sources, others from the news; none of it is particularly graphic. Each screen has its own stream of content that's distinct from the others, and the videos are muted and subtitled; no one item stays on screen for more than a handful of seconds--just long enough to get the drift of each.

"On the first day of this shindig," he soberly says pacing slowly around his space, "Tony Stark sent out a challenge: dream bigger, work together, and find a cure for the world's biggest illness. At the time, I was still Oliver Queen, Loud-Mouthed Op-Ed Writer, my board room days long behind me; all the same, his speech stuck with me, and I started dreamin'. Didn't take long for me to realize, though--" He stretches a hand abovehead. "--there's some illnesses that aren't so easy to cure. There's no vaccine for wonderin' if the Rhino's gonna derail the subway while you're commutin' to work; no doctor's got a pill to take away the day the Joker decided t' play a prank on your office."

As his hand comes down so that he can clasp both behind his back, he concludes, "Truth be told, when they're announcin' the end of all cancer in 2023, I don't know how big a role any one of us will have played. What I do know is that in 2018, when we're celebratin' the lowest recorded crime rates in US history, it's gonna be Queen Industries that led the way."

To punctuate this claim, the overhead and touch screens all shift to the same image: a sprawling, colour-coded, three-dimensional model of a walled compound that's dominated by a single towering structure. Several smaller buildings dot other areas of the compound, and a paved road twists throughout, connecting it all.

There's a legend off to the right, and even a cursory glance at it would reveal that the lionshare of the main building's upper floors are cell blocks, with separate sections for human, superhuman, and non-human offenders. Anyone with access to a touch screen can pan and zoom the map around at will, or tap the legend to see where, exactly, the various wings - and there seem to be a lot, from the obvious(like the exercise yard and cafeteria) to the less expected(like the koi ponds spread around the grounds and the meditation center) - are located.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he booms "this is the future of criminal rehabilitation and re-orientation: a fully functional, state of the art facility dedicated to helping our least understood citizens--to teaching lions how to lie down with lambs. This is the Throne, and the finest minds in the world are going to use it to help me put an end to the war on crime."

Rain is a friend of theirs! ... and also Loki's apprentice. DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN. Actually, she's about as evil as a cupcake, really. Odd, that. She smiles politely to Justin and Fern as she listens, lifting an eyebrow at the presentation.

Emma Frost says, "watch/add Batwoman"

Michael reclaims his tote bag from Skeets, so that the little robot can fly upwards to gain a better vantage point while recording the presentation. When the facility is revealed and explained, the tall young man initially looks faintly surprised, then frowns in thought. A reconditioning center? Something like this exists in his native era; at least, a darker mirror version does. The thought of -that- makes him uneasy.

Psh. -Still- a loud-mouth, Roy observes, listening as the speech goes on. As Lian entertains herself, Roy quirks an eyebrow at the construction of the rehabilation compound. He would have said this looked something quite like a Club Med for prisoners, the sort any prisoner would fight to get into. Rehabilating prisoners... well, he -hoped- Ollie had a plan on exactly how to make sure that the people who went in were the ones who -needed- it.

It was... somehow typical Ollie, actually, looking for the best, and not being quite prepared for the worst, was it? What if the doctors in charge were less interested in healing and more in re-conditioning?

"Damn," mutters Roy, as he glances about, before starting to move through the crowd, the better to listen to reactions. At least he could tell Ollie all about it aftewards...

A tall lanky thin individual seemed to make his way through the crowd he didn't seem to draw much attention despite his lanky scrawny physique he seemed rather at home in the crowd. He seemed to get past without a problem as he seemed to be part of the LexCorp staff as the pass known as Dr.Ichabob Harrow passing through the crowd he'd avoid most conversations and most of the people trying to show off their tech.

He had been there a while and seemed to be looking for particular tech seeming to linger around booths involving some weaponry and others that meshed well he'd occasionally make notes on the names of the tech and company names. He was dressed simply in a suit like many of the people in this convention to hide who he truly was, a villain known throughout gotham as the Scarecrow someone who in general was a very dangerous individual, although today he seemed harmless scoping out targets carrying a rather normal briefcase.

Crane couldn't help but smirk at the future of Criminal rehabilitation, his eyes on screen as he watched this super prison unveiled, as one of those said super criminals he couldn't help but find a slight humor in it, this Throne was to good to be true and had nothing on Arkham Asylum in his view, it seemed more like a pleasure palace but it had to look that way to seem humane.

Being a previous Asylum psychologist and inmate he knew exactly how resourceful a criminal can be he and many Arkham inmates have made escaping prison look rather simple but still something designed to contain superhumans would require alot of resourcefulness to escape.

Justin's a bit surprised at the way the presentation has gone. He arches a brow, looking between the touch screens and Ollie on the makeshift stage. This could prove very interesting, and he makes a note to try and corner the other CEO after the presentation. Unlike Luthor's demo, which angered him, and Wayne's demo, which he mostly blew off, he's actually quite interested in this one. There's a potential for partnership there.

Suppressing the urge to offer a low whistle at the dramatic reveal, Karen Starr inspects all this with the nearest kiosk's touch monitor. Multi-tasking is easy in this case. She can listen and keep an eye on the display. She wonders if the guest she invited along is seeing all this. She lost track of her 'younger sister' around when they arrived, and Kara found out they were giving away free bags full of stuff. Coupons, discounts on games, a cool new digital camera. All that. She just assumed Kara was keeping herself busy, but now she is actually trying to spot the shorter blonde to see if she's nearby enough to give a reaction.

Because this is the kind of thing that both Karen and Kara know Starrware was established to accomplish. Making a lasting, positive influence on the world. Arkham Asylum practically has a revolving door for all the good it seems to do keeping the criminally insane there and rehabilitate them. Then there's that OTHER super-prison that seems to mostly just keep people locked up. A place that is both secure and actually focused on HELPING... Sure, there's going to need to be security and all that, but this... She really hopes Kara is seeing this. Karen has helped people before who were just misguided. An environmentalist who got ahold of a magic book and went a bit nuts with the reclaiming civilization for the ents, for instance. She shut her down and then she offered her a job. It's small things like that that make a different sometimes. But here's a chance to make a big difference through a great many small ones.

Emma knew that the prison system, along with the justice system were completely flawed, as was one of the notes made the Hellfire club. She wasn't sure if this could actually solve the problem, but the idea piqued her interest. Emma pulled out her cell phone and made a few quick notes.

Tim has come to expect big announcements at these sorts of things, and that... well, that certainly fits the bill. Eyebrows still up but for a very different reason now, he stares up at one of the big screens overhead for a beat, then glances over to where the touchscreens have also changed to show the compound.

That's where he wants to go. It's easy enough for him to pay attention to the speech with one ear as he navigates the crowd, then slides in as a group moves away from one of the screens so unobtrusively that no one else clustered around waiting for their chance seems to mind. He doesn't bother with an indepth look, just scrolls through the bulk of the available information before stepping away again.

It's okay, the button camera on his vest picked it all up, ready and waiting in hi-definition for Batman et al to peruse later.

He tilts his head back up at the big display. His expression says 'unimpressed', but coming from Gotham, that's no surprise. New York gets the big baddies, sure, the alien invasions and the apocalypse bringers, but you cross state lines into Jersey and that's when the real crazies start showing up. "Anything's better than Arkham," he says to himself after a moment, though.

Fern's arched brow unconsciously mimics Justin's as the presentation goes on, but for different reasons entirely. She didn't really come here with many expectations, but having heard Tony Stark's 'challenge', this was not even on her radar as something that might come up. Then her surprise gives way to interest. She knows one criminal in particular that she wishes were safely behind bars, but it seemed bars couldn't hold him. A frown creases her brow as she ponders if some criminals can be rehabilitated and what would happen to the cases that can't. And, for a moment, she wishes Leo Luthor were here, because she thinks this might interest him.

People who know her bust usually know that Supergirl arrives in the blink of an eye doing her best to look fearsome despite her tiny frame and followed a minute or so later by a sonic boom. But Kara Starr arrives much less spectacularly, sneaking away as soon as Karen has looked somewhere else that wasn't at her. Why? FREE STUFF! Hell yes, please, more stuff for the girl who, up until a month or so ago, had been living alone in a crappy apartment barely making ends meet on government subsistence. Now it was more stuff to go with her mis-matched college-surplus furniture.

And maybe find a little something, something to stuff her face with, too.

By the time she reappears in her pale-blue sleeveless cocktail dress, which stretched from neck to knees, she's munching on something or other with one hand and holding a drink in the other, big blue eyes focused on the screen overhead. She half-whispers to her 'older sister' so as not to disturb the presentation. "So... another prison? Don't we have like five of them in the city already?" Sure, she could see a few technological differences and innovations in this one, but... "Has any super-criminal been rehabilitated? /Ever/? I thought that's what Arkham's been trying to do for decades, and look how well that's been going."

Someone rolls up in an ivory humvee with spinning gold rims, gold fenders, gold handles, gold gold. It's a stupid amount of bling per square inch.

And Deadpool jumps out of the back seat! He's dressed all classy, with a tuxedo and /everything/. "Yo yo, what up Stark Expo!" Deadpool shouts, throwing his hands up into the air. "Deadpool izzle inzizle the hizzle!" He starts throwing dollar bills into the air as he walks down the red carpet. "Who's the man?"

DEADPOOL! the crowd shouts back. He throws his hands into the air and snags a passing tray of cocktails and hors'd'oeuvres, holding it aloft with his left hand and looking like a well-heeled waiter. Except he's extensively sampling his own platter. "So who wants to sell this guy some /highly restricted/ weaponry?"

Hammer is still watching the presentation with rapt interest, until there's a commotion toward the front of the hall. He blinks and looks that direction, trying to find the source of the disturbance. The man in the tux seems to be the epicenter, and the name given doesn't immediately ring a bell. But the mask the man is wearing does. Justin tenses immediately, something that Fern is certain to pick up on and Rain may even notice. He's been holding up his end of the bargain, the merc has been getting drops of weapons, but this is the first time the CEO has seen him since the Hostage Crisis in May.

Well! She got a wink back! And it seems Karen already has someone hanging around her. Where did that shorter girl come from? Kate is definitely focusing on the matter of the prison, but she also follows along after Emma all casual-like when the latter moves off. Don't get distracted, Kate. Don't. Her thoughts (the ones not about the lady she's following, or the fact that Karen has a mini-me of some kind accompanying her to this event, or trying to remember why she even wanted to talk to Karen to begin with--Oh, right, that whole business thing.) echo Tim's. Arkham Asylum has been trying and not doing a real great job. But security there is, as the kids say, 'totally ass'.

The bad kind.

Rehabilitation is fine and all, and a better option than killing those who might just be troubled and need to be set straight... And any prison that doesn't leave people worse than when they went in gets at least a nod of acknowledgement from the heiress. But this red-head has a bit of the cynic in her, and while she'd LIKE to see people get fixed up and put back on the path of 'not being someone in need of punching and arresting', she has her doubts.

And anything is better than Arkham.

Uh oh. Justin tensing? Wait. That's Deadpool. She's pretty sure he remembers the whole conjuring chimichangas thing. Well. She just is still, listening, wide-eyed. She looks concerned, peering at Justin, then waves to Deadpool. Carefully. Well, why not? Though, she shakes her head at the weaponry question. Right. Time to look small again.

Damnit! A briefcase! That'd make us look ALL KINDS of important and bigwig!

Deadpool also has a briefcase too, like Jonathan, but his has more bling and DP in big gold letters on it.

Emma Frost turns around when the commotion of Deadpool arrives. She rolls her eyes and slips her phone away. Wasn't there any security in these things? Likely not.

With a scoff she turns her attention back towards the display and wonders what sort of application could make the prison force actually effective. Of course in her field, there were means. But they were more direct.

Fern's attention is drawn away when Justin's strays, and she turns her head to look where he's looking. She sees the man in the mask, but it means nothing to her, until Justin tenses. A curious look goes to her companion, and she gives a light tug on his arm to catch his eye, leaning close, pushing up on her toes to whisper, "Are you alright?" She's truly concerned at the change in demeanor of HI's CEO, besides the fact that it unsettles her. They've had a few less than pleasant encounters together, and one more would be pushing the envelops of 'things you just process and let go of'. Still, she glances to Rain, noting that the young woman also looks a little 'off', and her frown deepens.

Karen, without going into detail, just says, "A few." in reply to Kara Starr's question. "I do think something different needs to be done from what the current prisons are doing, and from what Arkham is doing. I want to help people, but locking them up, or putting them in padded rooms and expecting them to play nice is not working out. Maybe Starrware can help with that. I think we have a group working on some kind of virtual environment thing... Maybe that can be worked in. Practice interacting with people, get some neuro-feedback into it... I'll ask." Then the taller of the two blondes looks at the shorter and asks, "Did you get anything for me?" She could use a beverage of some kind.

"The world is a dangerous place, these days," Ollie says over the murmurings of the crowd. The reactions amongst most of the exhibition-goers are fairly mixed, ranging from hopeful optimism to discomfort. His voice is firm and passionate, regardless, and when he continues, "Decades from now, when I'm old, and gray, and still devilishly handsome, I want to be able to look my beautiful granddaughter in the eye and know that I did my part to give her the wonderful world she and her kids are livin' in," he pauses his constant rotation just long enough to catch Roy's eye and seek some inkling of his reaction.

"We've got a website comin' soon, so you can learn more about what we're planning--and so that we can hear from you. If you're a doctor, a scientist, a philosopher, a teacher, an entrepeneur--anyone who wants to bring their ideas for solving this problem to the table, we are listening, and we're ready to work with you. 'till then--"

Suddenly: Deadpool!

"--enjoy the bags, and enjoy this glimpse into the future," he concludes after a pause, squinting at the ivory vehicle.

With that, the lights come back on, and Ollie steps out of the cordoned circle, staring at the car the whole time; it isn't until he's back amongst the crowd that he's able to tear his eyes away from the thing, and when he finally does, he shakes his head and chuckles to himself. He has no idea how Deadpool got that thing inside, but he can appreciate the sheer audacity of it--

SOME TIME AGO

"GREEN ARROW, BITCHES!" exclaims as the tricked out, garishly yellow Arrowcar roars past a corner full of surprised drug pushers; they're even more surprised when the young vigilante stretches out of the driver's side window to fire half a dozen handcuff and boxing glove arrows at the lot of them before speeding off.

NOW

--even if his flashy car days are long behind him. He scans the crowd for Karen - who he spoke to just before getting on stage - then begins trying to forward his way through the crowd to reach her. He tries to make sure that his path takes him close enough to Roy to let him clap a hand on his shoulder and flash him an appreciative smile before he moves on, but he figures that catching up can wait, for now.

Did Rain just wave to the psychotic merc? That doesn't help Justin's anxiety any, and he glances toward the witch then looks to Fern when she tugs his arm. Her question is caught and processed, but it takes Hammer a moment to respond. "Y-yeah, fine, fine," he tells her in a whisper, though he doesn't relax any. He looks back toward the presentation, but his eyes dart toward Deadpool every so often to try and track his movements.

Deadpool suddenly feels a great longing and attraction for Ollie, even as he starts jumping up and down. "RAIN! HI RAIN! YOU'RE MY FAVORITE SIDEKICK'S ALT!" he yells, screaming across the murmur that is the Expo.

Maybe it's the flashback of the Arrowcar- maybe it's the 'GREEN ARROW, BITCHES!' line that Deadpool now renders so well as 'CHIMICHANGAS, BITCHES!' or 'DEADPOOL, MOFOS!' or 'I'LL HAVE ANOTHER CHALUPA, SENOR!' It's not gay. Not at all. It's just the attraction two men hold mutually for one another. Right, like, when they're both into shiny things and cool cars and style and panache and holding hands and feeding each other ice cream. He might be our soul mate!

Deadpool leans his head on Ollie's shoulders. Where the hell did he /come/ from? Wasn't he across the Expo like a minute ago? "Do you believe in love at first sight?" he sighs to Ollie, looking wistfully up at the skies above the Expo.

Do I get XP for killing the mood?

"But... doesn't Arkham have therapy sessions and licensed psychiatrists and all that who try to help them work through their issues?" Kara asides to the taller version of herself, a wry smile pulling at one corner of her mouth as she finishes chewing. "These aren't exactly just regular, run-of-the-mill crooks here, they're the most dangerous and deranged individuals in, heck, the whole world!"

"I know Arkham gets this bad wrap from all the prison breaks, but consider some of the names they have all set up there! People have escaped," She looks around briefly, then lowers her voice, "Everything from Green Lantern custody to the Justice League's. I'm pretty sure some of these people would even find ways to bust out of /the/ Fortress. Y'know, the one up north."

She casually lifts a shoulder as the display goes on. "We can't really hold non-powered people accountable for 'letting' criminals who give the gosh-darned Batman trouble." But then she's protectively hugging her glass to herself and looking at Power Girl as if she'd just asked Kara to hand over her firstborn child. "No! And this one's mine! You should have asked." As if she'd given the older woman a chance to before disappearing.

Rain looks apologetically at Justin, and goes still. She just blinks owlishly. Whatever an alt means, sure. She goes with that. She sips her soda and stays quietly near Justin and Fern. "Are you guys okay?" She akss. She seems uncertain of what to make of this, dark purple eyes just wide.

Michael beckons to Skeets, and the little golden robot flies back down to hover beside his boss. "Well... A for intention," Michael remarks, to his valet droid. He hands his tote of free swag back to the robot, who extends a claw arm to take it. "At least there was nothing about like... genetic reconditioning or mental reprogramming. Unless I missed that part."

"No, sir," pipes Skeets. "At least, those were not mentioned as part of the rehabilitation methods they intend to employ. In fact, I would be surprised if they would even allow GMOs in their food facilities."

Fern isn't buying Justin's words when his posture has gotten so rigid. It took forever for him to relax with her, she can't possibly miss the difference when it comes so suddenly and then stays. She doesn't argue the point with him, but her eyes narrow and she's less at ease than she was five minutes ago. She looks to Rain, no less confused as the new arrival uses her name, nodding vaguely at the question even though it seems that several people are less then okay at the moment. Of all the demos she's been to at the expo, this one is by far the most perplexing.

At least Deadpool didn't seem to notice- or acknowledge- Justin. That helps a little bit, but he's still very much on edge. The CEO looks between Rain and Fern now that the presentation seems to be over. He gives a nervous chuckle. "Well, wasn't that interesting?" he offers along with a veneer smile. "Not exactly what I had expected, that's for sure. But I think the concept was interesting. Could be something that HI would want to partner in..." He trails of a bit, and completely, intentionally, moves right past Rain's question without acknowledging it.

"Sure," Ollie begins as he turns a cautious eye on the man suddenly leaning against him, "but I don't think you're my type, brother." With a small backstep to separate himself from the merc, he cants his head towards the vehicle, flashes Deadpool a smirk and adds, "Li'l too showy, for my tastes; you understand." The oddly attired expo-crasher gets a firm, friendly pat on the shoulder, and then he's off to join Kara and Karen.

Karen takes into account what Kara is saying. It's true. She just wants to focus less on the blame -- either of the jailors or the jailed -- and more on how to make things better. She can't fix everything. She knows first-hand the stress of trying to take the world onto her shoulders. She knows that is a burden that even Superman has buckled under on occasion. But she still wants to try. Then Kara gives her lip about not getting her a drink, and she pouts, raising a finger to begin lecturing or at least complaining about the lack of drinks, when Ollie comes over. Karen turns her attention on him and transforms her frown into a smile. "Hello again, Mister Queen. That was a pretty good speech and reveal. It seems to have generated a lot of..." Karen glances around. "...Reactions. This is my BABY sister, Kara. Kara, say hello." She puts an arm around Kara's shoulder and hugs her while emphasizing what a drink-hoarding baby she is.

"I'm very interested in hearing more about it and was just telling Kara here about what I and Starrware would like to do to help."

Johnathan Crane could only head tilt at the arrival of a rather strange case, this Deadpool seemed to get alot of different reactions, one in particualr catching his interest Justin Hammer's reaction of quite visual fear and nervousness. Crane knew that look all too well and those were all classic signs, although today despite the urge to do something to show all these hopeful individuals and this so called super prison 'Throne' that no matter how much you do to hide it there will always be a reason to fear someone like him.

For now though he kept his briefcase close and continued taking notes on some of the details about the prison, and some of the big players around the event, despite his criminal career he was a scientist and a professional pscychologist focused on his research on the every aspect of fear and having something like this would affect the general populous either making them feel safer, or more afraid of what might be taking place behind those walls.

One thing for sure, there was one person in the area that was genuinely interesting. Something about that redhead. She couldn't pick up much from her surface thoughts, for some reason. But was enough.

She put her phone aside and quickly found the redhead in the crowd, "An updated prison? Well, it's a start at least."

She held out a hand to Kate Kane, "Emma Frost. You are. . .Kate Kane right? I think I went to one of your familys Christmas parties forever ago."

"Fine! Be that way! But know we could never have been together anyway!" Deadpool hurls at Ollie's back, sounding for all the world like a jilted lover. He sobs and vanishes into the crowd.

For like, five seconds. "Ladies. Ladies. Ladies." He Fonzies at Emma, Kara, and Karen, in order, as he passes them, still drinking his tray full of goodies like it's going out of style. No one ask how he does that with his mask on! His path takes him to Justin, where he promptly chucks the tray aside with a clatter and grabs Justin's shoulders. "Justin! Buddy! I want to /thank you again/ for the /generous/ gift of all that plastic explosive," he informs the arms dealer/totally legitimate businessman. Loudly. "I was able to build a /totally awesome/ clay model replica of Green Latern. 1-12 scale!"

Parts of the crowd shift as a tiny woman, barely over four feet tall, toddles her way through the throng, a lit cigarette in her hand. Her over magnified eyes peering this way and that way as she heads toward people in general. There's a man in an off-black suit and tie standing just behind her and when she comes to a stop so does he. His arms cross over his barrel chest. They flex under the fabric of his suit as he stands like a wall behind the short woman with the big glasses. She takes a drag from her cigarette, then waves her hand dismissively at the man.

"Go find a doughnut or something. You're making me all crazy. Standing there like a hired thug. Even if you are a hired thug... body guard.. wahtever. Go and check for tazers or something," she says getting lost somewher eien her circular self-conversation and wouldn't you know it? She missed Queen's presentation? She'll have to - did that red and black gun bunny just say something about plastic explosive? Intrigued, Edna makes her way over... taking another drag from her cigarette.

Owch. Rain frowns faintly, as her question is moved past. Well. He's nervous about something. "I am sorry. I apologize." She looks genuinely apologetically to Fern and Justin and will sneak away, to bolt like a ferret at a fridge.

The look Karen gets at the emphasis of 'baby' could melt stone. If she had let the eye-lasers through, they might have. Instead, Kara just smiles that nasty smile that people get when they have to smile but would very clearly much rather be flipping someone the bird. Or spilling her drink on top of the taller blonde's head. But they're not in the comfort of their apartment, they're in public. And that would probably only prove Karen's point about what a BABY she was for wanting to keep her drink and not let the blonde amazon chug it.

"Hey, Kara Starr, pleased to meet you." The smaller of the blondes holds out a hand towards the blonde male and begins wondering if there's a disproportionate amount of blondes in the room. "I think I did a painting of one of Queen Industries buildings for an art project. Good luck with your new prison." She casts a scuttling look towards her 'sister'.

"But if you'll excuse me, I'll let the GROWN-UPS talk business." And with that, she skitters away, just in time to duck away from Deadpool and his flirtatiously flirty Joey Tribianni impressions. ...Probably to find more grub to stuff her face with.

Damn! The Fonzie failed! The Fonzie /never/ fails! Clearly, those characters are all defective.

And that's when the inevitable nightmare happens. Justin is about to respond to Rain's apology in a slightly stuttering tone when The Merc with the Mouth appears in the crowd. And approaches him. And grabs him by the shoulders. Hammer's look of shock is obvious and priceless, especially when Deadpool starts loudly discussing plastic explosives. /What in God's name is wrong with this guy?!/ Swallowing hard he tries to formulate a response. "I-ah, well, p-plastic explosives? I'm n-not exactly sure what you're talking about," Justin manages to say.

Fern's eyes widen as Deadpool not only approaches but grasps Justin by the shoulders. She doesn't relinquish her hold on the CEO's arm, as if afraid he'll be swept away by the new arrival. And, honestly, she is. She stays quiet but tightens her grip, looking up at Justin questioningly before she looks back to Deadpool, then to Justin again. Yes. This wins the prize for most confusing demo of the Expo as far as she's concerned. It might be kinda nice to have a werewolf around, at least a person kinda knows what to expect.

"Ms. Starr," Ollie says with a nod and a smile for each of them. The younger blonde gets a firm handshake as he continues, "Kara. Pleasure to make your acquaintance; the warm wishes are appreciated." His brows arch a little at the mention of a school painting, but he doesn't press for details; she doesn't seem all that keen to stick around, anyway.

"Glad you enjoyed the show," he says, turning his full attention to Karen. "A couple more, and I reckon I'll have just about knocked the rust off." He's grinning rogueishly as he slips his hand into the inner pocket of his blazer to fetch a business card - one of the few he's given, rather than receiving - and holds it out for Karen. "Like I said up there: whenever you wanna talk, I'm ready; I've heard good things about what you all are doin' over at Starrware. Even did a little piece on you guys for Mother Jones; I'm a fan. Just give my office a call, and we'll set it up, eh?"

Stopping near enough by to study the small group, Edna's eyes skim over Deadpool's outfit. Lips purse faintly for a moment, and she exhales an untidy cloud of smoke.

"PLastic explosive, dahling. MOdels like clay, goes boom. I'm not a fan myself, but it was fun tryingto make a cloth that can withstand a point blank EXPLOSION!!" Edna's eyes go a like maniac at the word and her left hand curls into a fist.

"YEEESH. EXPLOSIONS," Deadpool agrees, hissing and clenching a fist at Edna. He drops to one knee to peer at her owlish eyes, meeting her level and utterly dismissing Justin. "I LOVE explosions. This guy, he gave me stuff for all kinds of explosions!" Deadpool says, flinging an arm at Justin and accidentally hitting him in the stomach. "I bet he's got tons of explosives just laying around! I just went into this warehouse and was like, 'Hey, explosives! Thanks, HammerTech!'"

Deadpool leans into your computer monitor screen. "When you think explosives, Think Hammer! Think HammerTech!"

Deadpool looks at Rain. "Hey, can you newt me?" he asks, peering at her and rubbing his chin. "I've always wanted to be a newt. I bet I'd get better fast."

Kate looks up when the reveal and speech and display are all over with, and finds the blonde who caught her eye -- the non-giant one -- is approaching HER now. Well, good. She was going to break off pursuit in this crowd if things didn't turn around soon. Smiling brightly, the pale red-head holds out a hand as well, offering a firm but considerate-of-the-hand-integrity-of-others handshake and saying, "That's me! Nice to see you. Sorry for not making the connection immediately. It must have REALLY been forever ago. Maybe that's why you caught my eye so readily." Then she glances down at Emma and says, "Or maybe it's your fashion sense!"

Edna gives Deadpool a single blink, then looks up at Justin Hammer, grinning brightly. That's why he looks familiar.

"Mr. Hammer. Edna Mode, dahling. Ordered some of your weaponry. Good stuff. Goes off well. Few misfires. Absolute perfection for mock up trials," says Edna, not offering her hand for a shake... Because...

"Of course you would, dahling. Of course you would," she says to Deadpool, taking a drag of her cigarette and looking to Rain, since Deadpool looked at her.

"You have powers, then?" she asks with a tone of 'heard it before, need to hear it again, so spill already and we'll go have some earl grey.'

Karen watches Kara slip off and shakes her head before focusing back on Oliver. She accepts the card and pockets it. "I certainly will, and I'm glad to hear that. I'll have to check that out when I get back."

Emma crosses her arms over her chest, lifting just slightly "Perhaps that. Besides,"

She tossed her hair behind her shoulder, "That was bottles of peroxide ago, and around $300,000 in plastic surgery, and my. . .cadence was a bit differenct. I doubt you recognized me. But I'm flattered none the less."

She gestured towards the televisions, "Since we are catching up then. What have you been up to? Causing trouble, I'm sure. You certainly /have/ grown."

She looks her over, and smiles.

Justin is both grateful and a bit nervous having Fern still linked to his arm. Her presence is a stable comfort, but at the same time he's afraid of what the crazy maniac might do to her. The short woman draws his attention, and thankfully Deadpool's as well, and Hammer finally gets a repreive from the harassment. Well, for a few seconds anyway. The merc bragging about going to his warehouse isn't helping the situation. Goddammit, that was supposed to be a clandestine deal, not to be spread around like that. He should have never agreed to work with the mercenary, though honestly he didn't have much of a choice at the time. As they say, greatness was thrust upon him. Then to top it all off, he gets hit in the gut. Letting out an 'oof', the CEO takes a stumbled step backwards. Looking to Fern as he catches his breath, Justin gives a quick shake of his head. "I-I have no idea what he's talking about,' he tells his date in a quick tone.

When Edna addresses him, Hammer forces another smile, looking down at the small woman. "Miss Mode, pleasure to meet you in person. I-I do recognize the name," he says with a false tone of pleasantness. "S-so glad that you're finding my products to your liking."

Poor Justin. Rain looked worried and then - and then she gets a request for newting. She blinks. "Um. You might get stepped on in here. That would be bad," She points out. "I was going to go feed my pets. But I'll see you around." She does her best to dodge the question, though she's terrible at dodging.

The pockets of commotion in the crowd do not go unnoticed by Michael; he may be in civilian clothing but he has enough gear on to retain a lot of his powers, including his enhanced senses. Initially he grins a bit when he notices Justin having an awkward moment, because it is amusing. Then, he spots Deadpool and realizes why that guy looks familiar. Last time he saw him, he was firing a rocket launcher at a pal of his. Michael walks by the little group and pauses so he can frown at Deadpool. He frowns -so much-.

Soon, Oliver is off to mingle with the rest of the crowd; more hands will be shaken, more cards received(and quite likely given), and more pleasantries exchanged.

Of course, now that he doesn't have a presentation to give, he's also going to be making frequent stops at the bar in the midst of all of this. With any luck, it'll be the presentation, and not his antics afterwards that'll be getting the headlines tomorrow.

"Yes, dahling. Lovely work. I'm considering upgrades to my security system. Maybe I'll have you by. See about installing a fully automatic AK47 in the ceiling, drop down of course. Just in case. Luck favors the prepared," Edna says to Justin off-handedly, looking to Rain as her question is brushed over. Hmm... Odd little super-heroine no likey to discuss powers in public. Aw well. When she's ready to ger her fashion sense out of her knickers...

Still, Fern doesn't let go of her hold on Justin, perhaps using it as much to provide some sense of security for herself as for him. She moves with him as he stumbles back, quickly attempting to steady him, murmuring to his words, "Of course, Justin." She looks to Edna, quite the unknown entity in all this, as much as Deadpool himself, and holds tight to her date. "Maybe we should go?" she asks Justin, her voice low, although there's not much chance of much note being taken of her. She moves a step away, giving a light tug on Hammer's arm.

"What, no, don't go!" Deadpool jumps up and grabs a platter full of shrimp and hands them to Fern and Justin. "Here! Shrimp! all the shrimp you can eat!" He eyes Rain. "So, no newting?" He shakes his head, sighing at Rain. "It's ok. I suspect that a person much like you, just as awesome, will give me guns at some point."

Deadpool eyes Edna, then offers her a hearty handshake. "Done! And I'm thinking more like claymore mines and heavy LMGs, none of this personal calibre crap! And I could use a new DeadpoolCostume. Maybesomething from X-force?" he says, rubbing his chin and squinting skywards.

The red-head seems ever-so-slightly surprised. Emma looks pretty enough to be natural. But she doesn't judge. She's dated all kinds, and a personality to go with the looks is plenty important. More so, in most cases. Arching an eyebrow, Kate smiiiiles and flutters her eyelashes and says, "Thank you for noticing. And yes, causing trouble seems to be the majority of what people gossip about and what appears in various tabloids. Believe it or not, I do actually do some respectable things sometimes though. Like attend these expos to look for 'networking opportunities'." She looks towards where Oliver Queen is chatting with some other attendees and decides it would just be a crime to go over there right now. Just a pure crime.

So she stays where she is and smiles just a bit wider as she asks, "What about you? Are you looking for an opportunity to network?" Insert double-meanings here.

"That's um, the spirit!" Rain thumbsups at Deadpool. "And besides, I'm sure you're much more adorable and popular without being a newt." Beam. Right? Right. Time to scamper.

With a wrinkled nose, Edna pulls her hand out of Deadpool's grasp.

"You, not coming over. Ever."

Edna looks to Justin.

"You, guns. Later. Go make babies now."

And finally to Fern, Edna turns.

"You. Cling. Goodbye." And the designer turns away from that trio.

Go overboard. Completely over the top. Take it to 11, then hit the amp and take the /amp/ to 11. All the way to the max. If you think it's too much then you're still not doing enough.

Another false smile is offered to Edna. "Hey, give me a call any time and we'll talk about it. I've got some things that make AKs look like BB guns, too," Justin says to the woman before looking to Fern again when he feels the tug. "Yeah, maybe we should wander back to my pavi-" They're noticed again and a tray is shoved into Hammer's grasp. He barely manages to catch it and keep the contents from clattering to the floor. Edna's words cause him to blink, and leaves the normally talkative CEO speechless. Finding a waiter to hand the tray to, Justin passes off the platter and turns to leave. "C'mon, lets go find a drink or something," he says to Fern quietly, "In another state, preferably."

Emma laughed and placed a hand on her hip, "Networking is always handy, sure. But I legitimately wanted to see his presentation. I've been co-managing my own, and just haven't seen enough of others. And I like his idea."

She linked an arm with hers, "However, if you personally are looking for networking I could be your woman. Not sure if you have heard, but I run Frost International and run the Academy of Tomorrow. On top of this, I have my fingers in all sorts of things, depending on who you want to know."

Fern and Justin and Rain make a tactical retreat, and that leaves... Emma and Kate. SOOOOOO GUESS WHAT?

Deadpool realizes belatedly that Michael is scowling at him, menacingly, so he edges away, shift-shift-shift, and heads towards the two remaining RPers in the crowd.

"So, wow, what's up with the 4th wall and the party and me ruining the good times, huh?" he asks brightly, sauntering up to the women. "Am I just like, the life of the party or what? Cocktails?" he asks, stealing drinks from a passer-by's hands and promptly downing all three of them.

"I agree. The prison is very interesting. Especially if Mister Queen is serious about rehabilitation. Most prisons are supposedly there for that purpose, but they mostly seem to just be places to lock people up." Sigh. A less pleasant topic than she'd like to be discussing right now, but one that perhaps needs to be discussed--Oh, Emma linked arms with her, so maybe not. The slightly serious look that she started to have on her face changes to a much less serious one. "You could be my woman, huh? I like the sound of that." She laughs a bit. "I hadn't quite heard about that. But I have heard good things about the Academy of Tommorow." In a way... Kate thinks Emma is doing what Mister Queen is trying to do, only starting early. Give kids a positive way to use their gifts, a supporting influence... Put them on the right track now rather than waiting to try to fix things when they're adults. But as she leans in a bit closer to Emma, it's not that which she says out loud. Instead she says, "I'd like to hear ALL about what you have your fingers in--" she starts, making her intentions a bit more obvious -- if they weren't already. But then Deadpool happens.

Kate stops where she is and stares. Eventually, she says, "...I wasn't aware that Mister Queen hired a clown. I think there are some kids over there you can entertain."

Johnathan Crane after getting all his information would begin getting ready to leave, his briefcase containing some of his quite potent Toxin hooked up to a dispenser. It wasn't a bomb in the true sense but it would atleast act like it unleashing a rather large spreading gas cloud, this little surprise for whoever might open the case.

Slipping the case to an unsupecting booth, then casually walking away he had done this quite often leaving this surprise for when the party winds down or atleast till the briefcase was discovered. Crane would then try walk out of the expo just as casually as he waltzed in, trying to ignore the strange goings on with this Deadpool guy.

Tousaint makes his way back to the expo and takes a quick look around the room. He lets out a frustrated sigh and snaps his fingers, "Rats, I missed her."

Emma catches all of her inner narrative mentally and is about to go into the joys of her school but adds, "I /assure/ you I have my fingers in everything."

And Deadpool. Emma takes takes over Deadpool's mind and puts a picture into his mind of Bea Arthur in a bikini in the corner. "Yes nice to meet you. Carry on."

She was not about to get blocked by an insane clown. Things have not been going well for her lately.

Tousaint walks around the expo, asking did anyone see the tall blonde lady. When someone states that she left awhile ago, Tousaint shrugs his shoulders and heads out of the expo. On his way out, he spots Deadpool and quickens his pace.

Deadpool sighs, very happily. For no reason. And goes absolutely /quiet/.

Everyone, mark your calendar. This is the day Emma Frost made Deadpool /shut up/. Wait, insane?! "I'm not insane! I'm just a bit sociopathic!"

And because literally, Deadpool's writer is just... out of ways to contribute, he's gonna sort of listlessly drag his ass outta here.

Well, mister not crazy just sociopathic seems to mostly be quiet, and Tousaint is striding over quickly to take care of him it seems (maybe this is just a poor man in need of medication and that's his caretaker?), so Kate attemps to guide Emma around and preferably out of the area. Because, you know, if Deadpool DOES turn out to be dangerous, getting the defenseless civilian (hah) out of the area would be best. She's not exactly prepared to fight at the moment.

"So, um..." she resumes with a glance over her shoulder. "I'd REALLY like to see more of you." A beat. "...So perhaps we could meet for dinner sometime? Talk about your school and other interesting things?"

Emma was beyond and innocent bystander, but her heroic intentions were noted and might later be rewarded. She reached into her purse and pulled a business card which featured her actual personal number, "I'd quite like that, Kate."

She placed the card into her palm and brushed her lips up against her cheek, "Until then."