2013.05.15 - To the Revolution of the World

To be honest, even before his Black Rook had informed him of Alexander Luthor meeting with Justin Hammer, the man was already on his agenda. He respected what Hammer reminded him of himself in a few ways, just less successful in his endeavors. That meant the young man (young to him anyways) could use a bit of patronage and the one thing that the Hellfire Club did best (besides degenerate parties that make bacchanals jealous) was patronage.

With that in mind he had invited Justin Hammer to the clubs Dashwood Hall on a, somewhat quiet night. There were still people there, the party was still in swing, but the music was quieter, and the guests less rowdy and blatant. Showing that the Hellfire Club was definitely a place to be and enjoy, but that it wasn't so in your face that some work couldn't be done.

Shaw himself awaited Hammer at the bar, dressed in the regalia of the Lord Cardinal of the Hellfire Club. He had told the door wenches to bring Justin to him when he had arrived. To Justin's secretary he had sent an engraved invitation that he was "Cordially Invited to the Metropolis Hellfire Club to be the guest of Lord Sebastian Shaw." at the end a handwritten note said, "We should meet -SS."

Before he could make contact, Justin found himself contacted by Sebastian Shaw. He wasn't completely surprised, after all Lex Luthor had told him that Shaw had an interest in him joining the prestigious Hellfire Club, but he still hadn't expected an invitation so quickly. Knowing what sort of business opportunity this would be, Hammer cleared his schedule for the evening and headed to the club after he finished at the office.

After having turned his vehicle over to be parked, Justin found himself in the care of two rather attractive women. The door wenches lead him quickly through the club, but not at such a fast pace that Justin doesn't get a chance to glance around. This is exactly the sort of decadent place that he had always wanted to find himself. The elite of the elite. The ladies bring the CEO to toward where Shaw sits at the bar, and Hammer gets his first look at the influential Lord Cardinal. Lex Luthor had warned Justin that Shaw was a bit old fashioned in the way he dressed, and he wasn't kidding. Not that Hammer can say much, his dark grey, three-piece suit could be considered pretentious in it's own right.

"Justin Hammer!" Sebastian said in a very over the top jovial way, he put down his scotch and continued "I have been looking forward to meeting you to be honest."

He looked to the bartender and said, "A glass of scotch,Glenfiddich Rare Collection 1937, neat, for my friend Justin Hammer." The bartender nods to the Black King and went to make the drink.

Shaw stood up to shake Justin's hand, up close, Shaw could easily be Justin's own age but according to the profile in Forbes done last year he should be sixty-three years old, "Justin Hammer, partial scholarship to University of Colorado, double major in engineering and business. Ended up in a depressing job at Lockheed Martin and would have stayed there except."

Shaw smiled wickedly, "Until you broke all expectations and invented the HI-4MCR. You leveraged all that into Hammer Industries. All and all, a very impressive resume. In fact I believe we met briefly and a tech conference right when you were on your way up. I snubbed you back then, and have invited you here to make it up to you."

The bartender puts the drink for Justin down on the bar, a glass of $20,000 a bottle scotch.

The Hammer Industries CEO smiles and takes Shaw's hand to shake. He's somewhat taken aback by the overly friendly nature of the other man, he hadn't expected that. But then again, look at this place. How couldn't you be upbeat here? "Mister Sebastian Shaw," Justin returns in his usual tone, trying to return the friendly air. "I have to say the same." He arches a brow as he's ordered a damn good glass of scotch, glancing to the bar tender before looking back to Shaw. The amount of information that Shaw has on him is startling, though all of it's public. It's just odd to run into someone who is practically a stranger that knows a good part of his background. And a bit one sided, as he doesn't have any real information on Shaw.

On the comment about being snubbed, Justin offers a light chuckle. "Hey, don't worry about it. I would have done the same," he offers with a light wave of his hand before he picks up the glass of scotch. "I can tell already that we're going to get along when it comes to our taste in drinks."

Shaw smiled at Justin and gestured towards the front of the Hall, where the exotic dancers were. Picking up his own scotch he took a drink and said, "It's acceptable, but not alright. I'm a self-made man myself, only difference was I had a full scholarship and I excelled at engineering rather than managing to pass at all. Also I started with making my own company rather than taking another job," Shaw's comments were obviously meant to remind Justin that he was above him, but not so harshly as to say they didn't share common ground and that Shaw understood him, "Self-made, I respect that more than most do. Born with a rusted spoon in my mouth and made myself from nothing."

He paused right before the two of them would reach the very comfortable chairs in front of the exotic dancing stage, "From nothing, I became a billionaire at age 30, by age 40... I was part of the most prestigious club that world knew. And I leveraged that into billions more. I'm not living the American dream..."

Shaw's voice rose over the music and the festivities as he shouted, "-SEBASTIAN SHAW- IS THE AMERICAN DREAM!"

The assembled members and staff all applauded him after his shout, all part of the festivities.

Justin falls in step with Shaw as he heads toward the front of the club. He raises his glass slightly and nods in aknowledgement and agreement with Shaw's statement about being self made. He doesn't miss the fact that the other man is still making it clear he's ranking himself higher, and he does a reasonable job of hiding his discomfort at that. He's been overshadowed his entire career, and being reminded of it irks him greatly. Still, something that minor isn't worth throwing away this exceptional opportunity. Smiling at Shaw's bravado, Justin again raises his glass as the staff applaud. "Out of the ashes rises the phoenix," he comments.

Shaw clinks his glass against Justin's, "If it can not break out of it's shell the chick will die, without being born." held a chair open for Justin, "And here is where I challenge what you actually know... firstly, I know that Stark Industries has screwed you out of nearly every contract you would want."

He sat in the seat next to the one he offered and looked at the dancers, "We are the chick, the world is our eggg."

Justin takes a seat in the offered chair and takes a moment to admire the female dancers. They're hard to ignore, that's for sure. When Shaw mentions 'that name', Hammer can't completely hide the scowl. There's a very, very deep hatred there. He takes a sip of the scotch, taking a moment to enjoy it and try to level his throughts. "At least he's out of the weapon's business," he says trying to sound dismissive. "But he did take a lot of my business up until he pulled out of defense. Still does, really, with that tin-can suit of his." He keeps looking forward, toward the entertainment, as he rolls Sebastian's last comment in his mind. Break out of the world or die?

Sebastian laughed at Justin's comment about Stark, not because he thought bad of Hammer, but because he had figured out things and he knew what was coming, on multiple levels. He looked to the dancers, who were so distracting, "You have a 'Sensitive Compartmented Information' clearance correct?"

With a smile Shaw added, "Or are you stuck at Top Secret?"

The CEO frowns at the question. Even the gorgeous women can't take the edge off of talking business, especially since Shaw seems to be rubbing salt in wounds. "I haven't gotten anything above a Top Secret project in a few years," Justin replies, his tone rather flat. He knows Shaw is testing him, trying to judge whether or not he's worthy of being included in his high-end private club. "With all the super hero types running around there's been a lot less demand for my more 'premium' services." Another sip of the scotch, and Hammer quickly adds, "Though I've got a few new ideas in the works that I'm hoping will correct that."

Sebsatian reached under the chair he just sat at and said, "This is your SCI contract, Project: Wideawake. Hammer Industries is building the armor, all it needs is your signature and my backing. We are going to destroy the entire mutant race, do you have a problem with that?"

Shaw looked over to Hammer and was handing him a pen, "I can give it to Stark or Frost or Alexander. The truth is I'd rather give this pen to you, right now. It's a 1.8 -billion- dollar affair are you in or out?"

There's no hiding the surprise this time. Hammer looks to Sebastian, the pen, and the contract. It could be his ticket back into the big leagues, far bigger than either Bull Shark or Black Arrow. Bigger than the video conferencing pipeline he's been toying with. And $1.8 billion isn't anything to scoff at. There's a pause, a slight hesitation, before Justin looks for clarification. "How public is this project going to be?" he asks, setting up the dominoes in his head and trying to see which way they'll fall. He's still making plans to run for public office, THE public office, and doesn't want to tarnish that. On the other hand, he's no fan of supers, mutants, any of them. Shaw's forwardness is also a bit off putting, as this isn't a decision to make on the spot.

Shaw took the contact away but kept it in reach, the pen even was held a bit away. He looked at the dancers who just hit an R rating as they took off their tops, "Non public, ever. This will never hit the public that is the problem with that. But it will lead to a thousand government jobs, all of them happy to have the word: 'Hammer Industries.' And all you need to do is sign, "We need Justin Hammer, we need his armor, or else the mutants will inherit the Earth."

He stood up, and left the files there, on his chair with a pen in hand.

Justin nods at Shaw's explanation. It's far too tempting of an offer to turn down. He watches as the other man stands up, and mirrors his movement, reaching forward to take the pen. "It'll be a pleasure doing business with you, Mister Shaw," Hammer says with an honest, if sly, smile on his face.