A Business Proposition

[Gary Cannon]

Cannon had been settled in to his new / old home for two days now, and he was getting impatient. There was still work to be done. Cannon's armor and weapons were indeed advanced, but he was just one man and could only do so much on his own. He needed help. And the first person that came to mind was the person who was directly responsible for his armor. Cannon needed to enlist the aid of Doktor Klaus Heidegger.

Cannon called up the information he needed on the HUD of his helmet and pulled up the coordinates for the Doktor's facilities in Warsaw, Poland. As he warmed up his teleporter, Cannon gave the mental command to retract his suit so he would appear as a normal business man, rather than some large, intimidating, metal man.

*FZZZZZZZTTTTPOP!*

Cannon appeared in an alleyway just around the corner from Klaus' facility. The man didn't sleep there, at least Cannon didn't think so anyway. Cannon glanced at his watch. 12:24 pm. If he was lucky, the Doktor would be on his lunch break, or at the least not in the middle of anything important, and would be able to talk.

Strolling around the corner, Cannon fell into "businessman mode". Shoulders back, head high, a steady and important stride, a sense of importance. Marching up to the door, he depressed the ringer to the doorbell, and waited. After a few seconds, a man came out. "Good day sir. What might I do for you today?" Cannon searched his memory...this was not Heidegger. An assistant probably.

Cannon bowed at the waist. "Good day to you my fine sir. I would like to converse with the good Doktor Klaus Heidegger if you please. I would like to offer a business proposal. Would you mind fetching him for me my good man?"

[Doktor Klaus Heidegger]

The assistant raised an eyebrow. "You can come in, but I'm not sure Dr. Heidegger will be able to speak with you without an appointment."

The assistant turned to the recptionist--a blonde, thin, buxom young woman. He gave her a sly wink that she did not return. Hiding her disgust in front of the guest, she picked up the phone and dialed the extension to Klaus' office.

"Dr. Heidegger," she said in a professional tone. She paused. She spoke very quickly in Polish. Another pause. More Polish. At last she hung up the phone. "Dr. Heidegger will be along shortly. Please be seated."

Klaus left his office and headed for the elevator. More people with business proposals. He had all the funding he needed and more than enough research projects. By now he was used to one government or private agency barging into his facility without an appointment and harrassing his receptionists until they got to speak to him.

He had already been through several receptionists as it was. Most of them were old, biting shrews that Klaus figured would offer enough hell to send the agencies away until they could get an appointment. Unfortunately the visitors proved tenacious enough to make the hags quit.

Instead he went for the opposite approach and found the youngest, loveliest women to play secretary and try to seduce the agents into leaving. "Eunuchs."

So far nothing he tried seem to work and threatening his benefactors would be stupid. So usually he would go to the lobby, take whatever packet or listen to whatever speech they cared to give, then shoved them out the door.

Klaus felt the elevator jolt to a stop as it reached the ground floor. As it opened he tried his best to put on a smile. Instead it came out as his usual confident smirk.

But this man was not one he had seen before. "Hello, I am Klaus Heidegger. I am in charge of this Jericho facility. What can I do to assist you today?"

[Gary Cannon]

Gary ran a hand through his wavy, short hair, and stood from his seat as he saw the Doktor come in from the back. He smiled at seeing the scientist in such good health. Not at all how I remember him from when I FIRST met him. Much more....sane looking.

Gary bowed deeply to Klaus. A gesture that may have been out of place, outdated, and possibly even unappreciated, but showed a large amount of respect. "It is my pleasure to meet you"again he thought, "good Doktor. I know how busy you are, and therefore, will get straight to the point. I believe that we can help each other in a mutually beneficial relationship. Especially in regards with your work on your...lower levels..." Gary smiled sincerely at Klaus.

"If you would prefer to move this conversation to a more...private area, I am more than happy to oblige you."

[Doktor Klaus Heidegger]

Klaus didn't know who the man was, but the man was not representing any organization that Klaus was familiar with. And he referenced some of his more top-secret work.

Klaus immediately contacted the head of his security and asked the man to check for any signs of recent breaches in the computer systems and hard files. All of this happened in Polish of course. Klaus was not about to let on that the man had him on guard.

"Most certainly. We will go to my office now."

Klaus motioned to the elevator and pressed the button for it to open again.

"Please, step inside the elevator, and we will be on our way."

[Gary Cannon]

Gary stepped inside the elevator when it arrived. "I think I can imagine what you may be thinking Doktor. Probably wondering how I know about certain things that anyone else outside of these walls shouldn't know about."

Gary reached out and pushed the elevator button that would lead to Klaus' office.

"As hard as it may be to believe, your security has not been compromised. And I promise I will be up front, honest, and revealing with you. Once we reach a secure area free from prying ears." He winked slyly at Klaus. "You see good Doktor, you are not the only one with secrets."

[Doktor Klaus Heidegger]

Klaus nodded. "Indeed. I expect I shall find out all about them shortly."

Doctor Heidegger didn't like this situation. There was a lot of uncertainty here and there was not a lot of means to control what was happening. He knew nothing and would only be enlightened at the mercy of his guest. He would manage a way to turn this around to his favor though.

The elevator stopped and the doors slid open into the floor of offices. Just a short walk from the elevator, they reached the office.

Though Klaus owned the Jericho Center, and was its director, his office was no bigger than his employees' offices. He didn't need all the big room or the pomp of most large offices. The building was impressive enough.
The office had a desk, several books, and his degree hung on the wall behind is desk.

There were three chairs--one behind the desk, and two in front. All the chairs were comfortable, but Klaus' sat on casters. It was the only real thing distinguishing his seat as the one belonging to the man in charge.

"So, we are in my office now. Would you care to explain yourself?"

[Gary Cannon]

Cannon could not allow anything unexpected to happen and so as soon as they entered they office, Cannon, with a thought of command, prompted his suit to scan for any listening or recording devices, and to jam anything within the room or the walls.

"Indeed I would care to explain myself. As hard as this may be to grasp or believe, I am from thirty years in the future. To help substantiate my claim, I am now going to show you something, so try to not be alarmed. Suit, deactivate stealth mode and activate to full." The verbal command was not necessary in the least, but Cannon felt that the verbal cue would help to put Klaus at ease a little more than if the suit would just pop up.

The white metal exoskeleton that ran along his back, arms, legs, and back of his head, materialized as the cloaking field dissipated. Cannon's armor sprang out from the metal and quickly encompassed his entire body. Lastly, his helmet fanned out and plunked down, sealing and completing his gleaming white suit.

"This, my good Doktor, is something made in my time, largely with the help of yourself. It is also just the tip of the iceberg of things I have brought back with me. Know that the reason I am here today, is that I need your help, and you, I'm sure, can use mine."

The suit flared as the light around it was sucked into it, causing it to look like darkness was seeping out of it, as the suit absorbed light energy to restore what was used in staying cloaked as well as sweeping for listening devices and jamming them.

The flare up lasted for a second or two, and then the light was back to normal.

[Doktor Klaus Heidegger]

Klaus did his best to hide his surprise. "That certainly is impressive."

The suit was not something Klaus would have considered at the time, though he was in the process of developing weapons based on his research with Ricky Rider. It appeared to Klaus that the stranger claiming residence in the future had already mastered the technology and the science upon which it was built.

"You are from the future. You already seem privy to my works and expertise--even the ones I have not yet created. To what end to I benefit from this exhibition? You certainly don't seem to have much to gain from my help as it stands."

[Gary Cannon]

Cannon smiled, tho it was hidden beneath his helmet. "Despite how impressive and...well...futuristic this armor may seem, I indeed have need of your help. For one, it was rushed. 30 years is not a lot of time, especially when under....pressure. For another, I am but one man, and my technology, while advanced, has it's limits. In addition, my mission, the reason I came back to this time, is to make the world safe for humans from...violent mutants."

Cannon paced back and forth, his suit just having a barely audible squeak as the metal joints worked, and metal rubbed against metal.

"I feel that, due to the nature of your more...secret work, we could help each other. I provide you with technology you were going to make anyway, so that you get several years head start, and can improve the technology or create new tech. In return for helping me with my armor and weapons, I can be an arm to provide you with subjects for your research, helping advance your goals, while at the same time, helping my goal of keeping humanity safe, and dangerous mutants contained, or killed if need be."

[Doktor Klaus Heidegger]

Klaus sat down and leaned back in the chair. "Even with the the technology as advanced as it is, I'll have to back-engineer most of it so that I can interface with the software, improve the compactness of the technology. You are right, thirty years is not a lot of time to make something so complex, but I need more than just a set of post-modern plate mail in order to work with what you're giving me."

Klaus found a legal pad and a pen and started to write. "If I am to help you, I will need these things. I need my original blueprints. I keep logs of all my work and daily progress reports. I will need those as well. If you plan to use your suit while I am managing all this, I will need another suit just like it so that I can better follow my own train of thought."

What was he saying? And why was he being so cooperative? The man standing before him could be nothing more than a kook, but the technology did lend a certain credence to his claim. He would be even more persuaded if the man could produce everything he would have kept as a record of his progress in the future.

[Gary Cannon]

"I thought you might say as much. I did work with you for about ten years after all."

Cannon sent a thought into his helmet, accessing and opening a panel on his right thigh. He pulled the flap opened and an eerie purple light floated out of it. Reaching in, Cannon pulled out several rolled up blueprints, one after another. "This, as you can see, is another thing that should not be possible. But while working together, we eventually came up with a way to make 'pockets' if you will, of extra-dimensional space. Not good for much more than storing things, but I end up needing the space for various things such as these, as well as my weapons."

Reaching back into the pocket, Cannon produced several half rolled notebooks, each one labeled in Klaus' handwriting across the front indicating which particular item the notebook held notes on.

"As far as an identical suit, I'm afraid I can't provide that, but I can indeed help you with building another."

Cannon plopped the documents down on top of Klaus' desk.

[Doktor Klaus Heidegger]

Klaus shrugged. "No matter. Now leave. It will take me some time to go through all this. If you will leave me a way to contact you, I will be in touch as soon as my preparations are complete."

Klaus flipped through the books and bent a few of them back out straight as best he could. "Of course, there will be a matter of funding. I trust you will be able to financially back this operation?"

[Gary Cannon]

Cannon nodded and pulled a small cell phone out from one a nook in his chest plate and placed it on the corner of the desk. "All you have to do is hit connect, and you will get a direct line to me. As for funding," Cannon struck a demi-heroic pose, obviously proud of his innovations at creating wealth for himself, "I do indeed have the funds, and I assure you that money, in any sum, for any length of time, will not be a problem."

Cannon bowed to Klaus as the Doktor poured over the blueprints and notes.

"Will that be all for today my good Doktor, or do you have any other questions or requests of me?"

[Doktor Klaus Heidegger]

Klaus put the phone into a desk drawer. "None yet. When I have reviewed my own notes--"these words came out with an incredulous tone--"I will estimate a budget for the project and prepare the space. Then I will contact you."

The doctor signaled the end of the conversation by opening the first notebook marked with the earliest date. He turned the page and began to read his own handwriting.

[Gary Cannon]

Cannon bowed again to Klaus. A slight hum began emanating from Cannon's suit as he powered up and warmed up his teleporter. He set his destination to his secret room in the Cannon estate. "Until the time when you are ready. Good reading, and I look forward to your call."

*FZZZZZZZTTTTPOP!*

The space around Cannon bent and warped, and as the noise finished off with a 'pop', Cannon was no longer there, having vanished from the office.

[Doktor Klaus Heidegger]

Klaus hardly registered Gary's disappearance. He was already fascinated by his own work.

A few weeks later Klaus had the space arranged. All the material in the notebooks and all the blueprints had been read over and committed to his memory. All schematics, parameters, units, measurements, and relevant mathematical and scientific information had been translated to an electronic format and installed into his PDA for quick reference.

At last satisfied that the preparations were complete, he pulled the cell phone out of the desk drawer and had it connect to Gary Cannon.

"This is Klaus Heidegger, Administrator of the Warsaw Jericho Center. All preparations are complete. Once I receive the money we agreed upon, we can begin our research."

[Gary Cannon]

Cannon was going over various bits of data, doing satellite recon, and getting to know the lay of the land in this era when his HUD popped up with an incoming call from Klaus.

"Very good. I take it then, that we do indeed have an agreement. I can have your funds wired directly to whichever account you'd like within an hour. If you would be so kind as to give me the account you would like the money to go into, and an amount you would like there, I will begin pulling in resources and getting things going. If you'd like as well, I can even deliver you a case of bills, in whichever currency you would prefer if you just need an untraceable cash flow for something."

[Doktor Klaus Heidegger]

Klaus held the invoice in his hand as he held the phone in the other. "There is only one account. This account is created specifically for your project. I will need money deposited directly to this account each month. I can fax or e-mail the the project budget to you as soon as I get the information."

Klaus set the document on the fax machine to free his hand for writing. He got the fax number and sent the document to Gary. "Mr. Cannon, we will begin the project as soon as the account shows that you have deposited the required amount."

[Gary Cannon]

Cannon recoiled as the fax noises started buzzing and ringing in his helmet, before abruptly stopping. Fax machines...old, antiquated technology...and I hate them. He thought to himself. The document with the account number and sum requested for each month produced itself into a section of his HUD.

He brought up a list of all the things his money was tied up into. Oil, sugar, coal, solar, stocks, government loans, CD's, IRA's, savings accounts all over the world, and many other sources too numerous to fit onto the first page that displayed itself. Billions of dollars, pounds, rubles, yen, rupees, pesos, francs, Deutsche Marks, and other obscure currencies stared at him, all under different names, all created by Cannon.

With this much money, Cannon could fund the world. At least for a few years.

So as not to bankrupt any single source, and allow interest to keep building, Cannon took small pieces from several sources, converted them all into Klaus' currency of choice, and wired the sum into the designated account. Waste not, want not...

"It will take about an hour for all of the different sources to go through the proper channels for conversions to the correct currency, and to be verified by respective governments, but my money is well on it's way to your account."

[Doktor Klaus Heidegger]

"Then when the hour is over and my bank confirms the money, we will start."

Klaus returned to his desk and began reviewing his notes for the first phase of the project. The first step to building at suit of technologically enhanced armor was to build a frame. The frame had to fit a human comfortably, but the problem was which human. The suit had to be built to a specific measurement.

Klaus had already decided on the material to use. Carbon Nanotubes were a realtively new discovery, but could link together like so much metal thread. It was very strong and durable, with high resistance to heat and electricity. It would make a fine frame and later, the armor plates that would provide the wearer with protection.

Once the frame was built, servo motors and balancing gyros would be implemented to move the frame and armor and add strength to the user. Once the servos and gyros were operational, the hard part would begin.

Neural interfacing was still a relatively new process that required a person to have an intensely focused mind. No doubt Gary Cannon would have some insight into the development of the technology. Until then he'd have to do more research on psychic mutants and try to engineer a telepathic means to control the suit.

Then of course there were weapons systems s. Once again, he would be relying on his new business partner's knowledge of the future to lend him a hand. Otherwise there weren't going to be terribly many options.

Apparently, Klaus had not included flight as an option into the finished product that Gary wore. He felt irked that he would leave the suit's only form of fast movement to the draining and inefficient teleportation system. Surely he would have found some other way for the suit to move around quickly. He would have to improve that.

He spent the hour reviewing the plans and schematics until he recieved a call from his accounting offices telling him the money was in the account and the project could officially recieve the green light.

Klaus returned a call to Gary. "We are ready to go. I will begin construction of a suit immediately. The secretary will direct you to the proper lab."