Big Business Beginnings, Part 1

[AlphaStrike]

Zach leaned over the conference room tables nervously, looking over the plans he had brought with him for the evening. They were a little old, and had been designed with another city in mind, but they were salvageable, and that was what was important. He had the thick stacks of paper neatly stacked, and ran over the page numbers in his mind one last time. This was it. His potential Patron was coming for something that would probably end up being a Formal Evaluation tonight, and Zach was ready. This would be his foot in the door to the local Invictus, a chance to make his name known in Sacramento, and his chance to prove that not all Gangrel were mindless dogs. Status in the Covenant, Domain, and Clan were all up for grabs, and Zach had quick hands. But caution would be necessary, as well. Many a Kindred had been to ambitious at the wrong moment, and lost their heads for the trouble.

Zach continued to look around nervously, even though this night would be almost perfectly scripted. The plans were laid out, there was a pile of structural law books on a portable shelf, Zach' retainer stood nearby in case anything was necessary, and he had on his best suit. If he had been mortal, he would be sweating an ocean. But thankfully he was not so weak anymore.

So he waited...

[wibblywobbly]

There is soon a knock at the door, no sooner or later then exactly the time that Mister Griffiths had specified.

[AlphaStrike]

Zach nods to his retainer, who moves to the door and opens it, greeting the person outside. She waves him in, asks if he has a coat or a hat to take, and gestures towards the large table that dominates the room. Zach is standing over the table, plans laid out and ready.

"Good evening, Mister Black. I hope business has been good since we last met."

Zach knew that this meeting was not in any Elysium, and he knew that he wouldn't have to remind his elder of that little fact. Zach would have to remember to keep it mortal for the time being. He waved to his retainer to take a seat. This task would take time, and Zach meant to give it the due diligence it required.

[wibblywobbly]

When the Door opens it is not Charles standing there, but a young man in about his early to mid twenties holding a small wooden box under his arm, and with a bit of a confused look in his face. The man has no beast. However the man standing behind him does, and a rather strong one at that.

"It's alright Mister Caulfield, you may be seated."

Charles says to his ghoul.

When Mister Caulfield is out of the way Charles steps in wearing one of his many three piece suits all of which were some of the best money could afford. He is also wearing a fedora which he hands to Zach's assistant.

"Good evening Mister Griffiths, a pleasure as always."

He says, then moves over to the chair across the conference table, he does not sit until his host sits.

[AlphaStrike]

Zach gives a nod of respect to the elder who is respecting his host. It feels good to get respect, and this one doesn't bat an eye at the politeness required by the situation. Zach gives the elder another bump up in the personal evaluations he keeps in his head. Zach takes a seat in one of the nearby chairs, and says "So, Mister Black, do you have anything to discuss before I review the current building plans?"

[wibblywobbly]

Charles follows after and sits in his own chair after Zach, he then thinks for a moment As if pondering if there was anything to discuss before getting to business.

"I don't think so Mister Griffiths, I think we can jump right into to the business of the evening, if you wish. If I recall correctly, you had something 'bold and ambitious' that you wanted to show me. As the saying goes, I am all ears."

Charles replies with a friendly smile, he also leans forward in his chair interested to hear what the Neonate had to offer.

[AlphaStrike]

A smile creeps onto Zach's face when his elder states his readiness for business. No frivolity here.....excellent.

"Well, then. Let's get right to business, sir."

Zach signals his retainer, who pushes over a cart loaded with large rolls of paper. Zach grabs the topmost roll, places it on the table, and unfurls it, revealing architectural plans for what appears to be a medium-size skyscraper.

"This is a little something that I have been working on for the past decade and a half, an attempt to build the haven of my dreams. It would provide not only a haven, but ready access to the supplying of virtually anything I would need. As you can see, it is quite large, and would be something requiring the approval of the domain leadership, and the cooperation of a large number of Kindred to keep secure, a number which our lovely Domain has to offer."

"Now, I could go on and on about it's features, having worked on this for many years, but is there anything that you are most curious about, sir?"

Zach turns an eager eye to his elder, ready to answer the swarm of questions that may erupt at any minute. Zach was legitimately proud of what he had built into the design of this place. All of his Invictus training, plus a healthy dose of life experience, and BAM: awesome lair.

[wibblywobbly]

Charles listens thoughtfully to everything the Neonate was saying, this plan was indeed bold and ambitious.

"Very interesting Mister Griffiths, So you want me to invest in your haven, and you also want me to help you keep it secure?"

The neonate's words were chosen poorly, to a lesser man this would be an insult, A neonate asking an elder to secure his haven.

"I must ask, how do you plan on getting approval of this project from the domain's leaders, also how do you plan on getting other kindred to support you? It is one thing to purpose investing in a business it is a whole other to ask them to support building your Haven? There is a certain saying, I can't remember from where I heard it, that if you can't secure your own haven then why should anyone support you? Not to mention do you really want so many kindred to be in charge of your well being?"

Perhaps this man fancied himself a Prince and people would support him regardless. Not even Charles is so arrogant.

"Despite all of these, there is also one other thing that I must ask, what is in it for me, and how would I work into your master plan?"

He raises and eyebrow. His tone is polite.

[AlphaStrike]

Zach smiled. The Elder saw quickly what had taken Zach months of thinking and wondering to get to: why he had failed in San Diego.

"I see you are the better man than I, good sir. You saw the flaw in my original plan in moments, whereas it took me a lot longer, months even, to see why it would fail. My original plan wasn't ambitious enough."

Zach took a breath, to calm his nerves.

"When I originally designed this building, I wanted to keep it for myself, and was prepared to build it by myself. It was to be MY haven. What I was to narrow and shortsighted to see was that everyone should benefit from what I could build."

Zach grabbed the edge of the plans on the table and turned to a page near the middle, showing the layout of the top several floors in detail. Each floor had several large areas blocked off, with the label "Private Residence" in each one.

"This design is an improvement over the previous because it allows for more. There is now space for several havens. Now, each person who wants to contribute gets something significant from their contribution. These havens would be as secure as we could get them. Any rooms not taken by Kindred could be used for secure storage by the domain. Since a corporation formed of the local Kindred would be the chief financiers of the project, we could control the employees who have access, and protect the Masquerade to a greater degree than in almost any haven possible. Now, each Kindred would be closer than usual, but with the space I've allotted across several floors, we could space the Kindred out enough that we could reasonably expect they would never even see each other. Turns in hallways and numerous elevators mean that they might as well be in separate buildings."

"One thing to note of this domain is the order which permeates the relations between kindred. Here, the Kindred are exceptionally well integrated, interacting socially to a great degree without severe divisions along covenant, clan, or coterie boundaries. I believe that putting several kindred within hundreds of yards of each other will be a safe move, both short term and long term, although that would only be true here in Sacramento. The Kindred within the tower would have each have their own haven, and the expectation that no one tenant would violate the Pax with regards to any other."

"Each person could have their haven the way they wanted, with total privacy and security, as well as the large degree of protection offered by the nature of the construction of the building. Should it be found acceptable, I have set aside space for an Elysium and an armory in the basement. I have planned for a great deal of benefit to others in general and the domain specifically, at the expense of making everyone aware of what I am doing. As you can see, I am ensuring that it is possible that others may get as much benefit from this as I receive, and it adds several dimensions of protection to the domain entire."

Zach took a moment to collect his breath. He really got excited when talking about this. He had tried to think of everything, and nearly gotten there. Zach now waited, giving his senior a chance to speak. Zach wanted to see which of his elder's concerns were already answered and which would require modification of his plans.

[wibblywobbly]

Charles leans back in his seat and brings his fingers to his lips in thought. He listens to everything the Neonate has to say.

"I see, so you intend to provide Havens for all the Kindred who support this project with in the building. Each Haven will be to the Kindred's liking as well. I would like to make a minor addition to this idea. All the kindred who are involved with this project should sign an oath to the other promising not to violate the Privacy of their Havens nor reveal the exact location of each other's Havens. This way there will be an assurance that no one will be stepping on each other's feet."

Charles suggests politely, He doesn't like the idea of other kindred knowing where he sleeps with the exception of perhaps Kindred he trusts who are few and far between as it is.

"Also, aside from being provided havens with in the building what else will be offered to the Kindred? This is indeed a rather large investment and personally if I were to invest into it I would like to have a little more than just a Haven, considering I already have one. What sort of shares would I be getting with in the company, And come to think of it what sort of business do you intend to build?"

Haven's are nice and all but Charles want's business, Charles loves business, and craves it, He is not going to invest in such a huge venture with out knowing if he will get to be apart of the action rather than given "a nice little place to retire to." Charles is a Ventrue, the only retirement he knows of is torpor and final death.

Charles then thinks a moment again, the realization that this was not just going to be a venture between he and Zach there were really going to be more kindred invalided if Zach has his way.

"Also, tell me, how many more kindred do you think you will need to support you before this project can be put in motion?"

He asks his eyebrow raised again, the fewer kindred he had to share power with the better hold in this business he would have.