Scene #8201: Dealing With The Devil

Owner	Pose
Kuroto Dan	Genm Corporation. It's one of the more prominent buildings where Kuroto Dan's from. It's also where he's normally holed up, as is to be expected of a CEO. That said, there's been rumors spreading amongst the workers that he's been showing up to work less and less, but they aren't really founded as far as anyone can tell. Or if they are founded, nobody is going to outright confirm it in fear of losing their job. There's a reception area, as well as a waiting room for visitors and investors who want to do business. Luckily, however, Concord members don't have to deal with that. They're all promptly taken to the Dan Man himself, his office overlooking a large portion of the city through tinted glass. There are various couches and coffee tables for people to relax on and a pong table for entertainment. There's also various cabinets full of awards and game prototypes. Overall, it's a rather welcoming room, or it would be, if not for the fact there's minimal lighting, with heavily filtered and dulled outside light doing most of the heavy lifting. Kuroto sits at his desk, unphased by the atmosphere of his room. He instead just silently taps away at his computer's keyboard, a strange device that houses some sort of cartridge currently hooked up to it. There's a seat across from him, and it's pretty clear he's not going to speak until spoken to.
John Doe	John gets moved along, not even using his invisibility to just appear...but it's not like Dan doesn't have things to shake him out anyway should he try. Also, he's a fellow member of the Concord...and he might need something from the man. John walks in, tipping his hat to the CEO and walking towards the desk to sit down across from it. "Hey, thanks for seein' me Dan.." he says, casually. He's American, so it's alright that he doesn't do the whole honorific thing. Probably. Right? "So I need some help dealin' with some people who have all decided I'm a problem at the same time...and I have a feelin' they won't deal with me as a problem individually..." "And I overheard with the conversation with Sougo that you do some interesting things...besides the ultimate VR thing. So...I'm willin' to test something out for you if it'll help give me an edge..." He pauses, "You also don't gotta worry about my safety like a normal person. I can take a missile to the chest and not get too phased by it. I'm a whole lot tougher. But if there is anything else I can do to convince you of the aid, let me know. I already owe you big for helping me get into that place in Lampport..."
Kuroto Dan	"You want to borrow my talents." Kuroto Dan doesn't look away from his computer screen as he converses with John, instead still focusing on his work. His tone is a bit colder than usual, and it's hard to place what exactly it's conveying. It's not annoyance, and neither is it indifference. Whatever it is, he's quick to slip out of it as he speaks once more, his voice now having a much more personable quality to it. "I would honestly rather you not end up like the coroner. I don't think the Concord would forgive me, much less myself." Finally, he stops typing, just for a moment. He gives John a seriously concerned look, before ultimately turning back to his screen and beginning his work again. "That said. I can't just not help either, even if I would rather avoid attaching my name to interfactional squabbles. I do have something that needs testing, though before we go through with that..." He looks away from his keyboard yet again, though he still continues typing with one hand as he bends down underneath his desk and opens up a drawer. What he pulls out is both surprising and completely expected. It's a belt buckle? A hard point? Both? It's honestly hard to tell what the black, almost plastic-looking lump he pulls out is, other than it's probably part of something else he hasn't shown off yet. The other thing he pulls out, and passes directly to John, is an unsigned document. It's a bunch of legal jumbo, but it basically boils down to agreeing that this meeting and Kuroto's involvement is not to be disclosed and that he's not responsible for any ill effects that might happen. It's very understandably just binding contracts that exist to protect his company image. "I'll need you to sign this. Don't worry. It's nothing that will hurt you. I've had Cantio sign something similar in the past, this is just standard procedure."
John Doe	John watches and listens, hearing the tone, but trying to guess the source. Though he does watch as the belt and the device are pulled out, and looks back up at Dan. He takes a breath and holds a hand up. "Look, you went to bat for me and helped me get some very important answers. I'm willin' to take the risk, and it's helpin' me out with another problem." "Also, I wouldn't do you like that. If anything goes south, I'll fight to make sure my ass comes back hale and whole...and if anything DOES go wrong ain't nobody can blame you. I'll make sure of that.." he says, and grabs a pen to sign the paperwork. His spelling is awful, and his handwriting is worse than a twelve year olds. "Is everything alright Dan? I know I came in askin' for the favor but it feels like you got something on your own mind. I can at least help you out if you got some issues."
Kuroto Dan	"I'm fine. I've just been busy with my work. Unfortunately, the genius design of my game is something only I alone can make, so I don't have my usual team to help smooth this process out." He's unphased by the shown concern, once again quickly ducking under his desk as John begins signing to pull out another item. It's probably related to the weird black buckle, because whatever it is, it's equally as weird. It looks suspiciously like a portable handheld that accepts game cartridges, except larger and with only an A and B button. The thing that damns its seemingly innocent disguise, however, is a small chain saw blade and gun barrels on its ends. "Anyway. You'll be needing this. And also..." He finally slams enter on his keyboard, and reaches over his desk to pull out the strange cartridge from its holding device. Without skipping a beat, he tosses it to John, the once featureless greeble now slowly gaining a label. Uchinuku Fighting. The name's in English, and weirdly, the art of the weird, semi-robotic girl looks surprisingly familiar. It's probably just a coincidence, though. "Normally, you would need an extensive operation to use a Gashat. However, for my augmented reality game to work in the future, I need people to be able to use these without that. What I've got here is a proof of concept on how to fix that. One of many, but they all need to be tested in some capacity." Now picking up both the belt buckle and the strange gaming device, Kuroto connects the two together and slides it across the table. Its purpose now is pretty clear. It's a transformation belt. "To cut a long explanation short, that Gashat has small charges of the Bugster virus already loaded in it. You won't be infected properly, the strain is much too weak to do that and should be wiped out from your immune system within a couple hours, but it does have an expiration timer. That said, should you succeed at whatever it is you're doing, I don't think that should matter."
John Doe	John's concern fades into a grin. "Dan Kuroto suffers from his own success.." he laughs a little. "I get that. Just that part where only the genius can really touch things to get it right, and can't have anyone touch the important bits. Sucks, but it'll be worth it in the end, right? Anyway, you got this. I bet it'll be a better game than that hack back at home anyway." John catches the device and looks it over. Huh, that looks familiar, and he looks it over, flipping it in hand. "Right, you mentioned that...so this manages to get away from the surgery..." a pause, "Huh, does this take something from someone's universe?" he asks, trying to figure out the subtleties. "Oh okay, so it works like a...what is it called... inoculation. A weak or dead virus that stays in your system, enough to let you use the belt but without the bad sides." He takes the belt and looks it over. A grin on his face, "Should be enough I think. Will this have any effect on my persona, or is it a 'we're not sure' because it's all new territory?" he asks. "And yeah...got some problems. Hibiki, some girl named Xion...Rook, some crazy in the Watch named Grier. I don't think I'll need it for Petra, but she might be a good test of it." He checks it out. "Like the saw and the Gatling gun. That's pretty sick."
Kuroto Dan	"Every great artist suffers for their art, and I'm no exception." A slight smirk appears on Kuroto's face, before he continues on. "They don't function on that model, even if I gave you the grip to access them. Not that you'll be using them anyway. They don't work while its in the Buggle Driver mode anyway." Yet again, though probably for the last time, Kuroto reaches underneath his desk, pulling out a new blank cartridge that he's quick to slot into the now empty device next to his computer. "Anway, you have a decent idea of what it is, though I'll let you know the device is completely self contained. Everything it's drawing from is something in there that I've made. As for your persona, it shouldn't be affected. The driver doesn't affect your mental state, which I'm to understand is how that power of your works. If anything were to go wrong with it, that'd be completely on you." Dan once again goes back to work, typing and paying more attention to the screen of his computer while still engaging in conversation, though it appears he doesn't have much left to say, given his next question. "I'd ask for you to say hello to Xion and Tachibana for me, but I'd rather not let them know my involvement here. Anywho, I think that's everything, correct? I'd love to engage in some small talk, but I'm still busy, as you can see."
John Doe	John slides the new equipment away, ready to reveal it at a good time. "Yeah, that's true. Can't wait to see what comes out..." he says and stands up. "Too bad, but yeah. I wouldn't know how to use them anyway...I'm way more hand-to-hand anyway.." He stretches his legs out getting ready to leave as he gets the feelin' Dan's too engrossed in his work. "Gotcha. Well, hopefully, nothing like that happens, but if it does it isn't on you man. And don't worry, I'm no squealer. I'll keep your name out of my mouth when it comes to this...hmm.." a pause, "It's not like they can even pull stuff out of my head anyway." "Yeah, that's it. Let me know if you need any return favors before this times out. Until then I'm gonna give it its paces." John turns to leave, waving as he goes. "Don't forget to eat, or you'll have Kukuru fussing over you."