Name: Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni Sketch
Created In: 1502
Appraised Value: $32.00
Created By: Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni
Actual Value: $4,500,000.00
Condition: Moderately Worn
Asking Price: $200.00
Durability: 69/100
Mint Price: $22,000,000.00
Cost to Repair: 200 points
“That’s one of the imitations. Supposedly it’s meant to look like Michelangelo. The attribution is missing since the corner it’d be in was torn off.
“It’s well drawn, but without that attribution, there’s no telling if it was a master or someone who liked his work.”
Felix cleared his throat and delicately withdrew the sketch and set it aside.
Just buy it, just buy it, just buy it, just—aarrrrggh.
“Why do you need the money?” Felix asked quietly, folding one hand into the other and meeting Mr. White’s eyes.
“I don’t see why that matters. Can’t you just buy it and…ugh. My son was apprenticed to some superhero. He doesn’t even have powers, he just… wanted to help. Damn cops got him the other day when the hero he was working for… left him behind.”
The man shrugged his shoulders and slumped low in his seat.
“I need to get the money together to buy my son. He’s my only son. I’ve been out of work for a while now, living off my savings. Now this happens and I… they said it’d cost a significant amount of money to buy him. Because of his apprenticeship. Doesn’t matter if he doesn’t know anything, everyone will assume he does.
“And right now, the bounty on heroes has skyrocketed.”
Felix could only nod his head. It had indeed.
Apparently there were some heroes still working in the city, and in the last day or two, the bounty had jumped into the millions.
Yeah, his son is going to be expensive. Not my problem, though.
Nodding his head, Felix pulled over the bill of sale and started to write it in for a thousand dollars.
It was more than generous on his part.
Felix stopped in mid pen stroke and looked at the pen he was using.
It was something Eva had given him. It was a rough cast steel pen that had been engraved by Eva’s hand.
His name was front and center on the barrel of the pen. Taking up a sizable space. All around his name were engraved simple words.
Defender. Valiant. Fearless. Preserver. Vigilant. Guardian.
On and on it went, the pen completely filled with those silly words formed from a childlike innocence.
She’d spent hours trying to get the engraving just right.
She had given it to him in a little box and everything.
“Your weapon is a pen. Here’s one from me, then,” she’d said at the time.
Smothering the stupid sentiment welling up in himself, he set the pen down and pressed his hands to his face.
She’d hate me.
Felix shuddered at the thought of Eva staring at him after finding out about the sketch.
Especially if she got the full story.
“This actually is a Michelangelo sketch. It isn’t an imitation. It’s legit.
“In its current condition, it’d probably be worth four million if you could get professional attribution,” Felix said between his fingers.
His energy leaked out of him as he spoke, slowly hunching over the desk.
“I can certify it with my own name, but I wouldn’t be able to buy it from you, nor would it honestly get the full worth from it.
“I can put you in touch with the name of a contact I have who deals in some of the slave auctions. He could probably arrange something for you, though I doubt you’d get the full amount from the sketch.”
“Really?!” Mr. White leapt to his feet, the chair clattering to the floor and scraping along the ground. “That’d be… that’d be great. I can’t tell you how grateful I am.”
“Uh-huh,” Felix said without emotion. Setting his hands back to the table, he picked up Eva’s pen. Staring at it for a second, he looked back to the sheet of paper and wrote it out as an evaluation rather than a sale.
“That’ll be one hundred dollars for the valuation,” Felix said, sliding the sheet of paper across to the excited man.
Mr. White gathered up the sketchbook and then looked at the valuation.
“I… I don’t have it. I’m sorry. What little money I had, I spent on getting an invite to the auction that my son is being sold at.
“I don’t have a job.”
Felix groaned and scratched at his head. “Alright. What exactly do you do for a career?”
“I, uh,” Mr. White paused. His words were cautious, uncertain. “I was the lead engineer on several projects for the super hero association. When the government changed over, I escaped and never looked back.”
Felix’s attention changed from the sketch to Mr. White. “What kind of projects?”
“Nanotechnology, energy weapons, and renewable energy. They’re all kinda interconnected,” Mr. White said with a small smile.
Ha… hahahaha. Seriously?
“Mr. White. How about you sit back down? I’ll cancel my upcoming appointments, have lunch brought in, and let’s have a talk.”
Felix turned his head to the dark corner he knew Miu would be in. “Miu, could you coordinate with some of the Others to get things arranged? I’ll also need Kit in here. I want to see where she ended up with the Indentured package.
“I’m going to make Mr. White a job offer here and I want to make sure we have an appropriate contract that we can put together.”
“What do you mean, you’re going to make a job offer? How can you offer me a job? This is a pawn shop, isn’t it? Why would you need an engineer?” Mr. White’s voice sped up as he asked each successive question.
Miu materialized out of the shadowed corner and lifted a hand to her ear. “Shadow to… Shadow to Pancake,” Miu said between gritted teeth.
“Pancake here!” came Andrea’s shouted response, which Felix could hear through Miu’s earpiece even from where he was sitting.
Miu flinched at the sudden response and shook her head angrily.
Probably shouldn’t have let everyone make their own call signs. Your own fault there, Miu.
Chapter 20 - Free Lunch -
Felix sat down with his tray in the first dormitory floor’s dining hall.
Managing to surprise him, Felicia had built it to accommodate everyone on the floor and two below.
Everyone in Legion fit into this single dining hall. Felicia already had teams of Andreas excavating down, building out several more of these dining halls and attached dormitories. And every other type of room that they’d need.
Lunch today was actually rather good. Lasagna, garlic bread, and some type of vegetable medley.
After eating in the dining hall a few times, he realized he didn’t care at all what his food costs were. Whoever their cook was, they were a master, and Felix would ply them with whatever ingredients they asked for.
Andrea dropped down beside him and immediately smashed her right side up into his left.
“Andrea, I can’t really eat like this,” Felix said, his left arm forced out behind her back.
“Ah! I’ll feed you, then! Say ahhhhhhh,” she said, holding up a forkful of lasagna.
“Andrea, I don’t—mmphff!” His words were lost in the mouthful of food that she stubbornly forced on him.
Growling, he looked ahead as Lily sat down in front of him. She was dressed as she always was. Beautiful and professional.
Kit took the seat on his right, making a happy cooing noise over the food. She loved eating.
Lily had apparently seen what had happened and daintily scooped up a chunk of lasagna on her fork and then held it out towards him.