Charity Sales Pitch

January 02, 2019:

Damian Wayne spots Nadia Van Dyne doing research at a Greenwich Cafe. He tries to learn about another child of a famous genius while she tries to talk him into donating money to her charity.

Greenwich Village - New York City

Known simply as 'The Village' by residents and locals, this is a mostly upper middle class neighborhood bounded Broadway, the Hudson, Housten Street and 14th Street. It has, throughout history, been very much a center of innovation and ideas - from the bohemian movement to counterculture movement of the 60's to the LBGT movement of today. It has a very college town feel to it, which makes sense because several universities have facilities within the district. The mix of academics, students and residents is somewhat unique in New York and lends itself to a slightly smaller town feel in the Big Apple.

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions:

Plot:

Mood Music: None.


Fade In…

With so many universities located in the Greenwich area it's a regular stomping ground for Nadia Van Dyne. Not only does the area spoil her for choice with potential recruits for G.I.R.L but it has lots of little restaurants selling all kinds of unusual food for her to try.

And it's one of these trips which has resulted in her taking over a table outside of a little coffee shop. Her table is covered in an arm full of poster tubes and a next generation Pym Industries laptop, plus a dozen empty coffee and one of just about every pastry they sell.

*

Well, at least this looks simple.

Why not go and get some grub? Or at least, that's Damian Wayne's thought mentality. He was giving a speech for an ethics class in regards to why nanotechnology is both useful, but dangerous in specific circumstances. Being the son of Bruce Wayne, all eyes have been on him for quite some time. But, he walks straight into a coffee shop, in which he exits with a black coffee. He seems to look around as if to find some place to sit, before he notices Nadia Van Dyne.

SOmeone else with quite a legacy on their shoulders. So, he goes to greet, if only out of curiousity. "Hello."

*

While Nadia has never sought out publicity the sudden emergence of a mystery heiress to Pym Industries was only a minor note in the press thanks to the invasion of New York by demons. Which is perhaps why she can still get away with taking up tables in cafes without people gawking and filming her on their smartphones.

"Hello?" she repeats, a touch of a Russian accent, without looking up from her work. "I am not ready for another coffee yet, but thank you for asking." She scoops up a pastry and takes a huge unladylike bite.

*

Damian looks to Nadia with a tilt of his head when he heard the russian accent. Strange. But, Robin was there to fight the demons, but thankfully…Damian's voice is much more casual and not intimidating when he talks. So there's no way anyone would know it was him!

"Hi. and no thank you, I'm not here to give you a coffee. I'm rather curious to know who Nadia Van Dyne is." maybe she's interested in knowing who Damian Wayne is?

He pulls up a chair. "May I sit with you?"

*

Nadia Van Dyne finally looks up and frowns. "I am very busy with my work," she points out. "But I am sure I can find a few minutes.." Her head tilts. "You seem too well dressed to be asking for money but.. if that is the purpose of your visit I'm afraid I won't be able to help."

There doesn't seem to be any recognition. She hasn't had the pleasure of working with many other superheroes and even less time to read up on the goings on with the high society of New York, let alone that of Gotham. "As for sitting down, I believe there is the famous saying? About how the country is free."

*

"Well, for starters, I'm rich enough to contend with your family. My name is Damian Wayne. Nice to meet you." Damian pulls out a chair, sits on it in a manner where his chest is against the back of the chair, straddling his seat. "So then…what are you specialized in? Aside from engineering?" because the Pyms were famous for immense breakthroughs in science.

"The country is mostly free. Free, but not without consequence." he sips his coffee. "What're you workin' on?"

*

"I do not really care about the money," Nadia admits with a shrug. "It is /extremely/ silly when you think about it. But when strangers approach me it is typically what they need or want. It saves time to mention that I can not give people any up front." All the while she's talking she never stops adding to the equation she's typing out.

"I dabble in a little of everything. Everything from biology and chemistry, genetic engineering and AI and robotics. My /real/ love is theoretical physics though.. Which is why I'm trying to figure out what is causing rifts to open in the fabric of time and space." Another shrug. "Not everywhere is as free as this anyway. So it is nice to be able to enjoy the luxury."

*

"Well neither do I, but rather I simply don't want anything from you." Damian laughs just a little bit as he looks her in the eyes. "Well, good to know. At least you are well gifted in just about everything. Could use you working at Wayne, but if you feel like staying with the Van Dynes, of course." he teases her softly.

He really didn't seem to mind either way, but it's clear he enjoys teasing her. "You want to figure out what is opening time and space? Have you considered the possibility of einstein rosen bridge due to natural or unnatural phenomena?"

*

"I'm not an employee of the Van Dynes," Nadia points out, rolling her eyes. "I'm the head of the Genius In Action Research lab. G.I.R.L for short. It's a non-profit research division of Pym Industries. Hold on I have a business card." She digs her hand into her jacket pocket, then passes Damian a professionally made business card with the G.I.R.L logo. "If you are really part of the Wayne family perhaps you will convince them to make a donation? All of our research is freely distributed with the aim of saving the world in some way."

"There is no way that these rifts could be simple Einstein rosen bridges. They are happening within the Earths atmosphere and we'd be able to detect the gravitational shifts. Not to mention the shifts would cause tidal waves and other natural disasters." She scowls at her screen. "It would really take far too long to explain my current line of inquiry. Although at this point it's really too early to say if they are natural or not. At a guess I would say it's an artificial phenomenom, because if this had happened naturally then someone would have likely documented it at some point in the past."

*

Damian chuckles. "Wouldnt that be G.I.A.R.L? You dropped the A." Damian says almost judgementally before he shakes his head. "Hm…well, WayneTech doesn't exactly have too big an interest in looking at portals and wormholes. But we might throw a little something your way for your think tank."

Damian hums a moment. "Well then. You could say it was through magic or science for this artificial inquiry."

*

Nadia Van Dyne sticks her tongue out "I did not pick the acronym," she points out. "And we are not looking into these portals for fun. People are disappearing. Some are probably getting killed." Her head tilts. "That's why time is of the essence. Of course that isn't the sole focus of our work. Other members are looking into other projects. Anything in excess of our needs goes into stem funding and rehabilitation programs for criminals."

"I haven't ruled out a rogue super genius scientist or magician. Still there is no point simply confirming it might be a person behind it. That information is useless unless you know specifically /which/ person is behind it. Or at least where that person might be."

*

Damian chuckles just minorly. "If you say so." he does seem amused as she spits her tongue out at him, he does shrug softly. "Indeed they are. Perhaps magic is indeed involved. But it could not be just one person. it could be a group. Or the result of science failing miserably." he smiles softly.

"But, I trust hyper-intelligent people like yourself should be able to settle it rather quickly wouldn't you say?" of course, Damian was a genius himself.

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