3328/Business Luncheon

Business Luncheon
Date of Scene:	07 December 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Black Knight, Invisible Woman

---

Black Knight has posed:
    When you ask for help, you try to be a good host. Dane took the liberty of seeing if there was a local place she liked. When she arrives in the study, he is just laying out the warm bag and the cold drink from a local deli she likes. It's not fancy. It is a little thing to say thank you.
    There on the computer screen is the patent for 'Neural based Anethesia'. There in the corner is a mock up of the device. He even has a small presentation ready for her.
    It is a little weird seeing him outside of armour. He is wearing tweed pants. The jacket is over there. Muscular, athletic, and look at that, a perpetual five o'clock shadow. He's a scruffy night. "Mrs. Richards. I am Dane Whitman. The Black Knight." he offers to shake her hand. The staff would have already seen to her coat.
    He is really trying to be professional. The horse appearing in the room and stealing two carrots ruins it though. "Strider! I said-- " The horse is gone. His hand slides up to his face. "They're like children." He laments. "He stole two. One for him, and another for valinor back home. I am so very sorry."

Invisible Woman has posed:
When she enters the den where he wants to make his pitch, Sue is at ease. Walking forward, she takes his hand. "Mr. Whitman... please, call me Sue. It seems strange to stand on too much formality despite this being a business meeting." She offers him a smile.

And then she jumps just slightly when a horse appears and thn vanishes. "Oh!" Blinking at him rather owlishly for just a moment, she starts to laugh. "Well, now... that's one way to break the ice, isn't it? He's a beautiful animal."

Her amusement remains as she moves to one of the seats to sit gracefully. "Now that we're old friends -- after all, one should never consider yourselves acquaintances when children and horses are comfortable enough to steal snacks mid-sentence -- why don't you fill me in on what's going on? I have to admit to being intrigued by the vagueness of your request to meet."

Black Knight has posed:
    Moving about, Dane assures her. "Call me Dane, please!" He moves about to get her paperwork. He also grabs the remote. 'Here are the slides." he says, passing her over. 'As you can see, I have a patent already." He clicks the remote. "And a working prototype. I would hook you up to it, but that is ... excessive." basically, Sue? I can numb a body part, or render an entire body unsconscious with a projected, mild energy field. I only rarely even get a skin reaction." He moves the slide. "Normally? I just pass this sort of stuff straight along to maria Stark Foundation. I mean, I'm an Avenger."
    The way he says it, means that to him, it means something. It is something aspirational and inspirational. He has a reputation for being aggressive.
    "But." He pushes a hand through his hair. "There's a girl."

Invisible Woman has posed:
Sue's brows shoot up, and she's quiet for a long moment, processing what he's saying. Her eyes flicker to the slides and she studies what he's already got there, a faint frown furrowing as her brain sorts through the ramifications of this burst of information.

"Okay... slow down a moment, please. Let me catch up." She formulates her thoughts and then says, "Okay.... let's start at the beginning of this. I... not exactly following what there being a girl involved has to do with a presentation of a patented device that you apparently want to talk to me about.... doing something with. So let me start with the most basic level here."

She moves to stand, holding out her hand for the remote control so that she can look at the patent information he already has filled out. That application has a lot of information on it. "What I'm seeing here is that this device might be a significant breakthrough in anesthesiology," she says slowly, a faint furrow in her brow while she skims. Once she feels like she has the jist of it, she turns to him. "You've said that you generally turn such things over to Tony... but you want something different for this one?"

Black Knight has posed:
    "I normally do not even patent this technology." Dane answers her directly. He seeks out her gaze with his dark eyes. "I work here in this lab. When I want to do a cybernetic limb replacement program for kids who lost limbs in the invasion, the money, the tech, the materials Its all there. Maria Stark Foundation lets me do pretty damn much what I please." His eyes are intent. "They are a force of good, and for positivity, and just represent what we are about. I draw a paycheck from the foundation."
    He can be intense. He pulls in a breath. "I patented this tech. I did this in my lab, using my tech, using the patents I own. This is my technology. I am the sort of guy who would be brilliant if your husband and Tony were not around." His smile is warm. "I'm an engineer, but I am damn good at what I do. That being said, I am nothing compared to your husband, Tony, Lex Luthor. I'm cool with that. Why does there being a girl matter?" He clicks to another slide. He is smart, he anticipated it. "Why try to license this?' the title reads. She's beautiful, long red hair, with two horns on her head. Alpha Flight's Witchfire.
    Dane actually blushes. "I want to marry this girl." His tone, his posture, his everything changes. "My parents are dead, I live in a castle and a museum. I pay all my bills, and I keep us in comfort. But, well, maybe there should be one more generation of Black Knight." He looks over at her. "And maybe it isn't completely selfish to want to put a little more aside for them. I know Tony would never let my kids suffer if something happened to me. I know it. But..."
    He takes another long breath. "I want to be able to handle it myself. I know this is -good tech-." The way he says it, makes it obvious he's proud of it. 'This is the sort of thing I should be inventing. This is life-saving, humanitarian technology. I have to get over myself and be a little selfish. I want to give Tony first crack at it, but I'm an engineer. Pepper will eat my shorts."

Invisible Woman has posed:
Sue is listening intently, although the frown between her brows is still present. Until he gets to the end of his spiel, and then she can't help but laugh. "Well... there is that. Pepper Potts can be a shark when it comes to the business end of Stark Industries," she acknowledges. "Although she *does* offer fair deals for tech and patent rights."

Tilting her head, she comments, "So... you want what? Someone to advise you on what this might be worth financially?"

Black Knight has posed:
    "I know that if it takes off, I am looking at multiple billions over the course of a couple of decades." Dane agrees. "I have to license it though. I lack the business acumen, and honestly? The time, energy, expertise and temperament to run a business empire. By the point I gather in investors, hire managers, I've turned myself into Simon Williams. I love Simon, but Pepper drove him to a dark place. She -is- a shark, and that is what Tony pays her for. She protects the company, and she protects the foundation. I'm not talking badly about her. She'll eat me alive, and she is completely right to do so. I want to work with Tony. Loyalty should mean something." He regards her, "But, I also need to look after my own legacy. MIT is expensive." His grin is wan. "So if I can walk in there, knowing what I should be licensing it out for, a dollar amount up front, and the percentages of each unit on the back end, as well as fees for maintenance... because you will have to be Stark Certified to work on these things... well, I want to know what I should be looking at. So if she doesn't want to pay me that..."
    He almost cringes, "Then I can come to you folks, or Waynetech, or even, lord help me, Lexcorp."

Invisible Woman has posed:
Sue's expression clears and she smiles a genuine smile at him. "Don't look like that -- it's okay to have the loyalty to Stark. You *should* have that, and I think it's admirable. And if you ask some of the hero-types, you really don't want to go through LexCorp regardless." She walks back to her seat and says, "May I read the printout?"

Taking the pages from him, she reads more in depth what it is that he's invented, how it works, and its capabilities. She gestures him to take a seat. "Drink. I need to think about what I'm reading here, okay?"

She takes her time, going back and forth, re-reading and examining. When he does a little pacing, she glances up at him but continues to read in silence. Finally, she sets the documents on the table and sits back in her chair with a sigh. "Okay.... so here's what I see..." She outlines for him, based on her own experiences with biomedical tech, what he should expect in terms of financials, both on the front end and the back end. "I would say that when you take this to Ms. Potts, you should start negotiations at the extreme upper end of this range," she tells him, writing down an ungodly number. "And what you should expect to walk away with off the front end.... should probably be about here." She jots down a number. "That's just a ballpark, though. Plus the royalties and such later, which can be hard to determine up front, but don't take less than 20 percent. I'd recommend if you can argue her to 25, do it. This tech is revolutionary and will change medicine worldwide." She sits back in her chair. "I'll be honest. I'd be thrilled to be able to offer you the research capabilities for this project, but I understand and admire loyalty. If she tries to talk you down any further than that lowest number? Talk to me." She grins.

Black Knight has posed:
    He's an engineer. He deals with numbers. Want to surprise an engineer, demonstrate to him that he's likely secured a financial future for at least a generation. He's pale to begin with. He sits and gets more pale. Dangerously so. His eyes are like saucers. He takes a very long drink, coughs, drinks more. After a moment, before he pushes a hand through his hair as his colour improves. "Holy mother."
    "I will tell her I am talking to you about the tech honestly." Dane manages to continue. "Because the low end? It's plenty. I... will try for more, I guess. But." He just stares at the paper. "Th-thank you so very much."

Invisible Woman has posed:
"Don't sell your brilliance short because of modesty," Sue instructs him in a kind tone. "I understand that your instinct is to say "oh, no, I only need to get this much, because that's all I need -- I'm not greedy." But it's not greedy to be paid in full for a development of this magnitude. You have *earned* the payments, Dane. And you are allowed to be a little bit greedy -- because any CEO like myself or Pepper who will deal fairly with you is going to balance what yuo ask for with what it's worth. An unscrupulous one will see that you're modest and afraid of the money and take advantage of you."