Vampire Rule N°38: Business is Pleasure of it's own
… … … … …
John watched the black sedan driving away with his date inside, aware of the time-sensitive nature of the night's crisis, yet somewhat unwilling to let the good times end so soon.
It had been a while since he's had some harmless fun.
Alas, such was life.
Or unlife in this case.
Max would be away from the city and the bulk of the risk in a timely fashion, Bubbles would likewise bunker up with a core of collaborators and resources, all of which was guarded by Larissa and the ragtag band of civilians he hoped to one day shape into a proper security detail.
With the true center of his operations, the people and wealth, as secure as they could be, he was now able to act without fearing an attack that might truly hurt him.
'Contingency truly is such a wonderful word,' He grinned, and felt his fangs growing in anticipation for tonight's mayhem, and the bounty he might obtain.
The situation still wasn't perfect, it never could be, there was always some factor preventing him from securing the perfect outcomes, it was also an unchangeable aspect of the human (or vampiric) condition.
'I lack competent yet expandable manpower to take greater risks or stretch my actions further without losing control, the ability to obtain reliable intel beyond the happenings on the streets, as well as any sort of technological sophistication, or esoteric alternatives,' He noted as he started walking calmly down the street into a poorly lit alley, a feature of the city which had some serious impacts on the crime rate, and the percentage of traumatized orphans.
These were only the more obvious weaknesses, and those not innate to his nature, the blood requirement, weaknesses to fire and sunlight, or the drive to seek out further growth and evolution was another can of worms entirely.
Of these flaws, the only one he could truly overcome at the moment was the lack of combat ready assets, everything else was sadly beyond him.
He might be a smart cookie, but the ability to dismantle criminal organizations, enact social engineering operations and adapt to extremely hostile environments didn't translate into skills as a programmer, web development wiz, hardware expert or the favourite of the internet community; the ability to blitz through all current tech limitations and create a more or less sentient AI that will surely not go skynet on his unliving arse.
Recruiting people who could was also a hurdle, given that all businesses, individuals and small companies he controlled were firmly 'blue collar', only requiring willing labour and hands on training.
It was a disadvantage of his starting area and available workers, but he was pretty sure he ended up turning that bug into a feature, since it synergized well with his attempt at uplifting the masses.
However, it made the prospect of incorporating techies into the whole system very daunting, let alone leverage their work for his other line of work.
As for magic, he would rather become a therapist for every Karen in the states, than try and approach someone who might get John Constantine involved in any way, shape or form.
No offence to him, he did have a very nice name, but he'd rather cuddle Harley than shake his hand.
In fact, he'd rather stop thinking about the man before something went wrong, dealing with the Joker and his nuke was much safer.
Even with all the problems he laid out.
Some people might not tolerate such a brutal dismantling of their abilities, but those people usually ended up dying stupidly, so he'd rather stay honest with himself.
That way he could find solutions instead of exploring the depths of his own anal cavity.
Don't have the ability to materialize a combat outfit out of a ring, or have it delivered right away by stealth plane? No problem.
What he did have was a very respectable top speed, a near perfect knowledge of his streets, and a whole bunch of loyal former crackheads who spent years homeless in Gotham of all places, and thus accumulated a number of safe places to hide their stuff, or themselves, when the going was tough.
Places he was shown, and could blitz to with a glee and happiness that would make Edward Cullen turn in his sadly nonexistent grave if he learned a vampire had the audacity to enjoy supernatural speed and grace.
He could then change his clothes and apply the proper makeup to look less like the cover of borderline abusive young CEO romance novels for single women in their thirties, and more like the borderline abusive fantasy love interest who dress like its the victorian era despite the story being set in the middle ages because the author had run out of f*cks to give.
Which involved a brand new scar, a bit of white in his hair and a smile that would make many a yandere proud.
All of which took him about three minutes to get done.
Not as good as using a spatial ring, which might or might not contain the ghost of a powerful ancestor, who might or might not bang depending on the amount of jade-like beauty involved, but it got the job done.
And yes, it wasn't some top tier armor capable of stopping anything from artillery rounds to superman's eye beams…but at least it's waterproof.
John's now blood red eyes widened a bit, as his rather disturbed mind took hold of something more dangerous and insidious than any magic Zatara could teach him, and more persistent than the fangirls of an Uchiha.
An idea.
He took hold of it, studied it from many angles, conjured scenarios and simulated possible deviations, planned for each possible variable and then a few of the impossible ones, only to smile as another five seconds were spent in the world of man, outside the machination of a truly mythical mind twice bolstered by celerity.
It was very simple, a little bit stupid, and had a pretty good chance of making him curse his past self, but it was also just crazy enough to work.
In short, the best kind of idea.