Not until after he’s talked to Asa…

I said my goodbyes to the group and swung by the Clearmont property. It was in shit shape, but so was the whole district. It had never really recovered from the fires. There were a few homeless people around, but that was it. Looking at it, this whole area actually wasn’t so dangerous anymore. Without people to prey on, the criminals had moved on. It was just abandoned. There might be supervillains, or mutants, or aliens or whatever hiding in the sewers, but up here, it was just crumbling burnt out ruins.

There was still infrastructure in place, but no one had rebuilt the neighborhood. Gotham’s population was slightly declining, so there wasn’t much need…except there was also a housing shortage…how the fuck that worked was a bit tricky, mainly that thanks to supervillains the housing stock was shrinking faster than the population was…maybe that would be an actual improvement project I could do. A new housing development…that fit the overall plan, and if done right, could be a money-maker too…but I had no way to know how to do it right. Maybe this carpenter?

I asked Kianna to look into her former neighbors, while I headed down to the county records office to check land ownership. The clerk was helpful and it was easy. A big chunk of the properties had been repossessed by various banks and a few clusters were owned by LLCs with no names attached. A bunch had been repossessed by the city for failure to pay property taxes.

I couldn’t be the face of any of this, but Diamond maybe could, or could find someone who could. Her star was on the rise. The Kenny story hadn’t died down yet as leaks from the investigation continued, every name visiting the basement was being leaked instantly. No one massive, but some bureaucrats, a GCPD sergeant (no one I knew), a university professor and some corporate types.

She was the hero of the piece and up for a promotion, or at least that’s what the press said. When we spoke, we focused on other issues. But the property needed to be cleared no matter what. That was an excuse to talk to this 'Carpenter.'

I gave her a quick call while I was there. “Duffy Construction, how can I help you build a better tomorrow?”

“This is Eli, we just met? I’ve got a piece of property on Clearmont, it’s all burnt, I’d like to get a quote to have it cleared.”

“Not exactly my standard bag, but I may be able to fit a site inspection in next month?”

She was putting me off, a lot. I wondered if her secret identity meant something. I’d run a quick google and nothing had turned up. Maybe I’d misinterpreted the Nom De Fuck perk and it was some sort of like gamer handle? Or maybe she was a well hidden superhero/supervillain. Brainstorm…if she was a supervillain, then she’d like to have an in at Arkham…

“Hmm…this isn’t urgent, but I’d like to get it done faster than that. Could we maybe do this on the weekend, or after hours? Unfortunately, this is my only day off from Arkham for a while.”

Momentary pause. “You work at Arkham Asylum?”

“Yep.”

“Is it as dangerous as they say?”

“Well, I’m on leave today because I got attacked by an inmate,” I grinned to myself. Got her, now to give her an excuse. “Tell you what, if you can come by and give me an estimate today, then I’ll tell you the whole story.”

“Uh…”

“Come on, you aren’t going to leave a poor cut-up public servant hanging, are you?”

“Fine, but you better have some good stories to tell while I look the place over!” SP +8 (Jenna -24)

I glanced at the challenges:

One of the Guys: Jenna has always been ‘just one of the guys’. She will reject all sexual commands given by men, regardless of submission while this trait is active. She will also be significantly less able to resist challenges to her more masculine traits. Defeating her in such challenges will result in SP gains. Reward for reaching positive submission while active: Upgrade to Feminize Me. Each time you defeat her in a challenge, you will be able to make her feminize herself in some way. Once fully feminized, all sexual commands will be unlocked and seem totally natural to her. No one else will notice these changes in her, unless you wish them to.

Private Contractor: Jenna only works for supervillains, she won’t work for you no matter how much money you offer her. Reward for reaching positive submission while active: Upgrade to: Your Private Contractor, Jenna will do work in value equal to $1,000 * SP score for you, for free, each month. This will not affect her business otherwise, unlike ordering her to do work for you without payment via pure submission. Nor will it draw attention.

**** Trap Lover: Jenna will not build anything without some form of **** trap in it. If you upset her, she’ll build one in your apartment. Reward for reaching positive submission while active: Upgrade to Bondage Trap Lover: Jenna will build bondage equipment at cost and will volunteer to test it. Her love of bondage makes it easier to get her to go along with things while restrained.

Well…I guess that explained what she was. Contractor for supervillains…

I considered my options, and chose...