章 37: Law office
"So what happened?" Harley asked, helping me onto the couch.
"This. - I pulled a darkened metal rectangle from my pocket. - This thing worked like a clapper, even though it's nothing but steel.
"Oh, this is great!" The girl took the card, examining it carefully, only to throw it at the closet a second later. Eh, it costs money, though the mark of the projectile won't be too noticeable if you don't look closely. - It's a cool thing, you could stab someone in the throat with it.
"Heh, I was thinking the same thing..." It was hard to speak, feeling the benefits of magical exhaustion. For a second I imagined what would happen if I or Harley touched the rabbit-artifact in the charging mode, it would be like that. Yeah, well, what can I say, if I can't even blink after an impromptu clapboard. Hmm... Why blink? You can just lower your eyelids. Yeah, that's it.
"Mr. J," Harley's quiet, concerned voice snapped me out of my slumber. - Are you all right?
"Yeah, I'm sleepy and tired.
"I'll be right back. - The girl said, heading toward the kitchen. She came back a minute later, putting a cold compress on my forehead.
"Maybe we should try to contact the sorceress, because you've gone pale.
"Sunshine, I'm like this all the time.
"Oh, right..." My charming and caring assistant was clearly concerned about my well-being, taking my hand in hers. - Mr. J, your skin has gotten darker. - She said in surprise, scrutinizing my limb.
Interesting, but it probably happened after the upgrade and is unlikely to be magic related, though who knows. Heh, that's a good thing, since I'll be less reliant on makeup, which isn't always convenient to apply.
"Harley, I'm fine, I just need some sleep. Don't worry, you've been through something like this before, only you passed out. - Her involvement was nice, but right now my body and mind just needed to rest.
"All right, I'll stick around then.
Turns out, by "hanging around," she means lying down and cuddling. But I couldn't complain about that. As soon as I relaxed a little, I fell asleep.
***
I had mixed feelings about waking up. My head was really buzzing, like after a drunken binge, but my groin felt good, as a result of the diligent assistant's work. The contrast was unusual, but it prevented me from fully enjoying the girl's mouth, so, for the sake of interest, I decided to use the emotional peak smoothing. Most surprisingly, it worked! At first I, naturally, cut off all feelings, and for a couple of seconds I felt like a robot, but looking at my favorite blonde, shaking her head, excitement began to grow in my soul, overriding all other emotions. Besides, she had obviously prepared herself, dressed up in the foxy costume I liked, but now it had a cute fluffy tail, which was fun to hold on to when the girl turned over, organizing mutual caresses.
But it wasn't all surprises. While I was recovering from magical exhaustion, Harley had installed her gift, though I'm not sure you can call a thing bought for yourself a gift. Now the hooks in the ceiling weren't empty, having acquired a stylish leather swing like the ones in the hotel, so I had to make time for a test drive, so to speak. There were also various ropes and BDSM devices, like clothespins, whips, gags of various configurations, and a pair of handcuffs, but I decided to leave these toys for later, deciding to deal with the laptop I'd bought, because yesterday I didn't have time for it at all.
The machine produced by WayneTech was quite interesting. I'm not sure if it was better or worse compared to similar devices from the old world, because I didn't know much about it. It was enough for me that it was easy to write the necessary code with further compilation, and the bonus was light weight, excellent autonomy, and military standard protection, which was a big plus, considering our troubled life with Harley.
I spent about an hour creating a small level of Tower Defense, which I started thinking about as soon as the idea occurred to me. It could have been faster, but I had to create primitive objects in the 3D editor, which I hadn't worked with before. After we finished with our business and got ready, we went to the business district of the city, where the lawyer's office was located.
After a bumpy ride on public transportation, I reached the right address with my charming companion. The Dershowitz office was located in a high-rise building, occupying two floors with a separate entrance. Right at the entrance was a small waiting room with a bored elderly couple on one of the sofas and a reception desk nearby. No sooner had we reached it to notify them of our arrival than a hurrying lawyer appeared from the corridor.
"Jay, good to see you!" An older man greeted us. - Follow me, please.
Alan led us deep into the building past faceless doors with signs.
His office was practically at the very end of a long corridor on the second floor, but this choice was not bad, because the windows overlooked a small park, pleasantly pleasing to the eye with warm shades of trees wrapped in yellowing leaves. In front of the office there was a small cubbyhole with a secretary, from whom the lawyer asked to bring tea.
Once in the room, I looked around carefully. The furnishings were not particularly luxurious; the furniture was simple, but of high quality and tasteful. A large desk with a computer, a couple of comfortable chairs for visitors, a sofa with an abstract painting above it, there were cabinets with documentation by the walls, two windows on the far wall from the entrance were covered with ordinary blinds.
"So let's get right to the point. What did you want to discuss with me?" Alan asked, as we settled into our seats.
"Huh, you want to get rid of my company faster?" I replied with a smirk.
"You what!" There was a great deal of indignation in the lawyer's voice. - How could anyone want that, considering you're my best client for the last ten years!
"Free client.
"Sometimes reputation is worth more than money. Jay, I'm an old man, and it's not healthy for me to worry. - Alan answered, noticing my smirk. - Besides, I've told you that before.
"Okay, I need help registering a game production company, a patent on the concept, and... - I took a dramatic pause before voicing the final sentence. - ...help setting up a small charity to help superheroes!
"Fheehee.
"Khah-khah-khah-khah.
Harley squeaked oddly, peering at me with a surprised look, sensing I wasn't kidding, and Dershowitz laughed a strange laugh before he noticed my serious look.
"Wait, you're not kidding me?!
I only shook my head negatively.
"Hmm... - My companion looked at me with a complicated look before nodding his thoughts. - I'll see what I can do, but let's deal with the simpler problems first.
I had expected to spend thirty thousand to organize my own company, but I was pleasantly surprised, because it only took two thousand, and in three days it would be officially registered. All I had to do was to arrange through Alan with a friend of his who would rent the premises for a nominal fee.
The patent was a bit more complicated. First I had to demonstrate a demo level, and then, with Alan's help, I had to describe the whole matter in dry clerical language. Then the owner of the office got in touch with a patent expert he knew and sent our joint opus, and of course, there were some revisions, but in the end the lawyer assured me that everything would be ready in a week, surprising me once again. Still, acquaintances meant a lot, and Barbara was still waiting for a three-in-a-row decision, and it looked like she would be waiting for it for a long time, if not for help, but I would deal with that later.
It's time to address the big question.
"Do I understand correctly that you want to organize a charitable foundation for money laundering?" Said the lawyer when I told him my idea without going into details.
"Not that... I really want to help the heroes. All the things I've done in the past are imprinted on me, and this way I want to try to help the world.
"Hmm, Jay, why not beef up the police and SWAT teams, or, I don't know, sponsor hospitals? I, for one, respect Batman and what he does for the city, but he's a loner, and he's not shy about money, judging by the amount of high-tech transportation.
"You know very well that without him and Commissioner Gordon, the city would be a mess. And I wasn't talking about Bats specifically, there are others who want to help ordinary people.
"Here. - Dershowitz even raised his index finger. - The Commissioner. He and the Dark Knight are working together. And, by the way, that's the answer to where the money for all this various equipment comes from. Acting "independently," - the elderly man made quotation marks with his fingers - Batman gets a lot of room to maneuver. I think if other heroes agreed to work in tandem with the government, their effectiveness would increase hundreds of times. So the money was more logical to give to something better.
"Well... A thing like this will cut taxes.
"Jay, charity is necessary for large companies with a turnover of at least a couple million, and below that point there is no point in bothering with it. After all, it's not a magic button that gets you out of paying taxes. Besides, the format in which you want to run it will attract the tax authorities to you, because the money coming in will go to some abstract superheroes, not to specific accounts.
I knew all this, but I hoped that Alan knew the right people who could help, or suggest something better. Looking at the frowning man, I got the feeling that he didn't really want to be a part of this adventure. Surprising, isn't it?
The silence of the office was diluted by the barely audible tapping of the laptop keys, where Harley was working, sitting down on the couch. My assistant continued to dutifully fulfill my request to deal with the networks, and she was making some progress.
"Tell me honestly, why would you do that?" Dershowitz broke the silence.
"Eh. - I sighed heavily. Not with my little knowledge, at least not in the near future. I could make the right contacts later, but I wanted to get Strange's money as soon as possible. - I need to legalize a large amount of cash.
"How big?
"I don't know. - I shrugged.
"How so?" Alan asked in surprise.
"It doesn't matter, but it's got to be over a million. How much more, I have no idea. - I answered, calculating how much the psychopathic doctor had saved. Hugo was obviously no stranger to crime, and the research must be quite expensive, so there must be a large stash in his coffers.
The man tapped thoughtfully on the tabletop with the pen he had taken.
"Will the transfer be a one-time thing?
"Yeah."
"Well... I'm ready to completely legalize all the cash for..." the owner of the office squinted at me, and then at Harley, who looked up from the laptop screen, feeling that something interesting was happening. His body shuddered for a moment, but he pulled himself together and spoke. "Thirty percent."
"What?!" I couldn't help but exclaim. And this is the man who told me he wasn't involved in crime?!
"Twenty-seven. - The man corrected himself quickly, misreading my emotions. I realized that my idea wasn't a good one, and I was planning to part with at least half the money, and here they would do everything for me. My imagination immediately conjured up some terribly complicated schemes that would allow me to legalize the money, until I was brought back to the real world by the lawyer's excited voice.
"Twenty-six. That's as much as I can give. Jay, look, I'm only getting ten percent of that money, and I'm not willing to risk it for less. Plus, I'm gonna have to write off some serious debt to some serious people.
This is awesome! I just need to get a couple details straight.
Damn, Joker, wherever you are, but thank you for your reputation, without it I would definitely not have been offered something like this, and would have tried to throw me off, although the possibility of such an outcome is still present, so I need to be more careful and try to take both drugs from the hospital as soon as possible, just in case.
***
Somewhere in a completely different world and dimension, a very young chaos spirit sneezed heartily, shaking the surrounding reality. He was really young, without the hardships of his past life, and not yet in full control of his powers, but this event suddenly opened a portal to the ordinary world for him. In just a second, a strange creature, as if composed of various animals, was already crawling out of the gap in space. A horse's head was attached to a long, hairy snake-like body, ending in a dragon's tail with a snow-white furry tassel at the end, with two wings sticking out from the center of the body, one black from a bat and the other a strange sky-blue color, as if from a huge bird.
"Discord. - The hybrid said thoughtfully, listening to the world, which, with the music of the high spheres, informed all the inhabitants of the unusual intruder. The draconid then scratched his goatee with his lion's paw, releasing a cloud of smoke that turned into soap bubbles a second later. - Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, this is going to be interesting!
***
"How are you going to pull this off?" I thought about it for a moment, but I decided not to get excited. The sword of Damocles in the form of Gloomy Mouse was still hanging over me, and the hero would not be happy if I got dirty money, especially if someone got hurt in the process. Then I'd have to try to put my original plan into action. Or don't sweat it by getting a left card from where I can slowly spend it all. The VSO safe house building organization comes to mind. I wonder how they handle transactions of huge amounts of money. I doubt they only accept cash. Hmm, it's possible to pay with some interesting technology. I'll have to look into it.
"You'll find the treasure. - Alan said contentedly, watching my face stretch as I realized the simplicity and genius of the suggestion.
I understood from the man's explanation that under the laws of the state to which Gotham belonged, anyone who found treasure on its territory was entitled to the full amount, except for a seven percent tax, but only for items of no historical value. Dershowitz guaranteed to help with the latter, as well as with the trouble-free receipt of all the money due. There was, of course, a disadvantage, because I was required to buy the land. But fortunately, there were several large swamps on the mainland, and the price for one hectare plots ranged from five to ten thousand, depending on the level of swampiness. This problem could easily be solved by Ivy when she returned, so the area wouldn't be idle.
Together with Harley, I immediately chose a suitable place, paid the deposit online, and scheduled an appointment with the realtor for tomorrow. After that, Alan wrote out the details of the account to which the money should be transferred and said goodbye warmly, promising to call us as soon as my company was incorporated and the patent was granted.
The next stage of my plan was to visit Bruce's mansion, and now I looked at my companion with doubt, who was not aware of the true identity of the Defender of Gotham. I was only going to discuss the evening ahead, but I had to figure out what to get the sorceress. I thought about it for a moment and decided: screw it, Harley was my closest friend, so let Bats take care of his anonymity, and I'd just try not to mention his nighttime alter ego.
"Where are we going?" The girl asked when we got on the bus.
"Bruce Wayne.
"Oh, shall we plan the upcoming fundraiser?
"Sort of. - I said, putting my arm around the girl who was hugging me.
At three o'clock we were standing in front of the gates of the mansion of DC, the world's most famous billionaire living a double life.
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