"The season is upon us once again, my friends." The Man in Red chortled quietly as the doors slid open nearly soundlessly before him. His arms clasped behind his back, his posture hunched forward just slightly, he slowly ambled forward into the impromptu meeting room. They had several others specifically meant for the purpose, of course, but they were currently...occupied for other reasons. Not to mention on the other side of the current facility.
"I trust you have something interesting for me this time?"
"Of course, sir," one of the countless, red-suited and bemasked underlings in the employ of the Carnivale said, sounding uncharacteristically cheerful. "If this were closer to the more usual formats, I don't think someone like this would really, er...fit the bill so to speak. But given what we have slated this year, he'll probably fit right in!"
"Oooh?" The masked host's golden eyes glimmered behind his mask as he sunk into a chair that seemed to pull itself back from the table of its own volition. "Consider me intrigued. Explain, if you would."
"Yes, sir!" The henchman nodded quickly, taking a tablet from his associate and flipping open the cover. The screen lit up, shining and reflecting off the pristine white surface of his own mask as he flicked through menus and files before turning it around and sliding it over the table to his boss. "This is the one, sir. We think you'll enjoy his...unique mannerisms."
The Man in Red leaned forward over the table, one hand lightly coming to rest on the tablet and pulling it toward him. He quickly scanned over the contents displayed to him, the smile on his mask slowly but steadily growing wider as the eyes curved into more wicked, manic lines of delight. "Why, that certainly is something... An ace detective, is it? My, my, and quite the lauded and capable one, no less." The scarlet showman flicked a finger upward, causing a long list to rapidly scroll by in a blur of text, eliciting a long, low whistle from him. "A truly impressive array of solved cases and skills he brings to the table, it seems..."
"We thought you'd find him a good candidate, sir," the second underling piped up cheerfully, reaching up to slightly adjust her mask. "We filtered out a few others of a similar...type, and felt he was the most promising option."
"Yes, yes... He is indeed quite promising. Send him a personal invitation, won't you?" The Man in Red sat back in his chair, slowly bringing his fingertips together. "If he can survive whatever we'll be walking into for long enough, he may even be of enough help to track down the root cause of the problem..."
"Yes, sir!" the two underlings said quickly, with an almost perfectly in unison salute as they turned to scamper out of the room and set to work on getting a special recruiter sent out.
"I trust you have something interesting for me this time?"
"Of course, sir," one of the countless, red-suited and bemasked underlings in the employ of the Carnivale said, sounding uncharacteristically cheerful. "If this were closer to the more usual formats, I don't think someone like this would really, er...fit the bill so to speak. But given what we have slated this year, he'll probably fit right in!"
"Oooh?" The masked host's golden eyes glimmered behind his mask as he sunk into a chair that seemed to pull itself back from the table of its own volition. "Consider me intrigued. Explain, if you would."
"Yes, sir!" The henchman nodded quickly, taking a tablet from his associate and flipping open the cover. The screen lit up, shining and reflecting off the pristine white surface of his own mask as he flicked through menus and files before turning it around and sliding it over the table to his boss. "This is the one, sir. We think you'll enjoy his...unique mannerisms."
The Man in Red leaned forward over the table, one hand lightly coming to rest on the tablet and pulling it toward him. He quickly scanned over the contents displayed to him, the smile on his mask slowly but steadily growing wider as the eyes curved into more wicked, manic lines of delight. "Why, that certainly is something... An ace detective, is it? My, my, and quite the lauded and capable one, no less." The scarlet showman flicked a finger upward, causing a long list to rapidly scroll by in a blur of text, eliciting a long, low whistle from him. "A truly impressive array of solved cases and skills he brings to the table, it seems..."
"We thought you'd find him a good candidate, sir," the second underling piped up cheerfully, reaching up to slightly adjust her mask. "We filtered out a few others of a similar...type, and felt he was the most promising option."
"Yes, yes... He is indeed quite promising. Send him a personal invitation, won't you?" The Man in Red sat back in his chair, slowly bringing his fingertips together. "If he can survive whatever we'll be walking into for long enough, he may even be of enough help to track down the root cause of the problem..."
"Yes, sir!" the two underlings said quickly, with an almost perfectly in unison salute as they turned to scamper out of the room and set to work on getting a special recruiter sent out.