"You don't have to feed a robot."

"But there's just something delightful about a predator."

"I suppose..."

"Though I suppose you could make a cyborg tiger. Still, I can't imagine you could feed impertinent enemies to your robots."

"I'd make a big one, with an incinerator inside."

"Hmmm... I will admit, that has quite the aesthetic to it. Of course, you could also just get a jealous archnemesis with tigers, who'll pick off the pettier of your enemies for you..."

"Do you like tigers?"

Completely straight faced: "Quite a bit. My superpowers involve turning into one, you know."

It abruptly occurs to Ellie that this would have sounded less plausible yesterday morning.

"Having pet tigers seems a bit redundant, then."

"That's why they're called minions! They'll be intelligent genetically engineered monstrosities. Do the grocery shopping for me."

"With credit card chips implanted in the paws, so they don't have to mess around with cash."

"Oh, that's clever." She pulls out a small notepad, flips it open, and writes something down.

"Each good idea I give you entitles me to a half percent of your gross earnings."

"That'd be a bit hard to arrange with an archnemesis. Unless you'd rather be a consultant?"

"You're the one who was looking for one, not me."

"Fair! And archnemeses never seem to get paid what they're worth."

"Maybe you should start a union."

She laughs. "Would it welcome archnemeses from all sides of the conflict, though, is the real question."

"That's only fair. You'd be able to extract better concessions if everyone's getting them."

"We'd need special regulations to keep the union as neutral ground."

"Have your tigers eat anyone who breaks neutrality."

Giggle.

"Sadly, I think administering a union is rather beyond my interests. After all, to a tiger, people who don't pay fair market price for services taste just the same as impertinent supers."

"Fair enough."

"Still, I imagine some supers would be interested in that idea. Some crusading sort."