She o'erglances the pad of paper, and nods. "I would like to hear more about this esoteric payment, then. I intend to range far and see much, so it's more than likely we'll have an opportunity to gather what you are in need of."

It's a neatly typed list of names, addresses, and their relation to the Devil. Coworkers. Customers. Bosses. 'Consultants'.

"Perhaps we could meet in a quieter place to discuss?"

"We could. Aboard my new vessel, perhaps?"

His eyes light up. Almost literally. A polite, businesslike smile. "I see no problems with that."

"Let's, then." 

She leads the way to the unnamed vessel and picks out a cabin near the engine to talk in.

He has an air of detached disinterest as they go down to the railyard and board the engine. He does peek in the engine room before moving to the designated cabin.

(Lenora, currently fitting her cannon into the engine, frowns at them as they pass but says nothing.)

"My unusual payment is nothing terribly much. I have old connections, who are very particular about their anonymity. Occasionally while in certain ports, I will have business to attend to which may take a day or two. I would ask that you remain for a while in such cases, and not ask any questions about my business ashore. Even more rarely, I may ask that you consider visiting a certain port, if it reasonably fits your plans. I understand this is a considerable inconvenience, and I assure you that such matters will be rare. I would also appreciate your sharing any news of the recent exploits of the more villainous parts of society- Savage secrets, or perhaps tales of terror, if you will." He shrugs. "They will help me plan. I would consider it a bonus."

He is unmistakably up to something villainous and she likes him. 

"None of this is a dealbreaker for me - I have no particular order planned for my explorations yet. I would ask you 'help you plan what', but I don't expect to get an answer to that question. I appreciate your straightforward approach. I will have to discuss your hiring with my First Officer, so I cannot say you are hired now. But I think you have good prospects."

"Indeed, you would not get an answer, I'm afraid. As for Sovereigns-"

The monetary pay he wants is high but unreasonable given what she's paying the crew, though he does want to have an actual contract, and a signing bonus. He smiles pleasantly if absently and departs the locomotive after telling her where he can be reached and saying his reputation speaks for itself as to his skills so he doesn't feel a need to demonstrate them.

She checks with the Plucky Baroness, of course, and then if the response is positive she'll talk to Lenora.

The Baroness says that he is rather taciturn but she has no particular reason to doubt the Devilish Technician's skills or trustworthiness as an officer.

"So, you're thinking of hiring a Devil? I know I shouldn't be prejudiced, but..."

"He's rather straightforwardly villainous. I like him. And we do need officers." She explains the situation with his unusual pay.

"-I mean. Make sure he isn't smuggling, the authorities won't much care that it wasn't ours. Maybe he's robbing or killing people. Maybe he works for eccentric rich collectors. Maybe he has some pact where someone owes him their soul as long as he keeps to the deal. Maybe he's passing messages for anarchists, rebels, the Khan, or organized crime."

Thorn winces. "Yeah. On reflection I can't actually take him up on that offer, no matter how much I want to."

"Lots of sky-captains are kind of sketchy, maybe even 'most'... But if you want to keep your hands clean, stay away from someone who all but admitted to something deeply villainous, yeah."

"Yeah, no, thank you for catching me here. Your government might be responsible for some awful things but that doesn't make all your criminals good people. Red Honey should have been enough for me to know that."

"You're welcome! I think more people are nice if their upbringing is nice. The High Wilderness is... Not nice."

"It is not. I suppose this means I go back to the Technician and inform him that he's been vetoed."

"Sorry to veto the first experienced officer we found but staying out of blatant criminality is probably for the best."

Quick hug?

Hug!

"Yeah, it's for the best."

Yay, huh.

She wipes her brow.

"-Well, gun's ready. I could use a break and a shower, I think I'll walk back into town with you for a bit then come back and look for something else to do. -Huh, I never met your music friend. Probably not worth the detour since we want to move fast on Hours?"

"We want to move faster on Hours than the news we're buying Hours for ridiculous prices. So far we've just bought five barrels, hardly enough to cause much of a market motion. We still want to do it first, but it's worth preparing properly for." Kiss. "So I can introduce you to the Manic Dilettante. Incidentally, I never really got it clear how open people are locally to same-sex relationships, that's a problem some places. Doubt the Dilettante would be the kind of person to care, but..." 

"Huh. -Honestly, we'll probably have to get buy-in from the Tacketies. Victory House is right here in London. Er. Fallen London and now Albion are pretty good about that, I think? I really can't imagine it being a problem. Though having kids sometimes is. I heard that the Surface is backward and oppressive about it a lot growing up. Priests refusing to marry people, men being harassed or fired for liking men. Stupid and pointless stuff like that. Some people might be concerned if you're dating a Devil - the same way as if you're dating a pirate - or some of the more exotic species of people? "

"Progress is patchy but there, got it. As for buy-in from the Tacketies, it's probably best to get into that now, yes. Are we then essentially backing them against Albion? Is that the plan? Because if so then the workworlds become a higher priority and we start having to deal with Albion's response to all this and so on. I don't know how much we can do without disrupting things. Maybe it's time we started disrupting things, but..." 

"Yeah, backing the Tacketies against the Windward Company - who are pawns of Albion. The Establishment can shape up or deal with it. Some disruption is inevitable soon, so we need to aim it at good things, but- 'M not a politician. We can - ask that the Tacketies be not-terrible, democratic, no mass executions or other horrible stuff, make that a condition of aid, then offer lots of valuable aid. I bet there's a weapon somewhere that can disable locomotives at range without killing anyone, for example."

"I have limited dispensation to do negotiations like that, I'm supposed to just be a scout - but we could get one of my higher managers in here in confidence, connect her to the Tacketies and go on our way. I like that plan better than trying to negotiate myself in any case."