NationStates Jolt Archive

Real Estate Agency
Barrio Del Sol Sangriento
Showroomtown, HotRodia


The sun burned through the smoggy haze and onto his wrinkled face, same as it always did when he was here. Accelerus Dioce squinted as he looked towards the broken horizon, then stepped away from the window. His somewhat baggy clothing, much more smooth than his face, concealed a variety of armaments. His time in the halls of the UN, where weapons were rather limited, had made him grow increasingly fond of the security they provided.

He grinned, showing his usual fatalistic smile to the real estate agent sitting at the desk, as well as the guards who would do their best to protect the annoyingly pretentious fellow (so long as they didn't get a better offer from someone else, naturally). He wondered what was taking Dahlia so long, and hoped nothing had happened to her. He would be making this area a parking lot using his own special demolishing equipment if anything happened to her. Nothing mattered more to him than his wife.

His wife who he was not sure would like the idea of buying a home in one of the most dangerous areas of HotRodia. He wasn't quite sure how he would convince her that this was one of the safest areas in HotRodia if you had a home there and people knew you. The locals would defend your interests if you befriended them and made it clear that it was in their best interest to keep you around. Given that the locals were often heavily armed, and quite accustomed to defending their interests with vigor, security could be quite good.

He tapped his foot idly as his train of thought derailed, and waited patiently for a certain pretty lady to walk through the door.

Dahlia walked through the door. She saw Accelerus and instantly smile. "Sorry I'm late darling. I had a few things to finish off in the office." she kissed him on the cheek, and then smiled at the real estate agent. "Are you ready to shop for a house? I know I am!"

She looked out the window. She wasn't sure that Hotrodia would be the best place to raise children, but then again, she could be completely wrong. Accelerus knew this place well and she trusted her husband.

"Have we decided on what it is we want?"

Accelerus immediately felt better when she walked in, looking very well, and paid attention to her very carefully. He knew the heat in HotRodia could be excessive for those from less heated climes, and that the air quality was generally not healthy for someone from a more environmentally-minded country. He watched her turn to look out the window, and admired her figure. A slight smile crept onto his lips.

"The fine gentleman that owns this office will be helping us find some property locations where we can build a home suited to our needs," he responded. Accelerus knew that he could have found something on his own, but it would have been noticed and reported to the local real estate agents, and they would have been insulted. It was never a good idea to insult the folks who knew every inch of land in the area and how to destroy it. They made better allies than enemies.

The pretentious fellow behind the desk announced his agreement by saying, "Quite. Shall we begin?" He stepped around the desk and walked out the main entrance, trailed by one of his bodyguards. Accelerus moved to follow, waiting for Dahlia to catch up with him.

She followed the two men out into the street. Once outside, she gave a little cough. "We're going to build? That's even better than finding a pre-built house. <cough>"

This was no where near the air quality in Karmicaria, but she was willing to deal with it, at least for her husband. "Accelerus, I would like to find a lot that will leave room for a large yard. We must have a fenced in yard." she smiled at him. "And of course a house with five or six bedrooms, a large kitchen, a family room, a couple of rooms that we could use for offices." It was obvious that she was getting rather exited. She felt like a kid. "Where did you grow up? Maybe we could find something there?"

Accelerus chuckled at the excitement in her eyes, and took her hand in his as they followed the agent and his bodyguard to the first lot they were to view. He also palmed a small shock grenade in his other hand, just in case one of the local gangs decided to take on a small group of fairly well-off folks in an appropriately open street like this one. It was not wise to underestimate the gangs' grasp of tactics, after all. Having been in one of them many years ago, he knew quite well what they were capable of. His advantage lay in the fact that they had no idea what he was capable of.

"We'll certainly build our own house, given your requirements. We're not likely to find one that satisfies you already built in this area," he said in response to her questions, and gestured towards their surroundings, seeing the outlines of hard faces behind the tinted windows. He conveniently avoided answering the question about seeing where he had grown up, because he was fairly sure that it was still a crater in the middle of a neighborhood that held several ghosts from his past. Ghosts he would not want haunting him.

The agent and bodyguard stopped in front of a lot piled with rubble. It was a fairly large lot, though perhaps not as large as Dahlia wanted. Accelerus considered that it was located near the better shopping facilities in the area, but also near the worst shopping facilities in the area, where various dangerous items were sold. Both kinds of facilities could be helpful, but the latter had a tendency to attract a large number of people who were not only competent in violence, but really enjoyed it. He turned to his wife and asked, "Do you think it's enough space to have what you want?"

Dahlia stared at the plot of land. "Um..I was hoping for something a little bigger, darling. We can keep this one in mind though. I'd like to shop around a little more. That is, if you don't mind."

She smiled sweetly at him, but as she looked around, her smiled faded. She didn't want to offend Accelerus. This neighbourhood frightened her a little. But, if it meant that they could live together in a house and not out of his office, then she was willing to deal with it. For all she knew, this was the safest area in HotRodia.

"If this is the biggest that there is, then we will take it. Are you okay with this, Accelerus?"

He mused for a moment, his wrinkled face looking very serious. "I think you're right. We'll look for something larger." The agent shrugged mildly and started walking toward the next lot available, the bulky bodyguard trailing behind with head swiveling in order to survey the surroundings. He too, seemed to be on guard against possible opportunist attackers.

Broken glass from old windows crunched beneath his boots as he walked with Dahlia, following the agent to their next potential home site. The air smelled strongly of death and decay and they approached the lot, and Accelerus figured that it had been used as a convenient place to dispose of a body fairly recently. That meant that this was a more quiet section of the barrio, where you could get rid of a body without anyone watching. A good sign.

The lot was also much, much larger than the previous one, perhaps twice as large. That would make certain security costs more expensive, but the money was really no object. Not that he was going to mention that fact to the real estate agent. The little fellow would be quick to take advantage of an excess of available funds, trying to sell them something that would take his commission through the roof.

He turned to face Dahlia. "Is this one the right size for us, do you think?"

Dahlia covered her nose and mouth with her had in an attempt to block out the smell. "Yes, this one is big enough, but what is that smell? It's making me feel rather ill."

She hoped that if they decided to use this lot that the smell would be gone by the time they were ready to move in. She looked at Accelerus. "Darling, can I talk to you? Privately." She pulled Accelerus away from the agent and his bodyguard. "Is this the best neighbourhood here? There must be something....safer and less...smelly? Oh, don't get me wrong, the lot is perfect, but the area just seems a little unsafe. Especially if we have children."