Dumas nodded when Samuel excused himself.  Normally, he wouldn’t have tolerated any interruptions in his employee orientation -- not even if they were being harassed by a whole army of holographic tricksters.  However, this time, he made an exception.  If Samuel and Chester proved incapable of coexisting, it would be a waste of time to even finish the tour.  Red could always find more muscle.  But Chester?  Chester was a fucking genius.  It was quite possible that there was no one else like him in the whole world.  If the day ever came when Red was forced to choose between the club’s magician and its head of security, Dumas felt absolutely no doubt about who she’d pick.<br/><br/>After watching Samuel approach someone who might (or might not) actually be Chester, Dumas leaned back against the wall and folded his arms across his chest.  He’d chosen a spot that allowed him to keep an eye on both men, just in case the encounter turned violent.  But he remained just beyond hearing range.  The ‘kids’ could work out their differences without ‘dad’ eavesdropping on them.  Besides, DEE was almost certainly recording it all, so Dumas could always watch a playback later if he got curious.<br/><br/>The standoff seemed tense, but resolved itself without the need for intervention.  Once Chester (or not Chester) had vanished, Dumas crossed the room and joined his new hire.  “Since I don’t see any blood, and our electronics aren’t going haywire, I’m going to assume that worked out okay.”<br/><br/>Then, as if nothing in particular had happened, Dumas continued his tour.  A narrow staircase led them up to a hallway with only one door leading off of it -- a thick metal panel strong enough to withstand everything from gunfire to a bomb blast.  Pressing his hand against a sensor mounted next to the door, Dumas waited for DEE to confirm his identity.  It was a step he hadn’t actually performed for quite some time, since DEE recognized him without the necessity of bio scans.  But with Samuel present, it seemed best to follow the formal procedure.  Soon, a green light flashed, and the metal door slid open.<br/><br/>“Welcome my office,” Dumas announced, gesturing to the room beyond.  A huge gun safe stood against one wall.  Another wall was covered with various screens, all of which were currently blank.  And a large chair, like a cross between a recliner and the sort of thing you might find in a dentist’s office, was placed in the room’s center.  Dumas walked over to the chair, patting it fondly.  “Who knows?  One day, after I’ve retired to some tropical island, you might find yourself sitting here.”<br/><br/>That wasn’t part of Dumas’s typical spiel.  But he had a feeling about Samuel, and he tended to trust his hunches.  “Of course, you’d need to get a neural jack first.  Don’t know how you feel about that.”