Origins

At Fairfax Industries, his title is safety specialist. It sounds respectable; doing it is another matter. Others work out accidents in their imagination, while he puts them to the test with his own body. His companions call him the Test Pilot, and whenever he goes down, someone on his side calls out the name, like an alarm for a gauge that has failed.

“They took out the Test Pilot!”

“试飞员倒下了！”

He never complains about the job; he treats it as the know-how of his trade. You get impaled enough times, he says, and you pick up a few things. When Billy cursed him for whoring himself out to the company, he corrected him with a perfectly straight face: he is a safety specialist, and his role ultimately saves lives.

“You get impaled enough times you pick up a few things.”

“被穿刺的次数多了，也就学会了几招。”TL

The cost is real. Once, turning down an invitation, he made light of it: McGinnis had a great idea she wanted to try, and when it was over he was down a femur, both radii and a good chunk of his spine. Victor asked him why he lets them desecrate his body for a paycheck. He answered that he is not a punchline, and if it means losing an arm in a blender calamity, so be it.

“I'd love to help, but I'm down a femur, both radii, and a good chunk of my spine after McGinnis had a great idea she wanted to try.”

“我很想帮忙，可麦金妮突发奇想要试个新点子，结果我少了一根股骨、两根桡骨，脊椎还丢了一大截。”TL

“Sir, you're acting like I'm a punchline when I am not. My work, while theatrical at times, legitimately saves lives. And if that means I lose an arm in an unexpected blender calamity from time to time, so be it.”

“先生，您把我当成笑话看了，可我不是。我的工作虽然有时带点戏剧性，却实实在在地拯救了生命。要是为此时不时在搅拌机意外事故里丢条胳膊，那也认了。”TL

Just how he came to look like this, no one has ever heard the full account. When Victor pressed him on whether that boss of his had “created” him, his first answer was that Maximilian Fairfax made him the man he is today. “I’m talking literally,” came the reply. So he fell back on his contract: his non-disclosure agreement, he said, is quite comprehensive, and covers questions about his very existence.

Baba was surprised to find the boss was now Maximilian, and asked what had happened to Walter Fairfax. Danny answered only “He’s dead,” and then added: about ten years after his son took over the company. How long he himself has been with the company, he has never said.

“About 10 years after his son took over the company.”

“在他儿子接管公司大约10年后”

Old Friends and Foes

McGinnis: The Maker He Grumbles About and Relies On

McGinnis built the Chimera, and he takes it up into the sky time after time. When he speaks of her, complaint and dependence always arrive together: Maggie keeps changing the features on this thing, until he no longer knows what the hell it does now; yet with his life hanging in midair, he shouts, “I’m counting on you, Maggie!” When she pulls him through, he tells her the beers are on him later. Speaking of another maker, Miss Shelly, he cannot help measuring her against Maggie: a talented creator, to be sure, but she’s no Maggie McGinnis.

“Maggie keeps changing the features on this thing… what the hell does this do now?”

“麦吉老是改这玩意儿的功能……这又是干嘛用的？”TL

“I'm counting on you Maggie!”

“麦吉，我可指望你了！”TL

“Beers on me later Maggie”

“回头请你喝酒，麦吉。”TL

“Miss Shelly is a talented creator, but she's no Maggie McGinnis”

“雪莉小姐是位有才华的创造者，可她比不上麦吉·麦金妮。”TL

When the two of them stood on opposite sides, he once said, half in jest, that if he didn’t know any better he’d think she was going easy on him on purpose. And when he actually brought her down, he told her he was sorry, and said too that they should be on the same side.

“We should be on the same side, I don't know how this happened.”

“我们本该站在同一边的，我也不知道怎么会变成这样。”TL

Seven: The Man Who Pours Cold Water on Him

Seven is the bluntest of those who pour cold water on him. He predicts that the boss will cast Danny aside the second he becomes an inconvenience, or dares to have a vision of his own. Danny’s answer: the Fairfax vision is my vision. Seven has also warned him outright that Fairfax will only let him down.

“Fairfax will only let you down.”

“菲尔法克斯只会让你失望。”TL

Rat King: The Thirty-One Lives He Owes

Rat King remembers him. Thirty-one of his people, he says, died screaming, all because of that Vermicide demonstration long ago. Danny’s answer was the one he always gives: he didn’t develop Vermicide; he just presented it. Rat King called him complicit and swore to make him suffer for it. And yet, turning right around, Danny still handed him his card, saying that once Rat King ran Long Island, the company had plenty of artillery solutions.

“Thanks to science.  I didn’t develop Vermicide; I just presented it.”

“那是托科学的福。灭鼠药不是我研发的，我只是负责展示。”TL

Victor: The Man Whose Questions Found the Cracks

Victor doesn’t buy his line, and once judged that he “seems more like a cultist than an employee.” Danny, though, holds this adversary in respect: he takes his hat off to him, and calls Victor one tough son of a bitch.

“That guy seems more like a cultist than an employee.”

“那家伙看着更像邪教徒，不像员工。”TL

“Victor, you are one tough son of a bitch and my hat is off to you”

“维克多，你这老混蛋真是块硬骨头，我脱帽向你致敬。”TL

Haze: A Rare Word of Recognition

Danny once suggested to Haze that if she ever wanted to go into the private sector, Eldritch Tactical Solutions, a Fairfax subsidiary, is always looking for operatives like her. Later she told him that a lot of people think he’s a joke, but that a lot of her friends would have died if he hadn’t defined best practices for handling a vorpal grenade. He said only that he was glad he made a difference, and promptly passed the credit on to the company.

“If you ever want to go into the private sector, Eldritch Tactical Solutions, a fine subsidiary of Fairfax Industries, it's always looking for operatives like you.”

“你要是哪天想进私营部门，菲尔法克斯实业旗下的优秀子公司，艾尔德里奇战术方案公司，一直在招揽你这样的特工。”TL

“Hey Danny, I know a lot of people think that you're a joke, but I have a lot of friends who would've died if you hadn't defined best practices for handling a vorpal grenade.”

“嘿，丹尼，我知道很多人觉得你是个笑话，但要不是你定下了处理“夺命手雷”的最佳操作规程，我有好多朋友早就没命了。”TL

Kelvin: A Fellow Undead, Picked Apart

When Kelvin was assigned to support him, Danny picked the man apart point by point: with the jetpack he had no use for an ice path, no use for an ice dome, and the ice grenades don’t even detonate in the air. Kelvin heard him out and answered only: your point is well made, now shut up. Danny has also sighed that he was hoping the undead could have stuck together.

“Your ice grenades don't even detonate in the air, what are the odds you could heal m-”

“你的冰雷在空中连爆都不爆，你能治疗我的几率有多——”TL

“I was hoping us undead could have stuck together”

“我本来还指望我们这些亡者能抱团呢。”TL

Solomon: The Man He Openly Dislikes

Solomon does not get along with him, and Danny makes no secret of it: Solomon, I won’t lie: I do not like you.

“Solomon, I won't lie: I do not like you.”

“所罗门，不瞒你说：我一向不喜欢你。”TL

Paradox: The One Who Covets the Jetpack

Paradox finds him boring, yet wants his jetpack: she says she’ll buy like twenty, and has declared that the jetpack’s gonna be hers, and that one day she’s going to steal that skeleton. Danny, for his part, warns her that corporate espionage against Fairfax is no way to make a living.

“That jet pack's gonna be mine.”

“那个喷气背包归我了”

“One day I'm going to steal that skeleton...”

“总有一天我会把那个骨架偷走……”

Nurse Harrow: The Healer He Couldn’t Sell To

The moment he met Nurse Harrow, he praised her: now she looked like a hard-working medical professional; and in the same breath he laid out Fairfax’s plans to revolutionize the possessed child industry. When she complained that he ran his mouth, he only answered that the modern world does not walk, it runs, and that even the finest horse-and-buggy coachman ends up unemployed. When she pressed him on whether he belonged to that company lock, stock and barrel, he said he belongs to nobody; when she boasted that she could exorcize him from that husk, he only begged her not to, and when “Don’t cross me” shut him down, he said he wouldn’t dream of it. Later, having brought her down, he told her it was not her fault that the undead and healers have fought for generations; he is not the one to bridge that divide.

“I belong to nobody, but god do I love what I do”

“我不属于任何人，但天哪，我就是爱我做的事。”TL

Anecdotes

A Head for Business. He sizes up everyone first as a customer, a competitor or a problem. After bringing down Lady Geist, his first thought was “she was an investor”; after bringing down Ivy, he said this was going to be a PR nightmare.

“Damn it, she was an investor.”

“该死，她可是投资人。”TL

The Catchphrase. “This is probably safe” is never far from his lips. Better that he find out what happens when this thing overheats, he says, than a paying customer.

“Eh, this is probably safe”

“嗯，这大概是安全的。”TL

The Chimera. The Chimera Mark 1 is still a prototype. He recalls that in the first week of testing it used to explode before liftoff, so they are already seeing improvements.

“In the first week of testing, the chimera used to explode before lift off so we're already seeing improvements”

“测试第一周，奇美拉起飞前就会爆炸，所以我们已经看到了改进。”TL

Dealings. He sells weapons to the military and to governments. Speaking of the Ixian War, he keeps the war ravaging North Ixia clearly apart from South Ixia, known as “the 52nd state,” and says the Chimera is how to protect their countrymen in South Ixia. The company’s business does not end there: he also worries whether its contracts with OSIC will be affected.

“My friends, there is a war ravaging North Ixia… and while we all pray for peace, for the safety of our countrymen in South Ixia we must prepare for war. To that end I say: what better way to protect the 52nd state than with the Chimera Mark 1?”

“朋友们，北伊克斯亚……正遭受战火蹂躏，虽然我们都祈祷和平，但为了南伊克斯亚同胞的安全，我们必须做好战争准备。为此，我想说：还有什么比奇美拉1型更能保护第52个州的呢？”

“I hope this doesn't affect our OSIC contracts...”

“希望这不会影响我们和 OSIC 的合同……”TL

Faith in Science. After bringing down Venator, he said that religious superstition will never stop progress.

“Religious superstition will never stop progress”

“宗教迷信永远阻挡不了进步。”TL

The Rhetoric of the Sky. He likes to describe flight as a grand fall: soaring like an angel before crashing down like the Morningstar. To Vindicta he said, half in earnest, that there is no room in the sky for two flying merchants of death.

“I will soar like an angel before crashing down like the Morningstar!”

“我会像天使一样翱翔，然后像晨星那样坠落！”TL

Contracts and Pocket. He will not have Graves tampering with his contract; Pocket he addresses by his given name, “Arin,” and asks him not to go destroying his job.

“I can't have a necromancer tampering with my contract”

“我可不能让死灵法师来动我的合同。”TL

“Arin, I get that you have some big feelings, but I can't have you destroying my job”

“阿林，我知道你心里有很多情绪，可我不能让你砸了我的饭碗。”TL

Open Questions