Looking Forward to the Future - Part 1
Posted on Thu Jul 11th, 2024 @ 7:16pm by Scott Summers & Jean Grey
5,056 words; about a 25 minute read
Mission:
Episode 5: Days of Fortune Past
Location: Baxter Building | Manhattan
Timeline: October 5th, 1990
Tags: Fantastic Four
“I’m serious, if you say one crazy thing about telepathy to Reed… so help me…I’ll…” Jean’s empty threat trailed off because there wasn’t anything substantial about it. But ever since Scott had described telepathy as mental coitus to the ever-inquisitive Mr. Fantastic, she had gone to great lengths to avoid him and his myriad of questions.
Today, they had to discuss the summit for Mutant Registration Act with Reed and its implications for other supers. Meaning, both of them would have to talk to the brilliant scientist and face any questions he might have.
“I’ll be cross with you.” Jean finally found the right words to express her disapproval, a halfhearted scowl on her face as she spoke.
“Hands up, I learned my lesson!” Scott teased Jean with an exaggerated response to her empty threat. Upraised hands were betrayed by the grin on his face that held no such promises for good behavior. “I solemnly swear not to embarrass you in front of the weird neighbors.”
Her green eyes narrowed in suspicion thanks to the grin on his face, but the look of disapproval soon left her face. “I don’t believe you, so I guess you're lucky that I love you and can’t stay mad at you for very long.”
Jean called the elevator to take them up to the top floors of the Baxter Building. “At least they’re expecting us this time. Hopefully the amount of ‘weird’ from last time was just because they weren’t expecting us.”
“I wouldn't count on it,” Scott said glibly, his straight face holding back the sordid anticipation he held about what was sure to be another memorable experience. “That's why I said I wouldn't embarrass you, not that you wouldn't feel embarrassed.”
As the lift doors opened, Scott let the amused feeling he knew Jean could feel shine through his face in a polite smile. He stepped up to the security door and prepared himself for whatever scans they would be subjected to this time.
A new placard hung adorned to one side. Its gleaming bronze plate read FUTURE FOUNDATION in large block lettering.
“That's new,” Scott pointed out to Jean. “I can't wait to hear more about that.” His voice didn't snicker, but his mind surely did.
~* ‘Stop.’ *~ Jean scolded him with the same level of internal humor. While she wouldn’t openly admit it, she appreciated Scott’s whimsy when it came to awkward situations like this. This playful side of him appeared more frequently since they moved to New York, Jean knew it was because he was finally happy.
The Fantastic Four’s security system engaged as it flashed and beeped all while a kaleidoscope of colored light washed over them. A moment of processing and the doors slide open before them, welcoming them back into the main living space.
Scott and Jean were greeted by no one. The formal seating area was vacant and there was no sound of televisions coming from down the hall.
“Hello!” Jean called out, still too polite to use her telepathy with them.
There was another long pause and they started to wonder if their appointment had been forgotten. That is until Reed’s head and over extended neck appeared from an area of the building they had never seen before.
“Scott! Jean! I almost forgot you were coming. Please follow me.”
~* ‘Almost?’ *~ Jean telepathically confirmed that he had in fact forgotten.
They followed the stretched head and neck to a flight of stairs in the back before entering one of the most advanced labs they had ever seen.
Sue was sitting behind a computer in the back while Reed’s hands continued to work in a biosafety cabinet. “Hello. you two!” Sue said with a welcoming smile. “I didn’t think we were meeting until tomorrow.”
“Well, we wanted to talk early because plans have evolved since our last conversation,” Scott said, taking the lead. “Originally we just wanted to have a formal introduction between yourselves and our… with the X-Men.” It still felt weird not identifying himself among their number, but Scott had committed himself to this path with Jean. Allies and advocates. That’s who they were now. “But with recent events and resulting tensions being what they are, word got out about our conference, and it seems to have become a miniature summit. The guest roster has already doubled. Is that going to be a problem with anybody?”
“An’ just why t’ey gotta come here?” The Thing groused in his gravelly baritone as he hoisted himself up from behind a console he’d been tinkering with. Intentional or not, he tore a shop rag apart in attempts to clean his rocky hands. “Ain’t t’ere somewheres else t’ey could go meet?”
Scott sighed at the big lug and searched for words that would resolve the concern without raising whole new ones. ~Jean? Little help with this one?~
“Why shouldn’t they come here? We are all experts in our own rights about these topics. We’re also marginalized and feared by the general population.” Jean paused for a moment, slightly annoyed that she would even have to defend their meeting. “Things are about to get very scary for a lot of innocent and vulnerable people. They need a united front to advocate for them. We have to come together and discuss these issues, to make sure we are that force for positive change.” Jean folded her arms across her chest as her tone became somber. “A line has been drawn in the sand and all of us are going to be affected by it. This registration act is a declaration of war against anyone who is different. We should all come here and meet because our lives depend on it.”
After Jean set up the argument, Scott went in for the kill. “The Mutant Registration Act is pure fear and ignorance at their finest, Mr. Grimm. Between you and me, which one of us would an angry mob chase down first?”
Ben Grimm groaned but said nothing, so Scott continued.
“What happens to one can happen to all,” he said pointedly. “We're stronger together.”
“Alright, alright, already,” the Thing finally conceded. “Didn't mean nothin’ by it.”
“Who exactly is coming?” Reed asked. His tone was purely curious.
Scott pursed his lips in a smirk that masked his looming concern. Not everyone would be welcome. “There would be the X-Corporation which sponsors the X-Men, X-Factor which includes ourselves, Alias Investigations and their Heroes For Hire initiative, various representatives of the mutant underground, and… the Brotherhood of Mutants.”
After he said the last one, he steeled himself for protests.
“While the Brotherhood is a controversial addition to the summit, they do represent a portion of the mutant population that many are familiar with. And while their methods are controversial, they do occasionally have valid points.” Jean continued Scott’s commentary without hesitation, their untied presence obvious.
“Controversial?! They’re criminals and terrorists.” Sue responded with a touch of concern over the idea of sitting at a table with people like that.
“It’s a viable point though,” Reed said while still working inside the cabinet. “And hearing what the most volatile group is considering could be beneficial.” Reed did, however, turn to look at Scott before he spoke again. “And I assume you will vouch for them and their behavior. I don’t want Susan to be concerned for her, or anyone else’s, welfare.”
“Magneto is on the Most Wanted list, so he won’t be coming,” Scott said, “but a representative of the Brotherhood will be here. Suing for peace must include mutants as well as humans.”
Somehow it didn’t sound as charismatic or persuasive as when the Professor said it. Try as he might, Scott was no Charles Xavier. While he might not be a silver-tongued orator, he still knew weak spots when he saw them. “I saw the Future Foundation sign at the door,” he said. “Why don’t you tell us more about that? I’m sure it could provide an ample counterbalance to the Brotherhood.”
Reed’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Yes! Thank you for mentioning it! When I deduced the link between Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters and the X-Men, it made me realize that we’re just the first family of many to follow. We’ve had some incredible breakthroughs and helped a few people along the way, but I want to leave a legacy for generations to come. That’s what the Future Foundation is all about!”
~That wasn’t nearly as bizarre as I expected~ Scott expressed to Jean through their psychic rapport. ~Maybe there’s more. Don’t hold your breath just yet~
“So… you’re opening a school?” Scott asked, trying to get a full understanding.
Jean dared to glean into Reed’s thoughts and was momentarily overwhelmed by the sheer number of ideas he was considering simultaneously. He almost sounded like a room of people when she was using Cerebro. But she managed to locate his ideas surrounding the Future Foundation.
“He wants to support the next generation of scientists,” Jean responded to the question that wasn’t for her. “He doesn’t like the way science is being utilized and applied and he wants to change that.”
“You read my mind!” Reed seemed thrilled rather than offended by the act. “You just snuck in there and found the answer you were looking for.” He looked at Jean with that stare of focused fascination, a look in his eyes that made her feel like she was a specimen. “Is your brain different?” Reed muttered while his stare intensified.
“My brain is normal.” Jean took a step back from Reed and his probing questions and examination of her.
“Reed is incredibly excited about the Future Foundation,” Sue interjected, she saw how uncomfortable Jean was becoming and she attempted to steer the conversation back towards something more congenial. “Tell them more, honey.”
“Thank you, dear,” Reed said with an overly affectionate tone. It always helped when Sue brought him back to center. Maybe not him personally, but everyone else appreciated it. “For too long science has been driven by ambition and profit rather than by the love of pure advancement and knowledge.” As Reed spoke, he grinned wider and ran his words together at a faster tempo. “The Future Foundation will address this and correct it through a proper ideology. It's wrong for us to think scientists are ideologically immune. Nobody has an unfiltered view of reality and so even the best and brightest of us can be susceptible to subversive influences. What remains, then, is to acknowledge that weakness and find a way to counter it.”
Pausing just long enough to gulp and take a breath, Reed continued.
“Not since Aristotle has science had a guiding inspiration that wasn't favorable to one political establishment or another. Even if his actual science was errant, his logic and reason were top notch. To date, nobody has topped his philosophy of Eudamonia. Science is in need of ethics and inspiration if the world is to flourish. The Future Foundation will be that beacon of truth, both in natural science, theoretical science, and even metaphysics.”
“Like ghosts and stuff?” Johnny cut in with a snicker.
~Here we go~ Scott thought to Jean. Sordid anticipation reared its ugly head behind his polite stoic expression.
“No, Johnny, not ghosts,” Reed countered with nascent exasperation, “but the conceptual schemes of pure reason which underlies all human experience.”
“And mutant experience,” Scott offered most helpfully.
“Yes!” Reed exclaimed in excited agreement. “Mutant experience! Human experience! Yes! Our friends get it!”
The smile on Scott's face was for both Jean and Reed but conveyed very different things to each one. For Reed, it was encouraging, but for Jean it was nothing less than smarmy.
“If we're tracking on the same frequency, perhaps you would consider being Future Foundation members!” Reed’s grinning head bobbled on his wobbly neck in glee at the thought.
“That would be amazing,” Scott said, his pulse spiking at the thought of rubbing shoulders with these people on a regular basis, “but we'll have to check the bylaws first and make sure the attorneys approve it. You know, underwriters and boilerplate legalese being what they are.”
Reed quickly deflated. “Oh. Of course…” His disappointment vanished with another flare of excitement. “But perhaps the members of your mutant conference will be less legally encumbered!”
~Help!~ Scott shouted to Jean in his mind with all the panic of someone pinned down by a pyramid scheme sales pitch.
“All in due time,” Jean chimed in while internally smirking over Scott’s panicked plea for help. After his last comments to Reed about her, she took a touch of pleasure in seeing him uncomfortable. “Admittedly, mutant-kind is rather occupied with the passing of this act and how it is going to change our way of life. I don’t think most of the individuals at the summit are going to be in the right headspace nor will they have the bandwidth to take on another project… at least not right now.”
It was the game Scott had seen Jean play with Warren for years, nothing but gentle ‘maybes’ that never became a yes or no. She deflected from the topic at hand without hurting Reed’s feelings.
“But if you have any peer-reviewed papers you would like someone else to look at, I can take a look at them. I’ve been doing that for Professor Xavier for years now.” A small offer of assistance, a peace offering for not enthusiastically agreeing to join his foundation.
“That is kind of you to offer, Jean,” Sue replied as she tapped a few buttons on her computer. “Reed could use a grounded review of his publications. He sometimes gets a bit… esoteric.” She delivered the words with a sweet tone, criticism coming from a loving place.
“Some old guy in Norway called Reed a pompous asshole.” Johnny giggled with delight.
Scott bit his lip but said nothing at first.
“Technically he referred to me as a juksemaker drittsekk,” Reed corrected, “but that does not translate well to English. Suffice it to say that my written defense went over his head.”
“Wasn't t’at after you called him a lame brain or sumpin’?” Ben asked with a pointed grin. He liked seeing Reed worked up as much as the next person.
Reed frowned at the Thing. “No! How many times must I explain this? I never insulted his intelligence. All I did was inquire about his alma mater and then wonder as to whether his pedigree qualified him to address the issues I had raised.”
“A just question,” Scott agreed despite not knowing any details whatsoever. “Did you invite him to the Future Foundation?”
“He declined.” Reed's head sank in dejection.
That made Scott feel a little bad in his teasing. “I'm sorry to hear that. If we can help you make any headway, we'll let you know, all right?”
“I appreciate it.” Reed perked up again. “Speaking of headway, I think I've overcome the refractive dilemma in a new visor design I worked up last week. If you have a few minutes, I'd just love to run some ballistics tests and see how it holds up to live fire!”
Scott was about to say no, but that actually intrigued him. If this guy was half as smart as everyone made him out to be, there might be something to it. The old clamshell visor had served him well for nearly a decade, but it did have some flaws.
~Will you be okay if I check out what he's talking about?~ Scott's curiosity was somewhere between morbid and excited.
~* ‘Of course.’ *~ But there was some apprehension in Jean. Not about Scott but for what Reed had said.
“What do you mean by ballistics and live fire?” she said aloud to Reed. “What exactly do you plan on doing with Scott and your experimental visor? I would prefer if he remained alive and in one piece.”
Reed chuckled as if Jean had told a joke. “Oh, dear lady, I wouldn't dream of harming him. I just want to ensure my design properly withstands his optic blast. All simulations calculate it will to a 99.8969 percent degree of certainty but there is nothing like a practical test to verify the simulations.”
~I’ll be fine~ Scott assured her. ~I cannot be harmed by my own power~
“I think I can spare a few minutes,” Scott said. “Let's see what you've got for me.”
~* ‘It’s not you I’m worried about.’ *~ Jean didn’t care for the way Reed considered them. He didn’t see them like living breathing people but rather questions that needed to be answered. ~* ‘Don’t forget this is the same man who exposed the people he loves the most to cosmic radiation.’ *~
“Come on Jean, we can go get a cup of coffee while they try Reed’s device.” Sue got up from her computer and began to head towards the stairs.
“If you don’t mind, is there a place where we could watch?” Jean asked with some hesitation. It was hard to explain to strangers why she was so protective of Scott, after everything they had been through together Jean couldn’t help but hold onto him tightly.
“Oh sure, Jean.” Sue seemed a little disappointed over the lack of girl talk. “There is an observation deck, we can go there.”
Sue led Jean up a flight of stairs rather than down to a small seating area above a large open testing room that reminded her of the Danger Room.
“Thanks, Sue,” Jean said while taking a seat and waiting to see what would happen.
By the time the ladies could get a good look, Reed was already delivering his sales pitch to Scott.
“This one is a real beaut, let me tell you!” Holding up the visor, it definitely looked like a refined version of the classic visor Scott had used throughout the 1980s. Somehow the red lens was bigger while the overall apparatus was smaller. “Before you put it on, though, let’s put it down range.”
Reed’s arm stretched out a good thirty meters and set the visor against a concrete wall. With it set into place, he said, “Go ahead and give it a blast. And don’t worry about the wall. It’s not load-bearing."
“Reed has just been infatuated with Scott’s powers since they first met,” Sue commented to Jean in between Reed and Scott’s demo below them. “He’s so busy with his own projects but he still found the time to work on this.”
“That’s kind of him,” Jean replied but her eyes remained on Scott.
“He just gets so focused sometimes; you know?” Sue continued and Jean felt a pang of longing from Sue, a need to share more.
“Good to know…” Suddenly Scott began to have second thoughts along the lines Jean had.
~Brace yourself up there~
~* ‘You have no idea’ *~ Jean replied as Sue worked up the gumption to say more.
Scott slid his glasses down below his nose and let an optic blast loose against the opposite wall. Rather than disintegrate the concrete, a shockwave rippled across the surface and glimmered as the kinetic force dissipated.
“Whoa,” Scott said in surprise.
“Yes, I coated the wall with unstable molecules,” Reed said. “A sustained force would overwhelm them, but they do withstand single shots well enough for our purposes.” He retrieved the visor with another stretch and held it up to examine. “Not even a scratch! Fancy that.”
“He just gets so preoccupied sometimes, it’s like he doesn’t see me.” A sad confession from the Invisible Woman that she desperately needed to say to someone. “Does that ever happen to you?”
Jean sat up from her hunched and intense focus on Scott and looked over at Sue. She could sense Sue’s loneliness and that need to either commiserate or to identity her own problem. She could have lied to her, but Jean felt like that would be a disservice to Sue. “No. He only has eyes for me and nothing else.”
At first he was skeptical, but Scott couldn’t deny his own eyes. “Alright, I’ll give it a try.” He slid them over his face and felt an automated adjustment that gave a snug fit.
“The first thing you’ll notice is the biometric self-calibration,” Reed began. “It’s onboard operating system will remember your settings and can even prevent anyone else from removing the device!”
Scott nodded. That could prove a setback as well as an advantage, but it was still a worthwhile feature. “Impressive, Reed. Real impressive.”
“That’s just the beginning!” Reed positively beamed at the praise. “The advanced aperture controls utilize sophisticated servo-motors that respond to subtle muscle movements in your forehead and temples. A little wiggle of your eyebrows and you can open wide or go narrow. Manual controls still apply for fine-tuning, but once again the OS will remember your settings, so the more you use it, the more intuitive it becomes!”
“Interesting…” While Scott wasn’t quite following that rundown, he still understood the gist. And it opened up a lot of possibilities he hadn’t considered before.
“That’s what I was afraid of,” Sue said with a defeated sigh. “Reed is a brilliant man but sometimes he forgets what’s important. He’s so focused on the destination that he doesn’t see the journey.”
“I’m sorry, Sue. That sounds like it’s really hard to deal with.” Jean tried to console her. On a personal level, she couldn’t relate but isolation and loneliness were universal hardships. “No one should be made to feel marginalized, especially in a marriage.”
“But wait! There’s more!” Reed flew his hands up and was practically yelling in excitement now. “I also installed an automatic energy dispersion feature that activates in the event of the visor being damaged or dislodged. It required a substantial bit of unstable molecules ionized directly to the ruby-quartz, but the resulting durability and lightweight design makes this the safest device you could ever wear.”
Arms crossed over his chest, Reed was ready to hear Scott’s final opinion.
“Well… the proof is in the pudding.” Scott turned back toward the target wall and fired a standard optic blast with his hand. Easy enough. He put his hand down and experimented with his eyebrows, grit his teeth to flex his temples, even tried to wiggle his ears.
“So what do I do? How do I get the spark to come back?” Sue sadly pondered.
The resulting lightshow would have put the city’s Fourth of July display to shame. Wide-dispersal arcs, narrow tight-beams, and everything in between bounced and ricocheted off every surface. Fixtures were knocked far and wide like an earthquake was shaking in the building. Scientifically speaking, that was not altogether far from the truth. Even after Scott stilled his facial muscles, his optic blasts still took a few seconds to dissipate.
Ben hit the deck and covered his craggy head with his hands while Reed dodged to and fro in a wild game of Twister. Once everything had settled down, Scott searched for words.
“Sorry,” he said at length. “I guess it needs some fine-tuning…”
Jean held her breath as the collateral damage and possible injury to the Fantastic Four unfolded below. She raised a hand in response, ready to telekinetically shield any of them if one of Scott’s blasts or the falling fixtures got too close.
Sue, on the other hand, remained indifferent to the chaos below. This appeared to be just another experiment in the Richard’s lab. “So, what do you think, honey?” Sue pressed her to return to their conversation.
“Huh?” Jean was momentarily confused thanks to her intense focus on events occurring below. But she quickly realized what Sue was asking of her. “You make him see you again and when he does you tell him what you need to be happy.” Jean offered the best advice she had available in her current state of divided concern.
“That’s it?” Sue seemed stunned by the simple explanation. “Just talk to him?”
“That’s it,” Jean said simply.
“That was incredible!” Reed exclaimed with boyish excitement. “I’ll have to review the sensor feed for more data but I already have some ideas on how to improve…” He tried to pull the visor off but was stymied by his own security features. “Oh, right. You need to do it.”
Scott chuckled at this eccentric man. “I’m glad you’re on my side, Reed.” He tried to remove the visor but it held fast. “Uh, is there a trick to it? A button or slide release of some kind?”
“Yes, just right…” Reed poked the visor on the side. “... there.”
“Yeah, I thought so…” Scott tried again. “No such luck, Reed.” He fought for control of his voice. “Now what?”
“I told Reed that the biometric scanner wasn’t ready yet.” Sue tisked and frowned but she didn’t seem too upset.
“What do you mean it wasn’t ready?!” Jean got up from her seat, her voice raised to a shout thanks to her temper. She spoke loud enough for Reed and Scott to hear below. “Why didn’t you say anything before you started?!”
Jean looked down at Reed and made sure his eyes found hers, a yank of telepathy to force his full, undivided attention on her and her anger. “Fix it right now.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Reed said, suddenly terrified by the angry telepath. He stretched his neck around to the back of Scott’s head in order to get a better look from the other side. “Could be a processing error. Could be a sensor feedback issue. I’m confident that I can figure it out. Few hours, tops.”
“For your sake, Reed, I hope it’s less than that,” Scott said in an overly calm voice that tipped off the turgid waters beneath the surface.
~If you kill him, Jean, it might never come off~ Scott couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry, and he shared that honest frustration with his love. ~Just keep that in mind if you would~
~* ‘Of all the stupid addle brained things to do. He was so excited to see if it could work that he didn’t think about the ramifications if it failed.’ *~ Jean felt like contained but raging fire as she spoke to Scott. ~* ‘I was worried he would do something like this, he doesn’t think about people.’ *~
“It was an accident, Jean.” Sue attempted to defend Reed. “He gets carried away sometimes, but he means well.”
“Reed.” Jean’s voice was firm but biting enough that he had to look at her once more. “You have ten minutes to figure it out and if you can’t, I will rip that visor apart piece by piece until it falls off his face and then you will have to start all over.”
“No need to be so hasty,” Reed chided Jean as if she weren’t about to pop a blood vessel. “Science cannot be rushed, you know.”
Scott closed his eyes and tried to find his inner Zen. It wasn’t working but he could still try. Why had he consented to this?
~Remember when I said I wouldn’t embarrass you?~ Scott posed to Jean through their shared space. ~I might have to owe you one~
“Look at t’a mess you’s made!” Ben had finally gotten back to his feet and swung his hands wide at the shambles of the lab. “Gonna’ take me days to clean it up!"
“It wasn't an operator error,” Reed said with his tongue sticking out of his mouth in concentration. Despite everyone’s rising tempers, Reed stayed cool and even defended his guest. “Scott was so kind as to show me where the kinks are. Once I get them worked out, this visor will be better than ever.”
Scott just sighed. Calm was as elusive as ever. “Swell, Reed. How’s it coming?”
“Almost got it, I think…” Reed frowned for a second. “Actually, I might need to solder this connection first.”
“Solder?!” Scott turned to give protest, but Reed had already taken the soldering iron in hand.
“There!” Reed announced. “Try it now.”
Slowly at first, afraid of what might happen, Scott pressed both forefingers against his temples. The visor clicked and slid away as if there had never been a problem. He let it fall from his hands. “Oops,” he said without sincerity.
“Got it!” Reed said, his hand hovering mere inches above the floor with the visor in hand. “Butterfingers, eh?”
“Yeah, sure.” With glasses back over his eyes, Scott was ready to leave. “Thanks for the thought, Reed.”
“Make sure you take every precaution before trying something like that again.” Jean’s words were almost a threat, but her temper was cooling enough that it felt more like a warning. “Ethics and welfare need to be considered along with innovation.”
She made her way down the stairs back to Scott and the now demolished testing area. Jean reached out for his hand, being close to him seemed to douse her anger. “I think we all learned a few things today.”
“Achievements in science are sometimes discovered in the failures. Today was a little rough but Reed learned a lot.” Sue was the ever-active diplomat for the Fantastic Four. In fact, Reed had already wandered off, muttering something to himself as he walked. “I hope there are no hard feelings.”
“No hard feelings,” Jean confirmed now that she was levelheaded again. “We’ll see you at the summit tomorrow.”
Sue smiled at her response; it seemed good enough to ease her concerns.
“We can see ourselves out.” Jean forced herself to return Sue’s smile as they departed.
To Be Continued...
RSS Feed