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Reed has arrived.
*
It's midday and the Fantastic Four are addressing the situation at hand. After a couple of days of sorting out the mysterious black brain specks, the time has come to address things directly. At their source. Dressed in an official capacity rather than a more casual one, members of the Four tread up to the Latverian Embassy to address Victor directly.
Perhaps fittingly, the block has an ominous feel thanks to the strange destruction in Midtown one day earlier. A haze has taken over the space: smokey and hard to breathe. It really does feel like DOOM.
Sue twists around to see her comrades as she observes: "It might be worth considering a plan." Not that there's really time because they're already at Victor's door. "Hi," she pauses and stares at the guards, "I'm Sue Storm. I believe Doctor Von Doom is expecting me," yes, Sue did schedule an appointment. "These are my associates. Who will be joining me." Smiiiiiile.
*
Noemi has arrived.
*
It is taking every ounce of self-control Johnny Storm has to appear remotely calm as Sue addresses the guards at the gates. It was Victor and he knows it in his bones, so why the heck are they giving him the courtesy of a conversation?! But the Four's cooler heads had insisted, and so here Johnny is, following in Sue and Reed's collective wake with his hands tightly clasped behind his back.
At least Johnny had gotten some sleep before this. He's rested enough to look like himself again. The last few days were… rough, in that regard.
*
NOEMI NORONHA is the secretary and is bringing along a briefcase, lined with asbestos and modern impact-resistant titanium alloys, in order to take relevant notes with a graphite pencil and, if necessary, throw the entire thing clear while Doom is fulminating, providing Evidence. She hopes.
Noemi had dithered over what to wear, having no specific fixed uniform of her own, but fortunately the solution became clear in the form of an off-white and slightly silvered suit of extruded siloxanes. Double handy! Even if the skirt is kind of draping weirdly.
Noemi waves at the foreign guard and smiles with eyes that say: I have no idea where my life is going. "Are you alright?" she murmurs to Johnny, who is nearer to her than Sue.
*
Reed is in uniform, so his usual laid-back, unassuming, casually curious sort of demeanor is nowhere to be found. Naturally, three of the Four going out in uniform drew attention on the street, which Reed had deflected with an uncommonly firm degree of politeness. Somehow 'this is not the time' was enough to keep the fans moving along on their normal day. Maybe it was because the firmness had a kind of grim undertone to it that is so unlike Reed in public.
In any case, he's taken a supportive role in the approach, letting Sue do the talking while he stands beside her, but the silent sentinel approach to doing so is… surprisingly intimiddating on a guy like Reed. He pulls off the Dissapproving Patriarch Look really naturally. Who knew.
*
The guards at the embassy greet Sue with a certain warmth, which may be surprising.
"Ms. Storm." A woman on the security team — much older, in a sharply pressed uniform — arrives in moments to escort them in. "His Highness is expecting you. Please, come this way."
They are escorted, not to the gilded elevators but down a hall off of the embassy lobby, and into a gleaming board room. Victor is seated at the head of a horse-shoe-shaped table, comfortably ensconced in an imposing office chair. He's on the phone with they enter — one of a bank of four close at hand — but he hands the receiver off to an attendant and rises to greet them.
Today, he looks more the world leader, in a long, black coat that ends at his knees, a crisp black shirt and tie, black slacks, and polished shoes. "Sue…and friends." He seems undaunted. "Please, do come in." His pleasant demeanor is somewhat mitigated by the presence of a dozen guards, all of whom are armed — not blatantly but obviously.
*
A tight-lipped, too-diplomatic smile, reserved for dignitaries of all sorts, tugs at the edges of Sue's lips when Victor enters her gaze. The smile need meets her eyes which seem to reflect a prickliness that disputes her natural warmth and maternal instinct.
"Perhaps," she interjects in a far too-polite tone, "You should call me Doctor Storm, Doctor Von Doom." A hand lifts to introduce those with her, "Of course you're familiar with Doctor Richards and my brother Mister Storm." She motions to Noemi, "This is our assistant Miss Noronha." Her throat clears and her eyebrows lift, "We are here to discuss the nanites your people have so devotedly worked on under your tutelage." Her eyes narrow, "It seems someone," she stares at Victor, "may have misplaced some." Her eyes darken as her gaze becomes heavier.
*
Johnny blinks once and looks a bit sheepish when Noemi murmurs to him, quick to offer her an apologetic smile. "I'm okay. Long night," he explains with a helpless shrug of his shoulders. "…for the last, like. Ten nights. I'll be okay."
The way his expression darkens when the guard addresses Sue as 'Ms', however… yeah. Johnny just keeps his mouth tightly shut and follows the group inside, sticking by Noemi's side.
This does not change when they are brought to Victor, and his subtly-armed boy band. Johnny keeps his eyes on Victor himself, however, and there is a certain sharpness to his gaze that even he may not be used to seeing.
*
"OK," Noemi says. Then, in they go. She gets the legal pad ready, and now she sees-
DOOM!
Who had previously been at her back. She raises a hand as if to wave when she's introduced, but it doesn't quite get there. Instead she gets out the pencil, looking down at the sheet in preference to… you know…
DOOM
*
If Reed wasn't so set on a stoic approach, he might roll his eyes at the armed guards. But he doesn't, instead just lifting an eyebrow slightly. He has a fair idea of how this will go, but Sue needs the confrontation. So he'll see it through, even if there's little hope Victor's going to own up to or apologize for anything. Or even stop whatever else he might have going. It's unfortunate.
As for introductions, he finally speaks when introduced. "Hello, Victor." There's no malice, but the lack of inflection at all is unusual. And given Sue's choice of address, Reed's choice of informality is almost certainly not made without calculation.
*
Victor seems oblivious to the guards, tucked as they are in their little alcoves like perfectly-placed toy soldiers. He draws up short on his way to greet Sue, takes in what she has to say with some curiosity and some confusion.
"Reed," he says, slightly coolly, when Reed addresses him by his first name. There's nothing irritable there, though. "As I said, please. Be seated if you like."
"Doctor Storm," now the confusion turns to genuine bafflement. "As you wish. You said "nanites"? There's been some kind of…breach of containment? I have several — " Victor pauses and looks to his aides, who seem to have multiplied and are now a trio. " — think tanks!" He comes up with the word himself and looks triumphant.
"Yes. Think tanks, we're calling them. They've been working on nanotechnology. Working. I haven't been informed of any containment breaches or even any significant advances. Though, admittedly…" Now, he grows solemn and looks a little grim. "Admittedly, my people prefer to come to me with fully functional, working, tested products. No one likes to waste my time with something that won't pan out. Perhaps I should be more relaxed about it but my time is precious." He retreats to his chair, beckons to an aide. "I want to know everything about the research that's been approved. I hope you'll tell me why what's happened, Dr. Storm, and why you feel I — or Latveria — might be implicated."
*
Sue's head cants to the side, and she finally chooses a seat. A too-sweet smile follows at the questions and assertion. "I see." Her hands clasp tighter and she straightens entirely in her seat. "Evidently," her eyebrows draw together, "nanotechnology has been employed to spread them in people's minds throughout the globe." Her eyes blink hard, "To my knowledge, based on your own files, which, I remind you, you, personally, gave me access," because all 't's must be crossed and 'i's dotted, "suggested that your work is spades beyond anyone else's current capabilities."
Her lips purse lightly. "At first, I thought maybe it was brain spores, but smarter," her eyebrows draw together, "more technologically savvy minds saw technological potential where present company became rather," she slows to select her word, "focused on biological consideration. While I was personally stumped by whatever illness seemed to be spreading, Joon saw the technological potential." Her smile tightens further.
A glance is cast towards Johnny, and it slowly moves towards Noemi, and then Reed. "I'm happy to say that we believe we can resolve this issue. Of course, based on your understanding of nanotechnology, you must be anxious to assist any way that you can."
*
When Sue gives him his (entirely deserved!) credit, Johnny inclines his head an absolutely minute amount, his eyes still locked onto Victor where he sits across the room. He does come closer to the table, but he doesn't sit. Just stands to Sue's left and slightly behind her.
This is Doctor Storm's show to lead, not his.
"I recalled your talk at the Conference," Johnny says, finally breaking his silence with a very even tone of voice. "Your expertise."
*
Reed settles into a seat next to Sue's, crossing one ankle over his knee and steepling his fingers in front of him. "We all owe Joon quite the debt of gratitude," he agrees. "The nanites appeared to have been focusing on disrupting individuals' self-control. Imagine the damage had this incident raged, widespread and out of control."
*
"Don't mistake expertise for application, Mr. Storm," Victor says, not unpleasantly. "To create nanotechnology is one thing. To distribute it, another. Delivery." He points at Johnny for emphasis. "It's all in the delivery, that's always a stumbling block of any piece of technology — getting it to where's it's needed. But to be able to affect behaviour on top of that? That would be worth…billions."
He's not exaggerating, in spite of the fact that the word is still rarely applied to money in this era. "And you think I would just let that out in the world to run amok, where anyone could unravel it if they picked up on it themselves? Right after I'd delivered an incredibly public address on that same technology?"
Victor spreads his elegant hands helplessly, palms turned skyward. "To what end? I realize that some of you — I thought it was merely some of you — have a great deal of animosity toward me. But please, do at least acknowledge that I am not a fool. I am happy to use that expertise you cite, Mr. Storm, to remedy this situation. And I will thoroughly investigate my laboratories to determine if Latveria is even remotely responsible for this potential disaster."
Victor looks genuinely perturbed now. "If we are, the costs to us will be astronomical. Why would I endanger my country's welfare in such a way? For all we know, my people are equally compromised. I would never do that to them. That said, congratulations on unravelling the problem before it developed into a global crisis. It's possible the world at large owes you a debt of gratitude, Mr. Storm"
*
Doctor Storm's expression loses its sweetness and takes on a sharp edge. "Let me be clear, Doctor Von Doom, I've accused you of nothing. Instead, I've given you an opportunity to engage with us to resolve the crisis and come out a global hero. You are, after all, uniquely positioned to do so." Sue's eyes remain fixed on Victor's.
Her tongue rolls over her lips. "Unfortunately, Doctor Von Doom, I must turn down the offer of employment." Her lips press into a thin line, "It seems even present company was influenced by this technology. And, while I'm not entirely sure why I seemed to have so many of these nanites on my brain," but she has some suspicions, "I also recognize they were causing me, like much of the world, to act irrationally."
*
When Doom begins asking about his own hypothetical motivations, Johnny can't stop his lips from twitching into an odd smile, his eyebrows creeping up towards his forehead. He just nods once to echo his sister's response: "For a man nobody's actually accused of wrong-doing, you're professing your innocence pretty loud," he says lightly. "Weird."
*
Noemi is around page four, aptly enough, having written quickly and with agility. At this point she pauses to get a new pencil out, glancing from back to forth.
Inwardly she wonders: Would these nanny things even affect MY brain—??
But she doesn't say it aloud, turning her eyes from Doom (who is getting a bit less 'needs his own paragraph in Noemi's awareness') to Reed to Sue - Sue being most frequent, of course. (She also took a seat, on the far end of things.)
*
"Curious," Reed agrees with the others' assessment of Victor's defensiveness. "To be quite honest, I have no particular expectation of your direct involvement. Whoever devised this plan was… sloppy. It was not very well thought-out, as you've noted. Hardly your trademark, Victor, even if you were ever prone to any motive other than the betterment of mankind and your subjects through the sciences."
*
"Give me the credit for being able to read people's tone and body language," Victor says with a little smile. "This is hardly a contingent of colleagues seeking my assistance. I have been approached for assistance before and people rarely begin with laying out a case for why I am aware of things I could not possibly know if I were not engaged in some imaginary nefarious scheme — as much as I would like to believe you think me above making foolish errors, I know you believe otherwise, Reed. I am fully capable of extrapolating from context. And I am fully accustomed to being accused of malfeasance by my detractors — whether it's deserved or not. Americans are not so poor at social graces that I could mistake your arrival here en masse for anything but what it is."
"I am very sorry to hear that you won't be joining us — Doctor Storm," Victor pronounces that very deliberately, as though it hurts his mouth to say it. "I had genuinely hoped that you would do so. No one is more disappointed than I to discover that your presence in my life recently was neither voluntary nor sincere, since it brought me a great deal of happiness when I thought otherwise. I will need to ensure that I was not also affected negatively because I would like to be able to say that I was sincere, myself. I would like to believe that I am capable of feeling what I did, and being happy the way I was, in my natural state."
"That said." Victor gestures, hands up, again. "Latveria is always at your disposal, should you require assistance. I will look into the matter of my laboratories and provide what assistance I can. Please do keep in mind that our resources are finite and other countries might have greater reach and greater funding."
*
While she could have plenty to say about Victor's presumed need for credit at their never-spoken-accusations, something else sticks with her. The notion of Victor wanting her to join his ranks by her own volition, however, causes her to silence. Sue swallows hard, choking back the nausea that creeps over her. She slides off her chair. "I think we're finished here." She can feel her face pale. The conversation has readily turned her stomach. She inhales a sharp breath to distract herself, and she manages another too-sweet smile, this one to cover-up that pang of nausea at the man's assertion.
*
With a tight-lipped smile, Johnny turns not to offer Sue his arm. No, he knows who should be doing that, especially here. Instead, the younger Storm offers his arm to Noemi, not at all arguing with Sue's proclamation that They Are Done Here. He was done before they left the Baxter Building.
*
Noemi reaches 'we're finished here' and closes up her briefcase, rising upwards with a minor squeak of the futuristic outfit. She makes a weak smile to the Doctor of Doom, and turns around just in time to— be offered the arm of Johnny Storm.
Doom can no doubt tell the surprise in her from body language alone. "Oh, thank you," she says (VERY QUIETLY), accepting the proffered limb with a hesitant smile.
*
"That has always been your one true failing, Victor," Reed notes with sincerity, offering Sue his arm. She's ready to go, little reason to stay now. "One of these days I hope you reconsider what truths you know to be self-evident."
*
Victor gestures and that same woman who escorted them in steps to the door. "This way, if you will."
An aide hands Victor a phone, a different one this time and he puts it to his ear, listens with a serious expression while writing something down on a legal pad in front of him. A small flock of sycophants flutter in from the side doors, bearing stacks of files and reports — about to catch him up on the problem that's been brought to his attention. Another takes the note he's written and bolts for the back hall. Time to get the wheels of progress moving again.
*
Sue accepts the arm. She feels ill still, and appreciates the support as they trail out the door. She hangs onto him tightly as they move out of the embassy. When they exit and find their way back to the street — entirely off Latverian soil, Sue releases Reed, and empties the contents of her stomach on the side of the road. Seconds later, with a deep inhale, she straightens and attempts to link arms with Reed once again, nearly apologetically.
*
Reed is a patient man, and allows Sue what dignity one can have in these situations. "I see Victor still has his touch with the ladies," he quips in an extremely dry manner.
*
The back of Sue's hand wipes her mouth and she shakes her head, "He's repulsive." She frowns faintly. "The worst of it is, I think he had some sincerity when he gave the offer. Truly." She falls easily into step with Reed again. "Well, at least that's done. He needed to know we know." Her eyes flit towards Johnny, "You did good, Joon. And you're right, I really do hate spending time with Victor," despite what she'd said only days earlier.
*