[i][/i][hr][CENTER][sup][h1][center][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/534948241825988611/1109952874856845312/Sue.jpg[/img][/center][b][center][color=black] M R S.  F A N T A S T I C[/color]
[color=00aeef]M R S.  F A N T A S T I C[/color][/center]
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[/center][indent][sub][COLOR=#00aeef][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] The Baxter Building, Top Floor, Future Foundation Headquarters[/sub][sup][right][COLOR=#00aeef][b]Post #2:[/b][/COLOR] Innovation and Intervention[/right][/sup][/indent][hr]

Sue sat at her desk, having returned from her little 'meeting' with the dictator of Latveria to remember her late husband, Reed Richards, on the anniversary of his death and to renew their conviction to bring about a better world. Victor would be secretly returning to the Latverian embassy to take a magical portal back to his country, where he would probably continue to work on his pet projects. Sue often joked that Victor must be the descendant of vampires, since she's rarely ever seen that man sleep. On that note, Sue looked in the small mirror she had on her desk. She wasn't getting much sleep either and she could feel the years catching up with her. As Reed Richard's widow, Sue had inherited his wealth, generated from the royalties and patents of technologies he had invented in his all-too-short, but highly-productive, life. On retrospect, he seemed far too young to have had such a detailed will, almost as if he had expected to die on that space mission. Of course, Sue knew that wasn't the case, Reed was just such an intelligent and forward-thinking man, always planning for every possible eventuality and outcome. Yet if that were true, shouldn't he have been able to prevent his own death? Sue shook herself out of that reverie. They had only been married for a few short years, but she cherished those years greatly. The fact that he had so quickly and so readily left everything he had to hear spoke to the love and trust that he had for her. At first, the wealth was something of a comfort, but Sue came from a poor background and had few extravagant wants. Her drive to honor the future her husband wanted pushed her to use his wealth to found the Fantastic Four, building the infrastructure upon which their superhero team would rely on. A portion of that wealth had initially been budgeted to Victor, the only man who would be able to continue anything even remotely close to the kind of research Reed was pushing forward. But with Victor's departure from the team, it had become difficult, if not impossible to continue with scientific research, and the Future Foundation, as their organization was now called, eventually moved to supporting social programs, local experiments to uplift the poorer population of New York City. Victor railed against capitalism, and quite frankly, some of it went over Sue's head, but she was definitely willing to test how different charitable projects could change peoples' lives for the better.

But Reed was a man of science, and it didn't feel right for the Future Foundation to not have a science department. Looking out over the city, Sue knew that the Baxter Building, and the Fantastic Four, stood as a beacon in a sea of despair. But crime lords and corrupt business magnates truly ruled this city, while superheroes provided a false sense of hope and could be publicly recognized and supported, so long as they 'stayed in their lane' and did not disrupt the status quo. Of course, fighting foreign or extra-terrestrial threats was easier than dealing with the quagmire of business and politics; she had seen firsthand the price Victor had to pay for changing lanes. But Victor was terrible at playing nice with others, he was 'too honest'. The trick was to change things within the system without painting a target on your back. Of course, that may just be Victor's ploy, to draw attention to himself to make Sue's work easier to conceal. She was the 'Invisible Woman' after all. Turning back to her computer, Sue closed the article she had been reading about Parker Industries; her mind had been made. She wanted to budget some of the Foundation towards science, but needed someone who's work she believed in, a company that wasn't just about maximizing profits, one that gave back to the people and offered opportunities for social mobility. She began typing.

[quote=Susan Richards, Director of The Future Foundation]
[color=00aeef]Dear Dr. Parker,

I am going to cut out the formalities. You seem like an honest man, and I'm sure you recognize how rare that is, especially in business. The Fantastic Four has always sought to protect people, at first it was from external threats, like Atlantis and Attilan, then from extraterrestrial ones. But there came a time when we had to ask if protection is enough? In the absence of such threats, people still suffer and struggle, whether that be from societal factors or resource scarcity depends on who you ask. But my late husband, Reed Richards, who is the inspiration for The Future Foundation, wasn't a fighter, he was an innovator. He sought to improve the human condition, and he believed that the answer lay in science. The Future Foundation's research has been non-existent for quite a while since our falling out with our chief scientist, but it has always been my dream to revive The Foundation's science department. But as I'm sure you are aware, greed has run rampart in our society, and technology is, more often than not, turned against people; advancements always find military applications first, automation is dangled over people's heads as a threat to take away their livelihoods, communication becomes surveillance. To fall into bed with this type of scientist, with this type of businessman, would be to dishonor the name of Richards. I am looking for a scientific partner, a research collaborator with high ethical standards and unshakeable morals, someone willing to turn away corruption and serve humanity. I find that you, Dr. Parker, fit the bill. And as such, I am offering several floors of the Baxter Building for Parker Industries to open a satellite lab, as well as investment from The Future Foundation, so that our two organizations can work more closely together for the betterment of mankind.[/color]
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[hr][CENTER][sup][h1][center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/534948241825988611/1109953608180572300/Ben.png[/img][/center][b][center][color=black] T H E  T H I N G[/color]
[color=ORANGE]T H E  T H I N G[/color][/center]
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[/center][indent][sub][COLOR=orange][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] Larroca and Milligan's Deli and Grocery - Brooklyn, NY[/sub][/indent][hr]

Ben was out on the streets of New York getting a bagel, or at least, that was his excuse. He had a massive trench coat and hat on, but anyone who gave him even a cursory glance would immediately see past the poor disguise. He was keeping an eye on the demonstration. Unfortunately, the First Amendment protected even such hateful people's right to peaceably assemble. But 'peaceably' was the operative word. He would intervene if things got violent. Despite looking the way he did, The Thing was a celebrity, an honored superhero, unlike the mutants who the crowd hated so much. And why? For no other reason than the fact that Ben was not 'born' with his powers, but 'acquired' them in an accident. The double-standard boggled his mind, but then again, hate has never been rational. As he leaned lightly against a light post, chewing on his thoughts and his bagel, he heard some running and yelling in the alley behind him.

Running over, Ben catches a glimpse of a threatening young man being 'disappeared' by a blue-furred mutant. While the display was unsettling, Ben didn't particularly care for the whereabouts of the bat-wielding thug. He assumed (hoped) that this mutant was one of the X-men, and that whatever he had done to the blonde was a safe and non-violent procedure. Then he saw the girl, skin covered in sparkling diamond. [color=orange][i]"She's prettier than I am, but I'm treated like a hero, and she's treated like garbage?"[/i][/color] Ben thought to himself, shaking his head.

[color=Orange]"Alright you creeps, break it up. You can protest all you like, but the moment you threaten this poor girl, you're committing assault,"[/color] Ben roared, advancing slowly on the group, trying to get between them and the girl. He knew that he could shrug off anything they threw at him, so he just needed to be a shield. He looked at Nightcrawler and asked, [color=orange]"I hope that guy you 'poofed' is safe?"[/color] Ben hated this. The mutants had every reason to fight back, but their cause was only hampered if they showed themselves to be dangerous, thus 'proving' their enemies' case. He didn't want to have to lecture them on how they should treat their open aggressors, but hurting people was counterproductive. Optics. PR. He hated those words. It was the reason Victor had to leave.