4809/Lab Partnership

Lab Partnership
Date of Scene:	20 January 2021
Location:	Reed's Labs - Four Freedom Plaza
Synopsis:	Great minds think alike! Science and Chinese food. OK.
Cast of Characters:	Reed Richards, Hank Pym

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Reed Richards has posed:
Reed Richards 's lab is a cavernous space, filled with big ideas and bigger machines. It seems almost bigger than the building it lies within. Reed's body is stretched casually about the lab. There is a ding, a pause and then Reed's hand grabs a bar from a stack on the table and snakes away.

Hank Pym has posed:
A bone of contention among superhero aficionados is whether the Avenger's Mansion or Four Freedom Plaza is better defended. Hank likes to read the arguments and chuckle at how preposterous some of the claims are. He liked the one about them stocked a 10 foot shotgun for him to use. Nonsense. He uses a plasma rifle -pulse mode and multiphasic enabled. The Plaza's defenses are apparently ignoring hm as he flies up on his ant. The ant drops Hank off on a ledge and he taps on the glass. Good thing he's honest because he'd make a hell of a thief. That turns his thoughts to Scott, somewhat unfairly. He calls, "Dr. Richards? Reed?" through the thick glass. The ant lands on the ledge and watches.

Reed Richards has posed:
Reed Richards brings the bar to his lips and munches casually. Lost in thought, frowns. Then his ear distends and stretches around, searching. The Plaza's defenses are transparent especially when the residents are at home. They were perhaps less so when the children were small but those defenses are oriented to assist defense and enable evasion of capture. Reed stretches to the window an opens it, allowing you access. He even drops a crumb of his snack on the table for your mount. "Ah, Dr Pym. Did we have an appointment?" Reed smiles, you both know missed appointments are a common occurence.

Hank Pym has posed:
Reed's act of kindness doesn't go unnoticed and Hank smiles. "Please call me, Hank. I'm afraid I don't have an appointment. But this is important; has SHIELD contacted you regarding the latest... incident?"

He comes into the room and notes the bars in their wrappers. Glances at the huge machine nearby. Is that a quantum resonator? Focus, Hank, focus.

Unnoticed Baudelaire the ant skitters in through the window before it shuts, crumb held triumphantly is his mandibles.

Reed Richards has posed:
Reed Richards smiles and watches the ant skitter in before closing the window, he smiles. Studying the way the creature moves, noting the subtle difference as it slips from your most direct control. He shakes his head, "Fascinating, your skill in biochemistry astounds me Hank. Have you worked with other insects? I'd be curious how this transfers to larger animals even, fish, birds, dinosaurs... I'm sorry? SHIELD? No, no one from SHIELD has contacted me. If anything Nicholas is a bit over due for his quarterly, why are you working on X Y or Z it's a danger to national security bluster, lecture." Reed returns to his normal shape as he speaks and he notices your attention. "Ahh, the quantum resonator, still trying to work out the kinks, just need to refine the frequency."

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym watches the ant. "Insect com is primarily useful with social insects. I tried it on arachnids and not to be indelicate but they boil down the shag/kill or kill. As to other life forms... hymenoptera and arachnids use the electro psionic waves the device senses and responds with. But Baudelaire here has been with me for a while. Finished, Bo?" He reaches a finger carefully and there is suddenly a mastiff sized ant before Reed. "Anyway, SHIELD asked Nadia and me for a device to detect portals from alt-Earths. We built one and at the inaugural activation we detected an invasion, several thousand portals bringing duplicates from an alternate Earth that was invaded and nearly destroyed by a telepathic life form. These doubles were affected by the life form and are basically strung out with its departure. They decided instead of rebuilding their world, they jump over to urs and take our places... despite our histories diverging 40 years ago. I doubt your double would have been able to make that fateful space flight, then again... it is your double. Be on your guard, you and your family... where the hell is everyone?" Hank begins to notice the building is very quiet.

Reed Richards has posed:
Reed Richards smiles, and nods, "Biology has always been my weakness, Susan is quite skilled. To me, it's a bit too messy." Reed blinks at the giant ant and nods, "I'm afraid I do not have snack quite that large... Bo, is it? Fascinating that explains the quantum fluctuation I've been reading." Reed taps the four on his uniform and holographic interface is projected into the air in front of him, "I've been monitoring the fluctuations and trying to model the waveform. Quantum particles are off the charts, They seem to be localized at specific instances. He pulls this up in front of you displaying a wide variety of graphs and charts. It's a show of respect he's giving you to raw data, trusting you to interpret on the fly as he does, rather than presenting to you. "40 years ago? Interesting, 1980...
    Reed barks out a laugh, "I have learned, never to underestimate myself." He takes a slow breath. "Oh, the family? Ben and Sue have the kids... they're traveling... I'm not sure where Johnny is. It is very quiet."

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym gets very serious. "You need to scan for portals near them now and stay in communication. Here I don't have your fancy holo tech. But the portals' positions and size were mapped by my device in SHIELD HQ and... I took liberties with the data. Quantum flux to detect the portals... we need to compare methods. Nadia and I used a pocket spacetime continuum created by Pym particles and quantum kinked photons in a plasma chamber. It works so far. Uhm... what the devil are you eating, man? Never mind. I'll be back later with some dinner for us. We can discuss this quantum flux you detected. I can't believe SHIELD isn't bringing you in yet. Wait I can."

Hank hops onto Bo, and both shrink down to ant size.

"Is Chinese food all right?"

Reed Richards has posed:
Reed Richards smiles and nods, his hands are already reaching as you start to shrink, I"If you leave the data, I can integrate it. Yes, an interesting solution. When I used the resonator I realized the quantum density was much higher than it should be from there it was easy to reapply the resonator as a flashlight and see where the particles illuminated. Then model their behavior to extract points of convergence. Also the structure they extra-dimensional, wrong wavelength. Their spins don't match up." Reed stops mid ramble, "Hmm? Oh, Sue left me with a batch of nutrient bars. She gets upset if I don't eat on something resembling a regular schedule. Yes, Chinese, that wold be nice." He smiles and nods.