Post by The Wonderful Wachter on Sept 20, 2012 14:35:46 GMT -5
Road to the Future
Marvel
Marvel
By The Wonderful Wachter[/center]
Foundation
Space… The final frontier... It has been called that time and time again. Humanity spent countless hours, trillions of dollars, the manpower of its best and brightest people in reaching for the stars… To explore the vastness that has no corners. But it’s not the final frontier. It’s just… a frontier.
There is no such thing as finality in exploration.
The Richards family knew that fact intimately. And none more than Reed Richards. There would always be new paths to walk whether they were a field of science or a literal field of lilies. He had explored the bowels of the Earth farther than any other. His family researched and dove deep into the depths of the oceans. Other planets and dimensions were but field trips to him. They would not dare to say it was the final journey, the final frontier. All of Earth’s oceans are mapped then have no worry, take a break and see if the knowledge you learned on Earth would apply to Jostormian seas. You think the laws of reality can’t be broken and loopholes can’t be found? Well, look no farther than the nearest universe. Just beware… It might be inhabited by ducks… or zombies… or zombie ducks.
Valeria Richards grew up in this world and she knew the thrill of exploration.
Yet space was still so cool.
So given that fact… why did adults feel a need to put limits on space by adding boring things like gravity and worse… elevators?
“I am quite aware that it is on the plans. I helped design them. What I’m telling you is that I don’t want you to finish building the elevators in this sector. There’s no need for them. Doesn’t make any sense to when three months from now you’ll just have to convert it to my new blueprints anyways. In fact, if I had my way, I’d have you convert them all at this very second except we’re on a deadline. This replacement is more efficient in energy management, time saving, and can take heavier loads in proportion to given space.” Valeria typed in a command on her wristcom to bring up the new specs and conversion outline. “See…Easily fixed. And will only take you an extra day, two tops to carry out the change.”
The man scratched a scraggily beard much in need of trim as he looked down on her. Chief of this sector of Foundation, he had much akin with a grizzle bear despite his supposed genius intellect. He probably would have tried to be a proper astronaut with NASA in the past if not for the fact they would have made him shave. His hair was gray and the white of his uniform had somehow managed to get dirt on it… in space. Stubborn old fool. Likely thought they should be still be using rockets instead of shuttles. He tended to stop looking down his nose at her and start ignoring her entirely whenever an indisputable rant of hers hit home and went against his frustrating, limited views.
“It needs confirmation,” there were his eyes going, moving past her to watch his crew working.
Valeria couldn’t help but growl. She was a girl, young woman really, whose mind worked in ways only it seemed like her father and grandfathers could understand. Never taken seriously despite the fact she received her first doctorate before she had started developing breasts. Not that she had managed to develop them just yet. Though she had inherited her mother’s blond hair and blue eyes, her curvaceous figure seemed to be beyond the scope of Val’s current genetic parameters. She was thin and lean. Her white uniform, special compared to the Chief’s in that it was made of unstable molecules, clung tight to her, revealing a toned body through regular exercise in above Earth-norm gravity.
“I am confirming it!” she growled. He made her want to pull out her hair, ruining her bun.
Around them, crew – some scientists, many just part of the construction team – continued to work like ants. The Foundation was a massive undertaking. It was difficult for many to visualize the scope of the project. After all, only a man like Reed Richards could dream up a university-sized space station and put it into action. And to see it built from the ground up in such a short period of time was a miracle in the making. Especially as they were only a week behind the original schedule her father had wrote up a decade ago when he first thought of the station before the technology had even been developed. It was filled to the brim, a veritable city with laboratories, living quarters, command center, hangars, other technical areas, and even a shopping and restaurant district.
The Foundation floated through space in geosynchronous orbit above the Baxter Building in New York, shaped like a ball cut in half or rather an upside down dome – though of course, in space, down had a different definition. In this case, it meant the round side was always pointed towards Earth. There was no reason for the shape. A dome is as good as a ball or a square when you don’t have to worry about air resistance. Her father had simply chosen it based on a whim, thinking it would be neat if it rotated like a top as it hung over Earth. Everyone else had decided to humor him.
“On whose authority?” Now he was scratching his nose.
“Mine! You know, the woman whose name is on those original blueprints you’re so in love with.”
“I’m going to need Dr. Richards’ ap—“ a force bubble appeared over his mouth, stopping his speech.
“I am,” she said through gritted teeth, “Dr. Richards.” Valeria released her hold.
“An older Dr. Richards.” He pushed past her, done listening until she could get someone else to repeat everything she just said.
This was ridiculous. The Foundation was meant for people just like Valeria. It had been designed by people just like her for people just like her. It was an educational center, a place of research and science, and a home to those that had evolved free humanity’s constrained views. They were to think of ways to build a better tomorrow, to plan for a better future of tolerance and technological equality.
That unimaginative Neanderthal couldn’t think outside the scope of directions on the metaphorical blueprint papers.
Elevators were a thing of the past – most certainly a thing best left down on Earth. Her new design, one she had thought up months ago, called for a free fall and free float. Just take a step over the edge after inputting your destination and it’d shoot you anywhere you wanted to go. She fully expected all new buildings to make use of it in the future now that she worked out the kinks in the energy consumption and that one fatal flaw where it didn’t know when to stop… After all, it was much more efficient than an elevator.
And way cooler.
---
Valeria settled into her foam-form chair, sighing as it matched the contours of her body to give an always relaxing experience, and began to write up the official request for alteration of the Foundation’s designs. Protocol could be so boring sometimes. When you knew it was better. When you saw that it was more useful and practical… Then why wait? Wait too long and someone else could steal your plans. Take credit for your brilliance.
That had happened to her father way too often. Especially when he had been her age.
The holographic keyboard popped up from her wristcom and floated in the air before her. Both it and the screen that appeared the same instant glowed a shimmering silvery blue. No sound came as she typed. No noise at all bounced around her sparsely decorated office. She had replicas of all the things she considered important back on Earth either floating on her desk or off the walls in their own holoprojectors. There was a rock she had brought back from another dimension as a paperweight. Her first doctorate was on the wall behind that desk’s chair. A miniature Fantasticar that she built when she was five flew in a circle like a fan. And finally, there was only one picture projector, showing two different pictures every five seconds; one of her and her family at the beach when she was girl with Uncle Ben tying her father’s neck in a knot for trying to work and another of her with her favorite uncle.
All she cared to bring with her up to space.
“Incoming call from the Captain, Miss Valeria,” an oddly cheerful computerized voice interrupted her writing.
“The Captain? You never refer to Uncle Ben like that…”
“It is not Benjamin Grimm, Miss Valeria.”
She frowned. “Okay… who is it then?”
“Your brother.”
“Why are you calling him Captain?”
“Unable to answer.” Static shot through the voice.
The frown worsened. “Patch him through.”
Her older brother popped into existence before her in his skin tight Fantastic Four uniform, white in color with a black “4” across almost all his chest, its side in line with the left of his body. It wasn’t really him and he wasn’t really in front of a camera to project him into space either. It was a virtual representation built from a program that she had designed so that she could see who she was talking to. Her frown creased ever more. She had forgotten to update Franklin with his beard. Really needed to rewrite the coding to base its image on the last recorded picture of a person.
“You left me a message?” her program crossed his arms just like the real Franklin would have done.
“Yes. You missed Dad’s eighth ethics’ lecture in a row.”
He rolled his eyes. “I’ve been going to those since I was ten. I think I know the differences between right and wrong, when to use my power and when not to.”
“What about Herbie calling you Captain?” she pressed.
“He did?” Those eyes turned cold but his cheeks rose to heighten his dimples with a smile. The program was seriously good. His brother definitely would have faked that action had he been there in person to tell her.
“Yes.”
“Franklin…”
“I know. I’m worried too.” His shoulders fell but he tried to keep that big brother, reassuring smirk of his. “I had a headache earlier. Lasted only a second.”
She found her reason for her frown now. Confirmation. Just like that Chief wanted excepted she would have preferred ignorance. “It’s happening faster.” Valeria ran the numbers in her head since the last incident then summed it up in three simple words “That’s not good.”
“Not often Dad is wrong, eh?”
“Be sure you’re on tomorrow’s transport.” She was already thinking about the tests she needed to run. The actions she needed to take.
“If I miss it, I’ll just fly on up myself. No worries.”
“Don’t, you smell like burnt oranges whenever you break atmosphere.”
Franklin’s image sniffed himself, raising both arms to make sure he got a decent whiff of his pits. “I do?’
“Yes.”
“Okay… Okay. I’ll leave San Fran first thing in the morning and get back to New York. Gonna pick up our newest member there too.”
“Would you…” Valeria stopped herself. She had a question she wanted to ask. Something that she knew would happen if he agreed. But he probably wouldn’t and given the current state of things, his word would be law. She could still hope her Uncle, hers alone, would show up tomorrow. After all, this was her future too. “Nevermind.”
“This is where Dad’s ethics get in the way of emotions, sis,” he winked at her. He knew what she was thinking. But still, he did nothing to make it happen. “See you soon.”
“See ya.”
The image vanished, leaving Valeria alone with her thoughts. She pulled her legs up on the foam-form chair and it adjusted to her new posture of sitting on them. Growing up with the Fantastic Four, alongside her brother, she had learned the impossible could happen. A simple dream could turn into something magnificent just like this station. So that’s what she decided to do. She curled up, turning off her wristcom with its unfinished report. It was late – relatively – better to think on her phrasing and get certain approval.
For now it was time to drift into the realm of marvels.
Stay tuned, True Believers, for Road to the Future: Spider
to reveal the third member of the Fantastic Four.