5461/OPERATION HARD RESET, Stage One: Recruitment

OPERATION HARD RESET, Stage One: Recruitment
Date of Scene:	28 September 2018
Location:	Lobby of Four Freedoms Plaza
Synopsis:	Derek Khanata seeks out the aid of Reed Richards in a bold plan to trap the Visitor and free the sleepwalkers. An Astral Flux scene.
Cast of Characters:	Derek Khanata, Mister Fantastic
Tinyplot:	Astral Flux

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Derek Khanata has posed:
"Look, Lynn, for the last time: I am Agent Khanata of SHIELD, and this is an international crisis. I understand Dr. Richards is a very busy man, but it is critical that I speak to him immediately; next week there may functionally no longer be a human race to defend."

Khanata sighs heavily, leaning against the receptionist's desk, "Ma'am, I appreciate your sincere dedication to your duty, I really do; but I'm asking you to step outside of protocol today. Just. call. Doctor. Richards."

The Agent of SHIELD looks haggard and worried, coffee dancing in a styrofoam cup as his hand trembles unconsciously. Khanata and Lynn have been going back and forth for about five minutes now, and he's clearly on the edge of snapping at her.

Mister Fantastic has posed:
    Lynn has already pressed a button to bring one of the four down from the top of the tower, but he does maintain appearances. "and I also admire your dedication to duty, Agent Khanta, but if I had forwarded everyone to the front of the line who had an international crisis, Doctor Richards would have no time to spend with his wife, instead of very little. Besides, I don't even know if they're back from their vacation yet." Lynn lies, but well...appearances.

It's only a few seconds later that Dr. Richards, though he's almost non-recognizable in a pair of sunglasses, a t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. He also lets out a rather large yawn. "What's the matter, Lynn?" He says after drinking some water.

"Doctor, this is Agent Khanata. Apparently this is a matter of some import, or else he wouldn't have tried to get past me for the past five minutes."

Derek Khanata has posed:
Khanata smiles weakly at Lynn, muttering his thanks. He adjusts his sports coat and tie and extends a hand to the Doctor, his breath reeking with stale coffee and cigarettes, "Doctor Richards, I am Derek Khanata, Agent of SHIELD, and I need your help to save the world."

Despite his apparent exhaustion, Khanata manages a wry grin, "Always wanted to say that. Do you have a few minutes to chat, Doctor?"

Mister Fantastic has posed:
    "You look like you haven't slept in a while." Reed says before tugging off his sunglasses. "What's on your mind? And call me Reed. I don't need to be called doctor."

Derek Khanata has posed:
Khanata clasps Reed's hand firmly, "Of course, Doc--I mean, Reed. My king has spoken highly of you; it is an honor."

As he steps back, the Wakanda stumbles a bit, shaking his head, "It has been... a hectic last few days. I'm afraid that I haven't adjusted to the pace that you Americans keep."

He gestures towards a cluster of chairs in the lobby, "Shall we sit?"

Mister Fantastic has posed:
    "You must mean T'Challa. You're going to need sleep before you do more, Khanata." Reed then gestures towards a cluster of chairs. "You think Shield life is hectic....try being in the Fantastic Four." She then chuckles as he sits. "Give me the short version...."

Derek Khanata has posed:
"Much appreciated... Reed. I'm afraid that I've still got a long haul ahead before I can sleep peacefully; there's a fair chance I won't wake up on the other side."

Khanata takes a long pull from his cup of coffee, "The short version is this: an alien intelligence planted the fungal growths that threatened Earth a few months ago, and that intelligence is still loose and gaining power. It has an astral architecture in place that it is using to co-opt the brains of thousands of people worldwide to turn them into a server farm for psychic power--that's the cause of these mass sleepwalking episodes."

"I believe I have a plan that can end the sleepwalking plague and eliminate the alien intelligence behind it all."

Mister Fantastic has posed:
    Reed listens to it all and rubs his chin. "Heh. Sounds like I went on vacation with Sue at the right time." he then shakes his head. "and, Khanata...you're not going anywhere until you get a bit of sleep. Even I can't run 48 hours straight anymore. Try having two kids to worry about."

As he's talking, Reed actually stretches his arm over to the counter and grabs a small device, then flips it open. it's an old flip phone. He taps the buttons and waits for a moment. "Hey Valeria, is mommy still asleep? She is? all right, pumpkin. Can you bring me the remote lab gauntlet and the screen imager set from my lab please? .....yes I know you can get into the lab. DOn't lie, pumpkin, I can tell when you're lying......Pumpkin....I know that you're able to hack Herbie, so don't try your innocent act......okay, I'll see you in a couple." He then closes the phone and stretcheshis arm back over to put it back where it was. "If it isn't broken, you still use it. Also, if I'm right, I have a sample from those particular missions. I think Herbie detected an alpha wave frequency coming off of it, and we managed to put up a barrier to keep it from reaching anyone....since we're all somewhat psychically aware in the building. Have to be to control our powers."

Derek Khanata has posed:
Khanata genuinely smiles as he listens to Reed's phone conversation, eyes half-lidded, chin down. When he hangs up, the Wakandan says, "I have two daughters of my own, Reed. It is good to hear that the gods have problems not so unlike my own."

He sits forward, blinking several times to force himself awake, "I'm afraid that I'm not familiar with the device you're describing, but it may be of some use. I had a somewhat different role for you in mind, but it requires some exposition."

He groans and stands, stretching, "The astral architecture is simple enough--there is a 'server' entity in Mexico which maintains the central hub through which the psychic traffic is directed, with the sleepwalkers acting as a decentralized bot network that feeds power to the server. A 'controller', the alien intelligence that I have dubbed The Visitor, relies on the network for power, and can also inhabit any individual consciousness that has been tapped into it after 'hollowing them out', so to speak, formatting their consciousness as a blank slate--I believe that they can dedicate more psychic processing power without a 'self' interfering."

"Now, I hypothesize that the Visitor, when it inhabits a human shell, actually resides within that shell temporarily. If we were to reset the server, so to speak, with a strike in Mexico, we can temporarily trap the intelligence in the body it is inhabiting."

Mister Fantastic has posed:
    "Few are familiar with the bio-electric alpha wave nullifier, because I invented it JUST for that sample of fungus I have." Reed says just as the elevator opens and out runs a small, blonde, and easily 5 year old girl with a pair of items. "Here you go daddy." the girl says and Reed smiles. "Thanks Valeria." he says and puts on the gauntlet and the imager. he then starts them up and Reed begins his work, typing on a virtual keyboard and the 'holo-screens' come up almost instantly. Even his daughter is paying rapt attention to this. "Is this about the mushroom sample, Daddy?" "Yes it is, Valeria." he says as he taps a few more keys. "Agent Khanata here is looking for a way to 'hard reset' something that has taken over the minds of psychic and magical people, and using them as hosts. it's also becoming a bit of a 'hive mind', and the more people that get taken over, the more powerful it becomes." "You mean like a compter, Daddy? More free space and it runs faster." "That's about right, hun." he then brings up a screen and rubs his chin. "Agent Khanata mentioned something about trapping the conciousness into one person and keeping him there though."

"Why not use the Alpha wave nullifier and use it in a portable form, like a collar, and have it with a self sustaining battery, like an electrical car. It'd be constantly powered, and it couldn't reach out to anyone else while it's on." Valeria says, and Reed looks to her and smiles. "That's.....a great idea, Valeria."

Now Reed's fingers a typing furiously......and the 'collar' is put up on a screen.

Derek Khanata has posed:
Khanata stares at the screen mutely for several moments, his eyes tight as he examines the plans. Finally, he shakes his head in disbelief, "That's perfect, Doctor Richards."

As Reed is rapt in his design work, Khanata approaches Valeria cautiously, crouching as he fumbles in his jacket pocket. He smiles at the little girl warmly, "You can call me Derek. If you can wait for just one second, I should have..."

He plucks a ziplock bag from his coat, filled with half-crumbled oatmeal cookies, "Ah, here we are. Can I interest you in a cookie, young lady?"

He glances up at Reed, "I see she takes after you."

Mister Fantastic has posed:
    Valeria grins a bit and takes the cookie with a soft 'thank you'. She then munches the cookie as Reed continues to work out the specifics of the collar. Reed then smiles to Derek. It's a warm smile, but then he looks to Valeria through the screen.

Valeria munches on the cookie and giggles. "Daddy is my adoptive father actually. I'm from another dimension that....different things happened than in this one. Of course, with SOME of those things happening, my father and mother sent me through a dimensional portal so I can have a better life. So, I was brought here. Of course, Daddy adopted me on the spot, as did mommy. Franklin was a little freaked out to suddenly have a little sister."

Reed chuckles before looking to Khanata. "Life of the Fantastic Four."

Derek Khanata has posed:
Khanata blinks several times, processing all of that.

"The circumstances are almost beyond belief, but you have been given a second child, no matter their origins--it is a blessing."

"Now, to business: I am assembling a strike team to eliminate the 'server' from which the Visitor is able to draw power; WAND agents are tracking it now. The Visitor has approached SHIELD through the 'hollow men' we have in custody, looking to broker some sort of deal--although it may simply be running a psyop against us, rattling our cage. Whatever the case, it wants to talk."

Khanata starts to pace, a sheen of sweat on his brow, "I'll draw it in under the false pretense of a negotiation while the strike team moves on the target in Mexico. Once the server's down, we collar the Visitor and keep him bottled in a human shell. I'll have a team of psychics and mystics on-site to keep him under wraps, but we'll need a more permanent means to house him."

Khanata turns back to Reed, "I understand that you're the world's foremost expert on extradimensional travel. I'm hoping that you can imprison him in another realm through which he'll be unable to draw power from the sleepwalkers."

Mister Fantastic has posed:
    "mmmm....that'll be a little more difficult, since I haven't been able to fashion any sort of 'portal gun' of any sort, and the only one I know of that has been able to do so is Valeria's father: Victor Von Doom." Reed says without any sort of a show of jealousy. He, however, does smiles to Valeria and give her a hug....and she gives him an enthusiastic hug back. Then gives Reed a bite of her cookie, which he only takes a nibble of, to let her have the majority of the cookie. "And mommy's here in this dimension too! Only her name is different! Susan Storm-RICHARDS! Not Doom!" And they both chuckle at that.

However, the mention of a 'portal gun' makes Valeria tap her chin. "Maybe.....hang on, Daddy." She says as she sits, pointedly, on his lap....and opens another window. There she begins to write out a LOT of schematics that are hard to decipher by the untrained eye, but Reed's eyes keep getting wider....and wider...and wider....until they squint a bit.

"I remembered this a couple of month's before Victor brought me here, Daddy. but he said it was only one use....and wanted to use it only in an emergency." Valeria says with a grin. "I hope I did good, Daddy."

Reed is staring at the schematics and rubbing his chin. "You did wonderfully, angel." She says hugging Valeria against him. "and I can see why Victor made it one use. He didn't want anyone following you through to try and capture you." He then looks to Khanata. "Khanata.....I'm going to take you upstairs, since this is going to take a few hours to build anyways. but I think you'll find it worth the wait." he then flips the window around so Khanata can see it. And it's almost exactly what they needed.....

.....A portal gun.

Derek Khanata has posed:
"It seems I came to the right place. I hope you don't mind," Khanata steadies himself against a pillar, "If I lay down while you work. I'm afraid the room has begun to spin--I just need to get a few minutes of sack time and I'll be fine."

Mister Fantastic has posed:
    "You are getting more than a few minutes. You're coming upstairs and getting a room to sleep a full 8 hours before you collapse from exhaustion. And if Nick has a problem with it, I'll talk to him." Reed says rather bluntly. "Come with me, Khanata." He then looks to the counter and smiles. "Lynn....no more appointments today. Push them off until next week. if anyone else 'insists', tell them no." he says before he taps the elevator. "Herbie. Agent Khanata will be taking one of the sleep rooms for a while. Make sure he's not to be disturbed." he then holds out his hand. "Come on, Valeria. We have a bit of work to do in the lab, and I need your help."