The moment Sean mentioned an anomaly, Reed's eyes lit up with renewed vigor, "Looks like a meteorite at first glance, but the trajectory's all wrong. Whatever that light source is, it's got its own propulsion system."
He studied the satellite feed projected before them, brow furrowed in concentration.
Against the deep, dark backdrop of space, a streak of silver blazed across the void, moving so fast that the satellite imagery could only capture a blurred smear. Identification was nearly impossible.
The best they could tell was that the brilliant speck had carved a path through the darkness, bypassed the Earth-Moon perimeter, and punched straight through the atmosphere.
Sean swiped his fingers across the interface, pulling up a sharper still image. It showed a massive crater, roughly two hundred meters in diameter. Its edges were unnervingly smooth, far too clean to have been carved out by a simple high-velocity impact.
"Ever since this unidentified object arrived on Earth, there's been a spike in anomalous incidents worldwide," Sean noted, his gaze thoughtful. He had a nagging suspicion about the true identity of that silver streak, but nothing concrete yet, "The Unified Government is actively suppressing the story. They're chalking it up to unusual astronomical phenomena to avoid triggering mass panic."
The object's speed was simply too great, and its trajectory too erratic. Even Skynet couldn't lock onto it long enough to capture a clean image.
"Suruga Bay in Japan, the Giza pyramids in Egypt, and just an hour ago, a massive blackout across Los Angeles and most of the Western United States..." Reed scrolled through the global anomaly reports streaming in via Skynet's terminal. A spark of pure scientific fascination gleamed in his eyes.
The essence of science was exploring the unknown and distilling it into law. And Reed Richards happened to be a scientist of the most obsessive variety.
"Sometimes I genuinely feel sorry for Susan," Tony interjected, snatching the terminal from Reed's hands. He clapped a hand on the man's shoulder with the weary wisdom of a seasoned veteran, "You're about to marry one of the hottest female superheroes on the planet, and here you are, more worked up about a mystery light show. Let me handle this stuff. You need to focus on the important things, like the bachelor party."
"Speaking of which," Tony glanced up at Sean, curiosity piqued, "What's the official cover story the Unified Government is spinning?"
Whenever something like this went down and S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't produce an immediate answer, the Unified Government's first instinct was always to slap a plausible Band-Aid on it to keep the public calm.
"The frozen bay in Japan was attributed to underwater volcanic activity," Sean replied with a shrug, "And the two feet of snow blanketing the Giza pyramids? Apparently that's 'global warming-induced climate imbalance'... The logic's a bit of a stretch, but it gives them an excuse to push some environmental awareness campaigns."
Until they could intercept whoever or whatever that silver streak was, the government had little choice but to manage the narrative.
"Obviously, this visitor is putting off some serious radiation signatures," Tony said, his mind already shifting into engineering mode, "I could throw together a large-scale sensor array, link it to the satellite network through the Triskelion, and we'd have precise tracking capability."
Tony's intellect was every bit Reed's equal. He's already produced a workable solution.
"Not a bad idea. We could also..." Reed began, clearly eager to dive into a deeper technical discussion.
But Sean looped an arm around his shoulders and began steering him away, "Let Tony handle the nerd stuff. I think you need to spend more time thinking about married life. You know... boys or girls? Baby names? That sort of thing."
Tony watched the two of them go, shook his head with a rueful grin, and turned his attention to the sensor design.
His cliffside mansion, which had been destroyed twice and rebuilt twice over, was definitely off-limits. The last thing he needed was to get cornered by Pepper with no clear exit strategy.
After a quick survey of his surroundings, Tony decided to just set up shop right there in Baxter Tower. F.R.I.D.A.Y. could handle the material requisitions anyway. He'd just bill S.H.I.E.L.D. for the expenses later.
After Jarvis had been effectively 'killed' by Ultron, Stark had built himself a new AI system, naming it F.R.I.D.A.Y., a nod to the loyal and capable female assistant in Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. Naturally, his ego wouldn't permit a crude male savage for a digital butler, so he'd opted for a soothing female voice instead...
...
As one of the world's preeminent geniuses, Tony needed only two days to construct the sensor array and install it on the rooftop of Baxter Tower.
"Done and done!" he announced to the empty room, fingers dancing across the operating console, a self-satisfied smirk plastered across his face.
He uploaded the sensor protocols to the satellite network, integrating the feed directly with Skynet. The next time that visitor popped up, S.H.I.E.L.D. would have real-time coordinates.
"Stark men are always exceptional," he congratulated himself, already mentally picking out a new outfit for Reed's bachelor party.
...
Two hours later...
Tony, wearing his trademark shades, and Sean, sporting an easy grin, flanked Reed as they strode into one of New York's most infamous nightclubs.
A DJ manned the booth, spinning tracks that sent waves of bass thrumming through the soundproofed walls. Strobe lights pulsed in frantic, colorful bursts overhead, scattering neon hues in every direction.
On the dance floor below, bodies swayed and grinded to the rhythm. Scantily clad cocktail waitresses navigated the crowd, balancing trays laden with glowing drinks.
"I had Johnny set this all up for you," Sean said, noticing Reed frozen in place. A faint grin tugged at the corner of his mouth, "Rented out the whole club and curated the guest list... consider this your final night of freedom."
"Except I don't recognize a single person here," Reed replied, already regretting his decision to go along with Tony's plan.
This was decidedly not his natural habitat. Still, it was hard not to let his gaze wander toward the undulating, scantily dressed women on the dance floor.
"I tried putting together a guest list of your actual friends," Johnny said, emerging from the throng with a gorgeous woman on each arm. Bearing that uncanny resemblance to a young Captain America, his face was split by a roguish grin, "But aside from a bunch of boring bookworms, I came up empty."
A bachelor party was not an academic symposium. Better to fill the room with eager cover models than a cadre of dull scientists.
"Ladies, this is Reed Richards. Mr. Fantastic. The smartest man on the planet," Johnny announced, leaning in close to Reed and dropping his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "Feel free to pick his brain about any... academic matters you might have. And don't worry, I won't breathe a word of this to Sue. Tonight, you're the star."
"Have fun."
"Relax, buddy. Enjoy it while it lasts."
Sean and Tony exchanged knowing looks and promptly melted into the crowd. They could navigate these waters in their sleep.
By the time Reed gathered his wits, he found himself utterly alone and utterly surrounded by a sea of feminine attention.
Women in slinky dresses, sequined tops, and cutoff shorts pressed in around the flustered scientist, their voices a soft chorus of coquettish laughter.
"Why so nervous? I love science," purred a bronze-skinned beauty, sidling up next to Reed and twirling a lock of brown hair around her finger.
"Ahem. Well, I could... I could explain the Big Bang theory? Or perhaps quantum mechanics? Wait, no– general relativity is always a good starting point..." Reed stammered, frantically lobbing physics concepts like verbal grenades.
Over at the bar, Sean and Tony had already started a betting pool.
"Thirty minutes, tops," Sean estimated.
"Twenty," Tony countered, sliding a bill across the counter.
The club throbbed with life. Men and women lost themselves in the music. Tony knocked back a glass of whiskey, savoring the familiar burn. It had been a long time since he'd set foot in a place like this. The feeling was almost nostalgic.
"If he keeps this up, Dr. Richards is going to start lecturing them on the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle," Tony observed, watching Sean wave off a pair of approaching models, "Right about now, I bet he's praying for God to roll some dice and knock him unconscious."
But then, in an instant, the carefree smirk vanished from Tony's face. The compact sensor in his pocket had begun to buzz insistently...