2013.05.19 - An Uninvited Guest

Grodd has recently invested some time in creating a robot spy that he plans on using to infiltrate the hero community and monitor them from within. For that spy to be effective Grodd needs them to not be able to determine how the quantum processing core matrix really works. There are only a few people alive who could figure out that Grodd is controlling the robot by remote one of them works here at this little electronics company. He wrote a paper speaking to the theoretical technology which Grodd is actually employing.
Grodd doesn't understand why suck a great mind would waste his time working at such a pathetic job. It's sickening to see such potential go to waste. So sickening in fact that Grodd plans on destroying the company then hiring the scientist for one of his own projects once he is looking for a job.
Johnathan Yurn is a low level employee at the facility with minimal clearance. Someone who doesn't know much about what is going on but he had enough clearance to get Grodd in to do his dirty work. Johnathan is dead now, his head, hand and ID badge are in a portable cooler strapped around Grodd's shoulder. On Grodd's wrist is a psi-field generator that is emitting a signal to make everyone see the giant gorilla as Mr. Yurn instead of the terrifying monster that he is. Using the ID card and the codes ripped from the employees mind Grodd walks in with all the normal workers like he belongs there. No one seems to see that anything is wrong. At least until the people who don't have active mind-shields in place.
Grodd's plan is simple, get in, get his target out of the factory, then make someone blow the place up. Then he'll have himself a brand new robotics expert to play with.
A surprise inspection from Sebastian Shaw on one of his subsidiaries never goes well. There are rumors that last time it happened an assassin tried to kill Shaw and instead only succeeded to kill the plant manager, and that the entire building was leveled in some kind of freak earthquake. That was mostly true though most don't know the whole story. And most never will. But now he was suddenly here speaking with head of Production, Stephanie Martin, speaking to her about why they were behind schedule on a new type of DNA scanner that was being developed for 'Hammer Industries' to be added to a field scanner for military hospitals.
She wasn't giving good answers, it seems that Reptron Electronics, another of Shaw's companies has not been providing good PCB boards, that when going through QA they fail 67 percent of the time. She says, "Good Afternoon, Johnathan" as Grodd walks by the two and Grodd seems in the clear.
That is until Sebastian Shaw turns around and says to Grodd "Hold it, one second, young man."
Shaw looks at Grodd with cold eyes but not with any sense of surprise or further interest besides stopping a young employee of one of his companies. He looks to Stephanie and says, "This is Johnathan Yurn? The purchasing agent on the GMP-1001b, correct?"
Stephanie informs Shaw that this is indeed Mr. Yurn., "Excellent, I need to speak with him about some issues I have with the quality of the caps and ICs that are being used on this project." He looks back to Grodd, "Follow me, please."
Grodd has no idea who Shaw is. He expects that he's some middle management douche who makes himself feel better about his pathetic life by bossing people around. So very pathetic.. But at least it gets him further into the facility and no one will dare question him with the boss walking with him. "Yes, Yes sir." Grodd says trying to sound intimidated even though as he walks he looks at the top of Shaw's head thinking the first brain he ate today really didn't fill him up. He shouldn't have skipped breakfast. Now he has the munchies.
Sebastian said nothing to the man and walked him towards an elevator. When the doors open and they were both inside he pulled out his key card and swiped it on the elevator's control panel. The display revealed it to be the highest clearance in the company, "So do you like your job here... Mr. Yurn?" Shaw asked politely as the elevator started to go down. Which was odd because as far as the plans for the building said there was no basement levels and they were on the first floor.
Grodd replies with a nice ass-kissing employee response, "Yes sir! I'm very lucky to have the chance to work here. I know I've had some problems in the past but I'm a changed man. You'll see, sir! I promise you, you'll be surprised with how far I've come in a short time." sounding as much like a victim of motivation coaches as he can as he rides in the elevator. It's kinda cramped. Stupid humans and their tiny little bodies. He does notice the direction they are going but doesn't question it. After all, maybe his human mask worked in the basement all the time? Better just to play along.
The Elevator doors opened after what seemed a rather long travel down and it opened into... a white hallway with some doors, just like every other part of this facility except the production floor.
"Good, one should have job satisfaction," Shaw said to 'Mr. Yurn,' if he had any clue that something was up he was not showing it, "Now follow me and we'll talk in the office I keep in this plant."
Walking down a series of hallways he finally unlocked a door with his keycard and held it open for Grodd. Inside was a very sparcely decorated office that was obviously rarely used. Shaw's main office was in Metropolis.
Grodd most likely makes the sensors and scanners in the lower levels really confused. He isn't human, he isn't mutant, he's a gorilla. A real, honest to goodness gorilla, just a few hundred thousand years more advanced than your run-of-the-mill zoo dweller. Walking into the office Grodd does what he expects all employees would do. He walks in and looks for a place to sit down in one of those tiny little human chairs, "What did you need to know about those parts sir? If you'll give me access to your network I'll pull up the data for you." he says sounding helpful. Of course he just wants access so he can steal everything technology of value then destroy the place.
He closed the door and latched it closed. He turned around and crossed his arms standing directly in front of the door. "Now who are you and why does no one find it odd that there is a gorilla, carrying a freezer wandering around my facility."
It seems that Shaw doesn't need whatever the sensors on this level may be picking up he has been seeing through Grodd's disguise since he first saw him, all thanks to a small device made by Frost International that blocked all telepathy being used against it's holder.
Grodd looks down at the human and arches an eyebrow. He says, "I am Grodd." as if that explains everything. Then he slides the cooler off of this shoulder and opens it. He reaches in between the body parts and pulls out a scanner which he was going to use to verify his target and get the scientist to safety. But now he brings it out dripping blood from the cooler and says, "The question is, what are you that you can see me." he says as he wipes off the scanner and starts to turn it on. He's not even looking at Shaw, like Shaw is no threat to him but more of a scientific curiosity.
Sebastian Shaw couldn't help but smirk a bit, "What am I? I am Sebastian Shaw! That answers your question as well you have answered mine."
If the scanner reads DNA then it easily reveales he is a... human? That doesn't seem right for someone who has seen through your illusion and seems to be perfectly fine with a talking gorilla.
And that was the other tech that Shaw had on his person, this one of his own design... he was building robots that were meant to kill or capture mutants, he'd be a fool if he didn't design something to hide himself from them.
Also, if Grodd had paid any attention to the news and politics he would know that Shaw was one of the most feverant anti-mutant people on the planet, often doing interviews and providing commentary on how mutants and meta-humans needed to be locked up.
Grodd does scan his genetics, but not for mutation, "You're not a brood implant. So that's good. " the Grodd says, "Shaw! Oh, yes, I know you. You're the one who is convincing the world you're out to destroy all mutants so they will hand you power until they fall in line like good little sheep. Keeping them afraid of the mutant boogie man. Very political. " Grodd says as he turns the scanner off. "You must have anti-psi devices to protect you from would be assassins. Impressive, for a human." Grodd says as if humans where a sub-species, "You are very adamant about your anti-mutant position. But I don't see it working out well for you in the long run." Grodd says as he puts the scanner back in the box of body parts. "As I understand it, in an open war against mutants, humans will lose."
Shaw raised an eyebrow, the talking monkey was well informed... but only on a casual level, it know what everyone else knew. Fasicinating, that actually made Grodd an ideal test subject for a few of Shaw's own projects. And it admitted that it knew what telepathy was, suggesting to Sebastian that if Grodd didn't show up on a mutant detector then those detectors would need to be refined.
To Grodd's statement about the result of a war between mutants and humans he simply said, "Exactly."
He put his hands to his sides and walked away from the door, "So you have been discovered, and whatever you were planning will now fail. So, how do we proceed?"
Grodd gives a sigh and a large shrug, "It wasn't really important. There was a scientist here, a Doctor Peter DelaSangre who I wanted to hire. Of course he's working for you so I came here to destroy your company and put him on the market. It wasn't really a big deal though. I just wanted him working on farming robots for when I take over the world and I'll need to be able to supply the people of earth with food. He had some fairly brilliant ideas." and there it is again, unspoken this time but lingering in the air. 'brilliant for a human' his inflection begs, "You really are wasting his talents working at a place like this. With his help I could all but eliminate world hunger in under two generations. Perhaps, instead, I could have you do it? How would you like to go down in history as the man who ended world hunger?" Grodd asks.
He chuckled at Grodd's ascertions that Dr. DelaSangre was not doing something useful. He was Shaw's head scientist on a program that would soon change the world, and the side-breakthroughs the project had been making were going to make a big splash at the Stark Expo. Solving world hunger didn't help though. And that's when he realized Grodd knew nothing of the Hellfire Club and it's Inner Circle.
"Dr. DelaSangre is doing very important work here, more important work that his file says. He's involved in a 'Sensitive Compartmented Information' project. That will do much more than solve world hunger. I would leave that to Norman Borlaug, but he unfortunately passed."
Grodd nods and says, "and they cremated him." as if that was very inconvenient for Grodd, "So, you're an anti-mutant activist, who is working on top secret robotics programs, and you plan on fighting a war against mutants that you know you can't win. You're building combat armored suits aren't you? " Grodd asks. "You really think you can use technology to stop the mutants? You know there will always be more mutants. You can't really 'stop' mutation. It's a part of the natural world. " he says and then crosses his legs in the chair he's sitting in, "I don't mean to be a spoil sport, but mutants really are the future. Like it or not. "
"Obviously," Shaw said with a smile, a comment to both Grodd's obivious mutations of being able to speak... presumably his own telepathic ability; and Shaw's own mutant abilities that were not going to be revealed as of yet, "Your not a spoil sport at all, the only person I could see being annoyed at that prospect is my associate Alexander Luthor."
Sebastian sat down at his desk and steepled his fingers infront of himself, "So Mr. Grodd, I will be honest with you. I have a feeling you have been behind other problems I've been hearing about. And I do not believe that you are being honest with my about your intentions for my facility here. The dead body of Mr. Yurn being in your freezer made it plain."
he leaned back and asked, "What exactly should I do with you... besides snapping your neck and using your corpse for genetic experimentation."
Grodd leans back in his chair and says, "Well, we can be enemies or we can agree to not be enemies. Frankly, I don't care about you either way. You're people were in my way so I removed those obstacles. However, if you are working with Luthor, then you shouldn't worry about my little hobbies. I would spend more time worrying about how far he plans on putting the knife in your back." the Gorilla says as he brings his large hands up and lets the finger tips rest against the matching ones from the other hand, bloody as they may be, "When he betrays you, and he will betray you. You'll need me. So I'll try and avoid destroying your interests in the name of our future partnership, agreed?"
The statement about Luthor actually made Shaw laugh aloud, "Trust me I've know Alexander since he was a little boy, and I knew his father. The knife is coming and I am ready for it." This statement seems to not ring true as Shaw looks to be at best in his late 30s while Luthor is in his early 30s.
"So we will agree to not be enemies, that is much prefered to me, I have enough enemies as it is."
He stood up and held out his hand to the Gorilla named Grodd, "I will focus Dr. DelaSangre to the research you require of him and I will filter that research to you. In exchange you will not attack Shaw Industries or it's subsidiaries unless I request it of you."
He tilted his head slightly, part of him wanted to know if this gorilla's strength was enough to actually hurt him, "Do we have a deal or do you require more?"
Grodd smiles and stands up holding out his hand. It's many times the size of the human hand and strong enough to wrestle with super-heroes. He tries not to crush what he thinks is a human hand but it's still a grip like a vice. He can easily take on super-heroes in a physical throw down even though he prefers to use his mind. The Gorilla says, "Agreed. And I'll be happy to help you with any problems your human science can't over come. It was nice meeting you, Mr. Shaw."
Shaw nodded, the kinetic energy from Grodd's handshake actually charging him thus not hurting at all, "And I you Mr. Grodd. Giving enough time I may include you in some one my more... secret affairs," he added that last part in hopes of inticing Grodd into wanting to know more, "As I hope to learn more about you, without dissection of course, as that would just be crass to do among business partners."
He smiled and said, "The elevator will lead you back up, please don't check the other rooms, I'll brief you on all of this later. And fortunately Johnathan Yurn just took a sabbatical so it will be no surprise when he is found dead two weeks from now will it?"
Grodd smiles and says, "Oh, that's ok. You see, where I come from the technology that you consider cutting edge is what we consider child's play. I only needed your scientist because he's human. Gorillas can't exactly be seen making farming robots. Imagine the scandal." the gorilla says and then he just teleports away. He just went all Star Trek on Shaw! But just imagine if it's true, what if he does come from a highly advanced society with that advanced a technology? Think of all the possibilities..
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