A/N: Since TaG Brains doesn't have much of a backstory, I've transcribed across some of original Brains' personal history- he went to Cambridge, lost his parents to a hurricane and was adopted by one of his professors.
0o0o0
"Hello Hiram
I want to discuss a new project, please advise the soonest convenient time for you.
-Jeff Tracy"
Hiram, Brains to his friends, adjusted his glasses as he re-read the email from the CEO of Tracy Industries. While it was short, direct and to the point, he was nonetheless left baffled by it. He knew he was a brilliant engineer- unlike some of his acquaintances there was no fase pride there- and he'd been personally headhunted by Tracy Industries' Chief Engineer and head of R&D Doctor Yua Tanaka so there was no surprise in Jeff Tracy being interested in him, but he'd left university only a year ago and had been working here for only six months. It seemed much too soon to be invited to discuss projects with the CEO at his, not Jeff's, convenience.
The thought crossed his mind that this whole situation was curious indeed as he reached out to his keyboard and quickly put together an answer.
"Hello Mr Tracy,
I can come to your office now, if that is convenient.
-Hiram Hackenbacker."
He flicked the reply off and was startled when a reply almost instantly pinged back.
"Excellent, your key card now has C-suite access and Judy will let you straight in.
-Jeff"
Brains could only blink in astonishment. The CEO had been waiting for his reply? Still pondering what it could all be about, he carefully shut down his work station and secured it (there'd been an attempted break in recently, corporate espionage according to the security people and the various teams had been issued a lot of reminders about security.) Then he gathered his things and made his way to the lift.
Sure enough, when he swiped his access card and hit the button for the executive level, he was whisked to almost the top floor of the Tracy Industries building in New York. The very top two levels housed the penthouse for the CEO and his family, guest accommodation and an event space. He'd been to the event space once, at the party held for new hires, and every time a team had a product launch, the staff party for it was held there.
When the lift doors opened, Judy Tan, Jeff Tracy's executive assistant, was waiting there for him. "Good afternoon Mr Hackenbacker." She greeted him with a genuine smile and guided him towards the appropriate office. "Jeff's waiting for you. Would you like tea or coffee?"
"Uh, w-water please." He asked politely.
"Of course." She knocked on a wood-panelled door and opened it, ushering him in. "Jeff? Mr Hackenbacker is here. Can I get you anything?"
"Great, thanks Judy." Jeff got up from one of two couches set before the windows that offered a stunning view of the New York skyline. A second man also stood, but waited for them to come across. "Can you bring coffees for me and Kyrano?" He asked Judy as he came over.
"Sure." She smiled and shut the door, leaving an increasingly nervous Hiram with the CEO.
"Thank you for coming so quickly, I know the engineering teams are busy with the GDF flier upgrade project." Jeff said as he offered his hand.
Brains took it and was pleasantly surprised when the resulting handshake was firm but not the bone-crushing grip he'd been subjected to by several people who insisted on bolstering their ego by 'asserting dominance'. "Y-you're welcome, Mr Tracy." He said as Jeff now took over the ushering duties and brought him over to the couches.
"This is my friend, right hand man and head of security, Kyrano." Jeff went on, introducing the tall Malaysian man who inclined his head in greeting. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble." He added quickly, seeing the flicker of concern on Brains' face. "C'mon, take a seat, I've got a project I think you'll be interested in."
Judy picked that moment to return with a tray bearing their requested drinks and Brains used the time to quickly glance around the office as Jeff went to relieve her of the tray and discussed something with her.
The requisite executive desk of dark stained wood with black metal legs dominated the far end of the room, but Brains got the impression that Jeff did most of his work from the pair of sky-blue couches and the coffee table parked between them, judging by the tablets, communications unit and holo-projector scattered across the surface of the table. A collection of family photos- candid snaps and posed portraits, were scattered across the walls. Brains was especially surprised to see Kyrano and a young girl who was presumably the man's daughter included in a framed photo on the coffee table that included all of Jeff's sons and an older woman.
He couldn't help but feel Kyrano's golden eyes on him and had the sensation of being measured up. For some reason he hoped he wasn't found wanting. "Uh, hello." Brains greeted him.
"Good afternoon, Mr Hackenbacker." Kyrano replied in a genteel voice. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Uh, t-thank you." For lack of any other topic and feeling a need to make small talk lest his nerves got the better of him, Brains indicated the coffee table photo. "Is she…?"
Kyrano smiled, just a small change of expression but it changed his stern features completely. "My daughter, Tanusha." He said, fatherly pride evident in his voice. "She is currently deciding where she will aim for her university education and has narrowed her choices to Oxford and Cambridge. Which would you recommend?"
"W-what does she want t-to do?" Brains asked, mentally reviewing the strong points of both universities.
"Cyber security, amongst other things." Kyrano replied, his smile becoming somewhat more mysterious.
"Oxford w-would be my recommendation." Hiram nodded firmly. "W-what better place to learn about cyber security than the home of the internet?"
"You have an excellent point." Kyrano said as he settled back on the couch. "I shall tell her of your recommendation."
For some reason Brains felt like he'd just been tested and had passed that test. What on earth was going on here?
Then Jeff rejoined them, passing out the drinks and taking a seat opposite Brains. "Sorry about that, just a little detail to take care of before we could have this meeting." He explained and took a sip of his coffee. "I know this is all unusual and hush hush, but I think you'll understand once I get through the why to the what. Please ask questions at any point."
"So. To start, we've been keeping tabs on you for a while now." Jeff began. "I can't tell you how relieved I was when you declined to renew your contract with Fischler and agreed to work for TI. Langstrom was throwing around money that would have made almost anyone come back. I'll give that guy credit- he recognises talent and creativity, in fact he's been trying to emulate you ever since you left- but you turned him down because of his attitudes on safety. That kind of integrity is very important for this project."
"Uh, thank you, Mr Tracy." Hiram took a sip of his water to cover his bashful embarrassment over the plethora of compliments being fired his way.
"I was almost certain you'd be the right person for the Thunderbird project, but we had to see you and your work in person first." Jeff continued. "We need a creative, out of the box thinker for problems that are going to be out of scope for all the normal solutions, for security's sake I was hoping for an interdisciplinary expert, and above all we need someone with heart and integrity, all of which you are or have. You've only been here for a few months but you've already got a reputation for creativity, diligence, safety and excellence and Doctor Yua's been complaining ever since she heard I was thinking of stealing you from her."
"W-with heart?" Brains couldn't help but interrupt, he couldn't recall the last time someone had used that adjective in relation to him.
In response Jeff brought up Brain's university application essay on the projector and highlighted one line- 'My goal is to gain the skills to leave this world in a better place than I found it.' "I know that a lot of people use that as a trite filler line." Jeff observed. "But with the inventions and designs you've already got to your name, you're one of the few people I've seen actually take concrete steps to fulfill that promise and make the world a better place. I've got an idea to do that, but for it to work I don't want an employee, I want a partner, someone who'll share this dream."
"But if I m-may, what is the Thunderbird project, M-Mr Tracy?" Brains asked, starting to get a little suspicious over the effort Jeff was putting in to woo him into whatever this was.
Jeff steepled his fingers before his face, looking at Brains intently. "Just this year alone there have been dozens of accidents, emergencies and industrial disasters that have cost people their lives. Lives that could have been saved if first responders and rescuers had the tools and equipment to get there in time." He began.
Brains listened carefully and noted the 'cost' Jeff mentioned was only in lives, no mention of property or financial damage. That that was Jeff's primary concern was a positive mark in his book.
"We're doing what we can in TI, but the GDF aren't as interested in rescue as they are in law enforcement." Jeff continued. "Firefighters and paramedics on the ground the world over are drooling over the equipment we're designing for them and the other ideas we've pitched to them, but their management aren't enthusiastic about anything more than what they currently do. Charity work after a disaster is good, don't get me wrong, and it's going to continue even if Thunderbird gets off the ground, but no amount of charity and money will ever replace a lost loved one." Jeff glanced away for a moment, an old pain flickering to life in his eyes.
Hiram recognised that particular pain- the one that sprung from the wounds of a loved one ripped away from you by circumstances out of your control. It was the same one that had him setting up filters on his news feeds to remove anything about hurricanes, tropical cyclones or typhoons. He recalled what his research had shown him about Jeff's personal history and an idea about what this Thunderbird project might be about started to grow.
"I want to sidestep all the management, politics and bureaucracy and create a dedicated rescue organisation for the things that currently the world can't handle." Jeff explained. "We're calling it 'International Rescue' and it's job will be to go anywhere and everywhere, dealing with the stuff that the GDF and local government can't."
"I like t-that idea, Mr Tracy. I like it a lot." Brains began. "B-but what does it have to do with m-me?"
"I want you to design and build it." Jeff explained. "It'll initially be me, Kyrano and a friend of mine, Captain Lee Taylor, on the front lines. As my sons and Kyrano's daughter Tanusha all come of age I'm hoping they'll be joining up too. I want eyes and ears in the sky to pick up anyone in distress anywhere and the ability to get there in time to make a difference. You'll have the full resources of TI at your disposal to make it happen. We've got some concepts and designs already lined up for it, but if you've got other ideas I want to hear them."
"Y-you'll need a secure base." Brains mused, already turning over the logistics in his mind. "The k-kind of technology this will need will be v-very dangerous in the wrong hands." He pointed out, thinking of the havoc Langstrom had set off one time with just a handful of drones and a motorcycle frame. He couldn't imagine what the man would do with a machine that could do what Jeff wanted to achieve.
"Way ahead of you." Jeff grinned and flicked a control on the projector. A diagram flashed up of an island, stark and rugged. "South Pacific, nice and remote. The military bought it in the '30s, put in an airstrip, a hangar and a couple of missile silos in it, never used it and abandoned it after the '40s. I bought it last month, under the guise of yet another rich guy wanting a private luxury island retreat. Most of the heavy lifting's been done for us, we just have to adapt it to suit us and put a house or two on it since we'll all end up living out there for security's sake. Is that okay with you? You'll have your own suite you can design however you like and all the mod cons."
Brains nodded as he turned it all over in his mind. He had nothing tying him to any particular location so that aspect didn't really matter. As long as he had his equipment and a place of his own, he was happy. But building something this big? With this kind of creative freedom? That was any engineer's dream. To achieve even a fraction of the potential good that this project could produce was his dream.
He'd researched Tracy Industries and Jeff Tracy carefully and extensively before accepting the offer that Yua had made him. Based on that research he knew he could trust the offer that Jeff was making him now.
"I t-think I l-like this project, Mr Tracy. When do I start?" Brains asked.
"Right now." Jeff offered his hand with a broad grin. "Welcome to International Rescue, Hiram."
"Please," he smiled back, "call me Brains."