Ororo emerged from the shower, her hair wet as she turned on her laptop. She wouldn't trust her desktop, and after two hours of reading her suspicions were confirmed. Her own department would use her experiment that was supposed to help millions to instead kill them. She laughed bitterly.
Project: Greenland. A serum that, once injected into impoverished soil, would allow lush growth to occur once again. That fact alone would tip the balance of power in the world, for third world countries would no longer have to rely on other nations. No aid would be needed period, and famine would be a thing of the past.
But instead of the results bringing joy and excitement, she was called to the office of Mr. Summers, the president of The Bronson Group. She still recalled that conversation two weeks ago. "Hello Mr. Summers." She said as she sat down in the plush chair in front of his desk. The youngish man turned from his breathtaking view and smiled at her, and especially the slight cleavage she revealed as she declined some coffee from his assistant.
"Good Morning to you Dr. Munroe. I was told the results of your experiments. I wanted to tell you you've made an important discovery."
"That I know. This will revolutionize the world." Ororo smiled, crossing her legs. She was ill at ease because Mr. Summers never took off the dark sunglasses he wore, although the light in his office was of the soft variety. Three men sat on the other side of the room, not saying anything, but watching her closely.
"That it will. But it is up to us to make certain that it is used wisely." She cocked her head and raised an eyebrow.
"And what are you getting at." Mr. Summers laughed slightly and the other three took their cues from him, bringing forth a fake semblance of laughter.
"My department heads said you were smart."
"I wouldn't have gotten the job if I weren't." Ororo replied coolly.
"Touché. What I mean Ororo is that Project: Greenland isn't for everyone." She looked surprised.
"Of course it is. I spent three years researching if there would be any ill effects later on, it's perfect for civilian use. I think we should ship it to Africa as soon as possible, FDA approval pending of course, but I sent off the paper work already." His jaw tightened ever so slightly, but he smiled nonetheless.
"Perhaps we're not on the same wavelength. It will cripple many industrialized nations' economies. This is a delicate matter." Mr. Summers came around the desk and sat down on the corner, leaning forward and smiling as if he and Ororo were good friends. She smiled coldly.
"I understand. It's profits instead of saving lives. I thought that's what this company valued and cherished above the bottom line. I guess I was wrong." She stood quickly. "Will that be all?"
"For the moment." He watched her walk to the door and leave, and Mr. Summers let out a sigh of relief. "Damn, what a walk. What do you have for me." He turned to the three. That was the last thing she heard as she walked away.
"She's tense. Her body language wasn't telling me anything besides she was a little hungry and put off by your little diatribe." Dr. Wellington said, looking at his notes. He was Mr. Summer's personal body language expert, and billed him at a thousand dollars an hour.
"Why didn't I know she already submitted the papers to the FDA? Could that cause trouble for the group?"
"Which one?" Mr. Mathews said slyly, and the men laughed a little.
"The only one that really matters."
"I don't think so. Nothing could tie it back to us, and if it did, it would be her word against ours, and we're very close to buying the Attorney General. Shouldn't be more than a few weeks." He nodded, his legal expertise coming in handy yet again, as usual.
"Good, everything should be on schedule soon. The Leader hates it when things aren't timely." Mr. Summers turned to the last man and glared behind his glasses. "What do you have?"
"Normal routine, nothing out of the ordinary."
"What have the surveillance brought back?"
"You didn't tell me you wanted invasive surveillance. I just followed her as you requested." Murphy smirked, loving the look of discomfort on his face. "I'll do it if you want me to Scott."
"Please do." He kept his thoughts to himself because officially, while he outranked him, Murphy had a direct line to the Leader, and was one of the most trusted advisors.
"We'll have it done as soon as possible. Not like I need a reason to watch her." Murphy smiled his greasy smile and the impromptu meeting adjourned as inconspicuously as it started.
A knock on her door roused her from her musings, and she checked her robe and opened the door. "Jean. You're almost late." The red head came in quickly, shaking the water out of her hair.
"I didn't know we had settled on a time. I'm sorry. So, what's the problem?" She hung up her coat and joined Ororo on the couch in front of the warm fire.
"I think I've come across a conspiracy." Jean tapped her emerald fingernail against her knee and looked spaced out. "What is it?"
"I don't think I've ever heard you use the word conspiracy before. This must be serious."
"It is." She relayed everything she knew over the hour, including the in company memos, the meeting, and her suspicions, in no way knowing that everything was being recorded and analyzed.
"Whoa." Jean said, sipping the tea that was served.
"I know. What should I do. You know the law, is there anything that could be done?"
"Well, I'm not in corporate antitrust, and that's what it sounds like. My field is corporate liability, and they haven't crossed any boundaries there." She thought for a moment, putting her mug on the coffee table. "I know an old source in the FBI. I'm sure I can get you an appointment."
"That's a start. Thanks." Ororo smiled genuinely for the first time in a while.
"No problem. What are sisters for?" They laughed. "Do you have proof, a disk or a printout of some sort?"
"Yes." Jean made the cut off sign at her neck and Ororo nodded her head. If Jean didn't know, then Jean couldn't tell.
"Hey, I've got to go. I need to look over some briefs for a friend, and my whirlpool is seriously calling me." Ororo rose as well and walked her to the door.
"Thanks for all of your help." They hugged and Jean looked out into the clearing sky. The rain was gone and she no longer needed her umbrella.
"Not a problem. See you tomorrow at lunch. I'll tell you if I got you in or not."
"Great. Bye!" She waved as Jean ran to her Navigator and pulled out of the long drive, pulling away from the stately two story home.
*
"We'll have to bide our time."
"She didn't reveal anything?"
"Somewhat, but I don't know of what extent she really knows." Murphy bit into a sub and chomped loudly over the cell phone. Scott winced and rolled his eyes. "She also wants to go to the FBI."
"We can't have that. Does she have evidence?"
"I don't know how much. She hasn't left the house since she got there. We'll go in when she goes to work."
"Good. We'll talk later."
"Whatever." Murphy hung up the phone and turned back to the woman two hundred feet away. The high powered scope in front of him made watching a breeze. She momentarily phased out of his line of sight, but the sound and motion sensors that were stationed around the stairs picked up her light steps. She reappeared on the landing and went into her bedroom, taking off the robe.
His mouth dropped open as he pressed the record button on the scope. Scott would enjoy this…