Super Science
Ch. 141: A Change of Things
Two weeks after the NIP vs. HAJ event, NIP contacted several news stations and invited them to a live announcement from the CEO himself. Of course, this news was spread widely, and every news station in Japan was crowded around the facility building, clambering over one another for questions or just trying to get closer to the podium.
A small stage with a podium full of microphones stood in front of the crowd, with all the facility's bodyguards blocking anyone from getting any further. Goto had to cover his face to avoid being recognized. Several drones surveyed the air, watching the crowd for potential assassins, and several assassin droids were hidden in the crowd.
Finally, Egon emerged from the building, walking calmly and easily. Several people were already snapping photos as questions were shouted, but Egon did not flinch. Instead, he walked up to the podium, waited for the crowd to die down, and tapped the mic to make sure it was on.
After clearing his throat to a now silent crowd that watched him in anticipation, he greeted, "Ladies and gentlemen of the press, thank you for your patience in these uncertain times. Now, I'm sure that all of you are chomping at the bit to get an explanation, and I have just what you desire." Before he could continue, the crowd went into a boom of flashing cameras and roaring questions. Egon glared through the lights and exclaimed, "People, people, please, please. Hold your questions till after I'm done."
The crowd eventually went quiet, and Egon rubbed his tearing eyes as he told them, "Now, I'm sure you're all wondering if the attack from the HAJ was our fault or if we encouraged them. I can assure you we didn't. We didn't even have knowledge of the attack until three days before it happened and had to scramble to protect ourselves. Everything we did was in self-defense. How we got this information was due to one courageous soul, who shall remain unnamed, who was almost killed by the HAJ for their act to expose them early on." This made the crowd look and feel sympathy and gratitude for this mystery person. Seeing the crowd still mostly silent, he continues, "Speaking of exposure, I'm sure you're all wondering about the sudden rush of 'dirty laundry' that my facility exposed hidden away in the trenches of the HAJ. I admit that I had suspicions about them from the last time we were attacked by the former yakuza and received no aid. So we invested in them just to be safe. And I'm sure glad we did, as the amount of dirt we dug up was wild! Way more than we expected! As I'm sure many of you already knew when we spread it out to divert attention from when we counter-attacked."
Egon fixed his hair and glasses for a moment as the crowd spoke in a low mumble, where the man continued to explain, "Now, I'm sure that brings up your next question as to why we attacked what was essentially the hub of hero work in all of Japan. Was it a symbol of the downfall of hero society or something along those lines to send a message? Well, I can assure you it wasn't. If there was a known terrorist organization sitting in your midsts, wouldn't you do something to put them down? I wasn't going to allow them to lick their wounds and attack another day; that would be stupid. I'm sorry to say this, but the HAJ had far too much pull in this society. They could get off scot-free if I took the long way." For the most part, the crowd appeared to agree with this notion, but so many more were either against it or looking to misuse this information or stretch the truth. Seeing this before his eyes, Egon sighed and said, "Now, I want to assure all of you that NIP had no plans of dominating or controlling Japan on any scale now that hero society has been nearly reduced to rubble. If anything, we mean to rebuild the old HAJ from the ground up with the aid of Japan's prime minister, who I have been in talks with over how to restructure it for the past week. Within another week, we should have a plan set up and fully worked out to implement, so we asked that any Heroes that are still operating with what the government funds them to be patient."
Many reporters wrote this down or held up cameras as high as they could to get this on film, as Egon pushed up his glasses and said, "I hope this answers all your questions because now I have some news that I'm sure all of you will find quite interesting." This got the crowd on edge as Egon followed up, "N.I.P. has been hard at work lately to bring what can only be described as a breakthrough in all medical history." The crowd showed signs of intrigue, excitement, and confusion as the scientists continued to tell them, "Thanks to the aid of a special quirk from an even more special person, both of whom shall go unnamed, we have developed a medication called Reversal."
He pulls out a syringe containing a milky substance and tells them, "15 milligrams of this miracle drug can completely negate just about any ailment. To demonstrate, we have been permitted by someone willing to be its first official and live subject."
Egob looks off to the side where Morgan brings out a very sickly looking man in a wheelchair chair with an IV bag attached and hanging from his chair. He was nearly slumped over, pake as a ghost, and had a face that looked like he was ready to give up.
Egon motions to the man and explains, "Mister Monty here has been battling stage four heart, lung, and kidney cancer for around half a year with very little success, as you can see. Now, with this injection, he should become fully healed."
Egon then walks over to the man with the syringe and injects it into the direct line on the end side of his arm. After injecting the substance and stepping back, everyone stood in silence for several seconds as all eyes locked onto the dying man. Suddenly, he began to change. His skin got color, his posture straightened, and his dead face was full of life and shock!
Going to the man, Egon held up a single mic and said, "How do you feel, Mister Monty?"
The man looked down at his hands and clutched them before saying with glee, "I feel…I feel…I feel like I haven't in months! I can breathe, I can move, I can pee! Oh God, I really have to pee!" Then, he ran off to find the nearest bathroom.
Going back to the podium, Egon said into the mics, "Now, before anyone in the medical field freaks out about losing your jobs, I can assure you that this medication will not be free or cheap, and not everyone will be able to acquire it."
The crowds looked at one another and began to discuss what he said, and many medical professionals around the world gave a collective sigh of relief.
"Here at NIP, we have made four different strains of the medicine, all in different strengths. They are classified as A-D, with D being the weakest and A being the strongest. Class D will be completely free but only have the strength to negate the flu or extreme rashes. Class A will be able to do as you saw just now, but its price range will be in the six-figure range. So you medical professionals will still be needed unless people want to go into debt." Egon explained before a set of drones brought up a screen where another projected something onto it. Egon took out a projector clicker and said, "For my next bit of news, recently, NIP has been made aware of the fact that, unsurprisingly, our society does not treat people with mutant-type quirks with the respect that they deserve and need. Certain mutant-type quirks usually have special requirements. Some of these factors make daily life much harder, making their quirks more of a disability than a gift. Now, realistically, we can't help every individual person with whatever prevents them from leading a normal existence. However, we can help a large majority of the ones that are currently in dire need. More specifically, people with aquatic-based quirks." Egon clicks the button, and a new image comes up as he exclaims, "So it is NIP's great honor to present our current top project, Atlantis!"
The screen flickered, and the image of a logo made to look like ocean waves with an underwater castle behind it came into view. The people oohed and awwed at it as the man continued to explain, "As the name suggests, this will be a fully functioning society based entirely in the Atlantic ocean. And before any worldwide leader starts trying to dial me up, just remember that no one really owns the ocean, let alone the Atlantic." He clicks the button again and informs as a chart of the location appears, "Located approximately 1,000 feet behind the water, this city will act as any other civilization for those who have or need water. Homes, jobs, infrastructure, you name it, all comfortably located beneath the waves. This project is being headed by the extremely capable and, if i'm being honest, overly capable Professor Pisces. And her brother, who will be running Alantis from a political point of view, Aquarius."
As he explained this, Pisces and Aquarius both come up on the stage and wave for the cameras as they stand by the man's sides.
"Now for one last piece of news that I'm sure will sweep you all off your feet." Egon says in a tantalizing voice getting the crowds excitment where he tells, "However, I will not be the one to explain it all to you. Instead, my CFO, Dr. Izuku Midoriya, will be the one to explain." he exclaimed while motioning his arms to one side, only for nothing to show up. In the awkward silence, he cleared his voice and said, "Ahem! I said, Dr. Izuku Midoriya!"
Still, no sign of the boy came up, and people had already lost their traction and excitement. Some were even coughing. Egon slightly grumbled in stress and hissed in a whisper to Pisces, "Where the heck is he?" to which she shrugged.
Suddenly, the teen leaps out to the side of the stage and dashes up to the podium breathlessly, gasping in apology: "I'm here! Sorry, sorry! I was finishing up a report."
After catching his breath and fixing himself, he coughs and turns to the crowd, where he greets, "Greetings, everyone, and thank you for coming out. As my CEO has told you, I have some great news to share. I'm sure he's told you about our plans for restructuring the HAJ, but I have come up with something that is separate from the HAJ but will greatly help heroes individually." This got the crowd's attention, and Izuku said with a big smile as he took the clicker from Egon, "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Hero Evaluation Course. This completely free course is something that all registered heroes can take in order to reevaluate their knowledge and skills while potentially finding out what other areas of hero work they may be good at or even decide to change based on actual data. Think of it as retaking hero school for a weekend." He explained that an image of the logo shows up before a new image of an explanation of the program, followed by an itinerary for the weekend class.
As excitement and questions filled the air, Izuku quickly silenced them by ranting off in a muttering tangent, "Now, before I get into the next topic, I'd like to go on a tangent. When I was young, like many of you now or back then, I, too, idolized heroes. I would write in my notebook about heroes and their quirks. How can they be used, how can they be applied, and what kind of gear can be used to modify and aid in different fields? So that's why I've decided to take my old pastime hobby and turn it into something to help struggling or established heroes that I personally call the Hero Analysis. By giving me your quirky name and a description, I'll do my best to show you everything you could and couldn't do with your quirk. Including layouts for gear and suits to better aid in its weakness. However, unlike the Hero Evaluation Course, this will not be free, as you will be provided with the gears and suits that aid your quirk."
As he explained this, he changed between several screens that explained or gave visual explanations as to what he was talking about. Eventually, Egon nudged Izuku, and he broke out of his stupor as he saw the crowd staring awkwardly and silently at him. In his moment of discomfort, Izuku tried to save himself by veering off the topic, which he explained, "Onto the last topic for today, while NIP means to make life for heroes and the general public easier, I think at some point we need to look past the borders of Japan and look to the wider world. We're all humans at the end of that day, living on the same planet, and we're only going to have one. Which is why I want us to look to the stars!" This got the crowd talking, and Izuku clicked the remote as he said, "Everyone, allow me to reveal the N.I.P. space program!"
A new picture showed up on the screen, which was the acronym for the facility. The full name is written in tiny print beside the larger letters shaped in an archway over a part of it that said space program decorated in various space themes.
As the crowd was in awe at this, Izuku continued to explain, "My thought process for this idea came from the realization that one day we may fix enough of our global issues to the point that we may end up starting to overpopulate our own planet. More people mean more need for space and materials. While I completely agree that keeping the natural world protected is a must, it will be hard when there are more and more people. So the only place for us to look to is our stars, more specifically our moon, Venus, and Mars."
This got the crowd even more excited, and they began to ask questions, but Izuku quickly silenced them. "Now, I just want to firmly explain that this is a future project and may not happen for years to come. But safe is better than sorry."
The crowd looked okay with this news and continued to listen, so Izuku continued, "Our first mission is to make our own moon a habitable environment. Thanks to a little device called the Reset bomb, we can set it off and create a breathable atmosphere for humans in mere seconds. However, that does leave the issue of travel, which will be mitigated thanks to the warp gates."
He clocked the device, which showed a picture of a giant metal mechanical purple ring. Motioning to it, the boy explained, "These special gates, placed in specific spots, will cut travel to the moon from three days to just three minutes, not accounting for exiting Earth's atmosphere and entering the moon's. Of course, we will also use our patented warp pads, but making and maintaining them is not cheap."
The crowd was in amazement, but their excitement went cold when he followed up, "However, this does come with some concerns." The crowd went silent as he informed them, "As I'm sure not many of you know, the moon is not only responsible for changing Earth's tides but also blocking incoming meteor and potential asteroid strikes. It's hard to live in a place designed to be bombarded. So that's why I've come up with a plan."
Clicking off to a new picture, which showed A diagram of the Earth and moon, he further explained in another moderate rant while clicking through the slides, "As I'm sure not a lot of you know, Earth's gravitational force can easily hold three moon-sized bodies. This is why the space program will also be dabbling in a dude project called Project Lunar. The goal was to create two additional moons. One acts as storage for the heart's resources and does not take up space where it's not needed, and the second acts as a defense line against asteroids and meteors. But to all of you astrologists out there, don't fret; these moons will not affect Earth's gravitational force or tides. They will be completely man-made and have their own gravitational force separate from our moon and the Earth. Especially the third one, which will essentially be a self-piloting hunk of metal designed like a round shield."
The screen showed the two other moons, their schematics, and how they would operate through a simulated video. As the crowd ate this up, Izuku gave them more by adding in a much shorter rant, "As for Venus and Mars, we will implement the warp gates to make travel much quicker. However, Venus and Mars are outside the habitable zone of the sun, so to make them more habitable and cut travel time, we have this in the early design phases, the Mini Black Hole Generator, or M.B.H.G for short. This device will act as a leash and pull the two plants slowly into the sun's habitable zone. Once the planets are aligned, so to speak, the machine will shut down and self-disassemble. Then, travel between the planets will be cut in by a fraction of the time. While traveling to Mars may take up to four years, travel now will only take around four hours, not accounting for entry and exit from the atmosphere."
After Izuku had finally finished making his announcements, Egon took the podium and said into the mic to the eager crowd, "And with that, I have to say we have covered every announcement we have. I hope we answered all your questions, but if you still have, now would be the time."
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