"Good job, Sophie," I said, looking up from my desk as my assistant entered my office.
Sophie smiled slightly before handing over several completed reports. As always, everything was perfectly organized.
That was one of the reasons she was such a valuable assistant.
Sophie possessed several PhDs, a law degree, extensive scientific training, and enough administrative experience to run entire Foundation departments by herself if necessary. On top of that, she had received Red Right Hand training, making her more dangerous than most field agents despite rarely leaving administrative work. The anomalous abilities I had personally granted her only made her more effective.
In many ways, Sophie was exactly what the Foundation wanted in its personnel.
Intelligent.
Loyal.
Efficient.
Dangerously competent.
I thanked her for her work and dismissed her. She nodded and left to continue what was undoubtedly another mountain of assignments.
The door closed.
A few moments later it opened again.
Julius walked in.
"Wow, your assistant is quite hot."
I immediately gave him a death glare.
Julius raised both hands.
"Yes, yes. No flirting with your assistant. Most of us are asexual, aromantic, or some variation thereof once we join the O5 Council. Occupational hazard of spending centuries managing apocalypses."
"Yes, I know," I replied. "But my assistant is currently single and I do not need you distracting her from her work."
Julius smirked.
"Fair."
I sighed.
"But yes," I admitted. "My assistant is attractive. Blonde. Intelligent. Extremely competent. That's beside the point."
"Of course it is."
"It is."
Julius laughed.
"Regardless, I didn't come here to discuss your assistant. I came here because the Foundation recently acquired information regarding an anomalous individual. One I think both you and Alex will find interesting."
I leaned back slightly.
"Speaking of Alex, is he ever going to tell me his real name? We both know Alex isn't his actual name."
Julius grinned.
"No."
"Thought so."
"Anyway."
Julius handed me a file.
"SCP-007."
I opened it.
The file described a young man whose abdominal cavity contained an entire miniature world.
Not a model.
Not an illusion.
An actual planet.
A complete ecosystem.
Oceans.
Atmosphere.
Weather.
Civilizations.
Life.
All contained inside a sphere barely sixty centimeters across.
I read silently for several minutes.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
When I finished, I slowly lowered the file.
"Julius."
"Yes?"
"Theoretically, that's an entire planet's worth of resources."
Julius immediately looked unconvinced.
"I highly doubt that."
"Why?"
"Because the planet is tiny."
"That is a limitation."
"An enormous limitation."
"Only if you're thinking conventionally."
That got his attention.
I placed the file on the desk.
"There is something in this universe that could solve that problem."
Julius folded his arms.
"And that would be?"
"Pym Particles."
The room became quiet.
A few seconds passed.
Then Julius groaned.
"Oh no."
"Oh yes."
Julius leaned back in his chair.
"You're serious."
"Completely."
I activated a holographic display and pulled up information.
"Pym Particles can alter size through interaction with the Quantum Realm. If we gained access to the technology, we could theoretically shrink personnel and equipment to enter SCP-007's world."
Julius rubbed his forehead.
I continued.
"Not only that, but the applications are nearly limitless."
I started counting them off.
"Miniaturized Foundation facilities."
"Portable containment cells."
"Reduced transportation costs."
"Improved infiltration operations."
"Emergency storage systems."
"Shrinking dangerous anomalies."
"Expanding useful objects."
"Quantum Realm research."
"Advanced engineering."
"Massive scientific breakthroughs."
By the time I finished, Julius looked considerably less skeptical.
Unfortunately, he also looked concerned.
"There's one problem."
"Hank Pym."
"Exactly."
Julius stood and walked toward the window.
"Doctor Hank Pym is brilliant. One of the greatest scientists alive."
"Agreed."
"He's also paranoid."
"Agreed."
"Stubborn."
"Definitely."
"Protective of his research."
"Absolutely."
"And not particularly easy to work with."
I nodded.
"All accurate."
Julius sighed.
"So we're not stealing the technology."
"No."
"We're not blackmailing him."
"No."
"We're not kidnapping him."
"Absolutely not."
"Then we need to recruit him."
"Correct."
Julius stared out the window for several moments.
"That might actually be harder."
"It probably is."
Recruiting geniuses was always complicated.
Especially geniuses who already knew they were geniuses.
Tony Stark would be difficult.
Bruce Banner would be difficult.
Hank Pym would be difficult.
The difference was that Pym was suspicious by nature.
The man trusted almost nobody.
Which meant any recruitment attempt would need to be handled carefully.
Very carefully.
Julius finally turned around.
"So who do we send?"
I considered the question.
Lincoln could offer political protection.
Alex could appeal to scientific curiosity.
The Ancient One could explain the dangers facing reality.
Omar could present financial incentives.
But none of those felt quite right.
After a moment, I smiled.
"I think we send a team."
Julius raised an eyebrow.
"A team?"
"Me. You. Alex."
"Interesting."
"The Administrator."
"The King of Heroes."
"The Scientist."
I grinned.
"One representative from management, security, and science."
Julius laughed.
"That's either going to convince him immediately or give him a panic attack."
"Possibly both."
For several seconds neither of us spoke.
Then Julius nodded.
"Let's start preparing."
I closed the SCP-007 file.
Somewhere in the world sat a scientist who possessed one of the most revolutionary technologies ever created.
And if the Foundation could bring him into the fold...
Everything would change.