Chapter 17: A Ruthless Bargain

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"They say that fools learn from their experiences, while the wise learn from history. I hope you're not a fool."

– Nobuchika Ginoza, (Psycho-Pass)

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<(Atem POV)> 

"What? Why are you all staring at me?" Reed asked looking like he had no idea know how massively he screwed up.

"*Sigh* Reed, every time I think that you are going to change, every time I think you will begin to give importance to things besides just your inventions and research, you disappoint me. I told you this is important for me because I want my father's foundation from shutting down but it's like you don't even care about anyone other than yourself." Susan said in a disappointed voice.

Reed looked like he still didn't have a clue about what was going on as he tried to remember what he had forgotten.

"Susan, I..." 

"Goddamn it Johnny, I am going to kill you if I get my hands on you." An angry voice interrupted Reed as a good-looking young man wearing a biker's jacket and jeans ran into the room followed by a muscular jock storming into the room after him.

The most funny thing however was that the jock-looking muscular man had a face full of marker paint with a dildo drawn on his forehead using the shape of his eyes as balls.

"Sis, save me. the mad bull Ben wants to kill me." Johnny exaggeratedly yelled as he hid behind Susan in a bid to hide.

"This might be the worst and most unprofessional meeting I have ever had but it's no doubt also the most entertaining," Emma muttered to me in a low voice.

"I fully agree. This is nepotism at its absolute peak." I whispered back wishing I had a bucket of popcorn with me.

"Susan, your brother is a total asshole. He painted my face while I was sleeping and that too with a permanent marker. And he knew that I had a date today. Now, how am I supposed to go like this?" Ben Grimm asked fuming as he clenched his teeth in anger.

"Well, at least today can't get any worse than this," Susan murmured to herself in a voice that sounded like she had lost all hope.

"Huh? Who are you guys?" Johnny asked as he peeked at me and Emma from behind his sister's back.

"We are your new owners," Emma said with an annoyed expression on her face.

She looked like she was done with all the drama and just wanted to go into the official part of this meeting like any decent professional investor would. 

"Excuse me, I might have misheard what you just said. Could you repeat it again Miss...?" 

"She is Emma Frost, the current CEO of Meta Enterprises and what she meant was that we are the new owners of the Baxter Foundation. We were supposed to have a meeting today to discuss the direction the company would be moving in but it seems like none of you were ready for it." I said with a somber voice, making sure that they knew exactly the reality of this situation without me having to resort to threatening them.

"So you were the ones who bought Dad's company and saved us from imminent bankruptcy. I am extremely thankful for that. Also, please excuse my earlier... conduct. I forgot about the meeting and was just messing around." Johnny quickly replied trying to de-escalate the situation. "Shit, I should have worn a suit" He muttered.

"It's fine. *Sigh* You know what? Let's start from the very beginning again now that all of you have an idea about who we are and why we are here. I am Adam Giotem, the chairman of Meta Enterprises and this is Emma Frost, its CEO. We are here today to basically judge if the Baxter Foundation has any importance at all and if it's worth it to continue funding it."

"Oh... um okay, I guess I'll go first. I am Reed Richards. I am the lead researcher and chief scientist in this foundation." Reeds introduced himself awkwardly looking like he would have liked to be anywhere else but here.

"Ben Grimm, professional astronaut and pilot. I am a friend of Reeds' and am currently collaborating on one of the projects he has undertaken."

"Johnny Storm, professional stuntman, biker, small-time actor, model, social media influencer, and um,... a host of other different cool roles. I normally help test out prototypes and products here. Also, I am Susan's brother, so I have to babysit her as well as make sure nobody takes advantage of her, so don't get any thoughts... please." He added the last word after taking a look at my muscular and toned body that was easily visible through the curves of my clothes.

"I don't ever make promises. Anyway, since we are done with the introductions, let's start with the actual meeting. I don't intend to continuously burn money in this foundation even if it's for a good cause if you don't have any actual results to show for it. I don't care if the foundation itself is non-profit or for-profit. As long as it is self-sufficient, what I care about is results." I revealed.

"Fair enough. Please follow me to the conference room then. I ordered pizza, so we can discuss everything while having a snack." Susan said in a last desperate attempt to impress us which failed spectacularly as both Emma and I didn't show any change in our facial expressions and just nodded before following after her. 

"Well look at the bright side. Even if we get fired today and the entire building gets shut down, we can still have one last pizza night before we go broke." Johnny Storm shrugged as he followed after us as well with Richard and Ben completely ignoring his comment.

What followed after we reached the conference room was a very boring and long three hours of constant speeches and presentations, where they practically said that they would 'start working' on earning revenue as soon as possible. So, the only part that I actually enjoyed was the part where I got to binge on the pizza slices offered during the meeting.

"So, you all are saying that you don't have a single way of earning revenue right now despite having spent about five billion dollars of investor and debt money in the last three years alone, and even then you still want us to invest another billion dollars in you?... Why?" Emma asked as she had a visible tick mark on her forehead.

Emma was weird when running a business. She could spend billions of dollars just to prove a single point or even do useless shopping where she would buy stuff she would use only once for millions of dollars but whenever it came to investing, she only did it if the investment actually added some sort of value and had the potential to give back returns. Truthfully, she was a lot like Elon Musk, if Elon Musk was a sexy blonde telepath whom you wanted to smash all the time.

"Well, we are in the midst of a certain space project right now. It's partially funded by NASA but we have to add some of our own money in the midst as well. The project entails the construction and operation of a reusable shuttle to go to space to record the data of a Solar flare that's going to happen soon according to our calculations and then come back after conducting some more experiments there." Susan explained at which Reed looked really excited like this was the thing he was waiting for.

"Yeah, we could conduct additional research there that could change the way we humans think about space. For example, we could figure out how to use solar energy more efficiently, maybe even dwarfing what the Arc reactor that Stark designed is capable of. The sky is the limit. Hell, if the research is significant enough, I could even get a Nobel for this." Reed added, suddenly turning into one of the greediest people I had ever seen. I guess Noble Prizes was his turn-on.

"No, not if you can somehow earn revenue for this project. There are lots of ways to earn money from space exploration. Even if you can promise me that you will make the remaining amount of money from selling the data that you acquire there, I will still fund you but I won't fund a loss-making venture no matter what." I strictly said as I stood up to leave. "I loved your plans for expansion as well as your plans to cut down costs Susan but next time, try to do some research on how to at least break even as well and maybe consider changing your 'not for profit' status to 'capped profit'. That way you will be able to help people more without having to go around for donations all the time." I advised which was actually quite good advice for a struggling foundation like Baxter.

"I-I'll see what I can do. I'll try to follow your advice." Susan said with some hesitation.

"You should. I had big plans to help the world through Baxter Foundation but continuous huge losses, debt, and researchers who refuse to share their research with the company are making this an extremely difficult venture. So, I'll have to rethink my plans. After all, I won't be able to fund the Foundation forever, no matter how charitable I am. I would much rather use the money to feed actually poor and homeless people all around the world," I tried to play on their emotions and empathy to make sure that everyone here got the point.

"You can't do this. You have to give us the money. We are constantly earning knowledge from our research and everyone here knows that knowledge is power, Mr. Atem. And yeah, by the way, I figured out your true identity from that anagram name of yours the moment I heard it. Truly arrogant I have to say with you naming yourself Adam Giotem which basically means I am God Atem." Reed got up from his chair with indignation visible on his face due to not getting his way.

But no sooner had he stood up, than he immediately fell down on the floor as he held his head and screamed in pain.

"No, Mr. Richards. POWER is power. Wealth, knowledge, and influence everything pales in front of absolute might. We understand that and that's why we are different that you." Emma smirked with a vicious but victorious smile at having a chance to relieve some of her frustration. She seemed to have grown really dependent on using telepathy to get her way, something I quite disliked as I hated mind control... even though I had no qualms about using it on really corrupt and evil people like scummy politicians, criminals, and businessmen with blood in their hands.

"Metahuman" Ben whispered with wide eyes as he debated on whether to try to save his friend or just wait and hope for the best to not place his own life in danger.

"Stop. That's enough. He gets the point, don't you Mr. Richards? So, don't threaten us next time. We are not your slaves and we do not have to give you money whenever you ask... Also, don't even think of quitting Mr. Richards.

You signed a legal contract with the Foundation during your employment here a few years ago stating that you would be its exclusive researcher for the next decade, so you are legally bound to work for the Foundation until your employment contract expires. If you don't, we will have to pursue legal prosecution, and believe me, Reed, you don't want to be sued by someone who has as much money as me. Do you understand?" I threatened as he had really gotten on my nerves.

Reed nodded his head at my question signalling his acceptance of my demands. "Good. let's go, Emma. We are done here." I answered as I turned around to leave without a single word to anyone.

The room was mostly quiet as we left but I did hear Johnny mutter something about selling his nudes as a potential source of revenue but as a wise God, I ignored him just like everyone else who heard him.

"Wow, I thought the way you were going, you would be bending over backward for them. It really surprised me how you became so ruthless in the discussions at the end." Emma said after we came out of the building.

"You can't be savage all the time you know. Sometimes, you have to take a hit especially when you have a greater purpose in mind. I needed the team to see that I was a fair investor who could be worked with, so I gave them as many chances as possible. It was only at the end when Reed ticked me off that I decided to show that investors are called sharks for a reason." I answered while stretching out my limbs.

"But did it even have any effect? I don't think it changed anything. But don't worry, I already have a plan in my mind to get back your investments. First, we would raid all the research in their servers that they had worked on in the past, I am sure some of them at least will be valuable. Second, we can always turn this prime piece of real estate into an attractive mall, hotel, and office space. How does the tallest building in the world sound to you?" Emma talked like a seasoned businesswoman as she tried to come up with ways to not suffer a loss from the Foundation but I stopped her before she could get her hopes up.

"Don't worry, we already have access to their servers through Zoya. Infact, the newest costumes and uniforms that the X-Force are using are actually made from one of their unique inventions, something called Unstable molecules... As for having an effect on the foundation members, I think I made myself pretty clear." I smiled as I signaled Emma with my head at the figure walking towards us.

"And the pig comes walking for the slaughter. Tch, the competition is probably going to increase again among the girls" She mumbled to herself as Susan Storm came to where we were standing.

"Adam... Atem. I actually wanted to apologize for what happened in there. Reed, he was wrong in demanding money from you like that especially when you had already put so much trust on us. In fact, it's only because of you that the Baxter Foundation is still afloat, otherwise, we would have to resort to taking foreign funding from Latveria specifically from one of Reed's direct competitors, which we really wanted to avoid... Look, I know where you are coming from with the space project not making money but can you please fund this, at least this once?

The launch is supposed to be in two weeks and almost everything is done. Delaying or canceling the launch would be a huge blow to our reputation and our finances. Also, this was a dream project for all of us. I swear on my career and the foundation that we would focus on earning revenue after this while aiming to be self-sufficient from next year. But can you make an exception this time... please?" Susan requested, looking more desperate than ever.

"Fine. I will make an exception and give you one final investment amount. In fact, I won't just be giving you a billion dollars but five billion as a one-time investment with another five billion as a credit line but... on two conditions. One, I need you to start selling commercial and scalable inventions that you guys worked on in the past to raise money from now on. And two, I need you to do something else for me, something that is non-negotiable." I offered while barely holding back the evil smile on my face that was threatening to spill out.

"Anything." Susan almost yelled the part as she took the huge juicy bait I dangled in front of her and agreed without even listening to the second condition first.

"And another one bites the dust," Emma muttered to herself as she shook her head and got inside the car.

"I want you to go out with me for the next three months and be my girlfriend. Don't worry, there won't be anything sexual as long as you consent to it. What I want is simply for you to act like my girlfriend for the period. Once the three months are over, you can stop the act of course." 

"..." Susan had a gobsmacked expression on her face looking like she couldn't believe what she had heard. She struggled to even blink much less reply to my offer.

"I see, it seems that it's too much for you. I guess I can't do anything since you are against the idea of dating..."

"I agree. I will date you for the next three months."

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