Fantastic Four Plaza
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The towering Four Freedoms Plaza is the new headquarters for the Fantastic Four. It is a gleaming concrete and glass skyscraper topped by four immense numeral 4s. It is located on the same site as the old Baxter Building but there is little the two buildings have in common. When the Baxter Building was hauled into space and destroyed, Reed took the opportunity to increase the space available to the FF. His equipment had already filled every available space and he knew the problem was only getting worse. When the time came to design the FF's new headquarters, Reed decided to triple his building's size. The result is the 1500' tall, 100 story Four Freedoms Plaza. The entire building is made of non-traditional construction materials. The building is "woven" from carbon aramid thread; hence, although the walls are relatively thin, they are extraordinarily resistant to damage. The windows are made of a carbon lattice which most closely resembles diamond. The quarter-inch thick windows are integrally woven into place and are not removable. Access to the Fantastic Four's headquarters is gained from the first floor through elevators guarded by the doorman, Mr. O'Hoolihan, who performed the same function for the Fantastic Four at the Baxter Building. The Fantastic Four carry special devices in their belts that emit coded signals that open the elevator doors. Others seeking access to the Fantastic Four's headquarters must request permission for entry through O'Hoolihan from the Fantastic Four themselves. Visitors who are admitted take an elevator up to the reception room, which is attended by Roberta, a robot receptionist constructed to appear human above the waist. The upper structure of the building is a self-sustaining, heavily armored unit, which contains both the Fantastic Four's headquarters and the individual members' living quarters. The upper structure makes extensive use of computers, guard robots, and other advanced devices to maintain security. All interior doors are air locks and are governed by a central housekeeping computer. This computer is part of Reed Richards' main computer complex. The upper structure contains several major state-of-the-art research laboratories in various fields of science for use by Dr. Richards. Among the most noteworthy technological devices housed in the laboratories are the mechanisms permitting entry into the Negative Zone and a duplicate of Doctor Doom's time machine. The building is evenly divided between regular tenants and the FF's headquarters. To make up for the inconvenience the tenants suffered when the Baxter Building exploded, Reed offered them increased space in the new building but under the old terms, including the 99-year leases. The original Baxter Building occupants occupy floors 1-50 of the FFP. Floors 51-70 are a buffer zone. Tenants on these floors do not have 99-year leases; they must renew on a yearly basis. This provides the FF with room for future expansion when they finally outgrow their present area. Floors 71-100 serve as the FF's headquarters. The layout is familiar to the FF in that it matches the old Baxter Building layout. Floor 71 acts as a reception and conference area. The FF's robotic receptionist Roberta guards the entrance to the rest of the building as she sits merged with her desk. Floor 72 acts as an inn; guest suites fill this usually unoccupied floor. Two water-filled suites are maintained for aquatic visitors such as Atlanteans. One is filled with fresh water, the other with salt water. These suites are actually entered from corresponding swimming pools on the 72nd floor. The pools can also double as aquatic conference rooms. A watertight elevator connects these suites with the river access tunnel on Sublevel 5. The FF's living quarters occupy floors 73-75. There are suites for the Richards' family; Ben , Johnny and Alicia; Crystal, Luna, and Maya; Sharon, Wyatt Wingfoot; and Shehulk. Other facilities include the kitchen, pantry, spa, two gymnasia (one for normal strength levels, the other for super-strong users), a large library, and a computerized classroom. Floors 76 and 77 function as the team's command center. Meeting rooms, communications stations, links to Starcore and other astronomical organizations, and a computerized medical station are here. Floors 78-80 are storage for miscellaneous supplies. These floors serve as future expansion space and as a buffer in case of a disaster in Reed's laboratory. Alicia claimed a section of 78 as a studio for the times she stays in the building. Floors 81-99 act as Reed's laboratory and storage for his equipment. These floors are possibly the most dangerous place in New York City. Access is strictly controlled by the founding members of the FF. Recently Ben locked these floors to prevent the newer members of the FF from accidentally activating the equipment there. There is an identical workstation on each floor, enabling Reed to work on any floor. The workstation consists of computer terminals, communications console, and mechanical fabricators. None of these workstations is located overhead any other workstation and no three of them are in a straight line. This minimizes the risk of several stations being destroyed in a battle. The workstations are linked to each other and to a similar console in the Richards' home. Floors 90 and 1 contain the Negative Zone Portal. The Portal is in a heavily armored room with walls of Unearthly strength material. A small adjoining hangar houses the Pogoplane, Floor 95 contains the Microverse access center. The center and its support services are housed here along with a variety of exotic microscopes capable of perceiving individual atoms and Microversal worlds. In game terms, these viewers have Class 3000 Microscopic Vision. Floors 98 and 99 serve as warehouse and machine shops. They support the hangar on 100 and act as a buffer to absorb damage from possible hangar disasters. Fuel tanks for the FF's vehicles are on 99. Floor 100 is the FF's hangar. It fills the space under the four immense 4s that top the building. The launch platform extends outward after one of the 4s retracts. The rocket silo can be operational in three days. It is disguised as the central column supporting the roof. Firepits below connect directly to a special Negative Zone portal; this transmits the exhaust directly to the Negative Zone. Basement The FFP's foundation reaches 150' into the Manhattan bedrock. There are ten floors here. Sublevels 1-2 are used by the building's maintenance staff. Sublevels 3-4 contain the freight docks and tenant warehouse facilities. A railroad spur enables large masses of freight to be moved in or out without the need to deal with the impenetrable Manhattan traffic. Sublevels 5-15 are restricted to the FF. These floors contain special devices and support facilities for floors 71-100. These include a back-up computer system, generators, holding cells, and any large items the FF might not want on the upper floors. Sublevel 5 contains the waterfilled conduit that reaches the Hudson River; this permits aquatic visitors to directly reach the FFP without suffering the indignity of having to swim through the NYC sewer system. Building Features The basic structure of the FFP consists of various combinations of reinforced concrete, steel, and other durable materials. Floors 1-50 are fairly normal construction (Remarkable Material strength). Floors 51-80 are somewhat sturdier (Incredible Material strength). Reed's laboratory floors 81-97 have the highest strength (Amazing). Some internal walls are further reinforced to Unearthly strength; these surround the Negative Zone Portal and Microverse access areas. Floors 50, 70, and 98 contain the mechanical facilities for the building's ventilation and plumbing systems. The ventilation system contains an auxiliary oxygen supply and air recycling system that can maintain a breathable atmosphere within the building for days. The FFP is permeated with small tubes 1" in diameter. These run the length of the building. Their purpose is to allow Reed to quickly reach any part of the building. The tubes extend into the rented sections of the building where they are discreetly concealed as part of the ventilator system. They are seldom used without warning the tenant beforehand. An empty elevator shaft runs the height of the building. It is for the use of other members of the FF who need to quickly get to any other floor. It is only for use by those with the means to travel through the air or along walls. Safeguards in the shaft can detect and catch anyone falling down the shaft; sensors are able to differentiate between a freefall and controlled downward flight. In the event of a freefall, nets spring out from the sides. Trash receptacles are linked to the building's recycling systems. The system has the power of Disruption (Amazing rank) and Matter Animation (Typical rank). Anything dumped into a trash receptacle is broken down into its component compounds or atoms and sorted in the bins on Sublevel 4. Safeguards automatically shut the system down if a living being is placed in it (Life Detection, Incredible rank). The FFP has a series of breakaway points. These unoccupied floors have special destruct devices that will separate sections of the building. The idea is that if the FF's headquarters were drawn into space like its predecessor, these devices would detach the lower civilian floors, which would hopefully remain attached to the ground. The breakaway points are located on floors 54 and 70. |
