Just as Jhonny predicted Reed wasn't even here to greet me as we arrived. Instead we were left to our awkward conversation waiting for Reed to come. Fortunately for me this was the perfect opportunity to get to know Susan better. I decided to act as a sympathetic person letting her complain about Reed while also praising him.
Jhonny lost interest the moment that there were no cameras around. He still maintained a friendly demeanor but I could tell that he was all surface and fake. It was honestly hard to spot for the average person but as someone who made a living observing and studying behavior it was very visible.
It seemed that his goal was to remain as surface friends as he seemed to want to use my status. He honestly didn't care about me or goal to assist the next emperor of mankind. Unless Reed turned out to be the next emperor Jhonny honestly had zero interest in my goals. Ben Grimm was noticeably absent apparently he was out on his own watching a football game at the stadium.
This situation was too tempting but I couldn't be rash and rush things that would only get me short term gains. I have big plans for the Fantastic Four and I needed their unwavering trust to achieve these goals. So with a heavy heart I ignored the easy mark yet again. I needed to meet with Reed before I could do anything honestly the easiest people to fool were those intellectual types. They tend to believe that because they are intelligent they can never be fooled which is usually why most scientists never make it to the top in the corporate.
Their condensing thought patterns perceived superiority makes for an easy stepping stone. It's even better if they grew up being bullied as it creates a conflicting inferiority complex causing such individuals to retreat into escapisms such as video games and fantasy and sci-fi genres. Just by showing basic levels of human decency they become more generous. That of course doesn't mean they would automatically roll over for me but it certainly helps.
The really important factor is to appear to be an intellectual like them and make them believe they are the same as you to earn their respect. I only knew enough science to make passable conversations with them to seem like an egg head in my last life. Lucky me that in this life I have the Sci-fi system that granted enough knowledge that I have to pretend to much as I actually understand it.
The problem that might come up is the idea of god Reed as a true believer in science might reject the concept of gods. Instead he might just see it as an advanced civilization taking advantage of a less developed one or a being with power exploiting the weak. I would fall into the latter rather than the former according to my persona I created. He might even try to test me in some shape or form as he might doubt the intelligence of an individual that believes in a god.
We continued to wait but it seemed that Reed had completely forgotten about his obligations as he was still in his laboratory working on something. So Susan let out yet another sigh as she apologized and excused herself to go fetch Reed from his laboratory as it was incredibly disrespectful to continue to keep me waiting. Especially since I was here because he had personally invited me here in the first place.
Shortly as she began to return with Reed in tow I could here her admonish Reed and his insincere apologies along with his reasoning behind why he failed to appear. This to seemed routine as Jhonny didn't even look surprised or even amused in fact he appeared bored watching the entire scene play out. The way someone would look bored watching a movie for the thousandth time as they would know every scene and line. I was shocked honestly that he was still even here instead of finding anything else to do. Then again this did involve his sister and he appeared to be looking out for her in his own way but it seemed like he refused to directly involve himself unless certain conditions were met. Either way I could finally start although looking at their dynamic it appeared I would need to change some of my plans.
"It's good to finally meet you Dr. Richards although if you were too busy to actually make the appointment I wished you could have notified me of that. Just as your time is important to you so is mine"