Editing SPOILER: Taking an Active Role (section)

==Pandora’s Box==

Now that you know some of the ways heroes can help in the community and the world, meet Pandora’s Box, a National hero Organization whose sole purpose is to help the community before a disastrous event can occur.

Pandora’s Box is the name of a nationwide hero franchise specializing in training hero teams to help the community. Pandora’s Box is designed to be a safe haven for heroes (especially persecuted mutants) who work directly with community and police leaders. “Afterthought,” the Director of Pandora’s Box and a mutant (with precognition and mutant-detection powers), convinced a number of small businesses that funding a hero group would be in their interest. Fifteen businesses agreed and funded the current headquarters (including a danger room) and vehicles (vans) of the first Pandora’s Box team. In return for their funding, the heroes agreed to take a direct role in the communities where the businesses operate. They would work with police, social services, public works, etc., to see that the communities were improved. Within a year, the six-member Pandora’s Box team, had reduced crime by over 40% and been instrumental in building and maintaining a public recreation house and the park around it.

This dramatic success made Pandora’s Box a national phenomenon. Multi-national businesses nationwide asked how they could become involved, and heroes in other states asked how they could begin.“Afterthought” responded by setting up criteria for how a franchise group could be created. Her criteria are as follows:


1. All members of a Pandora’s Box team must be from the area of the businesses supporting them.

2. No more than one large business can invest in a Pandora‘s Box team, but an unlimited number of community businesses can invest.

3. Any profits generated by Pandora’s Box immediately go to a fund in the community’s name.

4. All Pandora’s Box members are responsible to their respective communities. If they use their status in Pandora’s Box for personal gain, or against the best wishes of the community, they will be thrown out of the franchise.

To date, Pandora’s Box has six teams nationwide: one in Albany, N.Y., one in Newark, N.J., two in New York City, one in Los Angeles, and one in Dallas. Cities that have expressed interest in teams are Miami, Boston, Milwaukee, and Denver. Pandora’s Box is funded entirely by community businesses and large business grants. In its seven years of existence, Pandora‘s Box has trained well over 120 heroes. The original team now acts as recruiters, promoters, and trainers for all the teams. In return for having access to the best equipment and technology for transportation and training, Pandora’s Box spends 98% of its time helping the community. All trainee members are required to work in homeless shelters, detox centers, and hospitals for their first nine months as members of Pandora’s Box. In return they are provided training free of charge and a place to stay.

During times of natural disasters, all the teams works together to ensure that normality can be returned as soon as possible. After two years, the trainees are made full members and encouraged to go to other cities and start a franchise.