The forge-lab was quiet; the only sound was the faint pulse of energy moving through embedded conduits, indicating this was no ordinary place. A single reinforced observatory lens remained closed, its protective shutter dimming the last traces of daylight above.
In the heart of the lab, Luthar stood alone before a hololithic array. The floating lattice of light displayed the decrypted results from the thousands of drones dispatched in the previous cycle. These mechanical scouts had infiltrated industrial sites, intercepted surveillance feeds, and scanned for molecular residue—all aimed at one elusive quarry: the secret of Pym Particle manipulation.
Now, the raw mathematics shimmered before him: trajectories, compression patterns, quantum field inversions, mass anchoring signatures. It was all there, reduced to symbols and models.
"They do not shrink matter," he murmured to himself. "They dislocate it. They rewrite the relationship between space and content, not substance and volume."
Lily, stationed at the adjacent synthesis terminal, looked up from her own array. "Two grams of usable Pym particulate extracted. Stabilized. The containment sphere holds. Awaiting test parameters."
Luthar nodded. "Initiate direct application trial. No automation. I will oversee the compression personally."
The chamber shifted. From above, stabilisation rings descended, encircling a plain cube of adamantine resting atop a plinth. One meter in each direction—uninspired, dull, but unyielding.
"Compression target: 0.2% of original spatial volume," Luthar ordered. "Initiate sequence."
The rings lit with controlled pulses of violet and indigo. Within seconds, the air inside shimmered with warped physics. The cube trembled—not from heat or kinetic force, but from the strain of dimensional warping. Then, with a deep *click* that reverberated through the floor, it collapsed inward.
When the light dimmed, the cube remained—now reduced to the size of a thumb joint.
"Dimensional retention stable," Lily confirmed. "Mass preserved. Compression field integrity is at one hundred percent. No radiation leakage."
Luthar stepped forward and lifted the miniature object. Despite its size, the weight was unchanged—wrong, dense, like lifting compressed gravity.
He said nothing. Instead, he turned and issued commands. "Assign Scarab-14 to reactor casing miniaturisation. Assign Scarab-9 to begin structural reduction on the neuro-forge interfaces. Begin spatial optimisation cycles across all machinery—target reduction: 30% before the next cycle ends."
"Okay," Lily replied.
All at once, the forge came to life.
Dozens of Scarabs emerged from recessed alcoves, their segmented limbs deploying welders, cutters, and precision laser arms. They scuttled across gantries and walls with perfect unity, descending upon massive machines to reshape them. Welding sparks flared, coolant hissed from pressure valves, and servo-cranes swung to store the shrunk devices in newly designated storage vaults. Walls shifted as panels rearranged. What once required industrial-scale volume was now becoming compact, mobile, and refined.
And with each successful compression, Luthar's system chimed softly.
**+1K Points – Spatial Field Understanding: 84%**
**+10K Points – Dimensional Folding Principles: 79%**
Knowledge, not replication, was rewarded. He did not merely copy—he *understood*. This was the system's demand, and he fulfilled it with unwavering focus.
Until the rhythm of the forge was interrupted.
> --INCOMING TRANSMISSION --
> PRIORITY: RED
> SOURCE: SHIELD MONITOR GRID — NODE GAMMA
> *CLASSIFICATION: URGENT, NON-INTERCEPTED*
> KEYWORDS: GAMMA SPIKE / HARLEM / SUBJECT: BANNER
Luthar's gaze shifted without surprise. A new hololith unfurled to his right, displaying real-time surveillance feeds. The streets of Harlem were in chaos—vehicles overturned, structures demolished. Civilians screamed and scattered across the cracked asphalt. At the centre of it all stood a beast—a behemoth of green fury and unrestrained violence.
That's the Hulk, he thought.
Luthar studied the footage without emotion. The gamma readings were astronomical. The creature exhibited impossible regeneration rates, and strikes from it crushed military-grade armour, triggering seismic pulses with every impact.
Lily stepped forward. "Is that a monster?"
"No," he answered. "It's the Hulk."
She looked uneasy. "Should we intervene?"
"No," Luthar replied coldly, "but we can do something better."
He issued the next order with unflinching clarity: "Wake the Skitarii; it's a good chance to observe their compact capabilities."
Within moments, lights flickered in the adjacent vaults. Five Skitarii units powered online. Their armoured forms—thin and sharp, encased in ceramic—rose from rest pods with mechanical precision. Data feeds streamed into their visual implants, programming their neural matrices with urban reconnaissance behaviour, gamma heat signature tracking, and non-engagement parameters.
In a separate chamber, Rumlow was already awake. The augmentation work was complete: one of his eyes was now mechanical, and his bloodstream could be flooded with synthetic adrenal cocktails on command.
"Rumlow," Luthar transmitted across vox. "You will lead the recon mission. Observe. Record. No combat unless necessary. Avoid line-of-sight with the Hulk."
"Understood," came the reply. Cold, steady. "Prep time?"
"It would take 21 minutes to reach Harlem if we took the air route. I'm authorising use of Skimmer's."
The skimmer's hiss opens its door to fill the units, without fanfare. No drama. No theatrics. Reality played out through proper process: stabiliser fins aligned, flight paths calculated, and shock dampeners charged. The Skimmer did not roar—it functioned and left.
Luthar turned away as the pod bays closed behind them. "Lily. Notify me when recon units confirm visual contact."
"ok"
Alone once more, Luthar returned to his workbench. A newly compressed stasis core hummed softly within its casing—once the size of a hall, now reduced to a coffin-sized shell. The gravitational field inside it was perfectly preserved.
His vision was now within reach. No need for orbital construction. At least for now, it was a good solution.
And now, a natural chaos generator was tearing through a city far from here—unleashed power with no control. But power, nonetheless. There would be patterns. Data. Perhaps insights into how not to fail as that creature had.
Luthar regarded the stabilised Pym Core now held within a hardened vault at the lab's edge. Its glow was soft, but its potential was unmatched.
Author note:So the last five chapter
were so dark that people didn't join me on the on Patreon, course there could be a different reason but I don't know about that Too be fair there have been lots of up and down last month to a point I feel like the future is still dark but I did maintain 45 advance chapters it's just a first my second headphone broken glasses which stop me for writing for 4 days now I am back but I am confused about the story 😭