Dr. Connors's regeneration lab sat high on the twenty-first floor of Oscorp Tower.
Instruments lined the space wall to wall, many of them gleaming with the unmistakable sheen of technology worth millions.
But Hawk's eyes weren't on the machines.
They were fixed on a glass enclosure. On the other side, nestled inside a transparent containment box, lay a jagged stone.
He didn't know what it was.
Yet instinct told him: this was it.
The very thing he had been searching for.
"What's that?" Hawk asked, nodding toward the glass.
"Hm? That?" Gwen followed his gaze and smiled faintly. "Gamma radiation."
"…What?"
His brow twitched. "I might not be top of the class in physics, but I'm not an idiot. Since when can gamma rays turn into rocks?"
Gwen stifled a laugh. She leaned closer, lowering her voice after a quick glance around to be sure no one was listening.
"Remember September of 2009, when the Hulk tore through New York?"
Hawk froze, then gave a slow nod.
How could he forget?
That day had burned itself into his soul—the very day his Microcosmos awakened.
Gwen continued. "You remember Abomination too, right? He transformed using Banner's blood."
"Yeah."
"Well, these aren't Abomination. They're fragments excavated from the remains of the gamma lab after the explosion that created the Hulk. Something about the detonation changed them. The military pulled these out of the rubble at Quantico."
Hawk's eyes narrowed. "Then how did they end up here?"
"Connors's project is funded jointly with the military. Oscorp has had ties with the government for decades. Connors was a military doctor once, so naturally his regeneration research gets their support."
Hawk absorbed that silently.
Inside the lab, a technician fixed a vial of serum to a mount and manipulated a mechanical arm, lifting one of the "gamma stones" from its container.
"What are they doing with it?"
"Testing regenerative serum," Gwen replied.
"Lizard serum," Hawk muttered.
The whole world knew Connors was chasing the secret of limb regrowth in reptiles. Most scientists dismissed the idea. Hawk had never cared enough to read the details—before or after awakening his Microcosmos.
But Gwen, unsurprised at his casual knowledge, nodded. "He believes gamma exposure combined with reptilian DNA might unlock the breakthrough."
Hawk's gaze never left the stone. "Can I go in and take a closer look?"
Suspicion flickered in Gwen's eyes. "You're not seriously interested in turning yourself into a monster, are you?"
"No," Hawk answered calmly. "I'm interested in what's inside that stone."
Gamma rays weren't supposed to be containable. Radiation dispersed once emitted. But this was the Marvel universe. Science bent easily here.
Gwen hesitated, then gave a small nod. "Fine. Just don't touch anything."
Relief flickered in Hawk's chest. On his way, he glanced at Max Dillon, still hunched over a junction box.
"Max, I'm going in to check out the stone."
The man looked up, smiling shyly. "Go ahead. I'll have this fixed in a minute."
Hawk smiled back, then followed Gwen past the scanner, through the heavy security door.
And then—
As soon as his gaze locked on the jagged, glowing stone clutched in the mechanical arm—
Something surged inside him.
From the depths of his Microcosmos came a single, undeniable revelation.
Yes.
This was it.
Gammaneon.
…
(End of Chapter)
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