Dr. Curt Connors's regenerative laboratory was on the twenty-first floor, the gleaming, sterile heart of Oscorp's most ambitious—and most dangerous—research. The moment Hawk stepped off the elevator, he was in a different world. The mundane, industrial feel of the Bio-Electric department was gone, replaced by a dazzling array of cutting-edge technology. Holographic displays floated in the air, depicting complex genetic sequences. Robotic arms moved with silent, fluid precision behind reinforced glass. Gene sequencers and mass spectrometers hummed in neat, chrome rows. It was a temple of corporate science, and every instrument looked impossibly valuable.
But Hawk's attention was not on the technology. Through the thick glass wall of the main laboratory, his gaze was drawn to a single, extraordinary object. In the center of the clean room, held within a transparent, climate-controlled case, was a stone.
It was jagged and rough, about the size of a human head, and had a strange, milky-green color. It seemed to drink the light in the room, and as he stared, he could see a faint, internal luminescence pulsing within it, like a slumbering heart. He didn't know what it was, but his entire being, the awakened universe of his Cosmo, sang with a sudden, primal resonance. His intuition, now a razor-sharp instrument, screamed at him. That's it.
He turned to Gwen, his voice low and urgent. "What is that?"
"What?" Gwen, who had been watching Max get to work on a nearby power conduit, was momentarily startled. She followed his pointing finger, her gaze landing on the stone. "Oh, that? That's a gamma ray."
A question mark once again materialized above Hawk's head. The corner of his mouth twitched. "Gwen, my physics grades aren't as good as yours, but they're not bad. Since when are gamma rays solid?"
Gwen laughed, a bright, clear sound in the quiet corridor. She looked around, confirming that the other researchers were engrossed in their work, then lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Do you remember the Hulk's rampage in New York back in 2009?"
Hawk's expression hardened slightly. "Of course." How could he ever forget? It was the day his world had fundamentally broken, and the day a new path had opened before him.
"Then you should know about the Abomination," Gwen continued. "The monster he fought. It was created using a sample of the Hulk's irradiated blood."
"Hmm," Hawk nodded, a flicker of understanding dawning. "You mean, that stone is… Abomination?"
"Of course not," she chuckled. "That thing is locked up in a cryo-cell in Alaska. No, these stones were transported from the Quantico Military Base." She saw the confusion on his face and elaborated. "The Hulk… Dr. Bruce Banner… he was created in a lab accident, a massive gamma radiation explosion. The event was a physical anomaly, a reality-warping event that defied all known laws of physics. These stones were excavated from the epicenter of that blast. They're a paradox—solidified energy, a physical scar left on the universe by the Hulk's creation."
"Then why did you bring up Abomination?" Hawk asked.
"Oh," Gwen said, a look of realization on her face. "I just assumed you didn't know the Hulk was Bruce Banner. You know, since you don't have a computer or a phone..." She paused, a new thought occurring to her as she looked at him. "That phone I gave you. You haven't bought a SIM card for it yet, have you?"
In response, Hawk reached into his pocket and pulled out an older but functional iPhone 4. "I bought one."
Gwen had given it to him on his first day at Oscorp, twenty days ago. He had tried to refuse, but she had given him an irresistible reason: he couldn't clock in and out for his job without the Oscorp employee app. She hadn't even given him a chance to argue, just stuffed it into his hand and left. It was his first real connection to the modern digital world.
He put the phone away, bringing the conversation back to the object of his fascination. "So how did a stone from a military base at Quantico end up here?"
"Because Dr. Connors's experiment has military backing," Gwen explained. "Most of the big projects at Oscorp do. This company and the military have a very long, very close relationship. In the beginning, Oscorp was just a food company, making canned herring. But when the wars started, Norman Osborn pivoted, sold the food production lines, and became one of the country's biggest arms dealers. They've since rebranded into biotech, but those old connections remain. Dr. Connors's project is a joint venture. He's trying to perfect a regenerative serum, and the military is hoping he creates the first super-soldier."
As she spoke, they watched a researcher in a clean suit inside the lab. The scientist was carefully loading a vial of shimmering green liquid—the lizard serum—into an injection mechanism. A robotic arm then delicately lifted the gamma stone from its case.
"What are they doing?" Hawk asked.
"Regenerative serum testing," Gwen replied. "Dr. Connors believes that the unique radioactive properties of the stones might be the catalyst he needs to stabilize the lizard DNA and unlock its regenerative potential."
Hawk nodded, his mind racing. He had to get closer. "Can I go in and take a look?"
Gwen looked at him, remembering his research in the library. "You're not really getting interested in gamma rays that can turn people into monsters, are you?" she teased.
"No," he said, his expression serious. "I'm interested in the stabilized gamma energy within this stone." He added, from a scientific perspective, "Normally, gamma rays can't be preserved; they dissipate once emitted. This stone defies that. I want to see why."
Gwen considered his pseudo-scientific explanation, then shrugged with a smile. "This is the Marvel Universe. When has science ever followed the rules?" She confirmed that a quick, supervised look wouldn't reveal any proprietary secrets and nodded. "Alright, come on."
Hawk's heart leaped, but he kept his expression neutral. He turned to Max, who was engrossed in rewiring the power conduit. "Max, I'm going in to see that amazing stone." He had dropped the formal "Mr. Dillon" days ago. Max, deeply touched to be treated as a colleague and a friend, had insisted on it.
Max turned, his face breaking into a simple, honest smile, completely devoid of the weariness he usually carried. "Okay, Hawk! I'll be done here soon, too."
"Thanks," Hawk said, before following Gwen as she swiped her access card at the lab's main door.
The heavy, bio-sealed door hissed open. As Hawk crossed the threshold, the air pressure changed, and the hum of the lab's machinery grew louder. The faint, resonant pull he had felt from the corridor intensified, becoming a clear, undeniable song that only his Cosmo could hear. The universe inside him was calling out to a long-lost piece of itself.
As his gaze locked onto the gamma stone, now just a few feet away, a message, not of words but of pure, absolute certainty, flooded his entire being. It was the feeling of a hunter finally finding his legendary prey.
It's it.
It's it.
It's it.
Gammanian!