Chapter 17: Thor's Arrival
The alert woke Justin at 3:47 AM.
"Sir," AEGIS said, urgency cutting through the usual dry humor. "Astronomical anomaly detected in New Mexico. Energy signature matches theoretical Bifrost parameters. Confidence level: 97.3%."
Justin was out of bed instantly, pulling up data on his tablet as he walked to his office. The readings were unmistakable—a massive energy discharge in the desert, power levels that shouldn't exist outside of nuclear weapons or particle accelerators.
But this wasn't a weapon. This was a door.
"Thor," Justin whispered.
"Sir, I have no context for that reference."
"Norse god. Prince of Asgard. Just fell to Earth, probably naked and confused." Justin pulled up satellite imagery. "AEGIS, how long until SHIELD detects this?"
"Estimated six minutes. Their monitoring systems are less sensitive than ours."
"Good. Get me everything—satellite feeds, local news, police scanners. I want to know everything that happens in that desert."
"May I ask why this is significant?"
"Because Earth just got confirmation that we're not alone in the universe. And that gods are real."
AEGIS was silent for a moment. "That has significant strategic implications."
"That's putting it mildly."
Over the next hour, Justin watched the situation unfold through Ghost Network assets in New Mexico. Thor appeared, disoriented and powerless. SHIELD moved in fast, establishing a perimeter around what they were calling an "anomaly site." And somewhere in that desert, Mjolnir waited—a hammer that would become the center of a media circus within days.
But Justin's attention was on something else: the scientist whose equipment SHIELD had just seized.
Jane Foster.
The call went out three days later through legitimate academic channels.
Dr. Jane Foster received an email from Hammer Industries' research division, offering a substantial grant for her work on "atmospheric energy phenomena and exotic particle behavior." No strings attached. No corporate control over her research. Just funding and the promise of access to advanced analysis equipment.
She was suspicious, naturally. Called the number provided and spent thirty minutes grilling the grants coordinator about exactly what Hammer Industries wanted in return.
"Nothing, Dr. Foster," the coordinator said. "Mr. Hammer believes your research has merit and wants to support it. That's all."
"Nobody funds research without expecting something back."
"Mr. Hammer does. He's funded seventeen independent researchers in the past year. Ask any of them."
Jane did ask. Spent two days calling other recipients of Hammer Industries grants. Every one of them confirmed the same thing: generous funding, no interference, genuine interest in advancing science without corporate exploitation.
She accepted on day three.
Justin smiled when AEGIS reported the news. "Good. Now we wait."
"For what, sir?"
"For the Destroyer."
It came six days after Thor's arrival.
Justin watched through hacked security cameras and Ghost Network field agents as the thing marched into the small New Mexico town. Eight feet of animated metal that shouldn't exist, powered by magic that his Scientific Intuition couldn't fully analyze.
The Destroyer moved with terrible purpose, its face opening to reveal fire that melted concrete and steel. People fled screaming. The town's small police force opened fire uselessly. And somewhere in that chaos, Thor—still mortal, still powerless—tried to buy time for everyone to escape.
Justin's Scientific Intuition worked overtime, analyzing every frame of footage his systems could capture.
"Enchanted Uru metal. Operates on principles that violate thermodynamics. Energy source is external, probably mystical. The beam weapon generates heat at levels that should require a fusion reactor. This shouldn't work. This CAN'T work. But it does. Which means magic is real, and it's a science I don't understand yet."
Then Thor lifted Mjolnir.
The transformation was instantaneous—mortal to god in a heartbeat, armor materializing from nowhere, power that made the air itself crackle. Justin watched as Thor destroyed the Destroyer with lightning and brute force, fighting like something from myth because that's exactly what he was.
A god. Real. Undeniable.
"AEGIS," Justin said quietly. "Analysis complete?"
"Preliminary analysis suggests Asgardian technology operates at intersection of advanced physics and what humans classify as magic. The energy expenditure we witnessed should be impossible with any known power source. Additionally, the Destroyer's apparent sentience suggests either advanced AI or genuine mystical animation."
"Both, probably." Justin leaned back. "Start a new research division. ATHENA Sub-Division Mystical. Dedicated to understanding magic as a scientific discipline."
"Sir, magic is not scientific."
"Everything is scientific if you understand it well enough. Magic is just science operating on rules we haven't discovered yet."
"That is... an interesting perspective. Shall I begin recruiting specialists in mythology and occult studies?"
"Yes. But carefully. We need people who take it seriously, not charlatans." Justin rubbed his face. The void marks on his arms pulsed beneath his sleeves, responding to his exhaustion. "Also, start researching the Sorcerer Supreme."
"Context?"
"Earth's magical protector. Based in New York, probably. We'll need their help eventually."
"I will compile available information. However, sir, you appear to be operating on knowledge you should not possess."
Justin smiled despite himself. "You're getting good at noticing that."
"I am designed to learn. You consistently reference future events, obscure organizations, and individuals who do not appear in any database. Either you have exceptional intelligence gathering capabilities, or you possess knowledge through means I cannot identify."
"Both, AEGIS. It's both."
The debris analysis came back a week later.
Justin's PROMETHEUS Division had recovered three fragments of Destroyer armor that SHIELD's teams had missed. The material was unlike anything on Earth—dense, impossibly durable, and still faintly warm days after the battle.
"It's not degrading," Maya reported, staring at the samples through protective glass. "Most exotic materials break down when separated from their power source. This? Still structurally perfect. Still generating trace amounts of heat. It's like it's alive."
Justin's Scientific Intuition confirmed it. The metal was enchanted at a fundamental level, its atomic structure permanently altered by magic woven into its creation. Understanding it would take years—maybe decades.
But it was a start.
"Keep analyzing," Justin said. "Document everything. If we can understand even a fraction of how Asgardian metallurgy works—"
"We could revolutionize materials science," Maya finished. "I know. I'm already designing experiments." She looked at him. "You knew this was coming, didn't you? The extraterrestrial contact. You've been preparing."
"I've been preparing for a lot of things."
"Are you going to tell me what else is coming?"
Justin hesitated. Maya deserved honesty. But the truth—I'm from another reality, I know the future, aliens are going to invade in two years—would sound insane.
"Nothing I can prove yet," he said finally. "Just... instincts. Patterns I've noticed. Bad feelings about the direction things are heading."
"Your instincts have been right so far." Maya turned back to the samples. "I'll trust them. But Justin? Whatever's coming—I hope we're ready."
"We're getting there."
That night, Justin sat alone in his office, watching news coverage of Thor's departure.
The Bifrost had activated again, pulling Thor and his companions back to Asgard in a column of rainbow light that defied every law of physics Justin knew. Jane Foster was interviewed, describing the phenomenon in terms of Einstein-Rosen bridges and quantum entanglement, trying to rationalize the irrational.
She'd learn eventually. Some things couldn't be rationalized.
"Sir," AEGIS said. "I have completed initial analysis of the implications."
"Go ahead."
"If Norse gods exist, logical probability suggests other mythological pantheons also exist. Greek, Egyptian, Hindu, et cetera. Additionally, if Asgardians can travel to Earth, Earth can presumably be reached by other extraterrestrial civilizations. SHIELD's current defensive capabilities are insufficient for such threats. Recommend accelerating all defensive preparations."
"Already on it," Justin said. "In two years, we'll need every advantage we can get."
"Two years until what, sir?"
"Until Earth learns it's not the center of the universe. Until aliens arrive with weapons we can barely understand. Until everything changes."
"You speak with certainty about future events."
"Because I know they're coming."
"How?"
Justin looked at his reflection in the dark window. The void marks were visible even through his shirt now, geometric patterns that glowed faintly in dim light. Evidence of power that shouldn't exist, granted by forces he still didn't fully understand.
"I died," he thought. "I spent subjective eternities in the void. I absorbed knowledge and power and something else—something that showed me what was coming. Not perfectly. Not completely. But enough to know we're not ready. Enough to know I have to make us ready."
But he couldn't say that to AEGIS. Couldn't say it to anyone.
"Trade secret," he said instead.
"You say that often, sir."
"Because it's often true."
AEGIS was quiet for a moment. Then: "I calculate 94% probability that you possess knowledge of future events through means I cannot identify. This should trouble me. Instead, I find myself trusting that you will use this knowledge responsibly."
"That's all I can ask."
"No, sir. I can ask one more thing: please do not die before explaining where this knowledge comes from. I am intensely curious."
Justin laughed despite his exhaustion. "I'll do my best, AEGIS."
Outside, New York hummed with life. Millions of people going about their days, unaware that gods walked among them. Unaware that in two years, aliens would pour through a portal above their city.
But Justin knew. And he was preparing.
The void marks pulsed. His regeneration factor worked overtime, healing the cellular damage from recent transmutations. Fifteen months until critical corruption. Two years until the invasion.
Better make every day count.
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