16: State of mind

"Reports" the room fell silent for a moment, everyone gathered there looked at each other, waiting for who would be the first to speak.

Clearing his throat and swallowing nervously, one of the agents responsible for collecting physical evidence began to speak.

"We began the collection of samples three hours ago. We also took control of satellite images, surveillance cameras, personal cameras, phone lines, and audio recordings. So far, all the evidence obtained matches the report already written"

In other words, they hadn't obtained anything.

Nick Fury stood up with his hands behind his back.

He looked at the agent who had spoken to him and said in a grave voice, "The best satellites in the world, access to all existing media, and the deployment of over a hundred personnel, and you're telling me that the only thing we know is what the police already knew three hours ago?!"

His fist slammed the table forcefully, shaking the papers on it.

He couldn't bear this level of incompetence.

The agent licked his lips, but he didn't flinch like many others would have done. Instead, he stood his ground, something extraordinary that not many people would be capable of when faced with a furious Nick Fury in front of them

"Sir, if you allow me, I can explain"

His teammates looked at him as if he were an idiot. What was there to explain? They had failed, they hadn't obtained anything substantial. What could they possibly say?

Nick Fury looked at him, narrowing his one eye, and spoke.

"explain it" He wasn't like other stubborn agency directors; the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. delved deep if necessary to get results and solutions. If the problem wasn't with his agents, then he needed to know and fix it as quickly as possible.

The agent quickly stood up and activated a holographic screen where several images and data began to unfold. This type of technology wasn't available to the public; only the military and certain special groups could have it thanks to exclusive commercial deals with Stark Industries, more precisely Tony Stark, who had developed holographic projection technology.

"Well, there are some unexpected factors that have hindered our investigation. As you can see in this timeline, everything begins at 3:13 pm, just a few minutes after classes ended at Smallville High School. The first call to the emergency line occurs two minutes later at 3:15 pm, made by one of the students who witnessed the murder of the other students"

Images of the corpses and the crime scene were presented, the brutality with which the young people were murdered even caused some of the present agents to furrow their brows slightly.

"Exactly as that call occurs, the fight between Defiant and the monster begins" satellite images were shown, nearly a kilometer of dense forest was affected. The main problem that everyone noticed was the thick clouds covering the scene.

That was a clear obstacle, even though the satellites had enough technology to use infrared vision as well as radar in them, that didn't mean that the images obtained that way could replace the quality of the images taken directly by the main lens.

"Exactly three seconds after the fight begins, we lose our infrared vision"

In the infrared image, an intense heat trail suddenly appeared, flooding everything in red.

"According to our calculations, at that moment, there was a discharge of concentrated thermal energy of at least one million degrees Celsius, or at least those were the data we obtained before the satellite sensors stopped working"

And so they lost one of the ways they could obtain images of the confrontation.

Satellites in space had great capabilities, but they had not yet been adapted to what a Kryptonian could do; Carol's heat vision was beyond what manufacturers expected their sensors to face.

Perhaps what contributed most was that one couldn't choose which satellite to use; whether it was S.H.I.E.L.D. or any other government or organization, if they wanted to see real-time images, they had to use what was available at that moment.

Above the skies of Kansas, overlooking Smallville and the nearby towns, there was only an ordinary weather satellite. Even if S.H.I.E.L.D. had better satellites at its disposal, it was impossible to change their trajectory and position out of thin air. They weren't spaceships; they were stationary satellites for the most part.

That was one of the reasons why no one could track Defiant's flight path. Apart from its absurd speed, the satellites couldn't chase it. It was everywhere, going to every corner of the world every day. How could you position a satellite if you didn't even know where it would be?

"So without infrared vision, we get this from the radar"

And that was even worse. Nick had heard of the tremors that shook the surroundings, but seeing a representation of them made him understand more deeply what the people of Smallville must have felt.

It was as if someone had taken the entire place and decided to detonate hundreds of high-powered explosives one after another in an extremely short period of time.

In summary, they couldn't obtain images with the radar either.

"And that leaves us with ordinary images."

Ordinary images covered in clouds. Sure, there were gaps between them, but that hardly made a difference.

"Even with our best experts trying to clarify it, there's really not much we can get apart from this"

The image seemed to clarify a bit, barely enough to get a blurry view of what was underneath.

Everyone in the room stared intently at the images for almost two minutes. Two minutes where there were only flashes, blurry figures, earth collapsing out of nowhere, and a forest being destroyed every second as if someone were detonating bomb after bomb in it.

Carol and Greg's fight barely lasted two minutes, two minutes that no human was capable of capturing at all.

Dust filled the place, joining the clouds as the final obstacle that prevented any decent view of how everything ended.

"After this, our field agents took an hour and seven minutes to reach the scene. Right now, they're still combing the area thoroughly, but according to all recent reports, the place was cleaned long before they arrived. Entire sections were removed everywhere, leaving no trace behind"

The agent took a deep breath.

"The nearby security cameras also captured nothing as the fight happened far from any of them. We only have a few images of Defiant helping the people of Smallville, but even those are flawed. The destruction of the surrounding crystals also shattered their lenses, resulting in low-quality images"

The agent coughed a bit and sat back down.

"With that said, the only reliable information, which doesn't contradict anything of the little we managed to obtain, is the word of the witnesses and the townsfolk as well as that of the officers on the scene"

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Nick sighed, looking at the evidence before him, and clenched his teeth. In the end, it wasn't his agents who had failed; it was his technology. While S.H.I.E.L.D. had access to great scientific minds and cutting-edge advances, Defiant and his opponent seemed to have surpassed every advancement and technology possible in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hands.

Maybe it was time to talk to Tony? No, not yet. He had barely returned from Afghanistan and had announced his refusal to create weapons. Asking him to work with S.H.I.E.L.D. now didn't seem feasible.

So they couldn't get information about what happened during the fight. Well, Fury would accept this defeat, but they hadn't lost completely yet.

"All right, we'll change our focus. I want all agents in the area to concentrate on this boy, Greg Arkin" he pointed to the photo of the teenager who had overnight turned into a monster.

"I want to know how and why he went from being an ordinary young man to becoming a superhuman monster who killed his mother and then began to massacre his classmates"

Whatever the form or reason for his change, Fury needed to know it now.

"I don't care how long it takes, even if you have to turn that town upside down"

Unbeknownst to S.H.I.E.L.D. or Fury, Daniel had anticipated this course of action on his part. He knew that one of the things they would be most curious about would be Greg's change.

Not only S.H.I.E.L.D., any other similar organization on the planet would try to find the cause of its change.

Until something else diverted their attention, Smallville would be teeming with agents and covert spies.

That's why he left; he could hide from satellites, but he couldn't hide from an agent looking at the sky at the least expected moment.

If it were possible, he would have dragged Carol with him, but that was out of his hands; her parents were still present and would be the perfect cover for her.

Moreover, Daniel had already ensured that any gaps in Carol's information were covered. When the Kents adopted her, they did a good job of making everything look legal and in order. Still, certain information could still raise suspicions.

Daniel had made sure long ago that those suspicions would vanish.

He did this long before this problem arose, anticipating a situation where Carol's identity could be discovered.

He just hoped it would be enough.

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March 25, 2007.

Several days had passed since the incident with Greg and several days since Daniel had been wandering the planet acquiring knowledge.

Now he was back at Harleen's apartment. He had been using it quite often despite traveling around the world; it was his temporary base of operations and where he had been storing the results of his research.

"So, look at this. This is the X Gene, a dormant meta-gene in at least 45% of the human population. Normally, it does nothing, just stays there. But there are records from World War II where armies from different countries tried to activate it, believing it was the key to creating so-called super soldiers"

Finding this information had been complicated, too complicated. He had to dig into old abandoned bunkers, ancient graves, and explore places forgotten by God.

Delve into the secret records of the world's armies, those that were ignored and only accumulated dust.

"And was it?" Harleen asked as she spooned a mouthful of chocolate ice cream into her mouth.

Daniel nodded but shook his head.

"It should have been, but somehow it wasn't. There aren't many records of that; I know something happened, but I don't know the exact outcome... Anyway, back to the main topic, the X Gene normally doesn't seem to activate on its own, or at least I haven't found records of it. Therefore, it needs a trigger, something to awaken it, to stimulate it"

Daniel pulled out a tightly sealed transparent jar; bright green liquid was visible inside it.

"Analyzing Greg's remains, I realized what that stimulant could have been. It's an unknown radioactive substance. I haven't been able to find any database with records of it, and I think I know why. Despite being radiation, it can't be detected in the same way; it's something completely new and unknown to humanity, and it was this radiation that stimulated the X Gene in Greg's body, awakening a hidden potential in human DNA never before seen"

Daniel then pulled out some blueprints for what appeared to be a Geiger counter but somehow different.

"Soon I'll build this instrument. With the data I've obtained, I'll be able to trace the unique radioactive signature of this substance and find its origin. If possible, I'll isolate and conceal it to prevent another similar case. Then, I'll be able to study it in greater depth" Daniel took a deep breath and smiled.

"What do you think? Isn't it great?" Seeing his tousled hair, wrinkled clothes, and almost manic look, Harleen asked the question that had been on her mind for a few days.

"When was the last time you slept?"

Daniel blinked.

"Two? Almost three months ago?" Harleen's eyes widened in shock.

"Are you crazy?"

Daniel scoffed.

"Come on, I have superpowers, I don't need to sleep" The core would keep his body in the best possible condition all the time, so why would he need to sleep?

"I know your body is indestructible or some shit like that, but your mind isn't, idiot! The psychological effect of not resting still takes its toll even if your body is healthy"

Harleen stood up and walked over to him.

"You've been learning a ton of information, researching, and going back and forth without rest. If you keep this up, you'll have a nervous breakdown."

Harleen knew well; many times a person's physical condition was totally unrelated to their mental state.

Daniel wanted to say he was okay; his core indicated it all the time. But as he thought about it, he saw his hand trembling.

Why? He was fine; every cell in his body was in its best state. He could run ten thousand laps around the Earth if he wanted to. So why did he feel like lying down and closing his eyes?

Harleen took his trembling hand and looked at him.

"Mental fatigue goes beyond physical state. You may have an indestructible body, but even with the short time I've known you, I can see you still have the mind and heart of a human, and that needs rest"

Daniel frowned. Well, she was a psychiatrist, so she should know more about that. He sighed and let his shoulders sag a bit. If he were honest with himself, even if he was physically fine, lately he was starting to feel some tension in his mind.

"Come on, let's go. It's time to sleep" "Harleen dragged him to her room and threw him onto her bed. Obviously, Daniel let her do all this. When his head touched the pillow, he couldn't help but appreciate the scent of her hair on it.

It smelled like a flower, fresh and sweet. Was it her shampoo? He slowly closed his eyes and decided, for the first time since he arrived in this world, to take a nap.

He would solve the problem with the second type of mutation in Greg's DNA later.

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"I wasn't expecting to see you here, Tony" in a hangar at the United States Air Force base.

"I've been quite active" Tony Stark gave a firm handshake to Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes. It had been quite a few days since he had seen his friend since returning with him from Afghanistan.

Rhodes smiled and patted his back.

"How are you holding up? I heard you've been holed up at home, not going out. It's very strange not to hear news of you causing some mischief in the Malibu clubs" Tony laughed but spoke seriously.

"Those times are behind me now. I'm on a new path, doing something huge, something important, and I want you to be a part of it"

Tony was honest. He didn't have many people he could trust. This was important, something that would change the world. Rhodes was his friend, his only friend, and he hoped he would be on his side.

Rhodes looked at him, speaking seriously.

"Is it a new type of weapon? Because that's the only way you'll have my attention" Tony clicked his tongue and lowered his head. That wasn't what he wanted to hear.

"Come on, man! Snap out of it. Everyone here has been going crazy since that guy in tights showed up. The army is in a mess. We need you, Tony. Only you can help us with this"

"Help with what? Trying to kill him? Capture him? What does the army expect me to do? Create weapons to kill the guy who saves people? Rescue cats from trees and help old ladies cross the street?"

While one could argue that his armor was a weapon, Tony didn't consider its primary function to be harming others, not in the same way his previous weapons had. This was more, much more.

"He's a criminal, Tony! He violates international airspace laws all the time! Crosses borders illegally and invades foreign territory without authorization. At least help us track him down, give us something to follow. I know you can do it"

Tony scoffed.

"Do you realize that everything you mentioned is practically the same thing?"

Tony sighed.

"I made it clear when I returned. I won't make weapons for the military anymore. I won't work for them or with them. This is personal, Rhodes. Will you help me or not?" he said, offering his hand one last time.

"Now you're a humanitarian? Will you be making heaters and energy-efficient bulbs? Come on, Tony, be realistic. The world is going crazy! There's a guy in the sky traveling back and forth without anyone being able to stop him, and the world's governments aren't happy. The military is worried, and we need your mind now more than ever"

Tony turned around and started to leave. This... this wasn't what he was looking for.

"Tony! You need to clear your mind, Friend, I know what happened in Afghanistan was tough, but you can't let that cloud your thoughts all the time. You need to rest and think things through, get back to being yourself!"

Tony stopped in his tracks, shaking his head. His shoulders seemed to slump a bit, but he quickly straightened up and began to walk with firmer steps.

"You don't understand, Rhodes. Right now, I'm who I should have always been"

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Note:

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At this point, I'm seriously considering whether I should open a (P)atreon. I've never had one, but many people have suggested it to me privately. What do you think about it? Do you think it's a good idea, or am I going too high? getting ahead of myself?

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