Corrupted - The Tigris Series Book 1

Chapter Fifteen

July 23, 2012

I didn't need any windows to tell that it was now nightfall. Hours had passed since my secret meeting with Loki. No one seemed to notice that anything had happened; no one asked any questions. The table had still been vacant once I returned to remove the loop of the camera footage. Once again, I was not too impressed with the security of S.H.I.E.L.D.

That was most likely going to be a problem.

I was now standing against one of the lab tables in the room where I had met Banner. He and Stark were working on learning about Loki's scepter to try and find a way to use it to locate the cube. Banner was in charge of the scepter, while Tony worked out some of the components through a different monitor. They seemed to be able to transfer data back and forth with just a swipe of their finger on the touch screen monitors as they communicated back and forth through their process. I listened intently as I watched them work, silently learning all that I could about both the scepter and the technology, as well as their knowledge of the gamma rays. So far, it was a piece of cake.

Bruce held a scanning device over the scepter, reading the gamma rays that radiated from the blue glowing crystal at the center of the blade. It made a soft beeping noise, indicating that it was picking up a high reading.

"The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports of the Tesseract. But it's gonna take weeks to process," Bruce stated, putting the reader down.

Tony glanced at him from his corner, and fiddles around with the data on his screen. "If we bypass their mainframe and direct route to the Homer cluster, we can clock this at around 600 teraflops." Stark replied, finishing up on his monitor.

"Heh. All I packed was a toothbrush," Banner joked.

Tony chuckled, and walked towards Banner from across the lab. "You know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top ten floors, all R&D. You'd love it, it's Candy Land."

I noticed Stark pull out a thin metal stick from his pocket as he walked around Bruce's long lab table to stand next to him. I recognized it to be a device that emitted a small shock, typically used when building mechanical objects. He was going to push Banner's buttons.

Oh goodie.

"Thanks, but the last time I was in New York, I- kind of broke. . . Harlem." Banner said nervously as he looked back and forth from Stark to his screen.

I heard heavy footsteps approaching the room from the hallways, a pattern that I believed to belong to Steve. He was likely coming to get some kind of status report on what Banner and Stark had found so far.

He is definitely going to be disappointed when he gets here.

Stark quickly looked over his data, then turned his attention back to Banner. "Well, I promise a stress-free environment." he vowed, now stalking around him. "No tension, no surprises."

Just as the last statement left his lips, he lightly jabbed the thin metal device into Banner's hip, sending a small electric shock into his skin.

"Ow!" Banner exclaimed, turning to look back at Stark in a slight shock.

Is Stark trying to cause havoc?

He leaned forward with his brows slightly furrowed, as if he was intently watching for a specific reaction.

"Hey!" Steve called as he entered from across the room, still in his Captain America suit.

"Nothing?" Stark asked Banner, indicating the lack of a Hulk-ish reaction.

Steve walked further into the room, approaching the two men with an irritated look on his face. As I predicted, he wasn't fond of what he found. I felt myself smirking under my hood as I watched them interact. Stark was a pain in the ass, though I had to admit, he was quite entertaining to be around.