"This is incredible!"
Cerion smiled at the gobsmacked look on Dr Banner's face. The guy was understandably freaked out to know he was saved by an alien. But that bit of detail got swallowed up when he offered his resources to cure the guy.
Honestly, he had no idea whether curing Dr Banner was possible or curing the Hulk was even a smart thing to do.
Looking at the projected view of Dr Bannner's blood sample, he felt a perfect cure was impossible.
"It looks normal," Bruce observed as he examined the enlarged projected image of his blood cells.
"Optima show the exploded view, and this time, use the Gamma scanner." Cerion ordered.
"Yes, sir." Optima responded, and the projected image began to expand into the exploded view under the new scanner.
"Highlight the radiations in green colour."
The image flickered, and then they saw a completely different picture.
While Banner's blood cells looked as normal as possible, a closer look at the nucleus with a Gamma scanner revealed just how different Banner was from an average human.
"That's impossible." Bruce muttered in shock.
"It's not impossible, Dr. Banner. You have undergone what I'd like to call Terrigenesis," said Cerion as he changed the image to a special DNA strand and a normal human DNA strand.
"Terrigenesis?" asked Bruce, looking flummoxed.
"Yes. The human DNA is too long to be shown in this image, but look at the highlighted portions. This is normal human DNA, yet some parts of it remain suppressed."
The image of the DNA strand flickered, showing small yellow spots.
"These small spots, or as I call them, the Terrigen triggers, are inherited from your ancestors. Some humans born on planet Earth have these triggers hidden deep inside their DNA strands. Through experimentation, these triggers can be activated which leads to Terrigenesis – an evolution from human to something else."
"But…that doesn't make any sense!" Bruce sputtered, "Surely people have been exposed to radiations in the past and yet no one else has undergone a change like mine."
"You're correct, doctor. The Gamma radiation alone would not have triggered Terrigenesis. You already had something else inside you that helped you not only survive the radiation but also absorb it and bond it to your individual cells," said Cerion as he removed the image of the DNA strand to show Bruce's cells.
It was truly a beautiful vision. The nucleus lost its oval shape and now looked more like a pentagon with several hard layers at the outer shell.
"Look at the green shades on the nucleus, Dr Banner. This is the absorbed radiation clogging the outer layers. Now…" Cerion changed the image to another cell where the green shade was absent. "This was the state of your cells before the change. The nucleus looks like it is slowly undergoing a structural change."
"But…but…how?" Bruce stammered with wide eyes.
"I theorise…" Cerion started to explain but was cut off.
"Sir, Miss Foster is trying to reach you." Optima interrupted his explanation.
"Put her on hold. Now, where was I…yes! I think you were treated with a serum of some kind or experimented on, but the Terrigenesis failed to trigger a change. The Gamma rays, on the other hand, empowered your cells which allowed you to achieve a transcended state briefly owing to your suppressed Terrigenesis."
"That's not… how is that even possible? I don't remember anyone ever experimenting on me." Bruce protested.
Cerion could see Bruce slowly shifting phase as green pigmentation began to spread over Bruce's skin.
"Dr Banner, please calm down. You are triggering your transformation." cautioned Cerion.
He observed Bruce keenly as the transformation reverted back after Bruce took several deep breaths.
"Now, it is entirely possible no one experimented on you. It could be that you inherited it from one of your parents or even grandparents."
Bruce looked lost and, for a long time, continued to stare into his own hands.
"Can it be cured?" Bruce asked, finally coming out of silence.
"It is not a disease to cure, Bruce. You have literally undergone an evolution."
"If it was evolution, then why do I retain my human appearance?"
Cerion grinned as he was expecting such a line of query. "That's because your body has yet to undergo the full transformation. You are in a transitional state. Despite the immense power locked inside you, your cells seem to have walled themselves, keeping the energy inside. That's why you always revert to your human form."
"What if…?" Bruce gulped in fear. "What if I change and never come back?"
"Sir, Miss Foster is trying to contact you again." Optima reported.
"Hold the call," Cerion said before focusing on Bruce. As of this moment, we both know very little about how your mind has accepted your recent evolution. I'm taking a guess here, but I think your psyche split into halves during your evolution."
"You mean like…I'm schizophrenic?"
He could trace fear in Bruce's voice, and that was the last thing he wanted for the guy.
"Well… let me put it this way. You are in the same situation the mythical werewolf is in. The instincts of the wolf emerge when the wolf is active while regaining humanity when the transformation is reversed." said Cerion. "In short, your human body can only house a human mind. It cannot bear the instincts and thought processes of a transcendent being like the Hulk."
"So, how can we cure this?" Bruce asked after several rounds of high-intensity pacing in the room.
It was all very dramatic, and Cerion had to bite back any snarky comments that bubbled up.
"As you well know, Bruce, you have undergone an evolution of sorts. You are standing at a knife's edge. We don't know what is going on inside you right now. It will take time to get a clear picture of your evolution."
"Sir, I'm afraid Miss Foster is calling you once again." said Optima.
"You should take the call," Bruce said, sitting down and thinking about his dilemma.
"Yeah, just a minute…" Cerion hastily took the headphones a drone handed him and placed them around his head. "Hey, Jane. What's happened?"
Sometimes, Bruce pinched himself to make himself believe he was not dreaming. The events of the last two months notwithstanding, it was surreal to think he was in a city with an alien entity for company.
Despite the sheer ridiculousness of the situation, Bruce felt a smudge of relief that he was far away from his home country, at least for the time being. It certainly gave him a much-needed breathing space to properly construct a plan to cure himself and the facilities that were now open before him.
The gene mapping performed by his new alien friend was extraordinary. Although it would take him a while to make sense of all the data Cerion had gathered about the human genome, it was undoubtedly helpful in his quest to find a cure.
But, another main reason he was thankful to be out of the US was because of the present situation unfolding in his homeland. On the expanded holographic projection in the lab, he watched with an open mouth as smoke and fire came out of the World Trade Centre. It was September 11, and the world looked in shock as the largest terrorist attack took place in the heart of the US.
Bruce was, in part, relieved that he was far away because he feared General Ross would somehow pin this on his head. He flinched when the footage of the South Tower collapsing came upon the holo-projector.
"Why did this happen?"
Bruce looked at a shell-shocked Cerion, who was sitting on a couch, staring in disbelief at the carnage unfolding.
"Human history is ripe with conflicts. This is just the recent form they have taken," Bruce said.
"But, it wasn't supposed to be like this…" Cerion trailed off, making Bruce frown.
"What'd you mean?" he asked, but he got no response.
Bruce went back to staring at the video feed put up by CNN.
"I have to do something."
Bruce heard Cerion mutter before his new alien friend rushed out of the lab in a hurry. He immediately followed when he realised Cerion was somehow planning on involving himself.
"Wait! Think about what you are doing! You will expose yourself." Bruce shouted after the guy.
"I can work around that little problem, Dr Banner."
"But if you get exposed, you'll undoubtedly create chaos. Is the world really ready to know about alien life?" Bruce asked.
Oh, he was more than okay with Cerion helping out in the disaster that befell his homeland. But that doesn't mean he had his concerns about the fallout that'd follow. What would that mean for himself if Cerion was exposed?
While it was selfish of him to think like that, his entire existence would be in jeopardy if the government learned of his location.
"Don't worry, Dr Banner. The world won't hear a peep about alien life." said Cerion as a panel on the wall scanned his retina.
Bruce took a step back as the whole room shook and began to slowly spin. He felt as if the room was slowly rotating downwards.
Well, his intuition was right. The room moved down, and Bruce took in an even larger workspace with dozens of drones floating around doing some work.
Bruce blinked in surprise as the roof suddenly folded back, showing the blue skies up above. He watched on curiously as Cerion picked up a silver armband from a glass case.
"What are you going to do?" asked Bruce.
"Save a plane from crashing." said Cerion before pressing the armband.
A silver-coloured metal covered Cerion's body, burning away his otherwise normal clothes.
"I'll be back before you know it." said Cerion as a half mask covered his face before taking his flight to the sky.
Bruce stared after Cerion, who broke the sound barrier in the sky. "That's cool."
Megan watched the news with horror gnawing at her heart. The burned remains of the World Trade Centre and the collapsed buildings of the Pentagon shook her mind.
Tears ran down her cheeks as she saw men and women covered in soot wander the chaos-ridden streets of New York. She had a little sister working over the city, and she had been trying to reach her all morning with no success.
She didn't know why or how these madmen could callously snuff out innocent lives. This was not how wars were fought. All fighting was supposed to happen in some distant land, not on the mainland.
Megan clutched the cross her mother gave her before passing last year. The cross gave her a sense of protection. She prayed for her sons who were in school to stay healthy and sound of mind. She prayed to her Lord Jesus to help the people of New York and to punish the wicked men who concocted these attacks.
Suddenly, she heard the sound of a plane in the sky, and it felt too close for her comfort.
Megan ran to her door and saw a huge plane flying over her house. She gasped in fear, as the plane was far too close to her house and flying at an odd angle. She could make out the rivets on the plane's body, and strong gales of wind made her stumble back.
"Oh Lord!" she gasped as the plane flew straight toward the school of her children.
She gripped her heart in fear, but then her eyes traced a silver light falling from the sky.
She stood there frozen even as her neighbours rushed outside, asking her what happened. Her eyes remained fixed on the horizon.
"Megan, what happened? What did you see?"
"An angel. I saw an angel!"
Felix Thompson lit a cigar and took a deep draw, listening to his car's radio. Supposedly, New York and Washington were attacked. He didn't believe what these fools were saying. They were all just fake news for all he knew.
Felix thought honesty was lacking in much of this country as he enjoyed the open air of Stoney Creek. Everything was fine. It was a nice, calm morning, as always, and those geeky nerds in the media were whipping up a frenzy for no reason. He wondered why those idiots were screaming their heads off almost every morning as if the world was at an end.
'Maybe those idiots need a vacation and get out of those stiff AC rooms for a change.' he thought with a scoff.
He was sure that a day later, these same 'news people' would make up another ridiculous story while the good people like him worked day and night to make a living. Oh, he had no complaints with his lot in life. He had an honest job running a repair shop nearby, making hard-earned money. he lived an honest life, working hard for his family. He stayed out of trouble and looked after his ailing mother like a dutiful son.
The roaring of engines drew his attention, and up above, he saw a plane flying upside down.
The cigarette fell out of his mouth as he watched in shock as the airliner flew over his position. It felt like a scene from one of those stupid movies his son harped on about. It was at that moment Felix realised the 'news people' were not making shit up, at least this time.
A flash of silver light dropped down from the heavens and caught the plane by its nose.
"Good God in heaven!" he stumbled back in shock with a hand on his heart.
Felix shook his head and rubbed his eyes, but he saw what he saw. He saw a man in shiny silver armour trying to stop the aircraft from holding on to its nose.
The plane passed him by blowing away the cowboy hat off his head. Felix stared dumbly after the plane until finally, he heard a loud boom. He rushed into his car and drove to the crash site. He could see the plane had safely landed on a field. Just as he pulled his car over and stepped out he saw a flash of silver taking to the skies.
Felix looked up trying to see something but found nothing.
"Good God in heaven! I saw it! I saw an angel!" Felix began to laugh hysterically like a madman.
It took him a moment to regain his bearings but he immediately dialled the number of local sherif reporting the crashed plane.