"Banner, calm down, calm down!!!"
Even though she knew Banner wouldn't transform into the Hulk due to mere anger lately, Hill still felt uneasy in the face of his fury.
She spoke to him in an unusually gentle tone, trying to soothe him, but her words only made Banner more irritable.
"Damn it!"
Banner snapped at the group.
"I'm not just angry; this is a dispute over academia and principles, Selvig. I hope you respect our profession and stop bringing gambling-like speculation into formal discussions!"
"But the opinion I've raised is indeed the best solution at the moment!"
Selvig continued to try to persuade Hill, but his words only fueled Banner's frustration further.
"Bang!"
Banner slammed the table hard.
"Selvig!"
He shouted at his colleague.
"Do you even know what you're doing? You're about to detonate a bomb that could potentially destroy the Earth, to open Pandora's Box knowing full well what's inside. I can't believe this is your decision. Are you being controlled by that damn Tesseract?!"
As soon as Banner finished speaking, Selvig's expression suddenly changed.
He looked at his hands as if waking from a dream, his face filled with astonishment.
But in the next moment, that astonishment vanished, and he continued explaining to Hill, ignoring Banner's anger.
"Director, I trust my own judgment more. As for Dr. Banner's view, burying the Tesseract is utter nonsense.
It's the Tesseract, and it's already active. No matter how we suppress it, it will eventually explode. We can only delay that day, but we can't stop it from happening!"
"But I've done precise calculations. From its active state to the critical point, it will take at least three cycles of diffusion reactions. If we calm it down, it can remain stable for over forty years!"
"Those are just calculations. Until proven, your plan is just speculation. I, on the other hand, will completely solve the Tesseract problem!"
"Yeah, you want to solve it by potentially destroying everything!"
"But that's still a solution. If the Tesseract's prolonged active period increases the scale of the explosion, you'll regret it for the rest of your life, and there'll be no way to make amends!"
"But if we follow my plan, we'll have at least forty years, enough time to make breakthroughs in our research on the Tesseract's energy!"
"But if we can accelerate the Tesseract's active period, we could have infinite time to study it, and this explosion could help us enter the third stage of research!"
"Fk, fk, fk!!!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Banner angrily pounded the table. Even without transforming into the Hulk, his demeanor was eerily similar to the green giant's.
He suddenly turned to Hill and shouted,
"Hill, I'm the chief executor of the Pegasus Project now, and I demand my authority. The Tesseract must be sealed, because I've experienced firsthand the cost of experiments going out of control!
Think about the big guy inside me—he's the result of a failed gamma-ray experiment, and that was just gamma rays. But now it's the Tesseract, and no one knows what its activity will brew!
I don't know what's wrong with Selvig; he's been brainwashed by the Tesseract!
I admit, in science, sometimes unexpected events are needed to drive technological progress.
But what's needed is unexpectedness, not accidents!
This will be a disaster!!!"
With that, the decision rested in Hill's hands.
Looking at the two great scientists before her, Hill truly didn't know what to choose.
Because from an outsider's perspective, both of them were right!
Selvig wanted to detonate the danger early to reduce it.
Bruce Banner wanted to bury the danger, hoping for a breakthrough later to handle it perfectly.
Both were excellent approaches!
But she had to choose one.
After a moment of contemplation, she finally made her decision.
She turned to Dr. Selvig and said apologetically,
"I'm sorry, Dr. Selvig. Although I'm more inclined toward your method, SHIELD can't afford any damage or setbacks right now!"
As she spoke, Hill helplessly shook her head.
"Currently, SHIELD has fully retreated to the Americas. We've lost funding and manpower from the other six continents.
HYDRA's damage to the world has been temporarily pinned on us. Even though we've secured the Security Council's support with countless concessions, we can't afford more scandals at this stage, especially not ones involving large-scale weapons testing!
So, Professor Selvig, I hope you understand my decision!"
As Hill finished speaking, Banner let out a long sigh.
As for Selvig…
He sighed regretfully.
But beneath that regret, there was a hint of relief, though it was deeply buried beneath his outward disappointment.
Perhaps only his relieved, or rather, clear-headed mind knew.
Banner's words were actually a bit right.
He really was being controlled.
By the Tesseract, by desire, or perhaps… by Thor's brother!
Yes…
Long before Thor destroyed the Bifrost and Loki was stranded on Asgard, he had already visited Earth.
There, he obtained video records of the Tesseract and planted his own pawn early on.
None other than Selvig, who was supposed to independently lead the Pegasus Project.
But at this moment, Loki couldn't possibly imagine…