Chapter 4: It Crashed!

"…ake up, Lucas"

"Wake up, Lucas!"

You stir at the sound of D.A.I.S.Y. urgently calling your name. As you regain consciousness, you find yourself tangled up with a soft body.

"What's going on?" you ask, still groggy.

"The Cosmic Cloud is accelerating and will make contact with the space station soon, ETA is 60 minutes."

Your eyes widen with alarm. "Prepare the chopper," you command.

You look at Felicia, she seems to be sleeping peacefully like a contented cat despite the commotion. Well she must be very tired as last night was certainly crazy, you couldn't control yourself after the Cat show.

You press a kiss to her forehead before slipping out of bed. Glancing at the clock, you note it's still 5 in the morning.

"Have you sold our shares in Von Doom Industries?" you inquire while freshening up.

"I initiated the sell-off as soon as the rocket launched yesterday, per your instructions. Currently, only a nominal percentage of shares remain in your name," D.A.I.S.Y.'s voice echoes in your bathroom as you take a quick shower.

With today's impending catastrophe, the Von Doom Industries' share price is set to plummet, ensuring a substantial profit for you.

"Excellent," you acknowledge, knowing D.A.I.S.Y. would have followed your directives, yet still seeking reassurance.

"Skye is saying that you should not be impulsive and let spaceX and Nasa handle this" D.A.I.S.Y. informs you as you step into your walk-in closet to select your attire.

"If you are listening in on us, then at least talk to me directly" you retort, annoyed.

"She doesn't want to talk to you. It seems Skye is angry with you, Lucas" D.A.I.S.Y. remarks with a hint of amusement.

"Why? what did I do?" you query, puzzled by this unexpected hostility.

"Umm, tell her that I will apologise for whatever I did later, right now Sue is the priority" You speak, exiting your room, fully prepared.

"Skye says that your are an idiot" D.A.I.S.Y. responds sweetly.

You shake your head at their antics and take the elevator to the roof.

"Is Bobbi ready?" You inquire as the elevator comes to a halt.

"Yes, she's right in front of you," D.A.I.S.Y. confirms, and as the elevator doors slide open, you see Bobbi.

Barbara 'Bobbi' Morse, known as Agent 19 or Mockingbird, is a familiar face from both the comics and the "Agent of Shield" TV series.

However, you altered her trajectory by hiring her in your company early on, before she could join S.H.I.E.L.D.

She is not alone, many of the core members in your company are either hired early, before they join their future work places, or are directly poached.

It is all possible because of the incredibly sharp memory that you are blessed with in this life.

In the future, she becomes an expert in combat, piloting, medicine, and even earns a Ph.D. in biochemistry.

Recognising her talent, you've invested heavily in her, providing extensive training and resources over the past three years.

You've witnessed her skills firsthand and even faced off against her. Bobbi is a beast, a machine in her own right, though she's not quite a super spy yet—she's getting there.

"You responded fast" You greet her with a smile.

"Well, D.A.I.S.Y. gave me a heads-up yesterday about a potential morning mission, so I was prepared," Bobbi responds with a serious demeanour.

"We're just heading to the main office of SpaceX in New York for now. You're accompanying me as a bodyguard, just in case anything unexpected occurs," you explain as your watch vibrates.

"Understood," Bobbi nods, maintaining her composure.

You notice an incoming call from Elon, likely just receiving the news.

"Hello... Yes, I've heard. I'll be at headquarters in 10 minutes... Of course, let's hope for the best," you conclude the call.

"D.A.I.S.Y., bring Dr. Amara Perera and Dr. Helen Cho to Research Base 14," you command through your watch, receiving an affirmative signal in response.

"Let's get moving," you instruct Bobbi, and she strides ahead of you toward the helicopter.

You get strapped in as Bobbi starts up the helicopter, and you take off.

You glance at Bobbi and notice her focused expression as she stares ahead.

"So, how's your thesis coming along?" You yell over the noise of the helicopter through your headset.

Bobbi's face twitches in annoyance. "We haven't spoken in two months, and that's what you're asking me?" she yells back through the headphones.

"No 'Hi, hello,' no inquiries about whether the training's too intense or if the missions were challenging? No apology for adding biochemistry studies on top of everything else? Or maybe a 'sorry for not keeping in touch?'" Her voice rises, her serious expression shifting to one of frustration as she navigates the helicopter over the buildings.

At this point, you think it may not be because of the noise that she is yelling.

"Well, you can tell me all of that. We've got some time until we reach our destination," you shout over the noise.

"Forget it," she mumbles, her words barely audible over the helicopter's roar.

"No, tell me. I'm listening," you insist, realising that more and more people seem to be upset with you. You decide it's time to make amends.

After some back and forth, she doesn't divulge much, but she does share a few things.

You realise that perhaps you've been pushing her too hard. It's only because you've seen her future potential, and you want her to excel at everything she does.

But she's only 21, and maybe you need to ease up on her a bit.

Soon, you arrive at the SpaceX headquarters, and you can sense the panic among the people there.

***

Its the Next Day, and you are seating beside Susan, who lies unconscious on a hospital bed.

Yesterday morning, the cosmic rays accelerated unusually fast, striking the space station just as you arrived at the SpaceX headquarters.

Subsequently, the space station became unresponsive, losing all functions and hurtling toward Earth.

Despite the dire situation, the emergency system rebooted upon entry into the atmosphere, activating backup generators.

In the end the space station still ended up crashing, into a desert in Texas.

Responding swiftly, a team led by Bobbi arrived at the crash site, rescuing the passengers.

The space station made and owned by Von Doom Industries was state-of-the-art, so not only it survived the crash, but all its passengers despite being unconscious, were basically unharmed.

You decided to bring all of them to your research lab for check up, and no one refuted you, as your girlfriend was one of the victims.

But soon Victor awoke and he demanded the team to be brought to his company's quarantine facility.

After some arguments you let him take Ben and Reed with him, and you took Susan and her brother Johnny to your facility as they were technically your employees.

In the end everything that happened was within your calculation, but you still felt incredibly guilty, if something had gone wrong then you would have lost Sue forever.

You have not left Susan's side since last night. You also had filled her whole hospital room with sunflowers which were her favourite.

As you were looking at Susan's beautiful sleeping face, the door swings open, admitting two women clad in white coats.

On the right is Dr. Amara Perera.

She was born and raised in Sri Lanka. A brilliant Biophysicist, she was so good that in the comics she had successfully cured X-gene, effectively stopping mutants from gaining powers, but she ended up not using it.

She was even married to Tony Stark at one point.

Persuading her to join Watson Labs was a matter of granting unlimited funding for her Alzheimer's cure research—a cause close to her heart. You hold her in high regard for her genuine desire to better humanity.

On the left is Helen Cho.

She is a brilliant geneticist from South Korea. She was also the person who made Vision's body from Vibranium in the Avenger movies. She can even make artificial skin which looks and feel as good as the original.

She was trying to start U-GIN, a research group based in Korea trying to make a device named 'Regeneration Cradle' that can produce artificial skin.

You promised to provide as much funds as she needs, and in exchange you will be needing a majority stake at her research group and her joining your Watson Lab. She readily agreed to your proposal.

"It's just as you predicted, Luke," Amara chimes in eagerly upon entering the room. "Although Susan and her brother appear stable, their cellular compositions are undergoing remarkable transformations," she reports with palpable excitement.

"Jemma is going to be so mad at you, after knowing that you didn't invite her for something this exciting!" Helen teases mischievously, a playful glint in her eye.

"This is not her field of specialty, and I didn't want to pause her training, when you two are obviously more than enough" You speak with a wry smile.

"Yes, you should definitely start practicing this kind of excuses to tell her!" Helen says, laughing in her hand.

You ignore her antics and look at Amara, "So, how long do you estimate this transformation will take to complete?"

Amara pauses, thinking for a while."I don't know, I can't say for sure as she and her brother are the first cases I've encountered, still the pace of their transformation is remarkably rapid. Judging by the rate of progression, I'd venture to say it's nearing completion."

"Well take a log of everything, and what about at Victor's side?" You ask Bobbi who entered the room right behind them.

"D.A.I.S.Y. is monitoring them via the surveillance cameras. Two of our people in there, have been able to collect a blood sample from all three of them.The samples are currently being transported here" Bobbi reports, as she leans against the wall with her hands crossed.

"I must say, about this 'accident', you are a bit too prepared for it. It's almost like you knew it was gonna happen" Helen looks at you sceptically, Amara stays quiet but from her face you know that she is thinking the same.

You share a look with Bobbi, there are only three people in the Company who know about Cassandra: Skye, D.A.I.S.Y. and Bobbi. You had trusted all three of them with some of your meta knowledge, which was all attributed to Cass's powers.

Even Pepper, MJ and Susan don't know about her.

The main reason is the safety of Cassandra, you had a policy that unless utmost necessary you will keep her a secret.

In a way its all about your knowledge of how dangerous this world is, and although you have amassed a fortune, that can last you a hundred lifetimes, you are still a weak pile of flesh and bone, able to be crushed or manipulated easily.

But now with Susan gaining powers, maybe you should start expanding your inner circle a bit more, and also advance your 'Super Power' project.

Just as you were debating whether to tell them about Cassandra, you feel Susan's hand jerk.

Seeing this both the doctors get to work knowing that she was about to wake up.

As they were checking the readings in the devices scanning Susan, she slowly opened her eyes.

As they were checking the readings in the devices scanning Susan, she slowly opened her eyes.

"Where... am I?" Susan's voice trembles with confusion as she surveys her surroundings.

You gently grasp her hands, concern evident in your voice. "Sue, how are you feeling?"

Upon seeing you, Susan's expression softens. "Luke!" She then notices the presence of Amara and Helen, her brow furrowing in question. "Amara? Helen? What happened?"

At some point Bobbi had already exited the room.

You first let her lie back down and then look at both the doctors, they give you a thumbs up. Knowing that she is stable, you focus your attention back on Susan

"There was an accident involving the Cosmic Cloud," you explain gently. "Sue, do you remember what happened?" Your hands gently envelop hers as you speak.

Susan's eyes widen in realisation. "Yes, the mission! We reached the space station, and began placing all our probes for readings when the Cosmic Cloud started to accelerate. We managed to close the shields in time, but..." Her voice trails off, anxiety creeping into her expression.

Rising from your seat, you envelop Susan in a tight embrace, stroking her back soothingly. "It's okay, everything's under control now. I'm here with you,"

She calms down quickly and then abruptly turns to you. "Johnny! What about him? And Reed, Ben, and Victor?" She asks, agitatedly clutching your shirt.

"They're all fine. Reed and Victor have already woken up. Johnny and Ben are still sleeping, but they're all okay," you reply calmly, offering a reassuring smile as you rub her back.

"Good," she sighs, visibly relaxing a bit, and rests her head on your chest.

"So, the shield of the space station couldn't block the cosmic rays from the cloud," she muses thoughtfully.

"Most probably," you affirm.

Both the doctors chat with her for a bit, then go out, leaving you two alone.

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[90% increase in Felicia Hardy's energy reserve: Gained a mutation]

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Random Powers:

[Gained SPower: CuckQueen]

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[CuckQueen applied to Felicia Hardy]

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