Chapter 85 - Options

"Actually" Prime began, placing his hand on his chin. "Maybe this is really possible" he concluded.

"Wait, are you serious?" Sara asked, her eyes filled with doubt.

"Why do you seem more surprised than me, when it was you who suggested it from the beginning?" Prime asked, releasing a brief sigh.

Upon hearing Prime's words, Sara let out a small laugh. Although she had suggested the idea, she didn't expect Prime to actually agree with her. The suggestion was just an attempt to ease Prime's tension; she didn't believe it was possible to put it into practice.

"Hahaha, I said that just to lighten the mood. Honestly, I didn't think my idea would be helpful" Sara replied, scratching her head.

Anyway, even if Prime, in theory, considers Sara's idea feasible, there are still many factors that need to be reviewed. Prime could simply make the symbiotes intended for medicine behave similarly to the symbiotes created for espionage.

The issue is that these symbiotes do not act without an order, as they are not autonomous. However, if Prime were to grant them autonomy to fulfill their roles as "medicines" who could ensure that the end result would not be the same as his previous plans?.

"Anyway, I'll need some time to conduct some tests. Although your idea is good, I'm not sure if I can implement it as quickly as I would like. However, knowing which direction to go is already a big step forward compared to before" Prime said, with an ironic smile appearing on his face.

In the previous days, Prime's research had resulted in little tangible progress. Although some tests had shown some promise, they had not met expectations. Furthermore, even the symbiotes developed for the purpose of curing diseases and subsequently leaving the host's body would probably not do so without constant supervision. Prime suspected that they could return to him in search of a compatible host, or worse, try to eliminate him.

(Although I have the impression that this would be a simple task for my uncontrolled self at the Xavier mansion, I really don't want to have to resort to that. That, of course, assuming that somehow I manage to bring him back and give him some kind of purpose) Prime pondered as he sighed.

In the end, Prime would have to advance the experiments on his own, which would certainly take more time than he would wish. However, he had no other choice but to proceed.

With a new goal set, Prime focused all his energies on it in the following days. As expected, progress was being considerably slow. However, as he progressed through the experiments, Prime made an encouraging discovery: Sara's idea was indeed feasible. It was during another one of those testing days that Bruce visited him again.

Guiding Bruce into the room, Prime took a seat on his couch, while Bruce occupied the seat in front of him. Although it was Saturday, Sara, Ema, and Annie were not at home; they had gone to the movies, located near Prime's apartment. After all, Prime preferred not to stray too far from Sara.

"Can I assume that your visit has something to do with our little red friend, right?" Prime inquired, starting the conversation.

"Exactly. While you were busy, I did some investigations and, as we suspected, Ross is behind the identity of the Red Hulk" Bruce said, looking at Prime seriously.

Although Prime was somewhat intrigued by Ross's choice to voluntarily become a monster, he was not surprised by the news. In fact, this was a development he had already anticipated, as it made total sense.

"By the way, how did you find out? He didn't tell you himself, did he?" Prime asked, turning his gaze to Bruce.

"I managed to access the military system and found several files related to gamma energy. General Ross's name was there, listed as a test subject for the experiment. With all this information, it's easy to guess what happened" Bruce said, releasing a brief sigh.

From Prime's perspective, more surprising than Ross turning into the Red Hulk was hearing Bruce talk as if hacking into the United States Army's database was trivial. Although Prime considered such a feat possible with some hacking study, he recognized that his perfect memory, compared to Bruce's, made him much more capable. Bruce being able to accomplish such a feat solely with his mind was truly impressive.

However, despite understanding the overall situation, the central problem remained unsolved: Ross, or rather the Red Hulk, probably hadn't given up on trying to find Prime and Sara. Prime was determined not to expose Sara and their daughters to unnecessary dangers, a concern not unnoticed by Bruce, as Prime noticed from Bruce's expression.

"Don't worry too much" Bruce replied calmly. "I believe Ross won't come back to attack you anytime soon. When you fought on the bridge, he was probably testing strengths. And, it seems, he must have realized he wouldn't be able to defeat you, at least not for now"

Although Bruce's words somewhat reassured Prime, he knew it was only a matter of time. And Bruce, aware of this fact, decided to share with Prime the possible options he might face in the future.

"As things stand, I believe we only have two options" Bruce said, raising two fingers. "First: you need to make it clear to him that no matter what he does, he'll never be able to win, no matter how many times he tries. This won't solve the problem, but at least you won't have to worry about him for a good while"

Prime paid careful attention to Bruce's words. Although he considered the first option straightforward, as Bruce pointed out, he knew it wouldn't be a complete solution; Ross would inevitably come back, perhaps at a longer interval.

"And secondly, which is actually my recommendation" Bruce continued, lowering his second and last finger. "Show him that there's no reason to pursue him. Although dealing with Ross is complicated, he's someone who always seeks to protect the nation. As long as his actions don't violate your principles, I believe a truce between you two is possible" Bruce concluded.

Prime also considered that Bruce's second alternative had a better chance of success. However, he had no idea how to put it into practice. First, Ross would have to be willing to talk for Bruce's second option to work, something Prime found difficult to imagine happening, at least at that moment.

"I'll probably choose the second option" Prime replied, sighing as he anticipated the headache ahead.

Prime was aware that his last resort, in an extreme case, would be to kill Ross - something he was reluctant to do. Personally, Prime didn't want to be compelled to make such a drastic decision, especially now that he had Annie and Ema in his life.

After Bruce left, Prime was alone with his own thoughts. He wondered if it was really so difficult to lead a normal life. Deep down, Prime feared becoming a dangerous monster to others. Although not to the same extent as Bruce, he could get a small sense of how the other must be feeling.

Standing up, Prime walked over to the window of his apartment and contemplated the landscape outside. To him, New York was relatively peaceful, although a series of recent strange events had shaken that tranquility. Still, Prime still enjoyed living in that city.

As he gazed at the horizon, Prime hoped that New York wouldn't face serious events in the future. However, to his dismay, fate seemed to have other plans in store.