The Dillinger Room (Boardroom H-409)
Floor 43
Stark Tower
Midtown Manhattan, New York, USA
July 4th, 2023 9:13PM EDT
The five scientists sat around the table, watching the wall-mounted television as it played live coverage of the various events around the city. Jaggerdaw, Katy Perry, Andrea and the Honey Bees, and Cowboy Curtis were some of the shows getting major attention. With about seventeen minutes to go before the fireworks started, most of the acts were completing final numbers. The five men couldn’t have cared less about the music, however – they were watching for the results of their impromptu science experiment.
They were all accomplished businessmen as well as doctors, though eventually they all found themselves enthralled by Stark Industries to some degree, whether through trade deals or outright acquisitions of their companies. Still, they had to agree the Stark name gave them more pull than any of them had previously.
Dr. Samuel Sterns, Grayburn Labs
Dr. Nathaniel Essex, Milbury Labs
Dr. Victor von Hassen, AccuTech R&D
Dr. Norman Osborn, Oscorp BioTech Solutions
Dr. Anton Vanko, Trask Robotics
The men conversed amongst themselves for several minutes while the music acts wrapped up, and then suddenly one of the camera feeds snapped back to Hunter’s Point as there was some kind of commotion. Then a young woman jumped on stage and started issuing a warning over the PA system.
“Isn’t she von of yours?” Vanko asked Sterns in his native Russian accent.
“How is zis? How did she know vat vee are doing?”“Damn it, Caty,” Sterns said quietly, shaking his head.
“Yes, she is one of my interns. Brilliant young mind.”“So how does she know what we are planning?” demanded Essex angrily in his English accent.
“We need answers, Sam,” agreed von Hassen, who had a small Latverian/Hungarian accent, but was much less pronounced than Essex or Vanko. The three of them were also the only members of the group not born in America.
“She must have overheard me on the phone,” Sterns said, lowering his head in disappointment.
“I thought I was being careful. But I see now I let my anger at Stromm weaken my guard.”“She mentioned her friend was trying to stop the mist,” Osborn pointed out.
“Who else would she have there with her?”“Most likely her brother Danny and their friend David,” explained Sterns.
“The three of them are the brightest minds of all my interns, and David has already spent several years at Harvard College, and… Wait a minute…” Sterns got up and started looking around.
“I never mentioned any specifics about where the Crystals were while on the phone…” he said as he began poking his head around the shelves and cabinets on the wall opposite the television. Then he found what he was seeking.
“Aha! The little stinkers placed a hidden wireless camera in here.” He pulled it out, dropped it on the floor, and stomped it.
“So that’s how they knew,” said Essex. The others nodded.
“That means they must have rushed to Hunter’s Point as soon as we mentioned it here in this room.” added von Hassen.
“You know vat zis means, yes?” asked Vanko, leaning back in his chair and placing his hands behind his head, fingers intertwined.
“No, Vanko,” Sterns said firmly.
“They’re just kids. We’ll find another way.”“But what if they have been recording the video feed from that camera to a storage drive?” Osborn pointed out.
“That could destroy us. Plus we're already causing plenty of deaths -- what's three more?” All five men sat there in silence for a moment.
“Zere is no choice, zen,” Vanko concluded.
“Zey must die...”______________________________________________________________________
Hunter’s Point South Park
Long Island City, Queens, New York, USA
July 4th, 2023 9:35PM EDT
“Oh my god,” Donny cried out, finally standing to his feet after a sudden dizzy spell.
“What the bloody hell was that mist?!”“I don’t know – are you okay?” asked Owen, concerned. He had a raging headache.
“I think I’m okay, but you don’t look too good.”“My head is fucking killing me,” Owen replied, rubbing his temples.
“That must have been a biological attack of some kind.”“All these injured people,” Donny said, a tone of grief in his voice as he looked around.
“This is horrible.”“At least we’re alive,” Owen added.
“We should get to a hospital straight away, though.”“Yeah, that’s – Waylon! You’re okay!” the guitarist was overjoyed to see his friend and bandmate walk up, towing along his sister.
“We need to find the others and get some help. I’m sure by now multiple people have called the emergency services. We should do what we can to help.”“Let’s worry about our own arses,” Owen said, annoyed.
“How can you be so selfish in a time like this?” snapped Donny. The two of them argued back and forth a bit.
Meanwhile, David was still hunched over on the dock, soaking wet, coughing up blood and bawling his eyes out, both because of the horror of the situation and the enormous pain his face was in from taking that cannon head-on. He slammed his fists down repeatedly on the wood.
“Damn it… Damn it… FUCK! AAARGGH!” Blood, river water, and tears pooled beneath him as he wept. When he heard Caty approach, he looked up at her, total despair in his eyes, his open wound visible. A moment later, they saw a young woman approach them who seemed equally distressed.
(this image is special effects makeup)
On the other side of the park, Luke was still struggling to stand, his eyes burning.
“Gah! What… What is this?” he grunted and tried to focus, but his vision felt strained. He stumbled through the crowd, accidentally running into Danny.
“I’m sorry! Hey, you – you’re one of the guys that was trying to warn us, right?” he asked, squinting. Then he fell backwards, gasping out in pain as his eyes began to glow red.
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