Chapter 166: Arc 5: Chapter 10: Argentine Explosion

"What's going on? Another S-class event? Did it happen suddenly?"

Merlin transfers his command to agent Garrett and quickly returned to London with Apparition without even saying goodbye to the young wizards.

In a secret military base on the outskirts of London, he saw the military plane prepped for flight as well as Maria Hill, who was waiting for him.

The appearance of this level-4 confidential agent, who was also Fury's public assistant, seemed to show the seriousness of the event.

Facing Merlin's questions, agent Hill gives Merlin a stack of photos and brings him onto the plane heading to South America. In the cabin of the plane, Merlin's expression turns ugly as he looks through the document and images.

The image seemed to be taken via satellite, and at the center of the image was a clump of bright yet irregular lights flashing, it was like something had exploded in Argentina within South America, and had been captured via satellite.

A surface explosion that can be observed via satellite as well as the familiar shape of the glow on the image gave Merlin a bad feeling.

Hill sits next to Merlin and explains to Merlin about the emergency event in a low tone.

And the first sentence she speaks out confirms Merlin's terrible assumptions.

"Sir, you can think of this event like an unexpected nuclear explosion."

"Mmm?"

Merlin looks back at Hill and says:

"Nuclear bombs in Argentina? Has an official experiment gone wrong? Or is there a war breaking out?'

"Neither, listen to me, officer Merlin."

Hill takes out several documents from her handbag and gives them to Merlin, she explains:

"This is not a conventional nuclear explosion, otherwise, Fury would not have requested for you to head to Argentina immediately. What exploded this time was a large particle collider built by a private lab to research quantum energy. The energy blast caused by the explosion is equivalent to the energy caused by a small nuclear explosion."

Relief appears on Agent Hill's face as she continues:

"But different from the destructive blast of a nuclear explosion, the energy leaked out dissipated in a very short amount of time. The lab was not located in the city either, so there haven't been many casualties, which is lucky enough."

"Quantum Energy?"

Merlin hears this scientific term and frowns, he opens the document and says:

"If that's the case, why does Fury want me to go? This event isn't exactly SHIELD's jurisdiction, isn't it?"

"We have to interfere."

Agent Hill helps Merlin flip the document to its final pages and points at the personnel file listed as 'Confidential', she then tells Merlin:

"Because this event is related to some things in the past, as well as some secrets involving the Cold War."

Hill deepens her tone and tells Merlin:

"We retrieved these files from Miss Carter a few hours ago. Miss Carter had specially exhorted officer Fury to find trustworthy agents to handle this."

"Fury flatters me..."

Merlin flips through the personnel file in his hand, he points at the black and white photos and says with a headache:

"Then, this Hank Pym, Bill Foster, and Elihas Starr, what's the relationship between the three of them? Where are they now?

"And Project 'Goliath', what is it?"

"I heard from Miss Carter that Project Goliath was a research project similar to the 'Super-Soldier' project that occurred between 1960 to 1980."

Agent Hill tells Merlin:

"Miss Carter didn't go into the details, but supposedly the project was a success. Professor Hank Pym who ran the experiment successfully developed something called 'Pym Particles' along with his three assistants; those special particles can change the distance between atoms and achieve the shrinking or enlarging of the human body."

"Human body? Shrinking and enlarging?"

Merlin quickly flips through the document filled with all sorts of scientific terms, after hearing Hill's explanation, he asks with surprise:

"Are you sure that's something that can be made during the last century?"

"To be honest, I don't believe it, sir."

Agent Hill brushes her black hair and tells Merlin:

"But Miss Carter has no reason to lie to us. Supposedly, Hank Pym is the smartest person she's ever seen, even smarter than Mr. Howard Stark. And Professor Pym was the first generation Ant-man, he could utilize the Pym Particles to shrink his size to that of an ant, or enlarge himself to become a 60-feet tall giant."

"He wasn't satisfied with just being a researcher, between the 1970s and 1990s, he and his wife, who was his assistant Professor Janet, had stopped multiple dangers of lighting up the Cold War; there are records of these in SHIELD's directories."

"Mmm, and then?"

Merlin looks at the document and asks:

"I think I heard from Fury that Professor Pym left the SSR in 1989?"

"Yes."

Agent Hill says:

"Officer Fury told me about it before I left."

"Supposedly in an operation in the 1990s, Professor Pym lost his wife and had a massive change in temperament. He later discovered that some higher-ups within the SSR were planning on secretly replicating the fruits of his research, which infuriated him; he beat up his boss and eventually left the SSR with all his research."

"Miss Carter and Howard Stark tried talking to him, but little effect. Supposedly right now, Professor Pym is trying to found his own research company, he has his lab as well as strong funding sources."

"Mmm, he doesn't look like the type of person whom would others like."

Merlin flips the documents to the last few pages, he sees the records of Hank Pym's conflict with a higher-up within the SSR; according to official statements, Pym was not one to follow rules.

Pym in the records is an arrogant, bad-tempered, hard-to-approach control freak, who was also a genius who doesn't get along with others and has a strange way of moving.

"Yes."

Agent Hill expresses her agreement, she points at the pictures on the documents and tells Merlin:

"Professor Hank Pym had 3 different assistants, they're Professor Bill Foster, Professor Janet Van Dyne, and lastly Professor Elihas Starr; but excluding Professor Janet, the other two left because they couldn't stand Professor Pym's temper."

Hill continues:

"The incident this time is with Professor Elihas Starr's lab."

"Let me guess."

Merlin closes the document and says:

"Elihas Starr learned some things from Professor Pym, but not everything. And after he left, he planned on researching on his own, but something went wrong, right?"

"Yes."

Hill nods:

"This is why we're heading to Argentina, sir."

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"If it weren't for the explosion this time, we wouldn't even know Elihas Starr could build his own particle collider specialized for researching Quantum Energy, you can't design that thing so casually. Miss Carter had once stated that the reason Elihas Starr was kicked out of the SSR was that Professor Pym had reported him for stealing things in the lab multiple times."

"Miss Carter couldn't get any evidence back then, but now it would seem that Elihas Starr had indeed taken some terrifying knowledge from Professor Hank Pym."

"So?"

Merlin asks back:

"What exactly is our mission? To confirm Elihas Starr's death, or to recollect the knowledge he took?"

"Both."

Agent Hill says in a calm tone:

"There's a reason Project Goliath was shut down, officer Merlin. Any produce of this project is dangerous."

"I heard from Miss Carter that only three people know how to correctly utilize the Pym Particles, Professor Pym, Professor Janet, and Professor bill Foster, who volunteered to become a test subject; not even she or Howard Stark knew. Professor Pym's secrecy is as powerful as his research ability."

"This time's explosion is a tragic reminder. That dangerous knowledge must be countermanded and contained."

Hill says seriously:

"Letting it go around outside, will only lead to bigger trouble."

"Alright."

Merlin nods, he can kinda understand his mission now. The reason Fury dispatched him here was probably to use his powerful senses to try to look for clues among the rubble of the destroyed lab.

He looks at Hill and with the serious expression on her face, he couldn't help but say:

"You're starting to talk a lot like Fury now, Hill. You even have the same expression, this isn't a good sign."

He tells Hill:

"Willing to come work in SDOLD? Our work is quite lenient, without any problems, we have 2 rest days per week with occasional public traveling. I think you'll be more relaxed in my team than in Fury's."

Merlin's joking tone made the cold Hill let out a smile.

She brushes her hair and leans against the not-so-comfortable cabin seat, she tubs the dark circles caused by lack of sleep and stretches before telling Merlin:

"Forget it, sir, thanks for the goodwill..."

"But?"

Merlin closes his eyes like he was resting and says:

"I knew it, there's a 'but', isn't there?"

"Yes."

Hill shrugs and smiles, she whispers:

"But I was always scared of phantoms and things like that...I can fire at a bunch of criminals without hassle, but even the weakest demon can terrify me. I still remember the last time I went on a mission with you, I was stunned when I first saw Rodan, I couldn't even sleep well that night. So, the SDOLD is definitely not for me."

"Alright, you're a girl, that's understandable."

Merlin smiles and says:

"I can't expect every female agent to be as tough as Melinda."

He raises his wrist and looks at the time, he then tells Hill:

"It'll be a few more hours till we get there, get some sleep."

"It's alright, I'll tidy these documents, sir, you rest first."

Hill lets out a helpless expression to Merlin and says:

"I'm used to staying up the night."

Though she says so, a dozen minutes later, Hill closes her eyes following the vibrations caused by the plane, her head turns slightly and lands on Merlin's shoulder.

The feeling of his sunken shoulder and the delicate fragrance emitting from Hill's hair surprised Merlin, who was reading the intel, but he did not push her away.

"Poor Hill, look how Fury had tortured her."

He shakes his head and maintains his posture, he then waves his finger, and a military blanket covers Hill's body.

He silently casts a Bewitched Sleep on Hill, this was done without ill will, but was used to let the girl sleep more soundly. Bewitched Sleep may sound dangerous, but in fact, many wizards in the wizarding world use this spell to cure insomnia.

Mmm, a very effective curing method.

And from Hill's thick dark circles, she indeed needs a good sleep.

---

7 hours later, the plane lands on an airfield on a mountain at the edge of Argentina; Hill and Merlin then rode on a specialized car that brought them to the wreckage of Elihas Starr's private lab.

The energy caused by the explosion of the quantum particle collider had nearly decimated the lab that was 3 stories tall and 6 levels underground, leaving behind a miserable yet massive crater.

To be real, this crater was much larger than the one at the Malfoy Valley.

The destructive forces behind the two were on two completely different levels.

"Di Di, Di Di"

Hill in a protective suit holds a Geiger counter in her hand, she makes a hand gesture to Merlin following the sharp beeping noise.

"The radiation here has dropped to a level safe to the human body, we can take these cumbersome clothes off now."

"No! Don't take it off!"

Merlin sets his sights on the bottom of the 10-meter deep crater, he faintly saw something in the shadows of what wreckage there was left; he says to Hill with a serious expression:

"Don't let anyone get close, and follow me. Also, Hill...be mentally prepared."

"What is it? Sir."

Hill looks at the crater below following Merlin's gaze, but she saw nothing. She looks around and suddenly remembers that dozens of researchers had gone missing in the explosion, she then asks fearfully yet hesitantly:

"Is there something here that I can't see?"

"Relax, it's not a phantom."

Merlin unzips the protective suit and takes off his glasses, he looks at the shadow in the crater and says:

"It's 'clean' here, but it's not empty."

"There's something in the shadows, like..."

"A living phantom."

 

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