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"We found him!"
Who is speaking?
Bruce Banner vaguely seemed to hear someone shouting. He wanted to get up and reach for his glasses on the bedside table as usual, but found himself unable to move, and waves of pain came from his body, yet he couldn't make any sound.
Then he passed out again. When he woke up again, Bruce found himself seemingly moving. He struggled to open his eyes and saw a fully armed soldier standing above his head. In his peripheral vision, he also saw the surrounding ruins.
‘What exactly happened?’
Bruce's memory began to flood back intermittently.
…
"Are you sure you want to sign this contract, Mr. Reynolds?"
Although the man in front of him was a bit unkempt, the air of wisdom that could not be disguised on his body demonstrated the man's extraordinary nature.
Bruce Banner, the man in front of him introduced himself as soon as he saw him, and shook hands with him very politely. This was something Robert Reynolds, who was at the bottom of society, had never experienced in his life.
"Yes,... yes, sir." Robert sat stiffly on the chair, his hands hidden under the table constantly rubbing the hem of his clothes, forming a stark contrast with the calm and collected Bruce opposite him.
"Why, Mr. Reynolds?" Bruce leaned his upper body forward. "You know this is a human experiment, right? I mean, do you understand human experiments?"
"I know, I know." Robert was startled by Bruce leaning forward, his body shrinking even tighter, looking like a penguin baby hiding under his parents' crotch.
"The staff had explained it to me before I came, and I also read all the relevant items. The staff member was very nice. Knowing that I couldn't afford a lawyer, he even wanted to apply for one for me. After I refused, he even explained it to me item by item."
"That's what he should do, Mr. Reynolds. You are just enjoying your due rights." Bruce adjusted his glasses. "I saw your physical examination report. You have liver cancer, right?"
"Yes." Hearing the words liver cancer, Robert's face turned even paler, and after his breath paused for a few seconds, he continued weakly.
"I've been drifting through my days before. Do you know those short videos circulating online that bully mutants?"
"I know." Bruce frowned, the disgust in his gaze was undisguised, but because Robert was still speaking, he only answered the question and did not make his own judgment.
"I used to make a living by filming that." Robert lowered his head in shame. Bruce's gaze was like two swords piercing into his heart. In the past, he wouldn't have cared about this line of sight. As long as he could eat his fill, everything would be fine. Now, maybe because he was about to die, he felt how much of a bastard he was before.
"We were about five or six people at the beginning, and one of them was our boss. He led us to film this kind of video. Because of the outbreak of the 616 Incident, our team made a small fortune from these."
"But unfortunately, these have nothing to do with me." Robert showed a dry smile, as if mocking himself. "My body is too thin and weak, I can't bully others at all, and I can't even move large things. I can only do some chores, and our team is paid according to work."
Although what he did was not decent, Robert had to admit that the boss who tried to make money for them was indeed very loyal. Not only did he not abandon the useless Robert, but he even paid him a salary for small matters like pouring tea and serving water that anyone could do.
However, this money was just enough for Robert's life. Fortunately, the boss provided food during filming, otherwise Robert would have lived even more poorly. Fortunately, Robert had saved some money in this way.
"Life is tight, although people hate and dogs despise, but I can still live." When he said the word 'live', a trace of desire appeared in Robert's eyes.
"Until one day, we kicked a steel plate." Robert stopped here, looking timidly at Bruce in front of him. "Do you know about the murder case that happened in Hell's Kitchen before?"
"I've heard of it." Bruce recalled. Although he had been staying in the laboratory, Betty would always tell him about news when she came. He still knew about this superhuman case that required the Supreme Squadron, which was his brother-in-law's team, to take action.
"Those dead people were our team." Robert showed a smile that was uglier than crying. "I was lucky at the time and was sent out to buy pizza, so I just escaped."
Bruce didn't know how to respond. He couldn't say words of comfort like 'rest in peace', after all, they were a bunch of bastards who abused mutants, but looking at Robert's appearance, and the education he had received, he was not allowed to say words like 'Good riddance! Let's pop the champagne!'
"That scene scared me." Robert seemed to recall the terrifying scene, shivering like a quail that had fallen into water. "I almost vomited out my internal organs."
Robert grabbed the cup in front of him, without drinking, just simply holding it. The temperature of the iced coffee finally calmed him down.
"...After that incident, I never engaged in related work again. I knew the value of life, so I asked a friend I knew and finally found a more decent work."
"Maybe it was to punish our previous atrocities. The boss and the others were killed by the mutants they had bullied, and God did not forget me who had survived by luck. I participated in the entry physical examination, and the result, as you know, liver cancer. Although late-stage symptoms have not yet appeared, it is estimated that it is not far away."
Robert seemed to have been emptied of his soul, relying only on the skeleton in his body to support his body so that he would not collapse to the ground.
"When I got the physical examination report, I felt like the sky was falling. I didn't even know how I got home. You know I can't afford the money needed for treatment for cancer, let alone the chances of treatment are so pitifully small."
Robert withdrew his hand and placed it back on the hem of his clothes, his pupils were covered with blood.
"But I want to live, I really want to live."
"So you came to us, pinning your hope on the Super Soldier Serum." Bruce looked at Robert seriously.
‘Actually, it was your staff who approached me.’ Robert slandered in his inner heart, but someone had warned him before he came to see Bruce. He knew that some things could not be said to the scientists in front of him, so he could only nod and admit Bruce's words.
"I must remind you, Mr. Reynolds, that all the effects of the Super Soldier Serum on the human body are unknown. It is even possible that it will lead to the deterioration of cancer after injection."
Bruce's words were not really scaring Robert. Experiment is like this, there are too many unknowns contained in it. Bruce is also unsure whether Robert will become a superhuman after injecting the serum, or get a super cancer that can be named after him.
"It can't be worse than it is now." Robert shook his head, not frightened by Bruce's words. He was a coward. Facing the life he could see the end of, he yearned for treatment, but deep down in his inner heart, he also knew that it was impossible.
Cancer is like a beast chasing after him, not causing him too much damage yet, but the process of escaping has exhausted him.
But he didn't have the guts to commit suicide, so he would accept this human experiment with a very low chance of survival and a high probability of death without hesitation.
‘Life and death are both my demands, no matter which one, I will not lose.’
Robert comforted himself in his heart like this.
(End of Chapter)
Who is speaking?
Bruce Banner vaguely seemed to hear someone shouting. He wanted to get up and reach for his glasses on the bedside table as usual, but found himself unable to move, and waves of pain came from his body, yet he couldn't make any sound.
Then he passed out again. When he woke up again, Bruce found himself seemingly moving. He struggled to open his eyes and saw a fully armed soldier standing above his head. In his peripheral vision, he also saw the surrounding ruins.
‘What exactly happened?’
Bruce's memory began to flood back intermittently.
…
"Are you sure you want to sign this contract, Mr. Reynolds?"
Although the man in front of him was a bit unkempt, the air of wisdom that could not be disguised on his body demonstrated the man's extraordinary nature.
Bruce Banner, the man in front of him introduced himself as soon as he saw him, and shook hands with him very politely. This was something Robert Reynolds, who was at the bottom of society, had never experienced in his life.
"Yes,... yes, sir." Robert sat stiffly on the chair, his hands hidden under the table constantly rubbing the hem of his clothes, forming a stark contrast with the calm and collected Bruce opposite him.
"Why, Mr. Reynolds?" Bruce leaned his upper body forward. "You know this is a human experiment, right? I mean, do you understand human experiments?"
"I know, I know." Robert was startled by Bruce leaning forward, his body shrinking even tighter, looking like a penguin baby hiding under his parents' crotch.
"The staff had explained it to me before I came, and I also read all the relevant items. The staff member was very nice. Knowing that I couldn't afford a lawyer, he even wanted to apply for one for me. After I refused, he even explained it to me item by item."
"That's what he should do, Mr. Reynolds. You are just enjoying your due rights." Bruce adjusted his glasses. "I saw your physical examination report. You have liver cancer, right?"
"Yes." Hearing the words liver cancer, Robert's face turned even paler, and after his breath paused for a few seconds, he continued weakly.
"I've been drifting through my days before. Do you know those short videos circulating online that bully mutants?"
"I know." Bruce frowned, the disgust in his gaze was undisguised, but because Robert was still speaking, he only answered the question and did not make his own judgment.
"I used to make a living by filming that." Robert lowered his head in shame. Bruce's gaze was like two swords piercing into his heart. In the past, he wouldn't have cared about this line of sight. As long as he could eat his fill, everything would be fine. Now, maybe because he was about to die, he felt how much of a bastard he was before.
"We were about five or six people at the beginning, and one of them was our boss. He led us to film this kind of video. Because of the outbreak of the 616 Incident, our team made a small fortune from these."
"But unfortunately, these have nothing to do with me." Robert showed a dry smile, as if mocking himself. "My body is too thin and weak, I can't bully others at all, and I can't even move large things. I can only do some chores, and our team is paid according to work."
Although what he did was not decent, Robert had to admit that the boss who tried to make money for them was indeed very loyal. Not only did he not abandon the useless Robert, but he even paid him a salary for small matters like pouring tea and serving water that anyone could do.
However, this money was just enough for Robert's life. Fortunately, the boss provided food during filming, otherwise Robert would have lived even more poorly. Fortunately, Robert had saved some money in this way.
"Life is tight, although people hate and dogs despise, but I can still live." When he said the word 'live', a trace of desire appeared in Robert's eyes.
"Until one day, we kicked a steel plate." Robert stopped here, looking timidly at Bruce in front of him. "Do you know about the murder case that happened in Hell's Kitchen before?"
"I've heard of it." Bruce recalled. Although he had been staying in the laboratory, Betty would always tell him about news when she came. He still knew about this superhuman case that required the Supreme Squadron, which was his brother-in-law's team, to take action.
"Those dead people were our team." Robert showed a smile that was uglier than crying. "I was lucky at the time and was sent out to buy pizza, so I just escaped."
Bruce didn't know how to respond. He couldn't say words of comfort like 'rest in peace', after all, they were a bunch of bastards who abused mutants, but looking at Robert's appearance, and the education he had received, he was not allowed to say words like 'Good riddance! Let's pop the champagne!'
"That scene scared me." Robert seemed to recall the terrifying scene, shivering like a quail that had fallen into water. "I almost vomited out my internal organs."
Robert grabbed the cup in front of him, without drinking, just simply holding it. The temperature of the iced coffee finally calmed him down.
"...After that incident, I never engaged in related work again. I knew the value of life, so I asked a friend I knew and finally found a more decent work."
"Maybe it was to punish our previous atrocities. The boss and the others were killed by the mutants they had bullied, and God did not forget me who had survived by luck. I participated in the entry physical examination, and the result, as you know, liver cancer. Although late-stage symptoms have not yet appeared, it is estimated that it is not far away."
Robert seemed to have been emptied of his soul, relying only on the skeleton in his body to support his body so that he would not collapse to the ground.
"When I got the physical examination report, I felt like the sky was falling. I didn't even know how I got home. You know I can't afford the money needed for treatment for cancer, let alone the chances of treatment are so pitifully small."
Robert withdrew his hand and placed it back on the hem of his clothes, his pupils were covered with blood.
"But I want to live, I really want to live."
"So you came to us, pinning your hope on the Super Soldier Serum." Bruce looked at Robert seriously.
‘Actually, it was your staff who approached me.’ Robert slandered in his inner heart, but someone had warned him before he came to see Bruce. He knew that some things could not be said to the scientists in front of him, so he could only nod and admit Bruce's words.
"I must remind you, Mr. Reynolds, that all the effects of the Super Soldier Serum on the human body are unknown. It is even possible that it will lead to the deterioration of cancer after injection."
Bruce's words were not really scaring Robert. Experiment is like this, there are too many unknowns contained in it. Bruce is also unsure whether Robert will become a superhuman after injecting the serum, or get a super cancer that can be named after him.
"It can't be worse than it is now." Robert shook his head, not frightened by Bruce's words. He was a coward. Facing the life he could see the end of, he yearned for treatment, but deep down in his inner heart, he also knew that it was impossible.
Cancer is like a beast chasing after him, not causing him too much damage yet, but the process of escaping has exhausted him.
But he didn't have the guts to commit suicide, so he would accept this human experiment with a very low chance of survival and a high probability of death without hesitation.
‘Life and death are both my demands, no matter which one, I will not lose.’
Robert comforted himself in his heart like this.
(End of Chapter)
