Washington D.C.
Strategic Scientific Reserve Headquarters.
The office was quiet except for the soft ticking of a wall clock.
Dr. Abraham Erskine adjusted his glasses as he finished reading the report in front of him.
The paper was short.
But the contents were unusual.
Very unusual.
Incident Report
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Date: March 1943
Witness Statements:
Civilian male observed moving at abnormal speed during traffic accident.
Subject reportedly pulled a woman out of the path of a truck before impact.
Estimated reaction time:
Below normal human threshold.
Possible explanations:
• misidentification
• exaggeration
• experimental enhancement
Erskine leaned back slowly.
He tapped the report with his finger.
"Interesting…"
Across the desk, a young military officer crossed his arms.
"You think it's real?"
Erskine didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he stood and walked toward the window overlooking the city.
The war had forced science to move faster than it ever had before.
Weapons.
Medicine.
Human experimentation.
And in a classified laboratory hidden beneath this very building—
The United States government was attempting something unprecedented.
The creation of the first Super Soldier.
Behind him, the officer spoke again.
"Doctor… should we investigate?"
Erskine turned back toward the desk.
"That depends."
He picked up the report again.
"How many witnesses?"
"Eight confirmed."
"Any military personnel present?"
"No."
Erskine nodded slowly.
That made it less likely to be military involvement.
But it raised another possibility.
Which was far more dangerous.
Hydra.
The Nazi scientific division had been attempting similar experiments for years.
Erskine himself had once been forced to work for them.
He knew exactly how far they were willing to go.
And if Hydra had already succeeded in creating enhanced humans—
That would change the entire war.
The officer broke his thoughts.
"You think this man is a German experiment?"
Erskine shook his head.
"No."
The officer frowned.
"Why not?"
Erskine smiled slightly.
"Because he saved someone."
The officer blinked.
"…what?"
Erskine tapped the witness statement again.
"The subject intervened to protect a civilian."
"Hydra would never waste their resources on something like that."
He placed the report back on the desk.
"No."
"If this event is real…"
"…then the subject is something else entirely."
Brooklyn
Later that evening.
Steve Rogers sat at a small diner table, staring suspiciously at a glass of water.
Across from him, the symbiote quietly observed through their shared senses.
Steve lowered his voice.
"…okay."
"Let's talk."
The black organism shifted slightly beneath his jacket.
Steve tapped the table.
"You made me faster."
The symbiote pulsed.
Agreement.
"You made me stronger."
Agreement again.
Steve leaned forward slightly.
"…are you going to keep doing that?"
The symbiote considered the question.
Then it responded with an image.
Not words.
An image of Steve protecting people.
Standing between danger and others.
The symbiote reinforced the image with a simple biological directive.
Protect host purpose.
Steve stared at the table for a moment.
Then he smiled faintly.
"…I can live with that."
Suddenly the diner door opened.
Three military officers stepped inside.
They weren't here for food.
Their eyes scanned the room quickly.
Then they stopped.
On Steve.
The tallest officer approached slowly.
"Steven Rogers?"
Steve froze.
"…yes?"
The officer placed a folder on the table.
"You've been selected for a special military program."
Steve blinked.
"I've been rejected from every military program."
The officer opened the folder.
Inside was a photograph taken earlier that morning.
The truck incident.
Steve pulling the woman away from danger.
The officer tapped the image.
"Apparently not this one."
Inside Steve's mind—
The symbiote reacted.
External interest increasing.
Strategic threat probability rising.
But also—
Opportunity.
Across the abyss beyond the universe—
Aiden Vox observed everything.
His voice echoed quietly through Throneworld.
"Fascinating."
The Codex updated again.
Abyss Codex — Experiment #001
Host: Steven Rogers
Mutation: Adaptive Combat Symbiote
Current Reaction Stage:
Organizational Interest
Human institutions have begun investigating the anomaly.
Prediction:
Military integration attempt.
Possible mutation interaction with artificial enhancement systems.
Evolution probability increasing.
Aiden rested his chin against one hand.
"If their serum interacts with my creation…"
"…this experiment may produce something entirely new."
Back in the diner—
Steve looked between the officers and the photograph.
Then he sighed.
"…okay."
"I have one question."
The officer raised an eyebrow.
"What is it?"
Steve pointed at the picture.
"…am I in trouble?"
The officer laughed.
"No, son."
He closed the folder.
"You're about to change the war."
And somewhere deep within the living shadow bonded to Steve Rogers—
The symbiote began preparing for its next evolution.