"Harry, where are you? The completion ceremony is about to start. And Dr. Otto, do you know his location? You two have been out of contact for four days. Call me back the moment you hear this message."
The electromagnetic shielding in the laboratory was turned off, and Harry's phone finally had a signal.
However, the two people in the laboratory completely ignored the phone.
Dr. Otto's eyes were circled with dark rings, his eyelids constantly fighting to stay open, but he remained excitedly staring at the reactor in front of him, with four mechanical arms encircling it as if holding a precious treasure.
Harry was the same, but possessing the physique of a Spartan Warrior, his body was incomparably tough; even if he were to stay up for another month, he would not feel weary.
"Unbelievable!" Dr. Otto said in a weak voice. "For a long time, that experiment has been considered a fraud."
"But looking at it now, that is very likely not the case."
Harry also felt a sense of emotion.
The two of them were referring to an experiment at the University of Utah in 1989, where Pons and Fleischmann claimed to have achieved nuclear fusion reactions at room temperature and pressure using palladium as a cathode to electrolyze heavy water in a small laboratory apparatus, thus discovering cold fusion technology.
This experiment was known as the Fleischmann-Pons experiment.
Scientists were naturally fascinated by this, but apart from these two, no one could successfully replicate their experiment. In the end, the U.S. Department of Energy wrote a report officially denying this scientific discovery.
Cold fusion became a highly questioned technology, and many people believed that this technology did not exist at all.
In Harry's original World, this matter had no reversal, and even here, to this day, no one has cleared their names.
But Harry clearly remembered that the first version of Tony Stark's arc reactor used palladium metal!
And since Tony Stark could piece that thing together in a cave, Harry did not believe that he and Dr. Otto could not figure this out.
As it turned out, in this World, those two predecessors might have truly completed a cold fusion experiment, but their experimental preparation was insufficient, they did not seek opinions from colleagues, and coupled with various funding and equipment issues, it ultimately caused this experiment to become an "academic fraud" that could not be replicated or proven.
Through the unremitting efforts of Otto and Harry, they collected hundreds of experimental reports from that time and compared them with the public reports of Pons and Fleischmann, finding a truly viable method of operation!
"To be honest, this feels like a dream. So many people failed, yet we succeeded." Otto still had a light, floating feeling.
"Yeah, to be honest, I'm starting to believe in metaphysics a little." Harry shrugged.
Perhaps it was because Tony hand-crafted a cold fusion reactor, unlocking some kind of shackles on the World? It sounded very mystical.
However, if it weren't for Dr. Otto's help, it would likely have been a long shot for Harry to obtain this technology.
Now that they had found the method for cold fusion, reactor miniaturization was no longer something out of reach.
"Technological innovation is truly fascinating." Dr. Otto sighed softly after saying this.
"What? Dr., you look a bit disappointed?"
"A little. I haven't even had time to enjoy the benefits brought by controlled nuclear fusion, and now this technology is about to welcome a new revolution. It feels like my own child is being phased out."
Harry could understand Dr. Otto's thoughts, and he patted Otto on the shoulder.
"The new technology is also your child; you should be happier. Besides, I'm not sure how to handle this technology yet, and its pollution potential is too high."
Harry was not wrong; in Harry's view, the military value of this technology was higher than its civilian value.
The radioactivity produced by the decay of the palladium element was very strong, and the rhodium element produced after decay was highly toxic.
Whether or not to put it up for sale also required careful consideration from Harry.
Selling it would certainly be nice, but it was hard to say what would happen if this technology were made public now.
Perhaps he should wait until Norman truly became the President of the United States, or at the very latest, until he became a senator.
On the other hand, he could also consider looking at the legacy Howard Stark left for his son.
He still remembered that Howard's model was placed in the CEO office of Stark Industries. Now that he had become a shareholder and director of Stark Industries, he had plenty of opportunities to examine that model.
And he also remembered clearly how Stark interpreted that model—remove the roads, remove the landscaped gardens, remove a pile of miscellaneous things, and use the pavilion as the framework; that was the atomic structure of the new element.
The only problem was that the particle accelerator for creating the new element required multiple experiments to find the correct parameters.
"The technological singularity is coming soon, we need to adjust our mindset. I really like that phrase you said; we still need to continue working hard, the future is coming, Dr."
The two looked at each other and smiled; having invented a new technology, they were in a very good mood.
"Harry, the completion ceremony is about to start. Can you hear my message or not? Your father and I are both very worried about your situation!"
Hurley's voice finally caught their attention, and the two suddenly realized that today seemed to be the completion ceremony for the fusion power station!
"Damn it, Dr., we have to hurry!" Harry checked the time and found it was indeed getting late; there was less than an hour before the ceremony began!
"Wait a minute, I have to take off my mechanical arms."
"Forget about it, Dr.!"
"How is it, Hurley? Did you get in touch with him?" Norman had just finished greeting the Secretary of Energy and asked about Harry's situation.
"No, he's still not answering the phone. Wait, he's calling back!" Hurley took the phone. "Harry, where are you? The ceremony is about to start!"
"Uh, we are driving, probably 40 minutes away... no, 20 minutes away."
"Harry, can you drive slower! We stayed up for four whole nights! Are you sure you can drive this fast!"
The other end of the line was very noisy, but Hurley could still hear Dr. Otto's heart-wrenching screams.
What the hell? Speeding first thing in the morning?
"Harry, what on earth are you doing? I hear Dr. Otto screaming."
"Ah, don't worry about him. We've been quite tired these past few days and need to vent." Harry's explanation was not convincing, especially since the honking on the other end of the phone was about to pierce Hurley's eardrums. "If you are interested, I can take you to experience it in a few days."
"Alright, stay safe. I can handle things here."
The venue was already packed with reporters of all kinds, and the big shots from all sides were already seated. Norman was engaging in friendly conversation with them.
Many of these people would become valuable political resources for Norman.
"Facility safety inspection is complete, Ms. Hurley." The speaker was Max Dillon, who was now shining and generating heat in his own position, unlike the original work where he made New York shine and generate heat.
"Have the engineers take their positions."
After arranging the engineers, Hurley walked onto the podium, and the scene quieted down.
"Thank you all for attending this completion ceremony today."
"Today, you will witness the birth of a brand new energy source, a safe and sustainable energy source that will provide cheap electricity for everyone."
Just as Hurley was planning to continue her speech to buy time for Harry, there were some murmurs at the scene.
"Why aren't Harry Osborn and Dr. Otto here?" "What happened?"
Regarding this, Hurley could only continue to bite the bullet and introduce the benefits brought by the new energy.
Bang! Bang!
A dull thud suddenly came from outside the park. It seemed like there was a disturbance outside?
Four huge arms were clawing at the wall, as if a huge monster was about to appear before everyone.
Everyone held their breath.
Bang!
"Sorry everyone, Dr. Otto and I were busy with a new experiment, but fortunately, we made it to the scene."
But the one controlling the mechanical arms was not some monster, but the protagonists of this completion ceremony, Harry and Dr. Otto!
"Sorry, but it was packed with people outside, so this was the only way we could enter."