General Ross stepped out of the complex, his solitary back conveying decay and an indecipherable sorrow. He looked around at all the smiles surrounding him. Those people had turned this day into a celebration, a festival of science and culture.
His thoughts drifted, and memories from three years earlier became vivid in his mind. He had fallen from the summit, from a height that very few military officers could ever hope to reach in their lifetimes. Through his own shrewdness, he had achieved remarkable results throughout his military career. In every decision he made, and even in his mistakes, he was able to glimpse an opportunity.
His leadership had been unquestionable, and his ideas brilliant. Otherwise, his influence would never have spread so far, nor would he have gathered so many people willing to follow him. They had been ready to follow in his footsteps, to entrust their lives to him, and, if necessary, to sacrifice themselves. They were his most loyal subordinates. Even now, when he had fallen to the ground and lay at the mercy of others, to the point where even dogs would dare piss on him, they still endured at his side, serving as a steady support that little by little made him feel as though he might rise again.
He had gone from being the pride of the nation's air force, a shining example of a decorated officer, and a source of pride for his family name with its long history of military service, to becoming a plague from whom everyone fled at the mere sight of him, an old officer who squandered resources, an old man with backward, ignorant ideas. A danger to both his colleagues and his subordinates. The thirty-three lives lost in that incident had been deeply tragic, regarded as the worst loss suffered by the military in a time without an ongoing war.
Thirty-three lives in peacetime were, without question, an indelible stain on his record as a proud officer.
And beyond that, he had indirectly been responsible for unleashing what could very well become a threat to the nation and its citizens: that uncontrollable beast known as «Hulk».
Ross was filled with regret. Not for taking charge of the «Super-Soldier Project»—not a single trace of regret existed in him over that. No matter what else happened, that was something he had needed to seize firmly with his own hands.
After all, he seemed to be the only one within the army's command structure capable of seeing the nation's fragility. For all that the United States of America was the most powerful nation in the world, its leaders were sinking into complacency, while other possible enemies never lowered their guard and instead grew stronger day by day.
The country's problems did not come only from outside. Its greatest rot came from within. The nation was infested with a cancer deeply rooted in its very foundation, from selfish businessmen who would betray their own country if it served their interests, to corrupt officials at every level.
And beyond them, there were the various superhuman beings who had emerged in recent years, all of whom had become a constant headache for the existing social order.
Those greedy businessmen and corrupt officials were certainly a plague on the country, but at least they could still be kept in check through various deterrent methods, allowing the sickness to be resisted temporarily until, once the opportunity presented itself, that tumor might finally be cut out at the root.
In truth, it was the latter that worried him most.
Those concerns included mutants who promoted rebellious, separatist, supremacist, or openly oppressive ideologies against ordinary human beings. They included altered humans who had taken justice into their own hands and called themselves superheroes, dressing in ridiculous costumes and acting above the law on more than one occasion, breaking it without consequence.
They also included wealthy magnates with the technology and intelligence to build state-of-the-art weapons, which they kept for themselves under flimsy excuses of private ownership and shared identity, offering up some crude allegory that amounted to a kind of modern slavery.
And beyond all that, there were the so-called gods of myth, who apparently turned out to be long-lived alien beings who considered the world a territory under their dominion. And that was without even counting other possible extraterrestrial races whose goals were openly expansionist and bellicose. That last part had not been confirmed, but even if someone announced it as fact tomorrow, Ross would not have been surprised.
Once a man had been exposed to classified information guarded by the highest secrecy and the strictest confidentiality, no story sounded far-fetched anymore.
Ross's true regret came from not having pressed Relly Glass harder for a collaboration between GIG and the nation's air force. From not having continued to pressure the army's high command to lift the restrictions preventing GIG from conducting military and defense research and development, restrictions that had existed largely because of the exclusivity contract with «Hammer Industries» and «Stark Industries».
He regretted being so fair-minded that he had refused to use his personal influence for his own benefit, and thus had not opened the road for GIG's expansion into the military sector.
He knew very well that, with the careful way Relly Glass managed research projects, no disaster like that one would ever have occurred, and there would have been no possibility of that green beast roaming free and causing destruction. The tragedies and the consequences could have been avoided. It could have been a different story.
But it was too late. Even if he proposed it now, Relly would most likely reject him immediately. Over the years, GIG had built an impeccable reputation through its development of pharmaceuticals and products for health and hygiene, as well as the creation and sale of goods for everyday use across many sectors. Its solid reputation had been built on a public image of peace, accessible health, and various altruistic associations devoted to community support.
If the public were to learn that the same company manufacturing pet food and toys, breakfast cereals, electronics, and medicine also maintained close ties to the military sector for the sake of advancing important weapons research and development, then that mountain-solid reputation would begin to tremble and crumble little by little. They would be branded hypocrites, and everything would begin to fall apart.
He deeply regretted listening to his daughter's words, accepting Banner into the research team, and not only that, but placing him in charge of the project as its leader. Even though Banner was a weakling with nothing but brains, Ross had been far more tolerant of him than he should have been. He had barely accepted the relationship the man had with his daughter, though he still believed that his only daughter deserved something much better, like a good man from within the military.
He regretted giving Banner so much freedom, and even more than that, regretted trusting him so thoroughly, because that trust had led directly to this disaster.
He felt as though the country had entered a countdown. The longer it took to find a solution, the farther away the nation would be from regaining control of the situation. Remaining passive at a time like this would only lead to ignorance of the coming events, until they were left with no choice but to follow the current, with no possibility of changing course.
So many complications brought with them so many headaches for Ross, yet in the midst of all that darkness, he had found a flash of light.
Perhaps it was his only opportunity to escape the mire in which he had sunk.
He had left the presentation of the limb-regeneration serum deeply satisfied. He knew very well that it had, in truth, been presented by GIG, only under the name of a research project supposedly carried out entirely by Empire State University. He had even suggested the participation of one of his father's former subordinates, so the man might have the chance to recover his lost hand and be cured of several physical ailments.
Of course, he had not been risking that man. Knowing Relly's methods, he understood that the final trials were extremely safe. Otherwise, the project would never have reached that point.
His appearance at the event had been meant to witness the final results, with the intention of being among the first to place an order for his division. He believed that product had immense strategic importance, and he could not afford to lose the opportunity to acquire it.
But then, after raising question after question—not about the main technology that had brought everyone there in the first place, including himself, but about the background technology employed merely as an optional complement, used only to accelerate the serum's effects for the demonstration—he had come upon something unexpected.
The «Ultra Plus Rays» unquestionably seemed to be the ideal replacement for gamma rays.
Ideas raced through Ross's mind. A plan so bold that no one would ever expect him to carry it out began to take shape in his head.
Of course, he did not intend to steal the «Ultra Plus Rays» technology. GIG was the last organization with which he wanted to create problems or stir up hostility.
A pharmaceutical company with a history of innovative formulas and medical procedures, regarded by some as miraculous, was not something anyone wanted to make an enemy of. Trying to offend them would not bring any immediate advantage. It would be more like digging one's own grave. After all, no human being in the world was exempt from illness.
From its earliest days to the present, no matter how much it had expanded into other sectors, health had remained GIG's primary field.
Among GIG's most important achievements were its various treatments for multiple types of cancer. Though cancer was a vast disease category, and throughout human history people had worked toward some possible universal cure, the truth was that only a few forms had ever been cured in early stages, and even those treatments were intrusive methods that deteriorated the body.
GIG, although it had still not managed to develop a universal cure, had succeeded in creating new treatments for certain types of cancer that were less invasive and far gentler on the patients' bodies. And compared to previous decades, those treatments had achieved significantly higher recovery rates.
Close to fifty-five percent of patients with certain severe cancers could be cured even at intermediate stages, while less severe types had a recovery rate of ninety-nine point five percent. Without question, those were extremely positive numbers, especially when one considered the growing technological progress of the century.
And the achievements did not stop there. Other illnesses such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's had also gained cures, though only when diagnosed in their early stages and treated in time.
Within its primary sector, GIG had paved its reputation with tangible accomplishments, and on top of that, it had released them to the public at affordable prices. In a country where health care was expensive, that gesture had naturally earned the gratitude of many, leading the masses to show a certain willingness to consume and accept other products from the same company.
Faced with a company like that, it was far more beneficial to maintain good relations, and everyone knew it.
That was precisely why, even after the maneuver meant to obstruct GIG's entry into the military sector, the military officials and the companies involved had not overstepped. They had not made things excessively difficult, nor had they shown any intention of damaging GIG's interests.
Because GIG had not yet fully entered weapons manufacturing, the move had not caused any major losses. In industrial competition, it was still within acceptable limits. It had not created enmity, only a healthy rivalry and competition between companies.
Ross's real plan was not to make any move to seize the technology. It was to establish a collaboration, not with GIG itself, but directly with the scientist behind it.
Ross certainly did not look down on Rilley because of his young age. On the contrary, he believed that because of his youth, the boy's potential was even greater than that of many veteran scientists.
Using the data obtained by the scientific team before the disaster, Ross believed he could continue the development of the «Super-Soldier Project». By replacing gamma rays with the more manageable «Ultra Plus Rays», he believed the chances of success were high. If a failure had given birth to such a creature, then a more controlled process might have an even greater chance of creating something more formidable.
Ross mulled over the idea. That was why he had said nothing to Rilley, and certainly why he had not shown his intentions before the other guests.
That move would mean risking everything: the small measure of credibility he had managed to restore, the remnants of his reputation, and even the funds of his division.
To gamble all of that and still achieve nothing would not only finish sinking him, it would also lead to his being judged in a military court for the misuse of public funds, sentencing him harshly and perhaps even leading to him being declared a traitor to the nation.
"Lieutenant General Ross, are you alright?"
That voice pulled him from his stupor. Ross turned toward the speaker, fixing him with a hard stare as he looked to see who had dared interrupt him in the middle of such reflection.
The man immediately took a step back and snapped into a military salute.
"My apologies, Lieutenant General. I couldn't help but worry about your condition. Some of my colleagues told me they had seen you acting strangely."
The man was none other than his aide, Major Ryan Hardman, one of his most loyal subordinates. Hardman had been following him since he was very young, ever since he first entered the defense forces, after the retirement of his own father, an old colleague of Ross.
Only then did Ross realize he had already returned to base and was now standing inside his office. He had arrived in such a distracted state that he might as well have been moving on autopilot.
It was the first time he had ever behaved that way.