Edwards Air Force Base, in a secret laboratory buried more than twenty meters underground.
Howard Stark and Dr. Wendy Lawson were both fully suited up in protective research gear and clear goggles. Holding their breath, they stared wide-eyed and nervously at the humanoid beast covered in indigo fur, deftly working the controls of a hemispherical console.
Energy was drawn from the icy blue, crystal-like cube through a special energy-conduction process and stored in a small module. It looked like a ball of blue flame, steadily "burning" as streams of fire spouted from it.
"Heh, relax, you two. We're not defusing a bomb."
Hank took off his glasses and scratched at the fur on his cheek. His bright yellow, slit-pupil eyes blinked twice. Seeing the two of them looking relieved, he grinned, baring his sharp teeth, and said:
"Techniques for extracting energy from the Tesseract had already matured back in the days of Hydra's World War II forces. These days, both energy-storage efficiency and extraction rates have improved dramatically. The Tesseract's energy is stable and inexhaustible, of course, but ordinary organisms can't come into direct contact with it."
Mr. Stark let out a long breath. Looking at Hank McCoy, who wore nothing but a simple white research coat, he felt stifled by the heat inside his own specially designed protective suit.
He exchanged a glance with Dr. Lawson, then began taking off his gear and ruefully joked:
"Sorry to have you laughing at us, Dr. McCoy. We know the Howlett Group has been using this energy for decades, but this is the source itself. I really can't imagine that it's... that it's just a cube this small."
Wendy Lawson took off her protective jacket and rolled up the sleeves of her white shirt. With her silver-gray bob and refined, gentle demeanor,