Whisperer in the Darkroom

Darkness wrapped around every inch of Lin Xiu's senses like water-soaked velvet, chilly and heavy. His vision was swallowed by endless black, while his skin felt only the damp, biting cold.

The chill at the back of his neck was still crawling up his spine, sharper than a leaking liquid nitrogen tank in the lab. Like icy needles, it stabbed painfully into his nape, and he could almost hear the faint hiss of the cold spreading.

He could hear the soft whine of his Nano Armor activating—the thermal signature masking module in tactical mode was buzzing, sharp and urgent, as if desperately proclaiming something in the darkness. The Oracle System's scanning rays pierced the blackness, casting a pale green grid across his retinas. The light-green grid stood out with startling clarity, like a mysterious guide in the dark.

"You carry a power not meant for mortals... an ancient inheritance sealed away by Odin."

The voice carried an ancient cadence, like rusty gears grinding across his eardrums—harsh and grating. Every syllable seemed to carry the stench of decay as it burrowed into his nostrils.

Lin Xiu's pupils contracted slightly, and his fingertips unconsciously pressed against the core of his chest armor. The nanite swarm there was vibrating at an abnormal frequency, as if answering some kind of summons. He could feel the faint tremor of the armor through his fingers, carrying a trace of warmth.

He remembered the fragment of Asgardian records Dr. Novak had shown him three days ago. Written in Old Norse, it said that "Balder" was the name of the god of light, and Odin's seal... The Balder Armor here was a mysterious piece of Asgardian equipment, rumored to possess immense power.

"Doctor!" He lowered his voice and caught a glimpse of the old man's shadow swaying beside him, wavering in the darkness as if it might be swallowed at any moment.

Dr. Novak's breathing suddenly grew ragged. A pinprick of red light appeared in the darkness—a miniature laser pointer hidden in the old man's collar.

The light was weak, yet it cut through the ink-black curtain like a blade. The red glow flickered in the darkness, giving off a faint crackle that sounded especially clear in the silent darkroom.

Lin Xiu saw it clearly.

A figure stood before the Mind Stone projector. A black robe draped to the floor, its material impossible to discern, yet it shimmered with an eerie glow that did not belong to this era. The faint radiance gave off an icy aura that raised goosebumps across Lin Xiu's skin.

The figure held a crystal in its right hand. Unlike the Tesseract's blue light, this crystal was dark gold, its surface covered in twisted runes. Each rune pulsed faintly like a living blood vessel, and when they moved, he could almost hear soft thumps like a beating heart.

"Time Observer No. 0." The voice rang out again, and this time Lin Xiu identified its source—right from the black-robed figure's throat.

The figure did not turn, yet it seemed able to see straight through the metal wall of the ventilation duct and into his eyes. "Quantum disturbances dragged me here from the observation dimension, and you, Lin Xiu, are no accidental traveler."

Dr. Novak suddenly moved.

The old man's hunched body sprang forward as if launched by a spring, lunging for the Mind Stone recorder.

His fingertips were still thirty centimeters from the device when an invisible wall slammed into his chest. With a muffled bang, the doctor was flung into the wall. The laser pointer rolled across the floor, its red beam drawing a trembling trail. The impact made Lin Xiu's ears ache, while the pointer rattled along the ground.

"This isn't an ordinary energy device..." The doctor clutched his aching chest, his voice trembling with lingering shock. "It's reading consciousness!

"My memories... Images just flashed through my mind. Your lab's Quantum Collider!"

Lin Xiu's temples throbbed. He could feel the blood vessels there pulsing with a faint, swollen ache.

The Oracle System's warning exploded beside his ears: "Abnormal psychic energy fluctuations detected. Target has locked onto the host's brainwave frequency. Immediate severance of external energy sources is advised." He understood at once—the black-robed figure was using the Mind Stone to scan his memories.

S.H.I.E.L.D. on the eve of the Battle of New York could not possibly possess such technology, unless...

"You're looking for the secret of the Balder Armor." Lin Xiu's voice was as calm as a precision instrument. The nanite swarm flowed down his arm and condensed in his palm into a data cable as thin as a strand of hair, hissing softly as it formed.

"But I'm sorry. I don't like being treated as a test subject."

With a sharp hiss, the data cable stabbed into the control console's port.

The nanite swarm flooded into the circuits like a tide. Through his neural interface, Lin Xiu felt the sting of electricity—this was the Oracle System forcibly taking over the control terminal. It felt like countless tiny needles piercing his nerves, making him frown despite himself.

An alarm abruptly blared, its piercing wail echoing through the darkroom and hurting their ears. Red warning lights flared in the darkness, illuminating half of the black-robed figure's turned face. The red lights flashed on and off, carrying a sense of danger.

It was a featureless face.

Or rather, every feature was constantly changing. At times, it had Fury's hooked nose; at others, Tony's curly hair. Finally, it settled into Odin's long beard, only to blur into nothing again the instant Lin Xiu blinked.

Lin Xiu could not help but wonder what this black-robed figure truly was. How could it possess such miraculous shapeshifting abilities? Could it be connected to Asgard's mysterious power?

"You are not the only one chosen." Urgency entered the black-robed figure's voice. "The entanglement level between the Tesseract and the Balder Core has reached 79%. If it breaks past the critical threshold during the Battle of New York..."

Bzzzt—

A shower of sparks burst from the console as the nanite swarm completely melted the energy input lines.

The Mind Stone's ghostly blue glow abruptly dimmed, and the projector's hum stopped dead. The sudden silence left the darkroom unnervingly still.

On Lin Xiu's retinas, the Oracle System's scanning grid suddenly warped into garbled code. By the time it cleared again, the black-robed figure had vanished.

"The gears of fate have begun to turn, Quantum Sentinel... Here, 'Quantum Sentinel' might refer to someone with special quantum abilities, playing an important role in this mysterious event."

That final whisper echoed through the empty control room, its trailing notes shredded by the wind roaring through the ventilation ducts like a ghost's wail.

Lin Xiu removed his nano mask. Cold sweat slid down the back of his neck and into his collar, making him shiver.

He stared at the Mind Stone, which had returned to silence. The nano core in his chest was still faintly hot—the vibration from moments ago had felt exactly like the resonance before the Quantum Collider started up.

"The entanglement level he mentioned..." Dr. Novak pushed himself upright against the wall, his lenses fogged over. "I saw something in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files before. The Tesseract's quantum state is abnormally stable, unless there is..."

"Another quantum system on the same frequency." Lin Xiu finished, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing against his chest armor.

The Oracle System suddenly chimed, and a line of small text appeared on his retinas: "Unknown energy residue detected. Locating..."

He looked up at the ceiling.

Within the ventilation duct's shadows, a trace of dark-gold light was slowly fading, like a drop of gold paint dissolving into ink. It gave off a faint glow and a slight warmth before gradually disappearing from sight.

Lin Xiu and Dr. Novak walked out of the darkroom. The hallway outside was dimly lit and oppressive, but their minds were entirely focused on tracking the black-robed figure.

"Doctor," Lin Xiu said as he reactivated the Nano Armor's tracking module, tension creeping into his voice without him noticing, "help me connect to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s satellite array.

"I need..."

"To track the energy trail that guy left behind." The doctor adjusted his glasses, and his clouded eyes suddenly brightened. "I should have realized it earlier. There was no way the Quantum Lock Odin set on the Rainbow Bridge all those years ago had no flaws..."

The console screen suddenly flickered.

The Oracle System's locator cursor paused for half a second over the coordinates of an abandoned factory in Brooklyn, then was swallowed by static.

Lin Xiu stared at the static and heard the nano core in his chest buzzing. This time, its vibration frequency was identical to the Quantum Storm from three days ago, when he had crossed over.