Thousands of meters beneath an active volcanic rift in southern Peru, a teeth-grating scraping sound came from outside the hull. The shell, a composite of abyssal adamant and titanium alloy, was sliding down a fault fissure inclined at more than seventy degrees.
Both sides of the fissure were walls of obsidian crystal, melted by the immense pressure deep within the earth and then cooled. Dark red magma flowed through the cracks, bathing the view beyond the observation window in crimson.
Four miniature Arc Reactors ran at full capacity. Their low-frequency hum made even the metal seats inside the cabin vibrate.
The temperature display had already climbed past three thousand. The cooling matrix spewed white mist, but Steve still felt as though the air he breathed was full of sparks.
Banner had not transformed. Wearing a bulky radiation suit, he hunched over the cramped control console, all ten fingers flying across the keyboard. The abyssal adamant in the deep-diving capsule's shell was resonating faintly with the chaotic energy field around it. Using the Asgardian frequency sensors Tony had installed beforehand, the onboard instruments converted the turbulent higher-dimensional fluctuations into concrete visual readings.
Sersi sat on a folding chair in the corner. Her eyes remained fixed on the deep-penetration radar screen at the bottom of the cabin.
"Three thousand meters until we hit bottom."
Banner wiped the sweat from his chin.
"The gravitational anchor beams are at full capacity. The magnetic field outside is a boiling mess. But the good news is, the infrasound detector really did pick something up."
Banner swiped across the screen twice.
"Look at these red peaks."
Banner pointed at a stretch of highly regular fluctuations on the screen.
"They match the frequency Coulson played in the conference room exactly. The scale is terrifying. In biological terms, just