Preparations

Nick Fury continued, "If we'd told Ava from the start that her condition couldn't be treated, what do you think would have happened?"

"Her not joining S.H.I.E.L.D. would have been the least of our worries. A ghostlike woman with powers, out in the world, enduring the pain of her cells tearing apart every day and knowing she didn't have long to live—who could imagine what she might do in the end?"

"Better to give her a little hope. Then she'd be useful to me, and she wouldn't wreak havoc on the world."

"Tang, I gave her some of the Recovery Potion you provided. It didn't work."

So Apocalypse had guessed right: an ordinary Recovery Potion had no effect on a Quantum Body.

By that logic, the gold and Purple Recovery Potions probably wouldn't work either.

Apocalypse asked, "Do you know where she's hiding?"

"No. Her ability makes her too hard to track. Besides, we figured she didn't have much time left, so we didn't pay her much attention."

"But finding her shouldn't be difficult. Give me two days. We can compare reports of ghosts from across the internet, match their details, and narrow down where she's been."

Apocalypse shook his head. "Two days is too long. I'll give you a lead. Look into a university professor named Bill Foster. He's been helping Ava find a treatment."

"Bill Foster?" Fury paused. "I know him. He used to be a researcher at S.H.I.E.L.D. and worked on a project that never got anywhere. He left S.H.I.E.L.D. afterward and went into teaching."

"Was that project called the Goliath Project?" Apocalypse asked.

"You know about that too? Tang, I really can't hide anything from you."

Fury felt a chill. Good thing he'd sent Ava's file over without holding anything back.

If he'd concealed something, he