Although Tony sat stunned for a long time because of Howard's words, like many people who had lost loved ones, memories were meant to be revisited and cherished now and then, not used to bury oneself in.
The dead were gone, but the living still had to carry on.
After putting away the things his father had left behind, Tony composed himself as well and walked over to the small particle collider that had already been set up.
All the components had long been ready. Standing before it, Tony felt completely different from before. This time, he was doing it not only for himself, but for his father as well.
He flipped the switch and connected the power. A low hum rose as the particle collider began operating, and a brilliant blue beam of energy formed within its pipes.
Tony used a triangular crystal to bend the beam. The originally straight blue light was refracted by the crystal, and the redirected high-energy beam caused enormous damage to many objects in the laboratory.
It struck a pillar—the pillar was instantly burned through.
It swept across a row of cabinets—the cabinets were sliced in half.
It passed over a metal rack—the parts on the ruined rack clattered down onto the floor.
At the end of the beam was a transparent triangular crystal fixed in place beforehand. It was the vessel for the New Element, or rather, the solid, inactive form of the New Element.
The high-energy particle beam struck it.
In that instant, specks of light began to emerge within the crystal's transparent interior. They were faint at first, then grew brighter and fiercer, until the entire triangular crystal began to glow like an ignited star.
Tony stared at it, holding his breath.
Only after the light before him had stabilized did