Vought Tower, isolation medical bay, basement level four.
Outside the specially reinforced one-way bulletproof glass, Simona held a cup of warm black coffee, calmly watching the fifty fixed metal chairs arranged neatly inside.
The moment Compound V was injected into their bodies, the agents sitting in the chairs went rigid, dark blue veins bulging along their necks and foreheads. Their muscles spasmed uncontrollably beneath their clothes.
Several even clenched their teeth so hard they creaked, traces of blood seeping from the corners of their mouths, yet they forced themselves not to cry out.
They were either Hydra operatives who had spent years crawling out of piles of corpses or field agents painstakingly selected by S.H.I.E.L.D., long accustomed to risking their necks. A couple of broken ribs or a gunshot wound was routine to them. Compared with that little bit of physical pain, tangible, inhuman power was what they were willing to stake their lives on.
Simona lowered her head and sipped her coffee. Working themselves to the bone for Hydra or Fury, shedding blood and sweat, would ultimately earn them nothing but a death benefit. In the hands of their boss, Lucian, however, they could cross the threshold beyond ordinary humanity simply by enduring these few minutes. In their place, even if it hurt ten times as much, she would never give in.
A few minutes later, everyone's spasms inside the bay gradually stopped. Heavy panting came through the intercom. The agents, who had looked somewhat exhausted before, slowly raised their heads, their eyes shining as never before. Someone experimentally flexed his fingers around an armrest, immediately leaving deep finger marks in it.
"Jade Balance, have you finished scanning their physical data?" Simona set down her coffee cup and asked evenly.
"All data has been collected, Ms. Simona."
Jade Balance's