Triskelion, Office of Level 7 Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D..
Lin Xiao, bored, flipped through the documents on the table; they were all expense reports and battle damage reports from last month, nothing interesting. He then turned on his computer and glanced at the mission briefing. The latest one was "Abnormal signal in New Mexico, low priority," which he glanced at and then closed. He leaned back in his chair, turned halfway around, stared at the ceiling for a while, and suddenly remembered the Helicarrier incident.
"Since we're just idling around anyway, we might as well go check on the mothership's progress and see Susan and Reed while we're at it."
He stood up, draped his coat over his shoulder, and left the office. There weren't many people in the corridor. A few clerks carrying coffee walked past him, greeting Lin Xiao. Lin Xiao nodded slightly in response, took the elevator down in a few quick steps, turned into the intern agent area, and pushed open the door without knocking.
Kara was sitting at her workstation, looking at a thick document with a sliver of eraser stuck to her nose. When she looked up and saw Lin Xiao, she jumped up as if a switch had been flipped.
"Instructor! You're here."
Lin Xiao frowned and gently patted Kara on the head.
"What are you shouting about in the office? Keep quiet, you know? What will people think of me if they find out you're an agent I trained? You need to have some manners, understand?"
Kara pouted and nodded, thinking to herself, "Your voice is louder than mine! Look how scared everyone in the room is! Caroline was so scared that she smeared lipstick all over her ears, Richard almost choked on his cookie because of your shout."
The next second, Lin Xiao's expression changed. He smirked and patted Kara on the shoulder. "Come on, don't just stand there. I'll broaden your horizons. Come with me to the engineering department."
Kara glanced at the pile of documents on the table, then at Lin Xiao's face, which seemed to say "I'll take you on a wild ride," hesitated for a moment, and then spoke.
"Instructor, but I still have three risk assessment reports to complete."
"I'll write it for you when we get back. Let's go."
Kara's eyes lit up. She shoved the file into the drawer, grabbed her tablet, and followed him. The two walked down the corridor, Kara had to jog to keep up with Lin Xiao's pace.
"Instructor, what are we going to the engineering department for?"
"Look at the big ship."
What kind of big ship?
" Helicarrier." Lin Xiao said without turning his head. "You're in the bureau every day, you should know what they're building, right?"
Kara paused, her steps slowing slightly. She had vaguely heard of Helicarrier, but she always thought it was just a concept. She never imagined that S.H.I.E.L.D.. was actually building one.
"Is that thing really being built?"
"It's already half full, what do you think?"
Kara opened her mouth, then swallowed the rest of her words. She quickly typed a few words on the tablet, then looked up at Lin Xiao.
"So, you're taking me there so I can record something?"
"No, I just want you to broaden your horizons."
Should I prepare paper and pen?
"Is that tablet you're holding just for show?"
Kara glanced down at the tablet in her hand, pursed her lips, turned the screen on and off repeatedly, and said nothing more. The two went downstairs, drove for half an hour to S.H.I.E.L.D..'s secret research and development center, swiped their cards, walked through a long connecting corridor, and pushed open the airtight door of the engineering department.
Crane booms moved back and forth in the air in the workshop, sparks from welding torches rose and fell, and people were busy going up and down the scaffolding. The outline of the behemoth in the center of the hall was already visible, with four rotor bases standing like four thick pillars, each as tall as a three-story building. Kara stood at the doorway, frozen in place.
Lin Xiao took two steps forward, turned his head to look at her. "What are you standing there for? Come in."
Kara jogged after him, her eyes still darting around. The two walked along the passageway beside the scaffolding, and halfway there they heard a heated argument ahead.
Reed stood in front of the assembly table, clutching a data board in his hand, speaking in a low but rapid voice. Susan stood opposite him, also holding a board, but her eyes were red-rimmed. Ben stood beside her, his hands in his overalls pockets, saying nothing. The Human Torch leaned against a steel pillar, arms crossed, watching the show with amusement.
"I said the thruster parameters must be changed," Reed's voice came through. "The original design had too much thrust redundancy, wasting payload."
"Those parameters were something the five of us calculated for a month," Susan's voice was already strained. "You're just overturning them with a single sentence, which means the entire launch system will have to be re-verified."
"So?" Reed turned his head and glanced at her. "How long will the verification take?"
Susan opened her mouth, but no words came out.
Ben took a step forward, pulled his hands out of his pockets, and gestured with them. "Alright, alright, let's talk this out—"
"I wasn't talking to you." Reed turned and glanced at Ben, a cold look in his eyes.
Ben's hand froze in mid-air, and he stood there dumbfounded. Human Torch, standing beside him, lowered his arms and straightened up, but didn't say anything.
Reed withdrew his gaze and looked back at Susan, his tone softening slightly. "The propulsion system doesn't need to be changed. I'll decide the rotor configuration."
Susan looked down at the data board in her hand, saying nothing more, but gripping the edge of the board so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
The door creaked open, and Lin Xiao walked in with Kara.
He didn't rush to speak, first standing at the entrance of the passage for a while, scanning the people inside. He'd seen the Thing Human Torch and the Thing before. Wow, Susan was indeed a great beauty, just as Tony had said, practically a carbon copy of the one in the movie. The reason Lin Xiao had such a deep impression of Susan was because in the Fantastic Four storyline, this Invisible Woman had appeared completely naked... and she was incredibly white... cough cough, Lin Xiao turned his head and looked at Reed, his eyes lighting up.
Lin Xiao clapped his hands twice.
"The atmosphere is really lively." He strode in, a smile on his face. "Did I come at the wrong time?"
Human Torch snorted, "Indeed, it's not the right time."
Susan turned her head away and quickly wiped her eyes with a tissue. Lin Xiao's gaze lingered on her for a moment before returning to Reed's face. When Reed turned to face him, the coldness on his face had vanished, replaced by a warm expression.
"Who are you?"
" Lin Xiao, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.." Lin Xiao walked up to him and extended his hand. "You must be Mr. Reed, right? I'm a big fan of yours. I've read your book, ' Submolecules and Space Particles,' several times over."
Kara whispered behind him, "Instructor, that originally belonged to Mr. Tony..."
"Shut up, it was just a slip of the tongue, it's no big deal." Lin Xiao didn't even turn his head, a smile still on his face.
Kara shrank back, took a half step back, and looked down at the tablet.
Reed shook his hand, very lightly. "You're too kind, Agent."
Lin Xiao took a half step closer, lowered his voice, and said in a volume only the two of them could hear, "Long time no see, Mr. Doom. I didn't expect your magic to be so powerful."
Reed's hand froze for a moment in his palm. He looked up at Lin Xiao, something flashing in his eyes, quickly suppressed. He released his hand, tilted his head slightly, and the blankness on his face was just right.
"Sir Agent, what did you just say? I didn't hear you clearly."
"It's nothing." Lin Xiao withdrew his hand and muttered softly, "I noticed you the first time you appeared at S.H.I.E.L.D.. as Reed. I have a magical little gadget that can tell a person's identity at a glance. Don't get me wrong, I just think you're really amazing. Managing such a large country and keeping it so well-organized, while ensuring the people live good lives. I admire you."
Reed frowned, his voice turning cold. "I don't understand what you're talking about. This is the first time we've met."
"Yes, the first time." Lin Xiao nodded, his smile unchanged. "Look at my memory." Then he lowered his voice a few decibels. "To be honest, I'm not interested in your actions at all. After all, I'm not familiar with the Fantastic Four. What I care about is the reason for your argument today, what parameters and data? I'm very interested in that."
After Lin Xiao finished speaking, he patted Reed on the shoulder:
Tonight at 9 PM, West Garden, I'd like to treat you to coffee. See you there!
Reed stared at him for two seconds without saying a word.
Lin Xiao turned around and clapped his hands at the others. "Alright, coffee's on me today. Ms. Susan, did you get sand in your eye? Should I blow it out for you?"
Susan's eyes widened. She opened her mouth, looked at Lin Xiao, then at Reed, and finally at Ben and the Human Torch. Ben raised his hand to press his temples, and the Human Torch turned away, his shoulders shaking.
Kara stood at the door, clutching her tablet, and finally couldn't help but whisper, "Instructor, please don't do this..."
"What?" Lin Xiao had already turned and walked towards the door. "I was just concerned about my colleague."
As he passed by Kara, he snatched the tablet from her lap and glanced at it. The screen was blank, just an open, empty document. He shoved the tablet back in and gestured with his chin at her.
"They're gone."
Kara jogged to catch up. The two exited through the airtight door of the engineering department, and the corridor fell silent. Kara followed behind him, hesitating for a moment.
"Instructor, Mr. Reed doesn't seem to like you very much."
There are many people he dislikes.
"Then why did you still ask him out for coffee?"
Lin Xiao stopped and glanced at her.
You'll find out later.
Kara blinked and didn't ask any further questions. The two walked back down the corridor. Kara looked down and typed a few words on her tablet, then looked up at Lin Xiao's back and hugged the tablet tighter.