Nick Fury stared at the Tesseract at the center of the metal apparatus. Deep down, he had always regarded the small cube as one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s foundational cornerstones.
During World War II, Hydra's leader, Red Skull, had obtained it from a church in Norway. Legend said the Tesseract was the most precious gem in Odin's vault, possessing incredible and wondrous power.
Red Skull Schmidt used it to develop energy weapons, nearly driving the Allied Forces into defeat after defeat on the battlefield. Had Captain America not led the Howling Commandos in destroying Hydra's stronghold in one fell swoop, creating an opportunity for victory in the war, the wheels of history might have thundered down another path.
Later, Captain America Steve Rogers crashed his plane into a glacier, while Howard Stark salvaged the Tesseract from the deep sea and entrusted it to the Scientific Strategic Corps, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s predecessor. It remained there until Nick Fury took over as director and resolved to restart the Tesseract research program.
"Did you see what activated the Tesseract?"
The Black director remained skeptical of Dr. Selvig's explanation. S.H.I.E.L.D. had kept the cube for years, and this strange phenomenon had never occurred before. According to the computer's calculations, the interference and radiation emitted by the Tesseract were steadily rising and would soon break past their highest peak.
In Dr. Selvig's judgment, this was not a good sign. Worse still, they had yet to find any effective way to shut it down. All they could do was observe and wait.
"No one has entered or left. The doctor is in the clear."
Hawkeye Barton, who had been watching everything from above, slid down the rope. He was part of the security force for this research center and was also responsible for monitoring everyone.
Ever suspicious, Nick Fury could