The sky, which had remained silent since was kindly reminded a few months ago, lit up again.
Tony, who had been deeply engaged in his work, received JARVIS's alert immediately. He looked up at the sky and checked the time: "Right on schedule! Not a minute early or late!"
"You knew this was coming, didn't you? The timing has been consistent for quite a while," Captain America, who was sitting beside him, remarked casually.
"There have been some variations. Initially it was monthly, then suddenly shifted to quarterly, then back to monthly before playing continuously. Recently, though, it's become regular again," Natasha corrected Captain America's assumption.
She had been particularly attentive to the Sky Screen's broadcast schedule and remembered the patterns clearly. This was largely because Fury had never abandoned his efforts to study the phenomenon.
S.H.I.E.L.D. maintained a dedicated research team trying to understand how the Sky Screen could penetrate all known materials. Was there anything that could block it? This question consumed their scientific curiosity.
["You have experienced the New York War. How do you feel? This is just an appetizer. Next, I will show you the real Battle of New York!"]
"What does that mean? The real Battle of New York?"
"Didn't they destroy enough buildings during the last invasion?"
"That sounds terrifying!"
"I thought those aliens were called Chitauri?"
"I wonder what happened to that enormous spaceship! Did Stark and his team take it somewhere?"
Many people who had mistakenly believed the Dark Elves' recent attack on New York was the "Battle of New York" mentioned by the Sky Screen now realized they were different conflicts entirely.
[A blue cube appeared on the dark screen, and a voice resonated: "The Tesseract has awakened. It's on a little world, a human world. They would wield its power, but our ally knows its workings as they never will."]
["He is ready to lead, and our force, our Chitauri, will follow."]
[A figure handed a scepter to another. Judging from the attire and the scepter's design, it was unmistakably Loki.]
["The world will be his, the universe yours. And the humans, what can they do but burn?"]
[Near a mountainside facility, a helicopter flew urgently through the night sky. The interior of the base blazed with activity and light.]
["All personnel, the evacuation order has been confirmed. Proceed to your designated vehicles for off-site assignment. This is not a drill. Emergency personnel, proceed to your designated vehicles for off-site assignment."]
[Numerous staff members hurried to evacuate under the supervision of armed soldiers, carrying crucial instruments and data with them.]
[Coulson stood quietly outside the facility wearing sunglasses, waiting for the helicopter to land. Hill exited first, followed by Nick Fury.]
[Upon disembarking, Fury immediately addressed Coulson: "How bad is it?"]
[Coulson removed his sunglasses: "That's the problem, sir. We don't know."]
[The group quickly descended to the designated level via elevator, with Coulson explaining: "Dr. Selvig detected an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago."]
[Initially, Fury assumed Selvig had conducted unauthorized research: "NASA didn't authorize Selvig to go to test phase."]
[Coulson quickly clarified: "He wasn't testing it. He wasn't even in the room. Spontaneous event."]
[Hill seemed incredulous: "It just turned itself on?"]
["Where are the energy levels now?"]
["Climbing. When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered evacuation," Coulson informed Fury of their earlier actions.]
[Fury agreed with the evacuation order. The Tesseract contained too many unknowns, and they couldn't afford unnecessary risks.]
["How long to get everyone out?"]
["Campus should be clear in the next half-hour."]
[Hearing this, Fury urged, "Do better," an inexplicable sense of foreboding weighing on him.]
[Coulson nodded immediately, turned, and hurried off to expedite the evacuation.]
[Fury and Hill descended a spiral staircase. Hill voiced her concerns: "Sir, evacuation may be futile."]
[Fury quipped: "Should we tell them to go back to sleep?"]
["If we can't control the Tesseract's energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance," she continued as they proceeded to the lower level.]
["I need you to make sure the Phase 2 prototypes are shipped out," Fury instructed as researchers rushed past them.]
[Hearing this, Hill looked at him with confusion: "Sir, is that really a priority right now?"]
[Fury turned to face her directly: "Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on. Clear out the tech below. Every piece of Phase 2 on a truck and gone."]
[Faced with Fury's unequivocal order, Hill had no choice but to comply: "Yes, sir. With me," she directed to two nearby soldiers before departing.]
[Fury entered the experimental area, spotted Selvig from a distance, and called out: "Talk to me, doctor! What do we know for certain?"]
["Director Fury," Selvig acknowledged his arrival. "The Tesseract is misbehaving."]
[A nearby researcher extended a probe toward the Tesseract, but before it made contact, the powerful energy destroyed it.]
[Hearing Selvig's assessment, Fury replied dryly: "Is that supposed to be funny?"]
["No, it's not funny at all," Selvig assured him. "The Tesseract is not only active, she's behaving." He walked alongside Fury toward the Tesseract's location.]
["I assume you pulled the plug?"]
[Selvig shook his head: "She's an energy source. We turn off the power, she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level..."]
["We prepared for this, doctor. Harnessing energy from space," Fury reminded him, his lack of scientific expertise preventing full comprehension of the situation.]
["We don't have the harness. My calculations are far from complete. She's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation."]
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