That night, on the first floor of the Student Activity Center.
In front of the storage room wall, Wade took out a special magnetic card and swiped it lightly across a reader marked with warning signs.
With a soft "beep," the seamless wall slid silently to one side, revealing an alloy elevator.
"Putting a laboratory entrance under the Student Activity Center... that's quite bold."
Wade muttered as he stepped into the elevator. The interior was exceptionally simple, containing nothing but a conspicuous red alarm button.
After a brief sensation of weightlessness, the alloy doors slid open silently.
Kate, with her hair in a high ponytail, stood at the entrance, raising her hand with a smile: "Hi!"
"Why are you here too?" Wade flew out of the elevator, a look of surprise on his face. "Did Bruce look for you as well?"
Kate naturally reached out and rested her hand on his shoulder, using the support to float in the air with him. "Shetty asked me to come. She needs me to help soothe those... emotionally unstable patients."
The two flew forward along the bright, empty corridor and soon reached the entrance of the circular laboratory.
Dr. Bruce's assistant was already waiting there, leading them toward Research Room 1 while saying as they walked, "Wade, we need you as a control group tonight to help test the calibration effects of several new controllers."
Wade walked into the research room and saw Bruce and several researchers standing outside a transparent glass door, preparing and debugging some strange-looking devices.
Wade looked at the people in hospital gowns inside the glass door and asked, "Doctor, is it necessary to call me? Don't you already have test subjects?"
He didn't want to mess up, so his perception quietly extended, attempting to capture the shallow thoughts of the individuals inside.
Bruce picked up a sonic gun and slid a button. "You have high resistance to sound waves and gas, and you have control abilities, making you the perfect control group."
"This is also for humanitarian reasons. Only by debugging the safety thresholds of the devices can we better control out-of-control personnel without hurting them."
"Understood." Wade nodded in agreement, confirming that they were indeed preparing for routine data collection and had no other intentions.
'I asked Shetty to develop new weapons against Supes, but I didn't expect to be the first one pulled in for testing. Is this what they call shooting yourself in the foot?'
Since he was already here, he might as well make the best of it. He could generate regional vacuum and soundproof barriers around himself, so he wasn't afraid of this kind of testing.
If even this equipment could affect him under these conditions, then dealing with others would be a piece of cake.
The earlier he came into contact with new anti-Supe measures, the easier it would be for him to steal their design concepts and prepare countermeasures in advance.
If The Boys and those people from the Department of Defense had means to restrict Supes, they could further target Supe criminals, and Supe-related incidents involving Vought wouldn't have to be abandoned due to lack of capability.
Bruce walked over and pointed to a cart full of tools. "Just these four devices. Take them into the four rooms in sequence to begin the test... We will observe and record from the adjacent booth. Pay attention to the voice announcements."
Kate pressed down on the back of Wade's hand, her thoughts transmitting: 'I'll watch over you. If they dare to try anything, I'll...'
Wade blinked and smiled without saying a word: 'Don't worry.'
After speaking, he pushed the cart and opened small cubicle No. 0, where a young man was confined by restraint straps and an iron frame.
The youth in No. 0 wore special transparent lenses, and dazzling yellow lasers shot uncontrollably from his eyes.
A voice announcement sounded in the room: "Pick up device No. 0 and begin the test."
"Ha, another laser-eye." Wade manipulated an airflow tentacle to pick up the rectangular MP3-like player from the cart and slowly turned a knob.
Vroom—Zzzzt!!
A piercing high-frequency sound wave was emitted, growing stronger, but it dissipated into nothingness the moment it touched the airflow barrier surrounding him.
The youth in No. 0 went from wild lasering to closing his eyes and struggling incessantly, and finally to gradually calming down and fainting. The debugging time was less than thirty seconds.
The voice announcement followed: "Subject 0's vital signs are stable. Leave the device and proceed to the next cubicle."
Wade felt that this 'MP3' was somewhat useful. Although he could completely tank it and smash it without even deploying a soundproof barrier, others might not be so lucky.
Over the next ten minutes, Wade sequentially tested an electronic interference gun targeting Supe thoughts in cubicle 1, and an irritating perfume spray targeting Supe sense of smell in cubicle 2. The control effects were excellent and none were fatal.
Wade opened cubicle 3 and saw a thin 'porcupine man' sitting in a chair.
The spikes on the porcupine man's body were stabbing everywhere into the chair, blood was flowing, and the spikes then began to grow continuously. His expression was one of extreme agony.
"How pitiful. I hope this works for you." Wade looked at the large iron head-ring on the cart, used airflow tentacles to restrict the porcupine man's movement, and placed it on his head.
He released his restriction on the porcupine man and asked loudly, "How do I adjust this thing, Doctor?"
The voice announcement sounded: "No debugging required. Just watch."
Wade did as he was told and observed from where he stood.
He saw Subject 3 grit his teeth and growl low, his body trembling violently, yet the spikes on his body gradually retracted. He let out a pained groan, the frenzy in his eyes slowly replaced by fear. After he calmed down, the spikes popped out again, only to retract once more as his body shook.
Wade noticed that the blood supply at the base of the spikes on his skin surface was slowly decreasing, no longer gushing out blindly. He murmured softly, 'Is this suppressing the ability?'
Wade walked out of the cubicle. Seeing his confused look, Bruce explained with a smile, "This is a device prepared for those with out-of-control powers. It reads the wearer's brainwaves and, when they attempt to use their ability, simultaneously releases a reflective electrical signal that triggers intense neural stinging, thereby forming a conditioned reflex to suppress the ability."
"This is intended to achieve a 'cure' for out-of-control powers. It needs to be worn for a long time, and once the target control effect is reached, it can be taken off."
Kate walked out from each cubicle, applying disinfectant to her hands, and reported, "Doctor, I have erased their traumatic memories."
Wade leaned against the wall, looking at the Power Suppression Device in cubicle 3, lost in thought: 'The Supe genes in my body, except for [Gas Manipulation], are all integrated along my entire spine, manifesting different abilities based on dominant expression.'
'If so many abilities were activated at once, would I just die of pain facing this kind of suppression? Would it make the abilities completely fail, or just partially restricted?'
If he provided the technical concepts of these devices to the Department of Defense, and the government and military possessed weapons that could effectively counter Supes, then Vought's military deterrence would be further shaken.
Of course, the prerequisite for these devices to work was close-range contact. As long as a Supe stayed far away, no matter what visual, olfactory, or auditory interference was used, it would all be useless.
Wade wasn't worried at all about it affecting his sales of Supe potions: 'There are spears and there are shields. Who would be so stubborn as to only want one? Of course, I want them all!'
The people in the room were analyzing data. Bruce put down his tablet and looked up, saying, "Thank you for your cooperation. You are free to go."
"Alright, Doctor. See you next time." Wade glanced at the four devices on the table and walked out of the research room without hesitation. 'If I asked for them, they definitely wouldn't give them to me. Later, I'll just have Shetty copy a set of detailed design principles and blueprints using my Chameleon identity.'
Kate hooked her arm into his, her mental message coming through: 'These things feel so dangerous. It would be terrible if they were used on us, just like last time! Should we tell Jordan and the others?'
Wade led her toward the corridor elevator: 'We can give them a heads-up so they know these things exist. Those loudspeakers in the school aren't just for show.'
'Also, go to Shetty's and scout for information about the secret recruitment fair—the time, the location, and who will be there.'
"Okay." Kate nodded, then suddenly spoke aloud, "Are you busy later? How about I buy you a drink?"
Wade had just finished ordering her to do something and indeed had nothing else to do, so he said, "Sure, let's go off-campus."
Kate looked up and giggled, covering her mouth: "No, I have good tea in my dorm... Don't worry, I won't drug you!"
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