As the project's primary scientific advisor, Howard had dedicated nearly the second half of his life to exploring this mysterious object.
"Hmm." Howard nodded, his expression turning serious.
"I have indeed been studying an object at the agency that we call the Tesseract. It is... something difficult to explain with existing science. It emits energy autonomously, presents a perfect cubic structure, and is almost unaffected by any external environment."
Mavuika listened quietly, a flash of understanding crossing her eyes.
"The Tesseract, huh..." She repeated the name softly; it sounded a bit like the Space Stone.
Although the Infinity Stones were precious, since humans had found it, Mavuika had no intention of taking it from them.
She merely reminded Howard, "Just studying it has left you tainted with these energy residues... Remember one thing: under no circumstances should you make direct contact with that thing."
Howard nodded solemnly. "Thank you for the warning; I will be careful. In fact, all our experimental protocols strictly prohibit any form of direct contact."
Just then, Howard's expression suddenly changed, as if he had thought of something extremely serious.
"Wait..." His voice became urgent. "Since there are already Skrulls lurking within the agency, could it be that they are... interested in the Tesseract?"
This thought struck him like a bolt of lightning.
Howard stood up abruptly, the color draining from his face. He dared not continue that line of thought.
The security system of S.H.I.E.L.D. was designed with his personal involvement, and in theory, it should be foolproof.
But that was a defense system aimed at humans. Facing Skrulls, who could perfectly disguise themselves and might have already replaced certain security personnel...
"No, I have to go back and check." Howard hurriedly put on the coat he had just taken off, moving with a speed that didn't look at all like that of a man in his seventies.
"I must confirm whether the Tesseract is safe."
Howard drove his Lincoln toward the secret S.H.I.E.L.D. Base.
This time, he did not go to the headquarters in Washington, but instead turned toward a mountainous area in northern New York.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had multiple secret facilities, and the Tesseract was stored in the most hidden and heavily guarded one of them all.
After driving for two hours, Howard arrived at a seemingly ordinary wooded area.
He turned at an unmarked intersection, drove onto a narrow side road, and traveled for about another five kilometers before a steel gate appeared ahead.
Howard stopped the car and rolled down the window. The security camera next to the gate turned toward him, its red indicator light blinking a few times.
"Identity verification." An electronic voice emanated from a hidden speaker.
"Howard Stark." Howard said calmly.
"Please perform a retinal scan."
A green beam of light shot out from beside the camera, scanning Howard's right eye.
"Verification passed. Welcome, Dr. Stark."
The steel gate slid open silently to both sides. Howard drove in, and the gate closed rapidly behind him.
Behind the gate was a downward-sloping tunnel. The walls were made of smooth alloy material, and the LED lights on the ceiling emitted a cold white glow.
The tunnel was very steep and extended downward for nearly a kilometer before reaching the true entrance of the Base.
Here was another security checkpoint. Howard passed through fingerprint, voiceprint, rapid DNA sampling, and a full-body scan.
Finally, he entered the core area of the Base. The corridors here were wide and bright, with clean white walls and floors made of anti-static material.
Occasionally, researchers in white lab coats or security personnel in black uniforms passed by, each of them nodding in greeting to him.
"Dr. Stark." A familiar voice came from behind him. "Coming over so late, is there something urgent?"
Howard turned around and saw the current director of the Base, Officer Kellar.
Kellar was about fifty years old, his hair already somewhat thinning, and he wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, making him look more like a university Professor than the person in charge of a secret Base.
Howard tried to make his voice sound natural. "I just suddenly had some new ideas and wanted to come over to look at the Tesseract's data."
Kellar pushed up his glasses, a flash of doubt crossing his eyes. "Now? It's almost dark, and I remember you saying that last week's tests showed the Tesseract's energy output was very stable and didn't need parameter adjustments in the short term."
Howard's heart tightened. Kellar was right; he had indeed done a routine check last week, and everything was normal then, but he couldn't tell the truth now.
"Insomnia..." Howard gave a wry smile and tapped his forehead. "This Old man can't sleep, and my brain keeps thinking about those formulas and parameters. Instead of tossing and turning in bed, I might as well come over and do something useful."
This explanation sounded reasonable enough.
Kellar smiled. "You are still as dedicated as ever. Alright, do you need me to accompany you inside?"
"No need." Howard waved his hand. "I'm just checking the data; it won't take long. Go and attend to your work."
Kellar nodded. "Very well, I'll be in the control room. Call me anytime if you need anything."
After they separated, Howard took a deep breath and walked toward the main laboratory where the Tesseract was stored.
The laboratory door required dual verification. He entered the password and opened the alloy door, which was thirty centimeters thick.
Inside the door was a huge circular space. In the center of the room, on a complex mechanical device, floated that deep blue, perfect cube—the Tesseract.
It rotated silently, emitting a soft and stable blue halo.
The light was neither dazzling nor dim, as if it had its own life rhythm, pulsing slowly.
The surface of the Tesseract was completely smooth, but if one looked closely, one would find countless tiny points of light flowing inside, as if the entire Milky Way Galaxy had been condensed into this small cube.
Seeing that the Tesseract was intact, the heavy stone hanging in Howard's heart finally dropped a little.
He walked a few steps closer and carefully observed the surrounding monitoring equipment. The energy readings were stable, the protective field was intact, and there were no abnormalities.
He also checked the access logs for the last twenty-four hours. There were only three routine checks, all by authorized personnel, and the duration was very short with no abnormal operations.
Everything seemed normal.
The Tesseract remained safely in its place, as if it had never been touched by any outsider.
Howard let out a long sigh of relief, feeling a wave of exhaustion like collapse wash over him.
Perhaps he was overthinking it; the Skrulls might not have discovered the existence of the Tesseract yet, or even if they had, they lacked the ability to breach the security system here.
He walked to the console and pulled up the basic data to confirm.
The energy output curve, spatial fluctuation spectrum, temperature records... all indicators were within the normal range, with almost no change since he left last week.
"That's good..." Howard muttered to himself, his fingers tapping lightly on the console surface.
He stayed in the laboratory for about twenty minutes, performed a few routine checks, and confirmed that everything was as usual.
During this time, Kellar asked via internal communication if he needed help, and Howard replied that everything was fine.
Finally, he shut down all systems and prepared to leave.
At the door, he looked back at the silently rotating blue cube, silently praying in his heart that it would always remain this safe.
Walking out of the laboratory, Howard met Kellar, who was patrolling the corridor.
"How was it, Dr. Stark?" Kellar asked. "Did you verify your theory?"