---

  The three of them made their way down through a series of halls until they stepped into a pristine b covered in smooth, white panelling. It wasn't quite HYDRA-level high-tech, but the pce buzzed with activity.

  Kue vanished shortly after they arrived.

  Loudsen led Non into one of the side bs, where three balding, middle-aged men were in the middle of a heated debate. A few assistants hovered nearby, listening in.

  Loudsen raised his voice.

  "Everyone, hold up!"

  The trio paused and looked over.

  The middle one let out a ugh. "You ran off in such a rush, what was the emergency? I told you this problem isn't something we can fix overnight. Even the top universities would need time. Us? Forget it."

  He squinted at Non. "Is that someone new behind you? Spare me. We've already got enough useless help around here. Why bring in another science school dropout?"

  A thin-faced man with a scruffy beard Modnar sneered.

  Loudsen shrugged. "This new Bastard says he can solve our problem. Boss wants him to try."

  The room went quiet and then exploded with ughter.

  "You're joking, right? He hasn't even seen the project!"

  "You think this is a game, Loudsen? You bringing in some outsider like we're on reality TV?"

  "Get outta here, boy. Don't waste our time."

  The engineers cackled, shaking their heads. Loudsen added dryly, "Boss said if he fails, he's dead."

  That gave them a pause.

  "Oh, now it's life or death?"

  "Fine, fine here. See if you can even read this."

  Modnar spped a thick stack of papers onto the table in front of Non.

  "Need ten years to catch up?"

  Non didn't say a word.

  He just started flipping through the documents fast. Page after page blurred under his fingertips as he read at lightning speed.

  In under thirty seconds, he looked up.

  "You're trying to create a vibranium-based material that can absorb external sound waves and convert them into a destructive sonic pulse?"

  The room went dead silent.

  Non continued, cool and steady.

  "The problem is, vibranium absorbs too efficiently. You're struggling to find a transmission medium that allows selective resonance without nullifying the waveform. Basically, you're stuck between too much absorption and not enough usable energy for discharge."

  Everyone just... stared.

  He'd nailed it. In less than a minute.

  Even the assistants stopped pretending to take notes.

  Non shook his head, walked past them, and began typing into the control terminal. One hand worked the interface, the other flipped through their b records. He filled page after page with dense calcutions.

  Compared to super-soldier serum? This was easy.

  These guys had piles of data, and all Non needed was the right algorithm to find the ideal ratio between metals.

  The truth was simple.

  Too much vibration and neutralized the sonic energy completely. Too little, and it lost its core properties. Finding the right mix of conductivity, resonance, and dampening required precise calcutions... and a brain capable of predictive modelling.

  That brain was Non's.

  He tapped a formu into the system and handed a stack of notes to one of the techs.

  "Try this."

  Loudsen scoffed.

  "You serious? You think you can just sp together some quick math and call it genius?"

  Even Modnar, now realizing Non was no fool, sneered.

  "Boy, just die already. You've got no idea what you're messing with."

  Then came a voice calm, commanding over the b intercom.

  "Test it."

  It was Kue.

  From a secure monitoring room, he'd been watching everything. He'd just gotten word that one of his other safehouses had been raided.

  HYDRA had hit it. Hard.

  Elite soldiers. Parachuting straight out of a Quinjet. No survivors.

  And now... they'd levelled the pce.

  Someone who made HYDRA move like that wasn't just talented. He was dangerous.

  If Non really was a genius, someone on Stark's level, then Kue wasn't about to pass that up.

  The tech took the formu reluctantly and began the process.

  In the crucible, molten vibranium and three other alloys were mixed under precise temperatures.

  The result: a strange, gleaming liquid.

  Non stepped forward and smmed the cooling lever.

  "Are you insane?! That'll cause cracks under this temperature!"

  Loudsen shouted in panic.

  Non didn't flinch.

  He simply smiled.

  The chamber filled with vapour as coont poured in. When it cleared...

  A smooth metallic sphere sat on the pte, fwless and glimmering.

  "Test it," Non said casually.

  The tech ran diagnostics. His eyes widened. His face lit up.

  "It works! It absorbs kinetic energy and then channels it into a discharge pulse. It can shift frequency via moduted current inputs..."

  He turned, stunned.

  Everyone in the b stared at Non.

  Non turned to Loudsen, who was still trying to process what just happened.

  "So..."

  He smirked.

  "Now tell me who's the scientific deadweight?"

  ---Thank you so much for your support and for reading!