After a few minutes, everything was ready for the application of the serum to Dr. Connors. The scientist entered the special chamber while removing his lab coat and shirt, leaving the upper part of his body exposed. Rilley adjusted the safety belts and closed the chamber door.
Once the compartment was sealed, Rilley entered the necessary codes into the main computer. The equipment began the intervention sequence. First, the serum in gaseous form began to release inside the chamber, spreading like a faint blue mist that slowly adhered to Dr. Connors' skin to be absorbed through his pores and nasal cavity.
Then the eight retractable needles emerged from their respective positions and inserted themselves into specific points of his body, delivering the liquid serum directly into his bloodstream. The catalytic panels adjusted immediately, rotating around the chamber until they locked into position. An instant later, they fired a continuous beam of «Ultra Plus Rays» that covered Dr. Connors' body.
The process was similar to the one performed on the war veteran Turner. But this time, there was no scream of pain. Connors clenched his teeth and endured the discomfort, the burning sensation, and the pressure running through his body. His happiness and anticipation were stronger than any unpleasant sensation.
The light covered Dr. Connors' body, but its greatest concentration formed around the stump of his lost arm. First, a barely visible bone structure appeared beneath the intense glow of the «Ultra Plus Rays». Then came the arteries, veins, nerves, muscles, and skin, forming in an accelerated sequence that would have seemed impossible to any observer outside the project. No matter how many times it was repeated, that process was, without question, fascinating.
When the procedure ended, Rilley deactivated the system and opened the special chamber. He helped Dr. Connors sit up carefully. The result had been a complete success. The regenerated arm responded without issue, with no visible rejection and no apparent discomfort.
Dr. Connors slowly flexed his fingers. Then he closed his fist, opened it again, and stared at his hand with a mixture of disbelief, relief, and happiness.
"Dr. Connors, you need to rest. It has been a hectic day," Rilley said as he helped him sit down for one final examination.
"You're right. Mr. Glass granted me one month of vacation. I've been thinking of traveling and enjoying some time with my wife and son. I'm sure that when they see me, they'll be very happy," Connors replied with a broad smile on his face. "So I'll have to leave the laboratory in your care during that time. Once I return, I'll resume my duties."
Rilley agreed and accepted responsibility not only for the laboratory, but also for the general duties corresponding to Dr. Connors. Connors served as director of both the Department of Biochemistry and the Department of Applied Genetics, so his absence involved a responsibility far greater than simply continuing the ongoing research.
From that moment on, Rilley would temporarily assume the role of acting director of both departments. He would also remain in charge of following up on the previous test subjects, reviewing their medical reports, periodic observations, and any possible alterations resulting from the application of the serum.
For that type of case, it was not necessary to begin a new authorization process. Dr. Connors' vacation leave had already been granted by Mr. Glass, the highest-ranking authority within the structure of GIG and Empire State University, and it would take effect immediately after the conclusion of the experiment's final formal test. With Connors' direct instruction and Mr. Glass' prior approval, Rilley could take the position temporarily until his mentor returned.
A few minutes later, after checking his vital signs and confirming that there were no anomalous alterations, Rilley knew Connors could leave the laboratory without risk.
Even so, he had not lowered his guard at any moment. If he observed any anomaly, genetic alteration, or uncontrolled mutation, he had immediate-response measures prepared to keep Connors inside the laboratory. Even if the situation turned violent, Rilley trusted that his preparations would be enough to contain him.
It was not that he distrusted the success of the formula. The results were evident, stable, and much better than expected.
What he distrusted was uncertainty.
Rilley knew he lived in an extraordinary world, one born within the vast and chaotic Marvel universe. However, that knowledge offered him no certainties. He was not living inside an exact story that he could memorize chapter by chapter. He had arrived in an unknown universe, one where events could resemble the canon he remembered, deviate completely, or even surpass any tragedy ever written in the comics in terms of danger.
That was why he could not afford to be careless. Connors had been, in other possible paths, the origin of «Lizardman». And although everything in that laboratory seemed to be under control, Rilley could not be certain that the world would not try to push him toward a similar route through unexpected means.
Fortunately, none of that happened. His vital signs remained within normal parameters, the regenerated tissue responded without rejection, and no anomaly was found in Dr. Connors' body.
After a few minutes of casual conversation, Connors said goodbye and left the laboratory. Rilley remained there, watching him as he walked away down the corridor. Only when he lost sight of him did he take the phone from his pocket and use a speed dial.
"You can cancel the immediate containment protocol. Keep guards on rotation for discreet surveillance and notify me of any changes," Rilley said through the call.
On the other end of the line, only the rough voice of a man could be heard responding affirmatively in a military tone.
Rilley would not see Dr. Connors again until exactly one month later.
Rilley let out a sigh and dropped into the nearest seat.
"With this, the last risk of Connors ending up as «Lizardman» has been left behind," he murmured to himself. "And besides avoiding a tragedy, I also obtained something important for the family."
As he said that, his gaze shifted toward the three vials resting on the table. Inside them shone an intense blue liquid: the reinforced variant of the «Cellular Regeneration Serum», prepared with triple the concentration of the original formula.
Rilley had a secret he had never revealed to anyone in this world.
Not to his parents. Not to Dr. Connors. Not even to «S.O.P.H.I.N.».
It all began when he had just turned five years old. One morning, upon waking, a series of foreign memories flooded his mind like an unstoppable avalanche. They were not dreams, nor simple disconnected images. They were complete memories of another life, another world, and an existence that did not belong to the child named Rilley Glass.
In that other world, his current reality was nothing more than fiction. A universe of comics, heroes, villains, tragedies, and possible futures known as Marvel.
The absurdity of that truth was so great that he could not even find the words to describe it. Rilley knew he had been born in this world, that his parents were real, and that his current life belonged to him. But he also remembered having been someone else: an old, lonely, frustrated man whose life had passed through debts, mediocre jobs, rejected research, and a deep sense of failure.
In his previous life, he had been an unknown researcher specialized in quantum mechanics. He possessed advanced knowledge, but he never had the contacts, recognition, or opportunities necessary to stand out. Until the end of his days, he only managed to obtain minor jobs as a technical assistant, watching his ideas be ignored again and again.
He had no wife. No children. Not even a romantic relationship he could remember with true affection. The only thing that kept him standing for years was his fondness for Marvel comics, a collection he cared for with almost obsessive devotion, and which, over time, became the only pillar holding up his miserable life.
The «Fantastic Four», «Iron Man», and «Ant-Man» had always been among his favorites, though not for the same reasons. The «Fantastic Four» held a special value because, along with «Spider-Man», they had been among the first Marvel comics he had ever known. «Iron Man» and «Ant-Man», on the other hand, attracted him because they were ordinary men who, through knowledge, engineering, and invention, had managed to reach extraordinary heights. To that old researcher, they represented a simple yet powerful idea: science could also be a form of greatness.
At seventy years old, after being fired from his job and returning under heavy rain to his old apartment, he found the building reduced to charred ruins. The windows were shattered, the roof had partially collapsed, and the smell of smoke still lingered in the air. Even though the firefighters had warned that the structure could collapse at any moment, the old man entered.
He was not thinking clearly. He only wanted to reach his apartment, open his old bookcase, and leaf through those comics as he had done for decades.
But when he arrived, he found nothing.
The bookcase had disappeared. In its place, there was only a pile of dark ashes.
That was the final blow. The old man fell to his knees, feeling an oppressive pain in his chest, as though something were crushing his heart. He did not cry from ordinary sadness, nor from a simple material loss. He cried from the emptiness of someone who feels that the only thing still keeping him standing had been torn away without reason.
Shortly afterward, the building finished collapsing.
His former life ended beneath the rubble, without glory, without important witnesses, and without even the chance to speak one final word.
Then came darkness.
For a length of time impossible to measure, his consciousness drifted between sleep and emptiness. Sometimes he awakened, aware of the blackness surrounding him. Other times, a profound exhaustion dragged him back into silence. He remained that way until he even lost the memory of himself.
Then, one day, he saw a light.
And much later, when he turned five years old in this new life, all those memories returned.
From that moment on, Rilley understood that he could not live like a normal child. He knew secrets no one else in this world was meant to know. He knew Connors could become «Lizardman». He knew that names like «Oscorp», «Stark», mutants, and certain failed experiments were not simple references taken from old comic books. They were signs of a world capable of breaking in countless ways.
But that knowledge also had a limit.
Rilley did not know the future. Not truly. His memories offered him clues, names, warnings, and possibilities, but not certainties. The universe he had arrived in did not follow a perfectly known route. It was an unknown Marvel world, one where events could resemble canon, change completely, or become even worse.
And precisely because of that, uncertainty was what unsettled him most.
He did not fear only the tragedies he remembered. He feared even more those his memories could not warn him about. Every altered event, every decision made, and every diverted path could bring consequences impossible to predict.
That was why he chose to become a researcher. Not only to reach heights his old self could never touch, but to rebuild his life with dignity, face his fears, and take from fate the right to decide for him.