Hulk Smash

Moving Forward

Milky Way Galaxy
Earth/Terra
Switzerland

1st POV

After I smashed through the education system and gained a doctorate, MD( just in case ) and 14 PHDs  ( twice that of canon!banner ), multiple discoveries and was lauded as a genius on par with Tony Stark. 

I did everything in my power to live up to that.

I made a R&D company to do so called Banner Labs .

What ?

Clean Nuclear Fusion, Gamma Radiation absorption, Early Graphene production,Weapons, power, material sciences, AI, computing; hell, even in the life sciences,  A.I. development , Organic 3D printing etc.

And now here I was at a New Years Eve party in Switzerland to ring in the new millennium. In truth, I cared nothing about the party. I was instead here to recruit/gain help.

I spent the party people watching and keeping a discreet eye on my target, Maya Hansen. And so I was there when she entered the hotel lobby on the morning of January 1, 2000, fuming at Tony Stark for fucking and running. Sales was ninety percent appearance, perception, and approach, and so I stacked the deck.

The private investigators and profilers I had hired to study Miss Hansen had hopefully done their jobs well; everything from the cut and color of my suit to my diction was carefully designed to gain the lady's favor.

"Miss Hansen, Octavian Raith." I extended a hand.

She cocked her head slightly as she extended her own to shake and said, "Of Banner Labs?"

I smiled. "The one and only. Care to join me for breakfast?"

"What's the occasion Mr. Banner?" she asked.

"Please, call me Bruce, Miss. Hansen. And I thought that we could start off the new millennium with a mutually beneficial business opportunity." I offered her my arm.

She looked at it for a long moment before taking it. "You may call me Maya, but what business opportunity would that be?"

"Offering the resources needed to complete Extremis." I calmly explained.

"Think about it: perfected Extremis is effective immortality. At a minimum, it is being in the physical prime of your life until your mind breaks down in a few hundred years. On the one hand, that is a technology worth trillions on the open market, and on the other, can you imagine how the world will change if humanity as a species is made up of what are effectively immortal re-generators? Work with me and you won't have to worry about your research being suppressed or being locked away in some secret government vault by people who fear changing the world and advancing humanity."

Maya sat and stared for nearly five minutes before finally saying, "What kind of resources would I have? And what limits would you place on me?"

I shrugged. "Whatever you need, and the only limits I will place on you are those required to ensure our security.  However, given the stage your research is at and that you are years away from even contemplating human trials, that timeline shouldn't be an issue. I have a lab facility set up back in the US already, just give me a list of whatever equipment that you need, and I will see it delivered." I pause and wait for her to decide.

After a long moment of staring into my eyes, she extended a hand and said, "Fine, I'm in Bruce. Partners?"

I took her hand. "Partners."

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1

1994