Immortality

"What happened, Carter?" Seeing Carter’s strange expression, Alex felt a sudden jolt of alarm and grew nervous, thinking something had gone wrong.

Carter looked at Alex and broke into a dazzling smile, her slightly heroic features brightening. "There’s news about Steve!"

Alex shot to his feet and appeared beside Carter in an instant, disbelief written across his face. "Really?"

"An ocean fishing vessel salvaged an ice coffin from the North Sea." Carter seemed unable to suppress her excitement; even her voice trembled. "Based on the intelligence we received, I suspect Steve is inside it."

Alex frowned involuntarily. He remembered that Steve had been found beneath the ice in the movie; the North Sea seemed rather far away. Thinking of that, Alex had to speak up and cautiously remind the excited Carter, "Carter, don’t get too excited. Let’s go take a look first."

After a fair bit of trouble, Alex brought Carter to the ice coffin’s temporary storage site: a museum in Norway.

Looking at the ice coffin sitting in a corner of the museum, Alex felt somewhat stirred, especially when he saw the unmistakable shield-like object inside the transparent coffin.

Carter hurried over, but when she saw the person lying inside the ice coffin, the joy on her face came to an abrupt halt, and sorrow unconsciously creased her brow.

Alex, trailing behind, knew the result the moment he saw Carter’s expression. Still, he stepped forward for a look. It really was not Steve, but a warrior in ancient armor, with a shield resting on his chest.

They had arrived in excitement and left in disappointment, a perfect illustration of how the greater the hope, the greater the despair.

"Can you take a walk with me?" Just as Alex was about to take Carter back, she wiped the corners of her eyes and suddenly asked.

Alex paused, then nodded in agreement.

Nights in Norway were bitterly cold, and the streets near midnight were completely deserted. Two figures walked slowly along.

"Alex, do you think Steve is still alive?" After a long silence, Carter raised her head toward the night sky dotted with cold stars. Her quiet voice sounded especially lonely.

Alex turned to look at Carter in confusion, feeling that she was acting strangely today. They had suffered this same disappointment before, yet Carter had never been like this. She seemed like a frail old person, worn out and exhausted.

Though his thoughts ran wild, Alex answered with complete confidence, "Of course. Steve is still alive."

"How many years has it been? We’ve searched every corner of the Earth." Carter suddenly became agitated, almost hysterical. "How much longer do we have to keep looking?!!!"

"Don’t worry. We’ll definitely find Steve." Alex reached out, drew Carter into his arms, and comforted her softly.

With Alex’s reassurance, Carter gradually calmed down, though the anguish on her face only grew more apparent.

Carter gently pushed Alex away and walked quietly onward through the snow that had suddenly begun to fall. "I’m afraid I can’t wait that long." Though she had always believed Steve was alive, Carter knew the chances were incredibly slim. Perhaps by the time they found him, everything would have come to nothing.

Hearing Carter’s words, Alex fell silent. In the movie, Steve was found seventy years later. Steve awakened from the ice as if it had only been yesterday, but Carter had grown old—so old that she could not even remember Steve. Thinking of that, Alex realized that such endless waiting was truly a form of torture, especially for Carter.

After seeing Carter back to S.H.I.E.L.D., Alex returned directly without even greeting Nick Fury. He had originally gone out to clear his head, but had only added to his worries.

Sitting alone atop the highest tower of the Floating Temple, Alex gazed at the grand, enormous alien city below and sank into thought. Carter’s words had reminded him of something: there was a problem he needed to consider carefully.

"What are you thinking about?"

As Alex pondered, Emma’s voice suddenly sounded beside his ear. Turning around, he saw her in a white dress, climbing up through the tower’s skylight with both hands and feet.

Watching Emma nimbly flip herself up, Alex chuckled. Then, gazing at the rising red sun on the horizon, he slowly asked, "Emma, do you think there’s a way to achieve immortality in this world?"

Alex knew of quite a few methods of achieving immortality. For example, the Infinity Formula in Nick Fury’s body, Wolverine’s extraordinary regenerative ability, and even Sebastian Shaw’s Energy Absorption could restore his youth and keep him forever young. In fact, as long as one was a mutant, any ability could more or less extend one’s lifespan. The Super Soldier Serum could as well.

"There are plenty." Emma smoothed her skirt and sat beside Alex. Turning to him, she said in mock anger, "What, are you already thinking about staying with your lovers forever and never being separated?"

Alex gave an awkward smile, neither nodding nor denying it. He merely said, "We don’t know when Steve will be found. I’m worried Carter won’t be able to wait."

"Oh, I see!" Emma stopped teasing him. She frowned and considered it carefully for a long while before speaking. "I don’t know whether humans have any means of achieving immortality, but among mutants, there are quite a few such abilities. Red Devil is a very typical example."

Alex rolled his eyes and said helplessly, "I know that. What I’m thinking about now is how to let Carter and Audrey and the others…"

The moment the words left his mouth, Alex realized something was wrong and hastily shut up. Unfortunately, Emma beside him had already reacted. She giggled and unexpectedly let it pass, instead saying, "Human research into the body has become increasingly thorough, but among us mutants, almost no one understands their own body or abilities."

As she spoke, Emma kept glancing at Alex. Seeing the curiosity on his face, she continued, "So, I’m planning to build another laboratory at the academy, one specifically for studying mutants—our origins and abilities." Emma spoke a little too quickly, paused to catch her breath, then added, "Perhaps we can find a way to help them slow down aging."

"That’s a good idea. Build it!" Alex strongly approved of Emma’s plan. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. Humans already understood mutants well enough, yet mutants themselves knew very little about their own kind. "If you need any equipment or apparatus, just tell me directly. I’ll get Howard to find it."

"It’s still in the planning stage. After all, it involves many people and needs to be coordinated." A mutant research laboratory sounded like a wonderful thing, but it was still research on mutants. Mutants becoming experimental subjects again, just like what some humans had done, could easily provoke opposition from mutants who had suffered the same treatment before.

Alex quickly understood the crux of the issue as well. He nodded. "No rush. Take it slowly." Then he paused, his expression turning serious as he warned, "Once the laboratory is built, don’t ever let it become like those human operations. Mutants are our people!"

"Relax, I don’t need you to remind me." Seeing that Alex seemed to have recovered, Emma stood up, patted herself down, and said with a smile, "All right, seeing that you’ve gotten over it, I’m relieved. I’m leaving!"

Alex seemed to realize it only belatedly. He stared at Emma in astonishment. "You came here specifically to comfort me?"

"You think I have so much free time that I’d run up here in the middle of the night to chat with you?" Emma rolled her eyes and replied irritably. "Vivien Leigh was worried about you. When she couldn’t find you, she came to me and asked me to comfort you!"

Alex froze, and all he could say was, "Thank you, both of you."