Natasha watched him closely.
Fury nodded slowly.
"Condition accepted."
He tapped the screen, bringing up additional data.
"We've reviewed your life," Fury said. "Thoroughly."
Eric didn't tense.
"Born and raised in the United States," Fury continued. "No suspicious travel. No radical affiliations. No anti-government rhetoric. No ideological crusades."
He glanced at Hill.
"Clean."
Maria Hill added, "Too clean for someone with your… capabilities."
Eric smirked faintly and said nothing.
"That works in your favor," Fury replied.
The screen changed.
STATUS: PROBATIONARY AGENT
"You'll be joining S.H.I.E.L.D.," Fury said. "Not as a public asset. As an agent under evaluation."
Hill added, "Depending on your performance, you could operate at a Level 5 agent clearance."
Eric whistled softly.
"That sounds like a lot of paperwork."
"More than you'd like," Coulson confirmed.
Fury stepped closer.
"Your family will be relocated to Washington," he explained. "No official connection to you or to S.H.I.E.L.D."
Eric took a deep breath.
That was enough.
At least for now.
"Then we have a deal," Fury said, extending his hand.
Eric shook it.
"Welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D., Eric Valerian," Fury said. "We'll see if you live up to what you're capable of."
Eric smiled calmly.
"As long as you don't make me wear a cape, I think we'll get along just fine."
Clint let out a short laugh.
"Trust me," he said. "Everyone says that at first."
Natasha glanced at Eric, a soft, almost imperceptible smile crossing her face.
"Don't worry," she murmured. "You'll survive."
Eric looked at the screen one more time.
AVENGERS INITIATIVE
He thought of Thor.
Of Tony.
Of a world that could no longer pretend to be normal.
"I guess," he said, "someone has to make sure this doesn't spiral out of control."
Fury nodded.
"Good. Then we can move on to understanding your abilities."
Eric cleared his throat.
"Alright… this is going to sound bad."
Natasha settled into her chair.
Coulson activated the recording.
Hill prepared her stylus.
Eric thought quickly and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
"I bought a weird fruit," Eric said. "At a market."
Utter nonsense.
Silence.
"A fruit?" Fury repeated, with the patience of a man who had heard far stranger things.
"Yes," Eric nodded. "Strange. Glowed a little. I thought it was… organic. Gourmet. I don't know. I didn't think it through."
He still didn't trust them enough to tell the real truth. And if he did, they might stop him from uploading content.
That would kill his entire operation.
Clint covered his mouth to keep from laughing.
"Continue," Fury ordered.
Eric took a breath.
"After I ate it, I started…" he made a vague gesture, "…moving at the speed of light. Turning into light. Firing it. Bouncing around. Dematerializing. The usual."
Maria stopped writing after a few seconds.
"List your abilities," Hill said.
Eric raised a finger.
"Controlled light-speed movement.
Full-body conversion into photonic energy.
Concentrated energy projection.
Instant displacement along light trajectories.
Partial intangibility under control.
High resistance to impact and energy."
The board filled quickly.
Fury stared at him, perfectly concealing his shock.
"Limits?"
Eric answered calmly.
"Extreme fatigue if I overuse continuous luminosity. And…" he shrugged, "…one absurd, completely illogical weakness."
Every gaze sharpened.
"Water," Eric said. "Deep, stagnant water. Turns me into a rock. Completely useless."
Coulson looked up.
"Why would you volunteer that information?"
Eric smiled.
"Because someone invincible without weaknesses smells like a lie," he said. "And I'd rather avoid unnecessary suspicion. Bad for workplace morale. And productivity."
Natasha watched him with a mix of surprise and understanding.
Fury leaned back, evaluating.
"Any other side effects?"
"Constant hunger," Eric admitted. "And a psychological allergy to grandiose speeches."
Clint burst out laughing.
Fury didn't smile. But he didn't object either.
"A fruit," Fury repeated. "From a market."
"Yes," Eric nodded. "Believe me, if it had been a secret lab, I'd have just said 'secret lab.'"
Hill closed the report.
"It's consistent," she said. "Strange. But consistent."
Everyone in the room had seen far worse during their years at S.H.I.E.L.D. This wasn't cause for panic.
Just something to archive, in case someone else showed up claiming superpowers from produce.
Fury stood.
"Alright," he said. "We'll log it as a non-replicable anomalous origin for now. Your weakness will remain classified."
Eric nodded.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me," Fury replied. "I don't yet know if you've just made our lives easier… or complicated them forever."
Eric smiled quietly.
"I just want to keep living," he said. "Not normal anymore. But… safe. For me and my family."
He glanced at the board filled with dates and potential catastrophes.
"And cause a little controlled chaos," he added. "With style."
Natasha raised an eyebrow.
"Controlled?"
Eric winked.
"I promise not to shine where I shouldn't."
Fury shook his head, resigned.
"You're strange, Valerian."
"I know."
"But useful strange."
Eric stood up.
"Then I guess that makes me… acceptable."
Fury studied him for another second.
"It makes you worth testing."
They headed toward the lab.
The corridor leading to the testing area was long and quiet.
To his right walked Natasha, posture relaxed.
To his left, Clint, arms crossed, wearing the calm expression only dangerous people had when they didn't need to prove anything.
And in the middle, Eric.
Feeling… accompanied.
"Don't get nervous," Clint said. "Half the people in there are more excited than you are."
Eric chuckled softly.
"That's unsettling on several levels."
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