"What do we do?"
In the middle of the laboratory, Susan asked the group while they were watching the screen.
"We can be superheroes like Spider-Man!" his brother shouted excitedly, ignoring the screen that showed the changes in his DNA.
But the group ignored him and continued to think about their situation.
After Ben, the rest of them were also examined.
Of course, only Ben showed major physical changes both externally and internally.
What they all had in common was the mutation of their DNA, which continued to occur without them noticing, as seen on screen.
Specifically, it was Johnny's DNA that was being examined from a blood sample that had been taken.
But the blond man didn't think it was so serious, and he was distracted playing with the small flame on his finger.
Following Reed's advice, he tried to imagine intense emotions like happiness or anger.
And remembering the time he convinced two girls to have a threesome, a feeling of pride filled him.
Of course, he was even happier when he was finally able to generate fire.
And although it was just a small flame, she preferred that to having her whole body covered in fire.
He knew the fire wouldn't hurt him and the blue suit he was wearing wouldn't turn to ashes, but he still wasn't used to the experience.
Johnny wasn't the only one who learned about his powers.
Her sister discovered that she can create force fields and become invisible.
Reed can stretch seemingly without limit, and Ben has enormous strength in addition to his durability, which Reed surmised could even stop bullets.
"Our bodies are emitting the same energy signature as the cosmic cloud," Reed said as he pressed several keys and looked at the screen of a personal computer on the table in front of him.
"Why didn't previous tests discover it?"
"And isn't that dangerous for others?" Susan asked.
They had spent a whole day undergoing various tests when they returned from space, but all the scientists informed them that everything was in order.
Susan didn't believe that they all wouldn't find this.
And if all four were emitting radiation, it was very dangerous for people to get close to them or come into contact with things they touched.
"Why didn't this happen before?" Reed replied as he stopped playing the keyboard and used his hand to support his chin.
"The radiation we emit is minuscule and is increasing slowly, so it's very likely that this has only recently begun and wouldn't occur during exams."
"And regarding your last question…" Reed said as he pressed the keys on the keyboard and the screen in front of everyone, showing the changes in Johnny's DNA, changed scene.
"...there's nothing to worry about," Reed said as he looked at the screen in front of everyone.
Following his gaze, they all saw a human figure within which there were small dots moving from one place to another.
Reed pressed more keys and the image zoomed in, showing that the dots did come out of the human figures, but they didn't go far before bouncing back towards the human figure.
"Strangely, the radiation doesn't travel more than a few millimeters away from our bodies before returning towards us."
"And the objects we touch?" Reed said, pressing the keyboard again, and the image on the screen changed once more.
And this time he showed about 4 needles inside a container, which several sensors were pointing at.
"These are the needles we use to draw blood from our bodies," Reed said, and the screen changed again.
"Naturally it is contaminated now, but the readings show that the radiation is slowly disappearing."
"And at this rate, it will disappear in a few hours."
"And that's not all," Reed said as he resumed manipulating the screen.
They all saw different objects and recognized them as those they had come into contact with since entering this room.
Some of the smaller ones, like pencils, were inside a vivarium, with several mice walking around them.
But there were more videos.
The group also watched videos of scenes of scientists from the Baxter group studying various things that they recognized as the things they took into space.
Since Victor was able to return, the small laboratory with all the samples inside was able to do so as well.
The videos showed small animals and plants, as well as some other inorganic materials.
But everyone swallowed hard as they watched the small animals fall dead one by one.
"Cosmic radiation did not affect the animals in the animal facilities in the same way."
"It seems we got lucky," Reed said.
"The small animals we took into space didn't have it."
"According to the documents I was able to access, it says that all the animals died."
And suddenly they all looked at each other and wondered if that would happen to them in the future.
Ignoring his friends' reaction, Reed continued.
"And what about anyone who comes into contact with us?"
"Strangely, he won't be affected by the radiation," Reed said to the confused looks of his friends.
But instead of clearing up their doubts, he pointed to the screen again.
This time everyone saw that the image of the mice walking on top of the pencils enlarged before Reed continued.
"Although the radiation we emit is similar, it is not."
"It's harmless"
"Any living being that comes into contact with us will not retain the radiation on them for long before it disappears naturally."
The group was relieved to hear the last part, as they didn't want to kill everyone they came across.
"Why is this happening?" Susan asked, but Reed shook his head, offering no answer to her question.
"And why am I like this?" Ben asked, pointing at himself.
Unlike the others, he was now a man of stone and did not know how he would live from now on.
Especially since he had a woman waiting for him at home. Ben didn't know how she would react.
"You're emitting a greater amount of radiation," Reed replied.
"It must be because the cosmic energy cloud hit you harder."
The place was silent for a few seconds, before Susan's voice was heard.
"Are you saying that we emit this radiation?" the blonde asked.
The image on the screen showed that the radiation was originating from within them, when it should be coming from somewhere.
"And"
"I still don't fully understand what's happening, but I'll keep investigating."
"When will I be able to return to normal?" Ben asked worriedly as he looked his friend in the eyes.
Silence reigned in the room before Reed let out a sigh.
"I don't know, Ben."
"I don't know," said the man, unable to look his friend in the eye.
"How am I going to tell Debbie?" Ben wondered aloud, but everyone heard him.
"She loves you, Ben," Susan said, trying to cheer the man up.
Reed didn't know what words of encouragement to say, so he could only make a promise.
"I promise I'll fix this."
Ben looked him in the eyes, and just nodded before looking down again.
The group had no idea about their situations and with nothing else to do for now, they decided to go to sleep.
After all, they had woken up late at night and spent hours in Reed's lab conducting tests, so they had hardly slept at all.
But while Susan, Johnny, and Reed went to their rooms, Ben did not.
Wearing a jacket, a hat, gloves, and a mask he took from Reed's lab, the man left the building.
It was the following morning when the group met for breakfast that they noticed Ben's absence and checked the cameras to see that he had left in the middle of the night.
Remembering that his friend mentioned his fiancée yesterday, Reed thought he had gone to look for her.
But in Ben's situation, would things turn out well?
Worried, Reed wanted to go look for him and Susan decided to accompany him.
Johnny wanted to stay, but his sister pulled him by the arm and took them with her.
Taking a taxi, the trio went to the apartment where Ben and his fiancée lived when he wasn't working.
Unfortunately, they arrived too late.
Ben had already found Debbie, but things apparently didn't turn out well.
"Where could I be now?" Susan asked as she sat inside a taxi entering the Brooklyn Bridge.
Debbie didn't reveal anything about what happened, but the group could guess that the woman rejected Ben's appearance and now the man might be depressed anywhere in the city.
And with Ben's current appearance, he could attract trouble.
"Let's split up..." But just as Reed was about to suggest splitting up, they heard loud noises and watched in surprise as the cars ahead began to crash.