Zeal ▹ Steve Rogers [1]

2 | failure

2 | FAILURE

"What do you mean, failure?" Amelia growled.

"I mean, Ms. Stinson, that although your body mass increased very slightly, there is no indication of alteration within your immune system." Howard Stark, the engineer, snapped.

Amelia shook her head vigorously in denial. "No, no, no." She whispered.

"It's fine, Amelia, we will just find another subject to inject the serum into." Dr. Erskine reassured as he entered the room.

"And you'll continue your involvement in the project." Stark added. Everyone watched from the stands above with disappointed faces. Amelia was fuming. There was no way that the serum wouldn't have worked on her. Dr. Erskine himself had promised her she was the perfect subject. Amelia simply scoffed and stomped out of the room.

"Who's going to get to be on the front line pages? Some dumb-witted soldier that's full of himself?" Amelia muttered. Amelia thought about the many possibilities of fixing this; try the serum again? lie? Fury swelled up inside of her, and she wanted to cry out of frustration.

She stood out in the cold, foggy streets of New York, isolated and angry for minutes before Dr. Erskine came looking for Amelia. "Amelia? Ah, Amelia!" Dr. Erskine called.

"What?" She snapped at him.

"I was looking for you! I wanted to add on to what Mr. Stark was insinuating. Yes, I do see that you are very upset about this failure, however, you must realize that every failure brings us closer to perfecting the formula. You should be ecstatic that you've had the honor of working with us! And I'd like to continue that honor, knowing of your great qualities, I deduced that it would be best if you helped me find the most suitable person for the new formula." He announced proudly.

A glimmer of excitement sparked up in Amelia's eyes, yet it soon died down when she realized that the new subject would not be her.

"Please Amelia, I know that this will be great for you and with you sticking by my side, I can continue to observe any changes that may occur on you." Erskine continued.

"Fine." Amelia accepted the offer.

"We start tomorrow, 6:00 am." Dr. Erskine beamed.