Now You See It

Home Base is reviewing the footage of the Hulk's battle with Sandra Verdugo and Jink Slater. Their master is uninterested in the footage being shown until they show him footage from Verdugo's eye-camera that shows Doc Samson picking up Bruce Banner's laptop. They are able to see a message on it from the mysterious Mr. Blue. However, they lost track of her because her eye implant somehow malfunctioned. This upsets the leader of Home Base, but his subordinate S-1 informs him that they have a replacement as they captured Doc Samson after she was knocked out and implanted an improved model of the eye camera on him. However, the mastermind behind Home Base is unimpressed, telling his agents that they need to focus on Banner's laptop, which is the key to his capture. He also expresses his concerns about Samson discovering the ocular implant. S-1 is certain that he won't and has Doctor Vogel explain the process, which apparently renders the eye camera invisible to detection by the one implanted with it, and through external scans.

As Bruce Banner sleeps out in the desert, Doc Samson is returned to where he was taken from. When he wakes up he manages to follow Banner's steps, taking him to the scene where Jink Slater and Sandra Verdugo apparently died. He notes that one of the graves has been dug up from inside. Watching this through Samson's eyes, S-1 and his colleague S-2 note that it is Sandra Verdugo's grave that is empty, as she had received H Section programming. Meanwhile, Bruce Banner wakes up and contacts Mr. Blue to ask about the "weather" in his region. Mr. Blue responds by warning him about "false prophets". Doc Samson returns to his lab, where he finds that Randy Connors and his friends have made it a clubhouse. He then begins to work on a means of sending an e-mail to Bruce Banner's encrypted laptop. Although Home Base is watching, they cannot see the components that Samson used to create the device, but S-1 is satisfied to let Samson contact Banner. Doc Samson communicates with Banner, he confirms his identity by confirming where a mole is located on Betty Ross, Bruce's late wife. Seemingly unaware that Home Base is watching, Doc Samson arranges to meet with Banner in an abandoned mining town called Motherload in Colorado. Samson then destroys the equipment and goes to sleep. Back at Home Base, they curse the fact that the eye cam cannot record audio. The leader of the organization suggests capturing Samson, but S-1 wants him to be there to meet Banner and recommends doing things his way.

As Bruce Banner makes his way to Motherload, Home Base sends some soldiers to capture Bruce and kill Samson. As the two men meet, Bruce instantly knows its a trap, but Samson already saw to that. Having known about the eye implant, Samson fed Home Base the wrong information and when the soldiers storm where they think is the meeting place, they find a bomb that blows up moments after they enter the building. This makes the leader of Home Base furious, who looked into it and learned that the eye the replaced on Samson had stigmatism. When he woke up with 20/20 vision it tipped him off and he set in motion the deception that they just fell for. Furious at yet another failure, the head of Home Base kills S-1 and places S-2 in charge of Operation Banner. S-2 is then joined by a female operative calling herself S-3. Meanwhile, Doc Samson -- now sporting an eye patch over his compromised eye -- begins planning with Banner on how to deal with Home Base.

Recurring Characters

Bruce Banner, Doc Samson, Home Base (The Leader, Agents S-2, and 3), Randy Connors

Continuity Notes

• Agent S-3 is actually Betty Ross operating undercover. Betty had died of radiation poisoning in Incredible Hulk #466. Her survival is revealed in Incredible Hulk Vol 2 #62. Betty was resurrected thanks to the machinations of the Intelligencia as seen in Fall of the Hulks: Alpha #1. However, her appearances here are all part of a reality warp created by Nightmare as revealed in Incredible Hulk Vol 2 #81.