Chapter 919

Somehow, their little group had grown into a five-person team.

The pickup started moving again, heading toward their next destination.

Evenson, meanwhile, had actually taken his place in the truck bed.

Given the current arrangement inside the cabin, there wasn’t really anywhere else for him to sit. Every seat was occupied, and squeezing himself between the others seemed like an excellent way to make everyone uncomfortable.

Besides, the truck bed was spacious enough to lie down in. The breeze was pleasant, and he could stretch out without bothering anyone.

He considered that a pretty good deal.

Under normal circumstances, he would have expected the four people in the cabin to sit around drinking tea and playing cards while the team’s only Warlock was sent ahead to clear the dungeon. Once he reached the entrance, he’d simply summon everyone else.

At least this time, he got to ride along.

The cool breeze brushed past his ears as the pickup rolled down the highway. With five people together, conversation came naturally.

Peggy was the first to bring up what had happened at the shopping mall.

"By the way, I was the one who sent those police officers."

She raised a hand before anyone could respond.

"Don’t thank me just yet. I was actually curious about something. If we hadn’t intervened, how exactly were you planning to get out of there?"

Natasha hesitated.

Sarah, sitting beside her, immediately turned to look at her with unmistakable interest.

For once, Natasha seemed to have no ready answer.

"Natasha, I’ve been an agent myself," Peggy continued, a sly smile appearing at the corner of her mouth. "I’m familiar with the tricks spies use. Public displays of affection tend to make people uncomfortable. Most people instinctively look away when they see something intimate happening right in front of them."

Her smile widened.

"So, were you planning to take advantage of that? Perhaps by kissing someone?"

"No!"

Steve answered before Natasha could even open her mouth.

Sitting upright behind the steering wheel, he stared straight ahead with the determination of a man defending his honor before a military tribunal.

"We were already close to the exit. Rumlow’s men had spread out across the shopping mall, so I intended to knock them unconscious as quickly as possible and fight my way out."

He paused for emphasis.

"That was the plan we’d agreed on. The only plan. There were no alternatives."

"Really?" Peggy asked.

"Absolutely."

Steve didn’t hesitate.

"I was already preparing to act. If those police officers hadn’t appeared, I would have charged down the escalator and knocked Rumlow flat before he even knew what happened."

Peggy gave a quiet snort.

"Brave, but not particularly clever."

Steve glanced at her.

"Rumlow’s search teams would have been checking in with one another at regular intervals. If you knocked him unconscious, you’d immediately expose yourselves. That would have made everything that followed considerably more difficult."

Steve nodded thoughtfully.

"Well, then—"

"Then what?"

Peggy’s expression was almost innocent.

Steve reconsidered his answer.

"Then we would have had to do it anyway. There wasn’t a perfect solution, and we’d already considered those possibilities."

It was a trap.

No matter what he said, Peggy would find a way to criticize him. Better to be accused of reckless heroics than to have something considerably more embarrassing happen to him.

Besides, being called foolish wouldn’t actually hurt him.

Getting beaten up might.

Sarah sighed dramatically.

"Oh, my poor Natasha. Having to work alongside such an emotionally constipated block of wood..."

Natasha immediately turned toward her.

"Excuse me? What exactly are you implying?"

She hadn’t even finished turning when Sarah leaned forward, clearly waiting for her.

Their lips met.

Sarah cupped Natasha’s face with both hands, leaving her little room to pull away.

Natasha’s eyes widened.

"Mm—!"

When Sarah finally released her, Natasha pushed her back and wiped her lips.

"What are you doing? People are watching!"

"And?"

Sarah casually wrapped an arm around her waist and shifted closer.

Her long, powerful tail slipped into view, curling toward Natasha with unmistakable affection.

"Are you really embarrassed by something as simple as this?"

"Wait a second."

Natasha slipped out of Sarah’s embrace.

"I’m trained not to react to things like this. But that’s because I’m working. This isn’t work."

Sarah seemed to find that answer immensely satisfying.

A low, pleased rumble escaped her throat.

She finally restrained herself, abandoning whatever she had been about to try next.

Peggy watched the two of them for a moment.

Something in the scene seemed to stir an old memory.

She sighed softly before turning toward Steve.

"We certainly didn’t see things like that in my day."

Steve nodded.

"That’s true."

America had always celebrated freedom and individual rights, but the country had been considerably more conservative during Steve’s time.

A relationship like Natasha and Sarah’s would hardly have been welcomed by the wider public.

Times had changed.

Some things, apparently, had changed more than others.

"We’re here."

Steve slowed the pickup and brought it to a stop.

He stepped out, planted his hands on his hips, and stared at the grounds ahead.

For a moment, he said nothing.

This was the source of the files they had been tracking.

But it was also somewhere far more personal.

This was the military training facility where Steve Rogers had begun his military career as a painfully skinny young man, long before the Super Soldier Serum transformed him into Captain America.

It was where his extraordinary journey had begun.

It was also where he had first met Peggy Carter.

The place held more memories than he could easily count.

He needed a moment to take them in.

A loud snore drifted from the truck bed.

"I haven’t been here in a long time," Peggy said, looking around with a nostalgic expression.

"Do you remember the flagpole on the hill behind the barracks, Steve?"

Another snore.

"Of course I do."

Steve smiled.

"If I tried climbing it now, I’d probably make it to the top."

A third snore.

Peggy laughed.

"That wasn’t what the flagpole was for."

She was referring to an exercise from Steve’s early military training, before his transformation.

During one particularly exhausting forced march, the recruits had been pushed to their limits. Steve, whose frail physique made the exercise especially difficult, had been struggling to remain conscious.

Eventually, their instructor led the exhausted group to a flagpole.

He announced that whoever managed to retrieve the flag at the top would be excused from the remaining march and allowed to return to base in a jeep alongside Peggy Carter.

The challenge immediately caught the attention of the stronger recruits.

Several large, muscular men eagerly stepped forward.

Unfortunately, they weren’t particularly good at climbing.

The flagpole was smooth and offered almost no grip. No matter how hard they tried, none of them could make it very far.

Steve, the least physically impressive recruit in the group, came up with a different solution.

Rather than climb the pole, he simply knocked it over and retrieved the flag.

The exercise had never been about physical strength.

It was meant to teach the recruits that soldiers needed more than muscle. Intelligence and resourcefulness could be just as important on a battlefield.

"I remember," Steve said, rubbing his chin with a smile. "But..."

He paused.

Peggy looked at him.

"But..."

Another pause.

"But..."

Steve finally slapped a hand against his forehead.

"Where the hell is that noise coming from?"

The nostalgic atmosphere was completely ruined.

Natasha and Sarah exchanged innocent expressions before quietly looking toward the truck bed.

Evenson was lying comfortably in the back.

The space was large enough to stretch out, and the breeze had been pleasant. Between the steady movement of the truck and the comfortable temperature, he’d apparently fallen asleep without realizing it.

It wasn’t entirely his fault.

Ever since the collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D. had begun, Evenson had barely found time to rest.

He’d spent most of his days at Evangelion Corporation, keeping track of the unfolding situation.

There had been meetings with the Eredar Twins, strategy discussions, and constant coordination with Coulson’s team.

There was always another problem demanding his attention.

And when things finally settled down in the evening, he’d usually find himself wanting to do something other than sleep.

He was exhausted.

A little understanding wouldn’t hurt.

Steve, however, wasn’t particularly interested in discussing Evenson’s work-life balance.

He walked over to the pickup, opened the driver’s door, and reached toward a button beside the dashboard.

Then he pressed it.

CLANG!

The entire truck bed lurched upward.

Evenson nearly went airborne.

"Jesus Christ! What the hell is this, a dump truck?!"

He scrambled upright, rubbing his face as he climbed out.

"Couldn’t you just wake me up normally? I nearly flew out of the damn thing!"

The sudden movement had caught him completely off guard.

He understood that they’d reached their destination, but surely there were gentler ways of announcing it.

Steve simply shook his head and started walking toward the facility.

He’d had enough of those snores.

If Evenson hadn’t been making so much noise, Steve might actually have forgotten he was back there.

Natasha took out her specially issued S.H.I.E.L.D. smartphone and began scanning the area.

Her expression gradually became troubled.

"Nothing. No thermal signatures, no detectable signal, and no radio emissions. Whoever developed that program must have used a router to throw off anyone trying to trace it."

The buildings around them looked as though they had been abandoned for decades.

It was difficult to imagine that anything remotely sophisticated could have been developed here.

Natasha was beginning to suspect that their trip had been a waste of time.

Then she noticed Steve staring at a low concrete building nearby.

It resembled an old ammunition depot.

"What’s wrong?" she asked.

Steve studied the structure.

"Military regulations prohibit storing ammunition within five hundred yards of a bank."

Natasha blinked.

Steve continued with absolute confidence.

"This building was constructed in the wrong place."

He wasn’t guessing.

Steve had always been good at remembering regulations, even the obscure ones.

And if this structure violated established military rules, there was probably a reason for it.

Perhaps it wasn’t an ammunition depot at all.

Before anyone could investigate further, the building’s door opened.

Peggy poked her head out.

"Are you three planning to stand around all day? Come on. I know this place better than any of you."

Steve and Natasha exchanged glances.

Then they followed her inside.

Once they switched on the lights, the truth became obvious.

Rows of neatly arranged desks filled the room. The walls were painted blue and white, and a large eagle emblem dominated one side.

This wasn’t an ammunition depot.

It was an old S.H.I.E.L.D. facility.

Or rather, a facility belonging to its predecessor, the Strategic Scientific Reserve.

Evenson looked around, then planted his hands on his hips.

"Well, looks like we found something."

He nodded confidently.

"The files definitely originated here."

Natasha tilted her head.

"Why are you so certain?"

She wasn’t convinced yet. There wasn’t a single computer in sight.

Unless someone had been writing their programs by hand, this place didn’t seem particularly useful for tracking digital files.

Evenson pointed upward.

"Look at the ceiling, ma’am. What do you see?"

Natasha glanced up.

"What? Did someone steal our tent, Sherlock?"

"The lights."

Evenson gestured toward the illuminated fixtures.

"This facility has supposedly been abandoned for decades, yet the electricity is still running. Why?"

Natasha looked around again.

He had a point.

America might have considerable energy resources, but electricity wasn’t free. Someone was still paying the bills for this supposedly abandoned installation.

Someone had been maintaining it.

The question was why.

Steve had meanwhile entered a nearby office.

He pushed open the door and stopped in front of three photographs hanging on the wall.

The first showed a general in military uniform.

Steve recognized him immediately. He had been the commanding officer of the unit Steve served in during the war.

The second photograph showed a handsome man with a neatly trimmed mustache and the unmistakable air of a wealthy playboy.

Howard Stark.

Peggy looked up at the photograph.

"Howard..."

Tony’s father.

Seeing the familiar face brought back a flood of memories, along with a measure of guilt.

Her expression changed.

There was someone she absolutely could not allow to remain in the picture.

Someone who would have to be dealt with.

Evenson noticed her reaction and nudged her arm.

"Look at that. You’re on the wall too."

The third photograph showed Peggy as a young woman.

Her appearance hadn’t changed dramatically, but the eyes were different.

The beautiful eyes she once possessed were gone.

Peggy examined the photograph and shrugged.

"Seriously? They put my picture up here? And in black and white, too. That’s rather ominous."

She didn’t seem particularly bothered.

Instead, she looked toward a row of empty filing cabinets.

"Third shelf on the right. Move it. I remember there being an elevator behind it."

Steve immediately grabbed the shelving unit and pulled it aside.

Sure enough, an elevator door was concealed behind it.

Peggy approached the control panel.

"The access code should have been changed by now, but..."

Her Ghost Vision activated.

In an instant, she could see the fingerprints left on the keypad, along with their sequence.

It didn’t take long to reconstruct the code.

She entered it.

The elevator doors opened.

The group descended into the underground facility.

The moment the doors opened, Peggy’s expression darkened.

"I remember this place being a classified document storage room the last time I was here."

She looked around.

"Or perhaps I should say it was."

Rows of old computers filled the underground chamber.

Magnetic tape reels and vacuum tubes dominated the equipment, all arranged across an enormous installation.

"Looks like they upgraded their storage system," Peggy continued. "Everything’s been transferred to electronic records."

Evenson pointed toward one of the machines.

"Or they’ve been using these old computers to develop something."

The others followed his gesture.

A remarkably modern USB port had been installed on the console of one of the ancient computers.

Natasha took out the drive and examined it.

Then she inserted it.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then the entire installation came alive.

Across the chamber, computer screens flickered on. Mechanical components began moving, and cameras slowly rotated toward the newcomers.

Hundreds of feet of magnetic tape began spinning.

Natasha stepped up to the console and entered the command to confirm activation.

A mechanical voice crackled through the room.

"Steve Rogers. Born in 1918."

The system paused briefly.

"Natasha Alianovna Romanoff. Born in 1984."

Evenson suddenly raised a hand.

"Hold on."

He turned toward Natasha.

"Born in 1984? I could’ve sworn you were from 1928."

Natasha’s expression immediately darkened.

Sarah, however, spoke before she could respond.

"Boss, you really shouldn’t go around investigating a woman’s age. It’s rude."

Evenson glanced at her.

So the little troublemaker was taking Natasha’s side now?

Natasha merely shrugged.

Then she turned toward Sarah with a half-lidded smile.

"Does my age bother you?"

Sarah laughed softly.

"I’m a very young succubus. Extremely young, actually."

Her smile widened.

"But I was still born many, many years before the Common Era. Do you really think a few decades would bother me?"

"Oh, I might find your age a little concerning."

Sarah’s cheeks puffed out in an exaggerated pout.

While the two women continued teasing each other, the computer finished its introduction.

"I am Arnim Zola."

The name immediately changed the atmosphere.

Arnim Zola had been a Swedish scientist who served the Red Skull during World War II.

After the war, he had been recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D.

Eventually, his body succumbed to an incurable illness. Rather than accept death, Zola transferred his consciousness into an enormous magnetic tape storage system.

Nearly two hundred thousand feet of magnetic tape now housed his mind.

He had effectively become a computer.

Evenson looked around at the antiquated machinery.

"Magnetic tape and vacuum tubes..."

He scratched his chin.

"So this is the legendary HYDRA artificial intelligence?"

He looked back at the computer.

"Your current employer must be a real cheapskate. You’ve served HYDRA for decades, and they can’t even provide you with decent equipment. Portable hard drives have existed for years, yet you’re still trapped in a room full of magnetic tape."

Evenson shook his head sympathetically.

"Honestly, I almost feel sorry for you."

Zola’s response came immediately.

"What do you mean, equipment? I don’t need better equipment! I don’t need a salary, and I don’t need benefits!"

His mechanical voice grew increasingly indignant.

"I enjoy working here around the clock! Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week! This is my reward for serving HYDRA!"

Evenson stared at the computer.

Apparently, even after escaping the limitations of a human body, Arnim Zola had managed to retain the worst possible employee mentality.