Take Me back to the Start | B. Barnes

48. Hail Hydra

"You died decades ago, so turn off the damn program." I hiss, refusing to believe that this computer is supposed to be Dr. Arnim Zola. It's impossible, the SSR captured him and he died of an old age. But on the other hand, artificial intelligence exist, for example, JARVIS. A shiver creeps through my skin, reaching my bones and leaving goosebumps.

"Look around you, Evelyn. I have never been more alive. In 1972, I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body, my mind, however, that was worth saving on two hundred thousand feet of data banks. You are standing in my brain." He explains mischievously, enjoying his power and I cringe with disgust, looking around.

"Not really my favorite metaphor."

"How did you get here?" Steve asks, narrowing his eyes with contempt and mistrust.

"Invited. It was Operation Paperclip after World War II. SHIELD recruited German scientists with strategic values. They thought I could help their cause. I also helped my own." Zola simply tells us and a sudden realization hits me. The flash drive is filled with information, knowledge about Zola's life from the forties till now. No... Don't let it be true. Don't tell me Hydra...

"Hydra died with the Red Skull." Steve spits, putting one and one together and understanding what Zola means.

"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place." The way he reveals Hydra's comeback makes me imagine an evil grin on his nonexisting lips. Steve and I died for nothing. Hydra is still here, it always has been.

"You bloody bastard." I glare at the screen, clenching my teeth.

"Hydra was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize, was that if you try to take that freedom, they resist. The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly. After the war, SHIELD was founded and I was recruited. The new Hydra grew. A beautiful parasite inside SHIELD. For seventy years Hydra has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war. And when history did not cooperate, history was changed." The computer shows us scenes of a soldier dressed in black with long brown hair and a metal arm. The Winter Soldier. Hydra killed Fury.

"You're lying. SHIELD would've noticed, Peggy would have- " I stutter, still not believing what's happening. Hydra has infiltrated SHIELD. They infiltrated something that was important to Howard and Peggy.

"Accidents will happen." Suddenly the article about Howard's death appears on the monitor, showing us how Hydra had killed him and Maria Stark. A blank shock invades my mind, triggering nothing but rage. The car accident... it wasn't an accident. It was murder. They killed him. They killed Howard. They turned Tony into an orphan. "Didn't the Red Skull promise to make Stark pay for your experiment? Well, we won. Your deaths amount to the same as your lives: a zero sum."

"You son of a bitch. You killed him. You killed him!" I scream furiously and my heart beats faster and faster, my pulse increases. Blinded by anger, I throw my fist against the screen, not caring about the broken glass that turns my skin into blood red. The rage numbs the pain, and I don't care about it at all. Just the sweet feeling of revenge overwhelms me.

"As I was saying... " He continues on another monitor, not caring about the damage. "What's on this drive? Project Insight requires insight. So I wrote an algorithm."

"What kind of algorithm? What does it do?" Steve clenches his teeth and the doors suddenly close, he tries to stop it by throwing his shield in between it, but it's too late. We're stuck here.