Hydra & The Nurse - How Do We Break His Mind?
"How do we break his mind?" You hear Armin Zola ask the doctors.
You had been told to take the drinks in to them in the conference room. "I'm a bloody nurse, not a waitress!" you had snapped at the guard, who just smirked and given you the tray.
You had entered quietly, but you know your presence has been noticed by Lehmann.
Zola was talking again.
Everything they had done to the patient and still they had not breached that final wall. Once it had fallen they could start to rebuild. Zola is clearly frustrated. Nearly everything else is in place, the work more or less completed by the new team. They were now just awaiting access to the patient.
You try to remain as quiet and unobtrusive as possible. It's clear that some of the doctors have not even thought about your presence, and are talking freely. You are horrified at the conversation but you know you cannot let your feelings show. You put the tray down and pour six cups of mud-brown coffee, placing one next to each doctor. Only Jakobs and Zola say thank you - none of the others do and you hadn't expected them to. Two of the people in the room are from the new team.
Lehmann is saying it was too late for them to choose a different subject; all the formula made to date has been tailored for Barnes. It is just his mind holding out.
His body is ready for the next phase.
"Well we can always go the route of old fashioned torture and deprivation. Put him in a cell, throw away the key, feed him scraps, wear him down, not let him sleep. But that will take at least a year," says Doctor Taffeteer, reaching for his coffee.
"I would have thought if that was going to work it would have happened already with the treatment he was receiving from your excellent choice of nursing staff," Zola says sarcastically, a rare thing for him.
"Besides which, we do not have a year to waste. This needs to be done sooner rather than later. Once that final wall comes down, we can start rebuilding him and his mind as the 'Winter Soldier'. He will then be ours completely."
It is the first time you hear the name The Winter Soldier. It sends a chill down your spine.
The doctors start to bicker, and you notice Doctor Jakobs is quiet.
Zola interrupts at this point to say he wants more formula to be made. He always wants to know there is a small stock of the serum on hand.
"Already being done," Lehmann assures him before the others can say a word. Zola nods and Lehmann continues. "Going back to Barnes' mind. I have been working on an idea which I believe will work; I have discussed it with Fennhoff and he agrees. It will also be a way of killing two birds with one stone."
Zola sits back and picks up his coffee.
Lehmann looks at you. "That will be all," he says dismissing you, and they wait for you to leave the room. You have no choice but to go.
*
"That will be all," Lehmann says to the nurse and they wait for her to depart.
Zola studies Lehmann. He really doesn't like the man. He is always too eager to pull things apart, too eager about the experimentation, but Zola is desperate. The group have arrived with the final parts of the jigsaw puzzle that will complete the physical make up of the Winter Soldier. Everything needs to be moved forward and only the patient himself is holding them up. He may not like Lehmann, but he knows if there is a way to break Barnes then it will be Lehmann who does it.
"I'm really not happy about that young woman being on the project," Lehmann is saying.
Zola looks up just as Doctor Jakobs sits forward. "She is a good nurse and we are lucky to have her. I think we should really be thinking of involving her more, not less," his comments are directed at Zola.
Lehmann and Jakobs have had this argument before. Jakobs will do his best to keep her.
"There are lots of good nurses out there..." Lehmann starts but Jakobs argues across him.
"She knows the English language. She can communicate with our patient. Because of this they share a bond; he trusts her. We wouldn't have gotten this far if she hadn't alerted us to what was going on."
Lehmann waves a hand. "Yes, yes. But she is a trouble-maker. Her allegiance is to Barnes not us." Lehmanns dislike of the nurse is showing. Zola holds up his hands for quiet, but the argument carries on until he has had enough.
"Gentlemen!" he is forced to shout.
The men are quiet.
"I am happy for her to be here," says Zola. "She seems to know what she is doing. But..." and he looks at Lehmann, "... if you have any problems with her then you advise me immediately, and I will rethink the situation. But for now let us continue with why we are here. You were about to tell me about your idea for Barnes' mind."
In a way he will regret asking. It would have been better, he thinks later, if he had not known but just been given the final product of it all because what Lehmann outlines is akin to torture. He insists it is for the good of the project and he is sure it will work.
When the other doctors show their disgust Lehmann challenges them to come up with a better idea, an alternative way of breaking the patient's mind. "After all, how many years have we had him here? He still knows who he is, he is still hanging on to his identity. We have to take that away from him. A combined shock of this magnitude will do it I think."
Zola is quiet.
Lehmann continues talking. " We are at a crucial point. Barnes' body is responding well to the serum; we have finally found the right combination. We need his mind now. Once we have that then," and at this point he gestures to the two doctors from the new team, "they can begin to fit the new arm. Once that is done the next step is cryo freeze. The team report that they are very close to completion, and they can begin shipping in the new equipment. Once we get that sorted, we can then move on to the final two phases..." he smiles. It is a chilling smile. "...wiping his mind and reprogramming. We have come so far and we are so close."
Zola removes his glasses on the pretext of cleaning them to give himself time to think.
Everyone is quiet.
He finally seems to make up his mind.
He looks around the table and then sighs. "Very well," he says.
Lehmann sits back, triumphant. He has won.
He has already completed the hard work behind his idea. Several months ago he had sent a message to one of their agents in America who supplied everything that was needed and more. Lehmann was extremely pleased when he received the information he had requested, passing it to the necessary resources.
What they came back with pleased him even more. It was perfect.
The final step came when one of the guards loyal to Lehmann told him about the nightmares Barnes has been having. The guard had overheard Stefan telling Kristo Barnes' fear of Lehmann, and the repeating vision of the doctor slicing off his limbs.
"Oh Sergeant Barnes, you have no idea of what I am capable of," Lehmann had thought, "and with that, Sergeant," he had spoken out aloud, "you have played right into my hands."
*
Later when the meeting is over, you make sure you are just outside the door of the meeting room, hoping to hear some of what they have discussed.
Five of the doctors are oddly quiet, and Doctor Jakobs won't meet your eyes. Lehmann is still talking to Zola. You don't hear what is said, but afterwards when Zola is halfway across the room, he turns and speaks to Lehmann once more
"There will be no need for me to be present at the...ah operation. I shall leave it in your capable hands. Just let me know when it is...completed and I will be back." He turns and leaves the room.
You notice that the other doctors do not continue any conversation with Lehmann. It is as if they do not wish to be in the same room as him.
What operation?
Your blood runs cold when you look at Lehmann and he smiles at you.