Chapter 31: Recovery and Promice

Disclaimer- We are going political with this one boooooiiiiiiiisssss !!!!!!

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[Rohan pov]

From the moment I opened my eyes, I found myself confined to the bed, doing nothing but resting and eating, and quite a bit of it. The Ancient One and Wong would visit occasionally, shedding light on the severity of my condition. According to Wong, I came dangerously close to death. Oddly enough, it wasn't the bullet narrowly missing my heart that posed the greatest threat; it was the excessive use of potions.

I've always been curious about how Potions function, especially in relation to Muggles. I speculated that the potion ingredients acted as both an energy source and a spell. However, there was an aspect of their mechanics that eluded me until the Ancient One explained it.

She categorized potions into three types:

Type 1: Potions that enact magic without significantly affecting the body, like the invisibility potion.

Type 2: Potions that manipulate the body's natural functions to achieve a desired outcome, such as Skele-Gro Potion, which prompts the body to produce skeletal stem cells for bone regeneration.

Type 3: Potions that freely alter the body's physiology, like the Ageing Potion or Polyjuice Potion, with temporary effects.

While the first two types are relatively harmless, the third type, particularly for a Muggle like me, can be disastrous. When a wizard consumes a potion, like the Polyjuice Potion, it temporarily transforms their appearance by rearranging their body. However, when the potion's effects fade, it safely reverses by utilizing the body's own magical energy. This mechanism doesn't work for non-magical individuals like me, so the potion resorts to other energy sources found in the body, such as ATP and glycogen.

That day, I had ingested an Ageing Potion, followed by a Polyjuice Potion, and during the ambush by Ross, I had taken the Edurus Potion and Fire-Breathing Potion. Each of these took a toll on my body simultaneously. A regular human body isn't equipped to handle such strain.

Back in Hogsmeade, I had experienced fatigue from potion use, but it was never this severe since I had only consumed Type 3 potions sparingly. This time, however, it was different. The combined effects of three Type 3 potions left me feeling exhilarated for a mere 40 seconds before my body started to deteriorate from within. Muscles, fat, and bones—all were consumed by the potions' hunger for energy.

When Wong brought me back to Kamar Taj, I was pale, and my weight had plummeted. He likened my appearance to that of a mummy. Fortunately, they managed to stabilize me. The Ancient One somehow halted the rampage of the potions in my body.

Since then, about a week has passed, and I can now move around with assistance. My joints and muscles ache, and the wound in my chest requires more time to heal. Nonetheless, I'm on the road to recovery, albeit slowly. Rest is all I need.

One day, as I lay in bed, lost in my thoughts, someone paid me a visit.

It was Wong. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm getting by. I can walk now, though my chest still hurts. But enough about me. Are you ready, Wong?" I asked eagerly.

Wong glanced around before replying, "You're not fully healed yet. I believe you should wait."

"The longer we wait, the more lives are at stake. Is that what you want?" I countered.

After a moment's consideration, Wong sighed and relented. "Fine. What's your plan?"

I grinned and sat up. "First, we need to head to the New York Sanctum. Let's discuss it in my room."

With Wong's assistance, I settled into a wooden wheelchair, and he wheeled me to my room at the Sanctum. As we entered, I noticed the room was cluttered with boxes stacked to the ceiling, filled with files and papers from the secret base. Wong helped clear some space as I checked the computer, relieved to find it still operational and connected to my phone.

We sat down to strategize. Wong, bound by Kamar-Taj's rules of non-interference, left it up to me to take action. However, given my injuries, I decided that exposing the secrets to the public was the most expedient option. I had experimental logs from the lab, but I needed more concrete evidence to substantiate my claims. Digging under the bed, I retrieved a bag and handed Wong a camcorder.

"Wong, as a member of Kamar-Taj, you can't directly intervene, but there's nothing preventing you from documenting. Take this camcorder and record everything—prisoner treatment, activities in Cuba, everything."

Wong looked uncertain. "Will this really make a difference?"

"Never underestimate public opinion. Once the truth is out, General Ross's experiments will be halted," I reassured him.

Wong nodded, and I proceeded to give him a crash course on operating the camcorder. Before he left, I reminded him to record the videos by placing the camcorder in hidden spots, I didn't want anyone to realise we could spy on them anytime.

As Wong closed the door behind him, I knew time was of the essence. I started planning how to disseminate the videos effectively. Sharing them with the press wouldn't suffice; I needed to ensure they couldn't be ignored. Recalling the fear I instilled in the Pentagon secretary, I realized I needed a figurehead—a boogeyman—to draw attention to the revelations.

The Mandarin from Iron Man 3 came to mind—a fictional villain created to divert attention from the true mastermind. I needed a similar figure, one that would capture the public's imagination.

Considering recent events, I knew I needed a persona akin to a modern-day Robin Hood—someone who challenged authority and stood for the weak. I decided to select a character from any of the known media, leveraging my smartphone's AI, I could create convincing videos. All I needed was a script to spark curiosity and outrage.

===

[Same Day] [7:00 PM] [New York Times Square ]

"I don't think it was wise for you to leave the Sanctum," Wong said, his expression laced with concern as he glanced at me.

We sat in a bustling café in Times Square, overlooking the throngs of people bustling below.

"You worry too much, Wong. Why not enjoy your cake too?" I replied, taking another bite of my dessert.

Wong's gaze darted around anxiously. "How much longer do we need to wait?"

"A minute or two," I replied nonchalantly, focusing on my cake.

Wong's worry seemed to deepen as he scanned the surroundings. "Do you really think this will work?"

"Oh, it will work, trust me," I assured him with a confident smile.

"Why are you so sure?" Wong inquired skeptically.

Wong looked worried as he looked around, then said "Will it work?"

"What?" I said with my mouth full

"Will showing the people some videos really stop the them ? "

I set my fork down and met Wong's gaze. "well Wong, let me explain to you how the world works; In the East, in places like China and Russia, the government does not give a fuck about the people's opinion and do what they want. They censor information and use Propaganda to control what kind of ideas its people can have. If someone does raise their voice, they disappear.

But in the West, there are these pesky things like freedom of Speech and Democracy and Liberty and such. This means information cannot be censored and People are free to think what they want. As you can guess, this puts the government in a disadvantageous position as no matter what they want to do, someone will always disagree with them.

But the West has an ace up its sleeve you see, it's called Moral Highground."

"Moral Highground huh ?" Wong echoed.

"Yes, and it's especially important to the USA. As long as you portray yourself as the 'good guys' your completely free thinking-freedom-loving people will have no issue supporting you.

Let me give you an example, The US government wants to remove Saddam Hussein from Iraq, the reason being that would make things easy for them in the Middle East and the oil is a bonus as well.

Now, if it were Russia, they would just attack without caring about the world. But the US cannot do that, It has to jump a few Hoops before attacking. This can range from some bullshit story about WMDs in Iraq or how Saddam Hussein is the mastermind who is going to bomb the US in the future and whatnot.

As long as the US government can portray itself as the good guy and present a villain to its people by showing that it is just attacking an evil dictator who is with the terrorists and saving the oppressed people, The population will wholeheartedly support them. Of course, the real intentions will stay private. The rich will keep profiting from the war while the poor will give their lives away. "I explained.

 And this is where we come in, we are going to show the people what really is happening there. This will make the government's image look bad in front of its people as well as its allies."

"so you plan to show everyone their real face what will that do ?" Wong clarified

"well, that will cause a huge amount of backlash from the people and other countries, so the Government will stop all of the experiments and frame a scapegoat to wash their hands with it. Elections are near after all "I admitted

"so it will finally stop them. that's good " Wong took a sigh of relief

"Nope not really, this will be temporary"

"what? but you said that this will stop them"Wong asked, puzzled.

"It's not so simple Wong, The Propaganda runs deep. Most people here believe that they are the greatest country in the world. While they can't even get a fucking Ambulance ride for free. There's a reason why most people in the US can't even point on the map where Afagnistan is; a country they are at War with."

"so it's a lost cause"

"No, not entirely"

"what do you mean ?"

"well, you remember what we did with the Secretory back in the Pentagon?"

"yes"

"I am going to do the same thing again, I will not just show the people a video and be done with it but give them a face and a name to remember."

"so a fake identity?"

"more like an organization. It will portray itself as someone who will fight for the people. And more importantly, it will give the government something to be busy with. Specifically General Ross.

Isn't it great Wong? The only way to fight the moral high ground is to stand on an even higher ground. "

Wong was about to say something when the lights went out, he looked around and saw that the entire Times Square was dark, People stood where they were looking around in confusion as there was a backup generator so something like this was not possible.

Then the screens came on, at first it was showing static noise but slowly the noise changed into music. Then a video started playing. There were animations with different words moving about. The music was even unique and unfamiliar to everyone.

Everyone's attention was on the screens, it had not been that many months since the attack on 9/11 so everyone was on edge and were thinking the worst possible outcome. many started to call on their phones.

That was when the screen changed to a bright newsroom, some people there recognised it as the same newsroom of a popular channel but there was a difference, in the middle was a man, he was a slim, average-height man. His appearance was mainly inspired by punk rock culture. His clothing consists of a black spiked leather mask with an LED visor, a spiked vest with attached patches and pins, a black DedSec hoodie, ripped denim jeans, a red spiked bracelet, and black strapped bracelets.

What drew everyone's attention was his mask and mechanical goggles that appeared to "blink" emotes and various eye expressions, He then started to speak looking to the side "How's my hair? Lin, can you give me a comb? No? Alright. Fuck you!" Then the screen changed to another news channel background, now it was the weather channel, he again said "Oh no! We are in for a big one? Can you feel it? in the south?" as he said clouds joined together to form a penis. Then the scene changed multiple times with different news channels.

By now everyone eased up a bit as what they were seeing was funny. They could get the references that the man was imitating different news anchors from popular news channels.

Thats when the man looked at the camera, his goggles changed his eyes to a serious look as he said "Hello, you can call me Wrench, And we are Deadsec." Thats when a logo aggered on the screen. "We interrupt your program today to bring you truth, truth that your government is hiding from you" he said pointing at the camera.

The scene changed to another news channel, He then started to speak "FAre warning, What you are about to see is real and not doctored." Then He started to speak as he showed videos. The video was about a minute long but it showed everything uncensored, with everyone's faces. Many in the crowd started to look away in disgust. there was people being tortured as well as disfigured people screaming in pain.

Then Wrench said, "This is what your government is doing in the Middle East, while they brand themselves as the warriors fighting against terrorism, they are doing these inhumane acts."

Then the scene changed again to a grey screen, Wrench then said "Sadly, nothing will happen, the reality is there is not a thing that can be done against the US. The rules and Laws are only for the weak, the strong can do anything, So the ones responsible will get away with it easily while the innocent will suffer" Then Wrench looked at the camera and said "That's where you come in, We at Deadsec need your help. We need you to stand up for what is right! "

The screen changed to an animation and then a QR Code "Join us "

 Then there was only a black screen with a man wearing a mask with a fancy looking 'D' on it. He said in a harsh voice "Deadsec has given you the truth. Do what you will"

The screen then went black for a second and then back to normal. The lights also came on the crowd was in an uproar, everyone was calling on their phones and running about.

Wong looking at the commotion was amazed "Well, that was something"

"you like it?"

"but will only showing here be enough?"

"haha Wong you are mistaken, This was not just here, but the entire US"

"what?"

"That video you just saw was shown in every state in the US."

At the New York Sanctum, I opened the TV and saw every news channel was talking about the hack, Then I opened the web page of Deadsec. Its link was in the QR code shown before, I did so because if someone came to the page from a QR code, it meant that he was very experienced. as QR codes are not known very well these days.

The website I made was a recreation of WikiLeaks. That would let people share classified files anonymously. The first article on the website was all the videos and files as proof of what the 1-minute video talked about. There was a total of 4 hour of footage here. The second article was Wrench's music, here I kept all the cyber themes music from WatchDogs, these were very different from today's music and one of them was the one used in the hack video. There was no particular reason to post them, it was just for fun.

Tonight was going to be a tough night as I was sure this site would be attacked countless times. But I was not that worried. I had an AI protecting it. I went to sleep.

===

The car stopped and an oldman got out of it. He looked at his house, and a girl opened the door and welcomed him in. They hugged each other and went inside.

In the shower, After the attack, the oldman started to think what had happed this past week.

[General Ross Pov]

I was called to return as soon as i could. The project was halted. Here I learnt what had happened, someone infiltrated the Pentagon, of course no one knew about it, But everyone was on edge.

For the past week, I have been grilled by these clowns and it's been infuriating, They keep watching the recordings again and again and ask me the same thing every time. Is he dead? Of course, he was dead, I trusted my shot and I saw him falling down, But that was not the real reason to worry, Videos show that there was another man with him, that was invisible.

I get out of the shower, take a glass of Bourbon and sit on the couch in front of the TV. That is when something happens.

"What in the" i said as I thought what kind of weird shows were airing these days

As I watched, the more furious I became, everything was now out in the open.

*crack* a sound came, when i looked down i saw the glass was broken and my hand was bleeding.

"Deadsec huh," i said to myself looking at my bleeding hand

===

[16 Hrs Later ] [The Pentagon]

A confidential meeting was underway, gathering officials from the White House to intelligence agencies like the NSA, CIA, and the Army. All key figures in the government were present to address the hack. At the heart of the discussion were General Ross and Mr. Rumsfeld, the Secretary of Defense, fielding questions.

"Can't we just deny the allegations?" an elderly man inquired.

"No can do. The videos are already out there, and folks have already recognizing the soldiers in the videos. We're scrambling to relocate them, but it's just a matter of time before folks come poking around," responded another.

"Then why haven't you taken down the damned video yet?"

A voice piped up from the back, belonging to a computer expert. "We've tried, sir, but nothing's working." He gestured to the giant monitors on the walls. "We've been at it for hours, but we can't even put a scratch on it, let alone shut it down."

"Then bomb the thing wherever it's running from!" came a frustrated command, punctuated by a table slam.

"What about the identity of that guy Wrench? Any clues from the video?" a calm officer inquired.

"Nothing, sir. The video seems like heavily doctored. And the man calling himself Wrench seems like he just appeared out of thin air."

"Or he might be using a disguise. We know this unidentified individual can change his apperence."

"Damn it! Is there anything we do know about him?" another officer said in fustration

"Well, there is one thing," General Ross interjected.

He stood and gestured to one of his men, who brought forth a plastic bag containing two reconstructed glass bottles. Another played a video showing CCTV footage from the lab fight.

"As Mr. Donald reported, he was given a truth serum orally. This matches with the lead Scientist, who we believe was given a mind-controlling serum. These bottles were recovered from where General Ross encountered our unidentified individual. If you look closely at the CCTV footage, you can see him drinking from these bottles before his powers activate. We're certain that our John Doe here isn't a mutant but has access to serums that enhance different powers."

The room buzzed with discussion. It was a significant development, suggesting a major player behind the operation.

"We believe their goal was to steal the secrets of the Super Soldier serum and tarnish the USA's image as a bonus," General Ross concluded.

"Does this mean another country is behind this? Russia, perhaps?" someone asked

"We don't know." General Ross said.

Just then the doors opened and a man came in, he was wareing black suit with a white shirt, what was strange was that everyone in the room looked displeased as soon as they saw the man.

"Gentlemen, we have been authorized by the secruty council to handle the investigation from now on. "

"No ! No ! we can handle this on our own" General Ross said, he knew how powerful this kind of physical augmentation was experienceing it firsthand and so he did not want to hand this over to them. He felt that the Army should have it and it can only be done if they were the one to catch the mysterious man. 

"Yes!" someone exclaimed suddenly. All eyes turned to the speaker at the back.

"Sir, we're in! We've hacked their website."

The room erupted in cheers. General Ross Smerked "Did you find anything? Maybe a location?"

"We found a video file, sir."

"Let's see it, then. put it up here" Ross bosted proud of his men.

The man checked the file for malware, and then played it. The screen was black for a few moments before a man appeared, dancing in front of a microphone.

♫ Never gonna give you up,

never gonna let you down,

never gonna run around and desert you ♫

Silence fell over the room as the music kept playing.