63 The Anatomy of Espionage -61

Alexander Pierce's office was as elegant as always, never hinting at the darkness hidden within its depths or within its owner. The walls, lined with books and artifacts collected over his long tenure, and all props to showcase himself as someone fighting the bad fight for the good side.

The attacks on both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra facilities were becoming too frequent and too precise to be coincidental. The realization that their hidden alliance was possibly compromised sent a shiver down his spine.

Sitting behind his desk, Pierce rubbed his temples, the weight of the situation pressing down on him. The loss of the Winter Soldier, his most reliable asset for handling such crises, was a blow that couldn't have come at a worse time. 

The other assets at his disposal, while competent, lacked the sheer efficiency and reliability that the Winter Soldier brought to the table.

The silence of the room was broken by the soft buzz of his secure line. He answered, listening intently as one of his top lieutenants reported yet another attack, this time on a Hydra research facility hidden within a civilian infrastructure in Eastern Europe.

The modus operandi was the same: precise, devastating, and leaving no survivors or witnesses. This pattern confirmed Pierce's worst fears. Someone was systematically dismantling their network, piece by piece, a task that required insider knowledge and significant power.

After ending the call, Pierce leaned back in his chair, his mind racing through possible countermeasures. The absence of rumors about Hydra's existence was the only silver lining, suggesting that their adversary was not interested in exposing them to the world. Instead, this enemy was methodically erasing them, a silent assassin operating with chilling efficiency.

The challenge was unprecedented. Enhanced individuals were not uncommon, but one who possessed both the power to threaten Hydra and the knowledge of their deepest secrets was a rarity. Pierce knew they needed a response that matched the threat.

"Time to call in some favors," Pierce muttered to himself. He began compiling a list of potential allies, mercenaries, and even experimental assets that could be leveraged. Each name on the list was a gamble, but the stakes were too high not to take chances.

Additionally, Pierce recognized the need for a deeper investigation into how their secrets were compromised. This meant tightening internal security, initiating counter-espionage measures, and perhaps most importantly, tracing any leaks within their own ranks. Trust had become a luxury they could no longer afford blindly.

The plan was clear in his mind: fortify their defenses, eliminate the leak, and neutralize the threat. As for the enhanced individual dismantling his organization, Pierce knew they needed to be both cunning and brutal. This wasn't just about survival; it was about sending a message that Hydra could not be so easily undone.

Pierce stood up, his resolve hardening. He had faced crises before, but this was a new kind of war, one fought in the shadows against an unseen and powerful enemy. "Hydra will adapt," he assured himself, "We always do."

As he stepped out of his office to convene with his inner circle, the gears of Hydra's vast network began to turn with renewed purpose. Pierce was ready to do whatever it took to preserve their new world order, even if it meant facing the storm head-on. The battle lines were drawn, and for Alexander Pierce, failure was not an option.

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Alex was already feeling the downsides of her plan to take on a female persona to replace her former dead male one.

She had been interrupted today by a call from Natasha Romanoff, which meant she quickly had to use 113 and change into some clothes designed to fit her new body shape. The call itself had been short.

Natasha had simply tried to push back the decision about joining up a little more. No doubt about getting more time helping Shield deal with their Mandarin issue. That man sure didn't move slow once he had a target.

It wasn't too much of a problem, given that Alex also had a lot of work she needed to catch up on with so many SCP objects running wild and her own plans needing adjustments due to the events surrounding the assassinations.

She was also able to spend some more time getting used to being female. Training her movements and mannerisms to better play the role she had taken on for herself.

After all, Natasha wasn't someone easy to trick. She had gotten by so far due to the small number of interactions they had together and the nature of those interactions.

"Might as well get a few lessons in now since I'm already turned and dressed." She whispered with a sigh as she called upon the assigned teachers.

In the safety of her private space, Alex focused on the nuances of her new role. She practiced her walk, the tilt of her head, and the modulation of her voice, aiming for a seamless integration of her physical transformation with her internal sense of self. a delicate dance of deception, where every gesture and every word carried weight.

The teachers she had enlisted for this purpose were experts in their fields: a former ballet dancer to teach her grace and control, a voice coach to help her find the right pitch and intonation, and a seasoned spy to instruct her on the subtleties of feminine allure and its use in espionage. 

Each lesson was a step towards perfecting her cover, towards becoming indistinguishable from the role she now played.

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While Alex was buried in an endless amount of work and lessons, Bruce Banner was nervously walking up to the office of the SITE director. Having been called up with a warning wasn't something he was used to. Not with the director.

Given his status as a humanoid SCP object, he wasn't really meant to have too much contact with high-ranking Foundation personnel, not unless he was given a safe class classification, which he wasn't, not yet, at least.

The few times he had met with the director had always been carefully planned out. To ensure he was ready and fit to meet with the smallest risk of an outbreak.

As soon as he reached the door, the guard let him in without any trouble. Bruce was getting used to that here. As everyone on site knew about his situation, they were careful not to push him. Yet, at the same time, they didn't shower him with pity or anything.

"There you are, and right on time as always. Come take a seat, Dr Banner."

"Thank you, sir," Bruce said, his voice steady despite the nervousness that twisted in his stomach. He took the offered seat, his eyes briefly scanning the room, noting the various screens displaying data and surveillance feeds from around the site.

"No need to be so nervous Dr Banner, I'm here to offer you a little break from waiting around for the containment cell to be finished with the last upgrades before you can begin more testing." Director Tremblay quickly tried his best to calm Banner down as he knew that nothing good could come from him being too nervous.

Bruce calmed down somewhat after hearing that, as his curiosity quickly overcame his nerves. After all, he had access to quite a bit of information about SCP objects, and the more he read, the greater his desire to learn more.

"Your name was put forward from up high to take part in the containment operation of a safe class humanoid object if you are interested, that is." Tremblay continued while sliding a folder across the table.

Banner was surprised to hear that, after hearing about the death of Alexander Ricci, who was the higher-up he knew about in the Foundation that cared about him, he had feared his time wouldn't be as free in the future as while he had his support.

But perhaps this just meant that the internal faction that was more interested in the Hulk might try to make a play sometime soon. Still, he couldn't resist taking the file.

SCP-1338 in big red font filled the front of the folder. It wasn't one he was familiar with, prompting him to give the director a questioning look. who nodded his head, and Bruce quickly started to read.

As Bruce thumbed through the contents of the folder, his eyes quickly landed on a picture of the entity. "A child!" he exclaimed in surprise and looked up at Tremblay.

"Please, give it a read before asking questions." Was the response he got.

Bruce carefully reopened the folder, expecting to find some answers within it. He knew the Foundation dealt with all kinds of things, but he also knew that not all objects were treated as nicely as he was. He worried that his kid might not be treated too well.

Special Containment Procedures: A perimeter is to be established around the location SCP-1338 most frequently appears at (roughly 35°45'50"N 82°15'52" W). Foundation personnel assigned to the containment of SCP-1338 are to maintain the guise of a team of ecologists implementing a forest restoration process.

 Any unauthorized persons attempting to enter the perimeter are to be turned away under the pretense of keeping the restoration undisturbed; video surveillance is to be used to monitor the perimeter.

Foundation personnel are to meet with SCP-1338 once every 29 days to perform a routine assessment of SCP-1338's temperament and behavior. Any conversations that occur are to be logged appropriately. 

As SCP-1338 has demonstrated a willingness to cooperate with the Foundation, care should be taken to avoid frightening or aggravating SCP-1338 and to maintain said cooperation.

It further delved into ways the Foundation personnel should act to ensure the well-being of SCP-1338. Bruce was relieved to see that the child wasn't mistreated, though he was worried about leaving him alone in a forest like that.

Quickly reading on to get some answers to the questions that kept appearing in his mind as he learned more, things did quickly start to make sense.

Along with answers as to why the boy was left alone like that came a curiosity about the nature of his abilities. Was the kid even a human or something else? What kind of scientific explanation could be behind the abilities.

In particular, he really wanted to test some of these substances and see if he could figure out how they worked.

Working his way down the pages line by line, he reached the end, where something surprised him yet again.

Addendum 1338-3, it is possible the object has no memories of his time under Foundation watch; should this be the case, standard containment procedures should be carried out. However, if the object does have knowledge of the previous attempt to move the object into containment, extra care is to be taken to reestablish friendly relations.

"How can this be possible?" He asked while pointing to the final addendum.

"Ahh, that; we aren't entirely sure about the full effects of the CK class event just yet. We have met objects with no memories of being contained and others who did." Was all he said while shrugging his shoulders.

Bruce had trouble understanding how he could treat something as massive as the consequences of a CK class event with so much disregard. Banner hadn't been with the Foundation for long, but he understood that such events were rare and terrible.

"What exactly am I supposed to do on a mission like this? I mean, does it fall outside of my field of expertise?" Was the last remaining burning question he was left with.

He just couldn't see what angle was at play here. While somewhat of an expert in the field of biology, That field was vast, and this particular area of biology that might be useful for this child wasn't where his expertise lay.

It also didn't seem like something the Hulk would be useful for. Which appeared to rule out the possibility that this was a field test for the Hulk more than it was for himself.

"Well, I can't really answer that properly; this assignment did come from up real high, though, so we can only guess at what goes through their heads." Director Tremblay, said while pulling out a piece of paper that seemed to be a page taken from the folder and handed it over.

Taking the page and looking it over, Bruce found that it was mostly blank, with the exception of a single line.

Mission assigned by O5-1.

A/N

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