Chapter 14

I stood on the beach, scanning the surf, I had decided to take a small vacation to Australia. I say vacation but I was here for something very specific, after that I did not want to spend any more time here than I absolutely had to, too many things here could kill you way too easily, and don't get me started on the spiders, too creepy.

unfortunately, the creature I needed was only found here and in Japan, and Japan didn't have the privacy I required to transport the creature back since I couldn't afford a personal airport or any kind of international travel I would have to smuggle a few home.

I slowly scanned again, I had thick leather boots on up to my knees along with gloves, the gloves were thinner to allow mobility, my target was small being barley four inches across, but were lined with Kevlar for protection. in my hand was a glass jar for containment. Jones also stood a few feet from shore with an emergency response kit and artificial breathing apparatus just in case. he and his four new teammates looked on edge, each more nervous than the last.

I made my move, spotting my target for a split second, sending me lunging after it with gusto. after a bit of flailing, I stood up again, my cephalopod captive now sealed inside his jar. I made sure the lid was tight before setting him next to a few of his brethren I had captured before, each contained in their own jar.

Jones knelt down and squinted at the creatures, "Are they truly that deadly, sir? they seem rather... small, " he said

"Oh, absolutely Jones, the Blue Ringed Octopus produce Tetrodotoxin, one of the most powerful neurotoxins in the world. the beak is lined with it, and even though you usually won't feel the bite of this thing, it still usually leaves behind enough venom to kill twenty people." I explained

"But sir, there are other more potent venoms out there." One of Jones crew, a man named Telan, said with confusion

"yes, but this toxin is for the hallways in case of a raid, and what's special is this neurotoxin doesn't kill you outright, it instead leads to extreme paralysis in a few minutes, the paralysis shuts down all the victims muscles except the brain, meaning people die of suffocation when their lungs stop being able to breathe. this means if our allies become affected or we want to take some prisoners, they won't die outright and only need help with artificial breathing until the venom wears off. anyone we don't help will also die, though. this maintains a balance we need to kill our enemies, but save our allies." I explained slowly

Jones had a look on his face. "What do you mean it doesn't shut down the brain?"he asked with a bit of worry

"Ahh, that, the victims remain fully conscious and aware. They can still feel everything that happens to them. this should make questioning easier, " I said

"So torture, sir?"

"gods no, while some versions of the foundation may resort to it, I hope not to. still the experience of feeling yourself slowly suffocating inside your own immobile body, and the knowledge that we have the capability to inflict that again should make them talk"

Jones simply nodded after that before picking up the containers and walking away. that was the plan, Jones and two of his team, Telan and another named Frig, would be in charge of smuggling the octopi back to US soil. while me and the remaining members would be safely in first class flying back home.

- sometime later, back in New York

the smuggling operation went fine, a small hiccup when occurred when the captain of the ship they were riding on attempted to rob Jones and his men and throw them overboard. after some minor convincing, he agreed not only to cease his current action but also to return the original amount paid.

still, at the end of the day, our research lab received the specimens and extraction, and replication was underway.

[you have obtained 6X Blue Ringed Octopus

Extraction of viable Neurotoxin in progress

The success chance of extraction is 46.7 percent. Please raise the researcher level or laboratory level to increase the chance of success

Current progress of Tetrodotoxin extraction 4%]

I smiled. Things were underway, but it was time for some bigger things, some technology that would allow our MTFs the ability to fight any threat to the Foundation

spending the last of my points, I bought three squads of level one sleeper agents.

"Squad 1 will attempt infiltration of Stark Industries, attempt to get close to Stark, while i expect you to fail, should you be successful, however, your mission is not only to track Stark but to plant one of these devices on his main computer, or preferably the processing core of his AI Jarvis." i said, handing them each a small USB drive. "Should you fail to get close to stark, attempt contact with Miss Pepper Potts. now, Squad 2 will report to the security nexus so that false Shield IDs can be drafted up and you can be slowly integrated onto their systems, attempt to infiltrate their paranormal research center, specifically in New Mexico, do not draw the attention of Alexander Pierce, we are avoiding Hydra until all the pieces are in place. Squad 3, you attempt to attempt infiltration of Pym Technologies, specifically look for research in the Pym particle and anything about project yellowjacket."

[Successful establishment of Sleeper Squads, Squads unnamed

generating

Squad 1 was renamed to SA-1 Visionaries

Squad 2 was renamed to SA-2 Shield-Bearers

Squad 3 was renamed to SA-3 Cordycepts]

it was time to extend the Foundations reach of manipulation across the country, and one day, the globe, all the better to Secure, Protect, and Contain.

---A/N

another info chapter, but it's all important for setup later, I swear, we just have to reach the points in the story that they become relevant, and you'll see.

but I do hate releasing chapters I consider boring, so I'll try to write some action in the next couple chaps. After all, I would be a boring climax to the first major arc it all they did was talk huh