Chapter 125: Living in the Computer

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"Even though it's a secret office, why hide the elevator?" Steve Rogers frowned, realizing that things weren't as simple as they seemed. This elevator must lead to some extraordinary place.

Natasha Romanoff used her phone to scan the password lock on the elevator, and a projection interface appeared, easily cracking the code.

After entering the password, Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff stepped into the elevator and descended underground. When the elevator doors opened, they were greeted by darkness.

Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff exchanged a glance and stepped out of the elevator, entering the dark room. The elevator door closed with a loud clang behind them.

At this moment, the people in the answer space felt as if there were some man-eating beasts lurking in the darkness, waiting for Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff.

In the darkness, there may or may not be beasts, but there were certainly lights. As they walked, lights in the room turned on one by one, illuminating the space.

Now, everyone could see the situation in the room. Many old computers were arranged here, unlike the modern slim ones. These computers were bulky, with screens that were not LCD but old-fashioned monitors.

"This can't be the data source; these are all antiques," Natasha Romanoff surveyed the computers.

As she finished speaking, she noticed a data port on a desk and inserted a USB flash drive into it.

As if a switch had been flipped, all those antique computers turned on simultaneously.

"Do you want to turn on the computers?" a mechanical voice asked, and a simple command appeared on one of the computer screens.

Natasha Romanoff walked up and typed "yes."

Then, the computer screen began to flash lines of data, forming a data face.

"Steve Rogers, born in 1918." The electronic voice sounded again as an old-fashioned camera swiveled, capturing Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff's facial information. "Natasha Alialozna Romanoff, born in 1984."

"What is this? A recording?" Natasha Romanoff asked in confusion.

"I am not just a recording, miss," the electronic voice said. "I may not be the person Captain took into custody in 1945, but I am still me."

At this point, another computer screen displayed a person's photo. With this photo for comparison, it became clear that the abstract data face earlier was an abstract representation of this photo.

"Do you recognize this thing?" Natasha Romanoff asked Steve Rogers.

"Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull," Steve Rogers said as he walked around the computers. "He's been dead for many years."

"First of all, let's correct that. I am Swiss," the synthetic voice continued. "Secondly, look around you; I am more alive than ever!"

"Could it be that these computers are Arnim Zola?" Bruce Banner saw the clues and made a conjecture. "Is he living inside the computer?"

"He probably stored his consciousness in these computers," Tony Stark said. "What a lunatic! What's the point of living like this?"

"Wait, you mean a person can live inside a computer?" Thor found the idea too absurd. "How can electronic components and circuit boards sustain life?"

In the video, Arnim Zola immediately provided an answer: "In 1972, I was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Science couldn't save my body, but my mind was worth saving and preserving. They stored it in a 200,000-foot-long database, and you are now standing inside my brain."

"How did you end up here?" Steve Rogers was no longer surprised by the idea of someone living inside a computer. He asked the question.

"I was invited," Arnim Zola said.

"The Operation Paperclip after World War II," Natasha Romanoff recalled. "S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited many strategically valuable German scientists."

"They thought I could help their cause," Arnim Zola continued where Natasha left off. "I also helped my own cause."

"Hydra and the Red Skull are both dead," Steve Rogers said.

"Cut off one head, and two more shall take its place." The Hydra logo appeared on the computer screen, and then Arnim Zola's data face split in two.

"Show me proof," Steve Rogers wouldn't be easily fooled by mere words.

"Accessing archive," the computer screen showed a picture of the Red Skull, and Arnim Zola continued, "Hydra's founding belief was not to surrender freedom to humanity. What we didn't realize was that when you try to take away freedom, they will resist."

The screen began to play a scene showing Steve Rogers dressed in his star-spangled uniform, "War teaches us a lot. Humans need to give up their freedom willingly. After the war, S.H.I.E.L.D. was established, and I was recruited as well. The new Hydra is growing, a beautiful parasite inside S.H.I.E.L.D."

Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers were stunned to hear this. They had always believed that Hydra had been eradicated, but it seemed they were still active and had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.!

"Hydra has been secretly fueling various crises and profiting from wars," the screen continued as Arnim Zola explained. "When history doesn't cooperate, it changes history."

"This can't be true," Natasha Romanoff said. "S.H.I.E.L.D. will stop you."

"Unexpected things always happen," Arnim Zola disregarded Natasha and continued, "Hydra created a world of extreme chaos. Humanity is finally ready to sacrifice freedom for security. Once our evolutionary program is completed, Hydra's new world order will be born."

"We won, Captain," Arnim Zola's voice sounded smug. "Your life and death have the same value - zero."

Bang! Steve Rogers smashed the computer with a punch, shattering the screen to pieces.

"As I said..." Arnim Zola's data face appeared on another computer screen.

"What's on the USB drive?" Steve Rogers asked before Arnim Zola could finish.

"The Insight program requires insight, so I wrote an algorithm," Arnim Zola said.

"What kind of algorithm, and what is it for?" Natasha Romanoff inquired.

"The answer to this question is fascinating, but unfortunately, I can't tell two dead people," Arnim Zola replied smugly, and as he finished, two iron doors began to slowly close.

Whoosh! Steve Rogers quickly shot his shield to stop the doors, but he was too late; the elevator doors closed just before the shield could hit them.

Then the shield bounced back and returned to Steve Rogers' hand as he caught it.

Natasha Romanoff's phone started blaring an alarm. She picked it up and checked, her expression changing, "Steve, there's a flying object, a short-range ballistic missile, and we have at most 30 seconds."

"Who sent it?" Steve Rogers asked.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.," Natasha Romanoff replied.

"Sorry, Captain, I've been stalling for time," Arnim Zola taunted. "You can accept your fate now. It's actually better this way. We're all the same, and our time is nearly up."

During Arnim Zola's "villain monologue" time, Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers wouldn't just sit there and wait to die. Natasha unplugged the USB drive, and Steve flipped open a metal grate on the ground, and both jumped in together.

Boom! The missile struck the room, causing it to collapse, but luckily, Steve Rogers used his shield to protect himself and Natasha Romanoff from harm.

At this point, everyone thought the video was over, but it continued. A Black man was seen running on a bridge.

"That's the bird guy!" Tony Stark exclaimed. Although Sam Wilson was only shown in profile at this moment, who else could it be?

"It seems that the next part of the plot is Captain and Romanoff surviving the missile attack and seeking help from the guy with wings," Bruce Banner said.

The following scenes played out exactly as Bruce Banner predicted. After finishing his run, Sam Wilson returned home, opened the fridge, and took out a juice bottle. Just as he was about to drink, he heard a knock on the door.

Opening the door, he found Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff standing there, looking haggard.

"Hey, buddy," Sam Wilson greeted.

"Sorry for the sudden visit, but we need a place to hide," Steve Rogers said.

"All the people we know want to kill us," Natasha Romanoff added.

"Not everyone," Sam Wilson looked at the two of them and then invited them inside, closing the door.

"What's going on?" inside Sam Wilson's home, Steve Rogers noticed that Natasha Romanoff seemed off and couldn't help asking.

"When I joined S.H.I.E.L.D., I thought I was on the right path," Natasha Romanoff looked defeated. "I never expected that in the end, I would be working for Hydra." She chuckled self-deprecatingly, "I used to know who I was lying for, but now I can't tell anymore."

"Someone like you might not be suited for this line of work," Steve Rogers said.

"I owe you a life," Natasha Romanoff remained silent for a moment before looking at Steve Rogers.

"It's nothing," Steve Rogers replied.

"If we were reversed, if I needed to save your life, would you tell me the truth?" Natasha Romanoff asked, "Do you believe I would save you?"

"I believe now," Steve Rogers said, "I've always been honest."

"You just found out that you sacrificed your life in vain, yet you seem surprisingly happy about it," Natasha Romanoff said.

"Well..." Steve Rogers leaned back on the chair. "At least now I know who our opponent is."

"So, the real question is, who in the agency has the authority to launch a domestic missile attack?" Natasha Romanoff got back to the matter at hand.

"Pierce," Steve Rogers spit out a name.

"He's the boss in the most secure building in the world," Natasha Romanoff said.

"He's not alone. Zola's algorithm is established on the Lemurian Star," Steve Rogers added.

"Jasper Sitwell is also on that ship," Natasha Romanoff said.

"So, the real question is, how did two top fugitives manage to kidnap a high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. official in broad daylight?" Steve Rogers said with a hint of helplessness.

"The answer is, you both won't go," Sam Wilson put down the breakfast he was making and threw some files and photos in front of Steve Rogers.

Natasha Romanoff picked them up and recognized one immediately, "This is Bakhmala? You did this to Khalid Khandil?"

Sam Wilson nodded.

"You never said you were a paratrooper," Natasha Romanoff said to Steve Rogers.

"I didn't say anything," Sam Wilson smiled.

Everyone understood that Sam Wilson showed Steve Rogers a photo of himself with wings behind his back.

"I can't ask you to do this," Steve Rogers closed the files. "You have enough reasons to retire."

"Buddy, Captain America needs my help. That's the best reason to bring me back," Sam Wilson said.

As the video progressed, the scene shifted to a rooftop where Jasper Sitwell was being roughly thrown to the ground, and Steve Rogers walked over.

"Tell me about Zola's algorithm," Steve Rogers said.

"Never heard of it," Jasper Sitwell pretended to be clueless.

"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?" Steve Rogers pressed on.

"I was seasick, I was throwing up," Jasper Sitwell kept retreating.

Backed into a corner, Jasper Sitwell accidentally stepped onto a low parapet, almost falling off, but Steve Rogers caught him just in time.

"You wouldn't throw me off for a little thing like this, would you?" standing at the edge of the building, Jasper Sitwell laughed. "That's not your style, Rogers."

"You're right, it's not my style," Steve Rogers stepped aside, "It's hers."

Bang! Natasha Romanoff didn't say a word; she kicked Jasper Sitwell off the rooftop.

"Ah!!!"

A long scream pierced the sky above the city.

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[END OF CHAPTER]