Collecting Heroes - 2

"Phil, there is a hot and beautiful lady here - Hope Pym and wants to meet with you. You know she is really hot! Should I send her to your cabin or your private little lab or directly to your private lounge?" came a voice in Phil lab alerting him about Hope's arrival.

"Well, please send her to my lab Ms. Meredith and I have to say you have taken my secretary position quite well. Are you still sleeping with that model friend of yours? I must say she had the bounciest pair of boobs I have ever seen. What was her name again, yes, Kate Upton if I am correct?," asked Phil in a playful tone.

"Yes, thank you for asking about Kate. She might be a model for now but very soon she will be my wife. And please stop fantasizing about my future wife," replied Meredith in a tired voice. Clearly, this conversation has happened many times before.

"Well, good luck with that. Anyway, send Ms. Hope down and let us chat about your love life at dinner today. Cool?" Phil said laughingly.

"You care about your love life you wanker! You hardly had any girlfriends in your life and I am still sure you are a virgin. You know you are a rare species like fucking Unicorns. So rich, handsome yet a virgin!" replied Meredith in an angry tone. This hurt Ryan. Well, he was a virgin but only because he felt like a forty-something guy growing up and while he adjusted to his new body, he couldn't bring himself dating anyone in their teens.

"Remind me about your promotion next year so we can discuss how my secretary said I am a wanker on office time," said Phil with a more official tone.

"Fuck you Phil. Don't you dare take my salary; you know..."

Before Meredith could say anything, Ryan had already cut the call and was looking towards the elevator which opened its door and Hope came out of it.

"Hello, I am Hope Pym. Your secretary must have informed you about me," Hope said while shaking her hand with Ryan.

"Good morning, Ms. Hope. Please take a seat anywhere. I know you must have some questions for me and I will do my best to answer them. Coffee or tea or something I can offer to drink," asked Phil.

"Coffee please, black."

"Sure. Butler F1, please one cup of coffee and one single malt neat," ordered Phil while looking towards a monitor.

Just as Hope was wondering what he was doing and where this Butler F1 was, a group of small flying robots like little birds came out from some holes in the roof or under the table and went to collect coffee from an automatic machine and one flying robot was pouring whisky while another was holding the glass. It was all so surreal and futuristic. Never had she thought this will be the first thing she will experience in the morning.

"Your father has a group of ants doing his thing for him. I prefer machines more. These are part of my FALCON group - First Architecture for Learning Computer Organization and Networks. They fly under the radar and above the sky and are currently monitoring almost half of New York, Georgia and a group is on a mission in Arctic Ocean."

"What are they doing in Arctic ocean? Never mind, I am here to ask questions regarding my mother. How can you know about it? These are all classified data that my father never published and no one in military even wrote it down."

"Ms. Hope as I explained your father, what you know about US Military is only superficial. The secret organisation SHIELD or 'Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division' is even more untrustworthy. I designed the world's first AI- 'Martha' and I started looking for relevant information to fill its database. But do you know what I found? I found there exist a similar if not better AI out there. Who or what I was not sure of and hence I had to limit and target my AI and its scope for information into many small attacks and sweeps and I found many secret groups, terrorist cells, information about various secret projects.

This is how I was able to locate Hank. You might not know your family was already under observation and a team of agents were monitoring all your phone calls, emails and everything."

"Is this because of those suits my father created or the 'PYM' particles?"

"Both actually. Your father if anything is more than 50 or 100 years far ahead in research and technology regarding robotics, computing or even physics. What you and I see as the natural laws of nature like Time and Space, for him, it is just a Rubik puzzle. Given proper time and funds, I am sure he can even create a time machine. And I promised him information regarding the Quantum realm. Also, enough space, funds and security for you and him. For the last 3 days, all your communications channels have been encrypted by my 'MARTHA' here and your father mysteriously disappeared along with his laboratory this morning 10 minutes after you left home.

Your father told me you are trained by him in combat and firearms. But you have more expertise in a command role. I am lacking an operations head for a team I put together, interested?" Phil asked Hope in a serious tone.

"Who else? Don't tell me it's only a bunch of robots and Me?," Hope replied without denying the idea of joining Phil and his group.

"Well, I am looking for a lost captain currently in Arctic Ocean and with better luck, I will find him soon. There are others currently on the list. Few US retired soldiers from a botched-up experiment program on Super Serum to a group of trained mercenaries from France to Russia.

Soon this team will be assembled and everyone will work in separate units and I will provide the mission, information and funds. They will only listen to me and apart from captain and you, no one will ever trace back this group to me or Phillips group as a whole," explained Phil while showing pictures of the people he selected on the monitor's places around the lab. There were videos, photos and personal history. Clearly, his AI had done a small sweep in the army databases and around intelligence agencies around the world.

"You are going to great lengths to hide your traces but why reveal this all to me? What if I ever betray you or get captured or something?" questioned Hope.

"Well, for that, you will always work with 'MARTHA' and she will your 24/7 butler. You won't be part of the field mission for now but manage the overall Operations from one of the bases, I recently designed for this team. It is completely safe for you. I will also be providing you a better suit than the one your mother had along with a new house and a new code name," replied Phil while showing an image of a base hiding under a lake. Underground and looking very futuristic.

"Oh! And what will be my code name?" asked Hope while looking at the base while her eyes were already shining. She forgot many things she had planned to ask Phil after looking at her suit, meeting Martha and now this new base! This is way too cool than her father's company.

"Silent Bee, Killer Bee or Queen Bee. Your pick. Your costume is already there and you can check its model and specs on that monitor on left and for now. We will have to customize it a little as per your physical specifications but I am sure you will be impressed with it. So, miss Hope, are you in or out?" asked Phil finally. He was amused by the sudden change in Hope's behaviour. Anyway, hope was barely 18 and even though she is more mature and intelligent compared to other teens, she was clearly excited about this.

"I am in and from now call me SILENT BEE. Now, I need to check my suit and the base. Also, how did you design Martha? You have to know my father is an expert in computers and even I know a lot but making an AI is literally impossible to even for him," asked Hope excitedly and started walking with Phil towards her suit.

And so, the young daughter of Hank Pym, a trained martial artist and computer expert was 'hired' or 'fooled' depending upon who you ask joined Ryan and his team.

By August 91, a group of trained soldiers and mercenaries and some retired agents started training in a hidden base under Alkali Lake, Canada. Yes, the same base which was part of X-Men where wolverine was born. Sadly, no wolverine and no mutants but this lake was part of Phillips new water project they initiated to provide world's best drinking water from New Zealand to Canada. Yes, a cover but a still very profitable one.

He named his group - "Shadow knights". Simple yet accurate and inspired by Batman. Well, everyone loves Batman, even a MCU fan. Since there is no DC and Batman in this universe, so go along with it.

He found Captain in July'91. Frozen and yet alive just like in movies. Well, captain will wake up soon and then the team will be ready. After all, this team needs a leader and captain needs Bucky Barnes and he fucking needs to save Howard and his wife. Well hopefully, these future heroes will be his trump card again HYDRA or AIM or any other bullshit organisation until the main story starts and new superheroes emerge.