Soldier Boy

Zola

The truck stopped in front of an old abandoned army base. We all got out of the car and walked towards the gate.

"This is it." Steve says.

"The file came from these coordinates." Nat said.

"So did I." Steve said. I stepped forward and used my powers to open the gate. We took a look around. "This camp is where I was trained."

"Change much?" Nat asked. I noticed something off about a building a few yards from us.

"A little." He said.

"This is a dead end. Zero heat signatures, zero waves, not even radio. Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw people off." Nat said. "What is it?" She asked me as I was still staring at the building.

"Army regulations forbid storing munitions within 500 yards of the barracks." I said as I walked towards the building. "This building is in the wrong place." Steve broke the lock with his shield and we went inside. We walked down the stairs and Nat turned on the lights.

"This is S.H.I.E.L.D." Nat said as she saw the symbol on the wall.

"Maybe where it started." Steve said. We walked around and opened a door that led into a records room. We all stopped and looked at a few pictures.

"And there's Stark's father." Nat said.

"Howard." Steve said.

"Who's the girl?" She asked. I walked away as Steve said nothing. Steve noticed something off about one of the shelves.

"If you're already working in a secret office," He moved the shelf to reveal an elevator. "why do you need to hide the elevator?" Nat used her phone to find the code for the elevator. She puts in the code and the elevator door dings open. We walked in and went down to the only level there is. The elevator stopped and we walked out into a dark room. I lifted my right arm and used my powers as a light source. We walked further into the room as the elevator doors closed. Then all the light flickered on to show us that we were in some sort of a computer room. I stopped using my powers.

"This can't be the data point. This technology is ancient." Nat said. I see a drive adapter.

"Well not that." I said. Nat put in the drive and the technology turned on. The camera on top of the main computer started moving.

"Initiate system?" The computer said in a voice and typed on the screen. Nat walked up to it.

"Y-E-S spells yes." She typed. The computer powered up. "Shall we play a game?" Nat asked with a smirk. I smiled. Steve and I watched that movie about a month ago at my cabin. "It was from a movie that was really-"

"I know, I saw it." Steve cut her off. "Mason showed me it."

"Rogers, Steven." A green guy's face showed on the screen. "Born 1918." The camera moved off of Steve and towards Nat. "Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna, born 1984." He moved to me. "Perez, Mason, Born 1984."

"It's some kind of recording." Nat said.

"I am not a recording, Fraeulein. I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945. But I am." A small screen next to us showed a picture of him.

"You know this thing?" Nat asked Steve.

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

"First correction, I am Swiss. Second, look around you. I have never been more alive. In 1972, I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body. My mind, however, that was worth saving, on 200,000 feet of databanks. You are standing in my brain." Zola told us.

"How did you get here?" Steve asked.

"Invited." Zola said.

"It was Operation Paperclip after World War II. S..H.I.E.L.D. recruited German scientists with strategic value." Nat said.

"They thought I could help their cause. I also helped my own." Zola said.

"HYDRA died with the Red Skull." Steve said.

"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place." The HYDRA symbol appeared on the screen.

"Provo it." Steve said.

"Accessing archive. HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity would not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize was that, if you try to take that freedom, they resist. The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly. After the war, S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded, and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew. A beautiful parasite inside S.H.I.E.L.D. For 70 years, HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war, and when history did not cooperate, history was changed." Zola showed us chips of history with everything they've done.

"That's impossible. S.H.I.E.L.D. would have stopped you." Nat said.

"Accidents will happen." He showed the file of Howard and Maria Stark and Nick Fury's death. "HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security. Once a purification process is complete, HYDRA's new world order will arise. We won, Captain. Your death amounts to the same as your life. A zero sum." Steve punched the screen. Zola appeared on a new one. "As I was saying..."

"What's on this drive?" Steve asked.

"Project Insight requires insight. So, I wrote an algorithm."

"What kind of algorithm? What does it do?" Nat asked.

"The answer to your question is fascinating. Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to hear it." The emergency doors began to close. Steve threw his shield to try and stop it, but it was too late. He caught his shield as Nat's phone went off.

"Guys, we got a bogey. Short range ballistic. 30 seconds tops." She says.

"Who fired it?" He asks.

"S.H.I.E.L.D." She said.

"I am afraid I have been stalling, Captain." Nat grabs the drive. "Admit it. It's better this way." Steve ran over to a floor air duct and ripped off the cover. Nat jumped in. "We are, both of us," I jumped in. "out of time." Steve jumps in just in time of the explosion. I got down on one knee and put a shield around us. Everything was collapsing on top of us. I closed my eyes as I tried to focus. Nat and Steve huddled closer to me. I groaned as it became too much, but I kept going. The debris finally settled. I opened my eyes.

"You guys okay?" Nat asked.

"I'm fine. Are you?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, yeah I'm okay." Nat said breathlessly.

"Mason?" Steve asked. I ignored the question as I moved my right hand and pushed my powers out to make room for us to get out.

"Go before the walls give out." I said with a groan as I still lifted the heavy debris. Steve helped Nat out. I slowly stopped using my powers as I followed. I leaned against the debris for walking support. Steve and Nat waited for me outside. Once I was out I gripped my left side and fell to my knees. My body was sore. My vision became blurry.

"Mason!" Steve said as my eyes rolled back and everything went black and silent.