(hold, still writing) 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 - 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐫.

[𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄]

𝐊𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐀

"Initiate system?" a voice said as those words appeared on the screen in front of us.

"Y-E-S spells yes." Natasha typed in 'yes' into the computer. "Shall we play a game?" she quoted.

"It's from a movie that was really-" I started, explaining to Steve if he hadn't seen the movie.

"Yeah, I know." he cut me off. "I saw it."

"Rogers, Steven," the same voice said, a green face appearing on the screen as a camera faced him. "born 1918." the camera turned toward me. "Petrova, Katerina, born 1983." the camera then turned to Natasha. "Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna, born 1984."

"Is this place haunted or something?" I asked, creeped out.

"It's some kind of recording." Natasha shrugged.

"I am not a recording, Fräulein. I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner, in 1945. But I am." it showed a picture of his face.

"You know this thing?" I questioned, looking at Steve.

"Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He's been dead for years." he told us.

"Clearly he isn't." I scoffed.

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

"How did you get here?" Steve asked.

"Invited." he responded

"No shit. How else?" I rolled my eyes. "This robot is pissing me off already." I muttered.

"I am not a robot, Katerina!" he exclaimed.

"Alright, alright." I scoffed. "It was Operation Paperclip after World War II. SHIELD recruited German scientists with... strategic value." I explained to Steve, Natasha already knowing this.

"They thought I could help their cause. I also helped my own." Zole spoke.

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

"Cut off one head, two more shall its place."

"Prove it." Steve challenged.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me. We'll be here all night." I rolled my eyes, sitting down.

"Accessing archive." a bunch of images and videos started playing. "HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom." that's when I started paying real attention to what this weirdo was saying. "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; SHIELD was founded, and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew. A beautiful parasite inside SHIELD. For 70 years, HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war; and when history did not cooperate, history was changed."

"That's impossible. SHIELD would have stopped you." Natasha shook her head.

"Accidents will happen. 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 computer screen. "As I was saying..." Zola appeared on another screen.