Silent Vibrations

3: 08

ROYAL HOLLOWAY, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

Thor, dressed in casual clothes, waited for Erik Selvig as he left the building.

"I like the look," Selvig commented. "If you're going for inconspicuous, though, near miss."

"I need your help," Thor told him.

"It's nice to be needed."

"It's dangerous."

"I'd be disappointed if it wasn't."

BARTON FARM

Fury met with the rest of the team and said, "Ultron took you folks out to play to buy himself time. My contacts all say he's building something. The amount of Vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing."

"What about Ultron himself?" Steve asked.

"Ah. He's easy to track, he's everywhere. Guy's multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. Still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans though."

"He still going after the launch cods?" Tony questioned.

"Yes, he is, but he's not making any headway."

"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare."

"Yeah, well, I contacted our friends at NEXUS about that."

"NEXUS?" Steve wondered.

"It's the world Internet hub in Oslo, every byte of data flows through there, fastest access on earth," Bruce explained.

"So what'd they say?" Clint asked.

"He's fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed," Fury replied.

"By who?" Tony inquired.

"Parties unknown."

"Do we have an ally?" Natasha questioned.

"Ultron's got an enemy, that's not the same thing. Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is."

"I might need to visit Oslo, find our "unknown,"" Tony said.

"Well, this is good times boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that," Natasha told him.

"I do, I have you. Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere, ears everywhere else. Here we all are, back on earth, with nothing but our wit, and our will to save the world. So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard."

"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk."

"You know what, Romanoff?" Steve retorted. Natasha smiled mischievously at him.

"So what does he want?" Fury asked.

"To become better. Better than us. He keeps building bodies."

"Person bodies," Tony clarified. "The human form is inefficient, biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it."

"When you two programmed to protect the human race, you amazingly failed," Natasha told Tony and Bruce.

"They don't need to be protected, they need to evolve," Bruce corrected. "Ultron's going to evolve."

"How?" Fury wondered.

"Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?"

KOREA

Dr. Cho was using the Cradle to create a new body for Ultron.

"It's beautiful," Dr. Cho said. "The Vibranium atoms aren't just compatible with tissue cells, they're binding them. And S.H.I.E.L.D. never even thought-"

Ultron cut her off. "The most versatile substance on the planet and they used it to make a Frisbee. Typical of humans, they scratch the surface and never think to look within." Ultron used a laser to break open the scepter's blue gem, and a yellow gem that was inside floated out and landed in his hand. He placed it in the head of the body.

BARTON FARM

"I'll take Chris, Natasha and Clint," Steve said.

"All right, strictly recon," Tony stated. "I'll hit NEXUS, I'll join you as soon as I can."

"If Ultron is really building a body..."

"He'll be more powerful than any of us. Maybe all of us. An android designed by a robot."

"You know I really miss the days when the weirdest thing in science ever created was me."

"I'll drop Banner off at the tower. Do you mind if I borrow Ms. Hill?" Fury asked.

"She's all yours, apparently," Tony replied.

"What are you gonna do?" Steve asked.

"I don't know," Fury answered. "Something dramatic, I hope."

"I'm gonna finish re-flooring that sunroom as soon as I get back," Clint told his wife.

"Yeah, and then you'll find another part of the house to tear apart," Laura said.

"No. It's the last project. I promise." He kissed her.

Chris turned to Laura. 'Thanks for letting us stay here.'

Laura nodded. 'You're welcome. Take care of them.'

'I will.'

Laura watched them fly off in the Quinjet.

---

Thor and Selvig entered the cave.

"This is it," Selvig said. "The Water of Sight."

"In every realm, there's a reflection," Thor noted. "If the water spirits accept me, I can return to my dream, and find what I missed."

"The men who enter that water, the legends don't end well."

NEXUS INTERNET HUB - OSLO, NORWAY

"A hacker who's faster than Ultron?" Tony questioned. "He could be anywhere. And as this is the center of everything, I'm just a guy looking for a needle in the world's biggest haystack."

"How do you find it?" the world tech hub asked.

"Pretty simple. You bring a magnet." He began playfully singing as he typed. "Oh, I'm decrypting nuclear cods and you don't want me to. Come and get me."

CAVE

Thor was in the water and went back into his vision with Heimdall.

"Wake up!" Heimdall yelled and Thor started getting electric charges going through his body.

"Thor!" Selvig cried.

Ultron, in Thor's vision, said, "Extinction."

Thor saw more -- the Avengers, the destruction of Earth. He saw the Infinity Stones and their vessels.