What If...? Rumlow Turned Against Hydra: Book One

28

"I'm busy," Matthias said, his dry throat aching with every word. The annoying person wouldn't stop trying to talk to him, however, forcing him to look up from his screen and the ongoing battle against the Zola AI. He recognized the annoying person as one of his own, who went by the name Jordan. No one was entirely sure if Jordan was quite human, with more than one person observing Jordan had features reminiscent of the stereotypical alien creature from movies, the ones who would capture and experiment on humans. No one said that to Jordan's face, though it was doubtful Jordan would have cared. The only person who looked more inhuman in the organization was the Winter Soldier himself, but Jordan was different, leading to the alien theories as opposed to the suspicion that the Winter Soldier had been created in a laboratory somewhere.

"Jordan. I'm very busy in a life-or-death situation against an AI that could take all of us down if it figures out we're here. I've been able to chip away at it so far successfully, but that could change at any moment." Matthias expressed his irritation though he knew that of all the people in the organization, Jordan was one least likely to be bothering him for anything trivial. In fact, he couldn't imagine anyone bothering him for anything trivial at all. He was still irritated.

"You're needed on a call with the boss," Jordan said in a thin yet melodic voice. He spoke English but was just as proficient in Mandarin, the unofficial language of Madripoor.

"Why didn't he just call me directly?" Matthias asked, mystified.

"He did, but you must not have noticed."

Matthias tried to argue that but looked at his phone, seeing the missed calls and notifications on his other screen of unread messages. He was still irritated, but also felt contrite. The Winter Soldier did not contact him for anything that wasn't important. He nodded at Jordan.

"Thanks. I'll talk to him right now."

"He told me to have things ready, through the Chinese Defense Forces," Jordan said languidly. "I can coordinate with you or whoever you designate."

Jordan walked away, and Matthias watched him go. Jordan was one of the best at not only entering military systems and weapons systems in general, but for the ability to use those systems with a proficiency that would have been frightening if it was used against the organization. Jordan did not get much chance to use those skills, he mostly maintained the access, selling some secrets as he found them, but the war on Hydra was allowing him to stretch himself into actually using the weapons systems. Jordan had responded with his usual sanguine expressions, so that no one was sure if he was enjoying himself or not.

Matthias decided to speak with the Winter Soldier directly, dialing one of the numbers that was the most secure, used for high level communications only between certain people in the organization itself. The phone didn't ring, it was answered at once. Any other leader may have been annoyed at Matthias for not answering but there was, as usual, no discernable emotion in the Winter Soldier's voice.

"Matthias, we need access to the Chinese military systems," the Winter Soldier said without preamble.
"Jordan did mention something along those lines. We need this in addition to SHIELD once I'm able to get the AI out?"

"Yes. SHIELD's systems are deadlocked against firing on itself. We can use them for some things, but not everything."

"I assume you want the Chinese military because they don't have U.S. based systems," Matthias said with a strange chill running down his spine. The Winter Soldier never prepared for anything he did not intend to use. They wouldn't be able to use the Chinese systems indefinitely, but for a short time the firepower they would have access to would cause catastrophic damage to whatever the Winter Soldier wanted to target. Matthias felt no pang of conscience. He simply acknowledged that there was a shiver at the implications, though even he wasn't entirely sure if it was a shiver of foreboding or eagerness to see just what those weapons could do. There was no question that he would do his best to set all of it into motion.