Black Star: HYDRA War

丅𝔀𝓔︎ᒪ︎Ｖ︎𝓔︎

YOU all walk over to it. There's a keypad outside the elevator, but Natasha just scans it for fingerprints before entering the code — 8539. The light above the keypad flashes green, and the doors slide open.

    "Are we sure that thing is up to code?" you ask.

    Steve and Natasha ignore you, getting inside.

    "Right, well, if we all crash to our death at the bottom of the shaft and no one finds our bodies because they're in a secret elevator in a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. base in an off-limits historical building, I'm blaming the two of you."

    Once you're all inside, Steve presses the only button. The elevator rattles noisily, but somehow the cords don't snap. After a few moments, it jolts to a halt and dings dully. The doors grind open to reveal another pitch black room. You all get out, and Natasha looks at you.

    "And you're still alive," she says.

    You roll your eyes. "Don't celebrate too soon. We still gotta take that thing back up."

    There's no light switches, but the lights flicker on automatically as you walk further into the room. The oldest computer you've ever seen sits in the center of the room, surrounded by all the machines necessary to make it work. You all slowly begin to examine the computer and the area around it as if there's some secret the decades-out-of-date technology is hiding.

    Natasha looks around, obviously as confused as you are. "This can't be the data point, the technology is ancient."

    "This looks more like photos I've seen of the first digital computer than state-of-the-art S.H.I.E.L.D. tech," you agree.

    "Hey, guys?" Peter calls out, looking up from where he was examining the numerous screens. "I don't think this was included with the first computer."

    He points to something that's softly pulsing with blue light. Sitting on top of the countless dusty buttons is a tiny port for USB drives.

    "Bingo," you say.

    You, Steve, and Nat climb the three small steps leading up to the computer. Steve pulls the USB drive out of his pocket and plugs it into the port. The moment he does, even more lights come to life, showing you that the room goes back even further than you thought, though every square inch is stuffed with machines, all of which are now whirring.

    "Steve, this is much more your speed. That computer might even be almost as old as you."

    "Ha, ha," he says flatly. "You're hilarious, Lexi."

    "I know," you reply sweetly.

    A warped electronic voice emits from the computer. "Initiate system?"

    Matching text appears in green on the otherwise blank screen. Natasha stretches her hands out over the keyboard and begins to type.

    "Y-E-S spells yes."

    She clicks the enter key firmly, and the computer whirs again.

    "Let's play a game," Natasha says dramatically, smirking. She glances sideways at Steve.

    "That's from a movie called–"

    "I know, I saw it."

    "Really?" you ask. "I would've thought you'd be more into political thrillers than horror."

    "Believe it or not, the government isn't my whole life."

    You tilt your head, squinting at Steve. "Are you sure?"