Project Ultron

Seven.exe

It had been two months since we started working on the new AI. I would start working at 9 and keep on it till my brain gave up, then I'd go to the gym and train. I was getting kind of acceptable at it, fighting. The project, on the other hand, was progressing really slowly, especially since most of the time it was just me working on it. Doctor Banner had his own things to worry about and Mister Stark was too busy trying to destroy all of HYDRA's bases with the rest of the Avengers.

That damn organization had overstayed its welcome. It had been created during World War II by a Nazi called Red Skull. Was that his real name? No, I didn't think anyone's parents would be such dickheads. Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, had already fought them and defeated them once, or at least that's what the world thought. A couple of years ago, it became evident that Rogers' efforts had been in vain, as the organization resurfaced, apparently hidden in plain sight. Some members were common people, some we're influential people, most were inside SHIELD. It was a mess. And SHIELD, the organization that was supposed to deal with those kinds of problems, was dismantled. The bottom line was, Rogers should have tried harder.

Now it was up to the Avengers to finish HYDRA off. Which meant I was alone a lot.

Mister Stark and Doctor Banner would meet with me at least once a week and discuss for two hours what I had been doing and what I could do next. Most of the times the faces they made when they left were grim. It wasn't because of my code but because something that we knew was going to happen, was happening. According to Jarvis' calculations, this AI would be ready in twenty to forty years. It was a very discouraging thing to hear, but I kept working on it nonetheless. I often thought that if I worked for one hour more, those twenty years would come faster. But they were always too far away.

We needed something to make this project possible, and Mister Stark and Doctor Banner were starting to be less enthusiastic about it the longer we worked on it because we couldn't figure out what that was. We just needed a break; something would come around that would help us finish this. I just needed to have patience.

I had never had much of that.

"Kira," someone called me. I stopped looking at the code to find Maria Hill waiting for me at the door, "We found him."

That was enough to make me jump from my seat, grab my jacket, and follow her out.

Maria Hill used to be an important part of SHIELD and, when she became unexpectedly unemployed, Mister Stark hired her. She now gathered most of the intelligence the Avengers needed. That's why I had asked her for a tiny favor.

We got in her car and she drove me to a huge building. It was —or used to be— SHIELD's; now it was a government-run prison. I was alert, all the security made me nervous.

"You have five minutes," Ms. Hill told me, handing me a black folder. I looked at its content and checked I had everything I needed. She had told me how to do this and, somehow, I was ready. If I wasn't successful, someone else would try, but I was the only one that knew all about what we were about to discuss.

I nodded and walked into the room. A man sat there, cuffed to a metallic table. He eyed me, curious.

I sat down in front of him.

"Hail HYDRA and all that, Mister Volgrin" I said. He narrowed his eyes, not knowing if he should take me seriously. I wondered for a second if a Russian would understand sarcasm in English.

"Who are you?" he asked, a thick accent rolling on his tongue, "What do you want?"

I looked at him in silence. This was so weird for me; like I was in Law & Order interrogating a suspect. I took a picture from the folder Ms. Hill had given me and placed it in front of him. He took it with haste; he recognized it. Good, that meant this was my guy.