SANCTUM | Avengers

17

- SEVENTEEN -

After careening through the sky, Ultron lands the back of the truck in some remote area of a forest just outside of the city. As soon as we step off the craft, and without warning, Ultron grabs my arm and we take off in to the air.

My breath hitches at the sudden flight, but it only lasts a minute. Somewhere, deep in the same forest, he drops me on to the ground. My wind blown hair is stuck to my face and I wipe it away quickly as I follow him towards a large rock face. The rock is lined with all sorts of plants save for one small patch at the bottom. If you didn't have a trained eye, it could have been easily missed. From his hand, a red laser shoots out, scanning across the small area of stone. With a hiss, the stone rolls away, revealing a small passage. I follow him through, the stone rolling back behind me.

Within seconds, we enter a chamber and my jaw almost drops to the ground when I see what is inside.

Thousands of metal machines fly across the cathedral sized cave, all working to piece together more robots.

"The greater good," Ultron mutters, his voice low enough for the words to possibly have been just for himself.

"The greater good," I nod, doing my best to make a mental note of everything I see.

Ultron looks down at me, pausing for only a second.

"I need you to do some research for me," he drawls, continuing to walk through the cave, his metal feet barely audible over the sounds of the all the workers and clanging machines.

I smile. "What kind of research?"

"I need blueprints of Sokovia. Every square inch, I need it mapped on paper. I need details about the people living on the edges of the city. You have two weeks and then we move out."

My brows furrow in confusion. Why could he not just find this himself? His mind is a living array of all information.

As if he read my mind, he chuckles.

"Stark has his suspicions about my plans. He hasn't told his team, but if he finds out that I have cracked through his security, he'll connect the dots. I can't having him catching on. Not yet, at least."

"And what do you have planned?" I wonder aloud, looking up at him.

"I'm going to protect the world."

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My days in the cave feel like months, each day blurring in to the next. The only real upside was that I was able to gain more information than I ever thought I needed. With Ultron busy preparing for his master scheme, I had free reign to find out all I could about all of it.

By my count, it has been a week and a half since that day in the city. Each night as I tried to sleep, my mind always wandered to whether or not they got my message. If they didn't, who knows if they would even let me get close at all. That is, if I can escape this fortress.

Ultron had become lenient, too. His trust for me meant that I had free reign and because of that, the notebook of information, schematics, and blueprints that I had compiled sat undisturbed under my small cot.

In the first of the long days and nights surrounded only by Ultron and his robots, my mind wandered at what he had planned, but now, I have to escape.

The moon is covered by clouds and I know it is my chance. I slipping the notebook under my arm, I slowly open the door to my room. Checking for anything in the hallways, I creep through the cave as quiet as a mouse; not even an echo disturbs the giant cavern.