BRAINWASHED ─ marvel

VI. Victims

Chapter Six:
Bucky

It takes almost all day to get to our destination. While on the journey, we listen to music from the radio for hours, sharing innocent chit chat throughout. It's nice; despite our history, which still evades me, Soroya speaks to me as if we have only just met a few hours ago. Whether I remark on something as simple as the weather or ask her about her music preferences, she answers me without any fear or malice. She's kind, thoughtful even. Several times she's asked me if the air conditioner is making the car too cold or if I want to change the channel on the radio.

I again wonder how the woman next to me has a reputation for ripping the hearts from her victims.

Her soft demeanor shifts into wariness though as we reach Chita, Russia, where the next HYDRA base we need to search resides. The base itself is active, unlike the last one. Even though HYDRA has essentially disbanded, an active base will still have lingering agents and scientists littering about. We must be on our guard.

Soroya and I both get out of the car, and while I check my gun and the extra ammunition I packed, she begins stripping off her clothes, folding them neatly in the back of the car. I turn around to give her privacy, saying to her over my shoulder, "Must be annoying. Having to remove your clothes before shifting, I mean."

"Less annoying than ripping my clothes and having to hunt down new ones."

"Does it hurt? Shifting?"

Soroya pauses, and I worry I've asked a too invasive question, but then she says, "Yes, but I'm used to it. When I was first taken, it was agonizing. I could feel the bones in my body breaking and reshaping. It wasn't a pleasant experience." 

My hatred for HYDRA festers even more. They forced her to shift and put herself through that pain in order to further their own agendas. They made a twelve year old girl learn what it feels like to have her bones split apart and reform. I find myself looking forward to getting into this base and encountering some HYDRA members. They deserve no less than the wrath I'm about to bring down upon them.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, I'm going to shift in a second, but I wanted to tell you that I am fully in control of my mind and body in my other forms. I will understand you if you talk to me, but obviously I won't be able to reply, at least not verbally."

I'm about to question what she means, but when I turn around, I find a large grey wolf standing where Soroya was a second ago. The wolf looks up at me as I approach it, and it's eyes are the same deep brown as Soroya's, and it holds the same softness I'm attributing to her.

"You alright?"

Soroya nods, pointing towards the base with her paw. This must be what she meant by replying to me in none verbal ways.

Soroya takes off in a run towards the base and I follow right behind her. Most active HYDRA bases are designed to look like establishments other than they are, and run down versions at that. Sometimes bases look like abandoned hospitals, or restaurants, or sometimes even hotels. This base resembles a restaurant, and it's quite small as bases go. No more than two floors with limited rooms.

Soroya and I don't head towards the front entrance, we move towards the side of the base, and once we make it to another entry point, Soroya barks at me over her shoulder. I'm about to inquire what she's barking about, but then I notice there's a keypad on the wall next to the door. It appears we need a code to enter.