The Blue Phoenix

Chapter Five

"Alright, Exepé, just relax. This won't take long and it will hurt less if you're calm."

Despite the recommendation, she did not relax. She had gotten her blood drawn before, but only to weaken her with too little blood.

She was sitting on an examination table in the medical wing of the sprawled compound, the man named Bruce looking her over more thoroughly than he could when she was unconscious. But when he brought the needle to her arm, that was where she drew the line.

They had been great people so far and some had introduced themselves. Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, and Clint Barton. Natasha was the most like her, cold hearted killer. Tony Stark was rather annoying; egotistical and sarcastic. Clint Barton was just there, not really a big point. Bruce Banner, unlike the rest, smiled a lot. He was kind and gentle, something she rarely saw and never experienced from her creators.

Then the small amount of trust she had for the "heroes" was shattered.

The needle was within centimetres of her arm before she jerked back. "You're not getting any," she said defensively.

Exepé hated to admit it to herself, but she was terrified of needles. Thanks, HYDRA.

"Okay, no needles," Bruce put the needle down and held up his hands in surrender.

"We'll skip that part," he grabbed a small, crinkly plastic bag with his gloved hands and ripped it open to pull out the glass dish inside. "Spit in this and we'll be done for now."

She stared at it skeptically for a moment, but then hesitantly complied.

"Okay, all done until this is processed," he said as he put the dish in a strange machine.

"I require power," she said to the turned back.

"You mean food," he asked as he glanced towards her. Buttons emmited high pitched beeps as he pressed them, then the machine began to hum.

"No.... I mean... Yes. But-" she slid off the table and stood in front of him. With her right hand, she made a fist and hit it against her left shoulder. In a quick motion, she slid her hand to the center of her chest. Immediately, her skin rippled with dark shapes moving underneath.

Bruce stepped cautiously back.

Some of them poked through her skin in various places, but fizzled with white electricity and retreated back.

"I require power to repair the malfunction."

"Uh-huh... Um. What kind of power?"

"Nutrients."

"Food."

The edge of her lip hesitated a sneer, but she spoke. "Don't call it that."

"Okay, Nutrients. Follow me."

He took Exepé over to a mini fridge in the corner and pulled out a pre-made sandwich in a plastic box. "Hope you like turkey sandwiches."

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Uh, eat it."

"I don't eat the way you do..."

"Okay, what do you need?"

She looked around the room, then began to gather things. A blender, certain diameter plastic tubes, containers, and other random nick knacks. In a few minutes, she had created a sort of machine. A plexiglass container was attached with a metal piece to the tube, with another metal part on the other end that looked like it could click into something.

Next she took a bottle of water and poured it into the blender, then dropped the sandwich in. The blades swirled around for nearly a minute before she stopped them. The product was disgusting. Bits of bread, lettuce, cheese, meat, and other things floated in the cloudy, dark beige sludge. It was poured through the compact lid into the clear box.

Exemé fingered the end of the tube hesitantly, not completely closing the lid. "Please leave. I'd prefer there not to be an audience."

"Of course." he stepped into the next room.

*

Bruce turned on the monitor that had a livestream video feed of his lab displayed in fullscreen.

In the feed, she lifted her shirt to reveal perfectly normal skin underneath, but when she toutched it with a malfunctioning piece of her tech, it faded away. Her abdomen was covered with scars, and sunken in the middle was a metal plate with a circular closed off hole. Exemé pulled off the metal cover with a jerk to gain access to the hole. She clicked the end of the tube into place and pushed one of the three visible buttons. Instantly, her makeshift machine began to pump the sludge directly into her stomach.

Bruce squeezed his eyes closed as the machine surged intermittently, causing her to cough once and a wave of the "nutrients" to spill from her mouth. This went on until the whole mixture was gone.

By now she sat in a corner, pale and shaking. She detached the tube, then stood on unsteady legs. She walked to the counter and placed her hand down on the slimy mess, but once she moved her hand, it disappeared.

Then the crazy part happened. The armor as seen in the diagram earlier shot out from her back, rippled across her body, and disappeared in a haze of light. She was left with glowing eyes and a fresh set of clothes - who knows where the hospital gown went.

"Banner. You may return."

He took a moment to compose himself, but then stepped out.

She stood steadily, face no longer pale, eyes gleaming with normal colors, but most importantly... She was smiling.

"I told you I didn't want an audience for your own good. Maybe you'll listen next time."

"Are you okay?"

"Certainly. For the first time in fifty years, I can access the rest of my conscience with no fear of accidentally letting on that I've stored a major part of it with Saber. It's a very freeing feeling."

"Wait, your telling me.. what?"

"The part of my mind that holds my personality and much of what I know has been stored with Saber, the SI."

"SI? Do you mean AI? Is 'Saber' an AI?"

"No, I mean SI. Stored intelligence. It's not artificial. It it the conscience if a real person, but programmed to comply to HYDRA's thinking. I've already reprogrammed him back to the original state of mind. Of course, if there is a malfunction I can always use the backup SI, whom has not been tampered with except for integration."

Banner stood quietly, trying to absorb the information. "Wow, that's... Complicated. I didn't know HYDRA was that far in their technology."

"They're not."

"Then how did they do it?"

"Hmm. You'll know in 2023. Just don't question it."

"Right... Tony will want to hear this. But first, who did the consciences belong to? I'd like Tony to look them up."

"Of course. They were a married couple, the Parkers. Richard and Mary were their names."