Chapter 906

"You’re negotiating a deal with me. Why the hell are you tearing up my paycheck?!"

In the underground parking garage beneath S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, Evenson sat cross-legged on the hood of his car, smoking a cigarette with an expression of profound irritation.

"Honestly, what happened to keeping your word? We’re all educated adults here. We agreed on something, and now you’re going back on it? Unbelievable."

He gave a contemptuous snort and flicked the cigarette butt onto the ground. Then he hopped off the hood, crushed it beneath his shoe, and climbed into his car.

"Walking around in that fancy high-collared suit like you own the place. What’s so special about you? Just wait. One day, you’ll be the one begging me for help!"

With that final remark, Evenson started the engine and drove away.

The meeting had ended on thoroughly unpleasant terms.

Evenson hadn’t gotten his money, so he’d left cursing under his breath. Captain America, meanwhile, had climbed onto his motorcycle and headed home.

Considering his enhanced physique, the journey probably wouldn’t trouble him much. Still, Washington, D.C., and New York were nearly four hundred kilometers apart.

Riding a motorcycle all that way seemed like an unnecessarily exhausting way to spend an afternoon.

As for Nick Fury, after showing the two men the hangar housing the Insight Helicarriers, he’d immediately returned to his office.

He sat behind his desk, staring at the USB drive in his hand.

Evenson’s earlier criticisms had been unpleasant, to say the least. But Fury couldn’t deny that some of them had struck a nerve.

Fear.

Only now was Fury beginning to recognize how far S.H.I.E.L.D. had drifted from its original purpose.

Somewhere along the way, the organization had become increasingly dependent on brute force. Its methods had grown harsher, its tolerance for dissent had diminished, and its willingness to impose its authority had steadily increased.

And now there was the Insight Initiative.

The ultimate expression of that philosophy.

Point a gun at the head of every person on Earth and force them to obey through the threat of death.

Wasn’t that exactly the ideology of HYDRA’s Red Skull?

Fury had always felt uneasy about the Insight Initiative, even when he couldn’t explain why.

Perhaps this was the reason.

But how had things gotten this bad?

Had he somehow become the very thing he’d spent his entire career fighting against?

No.

That wasn’t what he’d wanted. But he’d clearly overlooked the gradual changes taking place within his own organization.

It was time to find out where they had begun.

Fury approached his computer with the USB drive.

Then he remembered something Captain America had told him.

Never pick up an enemy’s weapon on the battlefield without knowing why they left it behind.

Umbrella had known about the Insight Initiative. They’d also known about the Moriah’s Star.

And yet, they’d done nothing to stop it.

They had sent people aboard the ship, certainly. But they hadn’t prevented the satellite launch. As far as Fury knew, they hadn’t made any move against the Insight Initiative either.

Why?

There were only two plausible explanations.

Either the Insight Initiative posed no threat to Umbrella, and they simply didn’t care about it...

Or they had found a way to exploit it.

Perhaps they’d tampered with the entire system, turning the satellites and the helicarriers still sitting in their hangars into tools for their own purposes.

The thought sent a chill down Fury’s spine.

He already had a few suspicions about Umbrella’s ultimate objectives.

Unfortunately, the possibilities he’d come up with were terrifying.

He inserted the USB drive into his computer.

Several antivirus programs ran simultaneously, scanning the contents for malware, backdoors, and anything else that might compromise his system.

Once he was satisfied that the drive was clean, he initiated the decryption process.

The computer responded almost immediately.

"Access denied."

Fury blinked.

He tried again.

"Initiate decryption."

The computer processed the request for several seconds.

"Insufficient privileges. Decryption failed."

Fury frowned.

There were files inside S.H.I.E.L.D. that even its director couldn’t access?

He wasn’t about to accept that.

"Director authorization. Nicholas J. Fury."

"Authorization failed. All files have been sealed."

Fury stared at the screen.

"Under whose authority?"

The computer answered without hesitation.

"Nicholas J. Fury."

...

What the hell?

When had he issued such an order?

Had he somehow sleepwalked into his office and sealed the files? Or perhaps he’d been drunk one night and decided to lock himself out of his own system?

Neither possibility was particularly convincing.

The Insight Initiative was definitely compromised.

And the problem was inside S.H.I.E.L.D.

Someone had forged his authorization and was using his credentials to conceal information from him.

There weren’t many people capable of pulling off something like that.

In fact, there was probably only one person who immediately came to mind.

Fury yanked the USB drive out of the computer and headed straight for the elevator.

He was going to the executive conference room on the top floor, where Secretary Alexander Pierce was currently dealing with the World Security Council.

"If Director Fury believes that his masked man and a small strike team can resolve this incident, then he’s gravely mistaken."

"This incident has raised far too many questions. We need answers."

"The Council exists to oversee S.H.I.E.L.D. Perhaps you would care to explain how a French pirate managed to hijack one of your ships in broad daylight?"

The five members of the World Security Council appeared as holographic projections around the conference room, directing a steady stream of criticism at Pierce.

Their concerns, however, were relatively limited.

They were primarily interested in the pirates who had boarded the ship.

That was hardly surprising. It was all they knew about the incident.

Pierce had deliberately kept Umbrella out of the discussion.

He was currently working to push the Insight Initiative into full operation. The last thing he needed was an unexpected complication.

A few pirates causing trouble aboard a S.H.I.E.L.D. vessel were manageable. The Council might demand an investigation, but it wouldn’t threaten the larger project.

With his usual charm and considerable experience navigating bureaucratic arguments, Pierce could easily smooth things over.

Umbrella was another matter entirely.

A mysterious organization of unknown size, possessing capabilities that S.H.I.E.L.D. could barely comprehend, had also sent personnel aboard the ship.

Revealing that information would make everything considerably more complicated.

The Council’s members were bureaucrats. Faced with an unknown threat of that magnitude, they might decide caution was preferable to haste.

They could delay the Insight Initiative’s launch.

Worse, they might demand a complete review of the entire project.

Pierce couldn’t allow that.

Not now.

Just then, his secretary entered and whispered something into his ear.

Pierce excused himself from the Council and hurried out of the room.

"Our offices are only forty floors apart. Couldn’t you come upstairs and visit an old friend once in a while?"

Pierce greeted Fury with the easy familiarity of someone welcoming a longtime colleague.

"If a nuclear war breaks out, I’ll make the trip."

Fury glanced toward the conference room Pierce had just left.

"Was it that bad?"

"Nothing I can’t handle."

Pierce shrugged as though the matter were of little importance.

Fury hesitated.

"I... need you to do me a favor."

Pierce raised an eyebrow.

"I want you to organize a vote. The Insight Initiative needs to be postponed."

For the briefest moment, Pierce’s pupils contracted.

A trace of surprise crossed his face.

Of course, he couldn’t hide his reaction completely. Anyone hearing such a request would naturally be taken aback.

"That’s quite a favor you’re asking," Pierce said. "You know how much trouble that would cause. We’d have to arrange hearings and answer questions from the Council."

"I need to make absolutely certain there are no problems with the project," Fury replied. "You know how serious the Umbrella situation is."

"Is it really that serious?"

Pierce’s expression became more attentive.

He was genuinely concerned about Umbrella, so Fury’s words had caught his interest.

"Serious?" Fury shook his head. "I’d call it terrifying."

"Terrifying? That’s not a word I hear you use very often."

"Only because I haven’t encountered many things worth being afraid of."

Fury’s expression darkened.

"But this time, I don’t know what we’re dealing with."

Pierce’s casual demeanor disappeared.

"What exactly happened? What’s going on?"

"Based on the intelligence we’ve gathered, Umbrella originated in the Third Reich," Fury explained. "The question is whether they’ve inherited its ambitions."

He paused.

"You and I both know what the Third Reich wanted."

"World domination," Pierce answered without hesitation. "Which is precisely why we need the Insight Initiative to deal with an organization like that."

Fury’s expression tightened almost imperceptibly.

He quickly concealed it.

"World domination is only part of their ambition. Their other objective is to impose their extreme racial ideology on the world."

"Superior races ruling over everyone else, with the rest turned into raw materials for soap factories."

Pierce sighed.

"Honestly, it’s a disgusting ideology. I’ve never understood why so many people still admire Hitler and the Third Reich."

For all his loyalty to HYDRA, Pierce apparently found it difficult to understand the appeal of an organization that wanted to turn its own supporters into soap.

He might have been a villain, but he wasn’t an idiot.

Admiring a regime that considered you disposable was a particularly poor life choice.

"That ideology was defeated when the war ended," Fury continued. "But that doesn’t mean everyone abandoned it."

He leaned forward slightly.

"Umbrella possesses biotechnology that makes even our most advanced research look primitive. What do they intend to do with it? I refuse to believe they’re simply interested in making money."

Pierce considered the implications.

"You’re suggesting they might use their biotechnology to develop biological weapons targeting specific genetic groups."

His expression grew serious.

"Genetic weapons designed to eliminate the people they consider inferior. Release them across the world and carry out some kind of racial purification."

He shook his head.

"Well, well..."

A faint, cold smile appeared on his face.

"Clearly, they haven’t succeeded yet."

After all, if Umbrella had already accomplished something like that, Pierce wouldn’t be standing here having this conversation.

Neither would Fury.

"But we’re about to hand them the key to their success."

Pierce’s smile slowly disappeared.

"The Insight Initiative?"

"I don’t know how those lunatics determine which races they consider superior or inferior," Fury said. "But they’ll need some kind of standard."

He paused.

"DNA."

Fury looked directly at Pierce.

"And the Insight satellites are capable of identifying it."

Pierce’s facial muscles twitched.

"Don’t tell me..."

He stared at Fury.

"You’re suggesting Umbrella sent people aboard that ship to tamper with the Insight satellites’ programming?"

"Once the Insight Initiative goes online, it will operate autonomously. We won’t be able to control every decision it makes."

Fury’s voice grew heavier.

"The satellites won’t necessarily target the terrorists we’ve designated. They could instead identify anyone whose DNA Umbrella considers inferior."

He let the implication hang in the air.

"And then?"

Pierce’s expression became increasingly disturbed.

"A worldwide purge," he said slowly. "Using the Insight satellites to identify targets and the helicarriers to eliminate them."

Fury nodded.

"Think about how many people those advanced weapons could kill if every helicarrier opened fire at full capacity. How many lives could be erased in a single minute?"

He stared at Pierce.

"Can you think of a more efficient or precise method of genocide?"

Fury shook his head.

"And if this is what they’re planning, we might not even get the chance to stop them."

Pierce looked genuinely horrified.

"That’s... just speculation."

He struggled to maintain his composure.

If not for the fact that they’d already verified the security of Zola’s algorithm, he might actually have believed Fury.

Still, he would have to double-check everything.

And perhaps, while he was at it, take another look through his family records.

He was fairly certain he didn’t have any Jewish ancestry.

Fairly certain.

"But what if it’s true?"

Fury stepped forward, his expression unusually earnest.

"If that’s really what’s happening, then we’ll all be grateful those helicarriers never made it into the sky."

Pierce fell silent.

He appeared to wrestle with the decision for several moments before finally relenting.

"All right. I’ll handle it."

He raised one finger.

"But I have a condition."

Fury looked at him.

"What is it?"

"I want Iron Man at my niece’s birthday party."

Pierce smiled.

"And I don’t mean flying over the house for a quick appearance. I want Tony Stark to come inside and actually enjoy himself."

He paused.

"Oh, and bring Evenson along. Have him perform a magic trick or two to liven things up."

Fury stared at him.

Tony Stark? At your niece’s birthday party?

Was Pierce absolutely certain that was a good idea?

And Evenson, too?

Was the man secretly trying to burn through his family’s fortune? Because inviting Evenson to entertain a room full of children seemed like a remarkably effective way to do it.

Still, Fury agreed.

Pierce watched him leave.

His expression gradually changed.

After today, he would never see that familiar figure again.

Fury had sacrificed a great deal for the organization. He had served HYDRA’s cause faithfully, even if he didn’t know it.

If their positions had been different, Pierce might have considered him a brother worth dying for.

Unfortunately, their paths had diverged.

And now Pierce would have to send him on his way.

"Initiate encrypted communications protocol..."

On his drive home, Fury activated his car’s communication system and contacted Maria Hill.

"I need you in Washington. The situation is serious."

"Understood. I’ll be there in four hours."

Hill’s response was immediate.

As usual, she asked no unnecessary questions. She simply acknowledged the order and got to work.

Fury frowned.

Four hours?

Apparently, Hill’s sense of urgency didn’t quite extend to treating her superior like family.

"I’ll give you two."

There was a brief silence.

"...Understood, Director."

Fury continued driving, his expression grim.

After his conversation with Pierce, he was now almost certain of the truth.

The source of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s gradual corruption, the greatest flaw in the Insight Initiative, and the highest-ranking HYDRA operative hiding within the organization...

Alexander Pierce.

And there was a very real possibility that Pierce was also Umbrella’s most important mole inside S.H.I.E.L.D.

The conclusion was difficult to avoid.

Under normal circumstances, Pierce should have been one of the Insight Initiative’s strongest supporters. He should have done everything in his power to ensure the project launched on schedule.

Yet Fury had managed to convince him to postpone it with surprisingly little effort.

That was the problem.

He’d agreed too easily.

Fury’s argument had been frightening, certainly. But it was also almost entirely speculative.

He had no concrete evidence.

Nothing more than a series of suspicions and an alarming possibility.

Under ordinary circumstances, Pierce would never have agreed to delay something as important as the Insight Initiative based on such flimsy grounds.

He would have demanded a thorough investigation. He would have ordered the project examined from top to bottom, searching for any evidence of tampering.

If he discovered a problem, he could then report it to the World Security Council and request a postponement.

But he’d done none of that.

He’d simply agreed.

Which meant he already knew something Fury didn’t.

Or, more likely, he knew exactly what was going on.

That was why Fury had contacted Hill.

Pierce had spent years building his influence within S.H.I.E.L.D. His connections ran deep, and Fury had no idea how many people he had quietly placed in positions of authority.

Acting openly would be reckless.

If Pierce really was the traitor, a direct confrontation would give him every opportunity to eliminate the evidence and mobilize his people.

Fury needed trusted agents. He needed secrecy.

And he needed to move quickly.

His car approached an intersection.

Fury stopped at the traffic light, his thoughts still racing.

A police cruiser pulled up beside him.

The officer inside glanced over, then looked again, apparently studying Fury’s face.

Already in a foul mood, Fury rolled down his window.

"What? You want to see my driver’s license?"

The police cruiser merely sounded its siren before accelerating through the intersection.

Fury frowned.

That was strange.

Normally, a police officer who encountered a man with a conspicuous eyepatch would at least ask him to remove it or check his identification.

But this officer hadn’t done either.

He’d simply driven away.

Fury stared after the cruiser.

Then something clicked.

His expression changed.

Pierce definitely didn’t want the Insight Initiative delayed.

Yet he’d agreed almost immediately.

It wasn’t just because he had something to hide.

Perhaps it was because, as far as Pierce was concerned, it no longer mattered what Fury thought.

Perhaps he’d already decided that Fury wouldn’t be around much longer.

That was why he’d been so accommodating.

He’d agreed because he believed there was no longer any reason to argue.

"Shit!"

CRASH!

A police cruiser accelerated to full speed and slammed directly into Fury’s car.