Tony could indeed break through the system, and Dick had proven that all his hard training hadn't been in vain.
Working together, they successfully bypassed the security program that Tony had originally designed and Zola had upgraded and fortified.
What neither of them expected, however, was the existence of Zola himself. They never imagined that behind Hydra stood a being who had uploaded his consciousness into a computer: a living entity of pure information.
"And what about you, Dr. Zola? You should be able to stop them from breaking through, right?"
Pierce still refused to back down, even after hearing Zola's warning. As one of Hydra's leaders, he understood better than anyone the immense risk hidden behind the brief glory of this operation.
If Project Insight could go live even for a moment, the organization's future would become far more secure. Every potential threat to them identified in advance would give them an extra layer of confidence.
They had other cards to play, yes, but abandoning this project was something Pierce could not accept, not when they were so close.
"Me?" Zola's voice carried a trace of helplessness. Pierce caught something in his tone that unsettled him.
"Dr. Zola? What's wrong? Speak to me!"
"If I could truly intervene," Zola replied slowly, "those two carbon-based lifeforms, Tony Stark and Nightwing, would never defeat me in the digital world. But…"
His voice trailed off.
* * *
Meanwhile, in New Jersey, deep inside a secret base officially under S.H.I.E.L.D. but staffed entirely by Hydra operatives, chaos erupted.
Zola listened to the screams outside as Hydra agents fell one by one. His expression flickered across the old television screens that projected his face. In front of the mainframe housing his consciousness, a Hydra soldier lay collapsed, foam at his lips, eyes rolled back, body twitching before going still.
Just moments ago, realizing that the operation was reaching its end, Zola had planned to connect himself to the internet through this agent. By doing so, he could escape safely into cyberspace and wait for Hydra to prepare a new supercomputer for him.
After all, he was an information life form. In the vast data world, where everything flowed at incredible speed and constantly fragmented, he was like a permanent cluster, a dense node that rarely changed internally. Something like that was far too conspicuous.
At least, in the eyes of a genius, it would be.
Unfortunately for him, this world had never lacked geniuses. From Howard Stark to Tony Stark, Reed Richards, and even that unreasonable mind, Lex Luthor.
They were all once-in-a-century prodigies, and yet, somehow, this world never allowed such brilliance to fade.
To avoid detection, Zola had remained disconnected from the internet ever since becoming a digital entity. All his data came through controlled channels, physically delivered by Hydra agents. Directly escaping through the web had always been his last resort, a contingency for times like this.
But even that plan failed.
The instant he prepared to bridge the connection, the Hydra operative's brain was shattered by psychic force, leaving him a lifeless husk. And as that happened, the base came under attack.
Zola didn't need to run the calculations to know who it was.
The most powerful telepath on Earth, and the organization standing behind that superhuman: Reid and LexCorp.
The gunfire and screams faded until silence filled the corridors. The heavy doors to his chamber creaked open. Zola saw a figure step through, exactly as he expected.
"Lex Luthor," he said, voice laced with irony. "It's been years, and now you've finally decided to show up in person. What's this? Do I still have something your precious company wants?"
Zola was Hydra's representative on the technology front, using research and innovation to strengthen the organization's power. But since LexCorp emerged, his position within Hydra had plummeted. Other than Project Insight, none of the technology he developed could surpass what the company had created.
Which made Luthor's purpose here painfully obvious.
"I never thought I'd see the day someone would twist themselves into a monster for the sake of so-called longevity."
Luthor's disdain was plain on his face, his tone dripping with mockery.
In his eyes, uploading one's consciousness into a machine to escape death was nothing short of pathetic. Health, immortality, any form of human achievement; none of it mattered unless it was done in a human body, as a human being. That was what gave it meaning.
Zola had indeed achieved eternal life. As long as he kept transferring his consciousness into different supercomputers, he would never truly die.
But could that still be called living?
A low growl escaped Zola's digital throat. "Hmph!"
Luthor's ridicule stung, but he wasn't finished. "One day," he said coldly, "if you still believe in your genius, you'll make the same choice I did. Only by surviving can we preserve what makes us great. And I… I will be the one to restore Hydra to glory!"
Luthor shook his head, dismissing the argument. To him, dying of old age was just another failure; a defeat in the race against time and talent.
And when that failure came, death was nothing to fear.
"Enough philosophy," he said bluntly. "Give me Project Insight's core algorithm. The full design. That's all I want. It's the only thing of value you still hold."
Zola's monitors flickered as his synthetic expression hardened. "Luthor," he sneered, "you've let your arrogance blind your mind. What makes you think I'd obey you when even Howard Stark couldn't change me? Now… you'll join me as the stepping stone for Hydra's rise to the throne!"
As his words faded, a shrill alarm blared throughout the entire base. Red lights flashed, and the walls shuddered as the gates slammed into place.
Zola had triggered the self-destruct sequence. The facility locked down, sealing every exit. If he couldn't win, he'd take Luthor with him.
But then, something strange caught his attention.
Luthor wasn't panicking. Not even a little. His face was calm, almost amused, as if the impending explosion meant nothing to him.
"You must be wondering why I'm so calm in the face of your last desperate move."
He gave a cold smile, then stepped slightly to the side, revealing the figure standing behind him.
The newcomer wore a golden helmet and a black bodysuit adorned with ornate accessories reminiscent of ancient Egypt. A long cape trailed behind him, glowing with an aura of unknown energy, rippling as if alive despite the still air.
"It's true, LexCorp holds a technological advantage over Hydra. Just my armor suit outclasses all your weapons. But under normal circumstances, escaping a locked-down base before it self-destructs would be nearly impossible through technology alone. But… we know a little something about magic as well."
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