With Natasha sent off to meet up with her friends at Shield, Alex was finally left alone to get some work done, and he, indeed, had plenty of that to do. Not to mention, the system needs attention.
"I will be in the bunker; don't disturb me unless necessary." Alex told his guards after having transformed back into his male self.
"Being a woman really is strange; balance is all off." He mused to himself as he sat SCP-113 into its place.
"Gotta remember to learn to walk in heels, not to mention all the other things I need to really come off as a woman in the long term." As he was once more alone, he quickly slipped back into his old habit of talking to himself.
Sitting in front of his highly advanced computer system, a dozen monitors in front of him, bathing him in a dim glow as he logged in to check emails while looking over his system.
He had much to do today, and he might as well try his best at multitasking; he was trying to play the role of a woman. That little joke made him slightly giggle.
*beep beep beep.*
"what the?" Alex exclaimed in surprise as his computer acted up in a way it hadn't done before. It wasn't any of the alerts he might have expected to come from time to time. Or any of the ones he feared to ever hear.
After looking it over, he realized what was happening. "Who in the world is able to call me like this?" He couldn't help but question out loud.
His position within the Foundation was unmatched, his time as close to sacred as the Foundation would get to such a concept. He got countless emails every day, including some in every possible form. Voicemails, videos, and even more strange and unique ones.
He was, however, always able to take his time to read these at his own pace. If something truly needed his immediate attention, some kind of emergency signal would be attached to alert him.
So, getting a call, something that demanded his attention like this, was entirely unexpected. "Let's see who has the audacity and the capability," he murmured, a mix of annoyance and admiration in his tone.
The Foundation's internal communication system was robust and secure, designed to withstand intrusion from external forces and to prevent unauthorized internal use.
Accepting the call with the push of a button, a video connection was established immediately; like any other video call, most of his screen was now taken up by the person he was talking to, with a small part showing himself.
Immediately upon seeing the man, Alex felt like his head had been hit by a truck. Information, memories, and knowledge were crudely shoved into his mind in but a moment.
After a short moment to stabilize himself, he turned his sharp gaze back onto the man and his screen, this time recognizing all too well who he was.
"Sentinel, what an unexpected surprise to see you again. I must admit I was starting to fear that I would never see you or any of the others again." Alex opened up by greeting his fellow member of the O5 council.
"Yes, it is indeed quite the situation you have found yourself in, architect. A situation I now also find myself in. So I wouldn't think I was new to this reality of ours by the number of orders the O5 council have been giving out lately."
"Desperate times called for desperate measures, my friend; you should be happy I haven't already started replacing the empty seats."
"Or perhaps you just enjoy the privilege of being in control of the entirety of the Foundation." O5-2 replied with a hint of coldness in his voice.
"The entirety of the Foundation? Please, when I first appeared after the CK class event, I was alone without as much as a single Foundation site under my command. While pieces started to appear here and there, it was disorderly."
"I assure you I did only what I had to do, with the incredibly limited resources I had available to me. What you see now is a luxury without equal compared to what I had to deal with." Alex's reply was just to sharpen cold as he did not enjoy being accused of petty power plays.
His time in this world hadn't been all roses and rainbows. Sure, he was rich, but with all that wealth and all the power he now possessed, so too came danger and responsibility. responsibility he had taken up from day one and sunk every ounce of attention into.
"Well, I guess you haven't been doing too badly then. So I must say you took an incredibly stupid risk with this last move of yours. One that did, in fact, end with your death, however temporary it was."
Alex could offer little in defense of himself on this point. Going to meet with the Mandarin had been dangerous, and he had, in fact, paid for it, proving that all his preparations had, in the end, meant nothing.
"If you hadn't been in possession of that SCP object of yours and if I hadn't appeared now, the Foundation would have been left entirely leaderless." O5-2 continued on.
"You need not explain to me what I already know, Sentinel. I died; yes, I admit that. My security was clearly lacking. Except I did have that SCP object. I knew I would be safe from true death." Alex cut him off as he grew tired of being berated like a child.
"Fine, fine, I won't keep mentioning it. But other than that, there are still plenty of other things you've been up to on your own. Like diverting the entire yield of SCP-006 towards yourself."
"Fine, half the yield will go to you from now off, but what I have stored up, I will keep." Alex immediately knew where O5-2 was going and gave in.
While the waters from the well of youth were precious, he himself didn't need it, thanks to his system. Not to mention that the yield was enough for 13 people to share, so he would still get plenty.
That concession seemed to thaw the ice in the conversation, and O5-2 gave a curt nod of acknowledgment. "Good. Now, on to more pressing matters, shall we? I have been looking over what little information you seem to have gathered and shared about this CK class event."
He immediately knew where this conversation was headed and made himself comfortable for a long talk.
"There seem to be several rather large differences between this reality and the one I clearly remember. I have some theories of my own, but I would like to hear yours; after all, you have been here much longer than I have."
Alex was somewhat taken off guard by the revelation that O5-2 noticed anything different between the Marvel Universe and the original SCP universe. After all, none of the other personnel summoned over by the system displayed any such awareness.
Still, he would work with what he had, so his mind quickly went into Overdrive as he came up with whatever bullshit theory he could.
"My current theory is that whoever was responsible for the CK class event attempted to erase the Foundation as well as whatever SCP objects we were aware of, perhaps more as well, though that is still uncertain. Furthermore, I believe that the differences in the timeline come down to the Foundation not existing."
"As to why we are reappearing again? I can only assume that it is due to many of the SCP objects being rather resistant to alterations. Something that made the alterations temporary, and with the objects, we too are being brought back."
It was pure bullshit, but it sounded believable enough, and he doubted there was any way of verifying any of it.
"Got any clue as to what SCP object caused the CK class event?" To this question, Alex could only shake his head.
"That's impossible to say. There certainly are some that could potentially have done this. It could also have been one we haven't found yet. After all, we must consider the possibility that time has been messed with as well."
As he said this, he did try to go over a few objects in his mind that could potentially have done this or something like this, at least. Now, Alex was no walking encyclopedia of all things SCP, but he did know a few objects with powerful reality-bending properties, but just to see it said there was no way to verify anything.
"Yes, I feared as much, so I am rather curious about this organization shield I have seen in databases."
"That one, I believe, is our counterpart, I guess. We humans clearly always seek order in chaos, and without the Foundation to deal with the chaotic and the abnormal, it would seem this Shield organization arose in our place." Alex replied.
"On what actions have you been taken to deal with this organization? Nothing is listed in the files other than some agents implanted by you
.
"Well, my deal with SCP object 10000 was, in fact, to deal with this organization. They are under the control of the World Security Council, and I just secured the Chinese permanent seat." Alex had no issue at all, informing his colleague of this. After all, he had already ensured that the person placed upon this seat was one of his own.
Though he had really expected and hoped that the entirety of the Foundation would have been his own. Yet now, he would have to share it with someone else. At least there were only two of them, and Alex, as the senior member, would always retain the tie-breaking vote, which meant that right now, little had changed as his authority was still unmatched.
"A good first move indeed. Though it is merely that, a start. To truly achieve anything, we need more. Perhaps I myself could move to get the British seat."
Alex would have preferred getting control of the shield for himself, but he understood that he had to give his new colleague something to do, and working on this man, Alex still was free to deal with his future Avengers as he saw fit.
"You are most welcome; I myself have no ability to take such a seat given my public persona." Alex freely admitted this limitation he possessed. A limitation that only grew greater as he was now supposedly dead.
The talk continued for hours, asking Alex to explain his actions when he was willing and deflected when he was not while sharing what little information he had and was willing to give. Thankfully, the SCP Foundation was a massive behemoth; to share it between two people still gives them plenty of power, not to mention plenty of work to do.
Even if he had to share the Foundation with the entirety of the O5 council, he would still have plenty of power himself. Not to mention that his knowledge of the Marvel Universe would allow him unique opportunities to strengthen it further.
He could possess superheroes with near God-like abilities at his beck and call, at which point he could fully control the Foundation even if, on paper, he only had one vote.
"I still suggest that you relocate to site-001 for your own protection; after all, your public persona clearly isn't enough to keep you safe anymore." This final request towards the tail end of the conversation threw Alex out of the loop.
After all, he was of the understanding that his mansion was designated as SITE-001. Clearly, those system messages he had been ignoring hid a lot of important information that he really needed to get on reading.
"A prudent response for sure, yet I find myself unable to leave just yet. There is work that requires me to be physically present here for the foreseeable future. Not to worry about my protection, though; I have hey new defensive mechanism being worked on at SITE-311."
"I will do my part in ensuring that your security is increased if need be. I will also be looking into this project of yours. No, if there's nothing else, I believe we both have much work that needs doing; I, for one, need to ensure that my part of the yield from SCP-006 is sent over here."
Alex was all too happy to end the conversation here so he could immediately delve into figuring out what he had missed out on. After all, another member of the O5 council to suddenly appear and take him off guard like that had not been a pleasant surprise.
"System display all new messages."
[Ding! Understood host, displaying all new messages!]