May had learned a lot from talking with SCP-166 as she had been designated, or Eden as she was called, a pretty enough name, far better than referring to someone as SCP-166 much less if they are a little girl.
She had managed to learn quite a few things about this SCP Foundation, most importantly she had learned a few key pieces of information about the leadership of the Foundation.
The organization was controlled by a council of Overseers, and there was another powerful internal group known as the Ethics committee.
Now, May might not have been part of the last mission, but as a high-ranking agent, she still had access to much of the information about Bulwark, which included that they were led by a council of Overseers who answered to an Ethics committee.
May quickly realized the truth: Bulwark was the Foundation. This led her to question why they called them Bulwark in the first place, which led her to Natasha, the first person to report about the organization.
Clearly, Natasha had reported wrong information; either she had been fed it, or she had betrayed SHIELD.
Her first instinct was to report what she learned to Fury, but she quickly realized that if she did that, she would have to report about where she got the information, which meant reporting about Eden.
She thought about the many organizations that handled people like Eden, SHIELD, the GOC, the Foundation, and the Chaos Insurgency. SHIELD would want to use her for good, the Chaos Insurgency for evil. The GOC would kill her, and the Foundation would contain and protect her.
All options didn't feel right; she didn't think someone like Eden should have to serve, be used, or be locked up, but she had to admit that from what she had learned about the Foundation, they did seem like the better option.
So, after considering this, she decided to see if Natasha knew more than she led on. If she had indeed become a double agent for the Foundation, she would take it from there.
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[Los Angeles]
A young, not too bright but still brilliant hacker was working herself into some rather well-defended servers at this moment. She had been alerted by the Rising Tide about some super secret military operation, and a bounty had been posted internally to find information about it, and well… she needed the money.
Well, it wasn't about the money; it was about finding out what was happening. With all these murders and attacks, there had to be something they kept secret from the public, and that was why people like her were trying to find the truth, though the money didn't hurt.
Still, this server's defense level was high, far higher than she would have expected, given what she assumed it was used for. However, she might get a reward if she reported it since it was potentially a big lead or a no-go zone.
Even in the world of hacking, there were a few places you just stayed away from. Like Stark, not the company, it was difficult and risky, but it could be done, or at least the surface levels could be. But it was Stark himself you didn't hack.
After his kidnapping, she knew that a wave of people tried to hack his systems, but they all failed without expectation. Some went as far as to claim that Stark had made an antivirus system so advanced it could think.
She wasn't entirely sure she was willing to believe that, but what she knew was that anyone who tried would get counter-hacked, and some ended up in a bad spot, all their work and crimes exposed. The lucky ones got thrown in prison by the law.
As for the unlucky ones, they just disappeared, with no trace, no nothing, just gone. The few other no-go zones were the same; mostly, they were just nearly blank high-security servers, but those who had hacked into them disappeared.
Clearly, whoever was being those servers found them and recruited them, and they didn't take no for an answer.
Skye was smart enough to avoid that; she used the Wi-Fi of others, and she would move her van around after each big hack, making it impossible to track her down. Allowing her to just do her work in peace without fear of ever getting caught.
Skye had been sitting there for a few minutes, just looking at the progress bar, and she just didn't want to move. "Slow." she cursed as she grew increasingly bored.
"Fuck it, let's get lunch." She said as she made sure the program she had written would continue to run on its own as she left her home, making her way into the nice little café from which she got her Wi-Fi.
Soon enough, she was just sitting there, eating her food, which was most cheap and delicious, and by far better than the instant noodles she had on most days, lost to the world around her, including the fact that a small group of people whose appearance just screaming secret government agent were currently walking right towards the café.
As Skye munched on her sandwich, she was suddenly and rudely interrupted by someone putting a hand on her shoulder. "Hey! What's the big deal!" she said loudly and annoyed before turning her head back to them and freezing at what she saw.
"Daisy Johnson, you are hereby under arrest; anything you do and say will be used against you in a caught of law; you have the right to remain silent and to get legal counsel; if you can't afford it, the state will provide for you, not come with us."
"Wow, wow, wow there, buddy, I'm not this Daisy Johnson; you must have the wrong person." Skye tried to defend herself, mostly because she really didn't know any Daisy Johnson and didn't think she had done anything that would get her caught.
"We know who you are miss Johnson, we know who you are, what you have done, and you really shouldn't be surprised we came for you, now come here." One of the large men said as they started to manhandle her out the café.
"Hey! Stop! Police brutality! Let me go! I'm telling you, you have the wrong person!" She shouted, while trying to resist, but well, they were far stronger than her and clearly didn't care about the noise and attention she was causing.
As soon as they stepped up, a black SUV drove up and parked next to them, Skye could do nothing but powerlessly struggle as she was forced into the vehicle and the doors locked.
She looked around, but she was trapped, entirely separated from the front by what she suspected was black one way glass.
"What about my things!" She yelled, worried that someone might break into her van if she left it parked there for long.
"Don't worry, we have already picked up your vehicle, everything is coming with us." She heard a voice say over the intercom as the car started to move.
"Hey, you can't just take my stuff! Do you even have a warrant?" She shouted back, but clearly, the drivers didn't want to hear her shouting the entire trip, so they just replied with a. "Go, sleep, girl." Before she heard a sound like gas leaking.
She instantly knew that this wasn't just an arrest, she was clearly being disappeared! She struggled, shouted, kicked, and fought to escape, tried to hold her breath, but in the end, nothing worked, and she drifted away.
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[Stark's mansion]
Far away from where Poor Skye was being transported to a secure holding facility, Tony Stark was marvelling over the new reactor he had gotten from the future, or at least that is what all the clues pointed towards.
"Jarvis, what is the results of the last test?"
"Sir, I have detected multiple fingerprints on internal parts all which belong to you. This test also indicates that you built this reactor. Even if it shouldn't be possible." Jarvis responded back, baffled by the sheer impossibility of this mystery they had on their hands.
"Any luck with the mysterious element yet?"
"It matches no known elements, which means it is likely something discovered or synthesized by you in the near future."
Tony had built a few different reactors since his battle with the mad Stane. He had also reviewed all the evidence Pepper had gathered before all that mess went down. And it wasn't pretty.
Stane had been selling Stark weapons for years, to pretty much anyone who wanted them as long as they weren't competitors. So, if they wanted to use them, he would sell them whatever they could afford.
It really hurt to think how badly he had betrayed him. Tony had trusted the man. He really had. Yet, for all that trust to be betrayed like that, it really hurt.
Though at least he now had a far more complete list of where he could find his weapons. He wasn't entirely sure about how he should treat Ricci. Their name was on the list, and the old Alexander had bought a ton of stuff from Stane.
While Alexandra had helped him a lot, he guessed that trying to go after them wouldn't be a good idea; he would rather fly his suit into some foreign military base and attack there than mess with Ricci.
At least the old man had that kind of reputation, and well, he did owe Alexandra a favor or two for all the help she had been.
"Jarvis, how is the latest test reading?" He asked, shaking his head to distract himself from the betrayal of Stane.
"Even the newest reactor made to minimize radiation is still releasing a dangerous amount of it; prolonged use will lead to fatal levels of palladium poisoning." Jarvis responded.
The issue with Palladium was something he had discovered in some of the first tests he had made with the new reactor. Honestly, he felt stupid for not considering it before.
When he had tested his own reactor next to the future one left behind by what was apparently his future kids, he and Jarvis had quickly noticed the readings for palladium radiation. At the same time, it was not overly dangerous; it could cause heavy metal poisoning.
Which answered the question of why his future self would have made a new reactor powered by an entirely new element. "Any luck in finding any other elements that could replace Palladium?"
"None, Sir; it seems impossible to find another less dangerous element that can produce the same level of power, with the exception of this new one."
"Any idea of how it could have been discovered or made?"
"None, sir; It seems all but impossible to synthesize something like this." Jarvis responded back.
"It can't have been that impossible if I did it in a new or two… I want to find out how I did it, and I won't be beaten by anyone, not even my future self. Look into all possible scenarios that could have resulted in this. Focus on me slowly dying of poison; that was likely what motivated me."
"Understood sir, will run simulations. Though I will advise Sir to use the new reactor; it is for the healthy option." Jarvis advised.
Tony looked down at the reactor in his chest, one of his own palladium power ones. For some reason it almost felt wrong to use the future one, like he was admitting that he couldn't make something useable himself.
And while it might be pretty to think such about one's own future self, Tony had his pride after all.
"How do you think I invented time travel?" he couldn't help but ask. It was something that he had been thinking about a lot, if he could travel back in time, why didn't he. Why didn't he go back, back to that cave and save everyone?
"I don't know, sir; according to all my programming and code, such a thing is impossible, yet apparently, you have done it. And likely within the next twenty years."
Tony was silent for a time, thinking about the future, one where he would be a dad. Would he be a good father? Better than his own?
"Alright, prep the other reactor, I'm going to hit the next target."
Tony often used these chances to go out, to clear his head, and while Pepper hadn't liked it, and still didn't do, she had bene reassured somewhat after watching what his suit could do.
A/N
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