Shiller stood at the door with the phone in his hand. The hands on the clock behind him kept turning, echoing with the constant "tick tock" of the seconds. As the day gradually dimmed, the last rays of sunlight fell beyond the horizon. After making his final call, Shiller walked over to the wall to turn on the light.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Three distinct light knocks, carrying a solemn aura perfectly complementing the recently fallen night.
After turning on the light, Shiller turned around without looking at Grant Ward who had just entered the room. He went back behind his desk and gently tapped the desktop with his finger, signalling Grant to take a seat across from him.
Grant did take a seat, but it was a bit far from the desk. Shiller, staring at him, asked, "Why are you sitting so far away?"
Grant said nothing, and Shiller knew the reason - it was due to his own other personality. He sighed and pulled out a medical record from the shelf saying, "Let me see... depression, with a bit of compulsive behavior. Last time, you said you refused to take medicine. If anything, the situation should have worsened."
Grant didn't respond at all. Somewhat helplessly, Shiller said, "Do you know why after all these years, you're still just an ordinary agent? I'm not asking you to be a sycophant, but shouldn't you show some reaction when I speak?"
Grant grunted, but then fell silent again. Shiller simply closed the medical record and put it back. Truth be told, psychologists are not afraid of patients with complicated symptoms, nor of patients who cause trouble, but what they fear most is a mute patient.
"If the Hydra member who just called me was like you, I think I would have been genuinely worried." Shiller couldn't help but remark, "It looks like there is some advantage to being a man of few words."
"I'm not a man of few words," Grant refuted. He said, "Previously, you asked me to keep silent and listen and not to ask too many questions."
"It seems Garrett's control has seriously influenced your personality. Predictably, he has probably subjected you to violence and mental abuse?"
"What do you want me to do?" asked Grant.
"Your life at S.H.I.E.L.D. has awakened a bit of your self-awareness, something you previously lacked under Garrett's strict control."
"But this awakening is very limited. Although you mentally acknowledge that this state is wrong and you want to break free, you still act as if you're in despair. You're convincing yourself that killing for anyone is still killing. Working for me isn't any different from working for Garrett."
"Isn't it like that?" Grant, staring into Shiller's eyes, asked.
Shiller shook his head, "He's a patient, and I'm a doctor."
"There are some people in this world who enjoy stimulating others psychologically or using various means to control them. Seeing you in pain due to your inability to resist his will satisfies them. This is commonly observed in irrational parental control."
"However, whether they are in a strong or weak position, relying on the behavior of others as a mental crutch is actually a severe psychological defect. Once nobody listens to their control, what follows is psychological and personality collapse. This is also commonly observed in parent-child relationships."
Shiller sighed, "Unfortunately, in that situation, I had to kill Garrett. Otherwise, helping you escape his control and then observing his reaction would've been a nice experiment."
"It's clear to see that you are overwhelmed by the abrupt freedom after escaping his control. You suddenly feel panic and confusion. At the same time, you're shocked to realize that you want to avenge Garrett, even if this person has been controlling and hurting you. This kind of emotion intensifies your fear."
"If you have no task for me, then I'm leaving." Grant didn't show any reaction. He simply said this.
Shiller sighed again. From a killer's perspective, Grant was not particularly outstanding, but as a patient, he was uniquely difficult to handle.
"Alright, I do indeed have a task." Shiller took a book from a nearby shelf and handed it to Grant. Grant took the book and glanced at the title. He asked, "Who is Helada?"
This wasn't his question, but the words were written on the cover of the book - "Who is Helada?"
It must be said, the question successfully piqued Grant's interest. Other Hydras chanted slogans along with the crowd, other Hydras shouted "Helada" too, but he didn't really know what Helada was.
He flipped to the first page of the booklet, only to find that it was not a science book, but rather like a religious scripture. It began with Norse mythology.
Norse mythology is quite well-known among many myths. Many people have heard of the World Tree one way or another. Because of this half-understanding state, Grant suddenly found the stories in the book rather interesting.
Quickly, he finished the first chapter and started reading the second. In the second chapter, the world became grander. They proposed that the Nine Major Kingdoms on the World Tree were called the "Dust World", a massive castle. Coiled around the castle was a giant python, whose head meets its tail, the Jormungand of the Dust World.
The second chapter emphasized the mighty power of Ye Meng Jia De and specifically explained a parable. In the twilight of the Norse gods, the giant serpent will die together with the strongest Thunder God Thor, concluding the fate of the gods.
The grand epic battle was also very appealing. However, in the third chapter, things became somewhat magical. The third chapter emphasized that Hydra is actually Ye Meng Jia De's incarnation. Initially, it only had one head. Only for battling the nine major kingdoms of the World Tree did the serpent split into nine heads, bringing disaster to all life on the World Tree.
At the end, Grant's eyes landed on the last sentence of the entire book - "Yesterday it split into nine, today it unites into one."
When he put the book on the table, his fingertips were trembling. Looking at Shiller, he asked, "Do you know what you're doing?"
"It seems your basic logic hasn't been affected." Seeing the potential to analyze from every sentence he spoke, Shiller felt a sense of déjà vu, last time he had this feeling was when he was taking college exams.
Grant immediately shut his mouth, and Shiller continued to explain: "Don't you think that, as a spy organization, Hydra is a bit outdated?"
"Whether it's a pyramid scheme or a cult, they all go further in personnel selection, organizational structure, and organizational capabilities. Given that Hydra is not starting from scratch, so a pyramid scheme probably wouldn't work."
"Are you planning to evangelize?" Grant asked.
"Do you know what the essence of religion is?"
"What is it?"
"It's a facade, you can choose to drape it over any kind of skeleton."
"Do you think they will believe?" Grant thought it was absurd.
"Why don't you understand. This is not a doctrine, it is a business. The purpose of this myth is not to make those lower-level agents believe."
Shiller tossed a pen on the table and said, "You can imagine it as a match, it can only ignite those who are already eager to move."
"They just need an excuse, a mere pretext, to blatantly snatch power and kill allies, and take the only throne."
Grant was reminded of the content he saw in that manual. In the last chapter, the so-called prophecy of Ragnarok, was in fact hinting that Hydra no longer needed nine heads. The Mundane Python who could bring about the twilight only had one head, just needed one god, and therefore just needed one pope."
"You can understand this as the spread of extreme thought. Anything unique can cause more extreme emotions in people."
"Grant, I believe you can see that the situation is changing. This sweeping clean-up of Hydra has brought many submerged contradictions to the surface... conflicts between the old and the new, between the upper and lower ranks, between regions... "
"Many people are more eager than me to reshuffle the cards. Everyone knows that the only way to shake up the established class and strive for more interests to become a new era ruler is..."
"Sarajevo." Grant slowly spat out a term, then he asked, "But just a story is not convincing enough. They are all very cautious, they wouldn't be willing to be the first to act."
"Did you see the last prophecy? About Ragnarok?"
"I did, but that's just a prophecy."
"Yes... but what if I colluded with the gods?"
As Shiller revealed a smile, the weather behind him from dark turned bright, the sun rising from the horizon, it was another sunny morning. The shadow on the table gradually changed shapes, and sitting across Shiller was Loki.
His clothing was still magnificent, his outfit and hairstyle were as meticulous as ever, but his face revealed exhaustion. He shook his head and said: "The situation in Asgard isn't good."
"What happened? Has Thor caused a problem?"
"On the contrary, this time only Thor didn't cause a problem." Loki showed a complex expression and said: "I can't believe there will be a day. When Thor will be the most normal one."
Having said that, he put both hands on the table, interlacing his fingers, and explained: "Thor returned from Earth, he regained his divine power, not only that, he went further. This is a good thing for Asgard, right?"
Shiller nodded, and Loki continued, "Thor suddenly understands the meaning of honor. That should be his weapon, not his shackle, it should be his scepter to rule his subjects, not his whip."
"He is determined to change Asgard's status quo, he wants this war chariot to stop and find a more sustainable way. So The kingdom and people can develop more smoothly, without rushing towards destruction. This is also a good thing, right?"
Shiller took a sip of his coffee and said: "But someone doesn't agree, right?"
"Yes, in the eyes of many Asgardians, war is a quick and easy way to get everything they need. They are accustomed to this method, their ancestors have always been this way, We are Vikings, a fishing and hunting society, and also pirates."
"To get such a civilization to slow down or even stop is almost impossible."
Loki pressed his forehead with his fingers and said, "The problem is, the Father of All Gods does not support Thor. It's not that he enjoys war, but he believes that Asgard must have a strong enough power to face the upcoming Ragnarok."
"If you stop the war chariot now and take apart its wheels, when Ragnarok comes, perhaps none of us can escape."
"Odin may know that even if the war chariot keeps running, maybe it can't escape either. He just doesn't dare to gamble. If we keep moving forward, accumulating strength, maybe there's leeway to resist. But if we abandon the strength and give up, we are really like fish on a chopping board." Shiller summarized,
"Correct." Loki helplessly nodded and said: "Thor is between a rock and a hard place, many people are using this opportunity to shake his heir's position."