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After seeing Natasha and Steve off, Hawk had already returned to Zola's server room.
He hadn't heard their conversation.
If he had, he would have mentioned that the impact crater on Mars—larger even than the Victoria Crater found on the Meridiani Planum—had been created when he'd punched Thor so hard the Thunder God had crashed into the Martian surface.
Of course, If Thor had heard that conversation, he would have said the same thing. That Hawk had made that crater.
As for what the actual truth was?
That would probably remain a permanent mystery.
Back in Zola's server room, Hawk looked at the electronic face on the old-school computer screen with an expression somewhere between amusement and mockery.
"I take back my earlier assessment. You're not as smart as I thought. You think that steel door can stop them. But can it stop me?"
"No. But I had to try."
"You're brave, Zola."
"You have nothing you can use to threaten me, Mr. Phoenix."
"True."
Hawk listened to Zola's electronic voice and nodded in genuine agreement. "You don't have family. No descendants. So I can't use them as leverage. And you're an electronic being—a dated one at that—running purely on logic. You don't have any emotions at all. Even though you know I'm about to pull your plug, you're not scared in the slightest."
There was no denying that Dr. Zola was a genius.
Back in 1972, he'd managed to transform himself into an electronic lifeform—something that couldn't just be called advanced. It sounded like science fiction.
Unfortunately, Every era had its limitations.
For example, Dr. Zola could travel through this facility's network and access any corner of the internet. But his core—his actual body—was stuck here. Unlike modern AI, he couldn't exist anywhere there was a network connection.
Which meant destroying Dr. Zola was easy. Just blow up the servers in this room.
If the servers here were destroyed, Zola would be completely dead. There was no possibility of him escaping through the network.
(The movie explicitly stated that these servers were Zola's true body. If they were destroyed, Zola would be permanently erased.)
But—
Before pulling the plug on Zola, Hawk looked at him with curiosity and asked the question that had been bothering him on the way over. "I'm curious. Based on your logic calculations, you should have understood the consequences of crossing me. And yet, knowing with absolute certainty that you'd piss me off, you did it anyway. Why?"
Dr. Zola didn't hesitate.
"My calculations were wrong."
"What?"
Hawk raised an eyebrow at the answer, staring at Dr. Zola.
"Your calculations were wrong?"
"Yes. According to my projections, you were not supposed to return to New York City this quickly."
Information cascaded down Dr. Zola's monitor like a waterfall. "Based on my prior calculations, I predicted that if your friend Peter went missing, you would go to rescue him. And you did. But I failed to account for how quickly you would return."
Hawk immediately held up a hand. "Wait. Are you saying Peter and Felicia's disappearance—that was you?"
Dr. Zola didn't deny it.
"Yes. I dispatched operatives to attack their offshore research base."
"So you were planning to get me out of New York from the start?"
"Correct."
"Why?"
"Because of the Insight Algorithm."
"The one you use to run big data calculations, figure out who'll stand in HYDRA's way in the future, and preemptively eliminate them through targeted interventions?"
"Correct."
"So I was going to be a roadblock for you people?"
Hawk actually laughed at that, looking at Dr. Zola. "Your algorithm's got some serious bugs. If I had a problem with HYDRA, I wouldn't have made friends with Anna in the first place. And if you hadn't tested me this time, I would've just sat at home and watched to see if you guys could beat SHIELD or not."
Dr. Zola's electronic voice remained perfectly calm. "Because you were getting too close to Sharon Carter. According to the Insight Algorithm, the more time you spent in contact with Sharon Carter and Maria Hill, the lower our chances of success became."
Hawk laughed.
"That's it? That's the reason?"
"Yes."
"And now? Is this the outcome you wanted?"
"When you returned to New York City, HYDRA's probability of success dropped to ten percent. But after you sent Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff away, the success rate returned to sixty percent."
"...Is that so?"
Hawk stroked his chin thoughtfully. "How exactly did you calculate that success rate?"
Dr. Zola continued without holding anything back.
"When you first returned to New York City, the algorithm calculated a ninety percent probability that you would take action against us. That you would even attempt to stop this operation."
"But just now, when you sent Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff to New York City—not directly to the New York SHIELD headquarters—the algorithm recalculated. After you eliminate me, there is now a ninety percent probability that you will not interfere with our operations in Washington."
"Am I correct?"
Dr. Zola even went so far as to ask Hawk directly at the end.
Hawk smiled.
"Your algorithm actually has some merit."
"Thank you."
"So you deliberately sealed this place just now to verify whether or not I'd sabotage your Insight Helicarrier plan in Washington?"
"Correct."
"Fine."
Hawk shook his head with a slight laugh, then looked at Zola with renewed curiosity. "You know Alexander Pierce sold you out. And you're still supporting him?"
Zola's voice remained emotionless.
"To make HYDRA great again."
"Alright then!"
Hawk had lost all interest in continuing the conversation. He was ready to pull Zola's plug and head home to have a late-night snack with Gwen.
He'd already gotten the answers he'd come for.
Zola's algorithm had predicted that the more time Hawk spent with Sharon Carter and Maria Hill, the more his loyalties would shift toward SHIELD. So the algorithm had orchestrated getting him out of New York and launched the second uprising.
But the calculations had gone wrong. They hadn't anticipated he'd return so quickly.
The Zola in front of him wasn't truly the original Zola, though. So even after realizing Alexander Pierce had betrayed him, he'd still chosen to follow his first directive—to make HYDRA great again.
Hawk mulled over these thoughts as his gaze swept around the room, taking in Zola's "body." Finally, his eyes settled back on the computer screen displaying Zola's face, and he asked one last question.
"I'm curious. Are you actually just a program? Or are you really the same Arnim Zola from 1972?"
"I am Arnim Zola. But Arnim Zola is not me."
"Understood."
Hawk nodded thoughtfully. His eyes began glowing with a faint crimson light as he prepared to pull Zola's plug for good.
Just then—
He seemed to sense something. He looked up, his gaze piercing through the ceiling overhead and locking onto something miles above—a short-range ballistic missile rapidly closing in on this location.
Hawk laughed, looking back at Zola.
"So this is your final move? You're trying to see if you can take me down with you?"
"No."
As the short-range ballistic missile roared closer, the computer screen began displaying static. Zola's electronic face seemed to form a strange, twisted smile.
"That missile is not here to try to take you down. It is here to eliminate me."
"HAIL HYDRA!"
With Zola's final words—a sharp, distorted cry of "Hail HYDRA!"—the short-range ballistic missile slammed into the facility.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The moment the brilliant flash of fire appeared, the electronic Zola went permanently offline. And as the flames surged forward to consume Hawk, still standing in place, his figure vanished from the server room.
The ground shook violently. The roaring flames swept through the entire server room like a flood, and the explosion instantly obliterated even the supply warehouse on the surface that had been used as camouflage.
A pillar of fire shot dozens of meters into the sky from the explosion's epicenter, illuminating nearly half the military base.
The shockwave from the blast swept across the ground like an invisible hand. The concrete guard post foundations—which had stubbornly stood for who knows how many years—suddenly spiderwebbed with cracks across their surfaces. Moments later, they collapsed entirely with a dull, thunderous roar.
Hawk appeared silently in the air above the explosion, gazing down at what was now a flaming crater where the facility had once stood. His mind replayed Zola's final words before going offline.
'That missile is not here to try to take you down. It is here to eliminate me.'
So, was this internal conflict within the organization?
Or, was this to silence Zola permanently?
Hawk wondered.
Suddenly, he snapped back to the present, glancing at the police cars racing toward the scene in the distance, their lights flashing.
He took a deep breath, turned around, and transformed into a streak of rainbow light, shooting back toward his home at 521A Bleecker Street.
...
THUD.
Gwen, who had just finished preparing a late-night snack at home, heard the noise from the backyard. She walked out of the kitchen, poked her head out, and saw Hawk pushing open the sliding glass door and stepping inside. She smiled. "You're back. Perfect timing. Food's ready. Let's eat."
Hawk smiled and hummed in acknowledgment as he walked into the kitchen.
Just as he reached for a handful of fries on the plate, Gwen quickly stopped him.
"Hey. Wash your hands."
"Fine."
Hawk shrugged good-naturedly and headed toward the sink. As he walked, he pulled out his phone, which had just buzzed with a notification.
It was a video from Anna.
Hawk opened it.
On the screen—
In the bright, pleasant weather of what was currently 1 p.m. in Japan, the shrine that was supposedly the spiritual pillar of the island nation was now engulfed in towering flames.
Hawk watched the trending video, his lips curling into a satisfied smirk. He slipped the phone back into his pocket.
But the moment he turned on the faucet and was about to wash his hands, something clicked in his mind like an electric shock. He froze in place.
Japan was 13 hours ahead of New York...
...
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~# 70 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
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