Instead of explaining everything with words, Alice brought up a large report on the holographic screen and showed it to Jack and Gwen. It contained everything that had happened to the Plumbers since they left, including their growth, major incidents, losses, and the changes within the organization. Jack started reading through it carefully.
During the first few years, the Plumbers faced many small problems. Without Jack and Gwen around, the council had to handle everything on its own. There were disagreements about how the organization should grow, how much they should interfere with other civilizations, and how much power the council should have. Zeyara became one of the main people helping the council during those early years, handling difficult missions and helping keep the organization together while it was still small. But despite all those problems, nothing serious happened.
As the years passed, the technology Jack had left behind started making a huge difference. The Plumbers became better at completing missions, their equipment improved, and their reputation slowly spread throughout the Knowhere region. They started rescuing people from different planets, stopping pirates, helping weaker civilizations, and dealing with threats that normal governments couldn't handle, just as Jack had instructed them. Some civilizations wanted their protection, while others wanted an alliance, and some that had been saved by the Plumbers even became close allies.
By the time thirty years had passed, the Plumbers had grown far beyond the small organization Jack had left behind. They moved away from Knowhere and built their own headquarters in space They also established bases on several planets where they protected the local populations. Jack looked at the numbers in the report and was surprised by how much the organization had grown. The number of members was far higher than he had expected.
But the report didn't contain only good news. As the Plumbers became stronger, other civilizations started paying attention to them. Some wanted the Plumbers as an ally, while others wanted their technology, and a few even wanted to control the organization completely. Spies started appearing around Plumber bases, with some trying to steal information while others tried to influence members of the council. The council also had its own disagreements, especially when it came to resources and whether the Plumbers should interfere in certain conflicts, but whenever things became too serious, Alice stepped in before the situation could turn into a major problem.
The organization continued to grow until, around twenty years ago, everything changed. A planet under Plumber protection was attacked by the Kree, and the Plumbers couldn't just stand by and watch, so they sent their forces to protect it. They succeeded in saving the planet, but their actions also put them directly against the Kree. At that time, the Kree were already involved in their long-running conflict with the Skrulls, but that didn't stop them from turning their attention toward the Plumbers.
The Kree began putting pressure on civilizations that were allied with the Plumbers. Some stopped helping them, while others completely abandoned their alliances. A few even betrayed the Plumbers and gave information to the Kree. Some members of the organization also betrayed them, and even some of their technology was leaked. The council became furious, and after years of trying to avoid large-scale conflicts, they finally decided they had tolerated enough. They launched a major counterattack against the Kree, and for the first time, things got completely out of control.
The Plumbers managed to destroy several important Kree military assets and dealt a heavy blow to their forces, but they also suffered massive losses. Many ships were destroyed, several bases were lost, and countless Plumbers were killed or injured. That was when the council realized they could continue fighting, but if they did, eventually the entire organization could be destroyed. They needed another way to survive, and that was when they remembered something they had found years earlier—a relic from an ancient civilization.
The technology came from an ancient civilization that had somehow combined mystical power with advanced technology. Even the Plumbers didn't fully understand how it worked, so because of how dangerous it looked, they had kept it locked away and studied it instead of using it. One of those technologies was called Ghost, and its original purpose had been to hide an entire civilization from its enemies. It could erase information from databases, destroy records, and even interfere with the memories of people who knew about that civilization.
But Ghost wasn't something that could be used whenever they wanted. The system required an enormous amount of energy, and using it on such a large scale would consume almost all of their stored energy. The council had never wanted to use it, but after the losses they had suffered against the Kree, they had no other choice. The Plumbers finally activated Ghost.
Their records disappeared, and information about their bases was erased. Governments lost their records about the organization, while people who had directly learned about the Plumbers either lost their memories or had those memories altered. Not everyone was affected, though. Some powerful beings and civilizations were outside the range of Ghost, and a few ancient records couldn't be completely erased. Still, most of the people who knew about the Plumbers forgot them.
The Plumbers abandoned their public identity and moved their main operations to hidden locations. From then on, they continued their work under different names while keeping their real organization hidden. Even now, almost nobody knew that the Plumbers still existed.
Jack stopped reading and leaned back in his chair, looking at Alice. "So much happened..."
Gwen also looked at the report. "I knew they would grow, but I didn't expect all of this."
Jack gave a small smile. "It has been forty-eight years, Gwen. A lot can change in that much time." He looked at the report again before adding, "I'm just glad they survived."
Gwen frowned as she looked at the information about the Kree. "Everything was going so well. Then one fight with the Kree caused all of this?"
Jack shook his head. "We shouldn't look at it that simply. The Kree are an entire civilization. We don't know why they attacked that planet in the first place, especially when they must have known it was under our protection."
Gwen looked at him. "You think they wanted something from the Plumbers?"
"Maybe. Technology, territory, or something else. We don't know yet." Jack looked at the information about the Kree again. "But if they deliberately targeted the Plumbers, I won't ignore it."
He had already made a mental note to investigate the Kree in the future. Since people like Ronan the Accuser could hold high positions within the Kree, Jack was sure there were many other hidden characters like him among them. There was still a lot he didn't know about the Kree.
Alice suddenly spoke. "Even though we stopped using the name Plumbers, we are still active throughout the universe. And the effect of Ghost isn't permanent. According to our calculations, it should start losing its effect around 2012."
"Don't worry. Before that happens, we'll have enough power to deal with them," Jack said confidently.
He was sure of it.
Jack and Gwen continued reading the report, going through everything that had happened during the forty-eight years they had been gone. There were many more details, but they had already understood the most important parts of what the organization had gone through.
After a while, Gwen looked at Alice and smiled. "Alice, you did a good job."
Alice simply nodded, but Gwen could tell how much work she had put into keeping the Plumbers alive and protecting everything Jack had left behind.
Later, Jack spoke with Robbie and Shara inside the spaceship.
Shara was still shaken by everything that had happened. She had tried to use her powers without knowing how to control them and nearly killed the children she was trying to save. If Alice hadn't arrived in time, Shara might have died trying to protect them.
Robbie was completely different. He was curious about everything around him and kept looking at the spaceship and its technology. It was obvious that none of it looked like anything built on Earth.
Jack decided to clear up one thing first.
"Alice, does the public or any other organization know about these two having powers?"
After hearing Robbie's story, Jack had noticed several differences from what he remembered, so he wanted to make sure.
"No. As far as I know, nobody else knows about them. Only Dr. Nicholas Benson knows about their condition," Alice replied.
Jack nodded. This world was already different from the one he remembered, so he didn't think too much about it.
Not long after that, the spaceship began descending.
Through the windows, Jack and Gwen could see a huge mountain covered in snow. There were no cities or buildings nearby, only mountains and white snow stretching into the distance.
The spaceship flew toward the side of the mountain before stopping near what looked like a solid wall of ice and rock.
Gwen looked around.
"So this is the surprise?"
Before Alice could answer, part of the mountain suddenly opened.
A large hidden entrance appeared, revealing a tunnel inside the mountain. The spaceship flew inside, and the entrance closed behind them.
A few moments later, the ship landed inside a huge underground hangar.
Several robots immediately came toward them.
They weren't simple machines either. Some carried equipment, while others brought warm clothes for everyone.
Robbie and Shara looked around in surprise as they followed Alice out of the spaceship.
There were several other spacecraft parked inside the massive hangar, along with flying vehicles and different types of machines. Everything looked far more advanced than anything either of them had ever seen on Earth.
Jack and Gwen weren't as surprised. After everything they had experienced in space, seeing an advanced underground base wasn't enough to shock them anymore.
Still, Gwen became surprised when she noticed something else.
There were people everywhere.
At first, she thought everyone on the base were aliens who looked like humans, but then she noticed there were actual humans among them. Some had different skin colors and appearances.
Gwen stopped walking.
"Wait... those are humans."
Alice looked at her.
"Yes."
"You have humans working for the Plumbers?"
Alice nodded.
Gwen slowly turned toward Jack.
Jack immediately knew he was in trouble.
"Don't look at me like that."
"How many things did you hide from me?"
"I was going to tell you."
"When?"
Jack smiled awkwardly.
"Eventually?"
Gwen sighed.
Alice couldn't help smiling as she watched them.
Jack finally explained that before they left, he had given Alice another instruction. He had asked her to create companies and orphanages around the world so the organization could find talented people and give them opportunities. The best candidates could eventually be recruited into the Plumbers. Since Jack knew this was already part of history and he wouldn't have another chance to give the instruction, he had told Alice to do it.
Gwen was still surprised by Jack's plan and by how much the Plumbers had grown. If she didn't know Jack personally, she might have thought he was secretly planning to rule the world someday.
"But wouldn't people discover the Plumbers?"
"It would be difficult," Alice said.
She took a small pen-like device from her pocket and showed it to them.
"This is one of the technologies we use to protect our secrecy. It can erase specific memories."
Shara immediately became uneasy when she heard that.
"Isn't that wrong?"
Alice looked at her.
"We only use it when necessary. It helps keep innocent people from getting involved with the Plumbers."
She then looked at Robbie and Shara.
"Now that I think about it, I haven't asked you both properly. Do you want to join the Plumbers?"
She lightly played with the device in her hand.
Robbie and Shara immediately nodded.
"Yes!"
"We want to join."
Both of them had clearly become nervous after seeing the memory-erasing device.
Gwen noticed their expressions and smiled.
"Relax. Alice is just messing with you."
Robbie looked at Alice suspiciously.
"I'm starting to think she's enjoying this."
Alice simply smiled.
After leaving the kids to rest, Jack and Gwen followed Alice deeper into the base.
"Alice, after reading all your reports, I noticed something," Jack said. "Zehoberei seem to have held many of the top positions in the Plumbers over the years. And some second-generation members also reached high positions without actually having the merit for them."
Alice stopped walking.
Jack narrowed his eyes. "How did that happen?"
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