Mission Classification: CRIMSON
Itinerary: ███
Intel Processing: Analyst Alpha-A-102
Executor: Wanda Maximoff
Access Key: █████-███-███
Application Purpose: Request for visitation rights and prison footage at South Ridge Penitentiary, Los Angeles, California, for Elias Morrow.
Application Status: Request - Processing - Completed
Data Terminal: Received
"We got visitation approval from South Ridge Penitentiary." Wanda waved the data terminal at Daisy Johnson. Within the prison's internal administration system, the three of them had already been added to the approved visitor list. Elias Morrow was Robbie and Gabe Reyes' uncle, and he had previously worked at the energy lab. He had ended up in prison for attempted murder. "Let's head out," she said. "We were supposed to schedule the visit yesterday, but we skipped the line."
"How'd you pull that off?" Daisy asked, curious. "Do you guys have illegal hackers too?"
"Not a hacker, it's…"
"No need for appointments." Robbie Reyes, freshly showered and dressed in clean clothes, sat down at the kitchen table. Gabe had left him a simple lunch: two slices of microwave pizza and a cup of juice. Robbie didn't hesitate to dig in, chewing hungrily. "South Ridge only holds felons. Do you really think anyone visits felons? They get fewer than fifty visitors a year. Every time I visited my uncle, I never needed an appointment. What, you two never been to prison before, princesses?"
"Where's Gabe?" Daisy looked around and noticed Gabe's wheelchair was gone.
Robbie simply glanced at the clock. "He's got class. Maximoff told me that while I was out, Gabe stayed home the whole time. Now he's catching up on school. Listen carefully—since this involves me, I'll help. But Gabe's schooling will not fall behind. That's his only ticket out of here. He's not going to end up doing manual labor. He's in a wheelchair—what do you think he's going to do, haul boxes for a living? He could be a lawyer or a doctor, but he's not ending up just another jobless guy in this neighborhood."
"He's still in a wheelchair. Doesn't he need help?"
"He'll take the subway. If he needs anything, he'll call me."
"Okay, okay, I'm pulling up Gabe Reyes' transit route and tapping into surveillance feeds along the way." Wanda waved dismissively. "If anything happens, we'll go help him, alright? We've got to move. Even if South Ridge is generous, they won't let you schedule two visits in one day."
"Alright, but I've got one last question before we leave," Daisy said. "Wanda, did that big guy say anything about where he was going?"
"I don't have the authority to interfere with the Praetorian Guard's actions. Only my teacher can command him."
"Your teacher? As in magic teacher? There's a magic school now?" Robbie took a sip of juice. "So you really are a witch, huh? I thought you were bluffing about being able to help me, but now it seems legit. I mean, I can literally turn into a burning skeleton—what can't I believe at this point?"
Daisy scrunched up her nose. "I've met her teacher, ███. He's a jerk. Arrogant, authoritarian…"
"What did you say?" Robbie blinked.
"I said, ███ is a jerk."
Robbie rubbed his ears, confused. When Daisy said that name, he heard nothing—literally nothing. His brain didn't register any sound at all. In its place, a horrifying image surged into his mind: a withered skull with flaming eye sockets, crowned with a halo of fire. The vision vanished before he could get a good look, leaving his mind scrubbed clean, like bleached white tiles.
Wanda watched the exchange in silence. She couldn't see what had flashed through Robbie's mind, but his reaction told her enough. Daisy had met her teacher, Salomon, and understood the weight of that name. So when she uttered even a portion of it, it carried a fragment of his true name. Robbie, having never heard it before, couldn't comprehend it—his mind simply refused to perceive it.
"I can help you," Wanda said calmly. "And if I can't, then my teacher can. I'll take you to him when the time comes. We can talk more on the way—let's go!"
"Connect the F1 EEG cable and the ISO-GND line into the mini-MEG device, start the CBR sequence—hurry up." Dr. Radcliffe was hunched over his equipment. He waited a moment for a response, then frowned and looked up. "Aida!"
"I'm currently checking an encyclopedia for those acronyms," his assistant replied calmly. She was dressed in a gray business suit and moved with an unhurried grace. The tone of her voice annoyed him.
"Fine! Red wire and green wire. Plug them into the back of the black box and push all the tiny buttons." He caught himself, sighed, and softened. "Sorry—I'm just feeling tense. They say Agent May is seriously ill, and I'm... overwhelmed."
"Please define 'tense,'" said the lovely assistant with a melodic voice.
"Not worth defining. You shouldn't use that word. I shouldn't either."
"Done," she replied with her usual blank expression.
"Too bad. I'm going to have to put you to sleep."
"I understand," said Aida.
Dr. Radcliffe set down his tools and followed her into his office.
"You've been a great help. I really don't want to do this, but you're not ready for what's coming." Perhaps guilt tugged at him for what he was about to do. As he spoke, he picked up a remote from his desk. At his command, the bookshelf on the far wall slid open, revealing a small, modified chamber. Aida stepped inside, turned to face him.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. is coming. I'll do everything I can, but they won't let this continue," he said. "Hopefully, when the time comes, we won't have to hide you anymore."
"They're here," Aida said calmly.
Right then, the doorbell rang.
Dr. Radcliffe nodded and pressed the button again. Aida's eyes closed, and she stood motionless. The lights inside the chamber dimmed. A soft green glow pulsed beneath the unbuttoned section of her blouse, flickering through synthetic skin. He pressed another button, and the disguised bookshelf slowly slid shut, concealing her.
No one was allowed to create autonomous artificial intelligence anymore. Damn Ultron. Dr. Radcliffe sighed sadly. People were too blind to see what lay ahead. They feared the dangers of AI, but refused to acknowledge the good it could bring.
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