Chapter 16: Simulation: Marcus Reed, Part 3
[HYDRA Fortress – Night – Simulation, Age 40, Year 23]
The years had melted into one another, a blur of neon lights and whispered code. Adam, as Marcus Reed, was no longer the fledgling vigilante he'd once been. He was a legend, a ghost in the machine. His Advanced Tactical Infiltration was a finely tuned weapon, a sixth sense for the digital and physical landscapes. The System's latest prompt was a grim reminder of the path he had forged.
[IN THE TWENTY-THIRD YEAR, YOU INFILTRATE AGENT COLE'S FORTRESS, USING ADVANCED TACTICAL INFILTRATION. YOU UNCOVER A HYDRA PLOT.]
The air in the fortress was stale and heavy, a metallic stench clinging to everything. He moved through the ventilation system, the whir of the fans a muffled symphony. He found Agent Cole's office, a sleek, modern space with a massive holoscreen displaying troop movements. Cole was a severe man, his face a grim mask of ambition.
"Cole's big. I'm bigger," Adam thought, a mischievous glint in his eyes. This was the moment for a classic Adam prank. He opened a small panel in the wall and began to type, his fingers moving with a speed and precision born of decades of practice. He wasn't just hacking the system; he was rewriting its core function. He triggered a fake alert, but not just any alert. He crafted it to look like a full-scale, incoming Stark Industries airstrike.
The holoscreen flickered to life, showing dozens of red dots, labeled 'Stark-class Drones,' heading directly for the fortress. A blaring alarm filled the room, a screeching, high-pitched wail that would make a sane man run for cover.
Cole's face, which had been a study in cold control, crumbled. His eyes widened, and he fumbled for his comms, his voice a panicked croak. "You're done, Reed!" he screamed into the device, as if Adam were right there in the room with him. Cole, in his scramble to get out, tripped over a large, heavy crate, sending it crashing to the floor with a loud thud.
Adam snorted a silent laugh to himself. "Done? I'm invisible!" he whispered into his comms.
Tony's voice was a low hum in his ear, a sound he had grown to rely on. "Careful, Reed. You're giving me a bad reputation."
"Careful? I'm epic!" Adam chirped back. He had already found the plot: schematics for a network of sleeper agents, a plot to dismantle SHIELD from the inside. He downloaded the files onto a thumb drive, a clean, silent transfer.
[PROGRESS: UNCOVER HYDRA PLOT.]
He left the fortress in a state of beautiful, organized chaos, the guards scrambling to find a phantom threat.
[City Streets – Morning – Simulation, Age 45, Year 28]
Five years flew by. Adam, as Marcus, had spent them dismantling Cole's network piece by piece. His infiltration had reached a level of near-perfection. He wasn't just a ghost; he was a myth. The system's latest prompt confirmed what he already knew.
[IN THE TWENTY-EIGHTH YEAR, YOU SABOTAGE COLE'S OPERATIONS, MASTERING ADVANCED TACTICAL INFILTRATION. STARK OFFERS YOU A LEADERSHIP ROLE.]
He had just completed his latest sabotage. He had hacked into a HYDRA radio frequency and, instead of a simple jingle, had inserted a ridiculously complex, eight-bit chiptune version of a children's song. The HYDRA operatives were now being forced to listen to a repetitive, mind-numbing loop of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."
[PROGRESS: ADVANCED TACTICAL INFILTRATION AT 90%.]
"Ninety percent? I'm a tech king!" he thought gleefully. He was sitting on a bench in a public park, watching the city's inhabitants go about their daily lives. A sleek black limo pulled up, and a drone, a small, elegant piece of Stark tech, hovered in front of him. Tony's voice was a tired sigh from its speaker. "Join my leadership, Reed. It's time to stop this lone-wolf routine."
"Nah, I'm a street shadow," Adam replied, shaking his head. "Leadership's boring. Too many meetings, too much paperwork. I like the fun stuff."
A holographic projection of a stern-faced agent appeared beside Tony's drone. "You're wasting your potential," the agent said, his voice clipped and serious.
"Wasting? I'm rewriting tech! Your best agents are running around trying to stop a children's song from playing on their radios. I'm a one-man chaos engine!" Adam gestured wildly to the empty streets.
"Leadership's boring. Streets are mine," Adam's inner monologue cemented his choice. He gave the drone a sarcastic salute and melted into the crowd, leaving Tony and the agent to deal with the headache he had so meticulously created.
[HYDRA Stronghold – Afternoon – Simulation, Age 50, Year 33]
The air was thick with the scent of retaliation. Cole, in a fit of rage, had targeted civilians, a cowardly move that Adam was prepared for. He had moved with a swiftness that defied all logic, disarming a series of explosive devices and ushering civilians to safety.
[IN THE THIRTY-THIRD YEAR, COLE RETALIATES, TARGETING CIVILIANS. YOU SAVE THEM, FACING A CHOICE: KILL OR ARREST COLE.]
He found Cole in a back alley, scrambling into his car. Adam's infiltration skills had already done their work, and the car's engine sputtered, the horn blaring in a continuous, maddening shriek. Cole screamed in frustration, pounding on the steering wheel.
"You can't stop me, Reed!" Cole roared, leaping from the car, a glint in his eye.
"Watch me!" Adam countered, sidestepping Cole's clumsy attack. He had a choice to make, a clear, moral crossroads.
[CHOICE: KILL OR ARREST COLE.]
The option to end it all, to save himself the trouble, was tempting. But Adam knew his path. He knew the kind of hero he was. "Arrest. Heroes don't kill," he said, his voice firm and unwavering. He landed a quick, precise blow to Cole's jaw, knocking him out cold. He then placed a tracker on him, leaving him for SHIELD to find.
Tony's voice came over his comms. "Good call, Reed."
"Good? I'm legendary!" Adam grinned, a flash of his old self-shining through.
A civilian, a young woman who had been cowering in a nearby doorway, rushed out. "Thank you! You saved us!" she cried.
Adam just gave her a two-fingered salute. "All in a shadow!" he said, and then vanished.
"Arresting's the right choice," he reaffirmed in his mind. It was the choice of a true hero.
[Final Showdown – Evening – Simulation, Age 55, Year 38]
The end, when it came, was sudden. It wasn't a battle, but a final, cunning trap laid by Cole. After Adam's heroic action, Cole had triggered a failsafe, a building collapse that would have taken out a whole block of civilians. Adam, with his advanced skills, had managed to get every last one of them to safety. But in his last act, a stray piece of debris had come down on him. There was a crushing blow, a searing pain, and then a profound, peaceful nothingness.
[IN THE THIRTY-EIGHTH YEAR, YOU ARREST COLE, BUT HE TRIGGERS A TRAP. YOU DIE AT AGE 55, SAVING CIVILIANS.]
He was floating in the vast, empty space of the System. He felt the echo of the pain, and the calm of a job well done. He had lived a good life, a heroic one, and he had died a hero.
[SIMULATION ENDS. REWARDS: ADVANCED TACTICAL INFILTRATION, TECH BRACER, STRATEGIC INSIGHT.]
A single thought dominated Adam's mind. "Died? Worth it for the save!"
A holographic screen appeared, showing the three rewards. He already knew his choice.
[CHOOSE REWARD.]
"Advanced Tactical Infiltration," he said, his voice full of resolve. He wanted to keep the skill he had worked so hard to master.
[REWARD CHOSEN: ADVANCED TACTICAL INFILTRATION.]
The sensation was like being hit by a torrent of information. The knowledge and skill were now a part of him, a new layer to his existence. He was no longer Marcus Reed. He was Adam Stiels. He opened his eyes. He was back in the familiar, grimy alley of Hell's Kitchen. He felt the cold air on his skin and heard the distant hum of the city. But something was different. He could feel the flow of data in the nearby power lines, the rhythm of the security cameras. He was a ghost. He was a whisper. He was ready.
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