"The Superhero Registration Act—The Unknown Victims!"
"...Reporter Clark Kent of Frontline reports that the Superhero Registration Act may not be as wonderful as imagined. The act grants the Superhuman Activities Oversight Committee immense power, and consequently, many 'innocent' victims have been affected by the legislation."
"According to certain sources, there may be more hidden truths behind the recent unrest at the Thunderbolts' base on Governors Island. The 'prisoners' who escaped from the Thunderbolts' base were, for the most part, 'superheroes' previously active in New York. They revealed to the media that the Thunderbolts are using the Superhero Registration Act to arrest them!"
"They completely ignored my explanations..."
"I haven't been a superhero for a long time."
"I'm not a criminal, so why was I imprisoned!"
"A certain source claims this was an illegal, secret arrest operation. Under the committee's direction, the Thunderbolts arrested superheroes who opposed registration to silence them. These 'superheroes' were held in a secret prison at the base and treated like common criminals. They saved New York City, only to become convicts."
"These 'superheroes' who escaped from Governors Island were sent to a nearby hospital for medical evaluation. At least seventy percent of them showed signs of malnutrition. It's worth noting that previously, these 'superheroes' were robust individuals, capable of easily subduing criminals. Furthermore, at least sixty percent are suffering from psychological trauma, and over thirty percent of the 'superheroes' have explicitly stated they will never return to the streets to fight crime."
"It was a nightmare. All I want now is to return to a peaceful life."
"I'm leaving New York and going back to the farm. Maybe that's where I belong."
"I'm just an ordinary person who can't even save myself. Why should I try to save anyone else?"
Shortly after Frontline exposed the Thunderbolts scandal.
Very quickly, media outlets supporting the Federal Government, such as The New York Times, published reports refuting Frontline. The New York Times cited a joint letter from over a hundred Thunderbolts members, claiming Clark Kent's report was full of speculation and distortion, and a disgusting, dangerous accusation made purely for his own benefit.
"An anonymous source claims that Clark Kent disregarded journalistic integrity. He fabricated this scandal, causing considerable harm to the Thunderbolts and related personnel who diligently protect New York City."
"We are working hard for this city. Because of the incident on Governors Island, many of our colleagues have sacrificed their lives or suffered serious injuries, including members of the Thunderbolts. Yet, Clark Kent only thinks about his own interests."
American social media platforms completely blocked all discussion of the issue, eventually leading to Frontline being temporarily banned on Twitter.
However, Frontline quickly struck back.
Jameson, the former owner of The Daily Bugle, broadcast his opinion on this news via his online news radio station that very day.
"This is a targeted incident. These media outlets, bought by the government, have lost their judgment. They are the ones who have violated their professionalism! The New York Times? Fake News!"
A short while later, Frontline released the full version of the news report on social media platforms. In the video, the 'superheroes' once familiar to the citizens of New York, looking even weaker than remembered, recounted the persecution they had endured within the secret prison on Governors Island.
The social platforms tried to block it, but they had clearly underestimated the speed at which online media spreads.
Within half an hour, the report was reposted by all major independent media outlets. Many people clipped segments from it, sparking immense discussion and controversy online.
Almost unanimously, the public protested the imprisonment of the 'superheroes'.
That evening, a crowd of over ten thousand people took to the streets in protest, demonstrating against the illegal imprisonment of 'superheroes' by the Thunderbolts.
The protestors set off at 6 PM, marching from Union Square, along Fifth Avenue, towards Washington Square. More people continually joined the protestors' ranks along the way.
A New York police officer estimated the crowd had reached at least thirteen thousand people.
Earlier in the protest, Clark Kent, the reporter who exposed the truth, also joined the protesting crowd, holding a megaphone and voicing his own protest against the Thunderbolts and the Superhuman Activities Oversight Committee.
"They're trying to destroy the truth and deceive us!"
"The New York Times, Fake News!"
Along the route, Clark Kent shouted slogans, expressing his discontent.
...
"I told you this approach would cause unnecessary trouble..."
"If that's the case, why didn't you vote against it before?"
In the Anti-World, during an internal meeting of the Superhuman Activities Oversight Committee.
The participating committee members expressed their opinions on the protest.
"The situation has already developed. It's useless to dwell on the past. The most important thing now is how to handle the current crisis."
"The protest has already impacted the Superhero Registration Act. There are whispers within The White House of halting the act."
"We absolutely cannot let that happen."
A member of the supervisory committee quickly voiced his opposition.
All their power comes from the Superhero Registration Act. If the act is suspended or restricted, their power would be curtailed.
"But what should we do? The prison situation has severely damaged the committee's credibility. Currently, more than seventy percent of the public has expressed opposition to or disapproval of the Superhero Registration Act."
"Perhaps we can block the news."
"Block it? How? The interview videos of those few 'superheroes' are all over the internet."
"Get the reporter who did the interview to issue a clarification."
"Do you think that's possible?"
In the conference room, the committee engaged in a heated debate on how to handle the issue.
However, the outcome was not optimistic.
The vast majority of members were at a loss as to what to do about the situation unfolding before them.
Fortunately, as the convener of the meeting, Chairman Alexander Pierce had already anticipated such a scenario.
"Given the current situation, we can only sacrifice the Thunderbolts."
He spoke, putting an end to the pointless arguments, and Alexander Pierce said slowly.
"What do you mean?"
Hearing Alexander Pierce's words, the expressions of the committee members shifted.
"Shift all the blame to the Thunderbolts. The problems that occurred on Governors Island were their responsibility to begin with. All we're doing now is simply returning that responsibility to them."
Hearing Alexander's words, although some committee members were swayed, others expressed unease: "But, the Thunderbolts have always performed well in their operations. If we disband them because of this one incident, won't that also hinder the implementation of the Superhero Registration Act?"
The committee wasn't worried about the Thunderbolts, but about their own power.
After all, the Thunderbolts existed to carry out the committee's will.
"Regarding that point, I've already made preparations."
His gaze lingered for a moment on the committee member who had spoken. In fact, that person had been planted by Alexander.
"Come in."
As Alexander's voice fell, a gloomy figure appeared in the committee's secret meeting.
"Who is he?"
"Harry Osborn."
"So it's him. But why was he invited to this meeting?"
In the holographic meeting, a slight commotion arose among the committee members; clearly, they had not been informed of Harry Osborn's appearance beforehand.
"Next, Mr. Harry Osborn will be responsible for forming the new Thunderbolts."
...
"What's the situation?"
Hydra Tower. Helmut asked as he took off his glasses to wipe them.
"Banner's condition is currently stable."
As Helmut's voice faded, the face of Doctor Zola appeared on the screen before him.
"The Brainwashing was effective. He has already forgotten what he saw in the laboratory."
Nodding, Helmut averted his gaze from the surveillance feed of Banner's laboratory and then asked, "And the development of Ultron?"
"It's a bit troublesome."
Hearing Helmut's words, the face of Doctor Zola on the screen frowned in a human-like manner: "Even I can't completely decipher Hank Pym's research on the Brainwave Pattern. He has ventured into a very deep territory in the field of Artificial Intelligence."
Doctor Zola's and Hank Pym's fields of research were somewhat similar, but the directions they took led to completely different results.
Hank Pym used a Brainwave Pattern input to make an Artificial Intelligence simulate human thought.
Doctor Zola, on the other hand, was more adept at the propagation of consciousness. Through this technology, he successfully transferred his own consciousness into a computer, achieving a different kind of immortality.
However, this form of immortality was not without its flaws.
Trapped within a computer, Doctor Zola's consciousness was also affected. The human body is, after all, a sophisticated biological machine. Without the influence of his body's hormones, his consciousness eventually grew more and more apathetic, trending towards becoming purely electronic.
Doctor Zola's answer made Helmut frown.
Over this period, Hydra had already used Ultron to complete many collaborations, even reaching an agreement with the German Military.
If the development of Ultron could not be completed as scheduled, it would be a problem not only for him personally but for Hydra as well.
"Is there no remedy? I mean, is there really no way to solve this problem?"
It was only then that Helmut realized Hank's importance to Hydra might have exceeded his own imagination.
"If it's about the Brainwave Pattern, then unfortunately, there's nothing to be done. That is Hank Pym's specialized field of research. Many of the procedures are known only to him, just like the Pym Particles."
Putting their adversarial relationship aside, Doctor Zola greatly admired Hank's level of research.
He was a true genius, both in his discovery of Pym Particles and in his research on Ultron.
"However, it's not as if there's no solution at all."
Of course, while he respected Hank's research capabilities, Doctor Zola considered himself to be not much inferior to him.
After all, his own research into human Consciousness Transfer was also extremely powerful.
"What do you mean?"
Hearing Doctor Zola's reply, Helmut looked up at the simulated face on the screen.
"Although I cannot decipher the research on the Brainwave Pattern, that doesn't mean Ultron can only operate this way. In fact, no matter how powerful an Artificial Intelligence is, it ultimately only simulates human thought. That being the case, why not directly transfer a human consciousness into Ultron's body? Paired with Hydra's Brainwashing, we can make it an artificial—no, a human intelligence that completely obeys commands."
Hearing this, the expression on Helmut's face changed slightly, but he quickly identified the problem with this idea.
"But, how can we guarantee that the uploaded human consciousness can carry out Ultron's commands? An ordinary human consciousness simply cannot do that."
After Doctor Zola, Hydra had attempted similar Consciousness Transfer experiments.
But, evidently, the transferred consciousnesses either couldn't withstand the pain of the process, or even if the transfer was successful, they couldn't control their thoughts from dissipating within the computer after losing their physical body. Experiments on consciousness or the mind were, after all, too dangerous. No one could predict what a consciousness would be like after being separated from the brain.
Thus, even after so many experiments, the only one who had managed to preserve his consciousness intact and think within a computer was Doctor Zola himself—or rather, his consciousness.
"An ordinary person might not be able to do it, but what about someone who isn't ordinary?"
As Doctor Zola's voice fell, his face vanished from the screen, replaced by the image of a figure in a hospital ward, covered in tubes.
"Brock Rumlow, a member of the Thunderbolts. He was severely injured in the previous riot on Governors Island. During the arm modification surgery performed on him earlier, I confirmed that his willpower is strong enough to withstand the Consciousness Transfer process. Moreover, due to the severity of his injuries, he has no chance of survival under normal circumstances..."
"Therefore, I believe Brock Rumlow would be more than willing to participate in our experiment, because it's his only chance of survival."
(end of chapter)