Ryu, after settling with the truth of the world and the dire situation it was truly in, forced himself to calm down again. His breath steadied, his body loosening from the tension that had gripped him moments ago. "Panicking won't help me. Thinking will."
For now, he decided not to check on the entity sleeping beneath Antarctica. That being was far beyond his reach. Even if he wanted to stop it, he had no way—no passport, no resources, no means to even set foot there.
Forget fighting it; he couldn't even get close. The thought tightened his chest, but he shook it off. "First, I need to know exactly what I'm up against."
His gaze returned to the [Book of Everything]. This time, his eyes held a quiet, unshakable calm. He spoke clearly:
"Show me the businesses, organizations, and individuals affiliated with SEELE."
The book shimmered. Its cover rippled like water, letters shifting until the bold new title appeared: [AFFILIATES OF SEELE]. Slowly, it opened. The familiar greenish-blue hue spilled across Ryu's face, washing his features in eerie light as the text formed across its pages.
The list began with names of immense weight:
S.H.I.E.L.D.
HYDRA
The Hand
A.I.M.
X-Men
Brotherhood of Mutants
Yashida Clan
Government of Japan
…and the list went on, from major organizations to hidden clans, from vast corporations to shadowy individuals of terrifying influence.
Ryu's lips pressed into a thin line as he began to read the profiles.
The first name burned across the page: [S.H.I.E.L.D].
The text reported in crisp, detached clarity:
[S.H.I.E.L.D. is a hidden, multinational, government-funded organization created to safeguard Earth from threats beyond conventional reach. Legally sanctioned but operating in secrecy, it holds vast resources and cutting-edge technologies.]
[However—its integrity has been compromised. HYDRA agents have infiltrated its upper ranks, spreading like rot through its command structure. Once a guardian, S.H.I.E.L.D. is now a fractured shield, manipulated by its sworn enemy.]
Ryu's stomach sank as his eyes moved to the next section.
[HYDRA.]
[An organization born in the shadows, HYDRA has dedicated itself to domination through science, war, and inhuman experimentation. Rooted in Nazi Germany, HYDRA nearly turned the tide of World War II with its advanced weaponry and research.]
[Its reach, however, extends beyond history: secret branches embed themselves in the Soviet Union, its generals and political elites intertwined with HYDRA's cause. Their goal is the recreation—and weaponization—of the Super Soldier Serum.]
[While near success has been achieved, instability in their formula leaves grotesque side effects. Despite this, their failed subjects remain usable as soldiers, loyal and expendable.]
Ryu's brow furrowed. He remembered the brief flashes of Captain America's story, the hero who had stopped them once. And yet… they're still alive.
The page turned.
[The Hand.]
[A clan as old as blood itself, masters of assassination and resurrection through dark rituals. Their influence weaves through Japan and beyond, maintaining ties to both criminal underworlds and political figures. While their public face is obscured, their connection to SEELE allows them to operate freely, supplying mercenaries, mystics, and killers for SEELE's designs.]
[A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics).]
[An international scientific collective, outwardly presented as innovators and engineers, but in truth a faction dedicated to weaponized research. Their focus: biological enhancement, cybernetics, and advanced energy manipulation. With SEELE's backing, A.I.M. has created devices capable of synchronizing human consciousness on small scales—a prototype for Instrumentality itself.]
The book continued, layer upon layer, describing the X-Men, the Brotherhood of Mutants, the Yashida Clan, and even certain governments that bent the knee to SEELE in exchange for secrets and survival.
Ryu exhaled slowly, shoulders heavy. Every name felt like a mountain stacked onto his back. This wasn't just a fight against a single organization—it was the world itself tied together in SEELE's web.
"Lunatics," he muttered, his hand tightening into a fist. "And they're everywhere."
Ryu put his hand on his forehead as he was feeling more and more headache coming to his head even though it shouldn't be possible with his Equilibrium body, but the feeling was still there.
These people, that were affiliated with SEELE—both good and bad—most didn't know the real plan behind its reach. For many, it was simply a circle of the wealthy and powerful, a place to build influence and forge alliances. But little did they know that unknowingly they were serving a giant without even getting anything in return.
Ryu then checked how far SEELE's surveillance truly extended. The [Book of Everything] revealed it plainly:
[SEELE's main surveillance targets are global businesses, political elites, military installations, influential leaders, and above all—mutants. Every mutant is cataloged, whether powerful or insignificant. No mutation is beneath their notice.]
Ryu stared at the list, confusion running through him.
"How is that even possible?" he muttered. "Mutants aren't rare… they're spread across the entire world. How can SEELE possibly track them all?"
He pressed his hand against the book and asked, "Show me how they are able to do this."
The [Book of Everything] shut itself with a snap. Its cover rippled, words rearranging until a new title burned into the leather in stark letters:
[SUPERCOMPUTER: MAGI]
The pages opened, a greenish-blue glow spilling across Ryu's face as the book began to recount.
[The Magi System is the foundation of SEELE's surveillance and control. Created by Dr. Naoko Akagi, the Magi are a triad of bio-computers built to emulate the three aspects of her personality: the scientist, the mother, and the woman. By merging human logic with machine efficiency, the Magi can reach conclusions no single human or machine could reach alone.]
[Originally designed for government use in Japan, SEELE appropriated and expanded the Magi. With assistance from affiliated groups, its architecture was rebuilt to integrate with satellite constellations, global communication networks, and intelligence interceptors.]
The next lines shifted, adding more names:
[A.I.M. provided key breakthroughs in quantum neural processing through Dr. George Tarleton, allowing the Magi to analyze probabilities on a planetary scale. Dr. Monica Rappaccini of A.I.M. contributed adaptive learning algorithms that allow the Magi to rewrite its own code mid-operation.]
[Hydra, through the digitized consciousness of Arnim Zola, merged predictive behavioral models into the system. Stolen Stark schematics—obtained through infiltration of Stark's companies—were reverse-engineered to build sustainable arc-reactor-like cores, powering SEELE's underground data-centers indefinitely.]
The glow brightened as more text scrolled across the pages.
[Hydra's Project Insight, originally designed to let S.H.I.E.L.D. preemptively eliminate threats through orbital satellite surveillance, was absorbed into the Magi framework. Combined with A.I.M.'s dark-science experiments in bio-quantum mapping and Evangelion's Magi core logic, SEELE now possesses a predictive surveillance network that monitors not only current actions, but future potential. It can identify emerging threats before they fully manifest.]
[Military bases, financial flows, mutant gene signatures, political movements, and even subtle statistical anomalies across populations are tracked in real time. Every piece of data is filtered, weighed, and assigned a risk category. Nothing escapes the Magi's gaze. The planet itself has been reduced to a transparent system under SEELE's watch.]
Ryu swallowed hard as he read the final line, the weight of it pressing into him:
[Through the Magi, SEELE does not simply watch the world. It calculates it.]
***
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