The year was 1995, and the skies above Earth were about to get… interesting. Reports of a sudden crash near a Blockbuster store in New York immediately triggered our alert systems. Security cameras from the area were pulled up, revealing a figure that drew our attention instantly—a woman, but not just any woman. She had striking blonde hair, a flawless appearance, and wore what appeared to be some kind of advanced military uniform. Her posture, her movements… everything suggested that she was more than human.
"Interesting," I muttered, leaning back in my chair in the New York mansion, British accent softly taking over my tone. "This isn't random. Whoever—or whatever—this is, they're precise, trained, possibly enhanced. Definitely anomalous."
Julius, appearing via his soul-projected illusion from his own estate, frowned. "She slipped through the initial containment? That's… unusual. Our operatives are thorough. Usually, nothing like this evades them."
I took a slow sip of my whiskey. "Apparently she has speed, agility, and some kind of combat training. We dispatched a Mobile Task Force immediately, but by the time they arrived, she had vanished. Gone. Like she knew we were coming."
"Then we need intelligence," Julius said. "Files, logs, anything that tells us who she is and why she's here. SHIELD's records might have something—Nick Fury, Agent Coulson—they might have crossed paths with her."
I nodded. "Exactly. We got their files. Apparently, there was an encounter on a train. A fight—agents versus our subject, and another figure who appears human but… wasn't. Shape-shifter, based on analysis. An old woman who shouldn't have been able to fight like that. Phone footage exists, thankfully, but we need to make sure the civilians don't remember. Our operatives on site already used amnestics on everyone involved."
Julius smirked. "Always the responsible option. No witnesses, no complications. But this… this is curious. Shape-shifter, enhanced woman… seems like someone out of one of your multiverse books, isn't it?"
I grinned faintly. "Exactly. And it makes it interesting. Whoever she is, she has resources, combat ability, and possibly access to technology or magic that we haven't cataloged yet. If she's alien, enhanced human, or something else entirely… we need her under observation."
Julius raised an eyebrow. "Observation or containment?"
"Observation first," I replied. "Containment only if she becomes a threat. Right now, she's a puzzle. And I like puzzles. Darius is already working behind the scenes, tracking potential sightings and cross-referencing anomalies. If she appears again, we'll know—and she'll have no choice but to engage with us."
Julius leaned back, nodding slowly. "Then we wait, watch, and prepare. Standard procedure for Foundation business."
I smiled, my mind already running through possibilities: enhanced human abilities, advanced military training, shape-shifting adversaries, and who knows what else. Whoever this woman was, she had just entered our world—and we would make sure she didn't leave it on her own terms.