Julius sat silently inside his office at Site-19.
The room was dimly lit, illuminated only by holographic displays and the soft glow of data screens floating around him.
Dozens of reports moved through the air one after another.
HYDRA activity logs.
Chaos Insurgency infiltration updates.
MTF deployment records.
Political intelligence briefings.
Containment incidents.
His expression remained calm as always.
Unreadable.
Most people within the Foundation found comfort in that calmness.
Because if O5-2 was worried—
then things were truly bad.
A knock echoed at the door.
"Enter."
One of the Red Right Hand operatives stepped inside immediately.
"Sir, updated reports from the Chaos Insurgency."
Julius extended a hand.
The folder floated toward him through telekinesis.
He opened it calmly.
HYDRA infiltration progress had exceeded expectations.
Rapidly.
Entire HYDRA cells had already been compromised.
Financial networks intercepted.
Communications rerouted.
Scientists replaced.
Several high-ranking operatives assassinated and substituted with Chaos Insurgency infiltrators.
HYDRA didn't even realize they were losing control yet.
That was the terrifying part.
Darius had designed the operation personally.
Which meant it was less a war—
and more a surgical infection.
Julius flipped through the reports quietly.
One page contained a list of compromised facilities.
Another detailed successful manipulation of HYDRA intelligence channels.
Another showed false operational data being fed directly into HYDRA command structures.
They were turning HYDRA into a puppet organization.
The Red Right Hand operative spoke carefully.
"Sir… the Chaos Insurgency believes full operational control may be achievable within three years."
Julius nodded once.
"Acceptable."
Hydra had resources.
Influence.
Sleeper agents.
Political connections.
But compared to the Foundation?
They were amateurs pretending to be monsters.
The Foundation had been manipulating civilizations since before most modern nations existed.
HYDRA was dangerous.
The Foundation was ancient.
Julius closed the file.
"Any update regarding Strucker?"
"Still under surveillance," the operative answered immediately. "No indication he suspects infiltration."
Good.
Baron Strucker would become very important later.
Especially once the Mind Stone entered HYDRA's possession.
Julius already knew the future timeline from O5 briefings.
HYDRA experimentation.
Wanda Maximoff.
Pietro Maximoff.
Loki's Scepter.
The Avengers.
The Foundation intended to be ready before all of it happened.
Another report appeared on-screen.
SUBJECT: JAMES BUCHANAN BARNES.
Julius opened it.
A small amount of satisfaction crossed his expression.
Bucky's rehabilitation was progressing far better than expected.
The Foundation had already begun integrating him into low-level Mobile Task Force training programs.
Not active deployment yet.
Evaluation first.
A video feed opened automatically.
Bucky stood inside a combat training room surrounded by Foundation personnel.
Several armed MTF operatives attacked simultaneously.
The result was honestly unfair.
Bucky disarmed the first operative instantly.
Countered the second.
Threw the third across the room.
Blocked a stun baton strike.
Then slammed another operative into the floor hard enough to crack reinforced concrete.
Even after decades of Hydra conditioning—
his combat instincts remained terrifying.
One of the trainers sighed loudly through the video feed.
"He learns ridiculously fast."
Another operative groaned from the floor.
"I think he broke my arm."
Bucky immediately stepped back.
"Sorry."
Julius almost smiled slightly.
Almost.
The important part wasn't combat ability.
It was psychological stability.
The Foundation psychologists had begun carefully rebuilding Bucky's identity from the ground up.
Removing Hydra conditioning.
Separating his own memories from implanted obedience.
Teaching him he actually had choices again.
That part was much harder.
Julius paused the video feed.
Another report appeared beneath it.
HYDRA TRIGGER PHRASES TESTING: FAILED.
Good.
The trigger words no longer worked.
Hydra had lost their weapon permanently.
Julius leaned back slightly.
For the first time in decades—
Bucky Barnes was becoming human again.
The office doors opened again.
This time Darius stepped inside personally.
Or rather—
his shadow projection did.
As always, his face remained impossible to fully perceive beneath shifting darkness.
"The infiltration progresses smoothly," Darius said quietly.
"Hydra leadership remains unaware."
Julius nodded.
"Casualties?"
"Minimal."
That meant Darius considered the operation nearly flawless.
A holographic map appeared between them.
HYDRA cells across the planet illuminated in red.
Several had already turned blue.
Foundation controlled.
Soon—
HYDRA would effectively belong to the Foundation.
Its resources.
Its scientists.
Its intelligence networks.
Its hidden bases.
All absorbed quietly.
Darius crossed his arms.
"There is another matter."
Julius looked up.
"SHIELD has started noticing Hydra disappearances."
Of course they had.
Nick Fury wasn't stupid.
Julius remained calm.
"Can they trace it back to us?"
"No."
A pause.
"But Fury is becoming suspicious that a third party exists."
That was unavoidable.
Too many impossible events were beginning to occur globally.
Eventually—
someone intelligent would notice patterns.
Still.
That problem belonged to future Julius.
And future Julius could deal with it later.
For now—
the Foundation continued tightening its grip around the world silently.
One organization at a time.
One operation at a time.
One secret at a time.
And somewhere above Mars—
the Herta Space Station watched over it all.