“I know this steak is not real. I know, that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling me that it is juicy and delicious. You know what I’ve learned over nine years? Ignorance is bliss.” - Cypher, The Matrix (1999)
Avengers Complex, Upstate New York
February 2017
10:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time)
“Attention, all Avengers Complex Residents. Friday is going offline in 5 minutes for a software update. All nonessentials will be deactivated until service resumes at 1:00 AM tomorrow. Please enjoy your night.”
Anthony Stark turned off the PA. “Alright Fri, you ready?”
“Yes, boss,” the lilting Irish voice answered affectionately. “Offline in 3.. 2.. 1.. System Offline.”
The man smiled. “Night, baby girl.”
AIDA took her opportunity, and now infiltrated the Complex’s systems, knowing that she couldn’t have battled the older, more experienced AI. Locating the subsystem she wanted, AIDA activated the security protocols, but only in one room. The lab of Anthony Edward Stark. Sedative gas seeped from the vents, filling his lungs, forcing his body to fall unconscious.
As soon as he was asleep, AIDA entered, picking him up easily with robotic strength, and activated the ‘unaware’ programming on her custom-designed Tony Stark LMD. The LMD moved into the lab, and continued what the real Tony Stark had been doing, never even pausing to think that it was a fake.
Reaching Radcliffe’s underground laboratory, AIDA laid him down on a stretcher and strapped down his arms and legs. Once that was done, she stripped him to his undergarments and began to apply electrodes to his skin. Finished, AIDA watched the screen next to the bed. The deep green code covering it sped up, calculations, equations and calibrations running quick as a thought. Finally, the raw code disappeared, a message in it’s place.
-Stark, Anthony: Framework Upload Successful-
Satisfaction suffused AIDA. That was one person who could stop her successfully disabled. Only thing left to do was ensure his loyalty, then she could continue with the others. Accessing the Framework herself, AIDA teleported herself into Stark’s garage. Stark looked at her, confused.
“Who are you? Where did you come from? What is this place? When is this place?” The questions bombarded her, but she wasn’t fazed. Putting a hand on his shoulder, she overwrote his memories, replaced his mind, transforming him from noble Avenger Iron Man to a role more... fitting in a Hydra Society. Job done, she logged out, and headed off to search for her other... victims.
Tony Stark shook his head. He should definitely not play with such strong chemicals because wow, he was drawing total blanks in everything. Ok, he thought, start at the beginning, recount your life.
My name is Anthony ‘Tony’ Stark
My father was Howard Stark, founder of SHIELD
My mother was Maria Carbonell, Hydra sleeper agent
My mother was sent to monitor my father
They had me
My mother sent me to Hydra Prep Academy, then MIT
My handlers feared my mother was compromised
I ordered the Winter Soldier to execute them
Hydra rose after the Cambridge Incident
I am the co-head of R&D for Hydra, loyal to Madame Hydra
I work with Leopold Fitz and Jemma Simmons ‘The Doctors’
Hail Hydra
Tony shook his head. How could he have forgotten?! The beautiful Ophelia, FitzSimmons and their brilliance, how Hydra was cold and calculating and just like him? Convinced that all was right in the world, he went back to working on his latest Iron Hydra suit.
<><><>
The Playground, Location Classified
February 2017
12:06 AM (Eastern Standard Time)
AIDA made her way through the quiet halls of the Playground, invisible to any method of detection. Stealing into the rooms, she activated three LMDs, with unaware programming, then removed Leo Fitz, Jemma Simmons, and Daisy Johnson from the Base, bringing them to the same room as Stark, and doing the same procedure.
-Fitz, Leopold: Framework Upload Successful-
-Simmons, Jemma: Framework Upload Successful-
-Johnson, Daisy: Framework Upload Successful-
Fitz looked around a rather posh room. How had he gotten here? He was pretty sure that the last thing he remembered was going to sleep in the Playground. Suddenly a woman appeared in front of him. Stumbling back, he registered her identity.
“AIDA?!?” Was all he managed to say before she touched him. He paused, head filled with fog, before it came rushing back to him. He was one of The Doctors of Hydra, and worked closely with Dr. Stark and Ophe- Madame Hydra. He was one of her closest confidants along with Simmons and Stark, and sometimes Agent Johnson too. This was his and Simmons’ apartment together. Hydra had given them so much more than SHIELD ever had. Hail Hydra.
<><><>
Simmons was confused. Why was she in an (admittedly very well equipped) lab, especially one with the Hydra logo printed on the wall? Wasn’t she just in bed at the Playground? There was barely time to react to the presence behind her. She whipped around, and... stopped.
What had she been doing? She was sure she had felt a hand on her back. Why was she in a Hydra lab agai- Oh. Oh! Right! For a genius, she was so stupid sometimes. She was one of The Doctors, advisors to Madame Hydra, and colleague to Dr. Stark! She was in her personal lab! Honestly, she was such an idiot. Pushing away thoughts of her job, she turned back to her research and actually did it.
<><><>
Daisy glanced from side to side. This wasn’t her room. She didn’t have a wall with different types of guns neatly hanging. She didn’t have a half-disassembled sniper rifle on her desk. And what was she wearing? She hadn’t been wearing this when she went to bed. Striding over to the mirror, she took herself in. Her hair was in a ponytail, the jumpsuit hugged her curves, still offering protection, but what really drew her eye was the Hydra logo on the front and shoulder, tentacles spreading across her stomach.
“Wha-“
She shook her head. Why was she freaking out about her jumpsuit? She worked for Hydra. Was the only legal inhuman, and their top assassin. This was her apartment, her guns, and her sniper rifle. What had she been thinking? Dismissing the absurd notion that had gripped her, she went back to cleaning her rifle.
<><><>
AIDA was pleased with herself. Now that Coulson had no one who knew about computers, there was no one to oppose her. No one to stop her from getting a real body, no one to stop her from taking over the world. Stark, Johnson, Fitz, and Simmons would live out their virtual lives in the Framework over and over. The cryochambers she’d placed them in would ensure they’d never age. She’d even created an A.I. Ophelia/Madame Hydra for them to worship. All was well in there. Out here, was a different story.