Wipe Him
The Asset should not struggle. It is not allowed to struggle. But there is no one with high enough clearance to tell it that. Not for a while. But then Pierce is there and it begs. No, it doesn't beg. It asks. Questions. It knew him. It knew him. It knew him it knew him it knew him it knew him. It was confused. It thinks that they are just telling it this to calm it. It has killed scientists before. Crushed them when it wasn’t calm. But it sits, because something is wrong, because Pierce is there, because something has been ripped from it. It feels like the man on the bridge was like - like something. Like the way weapons sit in its hands. Seeing the mission was right, but not right. Not right because it (he?) is not supposed to kill him - no, that is wrong. Eliminate the target. It does not have any more time to think. The scientists push the guard into its open mouth. It is used to this. Resigned. The chair is pain is fear is hurt is nothingness.
The Asset opens its eyes. Ready to comply.
It. It sits. It sits in the chair. It sits in the chair and there are men. It sits in the chair and the scientists are. It sits in the chair and the scientists are running through the programs, the checks. It has been wiped. It will not be frozen. There is one final act to be played out. It does not know the imagery, but that does not matter to the Asset. It will prevent any threats to the plan. Its mission is the same. Eliminate the target. Designation: Captain America. It does not know the target. It should not. But if it does, the mission was formerly part of an operation.
(This isn’t freedom, Steve says, this is fear)
There is interference to the operation. The mission and the mission’s secondary. The Soldier rips the wings off of the secondary. This is easy. He is not disciplined. The operation will be compromised if the mission is allowed to continue his actions. But the Soldier is there, standing as if it has always been there. Maybe it has. The Soldier moves through environments as if it is walking across a stage. No, that’s not right. It is never noticed. Actors are noticed. That’s not right either. Good actors are not noticed until they are meant to be. That is what the Soldier is. A good actor, given lines, given everything.
The mission knows it, recognizes it. It can read that in the man’s face. No matter. It will be the last time that he makes that recognition, because it will succeed in the mission. Failure is not an option. If the Soldier could want, it would not want to be decomissioned. What it does know, is that it will terminate the target. The shield causes issues. It has not fought against - it has not fought - it will use the shield as it can. The target uses the shield mostly as a defensive weapon, deflecting the bullets that the Soldier directs against the metal. It has been taught how to fight against a defensive opponent, but the target does not fight. The target speaks. The Soldier hears pleading in its ears, a cacophony of screams. That is immaterial. It has killed every person that has begged for their life. Weapons do not feel pity. Weapons have no mercy. And so it slams its metal fist into the man, who does not resist. It does not question that. It has to finish -
(To the end of the line, Steve says, his face swollen)
The Asset - the - 32 - Soldier - B- hesitates. The Soldier fails its mission. The ship that they are on collides with what the Soldier should know is the Triskelion, and the mission - ? - falls into the river.
That is wrong. The Soldier knows this as it knows how a knife fits into its hands.
The Soldier is the one who falls.
The Asset falls too, because that is what is supposed to happen. More specifically, the Asset - who is no longer acting in the capacity of Soldier because Soldiers do not jump into a river because a man said words that hurt their heads - the Asset jumps after the mission - the - the Steve?