Felix tried to narrow in on the investigation on the Emporium Auction's employees. For Sally, there wasn't much more to go on other than what he uncovered. In regards to the hit on Luke, the money and resources were handed before the teleportation. So in the end, even if he did know every tiny detail about her life, it didn't matter if the Auction Master teleported her somewhere she had no idea of. At the end of the day, Sally was an employee ensured to make things run. That was all. She got paid well and so she didn't complain.
"Looking at plane tickets and analyzing each and every one of them is a hassle…approximately 900,000 to 1.1 million people arrive in India per month, while around 2.5 to 3 million people depart from India. The exact numbers fluctuate monthly due to seasonality. But still…"
That was too many passports, IDs, and people to check—and that was assuming the Auction Master didn't have people already stationed there. Some were coming in and out, others were likely staying there as permanent residents.
"We've been conducting surveillance on them for months. Come on, Herbie, don't tell me you haven't uncovered an employee other than Sally yet?"
There was a long beep. "AS THREE SECONDS AGO, I HAVE, MASTER FAETH. FROM THE THIRTY-SEVEN EMPLOYEES SIGHTED THROUGHOUT OUR INVESTIGATION OF THE EMPORIUM AUCTIONHOUSE, I HAVE CONFIRMED THIRTEEN OF THEIR IDENTITIES."
"Thirteen, huh?" He drummed his fingers. "Better than nothing. Any common theme? Maybe college drop-outs?"
"NO, BUT THEY ARE VULNERABLE PEOPLES. AERO SLATE, THIRTY-TWO YEARS OLD AND LOST HIS PUBLIC RELATIONS JOB AT THE INDIAN OFFICE OF STARK INDUSTRIES. LEO FORELA, FORTY-TWO YEARS YEARS OLD AND EMPLOYED AT A LOW-LEVEL PRIVATE COMPANY IN BERN, SWITZERLAND."
"Just desperate people…" Felix repeated. "I guess it's just that simple…how do their tax records look?"
"ALL OF THEM HAVE PHENOMENAL ACCOUNTS. THE BEST THEIR RESPECTIVE COUNTRIES HAVE."
"Any connection between these accounts?"
"NONE AT ALL."
He hummed and rubbed his chin. "It means the Auction Master has influence in most countries. I mean, that much I already figured, but this…could this mean more intimate knowledge? That he's travelled the world?"
Everything about this was annoying. Herbie was going to continue to comb through the internet and CCTV footage. Following them, analyzing facial data, banks, etc. If it was New York, it would have taken no time at all. This was largely due to the NYPD Domain Awareness System — a citywide surveillance network that connected around 18,000 CCTV to their servers. Then there were an additional 15,000–25,000 cameras from the wider public sectors. This was all the while not considering private cameras. To compare, while Delhi was a modern city and in 2018 planned to equip the city with more than 300,000 cameras, that plan never came to pass. As of a report conducted two months ago, there were only 8,000 or so cameras in Delhi. Not good enough for Herbie. Delhi was significantly larger than New York City in terms of population, having 30-35 million people to New York's around 15 million. In land area, Delhi was also larger, around 573 sq mi, which was more than New York City's 300 sq mi.
"There really is no other alternative, huh…" Felix murmured to himself. "We have to go on the attack and go to Cindy Moon…."
"CORREC—WARNING," Herbie suddenly intoned, "FOOTSTEPS OF BERNARD HOUSEMAN INCOMING."
"I know, I can hear him. Change monitors to mansion security cameras." Blink, his order was followed and every single monitor did just that. They showed every angle of every camera in the mansion. Felix put his hands behind his head and waited.
The door knob turned and the butler entered. "The car has been parked in your garage, sir."
Felix turned in his chair to look at him. "That's great, thank you. And you get any word from Mr. Osborn yet? I assume you have a direct line with him."
"I do." If Bernard was surprised, he didn't show it. He was nearing his eighties and according to his profile, the family butler since Norman was a young man himself. Felix didn't think Norman trusted people. However, if he had a gun pointed to his head and had to choose one man he "trusted", it would be Bernard Houseman.
"Hmm…any advice?"
"The funeral procedures for Harry will take some days. Norman is in mourning and will want it to be elaborate."
Bernard was probably the only person alive who could combine "Norman Osborn" with "mourning". He didn't show a speck of anything when they were on the phone. The so-called mourning father was right down to business without missing a beat.
"And will want me to settle everything in the meantime, huh…"
"Have you not? I spoke to the guards. They mentioned that you sent someone else to clean up the mess. A mercenary, I presume?"
Felix turned back over to look at the camera footage. "Yep. I got lucky. I worked with a former SHIELD member. Got them to help me." Had to make up bullshit. Bernard was definitely going to report this mercenary to Norman, and so were the men that saw Natasha.
All he had to do was make a vague insinuation of Maria Hill and Norman would probably put two and two together and leave it at that. He brought results, there was a logical reason, that was that.
"I see. That is most excellent. What will we do now?"
Bernard's question brought him pause. 'What will we do now?'
It was a question that brought up the matter of timing. When should he infiltrate SHIELD's correctional facility? Certainly not today or any day where he was keeping Luke and everyone else. It was too risky and considering the location of the SHIELD facility…yeah, he'd need to push this to later.
"We stay," Felix replied after some thought. "We'll relax, make everyone comfortable, and wait until everything blows over."
"Does this mansion have the proper facilities in case of another attack?" Bernard questioned. Felix waved him over. Quirking a brow, the old butler did as so.
"After Creature Z and my contributions, I was surrounded by guards 24/7. Top of the line, by the way, including Captain America." That earned a nod of genuine approval and awe from the gentleman. "So my place has been fitted with state of the art anti-theft, anti-terrorism, and anti-super soldier equipment."
'And more.'
"We'll be fine," Felix said with confidence. "If you want, I can teach some of the basic procedures."
Bernard lowered his head. "It would be my honour, sir."
***
A day later, the mansion had to pretend everything was normal. Sunlight poured through the tall living-room windows of the Faeth Mansion, warming polished floors and velvet furniture that had once hosted far colder conversations. The massive TV was on for one reason and one reason alone.
"Luke, you cut me off—" That was Jane, sounding surprisingly annoyed. The power of Mario Kart, people.
"Man, I don't even know how to drift!" Luke protested, gripping the controller like it owed him money.
Darcy cackled as her character, Daisy, slammed into a wall. "That's what you get for picking Bowser, dude."
Jane leaned forward on the couch, laser-focused. "If you hit me with one more shell, I swear—"
A red shell connected. Her kart spun out.
"…Darcy."
Sue Storm sat primly in an armchair nearby, hands folded, also playing. She chose R osalina.
Felix lounged on the arm of the couch, relaxed for the first time in days, a controller balanced loosely in his hands. He chose Mario, and well, wasn't competing. Darcy and Sue were currently duking it for first place. As for the super soldier, Luke was propped up with cushions, shirt replaced by loose sweats, bandages still visible beneath, but his color was better. Healing, even if slower than it should have been.
Claire sat beside him, one hand resting on his knee, eyes flicking up every time he shifted too much. She didn't want to play. Still, they were laughing. That mattered. That made her happy.
'WARNING,' Herbie murmured privately. 'NORMAN OSBORN HAS ENTERED THE DRIVEWAY. PERMISSION WAS GRANTED BY BERNARD THIRTY-FOUR SECONDS AGO.'
'Figured Bernard wouldn't tell me. He is Osborn first.' Not even Oscorp. The Osborn family was where his loyalty lied.
Felix exhaled softly and stood. "I'll be right back."
Luckily, there was a whole bunch of chaos happening so when he got up, nobody cared too much. Only Sue glanced over.
He walked down the stairs down to the grand double door of his mansion. Bernard was there, obviously, about to open for his master. He was a tad surprised to see Felix. "Apologies," the butler said. "Mr. Osborn is here."
Bernard opened the door and Norman Osborn entered, right as Felix reached the last of the stairs.
He donned shades and a dark tailored coat, immaculate as ever. His hair was the same. His lips were set flat.
"Felix," Norman said calmly.
"Norman."
They shook hands. Firm. Professional.
Norman's gaze flicked past him and up the stairs. "He's awake?"
"Recovering," Felix replied. "Come see."
It was a long walk to the stairs yet there was not a word spared other than, "Was there trouble?" and Felix's, "None at all."
Luke looked up when Norman entered the living room. The laughter died down naturally, controllers set aside. The doctors suddenly seemed guilty and sprung to their feet.
"S-sir," Darcy greeted, gulping. "T-the specimen is, uh, fine. Yeah."
Jane elbowed her, saying "Shut up," without verbally saying it.
Norman approached the couch, studying Luke with sharp, assessing eyes. Then he nodded once.
"Good," Norman said. "Very good. It seems gun wounds won't kill you."
Luke frowned and got up to his full height. He towered over Norman. "That's all you have to say?"
"That's right." Claire was right by her boyfriend's side. She stiffened slightly, but Norman's tone softened—not kind, but sincere. "You did well, Mr. Cage. You survived something designed to kill you."
Luke clenched his jaw. "Someone tried real damn hard."
"And failed," Norman said simply. "Which is why you will not attempt retaliation."
Luke bristled. "You don't get to tell me—"
"I do," Norman interrupted calmly, voice like steel under velvet. "Because your life is now larger than your anger. Larger than revenge. And certainly larger than whoever hired amateurs to test you."
Claire squeezed Luke's hand. "Luke… please."
Norman turned slightly to her. "You will both remain here with Mr. Faeth or…relocate to Europe. Temporarily."
"Europe?" Darcy blurted.
"For security reasons, specifics are unnecessary," Norman replied. "But rest assured—it will be safe."
Felix, standing near the doorway, thought immediately of quiet coastlines, old money, places where wealth bent rules into suggestions. 'Any suggestions?'
'MONACO IS A COMMON VISITATION FOR NORMAN OSBORN. HOWEVERING…LOADING…LOADING…FROM THE MESSAGES BETWEEN NORMAN'S ELITE, IT SEEMS BAHRAIN IS THE INTENDED DESTINATION.'
Luke exhaled hard. He looked like he wanted to slump back into the cushion and play Mario Kart. "Damn it."
Norman lowered his shades. "You are alive, my friend. That is the victory."
After a moment, Luke nodded. "…Okay."
"Jane, Darcy, you two will accompany us," Norman said like it was absolute, because it was. They were instructed, they were to obey. Even if it meant going to a different continent. Even if Darcy had reservations about it.
"Europe…?"
Darcy's murmurs were ignored and Norman turned last to Felix.
"You?" he asked.
Felix shook his head. "I've got things to finish here."
Norman accepted that immediately. "Very well. I'll need you in New York regardless. Harry's funeral and the board, I will require your presence."
"I know."
Norman paused and put a hand on his shoulder. He squeezed just a fraction longer than necessary. "You've done well. Thank you, my friend."
Felix smiled. "It's no problem, Norman."
He almost thought Norma was going to smile. He didn't. He left with everyone in a dark van. He had about six private guards with him. All were former CIA or U.S Delta Force.
Felix stood at the doorway as the cars pulled away, watching until the gates closed once more.
After that, it was back in the saddle. Back to planning. Back to the mission.
Felix was back alone in the computer room. The lights were dimmed to a working glow, monitors curved around him like a command shrine. He rested his fist against his cheek, elbow on the desk, eyes unfocused as Herbie began to speak.
"Tell me everything I need to know about SHIELD's Correctional Facility or whatever it's called." Harry was once discharged from it. Cindy Moon has been able to leak out messages. It shouldn't have been difficult to infiltrate, right?
Wrong.
Eight months ago, Herbie had given Felix an update on the facility…
….
…
…
He was with Rio at the time, watching TV with her. Rubbing her shoulders, smiling, having a good time when Herbie decided to pop into his head and say—
'UPDATE ON CINDY MOON.'
Felix jerked in place and Rio glanced at him, confused. "Something wrong?" she asked.
"N-no, I'm fine," he said, forcing a smile.
'Herbie, what? What is it?'
"FOLLOWING FOURTEEN YEAR OLD REED RICHARD APPEARING IN THE SHIELD COMPOUND VIA A PORTAL THREE YEARS AGO, A NEW BUILDING UNDER NICK FURY'S RECOMMENDATION HAD BEEN CONSTRUCTED. FOLLOWING CREATURE Z'S ATTACK, AS OF TODAY, IT HAS BEEN PLANNED FOR EVERY PRISONER TO BE MOVED TO THIS NEW FACILITY.'
'Wait…what? Being moved?' Felix did a double-take. 'And Reed…Reed did what now?'
'I DO NOT KNOW THE DETAILS, AS I DID NOT HAVE MASTER CONTROL AT THE TIME. HOWEVER, REED DEVISED A TELEPORTATION DEVICE TO SPEAK TO GWEN STACY.'
'R-right, she was there, but…' He inhaled sharply. Rio kept glancing at him in worry. She wanted to watch the movie, but not when her superhero boyfriend was acting strange. 'To help Gwen, huh…'
Shortly after she had been exposed as Spider-Woman, Gwen was incarcerated by SHIELD. And she was a friend...no, ally of Reed's. It made sense that the young supergenius wanted to see her again or something.
'So Cindy will be moved? Should we intercept?'
'THAT IS UP TO YOU. IS THERE A REASON TO?'
…
…
…
At the time, there wasn't. She was incarcerated and while she was able to act to some degree, Felix thought it was inconsequential after what Creature Z. Most of New York was in jeopardy and Felix needed to focus his efforts on rebuilding anyway. There just wasn't a point to chasing after Cindy. In doing anything more.
What would he do? Kill her? That was too extreme for his liking. He was Spider-Man, a hero, not a hunter. She was paying the price for her crimes, it was better to leave it at that and just focus on the devastated, ruined New York City.
But that was then. Now, he had a reason. Now, he needed answers.
"DESIGNATION: SHIELD ABYSSAL CORRECTIONS COMPLEX," Herbie intoned. "INTERNAL CODENAME: ACC-01. AGENT SLANG: 'THE TRENCH.'"
A schematic bloomed across the central screen: an immense vertical structure plunging into black water, anchored to the continental shelf like a nail driven into the planet itself.
Felix remembered seeing the schematics of the new prison last time. And like last time…
'...do we haaave to?'
Here we go again…
"Rash, calm down. It's just—"
'WE HATE WATER.'
Yep, it was located underwater. Water being his one and only weakness. Without donning the Symbiote, he could drink and stand in water. He could shower. But swimming was a no-no, regardless of if he was wearing the costume or not. Too much water was simply bad for him. Extremis didn't help either. It was the one thing he couldn't adapt to.
"LOCATION: APPROXIMATELY FOURTEEN KILOMETERS OFFSHORE," Herbie continued. "DEPTH: ONE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED METERS BELOW SEA LEVEL. PRESSURE: APPROXIMATELY ONE HUNDRED TEN ATMOSPHERES."
Numbers that could affect him regardless of if he had the Symbiote or not.
"THE FACILITY IS VERTICALLY STACKED," Herbie said, highlighting the structure. "SEVENTEEN TOTAL LEVELS. SEVENTEEN TOTAL LEVELS. TWO SURFACE-LINKED. THIRTEEN SUBAQUATIC. TWO DEDICATED TO EMERGENCY SYSTEMS."
Felix leaned forward as the breakdown began. It was disguised as an oceanographic research station with a VTOL pad. That was the only thing that made it knowable to the outside world. There was a submersible crane on said pad too.
Level Surface, or Level S, appeared first.
"SURFACE INTERFACE PLATFORM," Herbie said. "DISGUISED AS A DEEP-SEA MONITORING STATION. USED FOR STAFF ROTATION, SUPPLY DELIVERY, AND PRISONER TRANSFER PREPARATION. NO INMATES ARE VISIBLE AT THIS LEVEL. ACCESS REQUIRES LEVEL SIX CLEARANCE, MULTIPLE BIOMETRICS, AND A TIME-LIMITED SATELLITE TOKEN."
Next came Level Zero.
"PRESSURE LOCK AND INTAKE," Herbie said. "ALL PRISONERS ARE SEDATED PRIOR TO ENTRY. TRIPLE AIRLOCK SYSTEM. EMP SWEEP. MEDICAL CHECKS. NO CONSCIOUS TRANSFERS."
Felix frowned. "They don't want anyone seeing the place before they're inside it."
"CORRECT."
Levels One and Two followed—Operations and Command.
"STAFF ONLY," Herbie explained. "MONITORING, POWER MANAGEMENT, INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS. APPROXIMATELY ONE HUNDRED STAFF PER SHIFT. THREE-WEEK ROTATIONS TO REDUCE FATIGUE AND SECURITY COMPLACENCY."
That, more than anything else, told Felix how serious SHIELD was. They weren't trusting people to stay too long.
Levels Three through Five appeared next.
"STANDARD ENHANCED CONTAINMENT," Herbie said. "SUPER-SOLDIER LEVEL SUBJECTS. TECHNOLOGY-ASSISTED CRIMINALS. HIGHLY TRAINED NON-POWERED THREATS."
The cells were shown as simple cubes. Reinforced walls with transparent panels and embedded restraints. These were all schematics, not actual footage, so it wasn't like he could see who they were fitting in.
"Do we know who is inside what cell?"
"NO. ONLY THE STAFF ONBOARD KNOWS. THEY RECORD EVERYTHING THROUGH PHYSICAL DOCUMENTS UPON THEIR OWN DISCRETION. IT WAS PROCEDURE SET BY NICK FURY."
Annoying. Really annoying.
Levels Six through Eight followed.
"HIGH-RISK CONTAINMENT," Herbie continued. "SUBJECTS WITH ABOVE-AVERAGE STRENGTH, LIMITED ENERGY PROJECTION, OR ENHANCED DURABILITY."
Variable gravity floors. Emergency flooding protocols.
"At least it's not a torture chamber," Felix said. "Just enough to keep someone pinned."
Levels Nine through Eleven appeared next.
"EXTREME THREAT CONTAINMENT," Herbie said. "RARE CASES. UNSTABLE ENHANCEMENTS. FAILED EXPERIMENTS. SUBJECTS WHO CANNOT BE SAFELY HOUSED ELSEWHERE."
The cells here were individualized, but still grounded; thicker walls, heavier restraints, and reduced sensory input. "Who the hell are they keeping in here?" Felix had to ask.
"TO GIVE AN IDEA: I BELIEVE THEY WOULD PLACE THE HULK AND THE SPIDER-MAN IN HERE. "
"Ah…"
Levels Twelve and Thirteen followed.
"EXPERIMENTAL AND CLASSIFIED HOLDING," Herbie said. "BLACK-LEVEL CLEARANCE REQUIRED. SOME SUBJECTS ARE LEGALLY UNDISCLOSED DUE TO ONGOING INVESTIGATIONS OR LIABILITY CONCERNS."
Felix grimaced. "Let me guess, this is where Cindy is?"
"AFFIRMATIVE."
God dammit.