No one in the group objected to Shin's plan. Scarlet Witch, while she held a certain moral bottom line, wasn't bound by strict ethics. When it came to solving a case, reading the memories of Oscorp employees wasn't something she found distasteful.
Shin closed his eyes and expanded his sensory field, locking onto every person in the entire building.
Quicksilver then zipped through the facility at high speed, retrieving employees one by one. Scarlet Witch would scan their minds, erase the memory of the scan, and Quicksilver would return them. It was an efficient process, and within two hours, thousands of minds had been quietly scanned.
"Most of them are clean," Scarlet Witch said as she rubbed her temple. "Even those who aren't only have minor issues such as bribes, corporate leaks, that sort of thing. For a corporation this size, it's par for the course. Nothing connected to Dr. Connors… unless we're talking about real espionage."
She paused and frowned. "But there are about a dozen individuals who raise serious red flags. Based on what I've seen, the ones most likely responsible for Connors' disappearance are affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D. or more accurately, Hydra, operating under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s name."
"I know S.H.I.E.L.D. that's the one-eyed guy's agency, right?" Jessica Jones asked, frowning. "But how the hell is Hydra still around? Isn't that the group Captain America's always been after?"
In the Marvel world, most people knew about Hydra. After decades of exposure through media and military briefings, the organization had become synonymous with villainy and terror. The average person might not know much about S.H.I.E.L.D., but they definitely knew to fear the skull and tentacle emblem.
Of course, the reality was far less cartoonish than the propaganda. Hydra wasn't just a nest of Red Skull-style lunatics. In practice, it was an extremist shadow organization that aimed to dominate the world through manipulation and control not unlike S.H.I.E.L.D. itself.
Shin shrugged. "These intelligence agencies have always had overlapping methods. S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra both collect dangerous objects, imprison dangerous people, and pursue dominance under the guise of security. The only real difference is their slogan 'protect the world' versus 'control the world.' In practice, they're almost identical."
Scarlet Witch nodded. "Out of the agents I scanned, some are clearly loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D., but at least half are Hydra operatives posing as S.H.I.E.L.D. staff. A few of them were definitely monitoring Dr. Connors. They passed along reports and seemed aware of an impending operation, though the ones directly responsible covered their tracks well."
She narrowed her eyes. "There's one more thing. The technician who altered the surveillance footage resigned yesterday. He's disappeared. But several Hydra members interacted with him before he left."
"That's confirmation enough for me," Shin said with a cold smile. "We don't need a signed confession."
He was not the kind of man to chase due process. In the world of shinobi, and even more so in the brutal chaos of the pirate world, the idea of evidence had always been secondary to strength. 'You're guilty because I say you're guilty' was an accepted policy. If the target objected, well... they could argue with his fists.
He knew Hydra was behind the disappearance. He knew they were embedded within S.H.I.E.L.D. That was all the justification he needed to act.
Inside S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, Nick Fury sat with his chin resting on his hands in a classic pose, intently listening to his agents' reports.
Ever since the Galactus incident, Fury had been working overtime. Even Captain Marvel had temporarily returned to Earth, and Fury was not going to waste the opportunity to involve her in future initiatives.
"Tony Stark encountered a Russian named Ivan," one agent began. "He had access to the arc reactor and Iron Man suit tech. After losing to Stark, he was sent to prison but then the Hammer Group broke him out."
"Also," the agent continued, "Dr. Pym's former protégé, Darren Cross, has been replicating Pym particles. We believe he's made significant progress."
Fury frowned slightly. "The Stark incident isn't a problem. Ivan's still working off old reactor designs. Tony should handle it."
He turned his attention to the other matter. "Have we run a psychological profile on Cross? I don't want to provoke him just yet."
The Pym particles were a technology Fury both admired and feared.
Unlike Tony's arc reactor, Pym particles had massive potential for abuse. A person shrunk down to insect size but with unchanged strength could bypass any security measure. Assassinations, sabotage, and even surveillance all would be trivial. Worst of all, there would be no evidence left behind.
Fury knew he couldn't allow the particles to spread unchecked, but destroying the only scientist capable of duplicating them wasn't an option either. The Earth might not need Pym particles today, but one day it would and they had to be ready.
"Agent Romanoff," Fury said, turning to Black Widow, "your assignment with Stark Industries is complete. You're to transfer to Pym Technologies and embed yourself there."
Natasha internally rolled her eyes. Another mission, another infiltration. But she accepted it without complaint. Her background meant she had to work harder than the others. She didn't want to be relegated to desk duty, constantly evaluated by internal security.
Just as Fury returned to his desk, a sudden flash of red light filled the room and a group of uninvited guests materialized before him.
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