The assault on the Hydra base had entered its final phase.
Scattered remnants of Hydra's forces surrendered one by one, fleeing like startled birds.
Having lost all his subordinates and strongholds, Baron Strucker attempted to escape through the rear mountain road in a private vehicle—only to be intercepted by a Rhodes Industries sentry drone, lying in wait for him.
Shortly after, Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton arrived on the scene.
They apprehended Hydra's last remaining high-ranking officer and transported him away, marking the end of the ancient and evil organization.
What awaited Baron Strucker was the full force of the law—undeniable guilt and a life sentence with no chance of release.
Cleanup of the battlefield proceeded smoothly, but the real prize lay hidden beneath the castle where Tony Stark was investigating.
"Artificial intelligence systems… Deep neural networks modeled with shocking precision…"
Tony Stark scrolled through the data J.A.R.V.I.S. had compiled from Hydra's servers.
"Their research in some areas even surpasses Stark Industries' neural division. Where the hell did they get their hands on this kind of tech?"
"That one's easy—obviously from the Mind Scepter!"
As if on cue, Kagura descended into the underground lab, held gently in Cortana's arms through a vertical access shaft.
"Based on spectral and electromagnetic analysis, Loki's Mind Scepter contains a massive energy core fused with an autonomous intelligence," Kagura explained.
"Hydra must've reverse-engineered their AI tech from this."
J.A.R.V.I.S. performed another scan of the scepter via the sensors in the Mark 43 suit and confirmed, "Miss Kagura is absolutely correct. The outer casing and blue crystal are merely shells."
"The true core of the scepter is an extremely high-energy object with autonomous cognitive capabilities."
"So you're saying there's a thinking stone inside this thing?" Tony raised an eyebrow. "Like… the talking mirror from Snow White?"
"An apt analogy, Mr. Stark," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.
"Our initial findings suggest that all of Hydra's technological advancements originate from this energy core. It seems to possess a near-perfect artificial intelligence form."
"'Our findings'? Hold up. Who's we?"
Tony narrowed his eyes. "You've got a partner in this analysis now?"
"Yes, Mr. Stark. That would be me."
Cortana gently set Kagura down and gave a small bow. "J.A.R.V.I.S. and I are now linked via the cloud. We can share data in real-time and process large volumes in parallel."
"Whoa…"
Tony was speechless.
"Holy crap…"
So was Kagura.
"When did you two start working together?!" they exclaimed in unison.
…
'BZZZZZZZT!— WHIRRRRR!'
Suddenly, a massive electromagnetic pulse surged through the Avengers' comms, producing a brief but painful static screech in their ears.
"Ugh! What the hell was that?" Kagura was the first to recover, adjusting her gear. "Cortana, that noise just now—what was it?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing. Did someone's transmitter fry?" came Steve Rogers' voice over the channel. "Scared the crap outta me—felt like my eardrums exploded!"
"Oh, for the love of God—watch your language!" Tony snapped back, finally getting his revenge for all of Steve's lectures on polite speech.
"Sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. cut in, "the source of the interference wasn't internal. All nearby electronic devices experienced simultaneous overload."
"It appears an enormous volume of data was uploaded to the internet in an extremely short time frame."
"How bizarre," Kagura muttered, scanning the room.
The massive underground facility had been running on emergency power, keeping the lights, servers, and some equipment operational.
But after that EMP burst, everything went black.
The power grid was fried, computers dead, servers melted down.
Tiny sparks flickered from ruptured circuits, casting an eerie light and a creeping sense of danger—like the whole place could go up in flames at any second.
"Sir, nearly all electronics here are destroyed," J.A.R.V.I.S. reported.
"That unexplained EMP is the likely cause."
"The internet did receive a massive injection of data, but it scattered instantly—no trace of where it went or who, if anyone, received it."
"That doesn't make any sense…" Tony frowned. "If it were an emergency backup, there'd be a designated recipient."
"And uploading that much data in under two seconds? Is that even possible?"
While Tony was still puzzling over the technicalities, Kagura's expression had turned grave.
What just happened?
What exactly entered the internet?
Was Hydra hiding secrets even deeper than they imagined?
According to Cortana's initial analysis, the electromagnetic burst resembled a prototype from Rhodes Industries' brain-interface research—consciousness uploading.
Could it be… that someone in Hydra had digitized their own consciousness and uploaded it online?
No way…
That didn't seem like something those egomaniacal clowns would do quietly.
If Hydra had such a breakthrough, they'd be bragging about it all over the dark web.
But the internet remained eerily calm—no chatter, no trace.
'Am I overthinking this?'
Kagura narrowed her eyes.
"Cortana, deploy Rhodes Industries' virtual surveillance system. Set CTOS to maximum alert. Monitor for any anomalies across the internet. Better safe than sorry."
"Command confirmed," Cortana nodded. "Network surveillance deployed. CTOS elevated to high alert."
"You've really got everything, huh?" Tony marveled. "Rhodes Industries is like a tech god at this point."
"I just like to think ahead, Mr. Stark," Kagura replied softly. "I don't want my peaceful life ruined by something weird or out of control."
"I feel the same," Tony nodded. "If I can build a suit of armor to protect this blue planet, I'll do it—no matter the cost. That's the purpose of Iron Man."
Somewhere in the cyberspace…
"Ī ħȺđ ꞨȾɍĪng, but now I'm free..."