A year insignificant to most, but to HYDRA it marked the beginning of their next wave of plans. Plans that had been taking form ever since their infiltration into SHIELD in the 1940s after the end of the Second World War. In a recent flurry of background negotiations, fuelled by the fall of the USSR, HYDRA had finally managed to get their hands on a long desired, long rumoured and extremely effect Asset.
The Asset was currently crouched in the corner of a small, square room, breathing heavily and soaked in sweat. Blood coated his right arm where crimson poured steadily from a large gash on his forearm, a wound he had received in his struggle to free himself from the shackles holding him down. In his attempt at freedom, the Asset has managed to kill the technician who had been working on setting up the fluid drips required for the expected wipe and return to cryo-freeze. Things were not going as intended.
“Honestly we’re not sure. He was secured within the restraints, Anderson was preparing the fluid and reported the Asset was questioning him about why he was here. He freaked the moment the needle touched his arm. Ripped himself out the shackles and took Anderson down in seconds. It’s like he’s trying to escape, he just... doesn’t know it.” The technician behind the glass was hurriedly explaining the situation to two HYDRA operatives that had arrived moments after the breach alarm had been triggered. Laughter rose up at the technician’s last comment and one agent, Teeg, reached to pat the man on the shoulder.
“The mutt doesn’t have a fucking clue. You haven’t used the tranquillisers because...?”
“Well, sir, the wound the Asset suffered in his escape needs to be treated before any form of sedation can be administered. Something bleeding that heavily, reducing his heart rate with sedation will only serve to raise the risk of us damaging something we shouldn’t. Besides,” the technician swallowed, “you know Pierce prefers us to operate on him while he’s awake.”
Teeg smirked at that, reaching for the stun baron on his belt as he moved towards the door. “Alright, David you take the right, I’ll take the left. Shoot him if he shows any sign of fighting back. You start reading the code to get his puddled mind back under control and I’ll work on... manual sedation.” The baton crackled into life as Teeg left the room with David and headed down the short corridor to the steel doors securing the Asset from the rest of the team.
In the control room, the technician flipped open a small, red leather journal and moved through its pages until he came across the code.
“Do we know what caused him to act out?” Teeg asked as he scanned his card on the door and stepped into the room. David shrugged.
“Something about he saw the name of the military base above us and started unravelling. Heard Pierce talk about a new technique they’re developing to reprogram him, scoops out deep. Better get it done soon”
Inside, the Asset didn’t seem to react to the doors sliding open and the two agents walking in. The speakers above crackled into life and Teeg could hear the technician clearing his throat.
That caused a reaction. The Asset flinched, finally noticing the two men in the room. No, no this was wrong. Something was wrong. He wasn’t supposed to be here. The Asset looked... broken. Lost. The word caused a flash of pain across his face and he growled.
“NO!” The Asset surged up from the ground, pushing the medical trolley out of his way in his desperation to get to the agents, to get them to stop talking. He only made it a few steps before Adam opened fire. Two rubber bullets hit the Asset square in the chest, powerful enough and painful enough to send him crashing to the ground with a cry. The fore of the impacting bullets caused a couple of seconds of muscle spasms where the Asset simply couldn’t draw breath. He choked, finally managing to drag in a gasp of air. He scrambled to turn back and pick himself up, but the seconds on his back and given Teeg’s all the time he needed to close the gap, turn on the baton and stab the weapon into the Asset’s side, frying him with a mind numbing voltage of electric current.
An agonised screamed ripped from the Asset, his body going rigid as his muscles spasmmed and his arm struggled to communicate with the receptors along his spine.
“Hey,” Teegs called over his shoulder as he released the baton and watched the Asset squirm at his feet, struggling for breath, for sense in a world of hot pain, “read slower would ya? Gotta remind the dog of his place.”
The Assets cry as the baton made contact again drowned out the technicians response, and the current situation made him also oblivious to the proximity alarm that had just tripped in the elevator.
