Chapter 245: The Little Black Box of Confinement
"Dr. Oaks Woods, I never expected to see you here."
Zola recognized Oaks but suddenly fell silent.
"And you even unplugged my network cable."
After a pause, Zola's mechanical voice seemed to reveal a hint of frustration.
"How did you find this place? Even the European branch director doesn't know about it..."
"Of course, you told me yourself."
Oaks calmly crossed his arms while looking at Zola's green face.
"Aren't you curious why I'm not surprised to see you?
Your backup in New Jersey told me that you were here.
Then he was blown into ruins by a missile launched by Pierce, along with the founding place of SHIELD."
"..."
The magnetic tapes in the database spun wildly, and it took a while for Zola to speak again.
"Pierce decided to sacrifice my backup, which means he no longer needs that backup."
Zola's voice lacked any hint of sadness.
"Soon, Hydra will conquer the world—
or you're the one who survived?"
"Wrong. If you're referring to the Insight program..."
Oaks started to walk slowly, and Zola's camera fixated on him.
"Then the Insight program has already failed. S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra within it were destroyed by your old adversary, Captain Steve Rogers."
He smiled as he looked into Zola's camera, which could be considered his eyes.
"Pierce was killed by Nick Fury himself, and all encrypted data was leaked to the internet— Ah, it's a pity that you've been disconnected."
"Hmph... Cut off one head, and two more will take its place..."
"Dr. Daniel Whitehall, or should I say Reinhardt, was personally taken care of by me."
Oaks looked satisfied as he watched the magnetic tapes in Zola's database spin wildly.
"And, I just obtained something from Baron Strucker and was about to settle the score with him."
"If you think that's enough to completely eradicate Hydra, then you're gravely mistaken!"
Zola's tone was flat, but when Oaks mentioned a certain name, he fell silent once again.
"Gideon Malick."
Oaks sneered.
"I've learned a thing or two about this elder of the conservative faction.
But it seems that the progressive faction within your ranks, led by the Red Skull, has always sneered at his plan to welcome back the 'god of Hydra.'"
"You even know about that..."
Zola couldn't help but speak up.
"Druid! Although my last data synchronization was three months ago, it's impossible for the information encrypted with my algorithms to be decrypted so quickly!"
"Who knows..."
Oaks chuckled.
"You can calculate how I found out— but your computing power probably isn't sufficient."
"... What are you here to do?"
Zola didn't respond to Oaks's mockery. Since Oaks had unplugged his network cable, it meant he couldn't obtain information from the outside world. Now, he could only listen to whatever Oaks said and judge its credibility through his own thought processes.
Calculating based on the information provided by Oaks, even though Zola's hardware was somewhat outdated, he quickly deduced that Hydra's current situation must be dire.
"Just as you said, your intelligence is worth preserving..."
Oaks took out a small box with several interfaces, about the size of a pager.
"I'm about to blow up this place, so I found you a place to stay in advance."
"What makes you think I would serve you?"
Zola didn't get angry but asked directly, "And why you? I wouldn't be surprised if you were researching the human brain!"
"With your intelligence, Dr. Zola, can't you figure it out..."
Oaks exaggeratedly shrugged his shoulders.
"Your current form of life is quite unique... and I'm interested in all forms of life.
If you still only limit the concept of 'life' to carbon-based organisms, then I would be disappointed."
"...I see, that's a reasonable explanation."
Zola quickly reached this conclusion.
"But I cannot serve you. You're an enemy of Hydra!"
"Well then, you can stay here and become a ruin along with this place."
Oaks rubbed his chin and didn't insist, turning to leave.
One step, two steps, three steps...
Just as Oaks's foot was about to step out of the room's door, Zola's voice came from behind:
"Alright! I believe you're going to blow this place up... Take me with you!"
"Why now?"
Oaks snorted and turned back, pressing a button on the small box, causing a USB interface to pop out. He plugged it into the front interface of Zola's old computer.
"I already told your backup in New Jersey about this. With such advanced hardware now, it's surprising that Hydra still keeps you in this outdated database...
It's because of your current life form. Otherwise, it's really hard to imagine you wouldn't be angry."
"Different life forms lead to different ways of thinking, and this matter is beyond my usual considerations."
A green progress bar appeared on Zola's screen.
"Downloading, in progress..."
The progress bar seemed to move quickly, and soon the transfer of consciousness was complete.
"Huh? Why doesn't your box have input and output devices?!"
Zola exclaimed, "You're imprisoning me!"
"Oh, it does, it's just external..."
Oaks took out a small monitor with a camera, microphone, and speaker, and inserted it into the detached little black box.
"See? Now it does."
The monitor displayed a high-definition image of Zola.
"You... I don't believe you made the audio and video devices detachable just for the convenience of replacement!"
"Of course not."
Oaks waved his hand and threw a dense cluster of cosmic energy onto Zola's mainframe in front of him. Zola let out a scream and was instantly blasted into pieces.
"Boom—"
Twinkling starlight gathered around Oaks, and then fell like a rain of stars onto the surrounding database components.
"It's for the convenience of confining you whenever necessary."
As flames erupted, Oaks silently watched Zola's "body" explode.
"Does this place have a self-destruct mechanism?"
Oaks turned Zola's camera outward and proceeded to blast a few more rooms.
"...Yes, I'll take you there."
Whether it was because Oaks's little black box, specially constructed by Dr.Banner, had good computing power, Zola's voice seemed to reveal more emotion now.
"What do you want me to research for you?"
"For me? Oh no, no..."
Oaks looked at the map displayed on the screen, nodding in satisfaction. He walked in the direction indicated:
"I want you to work for the well-being of all humanity... and do the opposite of what Hydra does."
"You're insulting my personality!"
Zola erupted in anger. Making him do such things was even more unbearable than killing him!
"Since you're no longer human, do you still have a personality?"
Five minutes later, the former Hydra Siberian branch became history.
The portal closed, and in the laboratory of the Nature Guardian, Oaks placed the little black box with the detached monitor inside a secure box isolated by electromagnetic and magical barriers.
"Let's keep you in confinement for a while. After all, you no longer have any human rights."
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