MD-Chapter 283 Becoming Rumlow!

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"Magic?" Natasha looked at Arthur in confusion. "What magic?"

"The kind that turns you into a magical girl," Arthur said, tossing one of the devices to Natasha.

Catching it, Natasha quickly realized it wasn't a real phone. All the buttons were fake, except for the one in the center.

"Point it at the ground," Arthur quickly reminded her as he saw her about to press it.

Natasha glanced at him, then aimed it at the ground and pressed.

A beam of light shot down, and an intricate, glowing pattern appeared instantly on the floor.

"This..." Natasha was no stranger to such glowing lights and patterns. She gave Arthur a questioning look.

"Step in," Arthur instructed immediately.

Without hesitation, Natasha took a step into the circle. In the next second, the light vanished, and so did Natasha herself.

The spot was now empty, with no trace left behind. At the same moment, a teleportation array in the corner of the hall lit up, and Natasha emerged from it, looking bewildered. "That has got to be the most incredible elevator ride I've ever taken."

Arthur ignored her and used the second device to scan the floor. Once satisfied there were no residual traces, he said, "It worked."

"It worked?" Natasha looked at him. "This is a new gadget? Your invention?"

"Yes. I used the principles of teleportation arrays and materials capable of storing energy to create a portable teleportation device," Arthur explained. "The advantage is its portability and ease of use— no need for external power sources. You just press the button, and the teleportation array deploys. It links to a preset destination for teleportation. Of course, there are drawbacks too. The energy storage is limited; it can only be used up to ten times per charge. Also, you can't change the destination—it's basically like a one-way ticket."

Arthur spoke with a touch of pride. "To be honest, there were two major challenges in making this gadget. The first was finding the right material. Most materials couldn't store energy for a long time. 

The reason it's limited to ten uses is that each use consumes a significant amount of energy. Finding the right material took a lot of effort.

"The second challenge was eliminating traces. My first prototype left marks on the ground after every use, similar to the scars left by the Bifrost. Oh, and there's also the issue of range— if the destination is too far, the signal might fail."

Arthur rambled on about his design process, the difficulties he encountered, and how he solved them, lost in his excitement. Natasha, meanwhile, felt both amused and helpless.

She walked up to him, grabbed his hand, and said, "I should get going now."

Arthur snapped out of his reverie and pointed to a teleportation array in the corner. "There's a button on the wall. Press it, and this array will connect to the one at your home. You can go straight back."

"...You just left a teleportation array like this lying around?" Natasha frowned as she inspected it.

"What else would I do?" Arthur looked puzzled.

"Does this mean anyone can use this array to get to my house?" Natasha's question hit Arthur like a bolt of lightning. He immediately exclaimed, "I'll install a door on it tomorrow!"

"Good. I want a fingerprint lock or iris scanner, either works," Natasha said. "And your fingerprint must be registered too."

"...Why?" Arthur asked, perplexed.

"To make meetings easier!"

Natasha explained earnestly, "Otherwise, how would you use this teleportation array yourself? Draw a new one? Leave it exposed like this?"

"Ahem... Fine, fine, I get it," Arthur admitted defeat immediately.

After finally sending Natasha off, Arthur looked at the phone-like device in his hand and slapped his forehead. "I meant for you to take this to Steve! Always in such a rush."

Setting the device aside, Arthur found himself lost in thought for a moment.

This small invention wasn't groundbreaking, but it was a fun idea he had been toying with. Previously, he hadn't had the resources or the right environment to bring it to life. With the establishment of this base, however, many possibilities had opened up.

In fact, the portable teleportation device was just one of many ideas Arthur had in mind.

For example, he envisioned creating a pair of gloves that could better harness and consolidate energy. Once achieved, he could summon the Eye of Horus with a mere thought, significantly speeding up his magical processes.

But with so many ideas jostling for attention, they would have to wait their turn. Each invention would need to be developed one step at a time.

For now, Arthur's priorities lay elsewhere.

Picking up the dossier on Rumlow, Arthur studied it meticulously, memorizing every detail. Then, using his abilities, he transformed into Rumlow's likeness and left the base.

From that moment, he would need to operate using Rumlow's face and identity for a few days.

"Let's hope Hydra hasn't already noticed Rumlow's situation. Otherwise, things could get messy," Arthur muttered.

As it turned out, when Arthur arrived at SHIELD the next day under the guise of Rumlow, nobody seemed particularly concerned that Rumlow had skipped work the previous day.

The process of blending in was smoother than Arthur had expected.

Thanks to the dossier Natasha had provided, he had a solid understanding of his surroundings, making the integration seamless.

Though there were occasional minor inconsistencies, they didn't affect the overall mission.

Sitting at Rumlow's desk, Arthur powered up the computer.

A password prompt appeared on the screen. He entered Rumlow's birthday... Access denied.

Arthur's expression darkened. Glancing around to ensure no one was watching, he used his wristband to scan the system port. Within ten seconds, the encryption was cracked, revealing a six-digit password.

He entered it, and the computer booted up successfully.

However, the contents were underwhelming. There was little of significance stored on the device.

This wasn't surprising. No matter how brazen Hydra was, they wouldn't store sensitive data on SHIELD's internal computers.

The only noteworthy find was a file labeled "Instructor."

"So they've been keeping tabs on me all along," Arthur muttered as he opened the file, a resigned look on his face.

(End of chapter)