Chương 158: A king’s worries -154
[SITE-009]
Alexander Ricci, dead crime lord and O5-1 of the SCP Foundation, found himself in a meeting. Well, it was more of just a regular briefing on the on-goings in his sphere of influence, be it the Ricci family or his own Foundation interests.
"Sir, it has been confirmed that SCP-294 can indeed produce Vibranium. I think we should ensure that we secure a large quantity of it. In particular, the Iron Legion would benefit greatly from the upgrade." One of his subordinates stated.
"How goes the progress there?" Alex asked with a thoughtful expression.
"Thanks to the data we have gotten from Stark, the first few suits are already finished, and tests are so far showing no problems, though their handling isn't as smooth as Stark's since there is no AI assistance."
Alex nodded as he figured out what the idea was. "The shortfall in maneuverability can be made up for by reinforcing the suits with Vibranium, meaning that dodging will be less important."
"Yes sir, plus it will overall increase their abilities by quite a lot; it would be well worth the extra time and effort now that we have a source of Vibranium." The man continued.
"Fine, have… one hundred tons of Vibranium produced using SCP-294 before continuing more tests. Send a dozen to The Garden and some to The Vault. I want an ingot, about ten kilograms, sent here as well. Make it happen before the others start ordering their own."
"Understood sir, I will get it done at once." The man said as he stood up and left the room to make the necessary calls.
"What else is there for news?" Alex asked.
"We have confirmed that Shield has gotten their hands on two eggs from SCP-3199. We are currently on standby to retrieve them."
Alex wasn't surprised that they had gotten a few; after all, with tens of thousands of eggs, it was nearly impossible not to have a few slip through the cracks; the fact that only two were missing was already impressive.
Still, it was something he would have to keep an eye on, or well, not him personally. He would have someone else keep a lookout, making sure that they didn't lose any eggs once they no doubt started to let some hatch to test SCP-3199.
Alex just nodded, not currently having anything he felt he needed to say.
"We have also reached a dead-end in the testing for project Aegis Mentis; we are currently not able to finish the last few safety tests due to a lack of potential test subjects." Upon hearing this, Alex couldn't help but straighten up.
"How far along is Project Aegis Mentis?"
"We currently just need to test the finished project for safety reasons."
"Why wasn't I informed about the finished product already being finished? That Project was a priority for a reason!" Alex couldn't help but grow irritated.
"With all due respect sir, the object in question could potentially be dangerous, which is why proper testing had to be done before it could be delivered to you."
"Not having that item in my possession is also dangerous. Have it sent to me right away; no need for more testing." Alex said with a tone of finality, enough that none dared to argue with him about his decision.
"As you command sir."
Alex took a deep breath to relaxing his body and exhale his annoyance. "Anything else worth mentioning?"
"We are still tracking the intruder from that time, so far we have had little luck." Someone said, reminding Alex of his little run-in with the mother of Black Cat.
Who herself was a black cat, it was surprising, she really hadn't expected something like that to happen, to meet a mutant of all things.
However, there still were no signs that this Marvel universe had mutants, or at least no X-men. Just having a few could still be problematic enough. "How had she been able to evade us this far?"
"Well, he appears to be highly skilled in moving around using her ability, and being able to avoid doors is proving more of a challenge for us than initially estimate."
Alex quickly understood the reason for that. After all, the Foundation might be able to hack their way into most cameras around the world, but that just allowed them to see what they saw. And most cameras were set up to watch doors or other normal points of entrance.
"What is she doing? Do we know at least that much?"
"We have seen her a few times sir, almost like she is allowing us to know that she is still within New York City, but other than that we know very little about her motives for doing so."
Alex leaned back, deep in thought. Staying around in this city was a huge risk, while the Foundation had a presence in all major cities around the world, they had a particularly strong one here.
So staying around wasn't a smart idea, now there was no way for Black Cat to know this, but she was still taking a huge risk staying so close to the people who wanted her found, him and the Ricci family.
Which left the question of why. She clearly wanted them to know she was here, was it an attempt to keep them looking here while she was somewhere else? But the risk of having to enter and leave the city often was considerable.
So she was likely staying in the city, but what for? "Have she had any contact with anyone?"
Not that we know, sir, she seems to be on her own still, even hiding from her husband, who is looking."
Yeah, he doubted that her husband, Cat or Walter Hardy as his real name is. Would be silent if he knew the Ricci family was hunting his wife. So, he was unlikely to know anything.
"I guess I might need to have a talk with Kingpin; he might be the only force in town able to hide her and willing to take the risk." Alex muttered.
He had long since planned on talking with the infamous criminal. But one thing after the other had happened, and in the end, he had shelved the idea. Though perhaps he would have to rethink it now.
As Alex was deep in thought, the man who left to make some calls returned. "It is done sir."
"Good, you have anything else?"
"Yes, Sir, if you could give us an idea of how many suits you want made?"
Alex paused for a moment; he knew the price of those suits were expensive. Making a single one cost a massive amount of money, even by the cheapest estimates it would be more then one hundred million each.
He might not be short on money, but making hundreds of them would still be quite a drain on his resources. After all, he wasn't like Stark, having all the money and nothing to spend it on. He had plenty of things to spend it all on.
"I want some made for everyone on Alpha-1, enough to make another MTF, and after that, continue to produce them at a reduced rate, we might need a large amount of them in the future."
While it would be expensive to hold the production of such suits to himself, he was, after all, Midas and had ultimate gold to spend; while he couldn't sell crazy amounts of it without ruining its value, he could still make up for this exenterate.
"If there is nothing else, I have many more things I need to do." Alex finally said, asking if there were anything left, he needed to know before he could go back to his work.
"There is one thing about the anti-hydra unite and their capture, the new SCP object, Whitehall."
"Have the unite continue to target Hydra, keep them away from Shield for now, but they can cut down the other heads. As for Whitehall, I got plans for him." Alex explained before finally taking his exit.
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[Deep sea: Talokan]
Deep within the ocean lay the gleaming city of Talokan. Not far from the city, one could see the enormous face of SCP-169. The continent-sized Leviathan lay peacefully sleeping, and everyone knew to stay away from it.
While many were still scared of it, they had also come to terms with the fact that it was impossible to move it, and that moving their city and home was just as impossible. Which meant they just had to get used to it.
The people of Talokan had learned to coexist with the massive leviathan, SCP-169, treating it almost like a sleeping deity whose rest should never be disturbed. Their daily lives continued with a cautious respect for the creature, as any disturbance could lead to catastrophic consequences.
However, for Namor, king of the city and of his people, ruler of the seas, it continued to be a troubling subject. After all, the fact that it had appeared out of nowhere was not something he could ignore.
More so since his scouts had reported what seemed to be an island and sunken city also having appeared within the ocean.
While neither has proven to be a direct danger to his people yet, the fact that they had appeared couldn't be ignored; after all, if two things could appear, why couldn't more?
This meant that it was important to learn more about these two strange events and try to find out anything he could about their appearance.
So, while most of his people had started to put this sea beast behind them and act accordingly with his decree of treating it like a deity, he himself still had to worry.
Namor swam gracefully through the city, his mind preoccupied with thoughts of the recent appearances of the leviathan and the sunken city. He knew that these anomalies could not be mere coincidences. They were connected somehow, and it was his duty to uncover the truth.
As he approached the palace, he was greeted by his trusted advisor, Attuma. "Your majesty, the scouts have returned with new information about the sunken city."
Namor's interest was piqued. "What have they found?"
Attuma led him to the council chamber, where the scouts were waiting. One of them, a young and skilled warrior named K'uk'ulkan, stepped forward. "My king, we have explored the outskirts of the sunken city. It appears to be of ancient origin, far older than Talokan itself. The architecture is unlike anything we've seen before."
"Did you encounter any signs of life?" Namor asked
K'uk'ulkan shook his head. "No, my king. The city appears to be abandoned. Though there are many human ships around the island, we weren't able to get close without getting spotted, so we didn't explore close to it."
Namor nodded thoughtfully. "It seems we must somehow try and learn what the humans have found out, that would be the easiest way to do things."
Attuma spoke up. "Should we ready a raiding party your majesty?"
"Namor dismissed that idea with a wave of his hand. "No, it would be risky to do that, it would be better so send some scouts over with the equipment to listen in on their communication, lean what they know that way."
Namor had no love for the humans, having seen firsthand what kind of things they did to one another. He knew well how they would react to them, should they learn about their kingdom it would lead to war.
And while he wasn't afraid, he knew that it would be a costly was to win, and he didn't wish to see so many of his people die if it could be avoided.
K'uk'ulkan bowed his head slightly. "As you command, my king. We will gather the necessary equipment and send our best scouts to the island. They will remain unseen and gather as much information as possible."
"Good," Namor replied. "We must proceed with caution. Any misstep could reveal our presence to the surface dwellers, and we cannot afford that risk."
As K'uk'ulkan and Attuma left to prepare for the mission, Namor turned his attention to the massive form of the leviathan. The creature's mere existence was a reminder of how little control they had over their world. The appearance of the sunken city and the island only added to the complexity of their situation.
A/N
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