After sending off Natasha and Steve, Hawk had returned to Zola's computer room.
He didn't hear the conversation between the two of them.
If he had heard, he would have said that the impact crater larger than Victoria Meteorite Crater on Mars' Meridiani Planum was created when he punched Thor, sending him crashing into the surface of Mars.
Of course.
If Thor heard it, he would say that it was Hawk who punched it out.
As for the truth.
It might just remain a permanent secret.
Back in Zola's computer room, Hawk looked at Zola's electronic face on the old-fashioned computer screen with his mischievous expression.
"I take back my previous assessment, you're not smart. You think this steel plate can stop them, but can it stop me?"
"No, but I have to try."
"You're brave, Zola."
"You have nothing to threaten me with, Mr. Phoenix."
"Indeed."
Listening to Zola's electronic voice, Hawk nodded in agreement: "You have no family, no descendants, so I can't use them to teach you a lesson. Moreover, you're an electronic being, and an outdated one at that, only knowing logic, devoid of any emotion. Even if you knew I was going to pull your plug, you wouldn't feel any fear."
It's undeniable that Dr. Zola was indeed a genius.
Back in 1972, he transformed himself into an electronic life form, which wasn't advanced by any means but sounded incredibly sci-fi.
Unfortunately.
Even times have their limitations.
For instance, Dr. Zola might be able to connect to any part of the internet, but his existence is confined here, just a step behind other AIs that seem to exist anywhere with internet access.
So it's easy to destroy Dr. Zola. Simply blow up the server here.
If the server here is blown up, Zola would die completely, without any possibility of escaping along the network (as stated in the movie, this server is Zola's body; if the server explodes, Zola is completely dead).
However...
Before pulling Zola's plug, Hawk curiously looked at Dr. Zola, asking about a question that puzzled him on his way here: "I'm curious, logically speaking, with your computing power, you should know the cost of offending me. The question then arises: knowing the result of definitely offending me, why did you still do it?"
Dr. Zola didn't hesitate at all.
"My calculations were wrong."
"What?"
Hawk, hearing Dr. Zola's answer, raised an eyebrow and looked at Dr. Zola.
"Calculation error?"
"Yes, according to my calculations, you weren't supposed to return to New York City so quickly."
On Dr. Zola's monitor, information flowed like a waterfall: "According to my previous calculations, if your friend Peter went missing, you would definitely go to rescue him, and you did. But I didn't expect you to return so soon."
Hawk, hearing this, quickly raised his hand: "Wait, are you saying, Peter and Felicia's disappearance was your doing?"
Dr. Zola did not deny it.
"Yes, I sent someone to attack their offshore research base."
"So you intended to get me out of New York City beforehand?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because of the Insight Algorithm."
"The one you use to deduce, through big data calculations, who in the future might become stumbling blocks on Hydra's road to success, allowing for preemptive intervention and elimination?"
"Yes."
"So I'm to become one of your stumbling blocks?"
Hawk laughed directly, looking at Dr. Zola: "Your algorithm must have some major issues. If I didn't approve of Hydra, I wouldn't have befriended Anna. If not for your test of me this time, I'd just sit at home and watch whether you could beat S.H.I.E.L.D this time."
Dr. Zola's electronic voice remained calm: "Because you're too close to Sharon Carter. According to the Insight Algorithm, the longer you interact with Sharon Carter and Maria Hill, the lower the likelihood of our future success."
Hawk laughed.
"Just because of that?"
"Yes."
"Now then, is this the outcome you wanted?"
"When you returned to New York City, Hydra's success probability dropped to ten percent, but after you sent away Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff, it returned to sixty percent."
"...Really?"
Hawk rubbed his chin: "How did you come up with these success probabilities?"
Dr. Zola still didn't hide anything.
"When you first returned to New York City, according to the algorithm, there was a ninety percent probability you'd take action against us and even hinder our plan this time."
"But just now, when you sent Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff to New York City and not directly to the New York S.H.I.E.L.D, according to the algorithm, there was a ninety percent probability you wouldn't interfere with our Washington operations after eliminating me."
"Is that correct?"
At the end, Dr. Zola specifically asked Hawk.
Hawk laughed.
"Your algorithm indeed does have some value."
"Thank you."
"So you just blocked here intentionally to verify whether I would sabotage your Insight Mother Ship plan in Washington?"
"Yes."
"Alright."
Hawk shook his head and laughed, then looked at Zola with some curiosity: "You know it was Alexander Pierce who betrayed you, yet you still support Alexander Pierce so much?"
Zola's voice was calm.
"For Hydra to be great again."
"Fine!"
Listening to Dr. Zola's answer, Hawk lost interest in further conversation, planning to turn off Dr. Zola's power and head home to join Gwen for a late-night snack.
He had already gotten the answer he wanted.
Zola's algorithm predicted he would gradually lean towards S.H.I.E.L.D. as he interacted with Sharon Carter and Maria Hill, so it chose to relocate him from New York City, then initiated a second endeavor.
However, due to a miscalculation, it didn't anticipate he would return so quickly.
Yet the Zola before him was not the real Zola, so even after realizing it was Alexander Pierce who sold him out, he still chose to adhere to his first directive: to make Hydra great again.
As Hawk thought about this, his gaze swept around Zola's 'body,' finally landing on Zola's image on a computer screen, posing the final question.
"I'm curious, are you a program, or truly the Anim Zola from 1972?"
"I am Anim Zola, but Anim Zola is not me."
"Understood."
Hawk nodded thoughtfully, his eyes beginning to glow crimson as he intended to completely cut off Zola's power.
Just then.
He seemed to sense something, looked up, his gaze passing through the ceiling to focus high in the sky, where a short-range ballistic missile was rapidly approaching here.
Hawk chuckled, looking at Zola.
"Is this your last resort, trying to see if you can take me out with you?"
"No."
With the sudden arrival of the short-range ballistic missile, the computer screen began to display snowflakes, and Zola's electronic face seemed to reveal a strange smile.
"That wasn't to try to take you out, but to eliminate me."
"Hail Hydra!"
Accompanied by Zola's final somewhat sharp and even cracking shout of 'Hail Hydra,' the short-range ballistic missile heading directly here crashed down.
Boom!
As the brilliant flames appeared, the electronic version of Zola went completely offline, and at the moment the fire was about to engulf Hawk standing there, Hawk's figure also disappeared from the server room.
The ground shook, the fierce flames quickly swept over the entire server room like a flood, simultaneously obliterating the military warehouse used as camouflage on the surface in a blast.
The flames that soared dozens of meters into the air from the explosion almost lit up half of the military base.
The shockwave from the explosion swept across the ground like an invisible giant hand, the surface of the concrete guard post bases, standing firm for years unknown, suddenly covered with spider-web-like cracks, disintegrating in a dull boom.
Hawk silently appeared above the explosion, gazing at the ground now erased and transformed into a pit filled with flames, recalling the last words spoken by Dr. Zola before going offline.
That wasn't to try to take you out, but to eliminate me.
So...
Is this an internal conflict within the organization?
Or...
To shut Zola up?
Hawk thought.
Just then.
Hawk snapped out of it, glancing at the police cars rapidly approaching with flashing lights from not far away, took a deep breath, then turned, transforming into a streak of light, swiftly heading towards his home at Palm Street No. 521A.
Thud!
At home, Gwen, having already prepared the late-night snack, listened to the noise from the backyard, walked out from the kitchen, stuck her head out, looked at Hawk coming in through the patio, and said with a smile: "You're back, perfect timing, the snack is ready, let's eat."
Hawk smiled in response and walked to the kitchen.
Just as he was about to grab the fries from a plate, Gwen quickly spoke up.
"Hey, wash your hands."
"Alright."
Hawk complied, shrugged, heading to the sink while taking out his phone which had just made a sound.
It was a video from Anna.
Hawk opened it.
What appeared.
In the good weather of 1 PM Japan time, the infamous spirit of Japan, the toilet, was currently engulfed in raging flames.
Watching this fiery video, Hawk's lips curled into a satisfied smile, and he placed his phone back in his pocket.
But...
Just as he turned on the faucet to wash his hands, suddenly, an electric shock-like sensation hit his mind, leaving him stunned.
Japan time is thirteen hours ahead of New York.
...