Creep, creep.
Wanda's eyes fluttered open to the sound of a bird chirping somewhere in the distance. Morning light filtered through the trees surrounding the isolated house, making everything look way more peaceful than it actually was.
She yawned and stretched, sliding out of bed. Her bare feet hit the cool wooden floor as golden sunlight spilled across the room. Moving to the small kitchen, she grabbed a couple eggs and some bread—just the basics for a simple breakfast.
A quick glance at the wall clock: 8:00 AM already.
It'd been a whole week since she and Pietro started living here. Crazy to think about, honestly. Despite being basically forced to come here under the worst circumstances imaginable, this place had turned out to be... kind of amazing? Way better than the war-torn hell they'd been living in before.
If Elric ever tries to fires me, she thought while cracking an egg into the pan, I'm still staying on the payroll. This is the most peace I've had in years.
Once the eggs were done and the bread perfectly toasted, she grabbed a thick coat from the hanger. Balancing the plate carefully in one hand, she headed outside into the crisp morning air.
Her destination? A large, circular iron door embedded in the ground just a few feet from the cabin.
She struggled with it for a moment. The thing was heavy and rusted as hell, and it took everything she had to pry it open. When it finally creaked open with a groan that echoed through the quiet forest, a blast of freezing air shot up from below.
She shivered involuntarily.
A narrow stone staircase descended into total darkness.
Taking a breath, she started climbing down carefully, making sure not to spill the food. After what felt like descending an entire floor, she reached the bottom and stepped into a long, dimly lit hallway.
The walls were covered in weird glowing panels and a mess of wires. It always reminded her of something out of a sci-fi movie—totally bizarre compared to the rustic cabin above.
She walked to the first room on the right. As the heavy door slid open with a soft hiss, the temperature dropped even more—hitting almost -4 degrees Fahrenheit. She hugged her coat tighter, burying her chin in the collar.
Inside, Elric was hunched over some bizarre machine—this absolute monstrosity of metal and light with wires running everywhere. Multiple screens flickered with data way too complex for her to understand.
"Hey," she called out, balancing the plate. "Brought you breakfast."
Without even looking up, Elric responded flatly. "Thanks. Leave it there."
Wanda glanced around. The room was practically stuffed with strange devices, most of them humming or blinking with symbols she couldn't make sense of.
"That's a Photon computer," Elric had told her the first time she came down here. "Most advanced tech on the planet."
Wanda had never heard of it, but the way he said it made it sound incredible.
She was about to tell him to eat before the food got cold, but before she could—
"Boss, something happened."
The voice was clearly female but had this mechanical edge to it—artificial, precise, completely lacking human warmth. An AI, Pietro had explained to her once. Like a digital person or something. Wanda wasn't really into tech, so she didn't pay much attention to the details.
Finally, Elric looked up, frowning slightly. His golden hair caught the dim light. "What is it?"
"Anastasia family castle was attacked last night," the AI—called Aline—said with unsettling urgency.
"How? And why am I only hearing about this now?" Elric snapped, losing his usual calm.
"Boss, don't blame me," Aline said defensively, almost whining. "I already told you—86ZX, the satellite I'm using to monitor Sokovia, belongs to Russia. I've been feeding it fake data to stay under the radar. But last night, a meteor passed by and the satellite got reassigned to track that instead. I had no fake data for a random meteor, so I just left it alone. I only got control back this morning and found out about the attack."
"Oh... You're right. My bad," Elric sighed, running a hand through his hair. His annoyance faded quickly, replaced by focused calm. "Anastasia's family is important, but not panic-level important."
"Elavin Anastasia is dead," Aline continued, her voice grim despite the artificial tone. "But his daughter and son survived. Current status unknown."
"Can you find them?"
"Da, boss," the AI answered with mock sarcasm, actually showing some personality. "They're clearly hiding. There's less than ten public cameras connected to the internet in that whole area. Don't be stupid. You'll have to find them yourself."
"Fine. First, take care of the current systems. Wanda," Elric said, turning to her briefly, his blue eyes meeting hers, "Don't wait for me."
"Can I do something...?" she started, though the offer felt useless even as she said it. She couldn't help with this—her complete lack of tech knowledge would just slow him down.
She quickly corrected herself. "Okay... Take care."
Without another word, Elric turned and left the chamber, the heavy door sliding shut behind him with a soft hiss.
Wanda stayed there, staring at the closed door. The hum of machines was now the only sound in the freezing room.
As Elric had explained before, Sokovia used to be part of Russia—ruled by a monarchy for generations, with the Anastasia family as the royal bloodline.
After the country got independence, it slowly shifted to democracy. But only a few months later? Everything went to hell.
A brutal power struggle broke out between the US and Russia, both fighting for control over Sokovia. Why? Strategic location—bordering Russia and Europe—plus massive reserves of valuable minerals that were only discovered after independence.
Elric already had a detailed plan to kick both foreign powers out of Sokovia. But to actually control the nation without drawing too much attention to his terrifying abilities, he needed to be subtle. Careful. Strategic manipulation, not brute force.
And for that? The Anastasia family, with their deep roots and historical legitimacy, would be absolutely crucial.
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