Spider-Warrior

The other benefit of establishing S.W.O.R.D. was that Michael's private AI, Sherry, gained full access to all facilities connected to the Hydra network. She now possessed an unprecedented scale of resources, with servers in most corners of the world directly linked to her, extending her presence globally.

This meant that if she wished, no secret in the world could remain hidden from her.

Well, perhaps that was a slight exaggeration. She knew a great deal, but she hadn't reached omniscience yet. However, for the current situation, it was an incredibly convenient channel for acquiring information.

Michael fed keywords like "Peter Parker," "Spider-Man," and "clone" to Sherry, instructing her to utilize her maximum resources to hack into the networks of major government agencies, intelligence organizations, and suspicious private institutions across the country. She was to search at full speed for any projects or plans related to these keywords.

If any organization or agency truly possessed the technology to mass-produce super-soldiers on the level of Spider-Man, the nature of the incident would escalate to a high-risk genetic leak, a situation far more severe than accidents where one or two superpowered individuals went rogue due to experimental mishaps.

This was why Michael decided this matter required his personal attention.

Sherry temporarily halted all other tasks, dedicating all her resources to attacking major military-grade firewalls and performing keyword searches. Countless data streams and characters, under her command, transformed into a myriad of blades and spears, carried by electromagnetic waves and fiber optics. They surged like an army towards the firewalls of those top-secret agencies.

In just one hour, a series of thrilling, silent battles unfolded within the digital world of the United States. The internal networks of over ten major gene-related corporations were silently infiltrated. Firewalls of the Department of Defense, the CIA, and the Pentagon were successively breached, with her programs scouring the vast ocean of the network for the keywords "Peter Parker," "Spider-Man," and "clone."

Finally, the CIA's database was the first to yield relevant information. The project was codenamed "Spider-Warrior," a top-secret initiative under the CIA's Office of Science and Technology, beyond even congressional oversight.

To access this information, Sherry would need to penetrate deeper into the core systems of the CIA. While not impossible for her, it carried the risk of detection. Considering that S.W.O.R.D. was just starting and was virtually unknown to the world, Michael did not wish to attract unnecessary attention for the time being.

Before the CIA could detect her intrusion and initiate counter-tracking measures, Sherry estimated they had about five minutes to thoroughly search the CIA's secret data repository.

The general outline of the plan was much as Michael had suspected: someone within the government wanted an army of super-soldiers loyal only to them. They might have found an opportunity, or somehow obtained Spider-Man's genetic material, leading to the creation of the "Spider-Warrior" project.

Before triggering the CIA's internal network's emergency response mechanisms, Sherry successfully identified a key name: Dr. Ben McCarthy, the lead engineer for the cloning team.

This was precisely why Michael, clad in his ominous black armor, had cornered Dr. Ben McCarthy in the underground parking garage.

Dr. McCarthy appeared to be over sixty, with graying hair and a pair of comical brown-rimmed glasses. As Michael appeared, he was fumbling for his car keys. The moment he caught sight of the all-black battle suit, he let out a terrified scream and collapsed onto the ground.

"Calm down, Doctor," Michael said, standing before him and watching the doctor frantically kicking his legs as he tried to retreat towards the base of a pillar.

"I'm not here to hurt you. I just have a few questions," Michael said, slowly approaching. The metallic echo of his footsteps reverberated clearly underground. "Of course, if you cooperate."

The doctor tried to compose himself, attempting to slow his racing heart to avoid passing out before Michael could make a move.

"What do you want?"

"Information about a project," Michael said, looking down at him. A lie-detection module appeared on his display. "A top-secret project the CIA recruited you for, codenamed 'Spider-Warrior.' Does that ring any bells?"

Dr. McCarthy's face immediately turned pale, but he shook his head frantically like a rattle drum. "No, I've never heard of it."

The unfortunate doctor was clearly no expert at lying. His single false statement triggered significant fluctuations in at least three sensors on the suit's lie-detection module, with a large "LIE" flashing across the display.

"It's a shame you're unwilling to cooperate, but I can't say I'm surprised. For a project of such high security, they would naturally have you sign relevant agreements. But you must understand, Doctor, I am very persuasive."

"Please, I really don't know what you're talking about," Dr. McCarthy pleaded in a low voice. "Please don't hurt me."

"You misunderstand, Doctor. I'm not talking about using any violent means. In fact, I personally oppose obtaining intelligence in such a crude and unskilled manner."

Michael spoke calmly, his display rapidly scrolling through intelligence information. In mere seconds, Sherry had helped him unearth all of Dr. McCarthy's personal information, from his birth certificate and social security number to his bank accounts and private assets. McCarthy's entire life was laid bare before him like an open book.

"Let's see, you have a wife who is bedridden with progressive supranuclear palsy, correct? And you have two daughters, one pursuing a master's degree overseas, and another... in high school? It seems they would require considerable expenses.

Of course, that wouldn't be a problem for you, would it? Because you have $30 million deposited in the British Virgin Islands. But unfortunately for you, the funds in that account..."

Michael paused. Data scrolled across his helmet's internal display. With the ease of breaking through a paper screen, he accessed Dr. McCarthy's bank account. The $30 million figure plummeted like a freefall, rapidly diminishing to zero.

"...There. Now there's not a penny left," Michael said, shrinking the account interface to the top-left corner of his screen. His gaze returned to Dr. McCarthy. The unfortunate doctor bit his lip, his face deathly pale as he huddled by the pillar, filled with anger, fear, and helplessness.

"If you still don't wish to talk, that's fine too," Michael said, inputting new commands. Multiple interfaces displaying Dr. McCarthy's personal property information continuously popped up on his display. "If you change your mind, there's still time. Otherwise, we can discuss your lovely villas in California, Texas, and Kansas. See if that changes your mind."

Dr. McCarthy spoke in a dry, weak voice, "Please, you don't understand. If even a single word leaks out, they'll kill me. I can't..."

"Actually, they won't know. There are ten surveillance cameras in this underground garage. Ever since I entered, all ten have been playing back the content from the same time last night. Furthermore, the electromagnetic shielding signal emitted by my armor covers the entire garage. This means any trackers or listening devices you might have on you are now disabled."

Michael crouched down, facing Dr. McCarthy directly. He was close enough that the doctor could see his own ashen face reflected in the helmet's visor.

"So, Doctor," he said, "if you have something to say, now is the best opportunity."

Dr. McCarthy's expression flickered with indecision for a moment. He licked his dry, cracked lips.

"Alright," he gritted out, finally conceding. "Damn it, what the hell. I've had enough of them anyway. I proposed that we should terminate the experiment, saying what they were doing was both unethical and illegal, but they wouldn't listen. They just told me to mind my own business or face consequences."

"Doctor," Michael interrupted, extending his palm. A faint blue light emanated from his palm, projecting a realistic image of the clone from S.W.O.R.D.'s New Jersey branch laboratory. He said slowly, "This clone was born from your project. Last night, he escaped into New York City and indiscriminately attacked pedestrians and damaged public property. Now, I want you to tell me, where did this clone escape from? And who initiated this project?"

Dr. McCarthy stared at the image in Michael's palm, his gaze flickering several times.

"I don't know who the initiator is. I only know there's a master controller. He's very knowledgeable about Spider-Man and the 'Oz' serum that caused the mutation, but he's never visited the lab in person. He only gives orders remotely." He paused. "As for this clone, it was an accident. There was a riot in the lab we were responsible for last night. One of our cloned Spider-Warriors had its abilities specially tuned and amplified, but it also became unexpectedly violent and uncontrollable. It broke free from its restraints, destroyed its containment, and incidentally, let out two other clones."

"Wait, did you just say, 'the lab we were responsible for'?" Michael noticed his phrasing. "Does that mean you have more than one cloning lab?"

"Yes, our lab has been temporarily shut down due to the accident last night," the Doctor said. "But there's another lab, and that one is personally managed by the master controller. He doesn't allow any of us to inquire about his research progress there, because he says the experiments there involve his private affairs."

"That lab," Michael said coldly, "tell me where it is."