Black Box Revealed
The Skrulls' collapsed momentum allowed the others to regain some control.
Vers then looked at the mother who had finished bandaging Monica Rambeau and asked, "Maria, do you have a machine here that can play that kind of thing?"
General Ross cautiously advised, "It's best to use a computer. The files on this disc aren't ordinary audio tracks. A regular player won't work." But he didn't dare get too close to the woman holding the Flerken.
Maria Rambo, packing her first-aid kit, glared angrily at the Skrulls. She finally relented, saying, "Yes, I have the latest computers in my workshop. I can try to play the files on the disc."
The truth of what happened six years ago is something not only the Skrulls want to know, but also Vers, and even she, who lost her best friend, wants to know. Maria Rambo is naturally curious about what the black box, which her superiors said was damaged, actually recorded.
As for the injustice of her daughter being falsely accused, that can be put aside for now. It's not that we've forgotten this debt, but we'll leave it for later.
The group arrived at a small house separate from the main house. Besides a room filled with tools and supplies, there was a quieter room with a state-of-the-art computer running Windows 95 on the table.
While waiting for the machine to boot up, Maria Rambo took her daughter to a chair outside the studio and brought out a Walkman and headphones.
The girl with the afro, completely oblivious to her recent Tiger bite, loudly demanded, "Why can't I listen too? I want to know what happened too!"
"There's no room for negotiation. What If...? this is classified information, just hearing about it is a crime. Don't think that just because you're young you can get away with violating confidentiality rules. This is different from ordinary crimes; there's no protection for minors here."
"Okay." Monica Rambeau Rambo wasn't the kind of unreasonable child who would insist on making a fuss. With her mother's help, she put on her headphones and listened to the music inside.
As a retired Air Force pilot, and someone who had participated in classified programs, Maria Rambo is quite sensitive to this kind of thing. She doesn't lose that sensitivity just because she's retired.
Besides protecting her own daughter, she looked at the others. The meaning in her eyes was self-evident.
Henry was the first to raise his hands in resignation. "I'm just a civilian, I don't have the relevant classified information. I'll wait outside." After saying that, he led Kitty away from the studio and to a shady spot under a tree, where they faced the group of Skrulls disguised as humans.
Barbara Morse, an intern agent at S.H.I.E.L.D.., wasn't entirely sure of her role either. In the end, Nick Fury gave her instructions.
"Bobbie, keep an eye on those Skrulls. If they do anything suspicious, shoot them. I can hear the gunshots from inside."
"Yes, sir." Barbara didn't run to stand with Henry, but stayed by the pillar outside the workshop porch. This not only kept an eye on the Skrulls, but also protected the workshop behind her and the black girl sitting outside.
Henry was able to leave so easily because his Super Hearing allowed him to hear everything happening inside the studio. There was no need for him to stay inside, leaving himself open to gossip or even potentially violating secrecy laws.
My Super Hearing hasn't been revealed yet. It would be a shame not to make good use of it.
The content played by the black box was actually a recording of Carol Danvers piloting an experimental aircraft during a test flight, with Dr. Wendy Lawson in the co-pilot's seat, recording their last flight on the day of the accident.
Even after the plane crash, because the machine continued to operate, any sound near the Mike was still recorded.
Examples such as Dr. Wendy Lawson having blue blood and their being pursued by alien spacecraft outside the atmosphere are too illogical to explain why Air Force accident investigators dare not release the black box recordings.
However, for the person involved, hearing what they had said in the past brought back memories of that time, and triggered even more information.
Who killed Dr. Wendy Lawson? Why was she seriously injured and unconscious? What important things had she forgotten? And who was the culprit?
All of this, as she recalled it all, was shaking the worldview she had built up over the past six years. She was not a proud Kree warrior.
She wasn't even Kree, but a native Earthling, an inhabitant of a backward planet.
For Vers, or rather Carol Danvers, she didn't even know whether the collapse of her worldview over the past six years was more serious than being deceived and exploited by the Kree.
The lost female warrior rushed out of the workshop, seemingly wanting to roar to the sky, but the pent-up anger in her chest prevented her from uttering a sound.
The Skrulls general who followed him out was waiting for just such an opportunity. The Reason that one's enemy is one's friend applies universally, even to the universe.
He tried to persuade Air Force Carol Danvers, who had regained her memories, to stand on their side. This was his biggest reason for revealing his true form and facing these humans face to face.
"So, what exactly do you want me to do? You heard it too, the Faster-than-Light Engine is destroyed, it exploded, there's nothing left."
Already agitated, Carol Danvers was being harassed by a group of people she initially considered enemies. The fact that she didn't unleash a Photon Blast to send them to meet their ancestors was already a testament to her remarkable self-control. Not to mention switching sides.
General Ross ultimately knew a little more than these Earthlings. "No, only the Faster-than-Light Engine was destroyed. But the core of the Faster-than-Light Engine is stored in another place. That's the place I'm looking for."
"If we gave you that thing, wouldn't you use it for war? Like Tofa, turning it into a ruined wasteland, its civilization utterly destroyed."
"No! We didn't do that. It was Ronan the Accuser, who did it to eliminate us. We were just refugees."
They live a difficult life on the Tofa.
"You're talking nonsense..."
General Ross spoke with warmth, "I don't know what you heard from the Kree. But our goal has always been the same: to find the Faster-than-Light Engine that Dr. Wendy Lawson is researching."
"Then we took our people, scattered throughout the Milky Way Galaxy, and fled to a place the Kree couldn't find, and lived peacefully there. Perhaps it was beyond the Milky Way Galaxy, in a distant galaxy, or even another universe—anywhere would be fine."