Human Nature as a Weapon

Everyone's first thought was: Did we come to the wrong place?

S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't a bank. It had no financial dealings with ordinary people, so what compensation could they possibly be demanding?

Nick Fury said, "Kate, are you sure the people down there are acting of their own free will?"

Kate hesitated. "They're worked up, but I don't think they're being controlled, and they're not zombies or anything like that."

Nick Fury's face darkened. This was trouble.

Kate was a seasoned agent. She was unlikely to get a basic assessment like that wrong.

And that made this crowd potentially more troublesome than a horde of zombies.

Zombies could simply be eliminated. They couldn't do that to civilians. Even injuring a few would cause serious problems afterward.

Worse, the crowd below seemed to be growing.

Something must have driven them to descend on S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Here's the report. Take a look."

Kate pulled out several tablets and handed them to Nick Fury, Hill, Captain America, Black Widow, and the others.

After reading it, Nick Fury sighed. "Zola came from Hydra, all right. His grasp of human nature is terrifying."

"This is harder to deal with than a direct threat to civilian lives."

S.H.I.E.L.D. was no ordinary police force. It was responsible for the safety of the entire planet.

If someone threatened a handful of civilians to force S.H.I.E.L.D. to lower the energy shield, S.H.I.E.L.D. would never agree.

They knew what was at stake.

During the New York Wormhole Battle, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s leaders had even launched a nuclear missile in an attempt to close the wormhole.

Zola was smart enough to skip a pointless hostage threat.

In fact, Nick Fury wished Zola had used hostages against S.H.I.E.L.D.

Negotiations and stalling would at least have bought them more time.

Instead, Zola had found another way to