The Department of Technology's data review, hidden moves in interdepartmental coordination
Inside the core server room of the Technology Integration Department, the temperature was kept constant at a cool 21 degrees Celsius. On the huge circular light screen, the encrypted code extracted from the B-15 wreckage was being dismantled by Chaos Energy into countless tiny data fragments, shimmering with Scarlet light, which flowed slowly.
Wanda stood in front of the light screen, her arms crossed. She wasn't wearing her signature crimson battle suit, but rather a well-tailored dark uniform, her long hair tied back, making her look capable and focused.
Not far behind her, Gwen Stacy, a glass of water and an encrypted tactical tablet on the table in front of her. She had been summoned here, ostensibly to "assist with technical analysis."
Apart from the low hum of the server fans, there was not a single other sound in the server room.
This silence lasted for a long time.
"Its Underlying Logic isn't the conventional TVA encryption system," Wanda finally spoke, her voice breaking the silence of the server room. Her gaze remained fixed on the screen, without turning around. "It's more like... a private craft, with a strong personal style."
Gwen Stacy didn't reply, but her fingers tightened slightly around the water glass.
"I've tried tens of thousands of conventional decryption models, and they've all failed." Wanda turned around, her Scarlet eyes looking at Gwen Stacy. "Chaos Magic can forcibly dismantle its structure, but it can't understand its 'language.' To translate it, I need a dictionary."
She paused, then walked step by step to Gwen Stacy, placed her hands on the edge of the table, and leaned forward slightly.
"Director Stacy, your Liaison Office, from day one, has been responsible for monitoring and intercepting all anomalous cross- Dimension communications, especially those from TVA."
Gwen Stacy looked up, meeting Wanda's intensely imposing gaze, and calmly replied, "It's my job."
"Very good." Wanda's lips curled into a slight smile. "To complete the highest priority task assigned by Lynn, I need you to hand over all the TVA communication bands intercepted by the Liaison Office, along with the related raw data logs."
They've arrived.
Gwen Stacy knew perfectly well that this was Wanda's real purpose in summoning her. The death of B-15 and her father's encryption methods were merely the triggers. After Hela's on-site attack failed, Wanda chose another path, a technically seemingly impeccable one, to seize control of the situation.
What is the core value of the Liaison Office? It's not the people, nor the equipment, but the information. It's the unique intelligence channels and databases that were built at great expense. Once these core assets are handed over to others, the Liaison Office will be stripped of its lifeblood and completely reduced to a data supply station for the Department of Technology.
"Minister Wanda, I understand the need for technical decryption." Gwen Stacy's tone was neither humble nor arrogant, her wording as precise as a formal document. "The Liaison Office will fully cooperate. You can submit a detailed list of data requirements, specifying the communication characteristics, timestamp ranges, and encryption types you need to compare. My department will then push the compliant data packets to you after completing the anonymization and risk assessment."
She didn't refuse, but cleverly replaced the potentially fatal phrase "complete handover" with "on-demand delivery."
Wanda's eyes narrowed.
She never expected that this seemingly harmless girl who used to follow Lynn around would become so eloquent and articulate after taking on a leadership position.
"Director Stacy, you may not have understood me," Wanda's voice turned cold. "I need the raw data. Anonymization will corrupt the underlying data structure, making it impossible for me to perform effective logical comparisons. You're using the program to delay the execution of the highest-level instructions."
The label of "delaying the highest directive" was thus slapped on their heads.
Gwen Stacy straightened her back even more. She put down her water glass, interlaced her fingers, and placed her hands on the table—a typical defensive stance in negotiations.
"Minister Wanda, I think you may have misunderstood my responsibilities." Gwen Stacy's voice also carried a hint of coldness. "Article 19 of the ' Negative Zone Interdepartmental Information Security Regulations ' clearly stipulates that original intelligence of Class A or above is prohibited from being directly transferred across departments in any form. This is to ensure the absolute security of intelligence sources and to avoid catastrophic consequences due to cross-contamination of data when dealing with unknown threats."
She paused, then added, "This regulation was jointly voted on and passed by you and me, including Director Hela, at the first plenary meeting of the Task Force, and was personally signed into effect by Commander Lynn."
She brought up Lynn not to intimidate others, but to use the rules he had established to fight against someone else who was trying to distort them.
Wanda's chest rose and fell slightly.
She found herself speechless. She could tear a planet apart with Chaos Magic, but she couldn't tear apart this internal regulation that Lynn had confirmed and that she herself had voted in favor of.
This is the power of programming.
The air in the server room seemed to freeze, with only the data on the screen continuing to flow silently.
Wanda stared at Gwen Stacy, Gwen Stacy met her gaze without flinching. One tried to break the deadlock with technological Bastion, while the other built a solid Defense Line with administrative rules. The two, representing two departments, engaged in their first silent yet fierce confrontation in this small server room for control of the core of this incident.
Gwen Stacy's maturity and toughness made Wanda feel a strange sense of unease. She was no longer the junior she could easily manipulate.
Stalemate.
An absolute stalemate.
Wanda was considering whether to go directly to Lynn and pressure him with the potential consequences of delays in the decoding work. But she knew very well that since Lynn had entrusted the Liaison Office to Gwen Stacy, he wouldn't easily overturn the rules he had established. Doing so would only make her appear incompetent.
Gwen Stacy was also thinking. She had successfully defended against the first wave of attacks, but Wanda would inevitably look for a breakthrough from other angles. She had to come up with her own solution before her opponent could.
At this tense moment...
"Minister!"
A Technician standing in front of the control panel suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
Wanda and Gwen Stacy's eyes were simultaneously drawn to it.
On the enormous circular light screen, the Scarlet data fragments that had been flowing slowly suddenly accelerated and converged, recombine into the twisted encrypted code.
At the very bottom of the code, a line of cold, white-glowing characters suddenly popped up.
It was not any known language, but a pure, clearly descriptive universal cosmic timekeeping symbol.
Systemic Purification Program initiated, remaining time: 23:59:58
A 24-hour countdown.
It was like a Sword of Damocles hanging over everyone's heads, striking the hearts of everyone present with each tick of the second.