The Precisely Leaked Memo, the Special Consultant's Pledge of Allegiance
The air in the Liaison Office Chief's office was so quiet that you could hear the faint buzzing of Data Stream through the server.
Gwen Stacy stood in front of her desk, a newly drafted document floating silently on the screen in front of her. The title words, in the standard No. 2 boldface font of the Management Committee, stood out prominently.
Memorandum on the Preliminary Concept of Building an Automated Defense System for "Age of Ultron".
"Director, the draft memo is ready." Gwen Stacy's voice was calm and steady. "As you requested, it emphasizes the necessity of addressing increasingly complex cross-dimensional security challenges, and the urgency of establishing an automated defense system with self-learning and iterative capabilities."
Her gaze never left the light screen, as if she were giving a routine work report.
Please provide instructions regarding the scope of circulation and subsequent procedures.
At the other end of the communication line, White Bone Hall, Lynn tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest.
"No rush to distribute them."
His voice came through an encrypted line, devoid of any emotion.
"The document is of high standard and its content is quite sensitive. Let's go through the internal format review process first, and have the technical department check for any non-compliant characters or potential data conflicts."
Gwen Stacy's brow twitched almost imperceptibly.
Format review.
This is a standard procedure for all classified documents issued by the Management Committee before their official distribution, designed to ensure the absolute security and compliance of the documents at the technical level. This work is handled by a peripheral technology team under the Liaison Office, which uses a low-class review system independent of the core Mainframe.
According to regulations, in order to facilitate the submission of review applications by various departments at any time, the access permissions of this system are set relatively loosely.
"I understand." Gwen Stacy nodded. "I'll arrange for someone to send it over immediately."
"No need to assign anyone," Lynn's voice rang out again, interrupting her. "This kind of routine technical review can be done by simply uploading it to the pending public folder in the review system. The technical staff will process it in order."
Gwen Stacy remained silent for a moment.
The "Pending Public Folder" is a lower-level access point, where almost all staff at level three and above have read-only permissions, allowing them to easily check the review progress of their submitted files.
This program vulnerability is usually insignificant. But at this moment, it's like a deliberately opened loophole.
"Yes." Gwen Stacy didn't ask another question and cut off the communication.
She stretched out her finger and manipulated the light screen a few times. The memo titled "Age of Ultron" silently disappeared from her Personal Terminal and was instead uploaded to a public corner that anyone could see.
Temporary soft restricted area, room C-42.
This used to be the lounge for senior advisors. Now, all non-essential entertainment and communication equipment has been removed, leaving only the most basic life support system and a terminal connected to the Management Committee's internal bulletin board.
Ravonna Renslayer sat upright at the table, maintaining the dignified demeanor befitting a senior TVA official.
She has been here for seven days.
Over the course of seven days, she repeatedly analyzed her situation. B-15's use of a proxy to kill, and Lynn's opportunistic actions, had turned her from a player into a pawn. She knew very well that Lynn was keeping her around not out of kindness, but because he was waiting for her.
Waiting for an opportunity for her to prove her remaining value.
Her only bargaining chip was the secrets about TVA that she held in her mind. But secrets lose their value once they're spoken. When to speak, how to speak, and to what extent to speak are more complex subjects than time travel.
The terminal screen suddenly flickered, indicating that a new document had entered the public review process.
In the past few days, she has spent a lot of time browsing this public information, trying to analyze the power dynamics of the Management Committee.
She skillfully opened the folder with pending tasks.
A row of tedious document titles lay before me: "Report on the Third Quarter Logistics Consumables Application of the Stability Maintenance Office," "Upgrade Plan for the Server Cooling System of the Department of Technology," and so on.
Her gaze swept across the page, then suddenly stopped on a headline.
Memorandum on the Preliminary Concept of Building an Automated Defense System for "Age of Ultron".
Ultron.
This name, like an invisible needle, pierced Ravonna's pupils.
She certainly knew the name. In TVA's Top Secret archives, in the records of the Sokovia Timeline, this name represented a nearly successful "formatting" program, a mechanical catastrophe born on Earth's own soil.
And now, Lynn, the owner of this Negative Zone Management Committee, is actually going to restart it.
Ravonna's heart skipped a beat.
She immediately realized that this document couldn't possibly be about implementing some kind of automated defense. It was Lynn speaking to her.
This is a test question.
It was also an ultimatum.
She instinctively reached for the inside of her wrist, where a tiny signal transmitter, smaller than a speck of dust, was hidden—her last and only means of contacting TVA's high-ranking B-15.
As soon as she presses the button, intelligence regarding the "Age of Ultron" project will instantly be transmitted back to TVA. She will complete her final mission as a spy, and then be disposed of without any value by Lynn. Or, she will be remotely "silenced" by TVA.
Her finger hovered above the signal device, trembling slightly.
On the screen, the memo lay there silently, like a black vortex.
She saw Lynn's methods. It was a political maneuver that was colder and more ruthless than the editing and trimming of TVA. He used the rules of the system as weapons to manipulate everyone. Hela, Wanda, and other individuals with devastating power were like caged beasts in front of him, only able to act according to the rules he set.
Following TVA is a dead end.
B-15 only wanted her to disappear along with the secret about Sokovia.
As for Lynn... Lynn at least still needs what's in her head.
A few minutes later, Ravonna slowly withdrew her hand. She did not press the signal button.
She stood up, walked to the door, and pressed the intercom button.
"I request a meeting with Director Lynn." Her voice was calm, but carried a resolute air of determination. "I have information about the highest-level security protocols TVA has reserved in the Abandoned Timeline, and I need to report to him in person."
The White Bone Hall.
Lynn looked at Ravonna standing in front of him.
"Director, I think you're waiting for my reply." Ravonna didn't beat around the bush. "That memorandum is my reply."
Lynn didn't speak, but simply picked up the teacup on the table and gently blew on it to cool it down.
Ravonna took a deep breath, knowing she had made the right bet.
"TVA left behind more than one Trojan program when it handed over the Abandoned Timeline," she said in a low voice, "... and a 'wake-up protocol' as well."
"It's not a piece of code, but a physical piece of hardware."
Lynn paused for a moment while drinking her tea.
"In the Core Server room of the Management Committee," Ravonna spoke slowly, each word like a heavy stone, "There lies a physical backdoor disguised as a backup power interface. It's not connected to any network and is completely independent of the ' S.H.I.E.L.D. Protocol's' monitoring."
"Once externally activated, it can receive instructions from TVA headquarters via a quantum entanglement channel, and then directly connect to the main server's Data Bus at the physical level."
She looked up and stared directly at Lynn.
"By then, neither the Department of Technology's Chaos Magic firewall nor the Stability Maintenance Office's conceptual Labyrinth will be of any use. Because the enemy won't enter from outside the door, but will appear directly in your bedroom."