A compromise plan for asset preservation, a procedural solution for internal oversight

The pale blue light from the screen fell on Natasha's face.

[Match accuracy: 41%]

In the Main Control Room, four pairs of eyes were fixed on her.

Hela spoke first. "Romanoff," she said softly, "Explain."

"Explain what?" Natasha stood still, not moving. "An old machine that's been abandoned for years detected a tiny bit of residual brainwaves and reported a 41% accuracy rate. The Director the Stability Maintenance Office wants me to explain the error of a machine?"

"Forty percent isn't an error." Jean Grey stared at the line of text. "The Recognition Layer identifies specific brainwaves. Of the five people present, it ignored everyone else and only reported yours."

"I came from the Red Room," Natasha answered calmly. "This base, this branch office, handled the files of the Red Room's Timeline back then. It's not surprising that my brainwaves left traces here."

"Leaving traces and matching a key to open the cabinet are two different things." Wanda stepped forward, her fingertips Scarlet a faint crimson. "Natasha, you knew what was here all along."

"If I had known earlier," Natasha turned to meet her gaze, "Why didn't I open it myself while everyone was arguing around the cabinet for half an incense stick's time?"

One sentence from him stumped Wanda.

Yes. If she really had the key, the best opportunity to strike would have been when all three sides were locked in a stalemate and no one was paying attention to the outside. But she didn't move.

Qin closed her eyes briefly, sending a wisp of her Psychic Power towards Natasha. The moment it touched her, it was deflected by an impenetrable spiritual barrier. The Red Room's training was specifically designed to prevent this.

"Forty-one percent," Gwen Stacy suddenly spoke, breaking the deadlock. "Gentlemen, listen to me. A match only makes sense if it's over halfway through; forty-one percent is barely even close. This machine isn't reporting a clue, it's disrupting things."

She looked around at everyone.

"We've already wasted too long here. The countdown only started because we were lucky. What about next time?"

Hela didn't reply. Wanda's magic still lingered on her fingertips. Jean lowered her eyes, lost in thought.

Natasha glanced at Gwen Stacy.

The glance was brief. Gwen Stacy's words, ostensibly to quell the conflict, were actually a way to extricate her from a difficult situation. She remembered this favor.

"Since Director Gwen Stacy says she can't afford to waste time," Natasha withdrew her gaze, her voice softening, "Then I'll propose a plan."

No one stopped her.

"The cabinet can't be opened because the lock doesn't recognize the person. If the lock doesn't recognize the person, then don't try to open it." She walked to the side of the Archive Cabinet, raised her hand, and tapped the seam between the cabinet and the floor. "Article 14 of the ' High-Risk Asset Preservation Regulation ' states: When evidence cannot be safely opened on-site, it is permitted to be sealed as a whole, cut along with its attached base, and transferred to a location suitable for opening for joint inspection."

She turned around.

"Without breaking the lock, cut the cabinet down along with its foundation and transport it back to headquarters. Once there, with all four parties present, open it together. The contents will remain under whose noses you are, and no one will be able to steal a single word."

The Main Control Room fell silent for a few moments.

"The foundation is connected to the Stasis Field." Qin frowned. "I just said that forcibly demolishing the foundation will cause the space to collapse."

"Forced demolition would cause a collapse." Natasha nodded. "So it's not a forced demolition. Director Gwen Stacy, you're technically savvy—the energy supply node for Stasis Field is underground. First, cut off the energy supply, and the field will naturally loosen. Then cut the foundation. Two steps: first release the force, then make the cut. Right?"

Gwen Stacy looked down and checked the calculations on the Data Pad.

"... Yes." She looked up. "After the power supply is cut off, the Stasis Field has a decay period of about ninety seconds. Cutting during this decay period minimizes the disturbance. The scheme works."

"Wait," Hela said, "Where should we put it when we ship it back to headquarters?"

Here she comes. Natasha knows in her heart that this is Hela really wants to ask.

"The evidence should be sealed and, according to procedure, stored in the Evidence Vault." She answered impartially, "The Evidence Vault is located within the jurisdiction of the Stability Maintenance Office, but the seals are jointly signed by three parties, and the keys are held by different individuals. On the day the cabinet is opened, all four parties must be present; none can be absent. Director Hela, the cabinet is in your repository, giving you a geographical advantage; but without the seals and keys of the other two individuals, no matter how sharp your sword is, you can only guard the door."

Hela stared at her for a moment.

They have the advantage of location, but can't guard the gate. They can guard the gate, but can't take action. This is a clean slate.

"What about the Department of Technology?" Wanda asked. "If there are any abnormal fluctuations in the energy inside the container during transportation, who will monitor it?"

"The instruments and data are from the Ministry of Department of Technology Department of Technology," Natasha said, "But the monitoring data is copied to all parties in real time, with no copies kept. Minister Wanda, you control the technology, but the data belongs to everyone."

Wanda's fingertip magic slowly faded.

Qin didn't speak. She walked to the Archive Cabinet, scanned it again with her Psychic Power to make sure the attenuation cutting wouldn't damage the contents, and then stepped back half a step.

"I have one condition," she said.

"Speak."

"During the cutting, my Psychic Power was completely focused on the cabinet," Jean said, looking at Natasha. "It wasn't to get ahead, it was to have a backup plan. If the cutting went slightly off course and the Self-Destruct Layer activated, I could envelop the entire cabinet within half a breath. If you all want to supervise, you can. Minister Wanda's magic follows my Psychic Power; whatever I read, she reads in sync—I'll return what she just said to her verbatim."

Wanda's eyebrows twitched.

This is taking her suggestion and applying it in a way that everyone can accept. Going along is fine; driving alone is not.

"Okay," Wanda agreed.

Hela stood to the side with her arms crossed, and seeing that all three parties had nodded, she snorted coldly.

Who will do the cutting work?

"Your sword is the fastest," Natasha said, "But it carries the Death Force, which can easily trigger the Self-Destruct Layer. In my opinion, you should wield the sword, and let Director Gwen Stacy the force—her Data Pad calculates the cut, and your sword follows the line. Fast and precise, without any excess."

Hela glanced at Gwen Stacy.

Gwen Stacy, holding the Data Pad, didn't refuse. "I'll provide the cutoff line."

The charter was agreed upon in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

The three parties, who were just moments ago on the verge of conflict, are now in their positions: Gwen Stacy is crouching beside the cabinet, calculating the cut; Hela stands outside the line with her sword drawn; Wanda's Chaos Magic and Jean's Psychic Power cover the cabinet one after the other; and Natasha has retreated to the position of the power supply node, her hand resting on the valve of the underground pipeline.

"Power outage." Gwen Stacy stared at the Data Pad. "Three, two, one—"

Natasha turned off the valve.

A dull thud came from underground, and the dark blue Runes on the surface of the cabinet faded at a visible speed.

"Decayation period begins. Ninety seconds."

Hela drew her sword.

The Night Sky Sword cut into the foundation along the bright line Gwen Stacy had marked, without the slightest deviation. The stone layers parted silently, the cut so smooth that there were no rough edges. Wanda's magic supported the bottom of the cabinet, while Jean's Psychic Power enveloped the cabinet body, and the entire Archive Cabinet slowly lifted off the ground.

"Sixty-one seconds. Packaging."

Gwen Stacy deployed the Force Field Sealing Container, the cabinet fell into the box, the seal was removed, and all three parties affixed their marks.

Just before the Runes completely disappeared, the small characters deep inside the cabinet flashed one last time.

[Recognition Layer is in sleep mode, pending activation]

Then darkness descended.

In the Main Control Room, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Hela sheathed her sword, Wanda rubbed her throbbing temples, and Qin lowered her Psychic Power from the cabinet, the gold in her eyes fading.

Natasha straightened up and dusted off her gloves.

"Gentlemen," she said, her tone softening, "Let's go back. This is in the Evidence Vault; we have plenty of time to discuss it."

No one answered, but no one objected either.

Just then, the ground beneath their feet trembled slightly.

These are not aftershocks from the cutting process. The cutting was already over.

The vibrations came from deep within the Main Control Room, from even deeper within that dark array of control consoles. One after another, muffled, rhythmic, from afar and approaching.

It was the roar of machinery in operation.

Gwen Stacy suddenly looked down at the Data Pad, her expression changing.

"No," she said, her voice strained. "I clearly turned off the power valve—this branch's main energy source should have dried up decades ago."

The roar grew closer.

Natasha's smile gradually faded. She stared into the deep darkness and slowly uttered a sentence:

"The moment we cut the cabinet away, something... wakened."