News of Vought's super agents arresting key government officials on a massive scale spread like a virus through every level of American government.
Yet the official bulletins tacitly concealed all information about extraterrestrial beings. After all, no one could bear the consequences of letting the public learn that the nation's decision-makers had long since been replaced by alien creatures. The real senior officials who had escaped arrest and remained in the dark now sank into boundless panic.
Their only weapon was to mobilize every propaganda outlet at their disposal, desperately pressuring Vought International and tearfully denouncing its atrocities on television, demanding an explanation.
The few who knew part of the truth, such as the remnants of S.H.I.E.L.D., which now existed in name only, all played deaf and dumb, hiding in the shadows without daring to breathe too loudly.
New York, the top floor of Vought Tower.
Lucian stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows, overlooking the streets below, where police sirens wailed incessantly.
The specially made phone in his pocket vibrated, Tony Stark's name flashing on its screen.
Lucian swiped to answer and turned on the speaker.
"Lucian, what the hell is going on?" Deafening explosions and the roar of thrusters accompanied Tony's voice from the other end. He was clearly hurtling along at high speed in his Mark Armor. "I'd just blown one of Killian's biochemical hideouts flat when calls from the military, the White House, and even those old men in Europe flooded my channel! Your people have turned Washington upside down and arrested more than a dozen members of Congress! Are you planning to crown yourself emperor?"
Listening to Tony's rapid-fire questioning, Lucian's mouth twitched, his tone utterly unruffled. "Go back to what you were doing, Tony."
"Hey! Wait, at least tell me what's really going on..."
"Remember to