Camp Lehigh.
The Strategic Scientific Reserve's conference room.
Everyone present, whether veteran agents like Peggy Carter or senior officers with stars on their shoulders,
looked utterly grim.
A telegram marked "top secret" was being passed around the conference table.
Each handoff was accompanied by strained breathing.
Its contents came from intelligence on the Western Front in Europe.
The words painted a picture of hell.
"...Not one of the thirty-seven soldiers at the outpost survived. No signs of a large-scale firefight were found at the scene. All the victims died of dismemberment. Some of their limbs were sewn back onto other individuals. Their appearance... defies description."
"According to the fragmented account of a surviving witness... a man who was sent to a hospital in the rear after suffering a mental breakdown, the attackers were a group of 'human-shaped dolls.' They moved strangely and carried out indiscriminate slaughter with nonstandard weapons, including bone saws and scalpels."
"Intelligence believes this is Hydra's latest psychological warfare weapon, intended to utterly destroy our soldiers' will to fight. Its cruelty surpasses that of any known war crime..."
Colonel Davis slammed the document onto the table, his chest heaving.
"Devils! They're a fucking pack of devils straight out of hell!"
"What the hell are we fighting?"
These soldiers, hardened to life and death, had for the first time read an intelligence report that made them physically sick and chilled them to the soul.
Lynn sat quietly in a corner, never once touching the document.
He waited until everyone's fear and anger had reached their peak.
Only when they grew restless for lack of an outlet did he slowly speak.
"Everyone, our enemies are no longer satisfied with killing with guns and cannons. They've begun to make devils."
Lynn stood, his gaze settling on Dr. Erskine's compassionate face.
"Against something like that, a war hammer like Soldier Boy might be able to destroy it, but it can't bring people comfort."
He had mentioned the name that was at the height of its glory on the battlefield, yet his tone carried just the right amount of weariness and reflection.
"A war hammer can smash a monster, but it can't heal the wounds the monster tore open, much less banish the nightmares it left behind."
"We need a symbol."
Lynn's voice grew forceful.
"A guardian who can make our soldiers believe that humanity and justice still exist, even in the face of such a hell! Someone whose very existence can tell everyone why we fight!"
His words, coupled with the bloody battle report, struck a nerve in everyone present.
Even Davis, who had been furious moments ago, fell silent.
Lynn turned to Dr. Erskine.
His gaze was graver than ever.
"Doctor, we're running out of time. The world is waiting for a hero to appear."
Those words were the final straw that crushed the doubts.
All resistance to the Super Soldier Program vanished in the face of this ultimate terror Hydra had created with its own hands.
No one brought up physique anymore.
No one questioned Steve's frailty anymore.
They needed an answer.
An "angel" who could stand against the "devils."
And the young man whose character Dr. Erskine described as flawless became the only answer.
That night.
Rain poured down.
It washed over Camp Lehigh's training grounds, shrouding everything in wet darkness.
Steve Rogers charged at the obstacle wall again and again.
The muddy ground made him slip.
His frail body simply couldn't produce enough explosive power.
Time and again, he jumped, only to slip halfway up and fall into the mud.
But he didn't give up.
He silently got up, backed away, and charged again.
He just wanted to prove he could do it.
A bottle of water and a towel were suddenly held out to him.
Steve looked up and saw Lynn.
"I came from Europe."
Lynn skipped the pleasantries.
He let the rain soak his trench coat, his voice carrying a world-weariness at odds with his age.
"I've seen Soldier Boy."
Steve froze. To him, that name was a myth far beyond his reach.
"He can tear a tank apart with his bare hands, and he can just as easily crush a man's neck."
Lynn spoke softly, his voice somewhat muffled by the rain.
"People cheer for him, and the generals treat him as their trump card. But I..."
Lynn paused.
As if recalling something he didn't want to remember.
"All I saw was one form of violence, more powerful than the last, taking its place."
His words struck Steve deeply. He had never heard anyone speak of the "war hero" that way.
Lynn told him a story.
A story about Soldier Boy.
"Once, we were pursuing a small group of German soldiers who had hijacked a truck full of civilians."
"Soldier Boy had a chance to stop the truck, but then he saw the German commander escaping in another vehicle, heading in the opposite direction."
"He chose to go after the officer."
"The truck... was blown up by the Germans afterward. Not a single person aboard survived."
Of course, Lynn had made the story up.
But he told it so convincingly, every detail and every expression as though he had seen it with his own eyes.
Steve's breathing quickened.
"Why..."
he murmured.
"Because his strength makes him capable of anything, and it also makes him forget how fragile ordinary people are."
Lynn looked Steve in the eye.
"To him, the credit for killing a German colonel was worth more than the lives of dozens of civilians. He believed it was the more efficient choice."
"Steve, never forget how you feel right now."
"Never forget why you wanted to put on that uniform."
Lynn straightened up.
Rain dripped from the ends of his hair.
"Your weakness lets you understand compassion and protection better than anyone. That kindness will be your greatest weapon in the future. Don't let power devour it."
Those profound "words of inspiration" were like a bolt of lightning, cleaving through the confusion in Steve's heart.
They also completely ignited the flame in his chest.
He clenched his fists.
He looked at his mud-covered hands, his gaze more determined than ever.
Lynn turned and left.
He left the future hero, who was undergoing a transformation, to himself.
He had already planted a seed called "Lynn Morris" in that heart.
Under the eaves of a barracks not far away, Peggy Carter had seen and heard everything.
The sound of the rain had concealed her presence.
She watched Lynn walk away, then looked at Steve, who had risen again in the rain.
His gaze had changed completely, and her own look was complicated.
This young reporter, whom Dr. Erskine called the "discoverer."
This propagandist who had created the myth of "Soldier Boy" had just displayed profound thoughts and a humanitarian spirit far beyond his years.
He was more like a wise man who, after witnessing the cruelty of war, had become utterly disillusioned with violence and turned instead to seek "strength of character."
A special kind of adviser.
Peggy Carter suddenly felt that bringing him into the program might have been an even better decision than finding Steve Rogers himself.