After dealing with Phineas Horton, Lynn did not give himself a moment to catch his breath.
That basement, filled with chemical reagents and a madman's dreams, was merely an inconspicuous anchor point in his grand blueprint.
Foresight Pharmaceuticals.
The company occupied extensive grounds in New Jersey and ostensibly engaged in conventional drug research and production. It was his true lair.
He passed through layer upon layer of security and the P4 laboratory that served as a cover. A private elevator hidden behind a sterile workstation took him three hundred meters underground.
The metal doors slid open without a sound.
A circular space appeared before him, its cold white light strips tracing futuristic lines.
There was nothing here but humming server arrays.
This was his kingdom.
A nerve center that never saw daylight, yet could stretch its tentacles into any corner of the world.
Lynn took off his coat, draped it over a railing, and headed straight for the core of the base.
There, a strangely shaped machine stood in silence.
It resembled no known computer. Countless thick cables extended from its main body, plunging deep into the walls like the blood vessels of a colossal beast. The entire machine radiated a violent aesthetic far ahead of its time.
Prometheus.
That was the name Lynn had given it.
It was Howard Stark's masterpiece, and a product of his arrogance.
Lynn still remembered what he had said to the genius in person some time ago.
"Howard, I have an idea: a machine that can analyze and reconstruct every known data model. But its complexity..."
He had deliberately paused before continuing in a regretful tone.
"Alas, it's too far ahead of its time. In this world, I suppose only the future you could make it a reality?"
Those words had ignited Stark's almost pathological competitive streak.
"The future me?"
Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Howard Stark had sprung straight off the leather sofa.
He pointed a finger at Lynn's nose.
"Fuck the future! Are you saying I can't build it now?"
Stark had slapped the design plans onto the table on the spot.
"Give me a week. I'll build it for you right now!"
And so this monster, into which Stark had poured all his effort, with computing power far exceeding that of every computer of the era combined, had been secretly transported here.
Poor Howard still thought the machine was meant to analyze war bond sales data and public opinion models.
A genius's brain could be so useful sometimes.
Standing before Prometheus, Lynn took the military hard drive wrapped in oilcloth from an inside pocket.
The greatest prize from his trip to Europe.
The cornerstone of the technological empire he would build.
Hydra's mad knowledge, decades ahead of the rest of the world, lay quietly within this inconspicuous black block.
He inserted the hard drive into the main unit's port.
"Click."
The soft sound was like a key sliding into a lock.
He had already planned everything.
He would use these technologies to arm Foresight, turning the company into a true technological behemoth.
"Hum-"
Prometheus started up, its low operating hum echoing through the spacious base.
The main screen on the console lit up.
Lynn's breathing slowed a little.
The screen did not display the vast streams of data and complex lists of folders he had expected.
There was only a field of glaring static.
A few seconds later, the static vanished, and a clear image appeared.
Johann Schmidt.
That scarlet skull filled the entire screen.
He sat at ease on a black throne, Hydra's octopus emblem behind him.
A playful smile rested on Red Skull's scarlet face, like a chess player savoring his opponent's expression after falling into a trap.
"Congratulations, my friend, if you're watching this video."
Schmidt spoke.
"You've succeeded in catching my attention."
He leaned forward slightly, as though he could see through the screen to Lynn standing there.
"You manipulated that work of art, Soldier Boy, with ease, and even made him a god worshipped by the people. Splendid methods, a delightful kind of intelligence."
Lynn said nothing, merely watching in silence.
"So, don't bother."
Schmidt spread his hands in a gesture that said he had everything under control.
"There's nothing on this hard drive. It's merely a beacon, an... invitation from a higher civilization."
"Hydra welcomes talent like yours, not those idiots who know nothing but how to obey orders."
"Join us."
His voice was full of temptation.
"Your position will be below mine, above all others. Together, we will witness a new world ruled by supermen. We will personally bury the rotten order of the old world."
The video ended there.
Schmidt's image disappeared, and the screen went dark.
Then a line of German lit up in the center of the screen, followed immediately by an English translation below it.
"Schwäche muss sich verstecken. Ich erwarte den Tag, an dem du vor mir stehst."
"Only the weak need to hide. I look forward to the day you stand before me."
Silence.
Deathly silence.
Lynn's face darkened completely in the screen's dim glow.
Rage at being played for a monkey surged from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
He was not angry because his plan had failed, nor because he had come back empty-handed.
He was angry at Johann Schmidt's lofty attitude, as though he were a god looking down on ants, bestowing a "gift" upon one that had caught a little of his interest!
An offer of recruitment?
The very word was the greatest insult!
"Bang!"
Lynn slammed his fist against the metal console.
"Very good."
He forced the words out through clenched teeth.
"You've succeeded in making me angry."
He turned away, no longer looking at the provocative words, and began pacing back and forth across the spacious base.
"Only the weak need to hide..."
He repeated the words under his breath, then gave a short chuckle.
"Then what does that make you, hiding in your turtle shell deep in the Alps, not even daring to show your face?"
"You're looking forward to me standing before you?"
Lynn laughed, genuinely this time.
His laughter echoed through the spacious base, tinged with madness.
"All right. I will."
"I'll come before you, tear off that ridiculous mask of yours, and twist your red skull off to use as a wine cup!"
Since he couldn't steal it...
Then he would create it himself!
He would create an empire that surpassed Hydra, surpassed Stark, surpassed every power of this era-an empire that truly belonged to him alone!
Lynn walked back to the console and looked at the German words.
"Wait for me, Johann Schmidt."