Technomancer in MCU #46
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Chapter 46
Technomancer in MCU
Previously
‘Wa–Wait, you can’t do this to me. I didn’t do anything wrong.” Her cries fell on deaf ears as the guards used hard light technology to project a bubble around her which isolated her voice from outside.
Then they effortlessly lifted her and took her out of the hospital ward.
The last thing she saw before the doors closed as she banged her fists on the bubble wall was the cold hard eyes of Daisy and Maria.
The doors of the bubble closing felt like the death knell of her career in the organisation.
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–Daisy Johnson–
Never in a million years did she think that Alfred would be the one that would leave Ed’s side even for a second. Especially since she learned the truth of Ed’s condition and how dependent he was on Alfred’s help for his day-to-day tasks.
That day was truly eye-opening.
The very fact that someone as overwhelmingly powerful as Ed could be so vulnerable.
That was the day she realised the true worth of her powers. The heavy burden that was placed on her shoulders as the one who was stronger than others.
It was soul-crushing, the burden.
Looking at Ed now, she couldn’t fathom how he shouldered that much weight while building everything. All the while making sure that no one knew of his true condition.
It explained why someone like Frank would defer to Ed and even respect him immensely as a person.
Explained how the Ancient One, someone who is a million years older mentally than even the oldest human, joined someone who was barely an adult.
Now looking at the tablet that showcased the empty data pipelines that operated the entirety of the base, she felt hollow.
Weird.
She never thought that she would miss Alfred, that little hellion, of all people. Guess people do make an immense impact on other people without even knowing about it.
“Daisy, what is the status of the agents currently on Earth?” The Commander in Chief, Frank, asked her.
She subconsciously stood a bit straighter and replied, “I’ve recalled all the agents who could be recalled and reviewed the ones who said that they couldn’t be recalled at a critical stage and have made the appropriate arrangements should their missions go awry. Multiple backup teams have been allotted to every single critical asset on the planet.”
She rattled off everything she knew of the incident yet.
She was apparently made the secretary of Frank. Frankly(pun intended), he had no need of any secretary and neither did most people on the base as Alfred filled that role better than any human ever could.
So, here she was, an S-class combatant taking on the role of personal assistant.
“Good, make sure that everybody is accounted for. Once lost, things can be retried, People cannot be. Remember that.” Frank nodded and said to her, absolutely seriously.
She nodded seriously.
It felt like he was training her to be his replacement or something.
Like she would want that hellish position ever.
But it truly was a massive undertaking.
She never truly understood the true scope of the organisation before. Once Frank logged in with his emergency credentials and took charge of the whole base’s systems and handed in access of the entire organisation to her, only then did she realise the sheer area that the organisation kept a watch on at all times.
At first, she held the tablet like it was the most precious thing in the world, and in a way, it actually was. But now, she was fine with it.
When she saw the list of missions that were going on the planet and the ones that were scheduled off-world, she felt that living in her previous ignorance was truly blissful.
For God’s sakes, they actually had a prison near the sun. It only held a single criminal for some reason. To sate her curiosity, she tried to access that information but for some reason, even Frank doesn’t have access to that information.
“Also,” she looked up at that, “Any updates on Alfred?” Frank asked her.
She shook her head sadly.
Whatever Alfred had done, he had done it in a way nothing could track him.
Frank nodded and said, “Of course. He was the one who built all our tools. There is no way we could track him that way.”
He then appeared to be in deep thought.
She was about to ask about it when her tablet beeped.
She hurriedly looked towards it and sighed in relief when it was just a confirmation regarding the safe storage of the energies of the Infinity Stones.
Honestly, she didn’t even want to know what the hell kind of stone an Infinity Stone was.
No sir.
She had enough nightmare material as is.
“Honey, why don’t we go to the Avengers? Surely Stark could help?” She looked up at the question that Maria was asking Frank.
She thought about it and while it seemed like a sound idea on paper. The reality was a different thing.
And she was right as she could see Frank shake his head.
“There is no way we can let anyone know about the condition of Ed. It might not seem like it but various hidden communities stay hidden because of Ed and us. And we are only as powerful as we are due to Ed, and by extension, Alfred. In one fell swoop, we have lost one of our strongest assets and nearly lost our leader. We cannot let anyone get even a whiff of weakness from us. It would be disastrous and would undo nearly all the work Ed has done with his soft diplomacy to make sure that the supernatural community is not hunted down by anyone and in return, humans are not treated as fodder by the supernatural community.” He took a deep breath at the end of his tirade.
She interjected there and said, “He’s right, you know.”
Both of them looked at her. She was slightly afraid but she soldiered on and said, “I-I don’t know much but from what I am seeing, we are truly responsible for actually policing a lot of supernatural communities on the planet. No personnel have been evacuated from these communities as they are designated as such in the system. In fact, I have reinforced these locations with multiple teams equipped with beyond clearance level weaponry.”
Frank nodded at her approvingly, impressed by her decision to send overwhelming firepower where it might be needed.
He lived by that code.
Maria then threw her hands up and started pacing in the observation room, “Fine! We won’t call the freaking Avengers. What about Wakanda? They ought to have someone who could help us track Alfred or at least help take reinforce places we cannot reach.”
Before Frank could reply, she shook her head and said, “Won’t work.”
She continued when Frank nodded at her, “Alfred knows Wakanda’s systems in and out and according to the files I have, Shuri of the Golden Tribe would grow to become even smarter than Stark but that is still years away. Not to mention that exposing Wakanda to our operations would just increase their threat levels and beyond that, we don’t need reinforcement anywhere. We are self-sufficient enough in that regard.”
She gulped to moisten her dry throat.
Maria looked at her sideways and said, “When did you become an expert in international geopolitics? It’s impressive that you managed to acquaint yourself with the organisation’s structure so quickly.”
Happy at the praise, she happily rattled off, “Oh, it's nothing I haven't seen before. Alfred used to make me take special tests as blackmail in which I had to face similar situations with even less information and he used to be absolutely brutal when it came to checking the answers. So, I had to look up all the stuff he was testing me on and prepare for the next blackmail exam.”
Frank and Maria shared a smiling look at that.
________________________________________________________________
–Frank Castle–
They both shared a look at that.
It was almost as if Ed and Alfred noticed something in her and decided to nurture that quality in her by training her and leading her on that path.
He couldn’t believe that Ed chose Daisy of all people to succeed him.
It did make sense to train her just in case but for her need to arise so soon must have been unexpected for both Ed and Alfred.
But looking at her rattling-off orders on her comms, he could see that she would definitely grow into her role very easily.
It was very surprising.
The one who tried to skip training the most and yet, she was the one who stepped up when it counted.
“Commander, sir, uh-um, it was about the superclass carrier,” Daisy asked him.
She had his full attention as soon as she mentioned their flagship super weapon.
“What about it?” he commanded her.
“Sir, the N-reactor has stopped working. The backup reactors have kicked in but the crew is concerned about the absence of their flagship weapon.”
He internally sighed in relief at that, “Don’t worry about that. The N-reactors are built in such a way that they would stop working and extinguish themselves instantly as soon as they stop getting a specific signal from Alfred that only he knows.”
Daisy’s face grew pale at that, “Bu-But then, now we are left without our trump card. What if something happens? What if the Ravagers decide to come now or-or what about Ego? What if he notices somet–”
Maria held Daisy’s shoulders and said, “Honey, Honey Deep Breaths. Do not worry. Nobody will invade Earth at this time and we still have the Avengers who can help us. Remember, we are never truly alone.”
Daisy nodded at her. Maria then continued, “Now, why don’t you go ahead and have some coffee? You look like you need it. Take a break while you are at it. We will be here when you come back. Alright?” She said while also taking the tablet from Daisy.
Daisy nodded and left the ward with silent steps.
He was about to praise his wife for handling the situation calmly when she whirled on him with a face full of panic as soon as Daisy left.
“What are we going to do, Frank? The kids are still on Earth? We have to find Alfred soon?” She started rambling in panic.
He held her shoulders in a reassuring gesture and said, “Look, Look at me! Nothing is going to happen. Alfred hasn’t abandoned us. He will be back soon. Not to mention, Ed will be up soon and the situation will go back to normal soon. Trust me.”
She shrugged off his hands and said, “To hell with that. Call the Avengers. I don’t care if they find out about Ed’s condition. I just want Ed and the kids to be safe.”
Then she started crying.
This time, he sighed audibly.
It was going to be a long day. At Least until Ed woke up.
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Word Count - 1865
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