LIGHTNING STORM |b. barnes| [2]

CHAPTER 16

ONCE THE GROUP RETRIEVED THE FALCON, they went to go find Jasper Sitwell. He was someone that they knew they could easily get at and who also had the answers for the questions they had.

Ana was the one to aim the sniper rifle at Sitwell's chest and Sam lured him to his car.  From there, Sam went to put on the Falcon suit while Steve, Natasha, and Ana dragged Sitwell to the roof,

"Tell me about Zola's algorithm." Steve demanded,

Sitwell put on his glasses, "Never heard of it."

"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?"

"I was throwing up, I get seasick." Steve forced Sitwell to the edge of the rooftop and Sitwell just smiled, "Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're gonna throw me off the roof? Because it's really not your style, Rogers."

"You're right. It's not. It's hers." Steve stepped aside and Natasha kicked Sitwell off the roof.

Ananya cleared her throat, "So, any leads so far about where Elsa ran off to?" She asked and Steve placed his hands on his hips,

"Not really. It's just like she disappeared into thin air." Steve sighed, "I'm still looking."

Ana nodded, "You'll find her."

Suddenly, Sam, in his Falcon jet-pack suit with wings, flew up holding Sitwell and threw him down on the roof. As the four approached him, he raised his hands in surrender,

"Zola's algorithm is a program...for choosing Insight's targets!" Sitwell exclaimed,

"What targets?" Steve asked,

"You! A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa City. A college student in Colorado, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to Hydra! Now, or in the future." Sitwell answered,

"The future? How could it know?" Ana questioned,

You couldn't tell the future. So how did Hydra know who would be a threat to them years from now?

Sitwell laughed, "How could it not? The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it." They all looked at him in confusion, "Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, e-mails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores. Zola's algorithm evaluates peoples' past to predict their future."

"And what then?" Steve asked,

"Oh, my God. Pierce is gonna kill me." Sitwell said in realization,

"What then?!" Steve demanded,

"Then the Insight Helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time."

The four glanced at each other before dragging Sitwell off the roof of the building. The five of them got into Sam's car and he begins to drive them to the Triskelion,