Project Ultron

Eighteen.exe

I had always avoided travelling by plane. I hated the sensation of going up in the air, the change of pressure messed with my head and made me feel dizzy. I had tried not to think about it whenever I got on a quinjet or when I got on the helicarrier. I had been either too excited or too messed up to think about it back then.

This time sat down and held to the seat for dear life, but apart for a minute or two of the plane vibrating, I hadn't realized that we were up in the air. There was no change of pressure, there was no headache. I only knew that we were at level because Agent Eversley had told me so.

I released my seat and stood up as he called me. I joined Robert and we waited while Agents Langen and Eversley were taking something from a crate. They turned around and gave each of us a gun.

"You already know how to use it," Agent Langen said.

"Some worse than others," Agent Eversley added, sending a glance in my direction. Robert must have proven himself the better shot while we were rescuing Leslie, but he had had more training with weapons.

"You also have to know how they work," Agent Langen continued, "A stuck gun on the field might mean death."

They showed us once how to pull them apart and put them back together. Then they told us to do it until we were close to Sokovia. I tried to count how many times we did it, but I ended up giving up after reaching a hundred and seventy-three. We got very comfortable with all the pieces after all of those tries, our hands moved quickly and we could even start to divert our gazes from the task. Pulling them apart and back together was starting to become a simple reflex.

"What do you think is happening in Sokovia?" Robert asked.

I stopped in the middle of putting back the barrel on the gun and looked at him. He was still looking at his handgun, taking the magazine from the structure.

"I don't know," I said. I thought about it for some seconds. "Mister Stark found a Hydra base there. He told me there was a lab with advanced robotic technology. So, maybe Ultron is still building himself bodies."

"Why does he keep building bodies?" he mused.

"He needs an army," I reasoned.

"What for?" He shook his head as he placed the last piece of the dismounted weapon in front of him.

"To kill us."

He snapped his head towards me. I had said it way too coldly, but it was the truth.

"That's not gonna happen," he said, determined.

I smirked. "Of course not, Gayer," I said, "It's gonna be the other way around."

He grinned and nodded. We heard a loud laugh at some distance from us. Agents Langen and Eversley were joking and retelling stories from their past missions. I could only catch some words here and there. I shrugged and ignored them. I would ask him to tell them some other time.

If I decide to stay, that is.

"I heard Langen say that you must be quite special," Robert told me.

I rose my brow. "For real?"

He nodded. "Yeah," he said, chuckling "Apparently Agent Eversley didn't want to be an S.O... Maria Hill kinda forced him. She must really want you in SHIELD."

"Really? I wonder why..."

Robert shrugged it off. "She knows you can hack... No wonder she would tell Eversley to train you." He looked up at me and saw me frowning. "You'll grow on him, don't worry."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"A hunch," he said, stopping all movement all of a sudden and just staring at me.