Rogue Shadow

Chapter 4 - Death Strikes Again

Chapter 4 – Death Strikes Again

01:16 Friday, 6th October 2017

This wasn't supposed to happen. A simple task to watch over a child and cover her tracks. That was it. Something shady was going on; surrounding this child and he felt obligated to help her. Nothing more. His former employs needed a ghost operative to protect the only child to ever escape HYDRA. Unfortunately, without her memories intact. Which made it that much harder to find where the girl belonged. That, and the fact that Natasha Turner didn't actually exist. Fake name, past everything. He knew that her personal file was made up. HYDRA had been very thorough in making sure that no one could ever find her true identity, that was for sure. But ASIS had taken her fake information and put it into Natasha Turner's file.

He didn't need to watch over her every night – just keep tabs on the girl. Make sure no one picks up her trail and step in if she is in danger – so why did he feel compelled to go as far as helping her with her night terrors?

Probably guilt for not helping her earlier. He had been looking into HYDRA ages ago for general intel as well as a more personal reason. He knew that HYDRA was affiliated with groups like the KGB and, going back in history, the Nazi's, as well as being involved in their own projects to take over the world. He knew HYDRA had children being held captive, but he was too preoccupied with a personal vendetta to help those child soldiers. He could have rescued her years ago.

But he didn't.

A few days ago, he had gone to scope out the HYDRA base the child, Natasha, was found at after the ASIS raid to shut the operation down. Hidden deep within encrypted computer files was a folder called "Project: Rogue Wave." It was everything HYDRA had on her since she had been abducted during a failed infiltration, four years prior. However, all other information about that raid had been whipped clean. That facility had been shut down but was easy enough to find. Four years' worth of torture, training, and experimental genetic tests; it was all there. She had been moved around constantly during that period to remain undetected, but no one seemed to know who she really was.

Yet the confusion bomb was dropped when her integration report stated that no mental wipe or mind control was had taken place in order to control the child. A few persuasive plays maybe, but nothing that would take away all of her memories. Overall, the child had given into to them; or at least, she made it seem that way. There was always a chance the Natasha was playing with them; biding her time until such an opportunity arose that she could escape. Natasha Turner was that name when she was rescued, because of some – very concerning – writing on her cell wall. Concerning because it was, well... it was written in her own blood. The writing was mostly untranslatable, apart from the Latin alphabet name "Natasha" and a few random phrases here and there.

According to the records of "Rogue Wave" known as simply as Rogue around HYDRA, her given name was Okeaniya Volk, filed years ago from her time in the Red Room; a Russian institute that trains young girls as spies under the cover as a prestigious ballet school. That place was a whole nother level of messed up.

Turns out that HYDRA didn't even know her real name. No one did. She refused to give any information, no matter how much pain they put her through; even the name Natasha was an alias to fool governments if they found her. Okeaniya Volk didn't exist. The kid was a ghost. The was no records of a child her age matching her description that was unaccounted for. Slade sought out the original base HYDRA used to imprison Natasha, or whoever she is, out in America, in the hopes that there would be some clue as to who she is. For some reason, HYDRA had gone to great lengths to keep her hidden away from the world; far enough to move her to the other side of the globe. No other file had been encrypted to the level of 'Okeaniya Volk'.