We stepped into the elevator and the door closed on the open air, green field. "It's amazing," Pierce said. "A man made afterlife. An astonishing achievement." I was doing my best to ignore the thrumming of my brain and the occasional glitch like failure of visual depth. The system had been designed on a standard brain's capacity for information processing and my brain was not like that.

"Thank you," I said. "I'm immensely proud of it."

"Then why are you grimacing?" Pierce asked

"You know my brain is… exotic," I complained. "But I wanted to see it for myself. Let's go to an inside room - Elevator, let's go to the lounge."

The elevator made a jerking motion, not a necessary component but something we added so the mind would be less disoriented. Then we landed and the door opened on the new lounge. It was a large area, with food on the tables, fresh fruit and vegetables, and swanky tables that were mostly unoccupied.

We walked into the lounge and took our seats, which managed to feel almost right. I had been raised not to be the princess with the pea and the local distances weren't giving me the headaches the outdoor simulation had, so I said nothing.

"Congratulations on your new baby," Pierce said.

Pierce was a major problem for my baby's future. My understanding of the genuine Project Insight plan was less stupid than it could have been, but killing the long tail was fundamentally a mistake that couldn't be excused. "Thanks, Andromeda's getting another sonogram today. Third trimester, very exciting."

"Shouldn't you be there?"

"So I can give off visible waves of anxiety? Andromeda's in the care of the best prenatal doctors money can buy. It's fine." Moreover, I needed to maintain a close relationship with Pierce until I got lucky and he just keeled over or inserted himself into one of my afterlife projects and put himself in my power. Even though Pierce was bad, the other Hydra heads besides myself were all substantial downgrades - Irrelevant bankers, Strucker who still hated me, an actual honest to God Nazi, Malick of alien cult fame.

Pierce grabbed an apple off the table and took a bite of it, "It really does taste like an apple."

"Apples are easy, we've got lots of new residents earning keep on food testing. A couple dozen, really, but we're a very cutting edge company." A new apple was ballooning on the table, which Pierce watched with fascination.

"The SWORD Academies are proving an excellent recruiting system, just as you expected. We've got new recruits from all over the world."

"Thank you sir." The benefits Hydra can give ambitious developing world members are almost infinite. It's not surprising we can find solid recruits there or that an influx of cash resources meant that we could make a powerful appeal for elite level recruit. Only our early history of intimate connection to the Nazis and the influx of American authoritarians after the Vietnam war had prevented people from seeing this. We were also hoping to use Osiris to obtain control of old school dictatorships, offering immortality at the low price of obedience and compliance in our new order

"Can we talk privately?" Pierce asked.

I nodded my head and grabbed the hard screen out of my pocket. It looked like a smart phone with an Ankh on the back but it was just another way we made the interface more palatable to the uploaded mind. I hit the private conversation button and looped both Pierce and I in. "Our models won't be visible or audible to others. Go ahead."

"All of this technology stuff leaves me a little confused, but aren't you pricing it a little low? Immortality for three hundred dollars per month?"

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"Main point right now is to get subscribers," I said. "As the server space fills up, scaling up will cost money, which should justify making more money. Osiris' economics run on a distinct monetary system from our world, allowing us to charge for the exchange each time; we exchange real money for Osiris money, we make money, Osiris money for real money, we make money. So anybody who hires someone inside is paying us as well as the worker. But yes, prices will rise as time goes on."

"You're an inspiration Hydra, Michael. I think I could be happy, knowing I was leaving Hydra in your hands."

"Thank you, sir," I said sincerely.

"In the three years since you joined Hydra, we've had an unprecedented expansion in power and authority. Where once SHIELD lurked in the shadows, SWORD now holds court in the open. The Defense Team is able to handle almost any threat to humanity as it fills up."

I would like a promotion at this point. I felt like I deserved it. But I was also the youngest Head by a lot, so that probably wasn't coming. No matter how frustrated being under ranked beneath Pierce. And besides, I couldn't take the headship or directorship of SWORD so shortly after my mind control. We were only in late November.

"So why'd you take a shit in Strucker's backyard?"

I raised my eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"After the alien attack, we looked into Pietro and Wanda. Wanda and Pietro Maximoff."

Oh goddamn it. I did my best job keeping a straight face, "The Maximoff twins were test subjects for the serum. I needed disposable targets. I'm sorry I went picking in his backyard, but he's the one who arranged biotesting laws to be so liberal in Sokovia, not me."

"That's not the problem. The Maximoffs are now two leaders in a domestic uprising that Strucker cannot seem to put down."

That screamed Villain Brain. "That is because Strucker thinks everything is a medical subject."

"He sent the Winter Soldier, but even so the twins survived. Nineteen dead civilians, an embarrassment to our local friends, and the Maximoff twins escaped." Frankly, go Wanda and Pietro. Making Strucker's life harder and leading a democratic movement at home? Beautiful win for everyone involved. Maybe a long term problem for me, but I could work with it.

My Ankh started going off, but I hung it up. I had to scurry out of this one.. "Look, I used to have their contact but they haven't contacted me since the end of the invasion," which was true. "I guess the heat of your investigation tipped them off. Or maybe just that I told them not to. Regardless, I've got no help for anyone involved."

"I want you to work with Strucker, at least try to clean this mess up."

Absolutely not, "Sur-" and then my Ankh started going off again. I picked it up to see Andromeda was calling. "Goddamnit," I said. "I'm happy to work with Strucker. But my wife is calling and won't give me ten seconds, do you mind?"

Pierce gave me a permissive wave.

"Yes, dear, I'm talking to Secretary Pierce. What is it?"

"I'm so sorry but there's something weird with the baby."

I felt my stomach plummet, "Oh no, what's happened? What's wrong?"

"Well, we don't know exactly is happening but it looks like the baby is giving off exotic energy brainwaves."

My stomach seemed to relax at that even as my brain went into overdrive. "Alright," I said after a moment. "Well, that's probably my fault."

"I know! I don't know what to do!"

"Dear, they're doctors. They're bound by doctor patient confidentiality. I will be there soon. Tell them you're not horribly surprised and then stall."

Worst come to worst I could have them all killed.