The guards on one side of the glass exchanged words with the guards on the other side, speaking through walkie-talkies that weren't obstructed by the soundproof glass. They were, both sides, satisfied with the test. No, more than satisfied. They were excited.
He heard half of the conversation, but felt only the barest stirrings of curiosity. Even then, it was only for the sake of best anticipating what he would be needed for next. He felt for the mission, not for his own sake. Whatever would happen, would happen.
He would survive. And he would do as he was bidden, because he couldn't remember life being any other way. It was almost...soothing, to comply. When he did, it seemed to quiet the yawning emptiness that was otherwise always lurking in the back of his mind. He wasn't something, no, but he was more than the nothing the ruin of his mind told him he was.
Seeing the man on the other side of the glass was the first time he could remember really feeling something himself. So it was for the best, that it just so happened to be something he was allowed to feel. Something that he could serve HYDRA in feeling.
He did not want this man to be lost. It would be...a waste. HYDRA needed weapons. And no one weapon could change the world alone.
He was taken from the room after a few more words exchanged, and for the first time he was not put back in the chair. Instead, he was fed - the carefully calculated nutritional mass designed to keep him functioning without keeping him truly healthy. He was watched carefully all the while, of course, but that was nothing new.
Finally, they took him into another room, a room with a man tied to a chair. A man who was blindfolded and gagged, utterly helpless. They gave him a knife, and told him that the man was an enemy of HYDRA. One who would oppose, even dismantle, HYDRA's glorious plans for the world. A man who would take everything...everything they had built, and take it down to nothing. Down to the last weapon.
They told him to kill the man.
It should have been the easiest thing in the world, and yet Steve hesitated, for the barest fraction of a moment, before he brought the knife down. Something prickled in the back of his mind. Something familiar. And yet, in the end, it wasn't familiar enough. The blood was warm on his face. The man died almost instantly, choking on his own blood.
He was punished, badly punished, for his hesitation. A weapon of HYDRA must not hesitate. Yet the trial itself was a success, showing that their theory was sound.
HYDRA's other soldier would get his replacement arm, something functional and sleek, in development almost longer than the two had been held there. Something carefully molded to the interface embedded in his shoulder, that could react as smoothly or even better than his flesh arm. He would even be told why. Or at least, he would be told that the other soldier had secured his continued survival. All because each piece in the machine should look out for the other pieces, for the sake of securing the continued survival of the whole.
They would be expected to dispose of one another, if one proved a liability rather than an asset. But as of now, it looked like a bright new day for HYDRA.
And once they were certain that the soldier was acclimatized to it, they knew just who he could test it out on, too.
no subject
He heard half of the conversation, but felt only the barest stirrings of curiosity. Even then, it was only for the sake of best anticipating what he would be needed for next. He felt for the mission, not for his own sake. Whatever would happen, would happen.
He would survive. And he would do as he was bidden, because he couldn't remember life being any other way. It was almost...soothing, to comply. When he did, it seemed to quiet the yawning emptiness that was otherwise always lurking in the back of his mind. He wasn't something, no, but he was more than the nothing the ruin of his mind told him he was.
Seeing the man on the other side of the glass was the first time he could remember really feeling something himself. So it was for the best, that it just so happened to be something he was allowed to feel. Something that he could serve HYDRA in feeling.
He did not want this man to be lost. It would be...a waste. HYDRA needed weapons. And no one weapon could change the world alone.
He was taken from the room after a few more words exchanged, and for the first time he was not put back in the chair. Instead, he was fed - the carefully calculated nutritional mass designed to keep him functioning without keeping him truly healthy. He was watched carefully all the while, of course, but that was nothing new.
Finally, they took him into another room, a room with a man tied to a chair. A man who was blindfolded and gagged, utterly helpless. They gave him a knife, and told him that the man was an enemy of HYDRA. One who would oppose, even dismantle, HYDRA's glorious plans for the world. A man who would take everything...everything they had built, and take it down to nothing. Down to the last weapon.
They told him to kill the man.
It should have been the easiest thing in the world, and yet Steve hesitated, for the barest fraction of a moment, before he brought the knife down. Something prickled in the back of his mind. Something familiar. And yet, in the end, it wasn't familiar enough. The blood was warm on his face. The man died almost instantly, choking on his own blood.
He was punished, badly punished, for his hesitation. A weapon of HYDRA must not hesitate. Yet the trial itself was a success, showing that their theory was sound.
HYDRA's other soldier would get his replacement arm, something functional and sleek, in development almost longer than the two had been held there. Something carefully molded to the interface embedded in his shoulder, that could react as smoothly or even better than his flesh arm. He would even be told why. Or at least, he would be told that the other soldier had secured his continued survival. All because each piece in the machine should look out for the other pieces, for the sake of securing the continued survival of the whole.
They would be expected to dispose of one another, if one proved a liability rather than an asset. But as of now, it looked like a bright new day for HYDRA.
And once they were certain that the soldier was acclimatized to it, they knew just who he could test it out on, too.