They pulled up to the entrance to the underground garage only to be stopped at a metal shutter gate. A man in black combat gear with a strange emblem on the patch on his shoulder walked up to the driver side window. Murdoc felt like he recognized the symbol or had seen something similar.
Miss Hill opened the window, "We are with-
"Shield? Yeah we know. Maria Hill, Director Fury, and one other just like the boss said. Sorry but you will have to leave. Not only is it rude to come so late at night. But it seems like you are also going to bring trouble with you." The man nodded at a vehicle that pulled up at the top of the incline leading down to the underground car garage.
A group of people in black combat gear jumped out. But instead of reacting the guard just whistled and a moment later they collapsed on the ground as several muffled shots began going off while bullet holes began appearing in the vehicle they arrived in.
"Don't worry about it, just back up out of here. We can clean up the mess you brought," the guard told them before stepping away from the car window. Maria did as the guards said and backed out of the underground garage. When they arrived at the top of the incline they saw several people in gear tossing the bodies into the back of a truck.
"Who exactly are we meeting?" Maria asked as they drove away.
"I do not know, I have a new destination for us to head to. But I was hoping to get some answers from this place. It seems however they do not want to meet us in person. I could not find out who owns the building. The government database has it labeled as restricted." Fury explained.
"Even for you?" Hill asked in surprise from the front seat.
"Exactly what I was curious about." Fury nodded in agreement.
Murdoc rested his eyes as they went to their new destination. After a few minutes they arrived at a warehouse. The guards were wearing the same outfits as the last place. But as they drove up to the fence it opened and they drove in without issue.
They climbed out of the vehicle and Murdoc walked around it to join Fury and Hill. "So what now?" Murdoc asked.
"Hello there, you must be-" The voice surprised all of them. Maria reacted the quickest, spinning around and drawing her weapon. But a metal hand grabbed her wrist. They could then see the metal thing standing before them. "I apologize, I appear to have startled you. But do not shoot me. It will not only have no point there is a chance the bullet will ricochet and injure one of you."
"An automaton?" Fury asked as he relaxed.
"I prefer the term Droid personally. It sounds a lot less dangerous. Come along, I have been informed you desire a place to read that file." The droid let go of Maria's hand and turned around. Its footsteps were oddly quiet as it led the way into the warehouse.
"Stay out here Hill," Fury told Maria before walking away with the Droid.
They soon walked through a door that had the very distinct label, 'No humans allowed.' They entered and found themselves inside of a warehouse. Off to one side were lines of machines like this droid. While the other side had a line that looked like it was used for manufacturing things.
"Hmm…" Fury grumbled as his one eye narrowed. The Droid that led them inside walked toward a small little wooden room that had been built inside this warehouse.
"Are you building an army?" Murdoc asked as he caught up with the droid.
"No, construction workers and other things." The Droid answered, "of course they can learn combat if they wish. But for the most part we all work under Umbros, at least until our work term ends and we pay off the cost of our creation."
"Umbros? I feel like I have heard the name before." Fury frowned as they walked into the wooden building.
"Well that is a surprise." The Droid looked over them and then nodded, "you can do your briefing now. I have confirmed there are no bugs or listening devices." He then walked out of the room.
Murdoc and Fury exchanged a look of confusion. Murdoc then pulled out and opened the document. "It talks about what happened afterward. Apparently she appointed the individual she brought back from the pocket dimension to have command of a secret division of soldiers that the Carter had been trying to bring aboard. She has classified the identity so I am not allowed to tell you who it is. She did go on to highlight that this group has permission to go in and close the pocket dimensions and keep whatever, whoever, and anything that comes out of the portals."
"Pocket dimensions?" Fury asked as sat in a chair that was around.
"Yeah, it is how I arrived at your time. I entered during my time but the Hydra scientists were messing with it. Which resulted in it opening twice during two different time periods. The only reason we were able to successfully come back was because of the person from your time period." Murdoc answered and then continued reading. "A lot of this stuff is classified and will take a while to get through."
"Then let's start." Fury answered as he sighed, "Because apparently I have been working with some limited knowledge."
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Several hours later they were walking out of the building. Maria went to enter the car but Fury waved her off, "take Agent Murdoc wherever he wants to go. You will have to go get another vehicle to use." Fury then drove the vehicle away from the building.
"Uh…" Maria looked confused as Murdoc exited the building.
"Come on, we need to hide the file first. I know just the place to do so." Murdoc told her as he began walking towards the fence line. They left the building and went and 'acquired' a car from a nearby building.
"Where are we going?" Maria asked as she pulled onto a bridge.
"Hilt Family Mansion." Murdoc answered as he picked up her phone. "Can I look up information on this?" He asked as he waved it around. He was starting to get a handle on what happened but he was still pretty thrown off by the new technology. Fortunately he was quickly adapting.
"Yeah, use the code a1ilc482 to open it. Are you looking for general information or shield documents and information?" Maria asked as she began drinking toward the address that Murdoc indicated was this mansion's location.
"Shield level information." Murdoc answered as he began swiping through it. "I found it." He then began searching a file but the search came up empty. "Never mind," He put the phone back in the cupholder between them. "Seems I will just have to see for myself."
They drove into New Jersey and several minutes later Maria was driving through a gate in confusion. These grounds were like a bright shining light compared to the gloomy forest they had just driven through. They pulled up to the front of the extravagant mansion, going around a water fountain that was a mix of marble and some black material.
She stopped in front of the bottom of the stairs where a butler and a pair of maids were waiting. They then stepped back and Maria looked around in confusion. "Umm… What…"
"Master Murdoc, we were expecting you. Welcome back to the land of the living." The butler adjusted his monocle. "I assume you would like to know the condition of your family?"
"In a second I need to hide something. Take care of the car and do we have one we can use?" Murdoc asked as he walked past them and up the stairs.
The butler waved his hand and the maids began moving to the car and Maria stepped back. "Miss Hill, would you like to join me in the reception room while we wait for Master Murdoc to finish finding a suitable hiding place."
"Okay," She answered as she hesitantly followed the butler up the stairs to the mansion.
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