Together, Alyona and Nikolai walked deeper into the control room, down a lengthy corridor, and into a large, unlit space. Alyona switched on the lights and the massive room slowly came alive. Everywhere they looked, various consoles hummed to life. And at the center of the room there was a metal, circular panel over the floor.
"You should feel honored," Alyona said with a proud smile. "You're about to see the one and only example of Project Revival- the very best contribution Hydra has ever made." Alyona sighed reverently and held a short moment of silence before she began to type on the console.
In a burst of compressed air, the circular panel began to raise, revealing itself to be the top of a cylindrical capsule. It rose up several feet, revealing a frost-covered glass capsule. Alyona approached it as Nikolai remained stationary a few feet behind her. She lovingly wiped the frost away from the glass and stared into the frozen fluid. Within the unnaturally blue ice, the form of what appeared to be a man was suspended.
"It's time for you to finally wake up," Alyona said. "It's time for you to begin your mission."
Returning to the console, Alyona typed in another command.
"Thawing process commencing," a prim male voice spoke.
Alyona sighed happily, then looked at Nikolai. "You served me well, Wolf Spider. You helped me assassinate the researchers responsible for Project Revival. Of course you were unable to take out the final target- thanks to Bucky's interference. Not to worry- Red Mama has taken care of this. And now, Hydra's secrets will never fall into the hands of anyone else. The defectors have been silenced, and their secrets have been taken with them to the grave."
Steam began to rise up from the capsule as the blue ice slowly began to melt. The artificial voice reported the thawing process's progress at ten percent increments.
"It's a shame Winter Soldier's programming was deactivated," Alyona sighed regretfully. "I could have had three agents under my command."
"Thawing process at forty percent."
Alyona shrugged. "Perhaps it's for the best. Besides- it's not like I can't program someone else. Especially now that I have him," she said as she continued to stare at the figure in the capsule.
"I'm afraid your days of brainwashing people are behind you," Bucky snarled from behind her.
Alyona turned around and glared at the Winter Soldier before turning to Nikolai. "Stop him!" she shouted.
Nikolai turned toward them, his expression like that of a shark as he raised his wristband and took aim at Bucky.
"Go ahead, Nikolai," Bucky said in a terse voice. "Take a shot if you think you can do it.."
Nikolai fired a sting, the red blast of bio-electrical energy shooting through the air.
The smile on Alyona's face morphed into one of surprised pain as the blast struck her directly in the chest. Her body let loose a spasm and she dropped to the floor in a convulsing heap, her nervous system completely short-circuited. Without hesitation, he walked toward the fallen woman alongside Bucky.
"How? How did you...?" Alyona stammered.
Nikolai tapped his ears. "I can't hear you, Red Mama," he explained, revealing the discreet ear plugs he was wearing. "Though I am an excellent lip-reader."
Alyona glared up at him. "You deceitful little..."
"What is Project Revival?" Bucky growled, interrupting Alyona.
Alyona smiled up at Bucky. "If you want to know what it is, read a file. I'm not telling you anything else." She then looked over at Nikolai and glared up at him. "And you can go to hell..."
Nikolai shot her again with another blast and she fell back onto the floor, her head hitting the steel flooring with a loud thud, knocking her out. "I think we've all had enough of you," he said with a note of finality to his voice.
Bucky grinned at Nikolai and reached out to squeeze his shoulder. "Nice one," he said with a grin. "You're quite the little actor."
"So are you," Nikolai replied. "You played dead very well."
Nikolai walked over to the nearby console and began to peruse the contents under Alyona's profile. He clicked on the folder that housed information on Project Revival and his eyes widened in disbelief. "Project Revival is a process by which a recently dead individual can be brought back to life," he read aloud. "So long as the body is intact and has not been dead for longer than forty-eight hours, they can be suspended in the Revival Bath." He continued to read, listing the names of the researchers responsible for this miraculous invention. "It says here that the researchers defected after the collapse of Hydra. They become...disillusioned. They escaped to Russia where they sought to bring Project Revival with them as a bargaining tool."
"That's why you were taken in," Bucky sighed. "To silence the researchers. And to be the scapegoat if things went wrong."
Nikolai looked over at Alyona's prone body. "I'm sick of being a tool," he declared. "A tool for the Red Room. A tool for Hydra."
"Not anymore," Bucky said with a soft expression. "I'm taking you to Wakanda. They can remove..."
"Thawing process at ninety percent," the voice reported.
Bucky looked over at the capsule as the ice within cleared, revealing the visage of its occupant. His eyes widened in shock and he rushed toward it to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him.
"Who is it?" Nikolai asked. "You know him?"
Bucky simply stared at the man. "I don't believe it."
Nikolai frowned. "What is it?"
"This man," Bucky said with a bewildered expression. "This man was dead."
"Thawing Process complete."
The fluid began to drain from the capsule.
