[ This is worse than he expected. The measured understanding, the willingness to withhold blame — won't someone just tell him off? Why pry open the complexities?
Only he knows why. 'Cause it matters. Because it's not just about him. He said it himself before: Resonances between worlds, overlaps, every possible connection is worth exploring on behalf of individual and collective interests. He cards a hand through his already disheveled hair and exhales, giving in to the weight of this conversation. His gait slows on the bridge, but he doesn't stop. ]
Okay. Okay.
[ if he says it twice, maybe it will be okay. From then on, he manages an even tone. ]
As an Agent of SHIELD, I'm sworn to protect the earth against domestic, global, and extraterrestrial threats. [ what it says on the tin, really. ] I only began working on an artificial intelligence project at the behest of my mentor, Dr Holden Radcliffe. [ a name tinged with bitterness. ] For some time, he worked in secret, knowing that our organisation wouldn't fund anything risky after we made very public mistakes in the years prior. [ what with being HYDRA all along. ] Together, we'd been working on a virtual reality training simulator for months. Called it the Framework. I saw him more than my bloody girlfriend, sorting it out. He was —
[ He lifts both hands, grasping at nothing, unable to find the words. He was a genius, maybe. Or like a father to me, too. It doesn't matter, anyway. This should be about the truth, not his feelings. And Radcliffe was, not is. ]
By the time I found out what he was working on after hours, he'd already made AIDA. [ he swallows, then, unable to brush past her name — one of her names — easily. ] When I discovered her, I threatened to report him to our superiors, but — he convinced me that the aim of this project, of AIDA and any android like her was to be a shield. [ a look to Markus, finally, snapping to attention. His voice ticks up, a shade desperate to communicate that he thought this, at least, was right at the time, however horrible it may seem. ] Our agents were dying in the field. The threats were getting bigger. Inhuman, alien, godlike. This was a safeguard against that, just like the virtual training simulator. Agents who could recover from injuries immediately, be equipped with all the medical knowledge of a trained doctor and keep a cool head, who could keep going, indefatigable. [ pausing. ]
And if I grassed him up, our superiors would dismantle AIDA, too.
no subject
Only he knows why. 'Cause it matters. Because it's not just about him. He said it himself before: Resonances between worlds, overlaps, every possible connection is worth exploring on behalf of individual and collective interests. He cards a hand through his already disheveled hair and exhales, giving in to the weight of this conversation. His gait slows on the bridge, but he doesn't stop. ]
Okay. Okay.
[ if he says it twice, maybe it will be okay. From then on, he manages an even tone. ]
As an Agent of SHIELD, I'm sworn to protect the earth against domestic, global, and extraterrestrial threats. [ what it says on the tin, really. ] I only began working on an artificial intelligence project at the behest of my mentor, Dr Holden Radcliffe. [ a name tinged with bitterness. ] For some time, he worked in secret, knowing that our organisation wouldn't fund anything risky after we made very public mistakes in the years prior. [ what with being HYDRA all along. ] Together, we'd been working on a virtual reality training simulator for months. Called it the Framework. I saw him more than my bloody girlfriend, sorting it out. He was —
[ He lifts both hands, grasping at nothing, unable to find the words. He was a genius, maybe. Or like a father to me, too. It doesn't matter, anyway. This should be about the truth, not his feelings. And Radcliffe was, not is. ]
By the time I found out what he was working on after hours, he'd already made AIDA. [ he swallows, then, unable to brush past her name — one of her names — easily. ] When I discovered her, I threatened to report him to our superiors, but — he convinced me that the aim of this project, of AIDA and any android like her was to be a shield. [ a look to Markus, finally, snapping to attention. His voice ticks up, a shade desperate to communicate that he thought this, at least, was right at the time, however horrible it may seem. ] Our agents were dying in the field. The threats were getting bigger. Inhuman, alien, godlike. This was a safeguard against that, just like the virtual training simulator. Agents who could recover from injuries immediately, be equipped with all the medical knowledge of a trained doctor and keep a cool head, who could keep going, indefatigable. [ pausing. ]
And if I grassed him up, our superiors would dismantle AIDA, too.
[ even though she didn't do anything wrong. ]