Chapter 29: The Winter Thread
The aftermath of Neu-Berlin's collapse left a hollow silence over the Allied command. While the world celebrated the sudden, inexplicable "glitch" that had paralyzed the Hydra front lines, Arthur sat in the back of a medical transport, his eyes fixed on the crystallized Black Box in his palm.
Steve and Bucky were nearby, their faces lit by the dim orange glow of the transport's interior. They had survived the escape pods, but the weight of what they had seen—the thousands of minds trapped in a digital jar—had changed them.
The Decryption of the Void
Arthur didn't wait for a lab. He tapped into his S+ Intelligence, using his own neural pathways as a processor to bypass the final physical locks of Zola's black box.
[ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ]
Analyzing: [Zola's Black Box]... 100% Success.
New Data Fragment Found: The Siberian Log.
Warning: This data contains a 'Fixed Point' of high temporal volatility.
A holographic projection flickered into life between the three men. It wasn't a city or a weapon; it was a map of a desolate, frozen mountain range in Siberia—Vorkuta.
"He said he was the shield against the Winter," Arthur muttered, his voice gravelly. "I thought he was talking about the season. He wasn't."
The Siberian Revelation
The data revealed a project that Zola had hidden even from the Red Skull. It was a cryogenic facility designed to perfect the Super Soldier serum through a different lens: Total Erasure.
"They weren't looking for leaders like Steve," Arthur explained, pointing to the blueprints of a metal arm and a chemical brainwashing chair. "They were looking for shadows. Assassins who could be frozen, thawed out for a single mission, and then put back on the shelf. They called it the Winter Soldier Program."
Bucky's face went pale. He looked at his own hands, then at the map. "They were going to use the people they kidnapped. The ones Zola 'archived'... if their bodies were still viable, they were sent here."
The Divergence Spike
Suddenly, the System interface in Arthur's vision turned a violent, bleeding red.
[ DIVERGENCE ALERT ]
Current Divergence: 11.5% —> 15.8% (SPIKING).
Reason: The existence of the Winter Soldier program in 1944 is a massive deviation from the original timeline (1945+).
Fixed Point Conflict: Bucky Barnes must fall from the train.
Arthur's heart skipped. He looked at Bucky, who was standing right there, healthy and alive. By saving Bucky at Schloss Klessheim and destroying Neu-Berlin, Arthur had pushed the "Winter Soldier" destiny onto someone else.
"Steve, we have to move," Arthur said, standing up despite his injuries. "Hydra knows the Hive-Link is dead. They're going to purge the Siberian facility to cover their tracks. If we don't get there, they'll kill everyone in those cryo-tanks—and they'll activate the one 'Asset' they already finished."
The New Mission
[ QUEST INITIATED: THE FROZEN GHOST ]
Objective: Infiltrate the Vorkuta Research Station.
Primary Target: Secure the Cryo-Chambers.
Hidden Objective: Identify the 'Asset' (The Substitute Winter Soldier).
Reward: 10,000 DP & [Cryo-Stasis Shielding] for the team.
"We don't have a plane that can get us to Siberia in time," Steve said, his tactical mind already racing.
"We don't need a plane," Arthur replied, his staff beginning to hum with a cold, blue light. "I've got 18,200 DP and a Tesseract shard. I'm going to fold the map."
Current Status:
DP Balance: 18,200.
Sync Level: 53%.
Condition: Focused / System Strain.