Chapter 32: The Frozen Requiem
The blizzard intensified, masking the sounds of the dying facility. While Steve and Bucky dragged both versions of Dugan toward the relative cover of a concrete bunker, Arthur stood before the main entrance of the Vorkuta Cryo-Vault. The air here was thick with liquid nitrogen—a freezing white mist that signaled the mass execution of the "Archived" prisoners.
The Duel of the Dead
Arthur's consciousness was still half-submerged in the facility's mainframe. The Neural Echo of Thorne wasn't just a guard; it was a ghost in the machine, a sentient virus that had spent months feeding on the trauma of the prisoners.
"You save one man, but you lose a thousand," the Echo hissed through the speakers of the vault. "The 'Fixed Point' isn't just a person, Archivist. It's an outcome. These men were meant to be the fuel for a new age. If they can't be Hydra's, they will be nothing."
[ SYSTEM ALERT ]
Cryo-Vent Status: 85% Complete.
Casualty Projection: 1,400 lives in 120 seconds.
Condition: Core Integrity at 35%. Large-scale spatial manipulation will result in [System Crash].
The Library of Souls
Arthur looked at the rows upon rows of frosted glass tanks. Through the ice, he could see the pale faces of soldiers from every nation—men who had disappeared from the history books.
"I don't need to manipulate space to save them," Arthur whispered, his eyes turning a deep, matte black. "I just need to change the definition of 'Frozen'."
[ SKILL ACTIVE: ARCHIVIST'S AUTHORITY — SYSTEM OVERRIDE ]
Instead of fighting the Neural Echo for control of the physical vents, Arthur used his S+ Intelligence to rewrite the cryogenic protocol itself. He didn't stop the venting; he altered the chemical composition of the remaining coolant.
By shifting the pressure-temperature variables in the system's logic, he forced the nitrogen to transition from a gas back into a stable, life-preserving liquid, effectively "locking" the prisoners in a deeper, more sustainable stasis that didn't require Hydra's power grid.
The Ghost's Last Stand
The Echo of Thorne shrieked in digital agony. "You are cheating! You are altering the records!"
"I am the Record," Arthur roared. He lunged forward, not with his body, but with his staff. He didn't hit the doors; he struck the main data-junction.
[ ABILITY: DATA LEECH — PURGE ]
Arthur didn't just drain the Echo; he fed it the weight of the 18.5% Divergence. He forced the ghost to experience the crushing reality of a timeline that no longer wanted it. The Echo flickered, turned into a mess of corrupted green pixels, and vanished into the void.
[ QUEST COMPLETED: THE FROZEN GHOST ]
Results: 1,142 Prisoners saved (Stabilized in Deep Stasis).
Reward: 10,000 DP.
Bonus: [Siberian Data-Core] extracted.
The Toll of the Archive
As the facility's lights flickered and died, Arthur collapsed to one knee. His [Archivist Combat Shroud] was tattered, and the Tesseract shard in his staff was a dim, guttering spark.
Steve Rogers ran into the vault, his shield glowing with the last of the spatial-diffusion charge. He stopped, looking at the silent, safe tanks. "You did it. They're... they're breathing."
"They're sleeping, Steve," Arthur rasped, his voice barely a whisper. "But they're alive. We need to call Howard. We need a fleet of medical transports. And we need to get the 'Other' Dugan somewhere warm."
Arthur looked at his hand—it was translucent, flickering like the digital ghosts he had just fought.
[ CRITICAL WARNING ]
Core Integrity: 28%.
Status: Temporal Instability Detected.
Message: The Archivist is becoming a 'Record Only'. Physical presence failing.
Current Status:
DP Balance: 15,200.
Sync Level: 56%.
Immediate Threat: Arthur's body is beginning to fade from the 1944 reality.