Chapter 28 – Item 33

Director Fury followed a rather excited S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist down a long, narrow hallway. Fury frowned, finding the scientist's overexcited behavior to be a bit unnerving.

"Might I ask what all the fuss is about?"

The scientist quickly turned to him. "Something happened with one of the specimens from the battle of New York. Item 33 I believe."

Fury just frowned even more. "There were forty-seven known confirmed alien objects on the ground after the portal closed over Manhattan. All dormant. All dead. What makes this different Dr… I'm sorry I don't think I caught your name."

"Mandrakis, sir." The scientist said. "And that's not entirely true. Item 47 was still functional."

Fury rolled his eye. "Yes, because two civilians were able to tinker it back to life. So what's the story with 33?"

The two had already arrived at the door to a laboratory, and Dr. Mandrakis just smiled and opened the door.

"Let me just show you."

Fury followed Dr. Mandrakis into the lab, and blinked at the sight he was met with. A Chitauri foot soldier, standing upright. It was clearly still dead, as the blue lights and cybernetics on its body were inactive. It was, however, hooked up to numerous wires and cables that were all leading up to a large machine behind it. That machine, in turn, seemed to be powered by a number of high-tech computer monitors being tended to by numerous S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists.

"A dead Chitauri?" Fury said, confused. "This is Item 33?"

"I know it may not seem like much now, sir." Dr. Mandrakis confessed. "But we've made some scientific progress that may make this particular specimen worth something."

Fury sighed, folding his hands behind his back. "I'm listening."

Dr. Mandrakis smiled, and went on to explain. "We've been studying the Chitauri and their technology ever since the portal closed, and what we've discovered so far is that every piece of their technology is powered by energy from the Tesseract. Not only their technology, though. The Chitauri themselves are as well."

Fury frowned. "How can that be?"

"Now that took some time to figure out." Mandrakis said. "But several autopsies and physical examinations of other dead specimens revealed to us that the Chitauri have endured extensive genetic rewrite and cybernetic augments. In fact, they have been altered to the point where they are hardly even organic life forms. It's safe to assume that they were being controlled by someone else, someone who had access to the same power that the Tesseract is made of."

"Who?" Fury asked. "Was it Loki?"

Mandrakis shrugged. "I don't know, sir. But the Chitauri were just drones. Everything they did in New York wasn't their own doing. They were being controlled, just like those drones Ivan Vanko let loose on the Stark Expo last year.

"Interesting." Fury said, rubbing his chin in thought. He then turned his gaze to the dead Chitauri in the center of the room. "So what's the story with this one?"

Dr. Mandrakis also looked at the Chitauri. "Well you see, sir, when Iron Man disposed of the missile through the portal, the nuclear explosion must have destroyed whatever it was that was feeding power into the Chitauri and their technology. In that instant, they were all rendered inoperable. However, search teams discovered this unit still active, only barely. We were able to preserve it before it could lose any more power, and brought it here."

Fury blinked. "Are you saying that this creature is still alive?"

"Not at the moment, no." Mandrakis said, shaking his head. "We were able to temporarily shut down the excess power in this specimen, and for the past month, we've been trying to figure out a way to replicate the power source and make this unit operable again. It took some time, but we were able to use some of the technology from that ship Agent Wrekk found in the Rocky Mountains last week, as ridiculous as it looked, and it was viable to it. Tony Stark even contributed some of his tech, but we made sure not to tell him what it was for, so as not to arouse suspicion. Eventually, we had enough power installed to bring this Chitauri back to life."

Fury frowned. "Is that wise? It could still be under the control of their leader. It could just attack again."

Mandrakis smirked. "We've prepared for that, sir. It took some time but we did manage to find the control conduit that linked this thing to its controller. Then, we installed a newer, more advanced conduit that we reverse engineered from the old one. Now, with the conduit connected to this machine," Mandrakis motioned towards the enormous device that the Chitauri was hooked to," we can remote control it."

Fury would have looked shocked, if he had any intention of breaking his calm stature. "Are you serious? You think you can control this thing?"

Mandrakis smiled again. "We don't think. We know. We've already tested it once or twice. I've given both runs an A plus."

Fury blinked, and then frowned. "Show me."

Mandrakis nodded. "Gladly."

Fury watched as Mandrakis walked over to one of the monitors, gently ushering the scientist that was working on it away from it. Then, he typed in a few keys, and after a few seconds, the monitor buzzed, as did the device that the Chitauri was hooked to. Then, Fury blinked when the implants on the Chitauri's body lit up, and the Chitauri shuddered before raising its head up. It looked around the room, investigating its surroundings, and then saw Dr. Mandrakis.

"Dr. Mandrakis." It said in a shrill, cybernetic voice, causing Fury to jump.

"It can talk?" He asked the doctor.

Mandrakis nodded. "It's a little something that we added to the control conduit. The Chitauri were able to communicate in their own language, but that was deleted when he removed the old control conduit."

"How intelligent have you made this thing, exactly?" Fury said, cautious.

Mandrakis shrugged. "No smarter than a fifth grader, sir. We haven't made it adaptable yet. We don't want it to become too smart just yet."

"Dr. Mandrakis," the Chitauri said again, catching the attention of the doctor and the director, "this warrior awaits your command."

Mandrakis smiled at the unit. "That's good. I just need you to answer a few questions for our friend here."

The Chitauri looked at Director Fury, and to Fury's surprise, it saluted. "Director Nick Fury."

Fury just blinked at it. "That is correct… doctor, how does…?"

"Again. Control conduit." Dr. Mandrakis said. "We've installed whatever knowledge will be relevant to it. We've made sure it sees you as an authority figure."

Fury nodded. "I see. Carry on."

The doctor turned back to the Chitauri. "What is your given title?"

The Chitauri was silent for a few moments, before speaking. "Item 33."

"What is your purpose?"

The Chitauri thought this question again. "To ensure peace, anti-terrorism, and logistical countermeasures to any world threatening crisis."

Fury blinked. "That's S.H.I.E.L.D.'s purpose."

Mandrakis nodded. "Exactly. We've made sure this specimen is loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Incredible." Fury said, finally impressed. "Why wasn't I informed of this?"

Dr. Mandrakis shrugged. "We informed Agent Wrekk first, and while she was interested in the prospect, she warned us not to tell you. She thought you'd shut this all down."

Fury smirked. "Yeah, that sounds like Archangel."

Dr. Mandrakis turned back to Item 33. "Item 33, one last question. Are you combat worthy?"

It didn't even hesitate. "I am prepared and eager for combat, Dr. Mandrakis."

Fury smiled at the creature, and then back at Mandrakis. "When exactly is this thing going to be prepared for combat and logistics?"

"Not for a while, sir." Mandrakis confessed. "Until we can create a mobile control conduit, Item 33 is going to stay stuck to this machine for some time."

"Item 33 is frustrated by this information." Item 33 said, causing the two men to blink in surprise. "Item 33 hopes Dr. Mandrakis finds a solution soon."

Dr. Mandrakis smiled sheepishly at Fury. "It still has an attitude problem."

Fury rose an eyebrow. "I see. Well, you have my permission to carry out with this, doctor. Good luck."

Dr. Mandrakis nodded. "Yes, sir."

Director Fury nodded at the scientist, and then left the room. As he left, Dr. Mandrakis turned back to Item 33, who cocked its head at the doctor in curiosity.

"Alright, buddy." Dr. Mandrakis said, rubbing his hands together. "Let's get you up and running."

Ta da. Reworked Chitauri drone. Thought it might be cool. And I added the reference to Dossier: Kirby just to add some connection.

Until more Phase Two movies come out, this fic will be entering an interlude phase. Don't expect the chapters to be very long. Review pleaz.