Steve had just enough time to get back to the Avengers Tower and confirmed with everyone that he hadn't been the only one to receive the quest prompt before someone else appeared. Or, more accurately, two individuals appeared. One was Fury and the other was the woman who had stood near him on the stage during the speech.
"Hey, Fury. What's going on?" Tony spoke up first, which didn't really surprise Steve because Tony had actually met the man in real life while helping program Redemption.
Fury glanced at his female companion before he spoke. "That's what I need to talk to you about." He looked at everyone else in the room suspiciously. "Can you trust them?" Fury asked and Tony nodded.
"Absolutely." He promised and Fury nodded. He did something on his menu that they couldn't see then met each person's eyes with a terrifying expression on his face.
"What I am about to tell you does not leave this room and will not be told to anyone else." He began. The Avengers looked at each other before they nodded. Fury took a breath. "What happened today was not scheduled or planned."
The gasps from around the room were audible and Steve frowned. "Excuse me, but I got a quest notification. How was this not planned?" He asked, feeling only slightly bad for interrupting. At least Fury didn't seem upset.
"Maybe that isn't the right way to explain. It wasn't planned by us." He gestured to himself and the woman. "It wasn't planned by SHIELD."
"Then who…?" Steve started.
Tony answered even before Steve could finish. "Red Skull. It had to be. No one else has the access necessary to do this."
"Not even you?" Fury asked and Tony gave him a look that said 'I don't like what you're implying'.
"I mean, yes, but you really think I would? There's zero reason for me to it." Tony sounded disgusted, but Fury shook his head.
"I believe you, but I had to be sure. But the question now is what do we do. Obviously they have something planned for the game and while that alone wouldn't bother me so much, what terrifies me is that they've changed the settings. Normally getting shot like I did would decrease a player's health and there might be a little bit of discomfort, but we've massively limited it to avoid any damage to a player's real body or mind and they certainly shouldn't be feeling real pain. But today, it felt like I'd actually been shot." Fury explained and Tony's expression shifted to one of horror.
"You don't think Red Skull was actually trying to kill you, do you? I mean, Pierce is terrible but even he's not that evil." Tony didn't sound so sure though, and based on Fury's expression Fury wasn't confident in that either.
"They have plenty of motivation to and it only makes sense. If I die Red Skull would hold power over Redemption and would be able to make a significant amount of money off of the game. But let's move on to the shooter for a second. Captain, I believe you saw him?" Fury asked and Steve nodded.
"I did. Not well, but I did." He confirmed.
"What was he like?" Fury asked. "Could you tell if he was an NPC or not?"
Steve shook his head. "I don't know if he was an NPC, but he was skilled. I saw where he was and that shot would be tricky to make even with stat boosts or other bonuses. He was dressed in all black, had shoulder length brown hair, and a metal left arm that even caught my shield when I'd thrown it at full strength. In the brief glimpse I got of his face I saw he was wearing a mask, but then he threw the shield back hard enough I slid backwards. It even took my breath away. And I could barely keep up when I was chasing him. There's only one NPC and maybe a handful of players I've ever met who could do that." Steve informed them.
"Bucky?" Sam guessed gently and Steve nodded.
Tony was pacing and spoke up without stopping. "I mean, that makes sense. If Red Skull is responsible it only makes sense they'd use the same coding for the Winter Soldier that they did for Bucky rather than write a whole new one. God, Bucky might have just been the test to see what they could even program an AI to do. If they could use one for this or if they'd have to find someone willing and probably pay them to shoot Fury in-game."
"Bucky?" Fury questioned.
"Oh, sorry, sir. James Buchanan Barnes? He was an important NPC during the War. Rescuing him was the first step in taking down HYDRA and then he helped take down the rest of the bases until he died during one of the last missions." Steve offered. It hurt less to talk about than he expected but it still made his chest ache.
"Ah, yes. Red Skull designed that whole story, if I remember correctly." Fury was quiet for a moment before he looked at Tony. "Stark, could you rework the code and fix this?"
Tony nodded. "Probably. But Red Skull wouldn't let me anywhere near their network hub and I'll need direct access." Tony explained.
"That might be a problem." The woman who had arrived with Fury finally spoke up as she closed down her menu. "I can't log out." She announced.
The silence in the room was terrifying and no one moved for a long time. Tony broke the stillness first, to pull up his own menu. He spent several minutes working with it while everyone watched only for him to shake his head. "No luck. This was changed on a code level and none of the admin permissions I've got will fix it from here. I need direct access to the code."
Fury and the woman shared a look. "We might be able to get you that." He said.
"Oooh! Do I get to finally see inside the Triskelion?" Tony looked very excited.
"What's the Triskelion?" Bruce asked tentatively when no one else did.
"It's an internal access hub we created so admins and programmers could adjust Redemption's settings without leaving VR. But the Red Skull will know that's our only access point from here so it's bound to be well guarded." The woman explained.
"I'm sure we can get in. I'll help fight." Steve promised.
"I can't ask any of you to do that. With the settings altered I don't know what would happen to your physical body if you were to die right now." Fury stated but Steve just stood and picked up his shield.
"It's a risk I'm willing to take. If we don't fix this nearly a million players will be trapped in the game. We can't not try. And besides, objectively I'm one of the best fighters in the game and I don't know if anyone else would be able to hold up to the Winter Soldier. Maybe Thor, but he's not here. So I'm fighting." Steve insisted.
Fury studied him for a moment before he nodded. "Alright. Stark, without you this plan doesn't happen, but…"
"But nothing. I'm in." Tony agreed, more serious that Steve had maybe ever heard him, and Fury nodded once.
"Thank you. The rest of you can join or not, I leave that to your discretion. I won't make anyone take the risk." Fury said. Slowly he looked around the room at each individual and one by one they nodded. Steve had the sudden realization that he could lose these people for real; Tony, Sam, Bruce, Natasha, Clint. Practically all of his close friends. All he could think was 'I'm glad Thor and the Howlies aren't here', even if in his heart he desperately wished Bucky was by his side because if they fought together there was no way they would lose.