Dropping in.

The power was not completely out, it had only been rerouted from non-essentially places throughout the base. It Viper's mind, it seemed like it would make her less of a target. Perhaps it would. When HYDRA was attacked by those Ultron bots, Viper had sealed the base once the odds became less favorable and the death count spiked. All exits and entrances were sealed and disabled, virtually locking the entire place down. She had given the remaining agents the option of staying, but, not surprisingly, none took her up on the offer and left her to her fate. HYDRA was destroyed, Viper just refused to accept it. Perhaps this base would be her tomb. Or perhaps she would live another hundred years, allowing those robots to rust, die, or be destroyed and she would emerge from beneath her rock, like the immortal head of the mythological hydra. She certainly had enough food and time still seemed to be on her side.

Currently, Viper was in her office, opening a bottle of brandy and toasting her defeat when the security cameras by the front entrance notified her of movement. Pulling up the feed, the glass slipped from her hand. It was Jessie. She was alive...

No. no, Viper had seen her die. She had watched as those damn machines had destroyed her utterly, vaporizing her on the spot. There wasn't even so much as a smudge on the ground when they were done with her. This had to be a trick. She had seen prototypes that could disguise themselves as humans. Perhaps this was a trick to lure Viper out into the open, or perhaps it was an assassin sent to wipe her out completely. If that was the case, Viper would gladly show Ultron that she was not someone who would just easily roll over and die.

Pistol in hand, loaded with armor-piercing, explosive rounds, Viper quietly slipped through the corridors, using the ample shadows as cover. It didn't take long to find the duplicate, as it was just standing there, looking around at everything, as if it were confused. Perhaps it had been damaged earlier, not that it mattered. Aiming at the creature's head, Viper carefully squeezed off three shots in rapid succession.

She moved. Just before Viper had fired, the duplicate had moved and dodged her shots. How... she hadn't made a single sound. Viper knew she had been quiet. Enhanced hearing? Night-vision? How had it known? Better yet, why was it avoiding her, rather than just coming in for the kill? To make matter worse, it spoke.

Viper chuckled harshly to herself when she heard those words. "Mother? You call me mother now? Cute. Did you really think playing that would cause me to hesitate? The real Jessica hates me. Malfunctioning piece of scrap," she muttered to herself as she ducked down, dashing for a new vantage point.

The room had gone quiet and she couldn't see her opponent anymore. Viper listened for anything that would give away her position, but there was nothing except for her own soft breathing. This thing thought it was Jessica. It moved like her, acted like her, and if it had her abilities.... Viper aimed upwards, above her and spotted the things on the ceiling. With so many variables and coincidences, her brain still refused to believe this was the real thing. "Jessica Drew is dead. I saw you kill her, along with Danvers and others. You want me alive? Is that why you won't kill me? I refuse to be taken, robot." Again, she fired at the thing on the ceiling, making sure to count her bullets. If need be, she'd leave the last for herself.

The shock of bio-electricity hurt. By the void did it hurt, sending Viper crashing to the floor. But it was a pain she welcomed, as odd as it sounded, for it was a familiar sensation. No one could duplicate Jessie's bio-electricity exactly, not even the Skrull queen. It was like a fingerprint and she had been shocked enough in the past to recognize it instantly.

It took her a few moments to understand, but she soon realized that the... that this.... Jessica, as she insisted on calling herself, was talking to her, babbling nonsense about how she had killed Strucker and obtained the cosmic cube to allow them to rule the world. Oh, that would be a wonderful dream. One that made her laugh, which sent her into a coughing fit due to her body still spasming thanks to Jessica's venom blast.

And she was Jessica, just not the one Viper was used to, or so she was starting to assume. "You.... you are on the wrong earth, child. HYDRA does not rule this world. Nor have I gone off the deep end. You touched the cube, yes?" she asked, sitting up and trying not to be sick. "Somehow, you've been brought here, to a word ending. Ultron.... I assume you have that thing where you are from.... it's taken over. As for HYDRA? You are looking at the sole remaining member." Viper then looked at the woman before her for a long, quiet time. She always knew her Jessie, no matter what. But she had to be sure.

"If you are who you say you are, what are the three things I would never say or do? And what is the one piece of art I have in my office that I would never get rid of?"

"Unless we find the cube, which... I have no idea where it is... or a dimensional portal device, I do not know how to get you back to your world." It was a sad realization, one Viper hated to think about. Jessie was from a world where HYDRA had been on top, and know she was thrust into this hell pit. "If we do find a way out and gain access to your world, promise to take me with you. I would rather live in anonymity there, rather than here with a price on my head." At least there she would be safe.

Viper couldn't help but chuckle at her words. "If there are just the two of us as HYDRA, that would mean I am Supreme HYDRA by default, and I can make you Madame HYDRA. You still retain your title, as did I, even when I wasn't working for them."

As for the answers Jessie provided, Viper nodded and smiled a little. The three things were easy, if a bit obvious, but she could hear the determination from those words in the girl's voice. As for the piece of art? It was a bit surprising that this other Viper would have a relationship with Keniuchio, but there would be time to ask about that later. Yes, the painting was cheesy, Viper had forced herself not to roll her eyes when she was given it. It had been done early in their relationship, when Keniuchio was madly devoted to her, but over the years, she had grown to appreciate and even love it. After all, it was from a man she could never be with.

Struggling to her feet, Viper nodded. "I believe you. For now at least. But, keep this in the front of your mind; if you betray me in any way, daughter from another timeline or not, you should know that I do not keep traitors in my presence for long." Offering the girl a hand up, she gestured towards her office. "Come, let's compare notes and get you up to date and fed."

"We can compare notes about the war later if you like." Even if the war had gone similarly, they were still half a world away from any place Schmidt used as a base. With limited technology and the constant danger of Ultron, it seemed like an impossible journey. "Two weeks with technology and digging equipment." Viper's voice sounded hollow and tired as that goal seemed pointless now. She felt her world and reality start to crumble around her. This all seemed so completely hopeless now. She really would die here on this damn island. The corridors seemed to close in around her as they made their way back to her office, causing Viper to walk that much faster, trying to escape a mental state she didn't want to be a part of at the moment.

"You.... you killed Fury?" she asked once she had calmed down and poured herself a drink. "My Jessie... she fell for his words and turned against HYDRA right then. Yet she still wore the Agent Arachne suit all throughout her heroic career. I never understand why."

Slumping in her chair, she indicated to Jessica to make herself at home. "There is plenty of food and drink. We have running water and electricity, as well as back up generators if the power should go out. Forgive me for thinking you would betray me. It's a habit of mine. Years of paranoia and bad partnerships. I doubt your mother had to deal with that." Sighing, Viper forced herself to think on how to leave Madripoor. She had the feeling that this daughter of hers would not content herself with living out the rest of her days here.

Viper cocked an eyebrow at Jessie. "What escape plan do you have in mind?" Truthfully, Viper hadn't really been thinking of ways to get off of Madripoor. She had been too preoccupied with the complete obliteration of her life. Maybe, in a few weeks, she would have started to think of how to move on. But then again, maybe not.

"I remember that order. It was a disappointment on our end that started a cascade effect which ended with many people dead and a HYDRA base destroyed." She kept quiet about Jessie's childhood. Viper had never been truly certain about being Jessica's mother; she remembered buts and pieces, but whether it was true or if she had fabricated those memories, or worse yet, had her mind tampered with by an elder god just because it gave him pleasure to do so. "Was she a good mother? Before you got sick." She didn't know why she asked such a question. This was another woman on a different world, one who was entirely successful in her life, even retaining a child's love.

"An unquestioning and mute assassin?" She smiled at that. "That's what I had insisted on your original purpose to be. An assassin. I thought that being a spy, while your power set would prove useful, unless trained properly, learning information from the enemy might become dangerous. Do you enjoy your work?"

Midori wasn't sure how it had happened. One moment she was both enjoying dinner and playfully toying with James Rogers, the next generation of Captain America and then, well... neither he, nor the restaurant was there anymore. At first she thought it was a trick, some device that James was using to disorient her, but he had never been the type to use such things against her. Plus there was also the unsettling sensation of her falling. Trick or not, Midori knew enough to trust her senses, whether external or internal, and they were all screaming that she was not standing on the rooftop restaurant.

Unable to see the ground, or anything for that matter, the young woman did the only thing she thought would be useful in a freefalling situation; she activated her mutant power and a energy field comprised of tachyons surrounded her entire body. It wouldn't necessarily protect her entirely, but at least if she were to fall on anything sharp or deadly, her landing would be cushioned as the objects would be disintegrated.

The fall didn't last long, though the impact was harder than she had expected. Opening her eyes, the first thing Midori noticed was that she was inside and her mother.... was looking rather shocked. No, she was... she was younger than she should be. Midori had seen pictures of her at that age but.... Maybe she had hit her head or was seeing things or perhaps it was a Pit Viper of her mother's. That still made no sense. Blinking, she looked at what she had landed on. It was a desk, the wood partially gone, revealing the untarnished metal beneath. Likely a adamantium or vibranium alloy if her throbbing head was any indication. "I'm sorry, mother. I don't know what happened," she said, slipping off the desk. "I was with Rogers, taunting him and then... he must have had a teleporter."

A bit of movement caught her eye. Turning, Midori came face to face with the last person she ever wanted to see. "What the hell are you doing here? I thought I told you never to come near my family again!" she asked Jessica sternly, her headache suddenly forgotten.