Nick Fury had read enough intelligence reports over the years to know when something was wrong.
The official report sitting on his desk was perfectly reasonable. A violent incident at an isolated farmhouse. Multiple fatalities. Local law enforcement responding first. SHIELD arriving afterward because several witnesses had reported seeing what might qualify as an 0-8-4. The responding agents found nothing supernatural. No unusual radiation. No exotic materials. No alien technology. No anomalous biological samples. Nothing.
It was...
Perfect.
Too perfect.
Fury leaned back in his chair, reading the report for the fourth time.
Every piece of evidence agreed with every other piece.
Every witness gave almost identical statements.
Every timeline lined up.
Nothing contradicted itself.
That was exactly what bothered him.
Perfect reports usually meant someone had cleaned them up.
He opened another file containing the original emergency calls made before SHIELD had arrived.
One civilian claimed to have seen a gigantic reptilian creature tearing apart the farmhouse.
Another described a monster nearly the size of a truck.
A third caller was screaming so loudly dispatch could barely understand them.
Every single witness later denied making those statements.
Not one remembered seeing any creature.
Not one remembered calling emergency services.
Medical examinations showed perfectly healthy brains.
No drugs.
No alcohol.
No signs of mental illness.
It was as if several people had simply... forgotten.
Nick Fury slowly closed the folder.
"I don't believe in coincidences."
One of his senior agents looked over.
"You think they're lying, Director?"
"No."
Fury tapped the folder.
"I think they genuinely believe they're telling the truth."
Silence settled across the room.
Fury stood and walked toward the large monitor displaying satellite coverage of the farmhouse.
There was another inconsistency.
For almost six minutes, one of SHIELD's observation satellites had suffered unexplained signal corruption directly above the incident.
Not enough to trigger alarms.
Just enough to prevent anyone from seeing the area clearly.
An unfortunate technical malfunction.
Again...
Too perfect.
Someone had either been incredibly lucky...
Or someone had deliberately blinded SHIELD.
Neither possibility made him happy.
"Run it again."
The footage replayed.
Static.
Corrupted imagery.
Missing frames.
Then everything returned to normal exactly as SHIELD arrived.
No debris.
No strange vehicles.
No combat.
Nothing.
Fury crossed his arms.
"There was something here."
One of the analysts hesitated.
"But there's no evidence, sir."
Fury gave a small smile.
"Exactly."
He had spent decades hunting organizations that wanted to stay hidden.
HYDRA.
A.I.M.
The Ten Rings.
Countless intelligence agencies.
This...
This felt different.
Whoever had cleaned the farmhouse hadn't simply erased evidence.
They had erased it professionally.
Military precision.
Professional logistics.
Resources.
Planning.
Enough manpower to clean an entire battlefield before SHIELD could arrive.
That wasn't the work of a small group.
That required an organization.
A large one.
One with discipline.
One that clearly knew SHIELD existed.
Fury turned toward Maria Hill.
"I want every unexplained supernatural incident from the last twenty years."
"You think they're connected?"
"I don't know."
He looked once more at the satellite imagery.
"But if somebody is collecting these... things..."
"...then they're doing it faster than we are."
His eye narrowed.
"And if they're capable of hiding from SHIELD..."
"...I want to know who they are."
Thousands of kilometers away, inside a secure Foundation facility, Darius quietly read the latest intelligence update.
Priority Intelligence Report
Subject: SHIELD
Director Nicholas Fury has initiated an independent investigation into unidentified anomalous activity. Threat Assessment: Moderate. Probability of continued investigation: 97.3%.
Darius simply nodded before forwarding the report directly to the O5 Council.
Nick Fury had noticed.
Not the Foundation.
Not yet.
But he had noticed the pattern.
That alone made him dangerous.
For the first time since arriving in this universe, the Foundation had gained an investigator capable of following their trail.
Fortunately...
The Foundation had been hiding from governments, gods, and civilizations for generations.
One determined spy director would not be enough.
At least...
That was what Darius hoped.
As the report reached the O5 Council, several new priorities immediately appeared on the agenda. Should the Foundation continue avoiding SHIELD, or begin quietly manipulating its investigations? Could Nick Fury eventually become an ally instead of an obstacle? Meanwhile, Julius was preparing another operation involving a newly discovered anomaly, and far above Earth, I had finally found something unexpected within the System Shop—an item that might dramatically change the Foundation's magical research. The next few days promised to be anything but quiet.