Chapter 464
"You’ve condemned what you did in the past and called it foolish. So tell me, in detail, what exactly do you intend to do differently this time?"
Malik finally understood the situation.
Everything Umbrella had done was aimed at achieving that lofty ideal of making humanity better. And now they were choosing to cooperate with Hydra.
Which meant Umbrella needed Hydra’s help.
Malik had no intention of blindly lending that help without understanding exactly what he was signing up for.
Besides, Hive’s return was finally beginning to look possible. If that happened, Hydra’s dream of ruling the world might not be far behind.
Malik already considered world domination an inevitable future.
So he had even more reason to understand how Umbrella intended to "improve" humanity and whether that improvement might interfere with the empire he expected to rule.
Evenson understood perfectly well that an old fox like Malik wasn’t going to believe him because of a few pretty speeches.
But if Malik didn’t believe him, how was Evenson supposed to get the most use out of him?
"Sixty years ago, we made that decision while blinded by arrogance and convinced of our own superiority. We also allowed far too many irrelevant factors to complicate what should have been a simple problem."
Evenson sighed.
"Our cause had barely begun before it ended in disaster. We thought we were bringing salvation to humanity. Instead, we brought suffering and trauma."
He paused.
"To be completely honest, there were people within our organization who spent years resenting Hydra for betraying us. But even then, we all understood something."
Evenson’s gaze hardened.
"Even without Hydra’s betrayal, we would have failed."
Malik’s thoughts were considerably less charitable.
No kidding.
The organization Evenson was referring to probably represented barely one percent of the world’s population. Three percent at most.
And somehow they’d decided they could turn everyone else into raw material for soap.
What did they think they were operating, a Tiger tank crossed with a Death Star?
"So this time, we’ve discarded the distractions and focused on what actually matters."
The melancholy expression vanished from Evenson’s face.
"We’re no longer concerned with economic systems, political ideologies, cultural backgrounds, historical grievances, religious beliefs, or anything else of that nature."
"Wait."
Stephanie raised a hesitant hand.
She looked genuinely confused.
"But aren’t those things what define a people in the first place?"
The other points were debatable, but she couldn’t imagine a civilization simply discarding its culture and history and remaining intact.
Wouldn’t it cease to be the same people?
"You’re right."
Evenson nodded.
"Those things matter. But they’re all capable of changing. They’re not fundamental."
He pointed toward Malik.
"Suppose that one day your father, Mr. Malik, leads Hydra to victory and takes control of the entire world. Do you think the things I just mentioned would remain unchanged?"
Malik immediately understood.
If Hydra conquered the world, the political systems would obviously be rebuilt around Hydra’s rule. The economic infrastructure would fall under Hydra’s control. With the entire planet unified under one government, some degree of linguistic standardization would inevitably follow.
History and culture would be rewritten wherever they threatened Hydra’s legitimacy.
Religion would be tolerated when convenient, altered when necessary, and eliminated if it became a serious obstacle.
Stephanie thought about it for a long time.
Then she asked quietly,
"Then what exactly do you consider fundamental?"
Malik straightened as well.
Whatever Evenson said next was clearly important.
"Genes."
The answer came immediately.
"That’s the foundation. As long as we hold on to that, everything else can change."
Stephanie and Malik exchanged a look.
Of course.
Umbrella was, after all, a company famous for biological science.
And genetics was about as fundamental as one could get. Go any deeper and you were practically talking about molecular structure.
"That’s why I said our decision sixty years ago was foolish."
Evenson’s voice carried a hint of irritation now.
"Yes, different populations have genetic variations. But the differences are microscopic compared with what we have in common. They’re thinner than a thread."
He shook his head.
"We’re all human, yet we tried to divide humanity into the superior and the inferior. It was nonsense from the beginning."
Then his voice suddenly rose.
"Which means..."
Malik and Stephanie both flinched.
"If there is no inherent superiority between different peoples, and the circumstances that create social divisions can change, then there is no reason to exclude or eliminate anyone."
Evenson’s expression became firm.
"So our strategy this time is simple."
"Acceptance."
"Integration."
"Coexistence between former enemies."
He spread his hands.
"Our organization has always been committed to making humanity better. And the ideal human civilization we envision is one that abandons its divisions, integrates into a unified whole, and stops measuring people against one another as superior or inferior."
"One nation."
"One people."
"One civilization."
Evenson’s expression suddenly lightened.
"See? That’s another thing we have in common."
He looked directly at Malik.
"We both want a unified world."
"And right now, that’s more necessary than ever."
He gestured vaguely toward the world beyond the room.
"Look at the Kree. The people who created Hive built an empire spanning multiple worlds. Humanity has one planet, yet we’ve divided it into dozens of competing nations."
He shrugged.
"Doesn’t that strike you as a little embarrassing?"
Malik laughed.
"Then cooperating with Hydra really was the right choice."
Ever since Hive’s return had begun to look possible, Malik’s confidence had been steadily climbing. In his mind, world domination was practically within reach.
"Of course."
Evenson had no intention of bringing him back down to earth.
"You’re the people with the best chance of making it happen. Who else would we work with?"
He gave Malik an amused look.
"S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
A beat.
"Why would we bother? Isn’t S.H.I.E.L.D. basically one of Hydra’s subsidiaries anyway?"
Malik burst out laughing.
It was an excellent joke, particularly because there was more truth in it than either man was willing to say aloud.
S.H.I.E.L.D. appeared powerful from the outside, but Hydra had already infiltrated it deeply. Worse, the branch controlling it wasn’t even the entirety of Hydra.
It was merely one division.
Once his laughter faded, Malik’s expression grew serious again.
Ruling the world wasn’t going to be easy.
There were countless problems to solve, including the enormous question of how to actually merge humanity into a single society.
Still, Malik didn’t oppose the idea.
Quite the opposite.
If humanity genuinely became unified, governing it would be considerably easier.
"What you’re proposing makes sense," he said. "But integrating entire populations isn’t exactly easy."
He leaned forward.
"Do you have a concrete plan?"
"Of course we do."
Evenson smiled.
"But..."
He looked directly at Malik.
"If we’re going to work together, then we should actually cooperate. We help each other."
His smile widened slightly.
"And human integration isn’t only our responsibility. You’re planning to become the future ruler of the world, aren’t you?"
"So what are you planning to do about it?"
There was a principle every good Warlock eventually learned:
If you simply force your ideas into someone else’s head, you’re doing the easy version of persuasion.
The real trick was getting them to participate.
Once they started building the argument themselves, they would do half the convincing for you.