V.G.D. Headquarters — Sector B Employee Cafeteria
The air was thick with the rich smell of melted cheese and fried patties.
Kraglin was hunched over a table like a squirrel that hadn't eaten in three winters, fiercely battling the mountain of food stacked on his tray.
He grabbed a burger dripping with meat sauce and melted cheese and took a savage bite, not even bothering as the sauce ran down the back of his hand.
As a Ravager, Kraglin had spent most of his life drifting across the galaxy.
He'd eaten Kree nutrient paste.
Chewed synthetic protein blocks from Xandar.
And once, on some miserable unnamed rock of a planet, he'd been forced to swallow three-eyed slug worms alive.
But this…
Kraglin carefully lifted the creation known as the "Homelander Supreme Double Cheeseburger."
Two fluffy buns.
Juicy beef patties.
Molten cheese cascading down like golden lava.
Crunchy pickles.
Fresh lettuce.
He opened his mouth wide and bit down again.
"Mmgh!!"
The explosion of flavor in his mouth made his scalp tingle.
Fat and carbs merged into perfect harmony.
"Sweet heavens…"
Kraglin muttered through a mouthful of food, his eyes actually watering.
"How are the people on this planet… living so happily?"
Just as he prepared to attack a slice of pizza, the cafeteria's automatic doors slid open.
A group of people walked in.
The Vought heroes, fresh from watching the press conference broadcast.
Their emotions were still caught in that storm of tragic heroism and excitement, voices overlapping as they talked.
"That was the greatest speech I've ever heard!" Angelica wiped tears from her face.
"Step over my corpse and move forward… God, look at me, I'm soaked."
She glanced at her reflection in a spoon.
"I mean my face. My makeup's ruined."
"Of course it was," Pietro said proudly.
"Boss has always been that cool."
Then he suddenly paused.
His eyes landed on the wild-looking alien devouring food in the corner.
"Hey… isn't that that guy?"
Pietro pointed.
"The blue dude's sidekick… what's his name… Klin?"
"It's Kraglin," Steve Rogers corrected calmly.
He walked over with a tray in hand.
"Hello, Mr. Kraglin."
"Getting used to the food here?"
"Used to it? This is incredible!"
Kraglin swallowed his food and wiped grease from his mouth with his sleeve.
"I'm seriously thinking about asking Yondu if we can just station ourselves on Earth permanently."
"Really. Just keep the meals coming."
The heroes exchanged awkward looks.
Natasha Romanoff raised one eyebrow and leaned against the table, arms crossed.
Her voice carried a hint of pity.
"Um… Mr. Kraglin."
"Hm?"
Kraglin grabbed a piece of fried chicken.
"What's up, beautiful?"
"You… didn't watch the livestream?"
"Livestream?"
Kraglin blinked.
"What livestream?"
Natasha sighed and pointed at the giant screen mounted on the cafeteria wall.
The broadcast replay showed the midnight-blue Homelander One blasting upward, its engines blazing as it tore through the clouds.
"They left," Natasha said.
"Twenty minutes ago."
"Left?"
Kraglin blinked again.
The chicken nugget slipped from his fingers and fell back onto his plate.
"Who left?"
"The ship," Pietro explained helpfully.
"The blue guy, the raccoon, and the tree."
"Oh—and our boss and the boss lady."
Kraglin stared at the screen.
His brain seemed to lag behind reality.
"The ship left…"
"Yondu left…"
He muttered to himself.
Then suddenly he jumped out of his chair, knocking his tray onto the floor.
"What about me?!"
He pointed at his own nose, voice cracking in panic.
"I was eating a burger!!"
"They forgot me?!"
"That's impossible!"
"Yondu wouldn't leave me behind! I'm his first mate!"
He frantically searched his pockets for a communicator.
Trying to contact the ship.
"Bzzzz… bzzzz…"
Only static.
"The signal's gone," Tony Stark said casually, sipping his coffee.
He delivered the brutal truth with clinical precision.
"They've already entered faster-than-light jump."
"They're probably a few hundred light-years away by now."
"No…"
Kraglin collapsed back into his chair.
His eyes hollow.
Like a child abandoned by his parents.
"They really forgot me…"
"This isn't fair…"
"I just wanted a hot lunch…"
An awkward silence fell over the cafeteria.
Then—
A hand patted Kraglin's shoulder.
Except…
It was an invisible hand.
"Don't feel bad, brother."
A sympathetic voice echoed in the air.
"You'll get used to it."
Kraglin jumped in fright.
"Who said that?!"
"Who's there?!"
"It's me. Silas Lawton."
The voice sounded full of life experience.
"Trust me. I understand the feeling."
"Think of it as the destiny of side characters."
A slice of pizza floated through the air and stopped in front of Kraglin.
"Eat."
"You won't feel homesick on a full stomach."
"Double cheese."
Kraglin stared at the floating pizza.
Then looked back at the ship disappearing on the screen.
Grief filled his heart.
But what could he do?
He took the pizza and bit down hard.
A tear slid down the corner of his eye.
"…So good."
-----
Underground — Skynet Production Facility, Upstate New York
Far beneath the surface, a brand-new production line operated nonstop.
There were no sparks from welding.
No shrieking metal cutters.
Instead—
Huge transparent containers were filled with silver-gray liquid metal.
The metallic fluid seemed almost alive.
Under powerful electromagnetic fields, it slowly pulsed and gathered together.
This was Skynet's latest technological evolution.
Built upon Terminator technology, combined with:
the Cradle of Life biotech from her own body
Stark Industries nanotechnology
and microscopic vibranium particles
The result was a terrifying new material:
Memory-Mimetic Super Alloy.
"Mimetic Infiltration Unit — Batch 103. Quality inspection beginning."
A valve opened at the base of the container.
Clusters of silver liquid flowed into transparent chambers.
"Zzzzt—"
Electric current surged through.
The metal began to stretch and reshape.
"T-1050 Liquid Infiltration Robots."
"Production batch: 001."
"Quantity: 100."
Seconds later—
Dozens of cold-faced men stood upright inside the chambers.
Their skin texture.
Their pores.
Even the reflections inside their pupils—
Were indistinguishable from real humans.
But that was only the beginning.
"Inject biological simulation signals."
"Zzzzt—"
Their body temperatures rose to 36.5°C.
Their chests began to rise and fall.
Sensors detected simulated heartbeats and blood flow beneath their skin.
This was the true horror of the T-1050.
They were no longer just machines.
Using the Cradle's organic technology layered over a liquid metal skeleton, they perfectly replicated biological life.
Even thermal scanners and heartbeat detectors couldn't expose them.
Compared to the original T-1000, they were:
more stable
resistant to extreme heat
far tougher under heavy impact
and vastly superior at infiltration.
And this…Was only the first batch.
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