Nameless hadn't expected that just as he learned from Dominic that the hacker who had once helped them take down the crime lord Hernan Reyes in Brazil was none other than Harry—the young man who'd shown up at Heydrich's doorstep during the infamous kidnapping—Harry would abruptly cut his Italian vacation short and return to New York with that writer and his police captain girlfriend.
This sudden move threw off Nameless's carefully laid plans. He had intended for Tej to make contact with Harry first, hoping to lure him into his secret task force. Once Tej had Harry in his sights, Nameless could apply whatever combination of threats or incentives necessary to recruit the talented hacker. Although Harry held a position as a researcher for Northrop, this wasn't a dealbreaker for the CIA.
However, with Harry and the Castle family suddenly ending their trip and flying back to New York, Nameless's plan came to nothing. He couldn't have anticipated that every conversation between himself and his superior regarding Harry and Castle had been secretly recorded by Jarvis, who kept Richard Castle informed of all developments. Aware of his lack of influence in Europe, Castle had chosen to return to New York, his stronghold, where he would have better control over the situation.
For now, the best way for Castle and Harry to avoid CIA harassment was to lie low at home until Benjamin Arthur assumed the presidency next year. Once Arthur, whom Castle had supported financially, took office, he could order the CIA to back off.
Other ideas, such as sending agents packing, weren't options for Castle, who was well aware he wasn't yet strong enough to go head-to-head with the CIA.
Still, Castle knew that even in New York, Nameless would likely not give up so easily on recruiting Harry. Nameless's main goal was to bring together hackers like Heydrich and Harry to recreate Heydrich's extraordinary software. As for finding Deckard Shaw? That was merely a pretext for duping Dominic and his gang.
Castle had no doubt Shaw had accepted CIA work after leaving the SAS's black ops unit and becoming a lone mercenary.
The tricky part was predicting Tej's next move. It was only a matter of time before Tej, under the guise of searching for the elusive Shaw, would approach Harry for help. And knowing Harry, Castle feared he'd have a hard time refusing a request from Tej. But if Harry accepted and found Shaw quickly, Nameless and the CIA might be alerted to Harry's unique skills.
Nameless wasn't only interested in Harry's hacking prowess but also saw a potential asset in Castle himself. His sprawling estate housed a private supercomputer, a tempting prize for Nameless and the CIA. Any slip-up that exposed his secrets would certainly result in the CIA using whatever they uncovered to pressure him.
Thus, Castle instructed Jarvis to monitor every online mention of him, ensuring that he didn't fall into one of the CIA's traps unknowingly.
Upon returning to New York on a private jet, Castle holed up in his heavily secured estate on Long Island, determined to stay there until Arthur took office. During this downtime, he could also tinker in his newly established tech lab. While the current tech in this world wasn't quite up to par with that of the Marvel universe, it was close enough for him to attempt to emulate Tony Stark's innovations with Jarvis's help.
Castle already had most of the machinery in his lab under Jarvis's control, so the next step was achieving seamless communication with the AI. The smartwatch and Bluetooth earpiece were just the start; his next project would be to develop a pair of smart glasses, like Tony's, that would serve as an always-accessible interface with Jarvis. Until he developed full holographic display technology, smart glasses seemed the best option for continuous communication with the AI.
In addition, Castle wanted to establish a partnership with Hughes Aerospace to purchase several geostationary satellites. Only with his own private satellite network could Jarvis reach its full potential, sparing the AI the risk of repeatedly hacking NASA or the Pentagon's satellites.
Even as Castle dug in with Harry and the still-unexposed Ramsey on Long Island, he underestimated Nameless and the CIA's determination. Just as Castle had predicted, the very day after their return, Tej sent Harry an email requesting his assistance.
Castle, having prepared Harry for this possibility before they even arrived in New York, had already laid out the risks. The key issue was that Harry couldn't afford to outright reject Tej, yet if he helped, his skill in locating Shaw might draw too much attention from the CIA. After all, if the CIA's intelligence network couldn't find Shaw despite their resources, his secrecy was clearly well-guarded.
If Harry tracked down Shaw with ease, Nameless and the CIA wouldn't sit idly by while such an exceptional hacker operated outside their control.
So when Harry received Tej's email, he wasn't the least bit rattled. Castle had long anticipated such a scenario and, always one to have a backup plan, had prepared contingencies. From the moment he learned that Heydrich had developed the "Eye of God" with Ramsey's unintentional help, Castle had foreseen the worst-case scenario: the involvement of intelligence agencies and the CIA. Once he knew Shaw's revenge scheme had drawn Dominic's gang into the mix—and that Nameless had deceived them to gain insights about Harry—Castle saw this standoff coming.
Back in his estate, Castle carefully reviewed his actions of late and, finding no obvious incriminating evidence, began to reconsider his original plan to lie low until Arthur's inauguration.
Hiding indefinitely wasn't realistic. For a CIA that aspired to monitor the entire world, Harry's status as a hacker rivaling Heydrich and Castle's private supercomputer would be too tempting to ignore. So why not flip the script and engage Nameless in a controlled manner?
This approach would allow him to reduce the level of scrutiny on himself and Harry, temporarily establish a working relationship with an agency he couldn't yet afford to antagonize, and—most importantly—stall for time. His hope was to keep the CIA occupied until Arthur took office, after which he could sever ties entirely.
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Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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