In the S.H.I.E.L.D. office, Nick sat behind his desk, reading a report delivered by Natasha. The report was filled with names, many of which were crossed out in red. He scanned it carefully before raising his head: "Eighty percent of the targets have been dealt with, right?"
"Yes, the symbionts are beginning to demonstrate their effectiveness when integrated with our agents. At present, seventy percent of our field agents are equipped with symbionts. They work well with the Godtar and this significantly enhances our agents' physical attributes. Combined with the use of teleportation, each of our field agents is like a traceless assassin."
"The remaining twenty percent are still under surveillance, ready to be dealt with when the time is ripe. Many people are paying attention to these strange deaths, most think it's the work of a mysterious serial killer. However, some sharp minds have observed the commonality among the victims. How do you plan to divert their attention?"
Nick chuckled and said, "There's no need to divert their attention; we'll just keep doing what we should be doing. Soon they'll realize that there are more pressing concerns than these deaths."
Hallway sensors lit up one after another, and hurried footsteps echoed from the stairwell to the bright, spacious conference room. The heads of each department sat around the table, along with important agents.
Nick quickly walked in, tapped the table to draw attention, and said, "Alright, I think everyone knows we're here to discuss the restructuring of the New York superhero team. Does anyone have any suggestions?"
"Why don't we bring all the superhero teams under the control of S.H.I.E.L.D? one woman suggested. "S.H.I.E.L.D. has now become a semi-public organization; even ordinary people know who we are. Therefore, we have sufficient authority to incorporate superheroes."
"The benefits of doing so are obvious. We can allocate teams based on the superheroes' abilities and manage their resources uniformly, significantly improving efficiency."
However, an older male agent across the table shook his head, "That won't work. Even if we want to follow the model of China, we need to consider the credibility of our government. If we send agents to their doors now, they'll think we're out to assassinate them. We say we want to incorporate them, they'll think we want to use them for human experiments."
"Older superheroes and the younger generation have always been at odds, but they unite in criticizing the Congress and the military. There's no reason for S.H.I.E.L.D to provoke them unnecessarily."
Everyone agreed, and Nick, clearing his throat, said, "Exactly, we currently don't have the ability nor the need to forcefully incorporate them. Why would we want to bring back a bunch of street heroes? Can they be as responsive and obedient as our agents? If not, why not use agents instead?"
At this point, the CIA-turned-agent, Mark, the Moon Knight, raised his hand and said, "What about establishing a system of hired informants?"
"Go on," Nick tapped the table encouragingly.
"Actually, the CIA has a unique system of hiring informants worldwide," Mark began. "Field agents who are sent on global missions will build relationships with local residents and select potential informants."
"Once they're registered into the informant system, if there are events in their region that need intervention, our resident agents will immediately contact these potential informants and convert them, involving them in the current events and expanding our influence."
"The benefit of this system is that, although we've marked the targets for informants, we don't need to provide support until an event occurs. When something does happen, these screened individuals are highly likely to align with us. All we have to do is supply them with single-use resources, and we can expect good results."
"Sounds kinda like mercenaries," Nick raised an eyebrow.
"Similar, yes," Mark nodded and continued. "It can be considered the intelligence sector's mercenaries. As the investment isn't significant, they can be abandoned anytime. Even if they're discovered, it doesn't matter; they're locals and hardly know any of our important information."
"The advantage of this system is, we can continue to infiltrate indefinitely. If we select a hundred targets, at least one will come in handy. But the opponent can't possibly check everyone. This strategy is especially effective in countries with inadequate basic education, lack of patriotism, and poor judgment."
"Are we really going to use these spy infiltration tactics against superheroes?" one of the agents questioned.
"Don't make it sound so negative," Nick shrugged. "We can put it differently: we're recruiting security personnel from superhero teams who are willing to help with the Solar System development project. In return for their service, we could provide them with much-needed resources. Not all superheroes are as wealthy as Tony Stark, right?"
A woman with a finance badge pinned to her chest pushed up her glasses and said, "But wouldn't this be even more expensive than providing logistical support to superhero teams? Our aim is to cut costs while improving efficiency. If not possible, at least to reduce expenditures. The financial condition of S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't exactly optimistic."