After the man left, Tim sat in the chair, lost in thought, while Natasha brought over two cups of coffee. After Nick slurped a sip, he leaned back in his chair and squinted his eyes.
"I know you have many questions to ask. I won't talk about the old stories, let's talk about S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Federal Bureau of Investigation first," he said.
"Although we are both law enforcement agencies in America, some conflicts arise due to our different functions, just like the FBI and the Central Intelligence Agency," he explained.
"Actually, the conflict between us is even greater than between those two because we both have the authority to enforce the law domestically, and often, the boundaries are very blurry, making things manageable by either side," he continued.
"No one wants to do extra work, but everyone wants more money. So, when there's an issue, everyone pushes it to the other side. Once resolved, everyone wants to take the credit because that helps us get more funding from Congress," he noted.
"But screw it! I don't bother with such troublesome methods," Nick said vehemently, waving his hand. "I have a better way!"
"To compete for funding and to satisfy the control urges of certain big shots, the FBI has never stopped planting spies into S.H.I.E.L.D., the international organization," he revealed.
"It sounds like something the CIA would do, but in reality, the agents used domestically and those used internationally aren't the same. The FBI is actually the easiest one to meddle with," he argued.
"Because the number of young people coming out of domestic colleges each year is limited, they either go to the FBI or come to S.H.I.E.L.D. If they bribe these people, they can easily replace S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agents with their own, naturally making it easier to pass the blame or snatch results in certain matters," he explained.
Tim started getting the hang of it because this was a logical strategy; domestic law enforcement fighting for dominance by meddling with the other side's manpower was the best method. By just tampering a bit at critical moments, it could put the other side at a severe disadvantage.
The method of tampering was easy because theoretically, the number of special agents selected from each American generation was fixed, neither suddenly increasing nor decreasing or changing completely. As long as they focused on these people, it was easy to bribe someone.
So what was the better method Nick referred to?
Could it be counter-bribery? Or pre-arranging their own people in this group?
While Tim was contemplating, Nick spoke, "The FBI wants to bribe this group of people, but someone wants them even more."
"Who?" Tim had an uneasy premonition.
"Of course, the KGB," Nick said proudly. "The FBI is just trying to trip me up; the Russian National Security Bureau wants us dead."
"So they are willing to offer a higher price than the FBI, or simply plot for a long time and directly insert their well-trained agents into us," he said.
"But it's not that easy, right?" Tim questioned. "Don't all American law enforcement and special agent organizations conduct background checks? How could they massively fabricate identities within American borders?"
"Of course they can't, but I can!" Nick spread his hands and said, "They themselves can't massively infiltrate the FBI, but with my help, it's a different story. I guarantee I can create an identity for them that's so real no one can find any issues with it!"
"Then... why do this?" Tim still didn't fully understand.
"The KGB enters the FBI, but the FBI doesn't know they are KGB. They think they are new agents bought by them. So they send these new agents to S.H.I.E.L.D.," he explained.
"Doesn't that mean the KGB gets into S.H.I.E.L.D.? Isn't that asking for trouble?"
"No, no, no, it's not that easy for them to get into S.H.I.E.L.D.," Nick waved his hand and said. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is an international security organization, way above the FBI. The difficulty of infiltration is not minor."
"Uh, where is the difficulty?"
"Never mind that, we are a very high-level organization. To get in, everything has to be perfectly arranged…"
"You mean bribery? But if their qualifications themselves are legitimate… wait, their identities are made by you!"
Tim's eyes widened as he began to understand a bit.
The KGB wanted to infiltrate the FBI and needed Nick's help with their identities, but when the FBI wanted to send this group of KGB into S.H.I.E.L.D., S.H.I.E.L.D. could find flaws in the identities that Nick helped make.
If the identities had flaws, they couldn't be sent in using normal methods, but the FBI still wanted to use these people to cause trouble for S.H.I.E.L.D., so they would have to spend money to make arrangements, and thus FBI's funding would end up in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hands.
A perfect loop.
"Can't the FBI just not send them in?" Tim leaned forward as he asked.
"Do you think I'm a vegetarian? If they don't use these people to cause trouble and drag us down, I will take away all the funding during the congressional discussions!"
"How do you manage that?" Tim asked. "You said it yourself, your functions overlap, so the number of cases solved and the effectiveness should be similar, right?"
Nick scoffed disdainfully, "Of course not, let me ask you, what's the difference in our functions?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D. can handle superpower cases."
"Which is the largest superpower terrorist organization in the world?
"Hydra."
"As long as I let Hydra create an infinity of superpower cases, what can the FBI use to compete with me?"
"How can you make Hydra create an infinity of superpower cases?!"
"I can make S.H.I.E.L.D. create an infinity of superpower cases."
"What?"
"Look, if Hydra Agents create a situation and SHIELD agents rush over to resolve it, then I'll need to pay extra for transportation. But if Hydra Agents create a situation and solve it on the spot, then that saves on transportation costs, right?"
"But how can you control Hydra?"
"I can't control Hydra, but I can control S.H.I.E.L.D."
"???"
"Doctor Schiller didn't tell you?" Nick looked at Tim and said, "I remember telling him to tell you, without Hydra, there is no S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Yes, he did say that, but isn't that supposed to mean that S.H.I.E.L.D. gets funding because Hydra creates situations?"
"You're thinking too much," Nick said. "That sentence means exactly what it says, Hydra is S.H.I.E.L.D., S.H.I.E.L.D. is Hydra."
Tim stared at him, stunned.
"Moreover, if a Hydra agent creates a situation and resolves it, there's no need to go to the scene of the incident, because writing a report after solving it is no different from sitting in the office and writing it."
"This way, both parties can just sit in the S.H.I.E.L.D. office and write reports, and I even save on the trip there, don't have to bother resolving anything, and can save loads of time, enough to write even more reports."
"But... but the incident never really happened!"
"Right, this way it won't harm the ordinary people."
"Then won't Congress find out?"
"How would they find out?"
"Of course, by sending... sending the Federal Bureau of Investigation... "
"That's right!" Nick snapped his fingers and said, "They send the FBI to investigate, which means they have to increase the FBI's budget. The more funding the FBI gets, the more they rush to plant their people inside S.H.I.E.L.D. To get through to S.H.I.E.L.D., they have to pump money into it. With more money, S.H.I.E.L.D. can hire more Hydra, and more Hydra would raise suspicions in Congress. Congress gets suspicious and provides funds to the FBI to investigate..."
Damn, he's created a closed loop, Tim thought.
"Aren't you afraid the KGB might steal the information?" Tim was still concerned about this.
But as soon as he asked, he realized he was being foolish.
If S.H.I.E.L.D. is Hydra, then the KGB can only steal Hydra's information and never get ahold of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s.
The less they can steal S.H.I.E.L.D.'s information, the more they would want to send people to America. The more they send, the more newcomers in the FBI, the more people they push into S.H.I.E.L.D., the more money they push in, the more Hydra there are, the less KGB gets S.H.I.E.L.D. information, and the more they want to send people to America...
He's created another closed loop.
Tim covered his forehead.
"You're a fucking..." Before Tim could finish his curse, he suddenly remembered Wayne Enterprises.
After a pause for about ten seconds, he said, "You're a fucking genius!"
Tim looked at Nick with gleaming eyes and said, "I can help you, but I don't want your money. When this is done, tell me everything about how you made all this happen."
Nick smiled and high-fived him, saying, "Deal!"
"You have to tell me first what you want me to find, where it might be, the more specific the better," Tim said.
"A voice recorder with critical information," Nick said. "But the trouble is, it's a personal item of Doctor Schiller's, and we don't know where he might have put it, you'll have to find it yourself."
Tim furrowed his brow deeply.
As he understood what Nick was doing, he had to admit, the guy was a genius. Whether it was ethically sound or not didn't concern Tim; what mattered was its effectiveness.
Being called critical information, the importance of this thing must be beyond imagination, Tim thought, and Doctor Schiller must play a crucial role in this cosmos just like a professor.
Although he was officially S.H.I.E.L.D.'s psychological counselor, Nick hadn't asked him directly for it. Instead, he wanted Tim to get it almost like stealing, indicating the item's sensitivity might exceed his expectations.
A myriad of conspiracies and tricks flashed through Tim's mind.
"You need to give me a chance," Tim proposed. "If your people can't create a good opportunity, I'm not confident I can succeed at once."
"We're actually ready," Natasha said. "Remember the farm gathering around Los Angeles? Doctor Schiller has a compelling reason to be there. Once he leaves, you find a way to check his personal belongings."
"A compelling reason..." Tim pondered and said, "He wants Pamela to bring the Attacking Cabbage, but I don't think he'd go himself because he knows how dangerous Attacking Cabbage is."
"He'll go," Natasha said with a mysterious smile.