"I never expected all of the RadioShack retail stores to be contact hubs for HYDRA; I used to shop here all the time."
Skye was somewhat surprised.
RadioShack was originally the second-largest retailer in the United States, but now they are barely surviving.
The Coulson team was currently on the Airbus modified by Osborn, reviewing data about HYDRA.
"Coulson, are you sure that joining Hammer was Fury's order?" Agent Mei asked from the side with a stern expression.
"I am sure." Coulson's tone revealed nothing of his attitude; he had fully gotten into character.
In fact, after that day, Coulson had contacted Fury several more times using various methods, eventually confirming that it really wasn't some kind of hoax.
There were no infiltration or undercover missions; Fury really wanted them to join Hammer.
Coulson added, "This time it's for real—besides, isn't Hammer a good place too? We owe them this time; otherwise, the World would be in chaos by now, and who knows how many of our Agents would have died."
Mei didn't say anything else.
Objectively speaking, Hammer had indeed been helping them, and at the end of the day, no matter how you looked at it, the one with the problem was S.H.I.E.L.D.
Skye said from the side, "I know what you're thinking—I also had a long period of doubt after I was caught by Osborn back then."
"How exactly did you get involved with Osborn?" Coulson asked.
This was also a question everyone was concerned about; Skye looked very familiar with the senior management of Osborn.
Now they basically all knew about Skye's background—of course, limited to the parts recorded by S.H.I.E.L.D.
It was hard not to wonder if Harry had found out about Skye's background through some channel.
Seeing everyone looking at her in unison, Skye felt she had an obligation to dispel their suspicion and distrust of Osborn.
"It's a long story—well, not that long. Simply put, I used to be a member of the Rising Tide organization. Back then, ctOS was all the rage, so I hacked into their system and threatened them."
Fitz said, "That sounds like something a hacker would do. Did you get caught?"
Skye shrugged, "They found my car in less than two hours, and it took them less than an hour to crack my security system."
"And then? Did they use extrajudicial punishment, and then..."
Skye crossed her arms and loudly interrupted Fitz's speculation, "Of course not! Do I look like I've been tortured to you? If I had been tortured, why would I still be working for them?"
Everyone paused for a moment, and Simmons said, "It's hard to say, maybe it's Stockholm syndrome or something."
"It's not, okay? Honestly, I also find it very strange. Harry Osborn eventually decided to offer me a job, letting me work for Bone and be responsible for project development."
Everyone's confusion was written on their faces—this seemed a bit hard to explain, didn't it?
Although Osborn hired all kinds of people, they were very averse to those with criminal records.
Given Skye's situation at the time, not to mention that she was a criminal, she was an offender who used hacking technology to attack them directly; how did Osborn suddenly turn an arrest into an interview?
"Anyway, that's how it happened. Maybe he saw my talent and realized I was someone with potential?" Skye had never figured this out, but she didn't dwell on it.
Anyway, Osborn didn't harm her, they paid her a salary, the employee benefits were good, she only needed to work 7 hours a day, she could even work from home, weekends were guaranteed, and they often had holidays.
"Maybe that's the point?" Fitz suddenly said, "Including this time, Osborn is always able to make the right judgment a step ahead and then respond accordingly."
Skye replied, "But they have the most comprehensive social data in the World and the most powerful computing technology; it's not strange for them to do this, right?"
"It's indeed not strange; Osborn even cooperates with the authorities, using big data for precise assistance and predicting the possibility of crimes." Coulson revealed the intelligence he knew.
In fact, this was no secret; everyone who applied for assistance had signed a similar privacy agreement.
Moreover, the result was that their lives had indeed received better help and advice.
It just sounded like a replica of the Insight Project.
Everyone was a bit silent—Skye couldn't help it when she saw the atmosphere, and she said:
"I know this sounds a lot like your Insight Project, but Osborn is genuinely cooperating with the authorities to help ordinary people!"
"You might be a bit sensitive to these things as Agents, but you also have to see the impact on ordinary people in recent years. If it weren't for Osborn, many people might have died in New York long ago!"
"S.H.I.E.L.D. secretly carried out the Insight Project, and you could explain it away as 'the original intention was to protect the public,' but when Osborn does this openly and aboveboard, you think they're doing something bad?"
Skye really couldn't hold it in anymore; in her view, her teammates were not bad people.
But their view of Osborn was really double-standard—now that it had been proven that S.H.I.E.L.D. was HYDRA, they still thought that Hammer and Osborn, who defeated HYDRA, had problems?
"But last time, HYDRA used S.H.I.E.L.D. to steal public trust and then did those things, so..." Fitz said.
Actually, what he said was very objective.
But that was the problem; everyone thought it was necessary when S.H.I.E.L.D. did it, so why was it not okay when Hammer did it?
Coulson knew he couldn't remain silent anymore, and he said, "This is not something we should be discussing. We just need to do what we are supposed to do. The support Hammer provides us is stronger. Now it's time to work."
As he spoke, Coulson waved his hand, and an onboard robot pushed several sets of shiny exoskeletons in front of everyone.
"New equipment, EXO-11. Besides enhancing combat capabilities, there are also specialized versions for hacking and research. Give them a try."
Everyone's mouths dropped open, including Skye's.
She also had a civilian exoskeleton when she worked at Osborn, but after joining S.H.I.E.L.D., she hadn't used that thing again—S.H.I.E.L.D. prohibited the use of Osborn equipment.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had reverse-engineered a set themselves, but it was strictly controlled—now everyone realized it was HYDRA who had been using that stuff.
Everyone enthusiastically put on the exoskeletons; the high-tech displays made them feel like they were Iron Man.
Coulson said, "Our mission this time is to recapture the aircraft carrier and recover the alien artifacts in the cargo hold."
"Skye, you are responsible for hacking into their central control equipment; Fitz and Simmons are responsible for looking after the alien artifacts to prevent any anomalies."
"The plan is simple. Anything else to say?"
"Officer—although the exoskeletons are great, the enemy has them too. Are we just going to charge in with this few people to retake the mothership?" Fitz asked.
Coulson smiled and said, "Of course not, we have support. Officer Peterson, have you reached your position?"
The last sentence was spoken into the communicator.
"Arrived at the designated position, ready to breach."
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/TripleCrown
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"