civilwarnovels Chapter 3933 MU Superbody Major Event (3)
Chapter 3933 MU Superbody Major Event (3)
Chapter 3933 MU: The Superbody Incident (Thirteen)
"I have a question: Suppose we are gathered here today to better discuss national security work for the coming period, then perhaps my colleagues already have quite mature views on this. If everyone cannot speak freely, it will certainly be my fault as the new director; but if I allow everyone to express their opinions and then coordinate and organize, it would make me seem too stubborn and unable to reflect His Excellency the President's wise leadership. Therefore, I must take the liberty of conveying His Excellency the President's vision for our department to you all very cautiously, merely by restating and relaying his views. As a small cog in the machine of federal security work, I also share this sentiment with you all."
Nick was shaking his head in the head seat above. Natasha was yawning repeatedly in the guest seats below. She glanced at Schiller beside her, her expression serious, her brow slightly furrowed, and she nodded occasionally. Even so, the unchanging frequency of her blinks suggested that he had been gone for quite some time.
"What is the issue of national security? First, we need to talk about what a nation is, and then we must understand what security means. Which of the two is more important? The nation is actually... security can also be interpreted as... if we were to discuss the importance of the two, they would probably be equal... but in my view, our focus is neither the nation nor security, but His Excellency the President. What kind of nation does His Excellency the President want? What kind of national security does he want? Which of the two does he consider more important? That is the focus of the National Security Agency's work for the next period of time..."
Natasha's head slumped down, almost hitting the table. She took a deep breath and pinched her wrist lightly to keep herself from falling asleep immediately. She glanced at her watch: Nick had been talking for two hours.
"In conclusion, in His Excellency's eyes, neither the nation nor security is truly important. Therefore, we don't need to dwell too much on nationality, nor do we necessarily need to prioritize federal security; we just need to complete His Excellency's mission. What do you think?"
Natasha finally perked up a bit. She knew Nick had been rambling on for two hours, and the key point was the last sentence.
The problem was that the old men in the National Security Agency were completely bewildered by his buildup over the past two hours. When he asked a question and then stopped, everyone nodded and started applauding him. Even Schiller did so.
Although Natasha really wanted to ask them, "Are you sure you understood what he was saying?", she had no choice but to clap along so as not to seem too out of place.
Nick nodded with satisfaction and said, “Now that we’ve reached an agreement, the next steps will be much easier. For federal security, I’ve first established 143 surveillance posts in Hawaii, which is isolated overseas, and 62 on the six-star island of the Maldives. Of course, to keep a close eye on the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, there are also 14 posts on Bali. These 219 new posts are far from the federal mainland and carry significant responsibility, requiring long-term commitment. Of course, the federal government will reimburse all costs incurred in monitoring these posts. Those interested, please sign your names on this application form. The federal government thanks you for your contributions.”
Natasha rolled her eyes. What long-term monitoring post? There are 219 NSA managers in total, and the vast majority spend 350 days a year in Hawaii. Nick has simply given them a paid vacation post, so they don't have to come back for the remaining 16 days. The old men happily signed the papers, went back to pack their bags, and boarded the plane.
Nick clapped his hands with satisfaction and said, "Alright, go contact the Russian Security Service and MI6. Don't call too many people from Mossad; they're not very efficient. Fill any positions with interns from your college. If that's still not enough, find two college students who want to boost their resumes. Go ahead."
Seeing that Schiller didn't ask any questions and turned to leave, Natasha didn't want to linger, so she hurriedly left as well. After catching up with Schiller, she said, "Do you know what he's going to do? And then you just left."
"Aren't we looking for interns?"
"The question is, are you sure the intern can do this job?"
"I didn't realize you cared so much about U.S. national security, Mrs. Romanoff."
Natasha sighed deeply and said, "No one in the world cares more about U.S. national security than Nick. He just outsourced national security affairs like that, and you, as the only young person under 70 years old present, didn't raise any objections?"
Schiller stopped in his tracks. He pushed aside the side of his windbreaker, put his hand in his pocket, and held up one finger, saying, "National security is divided into external security and internal security. External security depends on the military, and internal security depends on the police. But the National Security Agency can't control either the military or the police, so what do you think is the purpose of establishing this department?"
"Uh, aren't they in intelligence work? Like computer hacking and eavesdropping and stuff."
"What does the CIA do?"
Natasha paused slightly, then realized that the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) seemed to have some overlap in their responsibilities, since the CIA also had an intelligence division and personnel responsible for things like computer hacking and wiretapping. So what exactly did the NSA do?
"Was Nick happy when he learned that the president had assigned him to the National Security Agency?"
Natasha thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Yes, he seems quite satisfied. Is it better here than at S.H.I.E.L.D."
“Of course it’s much better.” Schiller continued walking forward and said, “The National Security Agency has always been known as the most secretive agency, and even the abbreviation NSA is jokingly referred to as ‘No Such Agency.’”
Is this a good thing?
“Of course. Nobody knows what you’re doing, so you can do nothing,” Schiller said. “If there’s too much external pressure, go to the military; if there’s internal riots, go to the police; if important information isn’t monitored, it’s the CIA’s fault; if law enforcement isn’t strong enough, blame the FBI. The National Security Agency should be renamed the ‘Everyone is Safe Except the Country’ agency.”
Natasha suddenly realized, "No wonder Nick was so happy. It's the complete opposite of S.H.I.E.L.D. Everyone knows S.H.I.E.L.D. is in charge of security, so whenever there's a security crisis, they go to S.H.I.E.L.D.: international conflicts are mediated by S.H.I.E.L.D., internal riots are covered by S.H.I.E.L.D., intelligence leaks are investigated by S.H.I.E.L.D., and superhero civil wars are managed by S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick is busy as a bee every day. But if the National Security Agency has nothing to do, how will it get its funding?"
“It’s even easier. He doesn’t even need to find work for himself; he can just divert the funds directly. Because this department is so secretive, even Congress doesn’t know what they’re doing, so naturally they can’t ask where the money is going. Nick doesn’t need to do anything; he can just transfer the money directly.”
"Oh, that's why he found a way to send all the original managers to Hawaii so that no one would know he was embezzling the funds. So the president put Nick here to take over this part of the funding first."
“It’s not just that,” Schiller shook his head and said, “It’s precisely because this department is so secretive, and nobody knows what it does, that when it asks you to cooperate, can you refuse?”
Natasha opened her mouth and said, "Why not? For example, if it asks us for interns, we can refuse to give them to it."
“Then you’re threatening national security,” Schiller said, looking at him. “As long as it’s called the National Security Agency, any non-cooperation will be considered a threat to federal security. If you want to do that, I won’t stop you.”
“I see,” Natasha said, touching her chin with her finger. “Because no one knows how they maintain national security, they can do nothing; but precisely because no one knows how they maintain national security, no one can refuse them when they want to do something.”
“That’s it,” Schiller said. “It’s asking us for interns, and we’d better give them to it as soon as possible. What if it’s using interns to maintain national security? If we don’t cooperate, any problems that arise later will be the responsibility of the FBI and CIA.”
“Well,” Natasha sighed. “Then dismissing all the Americans and hiring a bunch of British and Russians would probably be a necessary measure to maintain national security.”
"If he says so, then so be it. Who told him to be the director of the National Security Agency? The only president who can hold him accountable is also one of his cronies. And judging from how much the president values him, even if he wanted to cut the presidential portrait off Capitol Hill and put himself on it, the president would agree."
The two parted ways at the intersection. Schiller returned to FBI headquarters. The headquarters was solemn; at least in the offices Schiller passed by, no one dared to slack off. These agents had recently figured out what kind of person Schiller was, and no one wanted to cause him any trouble.
"Go and call the technical staff here," Schiller said to his assistant. "How's that electronic firewall they set up coming along?"
The technical staff quickly brought over a stack of documents and said, "The firewall is basically finished, but it can only protect against ordinary hackers. If there really is a powerful electronic life form, it definitely won't be able to stop it."
"Of course. Go and build another 40."
"what?"
“Build another 40 firewalls like this.”
"But what's the point of having so many? Are you trying to stop electronic life by conducting exhaustive experiments through differentiated program construction?"
"That's a good reason, let's use that reason."
"The funding..."
“Report it truthfully,” Schiller said. “These are turbulent times, and for the sake of federal security, the president will agree.”
“Okay,” said the head of the technology department. “To better safeguard federal security, we will expedite the research and development. Overtime pay…”
"Distribute the goods as promised, add two more high-end coffee machines, and unlimited donuts. Go ahead."
After the technical lead left, the assistant looked outside and said, "40 firewalls, Congress won't approve that, will it?"
Schiller didn't answer. He simply picked up the phone, dialed a number on the dedicated line, and said to the other end, "How's it going, Barbara? How far have you gotten with the dirt on the congressmen I asked you to find? You've got quite a bit of information on each of them?"
“I know you’re shocked, but don’t be. Find a way to send their dirt to their respective email addresses, and then make sure they absolutely cannot find any information about you. Yes, just like that cybernetic life form.”
Schiller hung up the phone, then looked up at his assistant and said, "Organize a comprehensive self-examination and review across the entire organization. If anyone asks why, say that the previous director's lack of attention to information security may have led to widespread information leaks, including investigation documents of certain important figures."