After shutting off the virtual projection, Tony suddenly changed the subject and said, "By the way, that thing you asked me to keep an eye on last time—it's starting to show some signs."
"Oh?" Raymond waited for him to continue.
"After I exposed Killian's operation, the entire upper management of A.I.M. was purged. Naturally, that led to the usual scramble to divide up the spoils…"
Tony took a sip of his drink before going on. "One group was especially aggressive in the takeover—tsk tsk."
If Raymond hadn't mentioned before that Hydra might not be fully dead and that A.I.M. could be connected to them, Tony wouldn't have thought much of it.
After all, in situations , a lot of it is just about market opportunity—it doesn't always mean there's something deeper going on.
But A.I.M.'s tech was valuable, and someone was clearly willing to pay a high price to get it.
"What's going on exactly? Don't play guessing games with me—just say it," Raymond pressed.
"The Malick family," Tony finally said with a smile. "Their patriarch is Gideon Malick—current council member of the World Security Council, and former Secretary of Homeland Security."
So it was him… Raymond wasn't too surprised. He'd already had this guy on his radar.
What he wasn't sure of was whether the information he had about Hydra matched up with this world's version of events.
This world looked a lot like the Marvel Cinematic Universe on the surface, but there were big differences under the hood.
Raymond knew better than to act like he was "all-knowing." It was always smarter to verify.
Still, based on what Tony had found, Hydra's situation didn't seem too far off from what Raymond expected.
Gideon Malick, in Hydra, played a role similar to how Dum Dum Dugan operated in S.H.I.E.L.D.—an original founder, but not one of the top-tier leaders.
Even among founders, there was a hierarchy.
On S.H.I.E.L.D.'s side, the real leaders among the founders were people like Agent Carter and Tony's dad, Howard.
Old man Dugan? He was more second-string.
Malick was the same within Hydra. Senior, yes—but second-tier when it started.
Now, though, almost all of Hydra's original founding members were long dead. Few remained.
That pushed Malick's rank up. He had become one of the last remaining elders—and one of Hydra's highest leaders.
Raymond didn't actually know much about him. In the "plot" he'd seen, Malick hadn't shown up very often. He only knew the guy had once served on the World Security Council.
"This Malick family—are they well known?" Raymond asked after thinking it over.
"They're kind of an old political family," Tony replied. "Besides Gideon, his father used to run the CIA. Honestly, that whole family's made a career out of doing the dirty work…"
"So even some families more powerful than them don't want to cross them easily. time—if the competition had been open, that A.I.M. pie..." Tony analyzed.
"I see," Raymond nodded in understanding.
From what he knew, families that specialized in dirty work might not have the best reputation, and they were often looked down on behind closed doors. They rarely made it into the true upper echelon of society.
But they were feared. And few were willing to provoke them.
No wonder Malick was able to represent the North American government on the World Security Council—it probably followed the same logic as this takeover.
"At this rate, it's not just S.H.I.E.L.D. that's completely infiltrated. The entire North American intelligence system is probably crawling with Hydra," Raymond said, slightly surprised.
As a "viewer," watching Hydra's downfall of S.H.I.E.L.D. had felt like a series of clever schemes.
But the more he learned, the clearer it became: S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fall was inevitable.
Nick Fury had only delayed the collapse—he never had the power to stop it.
The organization was rotten to the core.
Even if all the traitors in S.H.I.E.L.D. were removed today, Hydra would just find another way to bring it down.
"They've got ability, but their vision is too small. Their leadership lacks real perspective…" Raymond shook his head inwardly.
Hydra's current main goal was to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D., hoping to eventually take over the world.
But S.H.I.E.L.D. only looked powerful on the surface. In reality, it had already been sidelined by various national governments, especially North America.
Even if Hydra succeeded in destroying S.H.I.E.L.D.—so what?
Raymond wasn't sure if their obsession came from old grudges or just narrow thinking.
Either way, aiming to "rule the world" was a doomed goal. It was flawed from the start.
Still… if I could tame this viper, a lot of things would become much easier. If I could just shift their priorities a little, they might actually have a future, Raymond thought, already sketching out a plan in his mind.
Of course, that wasn't something he could share with Tony. Emotionally, Tony would never accept Hydra being allowed to exist—even in a "reformed" state.
Their goals didn't align.
After chatting a bit more, Raymond excused himself—no point in hanging around and playing third wheel.
As for the harmless version of the Extremis virus, Tony said he'd let him know once it was ready. It would take a few more days.
Blue Shell Restaurant was one of the most luxurious private restaurants in Washington D.C., frequented by the wealthy and powerful.
Stephanie was one of its regulars. She visited every Wednesday evening without fail.
Sometimes she brought friends, but most of the time, she came alone.
The restaurant even reserved a booth for her automatically every Wednesday night—no reservation required.
Today happened to be Wednesday again.
"You're looking more beautiful than ever, Miss Stephanie," said the receptionist warmly as she arrived, clearly familiar with this VIP guest.
"Thank you," Stephanie replied with a slight smile. "Same as last week's menu, please."
"Of course. It'll be right out," the waiter bowed slightly and responded with a polite smile.
Not long after she sat down, her usual meal was delivered.
The waiter quietly left.
Stephanie was used to this, nodded slightly, and began preparing to eat.
But just as she picked up her knife and fork and looked down to start—
There was suddenly a man sitting across from her.
She had no idea when he'd appeared.
He looked like a Asian-Caucasian, wearing a brown trench coat and holding a black pipe between his lips.
The outfit made him look like a movie detective.
And… kind of handsome.