"Oh, Hydra is all about making sure that kind of fire is put out. Maybe Schmidt burned. But the rest..."
He shook his head, but didn't argue anymore.
For a moment, he watched her, with the last statement, closer than laughing - not very humorously, but laughing all the same - that he could ever remember being.
Then he pulled up the sleeve of his jacket, and tugged the back of his left glove down, letting the distant street light glint off the metal. "Not everything about me can be covered up by plastic surgery, Fuu.
"As to what they collect... for the algorithm, everything. From facebook posts to bank account movements, test results... anything and everything. When they're looking for somebody, it's focused more on a specific individual. Keyword searches over all channels that they listen on - audio, text. Pattern recognition over video. They watch over people using twitter when they're on the lookout, for anything that might be a lead-in. If it's on a digital carrier somewhere... it'll probably be accessible to them, eventually."
It was a bleak picture he was painting. But even without the hub of SHIELD resources, even without the cover, HYDRA was a powerful, powerful organization, and it was important not to underestimate it.
"But, other than the automated optimized searches, it still takes people to direct them. One of the things I'm doing is try to remain as unpredictable, compared to both the life I knew I've led and the missions I've had as their asset."
Hence a shady businessman party on the West Coast. Hence Zimbabwe. Hence learning in the least direct ways that he could manage. His hand shifted on the folder he was holding. "And that's why I thank you very much, for bringing this to me, even if you did it for a very different reason. There's much I don't remember yet."
He shook his head.
"I'm sorry. This has been mostly about - me. But I think it's a good habit to get the most dangerous out of the way first."
Beat.
"And so you know, if you turn around and walk away from this all right now, that it's not a wrong choice to do so. Also, in that case, not to step on any toes."
no subject
He shook his head, but didn't argue anymore.
For a moment, he watched her, with the last statement, closer than laughing - not very humorously, but laughing all the same - that he could ever remember being.
Then he pulled up the sleeve of his jacket, and tugged the back of his left glove down, letting the distant street light glint off the metal. "Not everything about me can be covered up by plastic surgery, Fuu.
"As to what they collect... for the algorithm, everything. From facebook posts to bank account movements, test results... anything and everything. When they're looking for somebody, it's focused more on a specific individual. Keyword searches over all channels that they listen on - audio, text. Pattern recognition over video. They watch over people using twitter when they're on the lookout, for anything that might be a lead-in. If it's on a digital carrier somewhere... it'll probably be accessible to them, eventually."
It was a bleak picture he was painting. But even without the hub of SHIELD resources, even without the cover, HYDRA was a powerful, powerful organization, and it was important not to underestimate it.
"But, other than the automated optimized searches, it still takes people to direct them. One of the things I'm doing is try to remain as unpredictable, compared to both the life I knew I've led and the missions I've had as their asset."
Hence a shady businessman party on the West Coast. Hence Zimbabwe. Hence learning in the least direct ways that he could manage. His hand shifted on the folder he was holding. "And that's why I thank you very much, for bringing this to me, even if you did it for a very different reason. There's much I don't remember yet."
He shook his head.
"I'm sorry. This has been mostly about - me. But I think it's a good habit to get the most dangerous out of the way first."
Beat.
"And so you know, if you turn around and walk away from this all right now, that it's not a wrong choice to do so. Also, in that case, not to step on any toes."