This situation wasn't unusual. Ever since the end of World War II, when the so-called "Empire on which the sun never sets" only survived thanks to its Atlantic cousin's generous support, the UK had been in a steady decline. The wave of independence movements across its former colonies further eroded British influence, reducing the once-mighty empire to a shadow of its former self.
To put it bluntly, since the 1950s and 60s, British politicians and prime ministers had been forced to become experts at cleaning up the messes they created due to their overreaching ambitions and incompetence.
Thus, the most important qualification for becoming the Prime Minister of the UK was the ability to endure humiliation and maintain a shamelessly thick skin.
With the plan set in motion, the four officials quickly divided their tasks.
The Prime Minister dialed a direct line to the White House, hoping to speak with President Benjamin Arthur to "exchange views and opinions" (the official diplomatic phrasing).
In reality, this was a plea for mercy—an attempt to de-escalate the situation before it spiraled further. After all, the U.S. still needed Britain to play its role as the troublemaker within the European Union, preventing the continent from uniting against American dominance. If the alliance between the two countries fractured, it would hurt both sides.
Even in its decline, Britain knew how to leverage its geopolitical value. This type of diplomatic blackmail had been a British specialty since the 16th century.
For proof, one only needed to look at how British forces behaved during World War II when the Chinese Expeditionary Force, led by Sun Li-jen, came to their aid in Burma. The British, who had been utterly humiliated by the Japanese, suddenly regained their arrogance when dealing with their supposed allies.
Returning to the present—during the Cold War, when the Soviet Union was still a major threat, the UK had been a crucial ally of the U.S. Intelligence-sharing and technological cooperation were common between the two countries.
However, now that the USSR was long gone, and the U.S. was the world's sole superpower, Washington no longer viewed Britain as an equal.
Still, despite Britain's diminishing status, the U.S. wasn't ready to completely cut ties. London's role as America's agent of chaos within the EU was still valuable. The Americans had no interest in seeing France and Germany consolidate European power into a force that could challenge U.S. global influence.
This reality gave the British Prime Minister confidence as he sought to negotiate with President Arthur.
By now, he understood that this entire crisis had been triggered by their botched attempt to steal technology from Richard Castle—a man with deep connections in the American defense industry. That had united both political parties in the U.S. and their military-industrial complex against Britain, leading to the public exposure of the operation.
Still, this was more of a slap on the wrist than a genuine effort to sever ties. The U.S. wasn't looking to completely sever relations; they were just sending a message.
Realizing this, the Prime Minister knew how to frame his conversation with President Arthur—apologizing while also subtly reminding him of Britain's geopolitical usefulness.
Meanwhile, the Defense Secretary and M were tasked with containing the domestic fallout. They needed to suppress media speculation and control the political damage. The Foreign Secretary was instructed to meet with the U.S. Ambassador to the UK to handle diplomatic relations on a lower level, depending on how the Prime Minister's conversation with Arthur went.
As for the man at the center of this entire fiasco—Richard Castle?
All four officials collectively decided to pretend he didn't exist.
Now that they understood that Castle was a politically untouchable figure, no one even suggested retaliating against him. Instead, they redirected their anger toward the Turkish intelligence agency, whose agent had killed their MI6 operative, triggering the entire scandal.
This was precisely why Castle had taken a different approach this time. Rather than confronting the problem directly, he had strategically involved Jo Martinez's Joint Task Force and Lockheed Martin, ensuring that both the U.S. government and the defense industry took up his fight for him.
By staying in the background, he not only avoided direct retaliation from Britain but also forced the British government to accept the embarrassment without daring to retaliate against him.
This marked a significant evolution in Castle's thinking. Unlike his earlier reckless confrontations, such as his direct clash with the Watanabe clan, he had learned to manipulate larger forces to achieve his goals.
Instead of personally dealing with threats, he was now using political and corporate power plays to make his enemies suffer.
At this moment, while the British and Turkish governments scrambled to contain the fallout, Castle was back at his estate, teasing the overworked Alexis as she rushed to finish coding his flight simulator software.
Meanwhile, the Turkish Government Was in Chaos
If Britain's situation was bad, Turkey's was ten times worse.
Unlike Britain, which still had some leverage in its negotiations with the U.S., Turkey had no bargaining power at all.
Turkey's relations with the U.S. had already hit rock bottom after Ankara had cut off water and electricity to an American military base on Turkish soil in response to Washington's covert support for anti-government groups.
Now, their intelligence agency had sent operatives to New York to steal military technology—and worse, one of their agents had been captured alive by the FBI.
This was an absolute disaster.
The head of Turkish foreign intelligence broke into a cold sweat as he rushed to inform the Turkish President about what had happened.
As it turned out, the Turkish President had not even been informed that his country's intelligence service had launched this operation.
This was the real bombshell Castle had uncovered through Jarvis—Turkey's national government had no idea their intelligence agency had acted independently to support private defense contractors trying to obtain Castle's technology.
Turkey was an opportunistic player on the global stage, always shifting loyalties based on who offered the best deal. In this case, certain defense firms had quietly influenced the intelligence service to act on their behalf, bypassing official government oversight.
Now, however, their incompetence had created an international crisis.
Worse still, Turkey lacked Britain's diplomatic experience. While the British government, despite its mistakes, at least had seasoned politicians who knew how to manage crises, the Turkish leadership reacted with pure rage.
The Turkish President was furious.
"What the hell was our intelligence agency thinking?! Who authorized this mission? And why the hell did they get caught?! Are they even real spies, or just a bunch of amateurs?!"
The President's anger wasn't just about the failed mission—he was also terrified about what the captured agent might reveal under FBI interrogation.
The Americans would squeeze every last piece of intelligence out of him, and once they had proof that Turkish spies were trying to steal military technology, the U.S. would have the perfect excuse to retaliate.
The situation was a nightmare.
Unlike Britain, which at least had a diplomatic backchannel, Turkey had no way to negotiate its way out of this disaster.
They had lost a covert operation, handed the Americans a diplomatic weapon against them, and now risked severe political and economic consequences.
In short, Turkey had royally screwed up.
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