Dum Dum Dugan sorted through the shared memory archive in his mind, located the upload from one of his countless clones, and answered honestly. "As far as I know, he doesn't belong to anyone. I haven't found any traces of other organizations interfering with his actions."
"Excellent. Then let's re-examine this report you gave me. You spent an entire week confirming that a man capable of creating biological weapons through unknown means, openly trading with Blade, and attacking vampires… has one major suspicious point: he might prefer eating raw meat over cooked?"
Dum Dum forced a smile onto his face. "Would you believe me if I said that wasn't my conclusion?"
He knew it sounded like something only a door-jammed brain could come up with.
"I believe you. In fact, I have even better reason to suspect that the person standing in front of me dodging responsibility isn't your Level 10 original, but a clone whose actual competence doesn't even reach Level Two." Fury stared hard at the man before him.
This clone couldn't even be bothered to suggest something like "his cute pets prefer their food raw."
Running into one lazy clone was bad enough. Getting a brain-dead reporter on top of that was downright terrifying.
Dum Dum lowered his head, pretending to think, probably trying to figure out how to sell Fury on the swiss-cheese memory in his shared archive.
"Fine. I have a general idea of what's going on. Tell your original he can pull back some of his attention… a little."
"Understood. I can't guarantee the original will review my upload in a timely manner."
A vein throbbed on Fury's forehead. It was a good thing he had received a diluted version of the Super Soldier Serum, or he might have had an aneurysm by now.
"Based on the available intelligence, plus the information provided by Blade, this individual can be cooperated with... but not trusted yet. He's a legitimate company owner who exploited a legal loophole, claiming he's conducting biological experiments to develop a miracle drug that can cure mutants…" Fury asked, "Who approved this application?"
It sounded completely ridiculous no matter how you looked at it.
Dum Dum scratched his temple, desperately searching for useful memories while trying to invent a plausible lie that would prove he was a competent clone.
"There have been a lot of people recently using similar excuses to scam government funding."
A man walked in. Having greeted thousands of protagonists in his career, he carried an air of effortless composure. Phil Coulson approached with a faint, enigmatic smile on his face.
"Compared to those frauds, he at least has a genetics degree from the University of Zurich and can produce several solid papers to dress up his proposal. As it turns out, he didn't get any money... just a site for his experiments. Interestingly enough, though, there is a record of government funds being transferred to Weyland Biotech."
"Parasites. Disgraceful!" Fury slammed his fist on the table. His enhanced strength flipped it over. "Who's the highest person in charge of that department? How could he allow this to happen?"
"Colonel Stryker."
"Oh."
A moment of silence followed.
Dum Dum tapped the side of his head. "I just accessed another memory. The clone monitoring the target reported a robbery at the meat warehouse. It seems the target ran out of money and resorted to more direct methods. Most importantly, he stole back the money he had paid the clone... probably planning to reuse it for the next food purchase."
"I think I understand what you're getting at. A man so passionate about raw meat robbed your butcher shop. Listen to that... such a heinous crime. He can't even tell the difference between raw and cooked anymore." Fury stared daggers at Dum Dum.
The clone's face stiffened.
Coulson spoke up. "Blade has conducted three transactions with him so far, totaling only two hundred thousand dollars. Unfortunately, Blade refused to hand over samples of that creature's blood, so we missed our chance to study it. Even if we had obtained it, research would be nearly impossible. That corrosive blood can eat through super-alloys. The design itself seems tailored to counter reverse genetic decoding projects... even if the blood Adam provided was diluted."
Coulson still didn't fully understand the Xenomorphs' properties. Even if he somehow created artificial ones from genetic samples, they would never obey him. A rampage through S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters would be inevitable.
"Blade is a powerful warrior, but not the best operative. He has his own code. If he digs his heels in, there's nothing you can do about it. Here's what we'll do... send another twenty thousand dollars in funding to your clone."
Fury generously waved his hand, approving the request, then added, "Remember to issue a two-hundred-million-dollar invoice and send it to the Five Major Powers. Tell them to wire the money immediately."
"Director, I doubt they'll buy it. A weird scientist who can barely handle a few vampires isn't worth two hundred million," Dum Dum pointed out shrewdly, loyally reminding his superior.
"Impossible. He created such powerful new lifeforms... strong enough to defeat vampires. He's worth it." Fury sounded completely certain, though what he truly thought was another matter.
In Fury's view, Adam's achievements were novel but offered limited value beyond biotechnology. It might take years... or even decades... of groundbreaking progress in the field before Adam would be worth his personal investment.
S.H.I.E.L.D. controlled countless classified secrets tied to humanity's survival, along with access to many unique powers.
Undersea, the moon, sorcerers, demons, gods, ice giants, black dragons, aliens…
So for now, Adam wasn't worth Fury stepping in personally.
"Continue surveillance. Focus on assessing his psychological profile and confirming whether his personality is stable and reliable. We'll decide our next steps after that."
Completely withdrawing surveillance was out of the question. Adam's abilities went far beyond shooting fire or water. They reached the level where he could easily commit major crimes, so he would remain under observation.
In this world, the most dangerous people weren't always those with special powers... sometimes they were the ones with special minds.
"Coulson, bring me up to speed on your side." Fury quickly set Adam's file aside. Spending even a few minutes on the man was already an exception. Other matters were far more pressing.
Coulson's smile faded. "It's not good. After his father's death, Banner went into hiding for a while. He's been found and is now being hunted across the globe."