Mr. Nobody snapped back to reality and looked at Locke.
The corners of Locke's mouth curled upward.
The implication of his words was subtle. It could be interpreted as a mere quip, but it could just as easily be read as. 'Holy crap, so this is what Langley is capable of? You want to recruit someone, yet you couldn't even manage to do basic, thorough intelligence work beforehand?'
It was understandable that the Lubyanka's perception of Locke was flawed.
After all, they don't have home field advantage. That was normal for them.
But Langley?
It shouldn't have been the case.
After all, Locke had never hidden his academic talent. In fact, he hadn't even entertained the idea of playing dumb. As he said before, playing the pig to eat the tiger didn't suit him.
Mr. Nobody interpreted the remark as the latter. He chuckled and shook his head. "To be honest, I hadn't planned on having our third meeting so soon."
"Oh?" Locke let out a sound of curiosity, a hint of interest appearing on his face.
"The bugs in my room?"
"Did you put them there?"
"...What? Of course not."
Mr. Nobody was quick to deny it. He didn't want the recruitment to fail only to have Locke's legal team sue Langley in court. He spoke directly.
"CIA. That is the reason I rushed over here. Since you have seen the files, you should know why the CIA installed wiretaps in your room."
Locke put on an expression of complete surprise, then frowned. "Because of Lorraine Broughton?"
"Yes. Your mother."
"..."
Locke's gaze shifted upward to meet Mr. Nobody's. "If you insist on forcing that title upon me, I will decline your recruitment right now."
'Who is my mother? My past life mother is my mother. No one else has that right. Lorraine Broughton doesn't have the right.'
Locke spoke up. "I am an orphan, Mr. Nobody. She didn't look after me in the past; I don't need her now, and I won't need her in the future. You don't know me well enough, so let me tell you."
Mr. Nobody raised his hand.
"My apologies. I didn't mean anything by it."
He could understand Locke's resentment. Besides, he hadn't come here to tell Locke who his mother was.
Mr. Nobody said. "I hear what you are saying, and I understand. But the CIA doesn't know that. And since you are so smart, do you think that if you tell them, they will believe you just as I do?"
Locke shook his head.
If the CIA were the type to listen to his explanation and simply accept it, would he have bothered going over there to turn
Egorov into his blood thrall?
If even Mr. Nobody didn't truly believe it, what hope was there for the CIA?
At the moment, Mr. Nobody simply wanted to recruit him, which was why he wouldn't argue over the matter. Put simply, if it weren't for that woman, Mr. Nobody wouldn't have even dreamed of recruiting him into the Agency.
Locke was well aware of this.
Although the USA didn't have a formal political screening—or rather, a political screening in the true sense, in a country where even a recovering drug addict could become a police officer—certain agencies still valued bloodlines.
Like the Agency.
The Agency especially loved recruiting the relatives of veteran employees. Their next choice was those who joined the military out of patriotism. As for open recruitment from the general public, even if people were recruited, they were usually just cannon fodder agents.
Wait. Should he transform Mr. Nobody too? He shouldn't favor one over the other; that wouldn't be good. If word got out in the future that he transformed Egorov but not Mr. Nobody, what if Mr. Nobody got jealous?
Locke glanced at Mr. Nobody out of the corner of his eye, thinking to himself.
But...
Forget it.
Locke wasn't hesitating for any other reason than the fact that human blood tasted absolutely terrible.
An Embrace wasn't that easy to perform.
If an Embrace truly only required a single bite, why were there so many people who simply died after being bitten by vampires?
To transform someone through the Embrace, one had to drain that person's blood completely dry and then have them consume the vampire's blood. Only then could a thrall be created.
It didn't matter to vampires or bloodlines who were addicted to fresh blood.
But Locke couldn't do it.
Though he was an Assassin, a Witch, and even a Vampire Progenitor, at the end of the day, Locke believed he was just a slightly complicated ordinary human.
Locke couldn't help but shake his head, dismissing the idea.
Watching Locke's movement, Mr. Nobody thought he was giving an answer. He said. "But we have already settled this matter. Though, given your intelligence, I imagine you guessed it long ago."
He was referring to the narrative used to fool the NYPD into closing the case.
Specifically, the claim that the wiretaps in Locke's home were merely the personal actions of a destitute, unlicensed private investigator looking to make money, with no other factors involved.
Locke nodded nonchalantly. "It felt a bit strange, but since you have said so, it is clear now. Buson Veach, the guy who came forward to take the blame, he must be your man?"
Mr. Nobody smiled. "Yes, a low-level agent. As it happens, his next stage of training requires him to head to prison. We simply took this opportunity to arrange a logical excuse for his incarceration."
Locke nodded. "And the security guard at Star Tower?"
Mr. Nobody spread his hands. "His daughter happens to need a transplant. We promised to put her name at the very top of the matching list."
"Impressive."
"Thank you."
Locke nodded with a look of awe, watching the calm expression on Mr. Nobody's face. However, his awe wasn't for Mr. Nobody's clever tactics; it was for the fact that Mr. Nobody was a true Agency man through and through.
Even though Mr. Nobody was all smiles and looked like a nice enough guy, there was no doubt his blood was cold.
Put it this way.
When Mr. Nobody placed a security guard's daughter on a medical transplant list—and moved her to the number one spot—it meant he didn't care one bit about the life of the person who was originally number one, someone who might have been at death's door waiting for that life-saving organ.
Locke was in awe of Mr. Nobody's cold-bloodedness, not the series of maneuvers.
Because.
It was entirely unnecessary.
If Locke were in his shoes, he would have had three simpler and more effective methods. The first. whoever dared to target this case, find a way to make that officer disappear.
'When you can't solve the problem, solving the person who raised the problem is always the most convenient and efficient way.'
Locke hadn't raised the problem.
He had merely thrown the problem out. The one who caught it and proceeded to raise the issue was the NYPD—specifically, a certain Senior Captain of the NYPD.
What a pity.
Mr. Nobody hadn't chosen such a simple and effective method.
Locke felt a small sense of disappointment.
"So..."
Seeing that the talk was mostly finished, Mr. Nobody finally threw out the purpose of his visit.
"Locke, we have been observing you for a long time. I want to invite you to join the Agency!"
Locke looked at Mr. Nobody and chuckled. "Mr. Nobody, I am not against joining the Agency. However, I must remind you that I am only seventeen years old."
His choice of profession after graduation wouldn't be based on interest.
Rather, he would choose whichever profession offered more missions.
Missions were his interest.
But right now?
Locke didn't want to lose the big picture for the sake of a small gain. He liked moving one step at a time, building a solid foundation. He wouldn't be reckless, but he wouldn't play it too safe either.
Invincible at the same level, invincible in the same realm.
That was what Locke desired.
Mr. Nobody smiled. "Of course, I haven't forgotten that. But, your..."
Locke looked at Mr. Nobody with a half-smile.
"Lorraine Broughton..."
Since he couldn't use that title to build a rapport, Mr. Nobody wasn't going to provoke Locke further.
"Lorraine Broughton had already successfully graduated from the agent academy at your age."
Locke laughed. "I don't accept that the studies of an agent are superior to my current studies. For me, my current academic path will be of much greater help."
"But you like taking exams, don't you?"
"...Continue."
The corners of Locke's mouth turned up as he spoke, looking at Mr. Nobody.
"I think I was wrong just now. It seems Mr. Nobody has indeed done his research on me."
Mr. Nobody smiled. "I can recruit you, but whether or not you can pass the evaluation is not up to me."
Did he really think being an agent was that easy?
Let's put it this way.
A poor student who went to the Agency would definitely fail, even if they didn't have to take exams on math, physics, or chemistry.
A qualified agent needs to learn how to wreck a car while traveling at nearly eighty kilometers per hour while ensuring their own life is preserved.
They even need to learn how to conduct interrogations and how to extract secrets from others without leaving a trace.
Most importantly, a qualified agent needs to learn the skill of how to cleverly violate the laws of other countries while remaining completely unscathed.
And most importantly of all, they must learn how to keep their identity a secret.
Marksmanship and the like couldn't be called unimportant, but at the very least, they weren't that significant in an agent's career.
"Last year, out of three hundred agent trainees, only three passed. Three people were eliminated every week, continuing until only the final three remained."
Mr. Nobody spoke about the results of last year's recruitment, looking at Locke. "I wonder, has this exam piqued your interest?"
Locke smiled. "A little. But, as I said, I am only seventeen."
Mr. Nobody said. "I haven't forgotten that. Therefore, you don't have to go to the academy. You only need to pass the exams. Someone will train you, and I guarantee you won't be suspected."
"Who?"
"Someone you know. Shelton. Clyde Shelton, your mentor!"
"..."