Castle couldn't shake a nagging feeling as he watched Harold Finch's reaction through the hacked webcam. Finch had displayed only a brief flicker of shock at the intrusion before expertly managing his expression. Castle's intuition kicked in: Does he already know who I am?
It was a wild hunch, but Castle trusted his instincts. However, he quickly dismissed the thought. Even if Finch had figured out his identity, what could he do? After all, Castle's actions were technically sanctioned by none other than the precinct captain herself—granted, she wasn't exactly clothed when she gave her approval, but that wasn't the point.
The point was that Castle had a legitimate reason to contact Finch. With Castle's generous sponsorship, the NYPD 12th Precinct was a fortress of cutting-edge law enforcement. They were the first precinct in New York to deploy drone surveillance, with two drones constantly patrolling Manhattan skies while the rest of the city had to share a single unit among multiple precincts. Add to that the best equipment money could buy, and the precinct had no need for vigilantes like Finch and Reese.
Finch's "Machine," while impressive for predicting high-risk individuals through big data analysis, didn't grant Finch or Reese the authority to intervene in public safety matters. They didn't even have private investigator licenses! Finch was a billionaire, so why not use his resources to support law enforcement instead of playing vigilante with Reese?
Castle saw Finch's approach as fundamentally flawed. If Finch had simply donated a million dollars to a precinct and demonstrated the efficacy of his program, the police would have jumped at the chance to use it, eventually becoming its biggest advocates. There would have been no need for clandestine operations or "heroic" interventions.
Instead, Finch had chosen the hard—and, frankly, absurd—route. Castle found this both baffling and slightly entertaining, given Finch's background. The billionaire programmer was a tragic figure, channeling his grief and guilt into a misguided quest for justice. While Castle respected Finch's intentions, he couldn't help but see his methods as unnecessarily convoluted.
Castle's original plan was to deliver a playful lesson to Finch. Despite his amusement, Castle recognized Finch as a fundamentally good person. But his execution of the plan had backfired spectacularly.
Sitting at his desk, Finch read the messages on his screen with growing frustration. He had pieced together enough to suspect the mysterious intruder was the eccentric writer with the private supercomputer—the same man dating Captain Beckett of the 12th Precinct. Still, Finch wasn't about to let some random individual dictate his actions.
Finch closed his laptop abruptly. Who does he think he is, barging into my system and lecturing me? Does he think I'll just stop my work because he told me to?
Back in the Long Island estate, Castle and Harold Ramsey were left staring at the screen in stunned silence.
"Uh-oh," Castle muttered, realization dawning on him. "I think I just screwed this up."
"You think?" Ramsey shot back, rolling his eyes. "Uncle Rick, what were you expecting? You hack into the guy's personal system, wag your finger at him, and think he'll say, 'Oh, sure, I'll stop my life's work because you said so?'"
Castle groaned. "I might have been... a tad too aggressive."
Ramsey raised an eyebrow. "A tad?"
To make matters worse, when Castle tried reconnecting to Finch's system, JARVIS reported that Finch had cut power to his laptop and disconnected his network. While JARVIS could still breach the core server hosting the Machine, Castle stopped him. Pushing further would escalate the situation, making it look like an attack rather than a conversation.
Watching Castle flounder, Lamsey, the quiet genius of the group, finally stepped in. She had been sitting silently, engrossed in analyzing the Machine's core algorithm. While Castle and Ramsey had treated the situation as a joke, Lamsey had approached it as an intellectual challenge.
Lamsey was no stranger to big data algorithms. She had designed "God's Eye," an advanced predictive system already in use by the NYPD. When she heard about Finch's Machine, her curiosity was piqued.
Now, with Finch's algorithm decrypted and laid bare before her, Lamsey couldn't hide her intrigue. "It's rudimentary," she said, her voice cutting through Castle and Ramsey's bickering. "But it's... clever. He's done something interesting here."
Castle glanced at her. "Interesting how?"
Lamsey gestured at her screen. "The algorithm doesn't just analyze patterns; it assigns probabilities based on socio-economic markers, behavioral data, and other variables to predict outcomes. It's primitive compared to 'God's Eye,' but it's surprisingly effective."
Castle leaned in, his interest rekindled. "So, you're saying there's potential?"
"Potential, yes. But it's also flawed," Lamsey said bluntly. "For one, it's overly reliant on localized data. It only works within the limits of New York City's databases. Second, it's not scalable. If Finch tried to expand this system nationwide, it would collapse under its own weight."
Ramsey chimed in. "And that's why he's stuck playing vigilante. His Machine can't operate beyond its current scope, so he compensates by sending Reese out to handle individual cases."
Castle sighed, rubbing his temples. "I guess I underestimated him. I went in guns blazing without thinking about his perspective."
Lamsey smirked. "Maybe next time, try starting with a polite email?"
"Point taken," Castle muttered. "Now, how do I fix this?"
Lamsey shrugged. "Apologize, for starters. Finch is a logical guy. If you approach him the right way, he might listen. But you need to stop treating this like a game."
Castle nodded, determined. "Alright. Time to clean up this mess."
Finch, meanwhile, had retreated to his backup systems, thoroughly annoyed. As he pondered his next move, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of curiosity about his mysterious intruder. What exactly are you after, Mr. Castle?
[A special discount will be available from December 30th until Three Kings' Day.]
[Use 37B44 to get 33% off all levels until January 6th]
[Unlock +20 Advanced Chapters on Patre on. com /Mutter]
[For every 50 Power Stones, 1 Bonus Chapter will be released]
[Thank you for reading!]