Reborn as Richard Castle in Criminal Minds

At the same time, in an office on the West Coast in California, far from the East Coast city of New York, several elderly "big shots" were sitting. They had been in this conference room all day, now listening to a technical expert explain a strange aircraft projected on the wall. This strange aircraft, captured from various angles, was a photo of the "Peeping No. 2" drone made by Castle.

This was the conference room of General Atomics in California. Yes, the same company that provided the US military with the MQ-1 "Predator" and MQ-9 "Reaper" drones. Unlike Northrop Grumman, General Atomics designs and manufactures pure reconnaissance drones for the US military. In contrast, General Atomics provides drones capable of carrying Hellfire air-to-ground anti-tank missiles, laser-guided bombs, and Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, highlighting the company's aggressiveness. Recently, their New York-based subsidiary discovered two strange drones frequently hovering over New York. After a brief investigation, these strange drones quickly caught the attention of the entire board of directors at General Atomics.

Why? It was because Castle couldn't find a reliable drone operator besides the chubby guy. He made an extremely impressive central control station specifically for the chubby guy, allowing him to control two drones simultaneously in different places and even have time to chat online.

Upon learning that these two strange drones could be perfectly operated by just one person, General Atomics' high-level personnel immediately took this matter seriously. Their current drones, whether the MQ-1 or MQ-9, required two people to control perfectly. For example, the MQ-1 Predator drone needed both a technician and a sensor operator working together to execute tasks flawlessly. However, their investigation showed that the two drones flying around New York these days could be perfectly controlled by a single chubby guy. This demonstrated an alarming level of drone flight control program intelligence. After learning this news this morning, all the high-level personnel at General Atomics gathered in the company's conference room, awaiting further information from their New York team.

The chubby guy was actually mistaken. He misidentified the drone tracking him as an RQ-4B Global Hawk instead of the MQ-1 Predator, which was being operated by internal personnel from General Atomics.

Recently, the chubby guy frequently flew these two drones over New York City. One of General Atomics' engineers responsible for drone flight control systems noticed them by chance. With his extensive professional experience, the engineer recognized that these drones were neither experimental verification machines from his company nor any other company's but rather seemed like DIY creations by hobbyists. Initially, the engineer didn't pay much attention. However, he soon noticed the drones' unique flight patterns and their control capabilities, far beyond the average hobbyist level. Intrigued, he decided to investigate further.

Conveniently, his team was conducting a project in the nearby New York airspace, testing drones in complex environments and around tall buildings. They had an unarmed MQ-1 Predator with them. With his high authority within the project team, the engineer ordered his drone operators to track the two drones flying freely over New York.

This action revealed the true capabilities of the chubby guy's drones. In the first few days, the engineer's operators could not keep up with the chubby guy's evasive maneuvers. The engineer witnessed the impressive performance of the drones firsthand. However, what truly shocked him was discovering through signal interception that a single individual controlled both drones from a unique central console, executing different tasks simultaneously from considerable distances.

This indicated that the chubby guy's drone control and operation skills were at least a generation ahead of General Atomics. They still required two operators per drone to perform tasks perfectly. If General Atomics could acquire the source code of this advanced flight control system, it would guarantee their victory in the competition for the next-generation military drone contract against Northrop Grumman. Moreover, as the discoverer of this valuable information, the engineer stood to gain recognition and potentially significant rewards. Even without rewards, being able to study the source code would greatly benefit his career.

Without delay, the engineer reported his findings to the company's board in California. The board, having reviewed the reports and footage of the two "Peeping" drones, immediately dispatched their secret action team to New York. They aimed to secure the chubby guy and the drones before their rivals, Northrop Grumman, became aware.

Why didn't they consider negotiating peacefully to obtain the source code? The reason was simple: they were currently competing for the next-generation military drone contract. If they negotiated with the chubby guy, Northrop Grumman could do the same. This would negate any advantage General Atomics had as the discoverer of this advanced system.

Moreover, capitalists aim to minimize costs. If they could obtain the technology without payment, why spend money? With the chubby guy's simple social network and reclusive lifestyle, his disappearance would go unnoticed for some time. With a team skilled in covert operations, it made more sense to abduct the chubby guy and his drones rather than engage in potentially costly negotiations.

However, in their haste, General Atomics made a significant error. Due to the tight timeline and the fear of their competitors learning about the situation, they did not conduct a thorough intelligence assessment. They missed that Castle, mistaken as just a friend and writer, was the actual designer and manufacturer of the drones. This oversight would lead to a significant setback for General Atomics.

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