Jim was found by Red Skull, when looking for the imprisoned Professor Horton to repair his battlesuit. The Android was protecting Horton's corpse. As soon as Schmidt realized that the android was capable of duplicating the Avengers' powers, he took advantage of the android's naiveté, saying that now Horton was dead he would look after Jim, saying that is what Phineas would have wanted, and tried to pit him against the heroes. Hammond was sent to steal fuel for HYDRA.