(Project Meridian is my favorite so I'm dropping my two cents but no pressure to reply to them if you wouldn't like to)
I think he's definitely an interesting and fun character, but it's clear he's not meant to be taken as exclusively good either. He withholds information to use it at the most impactful time (sort of like Vega in that way) and is unquestionably framing how people see him so it works to his advantage. Even he says he's not really a good guy and is pretty comfortable with that. Project Meridian as a whole focuses on characters with grey morals who aren't cleanly good or bad, and James fits into that very, very well imo
In his audios with Love/Asset there's an element of using them to further his own ends and a self-awareness that what he's doing would be viewed as duplicitious. There's also an element of seeing Love/Asset as an object, as a product of his project, clearly illustrated both by the "Asset" name (dehumanizing, impersonal) and the fact he was perfectly fine (interested in the results, even!) with Marcus' meddling with them until it began to impede their functionality (less concerned with well-being and more with the completion of the project).
I (personally, at least) highly doubt that James is handling Marcus this way for entirely altruistic reasons. He had the power and knowledge to stop it before Marcus had messed with them, and didn't. However, he does need Love/Asset, which means he's seeking to gain a measure of credibility with them, likely through his handling of Marcus after removing the code.
I have doubts he's concretely a "good" or "bad" person, given the focus in the series on grey morality and personhood, but rather someone who is driven on achieving his goals through whatever means avaliable to him (see: offering Love/Asset the choice of what to do with Marcus, his Imperium audio implying he lied his ass off to the Academy so he could get free because he knew it was the quickest path back to his listener). I wouldn't say James is likeable, but he is driven
Obviously I am not saying people cannot enjoy him, I enjoy the hell out of him and he is SO interesting, but I agree that I wouldn't exactly say his motives are 100% altruistic here
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