The whole of SHADE was abuzz with shock and rumours aplenty. The leader of SHADE herself wanted to meet Agent X personally!

Granted, this wasn't completely unheard of in their place. In fact, it had happened a few times before this as well. Their leader was quite well known for her curious and indomitable spirit. She would call upon extremely rare agents whose cases had managed to catch her attention amid her busy schedule and try to understand and solve the puzzle herself.

It was even a running joke among the operatives that if one needed to get her personal attention, all one had to do was get caught up in a completely intriguing and outrageous mission. Then the call would come knocking on their door, as inevitable as rumbling thunder follows after streaks of lightning.

And now, Agent X was the next one in line for his turn of being in the spotlight.

He was first examined by the resident doctor who made sure he was well enough for all the questioning that was undoubtedly going to come his way, while the messenger quietly waited on the side to pick him up when he was done.

In the meantime, Tasker and Sheaf were called over and informed about the situation. Tasker, because she was basically his manager, Sheaf because he was his superior. Both of them arrived in an absolute rush, almost competing with each other to reach X's bedside first.

When they found out about the checkups, they patiently waited by his bedside, right opposite to the messenger, as X completed all his checks and was finally certified to leave the medical ward.

It was quite worrisome for Sheaf and Tasker that X was being called on so suddenly, especially in his present state. Sheaf severely regretted not doing more to quell all that gossip people spread, while Tasker was going through all the possible scenarios X would have to deal with during his meeting.

It was amid this atmosphere that X finally completed his checks. He was led into the medical ward by a nurse who was carefully guiding his weakened body through the beds. Both of them stopped by his bed for a moment, and X had a chat with Sheaf and Tasker about what he could possibly be asked.

It probably wasn't even that big of a deal, but with all the recent twists and turns happening in their lives, every small thing that went against current plans made them incredibly jumpy and scared.

They couldn't talk for too long, because the messenger sent became annoyed with their forlorn expressions and melancholy behaviour.

'Guys, I'm not taking him to prison, nor am I kidnapping him. I'm just taking him to SHADE's leader, which by the way is a huge honor and opportunity of its own. You don't need to send him off in that fashion.'

Tasker and Sheaf blushed bright red in embarrassment, and bowed in apology. X shook his head and their antics and gestured for his nurse to help him walk. She rushed forward and caught his arm, and the trio slowly made their way to the medical ward's door and out of the room.

Once they were gone, Tasker and Sheaf immediately slumped their tense shoulders, something they hadn't even realized had been happening. They looked at each other in dismay. No matter what the messenger said, they were still concerned for Agent X. But, like earlier, they knew that they couldn't do anything about this situation either. It was really getting annoying now.

Meanwhile, Agent X himself, the nurse and the messenger made their way through the narrow corridor. X was limping and panting with the effort and their speed, the nurse was desperately trying to walk slowly enough and support him properly, while the messenger kept moving annoyingly fast and gesturing at them to hurry up and not keep SHADE's leader herself waiting.

X cursed several times under his breath as he hobbled along as fast as he could. This desperate scene lasted for a good ten minutes before they were finally standing outside SHADE's leader's door. It was a high-definition version of the doors present throughout HQ, and carried SHADE's emblem proudly in the center.

The messenger knocked three times on the door in a very proper and refined way, then took three steps back and gestured for them to do the same. They quickly stepped back in case the door suddenly swung open and smashed their faces in.

Luckily the door's handle just clicked open and it opened inwards to reveal a woman standing in the doorway, solemnly holding the door handle. She stepped aside to make way for them, and X and his nurse followed the messenger through the door and into the room it held.

The office itself was almost nothing like X expected to see. He'd imagined a room similar to the ones the rest of HQ housed, with their metal furniture, grey walls and tons of files.

But the sight that met his eyes completely threw his premonitions out of the window.

The room in question was impossibly large, and was designed, quite literally, like the basement of an underground basement. Something about the room, he wasn't sure if it was the lighting or the walls' colors, gave off a pale, murky greenish color, even though it didn't seem explicitly painted as such. There wasn't the usual jumble of pipes and lines, nor the constant dripping of sewer water in some corner, though X kept expecting to hear it any second.

In the very centre of the room, a few wooden desks and chairs were arranged in a circular manner. A few of them were decorated with the ever-present stacks of paper, while the others were pushed back and seemed recently occupied.

Agent X was so busy noticing all this that he didn't even realize when they stopped walking and he was delicately guided to a cushioned seat facing the main table in the room.

When his nurse tapped on his shoulder to get his attention, he shook out of his daze and nodded before taking his seat. The nurse whispered that she would come to get him when they were done with the conversation and swiftly turned around and walked out of the room.

Thus, Agent X was left in that chair with his back facing the closed door. He sat like that for what felt like an eternity, tapping his feet rapidly against the floor and twisting the earring dangling from his ear. Then suddenly he perceived the door handle clicking open and two pairs of feet tapped across the floor and made their way to where he was sitting.

Agent X felt his entire body tense as two women stepped into his peripheral vision and stopped in front of him. He held his breath. So this was the elusive, spontaneous leader of SHADE.

The two women in front of him were the highest authorities in SHADE. The taller woman was the infamous Shell, the current leader of SHADE. The woman by her side was clearly Snow, her assistant and, people liked to joke, her partner in crime.

When they were standing side by side, anyone could tell that they were almost polar opposites to each other. Shell was dressed very casually, with a plain black shirt, camo pants and combat boots. She was built athletically as well, lean and strong, and showed it through the clothing of her choice.

Snow, in comparison, seemed very unapproachable and overly formal with her business suit and neatly pressed white shirt. She was holding a sleek laptop in her hands and had a pair of air pods in her ears that matched the ones Shell wore.

Yes, the two women looked like polar opposites if you glanced at them for a second. But as X stared at them for longer, he realized why they had seemed so similar at first glance. Their outward appearances were different, but their eyes held the same determined glint in them, the same fierce stubbornness to protect what was theirs.

Shell cleared her throat and caught X's attention as his eyes drew to her. She raised an eyebrow and looked at him critically. 'I see you're more of the quiet, observant type.'

'Wh.. what makes you say that?' X countered, his voice slightly breaking due to lack of prolonged use. Shell now raised both her eyebrows and chuckled lightly.

'Well, for one, you haven't even asked a single question to me till now, regarding why you've been brought here, what I want from you, nothing. And you don't think I can recognize the look someone has when they're carefully assessing the person in front of them?' She replied with a slight smirk.

X nodded lightly, 'Why am I here then? What do you want from me?'

Shell threw her head back and laughed. 'You're a wily one, I see. Very well, let's come to the point. As you've probably heard, I have a habit of calling on agents who have very interesting cases that I would love to solve myself if I'm not too busy.

Your case, Agent X, is a curious one, so it tempted me to call on you to see if I can solve it,' Shell spread her arms and shrugged. 'So tell me, what exactly is your mission, how did it go wrong, and what's the deal with that tattoo I've been hearing a lot about?'

Agent X sighed and shifted around in his seat until he was more comfortable, then cleared his throat and began speaking, recounting all his current adventures and mission. He finally concluded his story at the part where he found himself sitting in front of SHADE's leader and reciting his tales.

Shell exhaled deeply like she'd been holding her breath, and X could easily see the glint of challenge gleaming in her eyes. This case deeply intrigued her and apparently it was taking her all to not show her excitement openly.

She seemed to ponder over something. Seeming to come to a decision, she looked at X decisively before speaking, 'Alright Agent X, your mission is very thrilling and definitely something I would like to work on. I'll make it a point to make sure you haven't appointed any other missions while we all work on this mystery. Is that ok with you?'

She'd made it sound like he had an opinion on this, but one look at Shell told X that he would work on this case with her, with or without his consent, so it was better to just go along with it and solve the mystery with them.

So X nodded and gave his assent willingly, or with as much will as could be mustered in such a situation. Shell smiled and nodded like she hadn't expected him to say anything else in reply.

Snow opened the device tucked under her arm and typed rapidly into it, eyes roaming on the screen as she moved her lips slightly and scanned the data on the screen.

At last, she looked up from the screen with a small self-praising grin and spoke to Shell, 'I've looked into your schedule, and you don't have much to look into right now. Whatever responsibilities you have can be taken care of by me and your team. You're more than free to look into this.'

Shell grinned and thanked Snow with a thump on the back. Then she turned around and sat down at the opposite end of the table, facing the chair X was still sitting on. 'Agent X. I'll be giving you a few hours to take care of the necessary details of working personally with me, including informing your colleagues about the developments. Then you'll be sworn to secrecy and forbidden to talk about any details of our conversations, so I suggest you better explain everything well.'

X nodded his head; he'd already expected that condition on working with Shell. He knew that secrecy was one of the key assets in their professions, so it only made sense to ensure it at all times. However, from the apologetic smile on Shell's face, he knew it wouldn't be the only precaution taken to ensure secrecy.

'I've heard a lot about your success rates, which were almost unbroken if not for your recent stint. This is why I assume you know how important privacy and secrecy are in situations like ours. I'm a very careful person, so I hope you understand when I ask you to go through a lie detector test first.'

X froze. Of course, in hindsight, he should have seen it coming, but the unexpected condition still made him pause.

However, even though he had a lot of reservations, he still ignored his inner gut feeling because of the common belief that the innocent had nothing to fear. He'd done nothing wrong, and it would be extremely suspicious and would raise alarms if he protested. How would he explain that even the innocent had their own privacy to protect?

So he clenched his jaw, gritted his teeth, and nodded stiffly.

'Very well then,' Shell answered and straightened up, clapping her hands twice. Immediately the door from which he had entered opened and the round of wheels rolling filled the room. X twisted his body around to catch a glimpse of what was happening, although the clang of metallic objects and rapid footsteps could only mean one thing.

Shell had apparently already arranged for the lie detector test to be done, probably predicting that their conversation would go the way it did. X had to be careful in judging her capabilities, clearly, she hadn't become the leader of SHADE through a lottery draw.

The instruments clattered to a stop next to him and the person conducting the test immediately got to work, attaching many wires and clips to X's hands and two-three thick ropes around his torso.

Shell watched the whole process with an impassive expression till the guy stepped back and stood behind the monitor. Then she got up and leaned over the table, both hands splayed across the dark wood.

'Alright Agent X, I'm pretty sure you know how this procedure works right? I'll be the one asking questions, and you just have to answer each and every one truthfully. Is that understood?'

From her stance and tone, it was clear that she was giving him one last chance to back out of this. But X knew that even if he chose it, it would reflect badly on him, and would probably bring about less than desirable consequences.

So he just gave a thumbs up and uttered an I understand and agree to proceed with it.

Shell straightened up and folded her arms. 'Very well then, let's begin.'

Hmm... I wonder what Shell's going to discuss with him. Maybe the best way to vote? 

What? Don't look at me with that expression! That is a perfectly reasonable topic to have intense discussions about!