When Silver woke up, he realized he was sleeping for almost twenty-four hours. His body was still tired and sore, but he at least regained some of his strength. His stomach rumbled, so his next checkpoint after the bath was a cafeteria. There he had three full menus before feeling satisfied.

Some people looked strangely at him. They had no idea where he was able to put that food and not to burst. Most of those people didn't know him, and their older colleagues explained to them this. Actually, they had no idea how that was possible either. It was like this since Silver came, so they took it for granted.

Whenever he had to use a lot of his energy at once, he would eat times more than a normal person. Everybody thought his body was that special since his powers were one of a kind. Once he finished his meal, he headed to the hospital to check on Eclipse and Amy.

In all honesty he wasn't that worried, however, he had time to think about Eclipse's condition. No matter how much he pondered about it, he couldn't figure out what could cause it. The demon was the only person capable of telling them what happened, and how Finitevus did that.

The physicians did their best to heal both of them as Silver refused their service, claiming to be fine. The head medic led him to their room. At this moment both were out of danger, but Eclipse was in worse condition as he still hadn't regained consciousness. Silver talked with the doctor for a bit and got a summary of demon's condition for his own report. Amy's wasn't that interesting, but he took it anyway to have all the information.

On his way to Nigel's office, he read the documents, formulating his report he would later put on a paper.

"Come in," called the voice behind the doors when Silver knocked.

He entered, saying, "Agent Silver is reporting for the duty."

The squirrel behind the table abruptly stood up. "Silver! So you finally woke up!"

The psychic's ears twitched. While he was glad he could sleep for so long, Nigel reminded him he neglected his duty to report sooner. He opened his mouth to formulate an apology when the other person cut him.

"Keep your stiff speech for later." Nigel headed to a small table with teapot and cups. "I'll make us a tea, so go ahead and tell me what happened."

The vision of the warm drink lifted Silver's mood a bit, so he took a seat in front of the big table. Since the time he introduced Shadow and the rest, Nigel seemed to get a bit friendlier with him. At least once in a month, he invited him with Gold for a tea, discussing everyday topics. At first, it was irritating him, but as the time went he learned to enjoy them, and the tea was always delicious.

Silver started his report when they arrived in the deserted village. Mr. Nigel closely listened, not letting any word to escape him. It wasn't every day his best agents returned in such bad shape. And the worst was, one was S-class while the rest was aspiring to be as exceptional.

The psychic made sure to not forget any detail. In a span of two hours and five cups of tea, he finished his report with words, "My apology, for not capturing this shady person, but Eclipse utterly messed his part." Silver wasn't shaming him or making him a scapegoat. He gave him a single order, and he failed.

Nigel didn't answer, and the way he took a sip suggested he was deeply in thoughts. "Was his fur really white?"

The psychic slightly lifted his eyebrow. He wasn't colorblind, and he would hardly mistake it for another color. "Yes, he was completely white, and his eyes had black sclera," he added at the end, taking a sip of his now cold tea.

"And he was named Zachary Finitevus, right?"

"Yes, he said it." Now was Silver sure there was something big going on. However, how come he never noticed it or was called to deal with him? The psychic asked, "Is something the matter? This person mentioned The Order completely erased his existence."

The squirrel didn't answer. Suddenly a book landed between them, and that startled them. Silver jerked his head, as in this moment he noticed Big was in the room too. That big, purple cat with blank stare was, despite his size, easily overlooked.

"Thank you, Big, your fishing technique never stops to amaze me," Nigel praised him. The book contained the information he now needed.

"No biggie. It's in the wrist," Big answered without a hint in his voice. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, and if he felt any emotions.

Silver let those thoughts be as Nigel opened that book, and pointed at a yellowish photo of albino echidna. "Was it this person?"

The psychic walked around the table to check the photograph properly. "Yes, it's this person. There is no mistake about it, except for the color of the sclera." Nigel frowned and bit his lip. Silver became alert. He had never seen him do this. Was this person out of his reach?

"So, he is still alive," Nigel mumbled.

"Do you know him?" the psychic inquired.

"Yes." The simple answer came, and the psychic waited for more. "Zachary Finitevus used to be a part of the science departure. He developed seals and weapons for our agents and made other great contributions."

Silver tilted his head a bit. "If he was so famous, why would he end up doing such cruel experiments?"

Nigel touched the old photograph, letting his fingertips feel the surface. "It was a failure at my grandfather's side. It was him, who found Finitevus as a young boy and saw endless potential in his brain. My grandfather made sure he was able to get anything he needed for his experiments," he started to explain.

"But with passing time it was clearer, his experiments were getting more out of hand. However, he was able to defend them, convincing the higher-ups of the benefits it would bring them. We should have stopped him at that time, but he sweet talked us into believing in him."

Silver offered him a tea he made during his speech, and the squirrel accepted it. Nigel's face twisted a bit as the taste was sour. The psychic was never good at cooking, and it seemed to make a good tea was harder than he thought. Once they put their cups away, Nigel continued, "Then one day we had found the horrible truth behind him. For a year we noticed some agents went missing and the search led us... to him."

"You mean he started to experiment on people?" Silver wasn't that surprised hearing it now, he saw it with his own eyes, but there was still something off. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

"Yes, at that time there was a huge battle in his secret laboratory, and many agents lost their lives in a big explosion on that day. My grandfather led their group and unfortunately died as well. With barely any survivors we believed Finitevus perished with his ambitions." Nigel angrily glanced at the photograph.

"The Order strongly believed this man could help them in the never-ending war with demons. However, it seemed this man was a devil on his own. He hid his black soul behind that pure fur of his and friendly smile." Nigel shook his head a bit, continuing, "So we sealed all the remaining information on his research and person, making sure no one will try to follow in his footsteps."

Since it seemed the brief story was finished, Silver placed his question, "Your Holiness, when that incident happened?" Finally, he felt he had found the strange thing he couldn't point at before. "If you say, your grandfather found him..." He left his question open.

"It was seventy years ago when Finitevus was thirty-one." The leader of The Order didn't bat the eye.

"What?" the psychic barked. "That's impossible! He didn't look like an old man!" This was the thing that made no sense to him. Finitevus' age wasn't adding up.

"It's not really that impossible." Nigel stood up, walking to the window behind his desk. Silver was behind him, not letting any word escape him. "One of the projects was supposed to boost person's speed, strength, and even lifespan."

"Like immortality?" Silver gasped. No wonder The Order decided to turn a blind eye to his research. The results were too promising.

"It's most likely Finitevus was able to achieve his goal... to a certain degree."

Silver angrily clashed his fists. "Dang! If I knew that I would never let Eclipse go alone!" He growled and huffed.

"No, Silver! That man must have developed too many tricks for his sleeves! You both might have ended up in the same situation." Nigel looked at him and slightly nodded. "Do you know how is Eclipse now?"

Silver cleared his throat. "He is stabilized, but he has yet to regain consciousness. There was no visible wound on his body, and no damage was found on his organs either," he started to summarize the report he had read before coming to this office. "Doctors are assuming he was hit by some energy bullet of greater density. The reason why his inner energy was dropping so fast is still unknown."

While the main question remained unanswered, Nigel was glad the young demon was going to live. "That's good, he is quite hard working fella."

"Are you sure?" Silver frowned. "What if he let Finitevus go and faked his injury? I wouldn't be surprised he would be working with him." The psychic was still having his doubts about Eclipse, and while this wasn't exactly possible, he still wanted to voice his disagreement. In the past month, he reminded Nigel that demon was dangerous. If he would be left alone without any chains, he would surely turn against them.

"Silver," Nigel's voice was serious, "I always listen to your opinions. You are our best agent so far and probably the only one who can fight with Finitevus on equal ground." He put a hand on Silver's shoulder. "But Eclipse has proven himself by completing numerous smaller tasks."

Both their heads jerked toward a book hanging in the air. It was showing Eclipse's profile. So far he and Amy were able to finish ten D-rank missions, three C-rank ones, and even one of higher difficulty. While it seemed quite ordinary, they were getting missions for the last four months. Normally, no agent got a bigger mission before completely finishing their training. This was already making them exceptional individuals.

Nigel nodded at Big who had this knack for breaking the tension. As he would say, it was in the wrist. The squirrel man continued, "He is honest and hardworking, and Amy ensured me..."

"She is naive!" Silver barked, and lightly brushed the other person's hand. "And she is hardly prepared for any real missions! She froze when she saw her enemy! She spaced out! She was just a nuisance! With Gold, I would finish the mission two times faster!"

Nigel's eyes turned a bit sad. He knew well what Gold meant for Silver and how he was a perfectionist. It was hard to find him another partner, especially if the psychic was able to do almost all the work on his own.

"So, Gold, huh?"

"She is my trusted partner," Silver felt anxious, and his voice was this time calm. He hated when he let his emotions get the best of him.

"Yes, I know, and we both know why she couldn't accompany you this time."

Silver balled his fists. If he wasn't standing in front of Nigel, he would bite his lip. "Yes, sir, I know," he merely answered. This reminder hurt him a lot.

Nigel sent him a reassuring smile. "You are too hard on yourself. Your last mission was a big one, you should take a rest. Relax your mind."

"As you wish, your Holiness," he dryly noted and bowed. With this, he left the room.

"He is a nice kid," said Big once the door closed.

"Yes, but too stiff," he admitted. He returned to the table once more looking at the photograph. "He had too much time for his schemes." He closed the book. "The Council of The Twelve has to be immediately informed."