Agent X

Assets and maps

'Sheaf!' Hacker exclaimed; the shock evident on her face. Even X was surprised, though he didn't show it. Sheaf grinned widely in his characteristic way, pearly teeth flashing. He spread his arms dramatically and stood up. 'Did you guys miss me?'

X sighed. In his opinion, SHADE would do perfectly fine as a theatre production house as well. Everyone was a top-class drama queen here. Hacker responded even more dramatically. Out of excitement, she bounded towards him and hugged him. Sheaf laughed and hugged her back.

'So much enthusiasm even though you barely know me? I'm sure X must've sang paeans of my glory to you.' He remarked, glancing at X. Hacker shook her head.

'Nah, the guy is so silent and tight-lipped all the time, I barely even know him. I'm just the sort of person to get excited like this.' She replied on his behalf.

Sheaf laughed again. 'Yeah, I can see that.' He grabbed X's arm and pulled him into a hug as well. X really, really didn't appreciate such close contact, especially in front of an audience, but chose not to voice his complaints. 'Loosen up man. Goodness, you're always wound up so tight.' Sheaf lightly reprimanded him. X responded with a cutely childlike humph and a pout.

'So what happened? Did you do it? Did you find him? Was he safe? Was he on our side finally? Who was chasing him?' Hacker started her endless barrage of questions.

X sighed and muttered 'Here we go again.'

Sheaf took his time responding. He first sat down on a chair with a solemn expression on his face. From his time with Sheaf, X knew well enough by now that there was terrible news coming in. And he was right.

'I found him, all right. Just not in the state I was hoping for. I found him in one was the hidden secret houses we built specifically for this purpose. The door itself was hard to open, and when I went in I found out why. A broken chair was fixed on the door, probably to keep curious hands away. And the house was in an even worse mess. It literally looked like a hurricane struck it. There were shattered pieces of glass strewn across the floor. The curtains were torn up, furniture was broken, and tiles were smashed up. I found the guy himself in a bedroom. He had been shot in the chest. The dried-up pool of his blood formed indicated that he'd been lying like that for quite some time. All that mess must've been due to the struggle he put up.'

Hacker covered her mouth with her hand, horrorstruck. Even X, who was usually placid, looked tormented. People tended to assume that anyone in a dangerous field would get used to death and gruesome murder. But it just wasn't possible to not feel repulsed and shocked when our brain processes death and murder.

All three of them were silent for a moment. Nobody knew what to say. Until Hacker asked her final question on the topic. 'So, who was it? Was it ACE?'

Sheaf nodded slowly. 'The only other connection outside SHADE he had with anybody else was ACE. They must have realized that he was double-crossing them and spying on them and come after him.' He told with a slight shudder.