When Perry and his team got back to Mission Prep, they put all the gear they had used back in their boxes. Most agents used weapons or gear that was available for everybody to use, but Perry's metal wrist braces and Pansy's energy batons had been created specifically for them to use by Kane, who was not just the mission controller; he was an engineer too. He was waiting for them as they came through the door from Mission Prep.

"How did it go?" he asked. "Was the gear okay?"

"The gear was more than okay," grinned Pansy, flexing her wrists as if she still had the batons in her hands. "It was great."

"Oh, good," Kane said in relief. He turned to Perry. "And your proton ring?"

"It flew very well," Perry said truthfully, not entirely sure what he was supposed to say about it.

Luckily for him, Kane moved on. "Your family's waiting in your office, Agent P. All five of you need to write up a mission report and send it to me ASAP. Remember, only write about what you did, not anyone else, unless it's like so-and-so did this which meant I was able to do that. Okay?"

"Okay," everybody chorused.

Kane then gave a thumbs up and walked away. Perry went straight to his office and found his teal-coloured mate sitting in his chair. "Hi Portia," he said, smiling.

Portia stood up and matched Perry's smile. "How was the mission?" she asked, as Perry moved further into the office and hugged her.

Before Perry could reply, a bundle of fur jumped onto Perry's back. "Daddy, I won my kickball game today!"

"Oh, did you?" Perry twisted his head round and managed to see the small turquoise platypus on his back. "Did you make the winning kick?"

"She actually did," Portia said, smiling proudly.

"Mommy, I'm telling the story!" complained the two-year-old platypus.

"Okay, Carly, tell me about your kickball game." Perry pried the small platypus off his back and held her in his arms.

"Jason kicked the ball and got two points, then it was my turn and I didn't get any points, and then-."

"He doesn't need every single detail," grinned Portia. "Who scored runs?"

"Abby scored a run!" Carly offered. "But she was on the opposite team."

"Who scored the runs on your team?" Perry asked.

"Jason scored most of them," admitted Carly. "But when there was ten seconds to go and we were in a tie, I scored a run and won the game for my team!"

Perry swung his daughter round, causing her to squeal in delight. "That's my girl," he smiled.

"Are you proud of me, Daddy?" asked Carly.

"Very." Perry hugged his daughter, before putting her down on the ground.

"So how did the mission go?" Portia asked again.

Perry told his mate everything that had happened on the mission. Portia's eyebrows raised at the end of it. "You have to show me that video."

"I totally will. In fact, I'm going down to Kane's lab right now to get it developed." Perry ruffled the top of Carly's head. "Wanna come with?"

Carly jumped up and down in excitement. "Yes, yes, yes!"

She leapt into Perry's arms. "I wanna go to the lab! Wanna go! Can I, Mommy?"

"Well, it is your father's turn to look after you," Portia said. "Go on, then. I have to give my monthly report to Major Monogram anyway."

"Yay!" yelled Carly.

Perry held his daughter's hand and led her out of the office and towards Kane's lab, which took up the entire floor above the office floor. As they were going up the stairs, Carly was prattling non-stop about how great she was at kickball. Perry was only half-listening; he just couldn't believe that such a sweet, enthusiastic little girl like her could be his. He felt incredibly blessed to have her.

When they got up to the lab, Perry spotted Kane on the other side of the room, looking at and flinging around various 3D holograms. He seemed agitated. After a few seconds of the two platypuses being there, Kane turned round and flung something with all his might at the wall above Perry's and Carly's heads. Luckily, it was a hologram anyway, so they were in no danger of being hut, though Carly gave a squeak and clutched her father's arm.

Still holding his daughter's hand, Perry went over to Kane and said, "Is everything okay here?"

"Oh, Agent P." Kane rubbed his forehead. "Sorry, I didn't hear you come in. I'm trying to put together what Kirk's plan could be from all the clues I have but nothing's adding up. It's just all so random. Capturing OWCA agents only to let them go again, staying quiet for weeks at a time, sending his operatives into the woods for no apparent reason. Absolutely nothing's adding up and it's extremely frustrating because I've always been able to somewhat-accurately predict my brother's plans but-." He paused and frowned down at Perry. "Forgive me, Agent P. I didn't mean to go off on a rant. Was there something you needed?"

Perry was staring off into space, considering Kirk's plan, and didn't answer until Kane repeated the question. "Oh, I wanted to ask if you could develop the film from the camera in my hat. I took some photos of Rodney's ray, and a very hilarious video of my team fighting the robot."

"I heard about that from Pinky," Kane grinned.

"Did he tell you?"

Kane shook his head. "He's submitted his report already."

Perry stared at him. "Seriously? We've literally been back from the mission half an hour, tops."

"He's a speedy typer."

"Apparently." Perry handed over his hat to Kane, who took out the camera from it and plugged it into a terminal on the opposite side of the room.

As Kane was downloading the photos and videos, Carly let go of her father's hand and skipped over to some kind of android sitting in the corner. Perry noticed too late that she was about to press a button. "Carly, don't!"

But the button had already been pushed. The android sprang to life and attacked Carly, who backward-somersaulted out of the way. It chased her all around the lab. The android's speed was unbelievable—it probably would have caught Perry within half a minute—but Carly managed to last three minutes running from it before Kane was able to leap on it and switch it off.

"Carly, remember the rule of being up here?" Perry scolded his daughter.

"Don't touch anything, especially if you don't know what it does," Carly said meekly, bowing her head. "Sorry, Daddy."

"I'm not the one you need to say sorry to."

Carly turned to Kane but the inventor grinned. "It's okay. I'm just impressed you managed to out run that thing. I designed it specifically to be fast."

"So I'm faster than a robot that's supposed to be fast?" Carly said.

Kane nodded.

"I'm awesome!" Carly yelled, punching the air.

Perry chuckled and ruffled his daughter's head again. "Yes, yes you are." He turned to Kane. "I'll go down and write up my report."

"If you print it out and bring it up to me on paper, not only will it eliminate the need for me to print it out, but you can also pick up your camera and the footage from it," Kane said.

Perry nodded. "Alright then." He took Carly's hand. "Come on, sweetie. Let's go find your mother."

…

Aww, who else loves little Carly? She's so cute!