It was a large room, with a huge display screen on the far wall. There were large technological machines lining the walls Luke couldn't identify; some of them were powering the large display.
Beyond the technological machines, the only other thing in the room was a large, rectangular wooden table with enough wooden chairs to support all of the agents of SIRS; based on the size of the chairs, Luke could tell which chairs belonged to whom. One was at the head on the far side of the room, and all other chairs were on the large sides, spread out almost evenly, with the difference accounting for the larger agents. There were two small and new chairs, right next to the head; they obviously belonged to Luke and Pikachu. Luke smiled.
All of the agents of SIRS were there; Pikachu occupied one of the small chairs, and Lucario sat at the head of the table. Everyone ushered Luke to the vacant small chair. Luke happily obliged.
Lucario's face took on a grim expression.
"All right, boys," he said, talking to Luke and Pikachu. "As I said, as SIRS agents, you must take the oath of secrecy; with all of the other agents here as witnesses, you shall swear to me that you will never divulge any secrets of SIRS, locations, missions, or otherwise, and that, to the best of your ability, you will work in total secrecy from outsiders. Repeat after me."
Lucario recited parts of a complex oath; it involved a lot of words Luke didn't quite understand, but, along with Pikachu, he repeated what Lucario said. Knowing the gist of what it all meant, Luke meant in his heart of hearts everything he said. He could tell Pikachu did, too.
Luke and Pikachu finished repeating the oath Lucario taught them, and the rest of the agents applauded.
"Very good," Lucario said. "Since I and the rest of the agents trust your intent of oath…" The agents all nodded and applauded once more. "…you are officially SIRS agents. May you always stay true to the words you've said."
Luke and Pikachu smiled and nodded.
"Now," Lucario said. "Allow me to go over your duties as agents of SIRS. Everyone else here has their assigned duties and must maintain them; you recall each described their duties yesterday. Because of these duties, they are currently too busy for normal missions at the moment. Therefore, Luke and Pikachu, you will be in charge of rescue missions. This means that when we come to work, you will receive a rescue mission, as I have been assigning to you since you boys rescued Munchlax from the Dark Woods. But, boys, you must be careful; these are true missions now and not simply tests; the consequences of failing these missions are genuine. You must always be at your best on your missions. Are we clear, boys?"
"You bet!" Pikachu said.
Yes, sir! Luke said. But…I'm curious, Dad. Why is everyone too busy for normal rescue missions?
Lucario paused and sighed. "It's confidential. Boys, you aren't experienced enough for me to reveal some of SIRS's more secretive operations. I WILL tell you this much. We are conducting an investigation; it's a huge investigation that we have to divert all of our resources to. As such, we are a little short-handed on rescue missions, so your help in that area is highly necessary and appreciated. Continue working here for a while, gain some experience, then I may let you in on the investigation. Until then…maintain our rescue missions. Are we understood?"
Luke and Pikachu solemnly nodded.
"Great," Lucario said with a smile. "Patience. I like it. As for your current duties, I…haven't exactly gotten you a mission. You've been with me all morning. Therefore, boys, head to Felicity's bulletin board; it's near the lumberjack facility…for obvious reasons." He chuckled. "If someone has trouble, they put a post on the bulletin board. Find a post about someone in trouble in a Mystery Dungeon, then slip the post in here."
Lucario pulled two gadgets from under the table and slipped one to each of the boys. The gadgets each had a small screen and a slot in the top.
"This is a SIRS communications device and missions catalog," Lucario said. "We SIRS agents communicate via these gadgets and catalog our missions, either by writing them up on our gadgets, or slipping a bulletin board post into the slot on the top. You put the post in the slot, and the gadget will read the data. Once a post is analyzed or a mission is written up directly into the gadget, it will be submitted to me. I can approve it, and the mission will be catalogued in everyone's devices corresponding to you and/or anyone else you or I want on the mission, to show what you are currently doing for SIRS; if it's a paper post, it will be destroyed, as we will be satisfying the request; alternatively, I can reject the mission, in which case the post will come back out, to be returned to the board, and the gadget write-up will be deleted or returned for revision at my discretion. Other agents can request missions for you and vice versa, so you can accompany them or go it solo if they want to take the mission but are too busy, in which case you can approve or reject at your discretion; if you approve, it will go to me for approval. Well…that's about it in terms of gadget function. Guard it with your life."
"AS HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS FOR SIRS, I DESIGNED THE GADGET," Porygon2 proudly proclaimed. "IF YOU HAVE ANY ISSUES WITH YOUR GADGETS OR WANT TO KNOW THE TECHNICALS, COME TALK TO ME. BECAUSE I AM ANALYTICAL IN FUNCTION RATHER THAN CREATIVE, THERE IS NO OFFICIAL NAME FOR THE GADGET; IT IS JUST THE SIRS COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE AND MISSIONS CATALOG, OR YOUR 'SIRS GADGET,' FOR SHORT."
Lucario nodded and smiled at Porygon2 doing his duty, and said, "Boys, you are excused from this meeting. There's a hidden elevator over there, next to our systems display." He gestured next to the display screen. "It will take you right outside, right to the bulletin board. You'll be able to get to Felicity's shops easily for supplies. Good luck, boys! Return here posthaste after completing a mission!"
"YES SIR!" the boys said simultaneously before departing. The other agents shouted their support as the boys took the elevator out.
When the boys exited the elevator, they saw the back of the bulletin board Lucario was talking about. They turned around and saw that they were on the side of the lumberjack facility. In addition, they saw that the elevator was totally invisible to them now that they had left; it just looked like more wall and there were no buttons to activate it; it was a one-way elevator for an efficient exit to protect SIRS's secrets.
"You heard Dad," Pikachu said. "Let's pick a rescue mission from the bulletin board."
As they went around, some villagers and lumberjacks saw them and waved; the ruse that they were lumberjacks at the facility was incredibly effective, and it was great that the honest-working lumberjacks were keeping and protecting their secret.
Luke and Pikachu scanned the bulletin board, and they found a couple of missions in Felicity Forest; they would be incredibly simple, but they'd get to help a lot of Pokémon in trouble, and that felt good.
There were four posts for Felicity Forest missions in all. Luke put two in his gadget and Pikachu put two in his.
It took barely a few moments for all of them to be approved by Lucario.
A video message from the kind Lucario appeared on their gadget: "Simple but effective. I like it!"
The boys, after getting their supplies together in town, went to Felicity Forest.
The rescues all went off without a hitch, with plenty of gratitude from the affected Pokémon.
The duo returned to the base through the lumberjack facility, with the cooperation of the lumberjacks. All of the other SIRS agents had returned already and reported to Lucario, so the boys did the same on their successful missions.
"Excellent!" Lucario replied. "I'm sure those Pokémon appreciated your help. All in all, it has been a successful day for everyone. Agents, you are dismissed for the day!"
"YES SIR!" the agents enthusiastically responded, and they departed one by one so as not to attract attention.
"As the boss, I must be last to leave, so wait until I've finished my daily duties," Lucario told the boys. "It'll take about the time it takes for everyone else to leave anyway."
The agents each greeted the boys as the newest members, congratulated them on a great first day, and told them how eager they were to work with them regularly.
Heracross, as second-in-command, was last to leave before Lucario and the boys. When he left, Lucario had finished his duties, so he and the boys departed and went home.
At home, Lucario made a hearty meal for the three of them, and they talked and laughed around the fire before turning in for another great day in the morning.
As he lay in bed, drifting off to sleep, Luke considered how content he was. He had a wonderful family with Pikachu and Lucario, and now good friends in the other agents of SIRS.
…And yet, he had to wonder…it would be irresponsible not to…
Who am I? Why am I here in this world? What is it that I need to do here?
…But he was so content, this didn't bother him much. Being in SIRS with Pikachu, with Lucario…it felt right. Maybe this was what Luke was supposed to be doing. At the very least, helping SIRS would help him figure things out.
But tonight, he was bushed. He yawned, turned over on his comfy bed, and went to sleep.