Mayhem of Shadows

by Sebastian de Ortega

"All is dark and doubtful" "Everything casts a shadow" The peace of the Forger household, and peace of the world in general, is in jeopardy. An unknown villain decides to attack one peaceful afternoon. No one knows who the culprit is, but that culprit knows everything about everyone. The culprit knows all of their darkest secrets. The culprit has a diabolical plan. Enjoy this epic!

Foreword

Beforehand I would like to thank everyone who found this fanfic interesting and decided to read it. As the author of this fanfic I would also like to give credit to Tatsuya Endo who is the original author of the Spy x Family series. All characters and the original manga belong to him.

Suffice to say this fanfic was inspired by Spy x Family. This fanfic started off as a small idea and hopefully it will meet the expectations of the fandom. As the author, I would recommend you to read this fanfic because it is an epic adventure which explores previously unknown horizons and reveals a lot of dark secrets. This fanfic serves as an ode to the genres of mystery and thriller with some elements of the noir style.

Important note! Do not read this fanfic unless you caught up with the recent manga chapters because this fanfic includes some direct references to events which have not yet made it into the anime. Speaking in more common terms, this fanfic includes some manga spoilers.

Any critique or feedback is welcome. Otherwise, I hope that you enjoy reading this fanfic.

Index

"Bolded text in quotation marks is not direct dialogue. Instead it highlights what each character thinks about to oneself."

"Text in italics is not direct dialogue either. It is a subtext which deciphers original dialogue. It is used to provide the deciphered spy dialect for the reader."

Chapter 1 - Prologue – Too Quiet in Berlint

April 28, 12:01 PM – Berlint General Hospital

It was already one minute past 12 o'clock and nothing was happening. But, that depends on what someone could consider as 'something.'

It was a typical busy noon for the fair city of Berlint. Every individual worker, person, and child were doing what any typical person would expect them to do. Honest hardworking workers went to their workplace; people were traveling and running errands through the busy streets of the city; and the children were too occupied by attending school. That routine was what one could have called as the most ordinary day in the city. But, for agent Twilight that routine was equal to nothing. Nothing was happening.

WISE agent - codename Twilight.

Right now, agent Twilight is still fulfilling his role as Dr. Loid Forger in Operation Strix. The Operation which requires him to be an honest hardworking citizen, a loyal loving husband, and a perfect passionate father. It is not easy to be a spy and a family man at the same time. It is especially hard when the Westalian Intelligence Headquarters continuously send more additional missions on the side. That cursed combination of one major mission paired with additional side missions was infamous for exhausting many agents regardless of their invincible profile. Twilight was no exception.

Today, the situation was different. It was already 12:05 in the noon, half of the working day was over, but there were no additional missions or new intel from WISE. Time continued to pass by with every following minute seeming exponentially longer than the previous one. It was 12:07 and Dr. Loid Forger was sitting at the table in his office. His desk was covered by books, papers, dossiers, and a set of writing utensils. From the side, it could have appeared that his desk was in a state of a total mess; however, with more time one could see and distinguish the perfectly organized working environment of a professional psychologist. The notes written on paper by Dr. Forger were categorized in chronological order. A similar principle applied to the dozens of dossiers which occupied a good fraction of his desk, all dossiers were organized in alphabetical order from oldest to latest before being split into different categories as Dr. Forger checked each dossier separately. His writing utensils were too organized in a semi-circle around him. Each utensil was within reach and Dr. Forger could efficiently swap his writing tool without wasting a fraction of a second. The maximum efficiency of his working environment allowed him to both maintain his professionalism in working with documents as a spy and to efficiently work as a doctor in his current mission.

Right now, agent Twilight does not have any additional missions to complete. A similar parallel applied to Dr. Loid Forger. This day, Dr. Forger does not have any patients. He does not have any arranged appointments. There are no medical emergencies which require his presence. There are no calls incoming to his silent telephone. Nobody among the staff even stopped by at his office. Nothing was happening for Dr. Forger either. The time was 12:10 and Dr. Forger is working on his independent research work. This research paper was his own initiative. It helped him to protect his doctor identity, to refine his analytical skills, and to kill time when there was nothing to occupy him. His current research focused on analyzing how one's decision making is affected by stressful circumstances and how those experiences affect the individual's behaviour over a long period of time. The dossiers on his desks were reports and studies which had a strong focus on psychology. Some dossiers were easy to be considered useful because they included straightforward information about the psychological state of being and what were the stressful circumstances of the studied situation. Other dossiers were more indirect about their content. Those dossiers required Twilight to read between the lines and identify any useful information for his research. Over the past several hours of work, Twilight went through dozens of dossiers and he sorted them into categories based on their usefulness. There was a small stack of dossiers which he considered strongly useful for his research, a medium sized stack of dossiers with weaker cases, but still useful for his research, and a large stack of dossiers with information irrelevant for his research.

Usually by now there would be something to distract Twilight from his duties in Operation Strix. There was the one time in the Penguin Park. Then there were the teenage terrorists with bomb-dogs. Finally, there was Winston Wheeler and the wild goose chase in Shellbury.

However, this one day was disturbingly calm. The indefatigable agent was used to receiving something from his handlers by this time of the day. But, today was deviant from the other days.

"Could it be that today is just a calm day?" Twilight thought to himself. But, in the back of his mind he had an intrusive thought. What if he ends up receiving a new assignment late in the night? Then it would be a sleepless night for him. The consequences of such a night hits hard the following morning. For Twilight, it would be better if he receives an additional mission during the day. This way he would have enough time to complete it in order to deal with familial issues in the evening. Otherwise, Twilight would have to endure a few exhausting days while soothing himself with his rhetoric of suffering for world peace.

Since it was past noon, Dr. Forger decided to take a short break. He stood up from his table and proceeded to walk around his office by taking slow small steps. In order to clear his mind from the research project, Dr. Forger proceeded to think about something other than his work or his family. He would go as simple as glancing at any object in his office and appreciate its form, its color, its shape, and its compositional correlation with the surrounding objects.

Upon snapping himself out of thinking about objects in his office, Dr. Forger slowly moved towards the tall window. Through the glass he looked onto the street down below. The street was less energetic in movement than it would be during the morning or the evening, but it was full of life and movement. The streets were occupied by cars, the sidewalks were occupied by pedestrians, and even the trees were occupied by birds. Dr. Forger would occasionally shift his focus from one element to another. He would admire the model and color of a car driving across his sight. Then he looked at pedestrians and payed attention to the clothes they were wearing. He would even spend several minutes observing the birds as they flew from one tree to another.

As he looked into the world on the other side of his window, Dr. Forger fascinated himself with the fact that every pedestrian, car, dog, and bird down on the street had their own personal story. Each of them had a story about what they were doing and how they ended up in the street in the sight of Dr. Forger.

"There are many things that happen around me," Twilight thought to himself, "even if I do my best, I cannot know everything about everyone. The best I can do is to know as much as I can about those who are relevant to me."

With this revelation, Dr. Forger spent enough time distracted from his research. He diverted his eyes from the window toward his desk. When the large pile of papers and dossiers entered his sight, he felt a phantom-like flow overwhelming his mind. It was like his mind instantly overheated from intense cognitive thinking before he even resumed his work. Although the disciplined nature of Dr. Forger would force him to sit back down and continue working, the intuitive counterpart of agent Twilight distinguished this moment as an opportunity to investigate the awkwardly silent day. He fixed his sight on the large stack of dossiers which he found to be irrelevant for his research.

"Now would be a good time to return these and find new ones," Twilight thought. This small logical thought provided him with the perfect excuse to leave his office and spend some time in the archive. That action would also provide some sort of movement and exercise for his body which spent several hours in a sitting position. Twilight momentarily sprang into motion. In a few long steps, he was already at his desk. In one swift motion, he grab the entire large stack of dossiers. Then he proceeded to walk out of his office. But, before leaving his private working environment and stepping into the public environment of the hospital, Twilight took a brief moment to readjust his pace and restore his composure. Finally, he opened the door and stepped though the doorway into the corridor.

He took perfect even steps as he walked on the right-hand side of the corridor in an elegant manner of a high-standard doctor. To his surprise, the corridor was empty. No people. No nurses. No chatter. No movement. It was surprisingly silent to the point that Dr. Forger could hear his own footsteps loud and clear despite wearing soft-sole shoes.

As he walked through the empty corridor, he suddenly remembered one nuance. That nuance was agent Nightfall. At this moment Dr. Forger caught himself in realization that he forgot about the existence of Fiona Frost while he focused on his research. Medical assistant in real life and intelligence assistant undercover. Upon remembering about Nightfall, Twilight also remembered about the time when she completed missions in his stead while he was away on a cruise ship.

"Could it be that she is completing missions for me again? No. It can't be. Did they already give her medical clearance for completing such missions?"

The uncertainty of his ongoing thoughts sowed temporary confusion into his thinking. Before the seed of confusion could grow into an ivy of doubt, Twilight snapped himself out of those provocative thoughts. He knew that any questions he had would be answered in a matter of moments. All he needed to do was to reach the main office. There he would see if Nightfall was in her working spot. To his benefit, the main office was located on the way to the archives. He could simply pass through the office and take a quick glance on the workers without looking too awkward or too suspicious.

Just as that revelation settled with Twilight, he finally heard some form of sound other than his own footsteps. The sounds of small chatters, typewriters, and someone else's footsteps. He was getting closer to reaching the public office. Just as some other forms of sound were audible to Twilight, he became more relaxed as the previously silent atmosphere filled with tension was now depressurizing and becoming more familiar to him. Although he felt more relaxed, Twilight was as sharply focused as he could ever be. He could never now if someone decided to plot a conspiracy against him in the hospital.

Before he knew it, Twilight walked through the entire corridor and entered into the public office.

"Good afternoon Dr. Forger!" he heard from the side.

Twilight responded quickly on the basis of his professional reactions instead of the typical reflections which common people have when confronted with a similar greeting.

He seized walking. He stood still for a brief moment before turning to face the direction from which he heard that greeting. With a small, friendly, modest smile across his face he responded.

"Good afternoon to you too!"

Upon looking into the main public office, he saw several of his colleagues; both male and female.

"Are you still focused on your research work?"

"Yes," Twilight answered.

Only a few brief seconds passed since Twilight looked into the public office. But, he already caught a glimpse of one key detail which reignited his previously extinguished confusion. The table where Nightfall was supposed to be working at was empty. The chair was tucked in, all drawers were closed, and the table's surface was clean of any papers or writing utensils. Her working spot showed no signs of being occupied at any point throughout the morning. Not only was Nightfall's spot empty, but there were also no signs of her presence anywhere in the office.

Before Twilight could critically think about those details, he heard another question.

"Would you care to join us for the afternoon break?"

Twilight's polite character instantly took action as his smile became slightly wider, but it shed a little drop of uneasiness.

"I appreciate the offer, but I cannot tell for sure just yet. Would it be okay with you if I first returned these dossiers back to the archive?" Twilight responded pointing out to the large stack of dossiers he carried.

"No problem. Feel free to join us whenever you are ready."

Now Twilight could easily pass by the main office without appearing too cold or too work-centered. Without any additional actions or small-talks, Twilight proceeded towards the archive. On the remainder of this short walk, Twilight was continuously thinking about the absence of Nightfall. Her absence in her work spot only reinstated his previous conclusion.

"Is she really out there completing a mission?" he thought repeatedly in disbelief, "did I miss the moment she received a clean bill of health?"

Twilight found himself fighting against his own thoughts. A part of him continuously signaled to remain calm and continue investigating the matter. But, a different part of him was cursing himself for being oblivious towards the ongoing events at WISE headquarters. With that continuous combat of thoughts ongoing in his mind, Twilight reached the door leading into the archives. He pushed it open and stepped through into the hospital's archive.

On the other side of the door, he was met with dozens of rows of long shelving units which stretched as far as his eyes could see. All shelves were stacked to their maximum capacity with various materials. There were so few empty spaces on the shelves visible to the eye that they could have been counted on the fingers of one hand. Even though this archive was one of the smaller ones located within the hospital, it was capable of competing with some of the largest libraries found in Berlint. Dr. Forger was even familiar with some cases of new medical interns getting lost in the archives. With those comical cases crossing his mind, Twilight felt a bit more relaxed. He walked through the narrow corridor in between the shelving units towards the archivist's working spot. That seemingly short distance for a local archive took him more than 30 seconds to cover. Nevertheless, he reached table of the archivist. To his surprise, that table was empty as well. This time, Twilight was capable of comprehending such absence. It was quite common for the archivist to be elsewhere in the archive except for his working table. But, finding the archivist within the archive would be a difficult task. While standing in front the archivist's table, Twilight decided to try calling out for the archivist. When he decided to call out, he decided to do it in an unloaded comical manner.

"Knock, knock. Anyone in the archive?" Twilight called out loud enough for anyone potentially present in the archive to hear.

Then, he went silent. Going as far as to temporarily hold his breath in order to minimize any noise. The archive was completely silent. Twilight could even hear the low frequency noise of the lightbulbs. A few seconds passed. Just as Twilight thought of calling out a second time, he heard a response.

"Yes, there is someone in the archive. Aisle J12."

Although the empty archive was not a crucial environment, Twilight did feel a slight relief once he heard a response from someone else. But, what got him interested was that the response came from a familiar voice. Without thinking twice, Twilight walked around the table towards aisle J12. To his surprise, aisle J12 was the second aisle of shelves behind the archivist's working table which meant that it was close to him. Twilight did not manage to hear any sort of noise when he called out which left him impressed at the respondent's stealth abilities.

He reached aisle J12. There he saw an image which momentarily cleared out his previous questions, but it created new ones instead. Close to the aisle's end he saw agent Nightfall who was sorting out a handful of miscellaneous files and dossiers into their according places on the shelve. She was standing still on the spot and only her hands were occupied with placing each document into its appropriate place. She was wearing her usual dark-toned office attire and her face was as ever blank as one could remember. She did not even bother turning towards the library's visitor even though she knew it was Twilight the moment he called out. Instead, she pragmatically continued her ongoing task.

"Well," Twilight started thinking to himself, "she is here. That means she is not completing a different mission. But then why are there no updates from the headquarters?"

Without waiting for this situational environment to turn awkward, Twilight proceeded to ask in a neutral tone.

"How long have you been here?"

Even tough Twilight wanted to get a quick response, Nightfall's pragmatic approach prevented the formation of a quick answer. Without turning her head to face Twilight, she kept looking at the documents in her hands and continued sorting them on the shelve. From the side, it was evident how she was occupied. Several seconds passed before she answered Twilight's given question.

"Since this morning."

"It is already past 12 o'clock," Twilight responded with a slight interest in her upcoming reaction to the notice of time.

"I am aware of that," she started, "the exact time is 12:19."

Twilight was intrigued. Nightfall did not have a wristwatch and there was no clock visible to the eye from her position. Even if there was a visible clock, Nightfall did not look anywhere else beside the task she focused on. The confidence she had in knowing the exact time was astonishing. Twilight quickly checked the time on his watch and to his impression it was exactly 12:19. Although impressed, and interested, in Nightfall's time-tracking abilities, Twilight did not show signs of his impression on his physical expression.

"Time goes by quickly in the archive," Nightfall added. That addition provided some mental relief for Twilight as the conversation was picking up momentum.

Just then, Nightfall turned her head to face Twilight. Although her mind overflowed with sweet emotional thoughts of her encounter with Twilight, Nightfall kept a straight face. Instead of looking directly into his eyes, she locked her gaze on the big stack of dossiers he was holding. At that moment, Nightfall knew how to continue the conversation.

"More irreverent dossiers for your research?"

"Yes," Twilight answered.

"Leave them on the front table. I will sort them out in a while."

Twilight took a pause from the conversation. He slowly walked from the aisle towards the archivist's table. As he placed the stack he carried on the table top he noticed that the table top was also occupied by several other stacks of dossiers and documents. Without sparing a second thought about those stacks, Twilight headed back towards aisle J12. On his way back to aisle J12 Twilight asked.

"Is the archivist here?"

"He left for lunch 20 minutes ago," Nightfall responded quickly.

"Is anyone else in here?" Twilight continued.

"Only us."

In the following moment, Twilight reached aisle J12. He entered the aisle and walked up to Nightfall. He stopped exactly two meters from Nightfall, who by then resumed sorting documents.

"So," Nightfall started once Twilight stood beside her, "are you still writing your research?"
"Yes," Twilight answered while looking at a random document on a shelve.

"Are you looking for additional materials?"

Dr. Forger would have said yes immediately because he wanted to continue the research. But, Twilight needed to discuss the unusually quiet day. Before Twilight could openly start discussing anything related with WISE, he needed to insure the security of the archive as a private place. He wanted to ensure that there were no bugs planted in the archive. When Twilight answered Nightfall's question, he incorporated a prelude for a secret exchange.

"Yes, I am looking for additional materials. As I listed though the stack I brought I found a spider inside one dossier. Finding that spider was more interesting than the content of that dossier."

The mention of a spider in Twilight's anecdote was the keyword for the secret exchange. Upon hearing the keyword, Nightfall became more attentive and more invested into the conversation.

"A spider?" Nightfall started, "A real spider or one of the rubber spiders the interns use to prank each other?"

"Are you talking about real spider or a covert listening device in the dossier?"

"A real spider," Twilight answered.

Ironically, that answered meant "A real spider" in their spy dialect.

Nightfall paused for a moment. She thought about this revelation for a second before continuing the conversation.

"Well, if the dossier's content was as boring as you found it, then it explains why that spider claimed it as its habitat."

Those few words Nightfall said did not hold any ciphered meaning, but it continued the conversation. Now that they talked about spiders, interns, and work, Twilight had the perfect setting to deliver his next words without them sounding too suspicious in case the archive was bugged.

"True," he started, "I've heard some rumors that there are cockroaches in the archive."

"We need to talk. Are there bugs planted in the archive?"

"It is only a rumor interns use to scare those who are squeamish around insects. I have been here for several hours and I haven't encountered a single cockroach."

"There are no bugs in this archive. I have checked."

"Are you sure? Those insects are quite sneaky," Twilight asked.

"I am absolutely sure," Nightfall answered before dropping the act, "What do we need to talk about?"

Twilight was now reassured of their surrounding security and privacy. He switched to a straightforward discourse. Parallel to Twilight's reassurance, Nightfall became overflown with emotional thoughts about the setting she currently shared with Twilight.

"This is too real to be true," she started thinking to herself, "such a romantic moment. We are alone in this archive. Together in complete privacy. Nobody knows we are here and no one can eavesdrop us."

Those thoughts ran through her mind faster than the speed of light. But, this romantic overflow did not distract her from focusing on the conversation.

"Were you in this archive the entire morning?" Twilight asked.

"Yes. Why do you ask?" Nightfall replied.

Twilight paused before replying.

"Today just feels like a very odd day. I have not received any missions or updates from the headquarters. Did you receive anything?"

"One of the rookies relayed an update to me at 10:02."

"What was it?"

"It stated that the headquarters do not have any additional tasks or missions for the day. All active agents in Berlint proceed with their daily routine."

Twilight took a moment to absorb that information. A part of him was in disbelief.

"So today is just a really quiet day?" he asked rhetorically.

"I suppose so," Nightfall answered.

"Well," Twilight started after a brief pause, "I will admit. For a moment, I thought that you were completing the missions all by yourself again. Especially after I saw that your work spot was vacant."

"He pays attention to me!" Nightfall's thoughts overflowed again, "This is significant progress. He cares about where I am and what I do. No! Nightfall calm down. Avoid hasty conclusions. He was only interested in why the day was too calm."

Despite her mind fighting a war between emotions and reason, Nightfall once again demonstrated her cold integrity by remaining stone-faced. As she got used to hiding her emotions deep, she got used to speaking with facts instead of intuition. Although her psychological 'id' imagined all of the happily ever after scenarios she dreamt of, her professional qualities held strong and prevented her from acting irrationally. Instead she answered with a logical counterargument.

"Even if I wanted to complete any mission, our Handler wouldn't allow me to do so. Not until I get the clean bill of health."

"You still haven't received the medical clearance?" Twilight asked.

"The Handler postponed my final medical and physical examination."

"Was there a reason for the postpone?"

"I was not provided with a reason. But, the espionage affairs have been relatively calm ever since we took down Wheeler. WISE successfully provided additional operatives to work in Ostania so the workload is minimized. I guess our Handler saw no urgency for rushing my recovery. I might as well guess that she doesn't want me to be reckless. My current tasks are limited to minor reconnaissance and information relays."

The mention of recklessness instantly provoked a lot of recalls about previous missions. Pushing oneself too hard is not the best idea for self-preservation, but sometimes success calls for complete dedication in all possible meanings. It has been several months since Nightfall broke her bones when she fought against Winston Wheeler.

"How is your physical state?" Twilight asked.

"Good enough to pass the examination," Nightfall replied.

"To what date is it postponed?"

"It is scheduled for next week."

"Are you sure that you are ready?"

"I am confident."

Nightfall was truly confident in her physical capabilities. She, unbeknownst to everyone, continued to train in the mountains ever since she got checked out of the hospital bed. Broken bones and the scrutinizing pain of training with broken limbs did not stop her from venturing alone into the mountains and fighting against nature itself in order to restore her strength. She had a strong motivation in order to endure that challenge both physically and mentally.

"Even if I had broken bones I could not afford to waste time and lose my training progress," Nightfall recalled to herself, "losing the strength I work so hard to obtain will only set me back. I have to keep going if I ever intend to win that rematch against Yor Briar."

A good deal of time passed since Nightfall restored her previous physical abilities. She got rid of the casts and the walking aids a long while ago, but the Handler still would not allow her to recklessly resume completing serious missions. Instead Nightfall had to practice patience and accept the Handler's guidance in minor tasks.

"Good luck on the examination," Twilight added.

"I am grateful for the kind regards, but I intend to pass it without testing my luck. I prefer saving my luck for different situations," Nightfall replied.

There was a brief pause after that exchange.

"He wished me luck! It isn't much, but I am so happy!"

"If I understood correctly, then WISE does not have any assignments for today which means that we simply continue playing doctor?" Twilight asked.

"Affirmative."

Twilight once again took a pause in order to come to terms with the calm situation. The professional spy who was used to tumultuous events on a daily basis found himself stumped at the thought of spending a regular day without being assigned any tasks.

"Strange," Twilight confessed, "quite strange. Today it is too quiet in Berlint."

"Today could just be an outlier day," Nightfall answered.

"Do you by any chance know anything about upcoming assignments or actions?"

"The only assignment I know about is my task to meet with 'Solus' tomorrow afternoon for an information relay. Perhaps the information he provides can lead to something worthwhile."

"But, it could just be a typical information relay which resolves among the communicators without affecting us."

"In that case, the one event to look forward to is the World's Fair International Exposition in Bonnt."

Once Twilight heard about the exposition he became slightly confused. He knew what the exposition would be about, but he forgot something he was supposed to remember. He knew that World's Fair International Exposition in Bonnt was a serious event. In terms of culture and politics it is as important as Operation Strix is in preserving world peace. It would be the largest international exposition since the war ended. It invited a lot of other countries to participate. More important, it would be the first exposition after the war in which both Westalis and Ostania participated. The fact that the Ostanian government put trust into participating in the exposition hosted on their enemy's territory meant a lot. If the exposition is to take place and end smoothly, then it would be a significant leap in depressurizing the tension between the two nations. But, at the same time that exposition could also serve as the ground for destabilizing any peaceful diplomatic relations. If any unfavorable scandal, attack, or affair takes place during the event, then it could potentially lead to the loss of any diplomatic achievements. Even worse, it could lead to another war. Since Twilight was located in Ostania, there was little he could do to participate in the security of the exposition. He could only perform reconnaissance of any potential threats and hope that homeland security in Westalis would be capable of providing sufficient security for the event. Despite remembering why the event would be significant, Twilight could not remember why it should matter to him personally.

"Why does the name of that exposition sound too important?" Twilight brainstormed, "Why does it feel like it is related to me even though it should not be?"

Instead of guessing Twilight decided to ask rhetorically. When he spoke, he looked at a miscellaneous document on the shelf to demonstrate his passive façade.

"That Exposition is hosted all the way back in Westalis. How would it matter to us here?"

"Pardon me," Nightfall started, "I failed to recall that you were not present when I received the update about the Exposition."

"An update? Did I miss something?"

"Yes. The upcoming exposition is a big scaled event. Unlike the previous expositions hosted elsewhere, this one hosted in Bonnt features new additions and new events. The key event for us is the multiple conferences between representatives of all specialties from around the world. That includes the medical conference between doctors. The doctors representing Ostania are selected based on their profile, characteristics, and professionalism. WISE ordered to have us both added into the list for potential selection."

"Pardon me," Twilight interfered with some disbelief in his voice, "you mean that we are both in the official Ostanian list as potential candidates for travel to the exposition hosted in Westalis?"

"Yes."

Just then, Twilight remembered why the World's Fair International Exposition in Bonnt was important for him. The information provided by Nightfall was already familiar to Twilight. But, at some point he became oblivious to what he knew. Twilight tried to remember why he forgot those details. The only logical explanation which came to his mind is the fact that he found those details irrelevant to his current mission. Without thinking too much about being oblivious, he asked.

"Did WISE explain why they need it?"

"No. But, the high command in Westalis saw this exposition as a perfect opportunity to temporarily extract their operatives if they need it."

"I understand why they would use this opportunity. But, I can hardly think of a reason why they would want to extract either one of us to the West even for an hour," Twilight discussed.

"Our job is unpredictable. Maybe they want a detailed first-person report of their operations in Ostania. Maybe they want us to extract something directly to them. It could also be that they want your diplomatic-doctor skills to represent Ostania in order to bridge the two nations closer together," Nightfall joined the discussion.

Twilight was humored at Nightfall's last theory. For a second he thought how amazing it would be to achieve world peace through discourse at an international exposition. But, he kicked himself back into reality by remembering that the world cannot be as ideal as he sometimes would like it to be. Instead of speculating why WISE would want to temporarily extract their agents, Twilight sided with a realist perspective.

"If they need to extract either of us, then they better have a worthwhile reason to do it," Twilight concluded.

"So far it is only a plan," Nightfall started, "if they need us, then they will pull the necessary strings to get us to Bonnt. If not, then we continue with our current work."

"Of course I would like them to extract us!" Nightfall's mind flooded with romantic thoughts, "We can spend some time together far away from this hostile city. Even if we are simply coworkers attending the exposition, it would be an amazing trip that I will remember forever!"

"True. I guess I should get back to being Dr. Forger."

"If I get any important updates or tasks, I will let you know," Nightfall replied.

"Please do."

A slight pause followed this final exchange. Now the two spies dropped their espionage characters and assumed their undercover roles. Nightfall switched to being Fiona Frost. She asked a question relevant to Dr. Forger.

"Are you interested in additional research materials?"

"Yes."

"I listed through the content of several dossiers. I believe I found some cases that could be useful for your research. I have set them aside on the lower left-hand corner of the desk."

"Oh, thank you. I will take a look at them" Twilight answered slightly surprised.

He turned around and exited aisle J12. He headed back to the archivist's desk where he found a small stack of dossiers located on the lower left-hand corner. He quickly checked the content of one dossier to ensure that it was relevant to psychology.

"There is also a single dossier right beside the stack. I believe it is also useful for your work," Nightfall called out from the aisle.

In a few seconds Twilight spotted the single dossier. He was interested in why it was separate, so he asked.

"Why is it separate from the stack?"

"It is separate because it is exceptionally different from the other cases."

"Exceptionally different?" Twilight started, "how different is it?"

"The dossiers in the stack focus on many miscellaneous cases," Nightfall began, "but, that single dossier focuses on a rather scandalous case. It focuses on a Private conscript who served in the army. After a series of stressful circumstances related to his assigned task, he opened fire and killed eight of his comrades in arms. The report made by a psychologist in the investigation concluded that the Private's preliminary mental state was stable, but the stressful circumstances broke his limit which caused him to commit the atrocity."

Twilight was astounded at the details of that case. Although the abstract provided by Nightfall was only a brief synopsis, he already saw this case as a strongly useful source for his research.

"Interesting," he started, "I will look into it."

In a matter of moments Twilight put the separate dossier on top of the small stack which was set aside by Nightfall. Then, he grabbed the entire stack and prepared to step outside of the archive. Before doing so he concluded the conversation.

"Okay. I am going back to my office. Thank you for your help. Reach out to me if necessary."

"You're welcome. Good luck," he heard Nightfall reply from the aisle.

With the conversation concluded, Twilight proceeded to walk out of the archive. It was a long journey to the exit door. But, being dedicated to resume his research Dr. Forger picked up his pace and made it out of the archive in less than thirty seconds. The door opened and closed after which Nightfall remained alone in the archive. She continued to sort out the documents. Soon, she finished sorting out her current stack and proceeded to sort out the other stacks from the archivist's table. From the side, it appeared that Nightfall was casually completing her work. But, deep inside she was lost in her world of romantic dreams and colorful joys.

"Amazing. Right now, we talked for more than five minutes. My dearest Twilight. It would be great if more days like these are to come. No missions. No problems. No espionage. Just us together in serenity."

Despite being lost in her own valley of dreams, she continued to sort out the miscellaneous documents. By the time she snapped herself out of another romantic trance, she noticed that she sorted out one full stack of documents. To her surprise, she noticed that she managed to place some dossiers up on the highest shelf of the aisle. She could not have reached it on her own and there was no step stool in sight. As she looked at the top shelf she thought to herself.

"How did I get those dossiers up there without using the step stool?"

That question remained in her mind for the next several minutes as she continued working.

Dr. Forger made his way back to his office, his mind was in a blank state. There was a question stuck in his mind. A question he could not understand nor find an answer to it. He made it back to his office without encountering anyone which saved him from engaging in small talk with a random coworker or nurse. He stepped back into his office and shut the door behind him. He was once again in his secluded work space.

With a blank state of mind, he sat down at his working table and placed the new stack of dossiers in front of himself. Dr. Forger tried his best to resume writing his research. Twilight, however, was troubled. He was troubled because of the awkwardly calm day. He could not force his mind into focusing on medicine nor he could force his hands open a dossier. Twilight just sat motionless at his desk.

"Today is quiet. Too quiet. Why does it feel so awful when it is so quite?" Twilight thought to himself, "Is it because I was a soldier and because I am now a WISE agent? Is it because I got conditioned to always anticipate action or updates?"

The cognitive load was heavy on Twilight's mind. He soon found it unbearable to sit still at his desk. He stood up and walked over to the window. He once again was looking at the outdoors while trying to distract himself from the mental dilemma.

"Today is calm. How should I feel about it? Should I, as Dr. Forger, be relaxed like any ordinary civilian would or should I, as agent Twilight, be alarmed by this serenity because it is only the calm before a possible storm?"

With two personalities conflicting in his mind, he stood still. His face was as blank as of a soldier with the thousand-yard stare. Dr. Forger was simpler in terms of dealing with serenity. Dr. Forger was happy because the day was quiet. Quiet meant peace for him and his family. However, for Twilight such a peaceful day was troublesome. For Twilight, it could mean two possible things. It could either mean a calm prelude to an upcoming disaster. Twilight experienced several cases in which serious events were preceded by a calm day. On the other hand, it could mean that world peace was closer to becoming a reality. Unfortunately for him, the latter possibility meant that his role as agent Twilight was no longer necessary for the world.

"Face it Twilight. If world peace is established, then there will be a lot of quite days like today. Serenity is unusual for you because the war got you used to disruption, but serenity is the way the world once was. If my dream of world peace becomes a reality, then what will happen to me? What will I do? Will I be capable of living the normal life? Will the Forger family continue to exist after the goal of Operation Strix is complete?"

He instantly caught himself at the thought of mixing his spy alias with his undercover alias. It was mistake he rarely allowed to interfere with his professional line of work. Nonetheless, he made this mistake once again while thinking about his purpose. That mistake was enough to snap him out of the cognitive trance.

"You're thinking too far ahead Twilight! First achieve world peace. Then worry about your purpose in the time of peace."

Thanks to this sophistic thinking, Twilight managed to find a reasonable resolution for the situational dilemma. It was not the universal answer to all of his questions, but it was enough to get him back into reality. With that dilemma resolved, Twilight restored order within himself. He immediately assumed the role of Dr. Loid Forger.

"That was a lengthy break Dr. Forger. Now it is time to resume working!"

Dr. Forger turned towards his working desk. He walked away from the window and sat back down at his desk. Only then he managed to resume writing his research work. He grabbed the first dossier from the stack and he opened it. As he read the first lines of the case, he was back in the process of working.

April 28, 18:04 PM

The working day was over. By that time, nothing happened. The latter half of the day was the same as former half. By this time Dr. Forger completed his daily share of work and he already packed his belongings. At 19:05 he stepped outside of the hospital. Lady luck was on his side once again as he managed to exit the hospital without encountering any of his colleagues or coworkers. That coincidence once again saved Twilight from experiencing any delays due to small talk. As he started walking away, he had a thought about agent Nightfall in the back of his mind. For a second, he thought if he should briefly discuss additional details with Nightfall. That thought was instantly opposed with a series of counterarguments. First, he already discussed everything that was necessary. Any further discussion would have no valuable reason to take place. Second, talking to a female coworker after working hours could seem suspicious. Twilight needed to protect the reputation of Dr. Forger. As a result, avoiding unnecessary encounters with other females was a guaranteed way to avoid potential rumors about his unfaithfulness. Finally, it was likely that Nightfall already left the hospital. In this case, it was useless to try finding her. That fact was true, Nightfall left the hospital a few minutes earlier than Twilight did. Unbeknownst to him, and unbeknownst to everyone else, Nightfall was on her way to the mountains for another physical training session.

Twilight made it home without any events intervening in his path. At a certain point on his way home, Dr. Forger hoped that a fellow WISE agent would suddenly emerge from around the corner and signal him that there is an urgent emergency which requires Twilight's presence. As fate of the day would have it, such action did not take place. Twilight made it back home as simple as it was for any civilian. By now, he was expecting the worst scenario. That scenario was a potential midnight incident. If something was to happen at midnight and agent Twilight would be required to attend the matter, then he would have to face the consequences of a sleepless night. Twilight could not be certain if such a scenario would take place until it would occur. As he stepped across the threshold of the doorway into the Forger's household, he calmed himself down.

"Be calm Twilight. Enjoy this serenity while you can."

As soon as he crossed the threshold into his home, he got curious if anything interesting happened to the other members of the Forger family. But, as he asked them, he received replies which disappointed his anticipation. Contrary to his anticipation of something interesting happening to either Yor or Anya, he learnt from them both that they too had a very ordinary day. It was expected to hear from Yor that she had a regular day, but hearing that Anya spent the entire day at Eden Academy without any antics taking place was beyond the expectations of a normal day. The next few events which occurred in the evening were quite routine. Take a walk with Anya and Bond. Return home and save dinner. If a disastrous dinner is not prevented, then help Yor to make a delicious dinner. After a lengthy dinner with some family bonding time, enjoy some cultural recreation and rest. Those routine things did occupy a lot of time, but in the end Twilight did not notice how quickly the day came to an end. Before he knew it, night has fallen.

April 28, 22:15 PM

It was dark outside. Anya was already tucked in her bed and she was soundly asleep. With only a few more routine actions Twilight was ready for sleep as well. He wished a good night to Yor and they both went into their separate rooms. The entire evening passed and its serenity was not disturbed by any incident, not even a fallacious incident. Twilight laid straight and still in his bed. He spent a few minutes looking at the ceiling in his room while reflecting on the day. Although he got used to several things such as being a relaxed family man ever since Operation Strix started, he was troubled in coming to terms with such a peaceful day.

"Nightfall did make a good point," he started thinking, "ever since Wheeler was captured, the intensity of espionage affairs declined. Maybe Wheeler was a key agitator of our troubles. If so, it is likely that more peaceful days are to come. I better not disintegrate as a spy during those peaceful days."

Twilight closed his eyes and he took a deep breath.

"Relax Twilight. Tomorrow could be better, but it can also be worse. Even if a troublesome day has a few minutes of peace, gather those minutes and value them. Enjoy the peace Twilight!"

With that thought of conclusion, Twilight proceeded to relax every muscle in his body. Then he relaxed every muscle in his face and he cleared his mind. He focused on the emptiness he saw with his eyes closed. Finally, he focused on breathing to relax. The combination of those actions was a basic procedure of a technique used to fall asleep quickly. That technique was quite common among regular people, professional workers, soldiers, agents, and doctors. Twilight needed to get the most sleep he could. So, the two aliases within him, the agent and the doctor, worked together in order force their shared body into a sleeping state.

As he forced himself to sleep, agent Twilight had one small intrusive thought. He hoped for a similar peaceful day to happen again. He hoped that Dr. Loid Forger and his family would only experience peaceful days in their future. The last thought passed and Twilight fell asleep.

The day of April 28th came to an end as midnight passed. The Forger family was peacefully asleep and so was the city. The outdoors enjoyed a state of quiescence. The streets were quiet. There was not a single disturber of the nighttime silence.

It was indeed too quiet in Berlint.