After the training session, Carl stepped out of the bathroom in his room, toweling off his damp hair.
"Link, is Sia awake now?" he called out, his voice hopeful.
Link responded from the other side of the room, "No, she's not. But she should be able to wake up anytime within the next week."
Carl sighed and began getting dressed. "Alright. I think I should see her at least before I go. I was really in a hurry to save her last time, so I didn't really get a good look at her."
Just then, Beatrix's voice came through his watch. "Hmm... I think you need to come to the office now."
Carl paused. "What?! Did Katy find something she needs to tell me?"
"I can't say for now," Beatrix replied. "Link doesn't report uncertain things to the heroes."
Link chimed in defensively, "I wouldn't do that—unless I was told to report it."
"See?!" Beatrix said, emphasizing her point.
Carl shrugged. "Anyway, I'll need to see her eventually, but first I have to check on Sia."
As he left the room, he raised his watch to his mouth and spoke again. "Hey, can you tell me what Katy found now?"
Beatrix was quick to deny him. "Of course not. Have you forgotten that Link is basically connected to everything here?"
Carl groaned softly. "Oh yeah. Forgot about that."
He was almost at the infirmary when he turned a corner and ran into Leo and Brody in a hallway junction.
Brody looked up and smiled. "Oh hey, Carl. Didn't expect to see you here."
"I was just heading to the infirmary," Carl explained.
"You feeling sick or something?" Brody asked, curious.
"Not really. I just wanted to see Sia. I haven't visited her since we got here, and I kind of feel a bit guilty."
"Alright," Brody nodded. "But before that, can you come with us for a minute? There's some stuff I'd like to ask you."
Carl hesitated, thoughts racing. They probably want to ask about Silver.
"So, what do you say?" Brody pressed.
Carl sighed. "Alright, let's go."
Meanwhile, at Katy's office, she was wearing a protective mask while working on a device that was emitting an unknown gas. She sighed as she worked, her breath fogging up the mask slightly. "Wow, who knew working with alien tech would be this stressful?"
Beatrix responded calmly, "Since the technology is new, it's obviously going to be a bit tricky to handle."
Katy gestured to a section of the device. "Scan this bit and tell me the most likely area I can tamper with that won't affect the device itself."
Beatrix conducted a scan and reported back, "The top section of the panel is exposed and can be manipulated without compromising the device's operation."
Katy examined the indicated area and grumbled, "If this place is what you call exposed, then I'm in for a lot of work." She picked up a tool. "Beatrix, call Carl."
"Okay, calling Carl," Beatrix said.
Back at IPF Headquarters, Carl sat down across from Leo and Brody, his anxiety simmering beneath the surface.
"The air here feels a bit tense," he muttered. "What did you want to ask me?"
Leo sighed. "I'll get straight to the point. After hearing what Oliver had to say, I got curious. Even though I believe you were planning to tell us eventually, I'd like to ask everything you know about that Ceresian… and your personal relationship with him."
Carl braced himself. I knew this was bound to come… but what will they do when they find out what I did?
Brody seemed to sense his hesitation. "Carl, you can cut out any part of your involvement if you want, but we need all the details about the Ceresian."
Carl took a deep breath. "I'm not going to hide anything. I think it's the right thing to do, since I'm part of the group now."
"Okay then," Brody said. "Let's hear it."
Carl began explaining everything. His phone rang beside him on the chair, but he didn't notice.
Back in Katy's office, Beatrix monitored the call. "He's unable to pick up the phone—he's in a meeting with some of the heroes."
Katy paused her work, stepping back and removing the mask. She took a deep breath and sighed. "This is actually much tougher than it looked when I started." She chuckled lightly. "Carl having a meeting… never thought I'd see the day. Anyway, let's let him be for now."
Back at IPF HQ, Brody leaned forward, listening carefully.
"So that's how you got your powers?" he asked after Carl finished.
Carl nodded solemnly. "Unfortunately, yes. That's the truth. I know it was wrong, and I'm basically the one at fault for all this—for helping him get the materials he needed…"
Leo cut in. "Yes, what you did was wrong and irreversible. But we can't jump to conclusions yet. From what you've told us, we still don't know the exact reason why he's building the weapon in the first place."
Brody agreed. "Yeah. And if none of this had happened, there's a real chance everything would've gone on right under our noses, and we'd have no idea."
Carl nodded. "Anyway, my intention was to call him out and talk last time, but my approach was wrong, and we ended up fighting instead. He doesn't know my identity. My agent friend, Katy, has been helping me a lot with this case, and from what Beatrix just told me, it seems she's found something else and is trying to figure it out."
Leo raised an eyebrow. "It seems you have a very reliable ally."
"Yeah," Brody added. "It's kind of hard to believe you started all this just two weeks ago."
Carl offered a faint smile. "I know. It's hard for me to believe too. But there's one thing I want to do before I go public with this. I still believe Silver has a good reason for doing what he's doing. So please, let me confirm everything first."
Leo glanced at Brody, then nodded. "Alright. We'll stay quiet until someone asks. And if they do, I'll tell them everything, including what you just said."
Carl looked genuinely grateful. "Thank you. I really mean it."
Brody gave a small nod. "I think you should go now. Didn't you say you wanted to see Sia?"
Carl blinked, then stood quickly. "Oh yeah. I'll be taking my leave now." He headed out of the room.
Brody watched him go, thinking to himself, This is gonna be more difficult than I thought.