Chapter 5

WELCOME TO HELIX 1.9.

FLASH DRIVE DETECTED. DOWNLOADING DATA. DOWNLOAD COMPLETE.

INTERFACE LOADED. AWAITING CLEARANCE.

SUBJECT CONNECTED. SCANNING FOR SYNCH COMPABILITY. SCAN SUCCESSFUL.

SYNCHRONIZING SUBJECT… SUCCESSFUL.

LOADING ENVIRONMENTS. LOADING CHARACTERS. LOADING DATABASE. DATABASE UPDATED.

AUTHORIZATION ACCEPTED. SEARCHING FOR POINT OF INTEREST. SEARCH COMPLETED. RUNNING MEMORY…

The Earth Kingdom was rumored to be unstable. And when a kingdom is unstable, there´s no better opportunity to strike.

Their intelligence was correct after all. Several men corresponding to the descriptions of the remaining members of cells of Equalists had crossed the borders to the Earth Kingdom two weeks ago, and ever since then the manifestations had grown in number. They were converging in one of the oldest kingdoms in the country in order to rise from the ashes and once again start their Anti-Bending movement.

Not on their watch.

It had not been easy to track them down due to the size of the kingdom, but persistence and connections had fared great results when the team found a cell spending the night on Chin Village. While his knowledge of Earth Kingdom wasn´t wide, explanations from one of his fellow agents served to figure out the purpose of their presence in the village: If Avatar Day was celebrated to honor the Avatar, then that day was great to take control of the village without much resistance while making a strong move to reignite the anarchistic movement. But, that had not happened, fortunately, as their intervention (in the shadows) prevented them from attacking without even being ready. What had been more rewarding, however, were the coded letters found on the cell´s leader, stating where other groups, thirteen to be exact, had been set up and their next moves throughout the country.

By calculating where they had been and the probability of converging in a single place, they had discovered that their final destination was Ba Sing Se, rumored to be under great tensions under the authoritarian regime, liable to a revolt that could and would lead to too many casualties. The increased urgency of the mission hadn´t deterred their hopes, instead giving them the motivation to carry on. After sending reports to President Reiko and warnings to Earth Queen Hou-Ting, each agent agreed to split up and cover two cells each, which, if gone according to planned, would leave the remaining cell weakened and easier to detain inside the capital.

Which brought him to a village in western Earth Kingdom, located by the mouth of a lake.

Sunset was upon the village, a mixture of light yellowish-orange and pink clouds that some stopped to admire. It was actually uncommon to see the deep coloration of the clouds that day. There was the lingering feeling that it brought harm, yet also beauty. Most people looked long and hard at the sky, thinking over their own theories and explanations, and then continued to travel to wherever they were needed. But not the barefoot man dressed with a plain dark shirt and grey pants with his back to the window, leaning forward to better see what he was writing. Given the amount of natural light that illuminated the room, he had been forced to light a lamp over the desk. There wasn´t much furniture in the room, aside from the untouched bed with green covers, a travel bag and a sack laid next to the pillows, a wardrobe full of untouched hangers and a telephone by the bed table. The desk was clear of any unnecessary objects, leaving only a portable radio, a holster for two flintlocks, one kept secured and the other at his side for an emergency, and a sheet of paper, in danger of joining others in the trash bin a foot away from him. A long dark coat rested on the chair, the air rifle hanging from one of its arms. His hands hold a brush soaked in ink that lingers inches from the untouched paper.

"How do I even start the letter? 'Hello, I´m sorry for not caring to write you'?", he groans mentally, resting his hands back on the desk.

Putting down the brush, he gets up and goes to the window to look at the sunset and everyone still out on the streets. Before, he hadn´t bothered to observe. However, no one had contacted him yet and in terms of creativity he was null. He might as well pass the time doing something other than trying and failing at writing news. And right now, he sees the sunset and the back of his mind becomes sharply alert at the purple colors that slowly engulf the sunset. He spent enough time in this world to know that that was not ordinary. The worry grew bigger when he felt as if his head had been coated by water.

"Héping. Have you looked at the sky today?", he greeted, keeping the conversation in his mind.

"Fortunately no. It dreads me to see that the balance is being damaged.", the spirit´s voice says with equal parts of somberness and sadness.

"What´s causing this? Is it the Harmonic Convergence?", Shay asks.

"Yes. As of now, Vaatu is attempting to escape his prison to try and engulf the world in darkness. I detest these events.", Héping says.

"This isn´t the first time it´s happened, right? He couldn´t break out before, and this year won´t be much different.", Shay tries to comfort his companion. "Do you want to discuss somethin` else in the meantime?"

There´s silence before he feels an imaginary nod. "What are you doing?", Héping asks.

"Well, I was trying to write a letter for Tenzin and his family, but I just don´t know what to write.", the Irishman says, walking back to his desk.

"How hard is it to say that you are fine? Is it because of the mission?", Héping looks at the paper through the man´s eyes.

"Aye. All the other letters have always been the same. 'I´m fine; Don´t you worry about me…', at some point they´ll start believing I want to avoid them.", Shay complains, grabbing his air rifle and looking for a piece of cloth to polish it.

"That isn´t true, Shay. I´ve seen them. They worry for you and want to know where you are.", the spirit says. If she could, she´d scowl the man for such negative thoughts.

"And pray tell, when did you find the time to do that?", Shay inquires, polishing the rifle after removing the dart inside the barrel.

"I am not restricted to the necklace. When I want to, I can retreat back into the spirit world and interact with other spirits. And from what I gathered, the older of the Airbender´s children has been showing the ability to see beyond the physical world.", Héping explained.

"Do you mean that she´s become a psychic?", Shay guesses.

"Yes, one who can see spirits. I attempted to communicate with her, although it proved fruitless. She may be able to see me, but she cannot hear me. So I had to resort to sign language.", Héping continues.

As Shay think of another question to ask, Héping pulls his mind into her own. Mildly surprised, Shay quickly gets his bearings and casts a frown to the spirit standing in front of him. When they had first met, and for a few weeks, neither of them had ever met face-to-face. Through mental training and daily meditations, their connection had grown to the point that they could share a corner of Shay´s mind for the two to communicate. The corner in question was a giant square, outlined by white cloud-like thick lines and with the environment colored in blue, neither light nor dark. There were no sounds other than Shay´s breathing and the conversations that took place in there This place, dubbed "safe-haven", had been created by a combination of each others` influences, hence why the two were standing of the deck of The Morrigan, on the left end of the square, with her sails folded and anchored near the river bank of a vast forest, where the trees stood higher than The Morrigan and the leaves were pulled in every direction by an unknown wind. In the middle of the forest, there was a clearing where a stone pedestal stood right in the center, the jade necklace on top of it.

Héping, in her primary form of being, was a "kind spirit", with big round yellow eyes with red circles surrounding them, a barely visible neck that connected the oval shaped head to a skinny upper body and arms and legs equally skinny that ended in round hands and feet with four fingers and toes. The mouth was absent from her face, but the words were projected by tapping into a person´s mind, making communication only possible by bonding with a person´s inner chi. Crystals covered her in different parts of the body, but her chest was where there was a bigger concentration, forming the insignia of the Assassins. That evening however, she had changed, shaped into a person from Shay´s memories. She had taken the form of a shining crystallized Liam O´Brian.

Had she done that months ago, he would´ve rudely told her to be anyone else, anyone, but not him. Now he wasn´t so bothered.

"How are they?", he questions, this time out loud. He didn´t need to use a mental link in that place, something he was glad for.

"They were doing well when I last spoke with little Jinora. Actually, Jinora is not so little anymore. She and her siblings have grown, but they remain the same.", Héping says, a trace of Liam´s accent mixed in, still using telepathy. No matter where she speaks, she is always restrained by the physical boundaries of communication. As she speaks, white mist shapes in the forms of the Airbender family, all smiling as if posing for a photograph. Shay notes the little bundle in Pema´s arms, wrapped in covers, and sees her belly had lost its round shape. Sensing his question, Héping continues. "The new child is named Rohan, an Airbender like his siblings and looks much like his father."

The revelation brings warmth in Shay´s heart and he smiles, feeling sorry for not being there when he was born.

"They have faced many dangers and survived. Meelo has trained a pack of ring-tailed winged lemurs to follow his orders. Ikki is starting to take after his mother. Out of the three, she misses you the most. Jinora is making steady progress in becoming a fully accomplished Airbender. Her connection to the Spirit World is strong and she is the only one to possess it.", The spirit continues.

"I thought all Airbenders had a spiritual connection. That´s what people say at least.", Shay frowns in confused wonder.

"Just as a Firebender can´t generate lightning unless he attains the skill to do so, so can´t an Airbender hold a strong spiritual connection unless he develops his inner spirit. Some Airbenders achieve this skill, others live without with. Jinora is the first Airbender to accomplish this in almost two centuries, if we exclude her grandfather, for having been the previous Avatar.", Héping clarifies. Shay nods in understanding. He should have asked Tenzin about the extent of an Airbender´s power, and not take what he had heard on the streets for granted.

"So how go things in Republic City?"

"The city is nearly recovered from the Equalist´s Revolution. And even though tensions arose from the war between the Southern and Northern Pole, people are always finding ways to further entertain themselves.", Héping reveals. The images beside them morph into a miniaturized three-dimensional replica of the city, Air Temple Island some centimeters apart. "Your work outside the city has reduced the possibility of another uprising."

"Aye, I know.", Shay concurs, walking to the mast and putting his back against it, eyes wandering up to look at the bird´s nest. With a thought, he wills the place to create transparent men, working on the ship. "We are so close now."

"I trust in your success tonight.", Héping says, unfazed as a sailor walks through her while sweeping the floor. She takes a look at the ship come to life. "Do you miss them? Your brothers-in-arms?"

"I do. Some more than others. They might have hunted me in the Manor, but they had every reason to.", Shay´s answer comes slow and heavy.

Héping made it a point to never allow him to let go of his memories of the Colonies. Last year, Shay had been stubborn in avoiding the subject, with her, with his team, with everyone. Over time, as his absence from his old home grew, fond memories of his childhood had started to come out more than usual and it had given plenty for his tenant to ask. Her main interests had been knowing about what had changed since Ezio Auditore. Shay, while not an expert in the Brotherhood´s history, knew enough of the world to know how the chain of power worked: growth to full power once, then depleted or destroyed some time later, then the cycle would begin again. He did tell her about the new colonies, the dispute of their ownership between the British and the French, and the roles the Assassins and the Templars were playing in the war.

"You believe things should not have happened the way they did?", Héping questions, sensing somberness in her friend.

"Thousands gone to hell thanks to a man who cared more about having Pieces of Eden than the consequences. He must have know.", Shay angrily replies. Flames flicker in the corner of the eyes and he discovers he has left his ship. He´s in a crumbled building devoid of people, which he recognizes as a convent. The Convent of Carmo, in Lisbon. Fear starts to crawl its way up his intestines.

"What if he didn´t? Would your disposition towards your former Mentor change?", Héping asks him, one eye narrowing in an imitation of quirking an eyebrow.

Instead of offering a verbal answer, Shay manipulates the environment. More color seeps into the place, painting a huge red house, a two story manor to be exact, with a perch, surrounded by bushes and pines on a sunny day. Seagulls fly over the house, squawking and descending to stand on the edges of the roof. The manor was made of bricks with three white windows on the upper story and two on the lower story. Between the two lower windows was a door made of oak. The roof had black piles and a smoking chimney, meaning someone was inside and making use of the fireplace. It was a building unlike Héping had ever seen…

On the perch, protected from rain and sunlight by a ceiling held by two pillars, sitting by a table, were two men. Both had their hood lowered, revealing their African lineage. From their attitude, they were comfortable around each other. One, sitting facing the horizon, had short hair and a moustache, concerned eyes and the posture of a serious man. His arms supported him on the table as he leaned towards his companion, whose age shown in his face and his eyes. He was bald, with three thin black lines under his eyes as some sort of markings and a white goatee. He sits in a straight position, hands (of a sailor, she notices) resting on his lap as he talks to the man. Acting as a bodyguard, another man stood outside the perch, arms crossed and hood up, using his eyes to watch every sign of movement, ready to act in case the situation demanded it. He, however, had his back turned to a figure hidden in the bushes, his blue colored clothing out of place amidst the green and brown of nature, unnoticed by the older men discussing a problem.

From having caught a glimpse of said figure before in a memory, Héping deduced it was Shay, younger.

"I hate to bring up practical matters at a time like this, but did Mackandal´s man complete his task before the earthquake hit?", the man with the moustache asked, his voice sending a wave of unpleasantness through the Irishman.

"I cannot know. Vendredi has not been found. He was a strong Maroon, one of Mackandal´s best students.", the other says with a strong voice.

"Such a shame. So we cannot know if he found the site.", the man of the moustache regretted, leaning back in his chair.

"Indeed. But if there was a temple under the waves, I doubt it is still standing.", the older man agrees.

"And the artifacts that showed the way?"

"Stolen. The Templars broke in during the chaos. They seized the Manuscript and Precursor box. I gave chase on sea, but lost their trail when they reached New York."

"We must consider what to do next."

The memory flickers and fades, and they return to The Morrigan.

"Did you see? Achilles never asked about the deaths of the people of Port-au-Prince, the whole topic was just the artifacts.", Shay points out, louder than he meant to.

"I admit not hearing him mention that, but it still doesn´t prove he deserves your bitterness. Perhaps Achilles was prioritizing. Why bring up the subject, if there was nothing he could do?", Héping suggests.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

In a second, the link Shay was sharing with his friend was lost and he found himself back in his rented room. He moved towards the door and opened it, looking at the person who had knocked.

"Can I help you, mister?", he asked the bearded bald man whom Shay had come to know as the owner of the inn he was staying at.

"This just came in for you.", the man reported, holding a folded piece of paper in his hands. Shay takes the envelope from his hands and reads it to himself. "Honestly, we have just installed a network for new telephones. If someone wants to contact someone else, they can call now. Very few people write these days.", he adds with a chuckle.

"Writing people is never outdated, mister. I prefer to write myself, it´s much better to demonstrate your character. Thank you.", Shay comments, closing the door as the man bows and retreats.

Shay´s polite smile drops while folding the paper once more back. He heads to the bed table, lifts the headset of the telephone, dials a number and rests the headset against his left ear. The call is picked up almost immediately.

"This is Republic City´s Ministry of Security, how may I help you?", a female voice greets, business-like.

"Agent Shay Patrick Cormac; codename: Nán.", Shay says.

"Identification?", the female voice continues, still business-like.

"Nothing is true, everything is permitted.", Shay intones in a monotone.

There´s a pause so small one could even say it was nonexistent. "Wait a minute, Mr. Cormac. I´m redirecting the call." There´s a second pause that ends when the female voice gave way to a familiar voice. "Agent Cormac, what´s your status?"

"Ready to go, sir. What am I looking at?", Shay reports, talking as a soldier would to his superior.

"Our intel confirms Gang was sighted interacting with an associate near an apartment. After that there has been a concentration of men and women of multiple cultures. One has been identified as a known member of the community named Takeda Wan, a local industrialist who controls the exportation of the local fish. He´s got no criminal record, and yet he meets with Equalists. I need you to conduct an investigation on the matter before you act against your targets.", the voice belonged the director general of Republic City´s Security Service and coordinator of operations of his team, Hanzo Chun.

Shay nods obediently. Hanzo Chun was a man who made sure all information reported to him was thoroughly checked and rechecked to avoid any problematic situations, and if it was said that the Equalists had a contact in the village, there probably was. It was thanks to this procedure that the man in his mid-fifties was respected and looked up to as a reliable source of information.

"And another thing: The others have already reported back to me that their assignments have been completed. While I would usually order them to meet back at the safe house, they insisted that, and I quote, 'We want to end it together as a task force, not individually'.", Shay´s superior adds, which gets Shay to grin. "They will be joining you by the end of the evening."

"Understood, sir. We´ll speak later. Agent Cormac out.", Shay declares, hanging up. "I must be getting started then."

He reaches for the sack and flips it upside down, watching clothes and metallic objects fall on top of the sheets. He looks at the outfit. His colleagues all wore a standard outfit designed for clandestine operations, like Shay had for some time, though later on it had been destroyed beyond repair and so he had asked for a different uniform. When confronted about the design by his teammates and the director-general, he had revealed that his occupation prior to his current job had been the same as now (although without going into details), and that the uniform was viewed as an identity and a sign for fear. And fear it had brought to his adversaries, so much that a whole cell in the Fire Nation had once recognized and became hesitant in attacking him.

Dressing it over the clothes he was wearing, Shay made sure his Hidden Blades were safely strapped and his holsters secured before taking all the darts in his pouches and leaving the room. Only his air rifle was left in the bed, useless for the time being.

Crowds gathered around the market zone to buy food to use for that evening´s dinner or to try their luck on that month´s lottery. Most people there were talking with whoever accompanied them, children ran around and collided with adults who´d shrug it off or send an annoyed complaint that fell on deaf ears, and businesses was made.

"Why, good evening, Mr. Wan! What can I do for you?", a merchant greeted the man.

Said man, of average build and graying hair, ordered vegetables and rice, which were handed to him in separate bags. After that, the merchant asked what he thought of the strange sunset, to which the industrialist gave him his opinion, paid for the groceries and left. All the while being watched by a man who sat seemingly casually in a bench staring at his gloved hands.

As he watches his target leave the marketplace, he stands up and follows him, keeping some distance away from him to avoid suspicion from falling over him. Whenever he stopped, he stopped as well. Whenever he looks around the crowd, he´d blend in by joining people looking at a stand or hiding behind the stands inconspicuously. Anyone who saw him walk by would take him for a tourist visiting the village and left it at that. Or a man descended from Fire Nation colonists, if his clothes, albeit out of ordinary for the weather, were anything to go by. Under a dark brown coat, the back of its upper part colored yellow, he wore a green waistcoat held together by three buttons over a white shirt with an open collar. The interior of the coat was completely dark, from the hood to the edges. A yellow sash was wrapped around his pants, black like his leather boots. Those with keener perception could make out long objects poking from inside his coat, easy to draw out if needed, and stayed away. His eyes kept following the bald man as he went to other stands, buying more food, declining offers or socializing briefly.

Finding the man hadn´t been a challenge. Takeda Wan was a man of habits, known by everyone, and had about fifty percent of the populace employed in his manufacturing company. A man who believed in an employer-employee relationship and knowledgeable in the cultures of the four nations, he hadn´t been amazed by the saint-like picture people painted him. Taking his investigations to the pubs and outskirts of the village had led to different points of view however. A group of drunkards had criticized Wan for firing a big number of people just to replace them with foreign manpower, people who have been nothing but trouble. In further detail, they had arrived two and a half weeks ago. One disgruntled retired fisherman had confided that Wan had been evasive about that subject, going so far as to lock himself in his office for a whole day.

"Why you care so much about Mr. Wan is not part of my concerns boy, but if you can find out why he´s changed and reverse it… You would do this village a favor.", the retired elder had told him.

Shay would see about that.

Wan left the market zone and walked towards the lake, into one of the neighborhoods, still followed by Shay. He acknowledged the greetings but ignored those who wished for a minute or two of his time, picking up his pace as he went deeper into the neighborhood. Then, when the lake was in sight, he turned right into an alleyway that led to a different street. Hiding behind a corner, Shay observed the man nod towards a tailor and turn left. As the Irishman continued to stalk him, the streets gradually became filled with residents looking out the windows, intrigued by the approaching purple night. Were he not busy with the task ahead, he would ask Héping how the containment of Vaatu was going. The curiosity of the village was, however, inconvenient for Shay right now.

He would have to continue through another street, lest he wanted suspicion to fall over him. Yet he did not want to lose sight of the industrialist. So Shay blinked and focused his senses all at once, calling forth his gift. The sky darkened, the village got brighter and Wan was enveloped in a golden light, along with the footprints he was leaving on the street. Shay assumed a crouching position and looked at each civilian peering through their windows, ignoring the markers of their bending abilities, and called off his second sight. Where before were dark haired citizens mostly hidden from his view, now were blue colored people that could be spied on, even when Shay made a sharp turn to the left and returned to the street he had walked out of seconds ago.

If there was a time to be proud of his skill in his second sight, it would have to be later.

Wan, visible through the walls, was starting to grow apprehensive the closer he got to his destination, constantly throwing glances over his shoulders. He checked the contents of his grocery bags, swearing afterwards and showing panic. Shay saw him take steady breaths to calm down and inhale deeply, returning to his walk with an agitated expression. Shay interpreted that as a sign that he was afraid of something. Some meters ahead, the street was undergoing repairs and the Earthbenders in charge had closed the access. Some stationed members of local authority told people to take another route home, sometimes pointing paths to take to get to certain neighborhoods. Shay slowed his pace, watching intently for where Wan would go on his side. The man had paused to rest his arms and was checking a pocket watch, putting it back in a pocket and bending his arms to recover from the exhaustion faster. Picking up the groceries, he started to increase his speed again and continue down a neighbor street.

Shay had to find an alternative path. Tall walls of bricks had been built in the alleyway so he needed another option. There were, however, taller trees with branches filled with foliage that almost covered the view of the sky in the space between the houses. One tree in particular, to his right and next to a parked Jeep, had a bifurcated trunk and thick branches, which he could use to get up the roofs. Shay took a running start to jump to the hood of the Jeep, hoping the alarm wouldn´t trigger and draw attention to him. That was quickly ignored when, unexpectedly, an earth column was bent beneath his feet, just as he was ready to jump to the car, and he was thrown up to the roof.

Training kicked in and Shay tucked his knees and spread his arms so he could grab the bifurcations when he landed on the trunk. Recovering from the unexpectedness of the event, Shay turned around and searched for the Earthbender he guessed had done this, quickly finding him already on the roof.

He shook his head. He´d deal with him later. For now, Shay concentrates on climbing to the branches to his right and jumping to the roof where the Earthbender stood. Looking back, the earth column was already gone.

"Strange way to say 'hello', don´t you reckon?", He asks solemnly. Then he cracks a smile. "How long have you been here?"

"Got here 'bout an hour ago. I may be the first to have arrived I think, ´cause I haven´t heard from the others yet.", the Earthbender, a young man in his late twenties, answers with a reciprocated smile. He looks over Shay´s shoulder and quirks an eyebrow. "I´d shake your hand and everything, but you´re letting your man getting away."

Shay glances over his shoulder too. The time it took for him to fully climb the tree had been enough for the target to become a spot at the end of the street.

"No worries. I know where he´s going.", he reassures, turning to walk away. "Coming?"

Following the businessman for another half an hour, Shay and his partner left the more populated center and entered the northeastern outskirts of the village, where the polished brick and wooden buildings were replaced with shacks, irregular in height and built into the forest stretching towards the mountains. Less people were out on the streets now. By now, Takeda Wan was almost running, clearly anxious to get wherever he wanted to go.

With Shay spying on the man from the streets and the Earthbender from the roofs, they saw the man slow down, look to a particular ugly looking attempt of a building and approach it. Shay hid in the corner of a building far enough not to be spotted and waited. Wan looked around before knocking. Shay saw a pattern in his actions: the man knocked hard twice, then thrice lightly and finally once more hard. Seconds later the door opened slightly, just enough so the person on the other side could see who was it.

"You got it all?", Shay´s focused ears picked up the voice of a man.

"I couldn´t bring you Gemsbok bull like you asked. They didn´t have it today.", Takeda Wan lied through a shaky voice.

"Who told you get that? No one said they wanted that.", the man growled, confused. Before Wan could utter a word, a gloved hand reached out to the bags. "Y`know what? Nevermind that. Just give me the groceries."

After the industrialist did that and the mysterious man closed the door without so much as a goodbye, the former turned around and walked away, relief drawn on his face and disposition. Shay looked up to his partner, who met his gaze.

If the sunset was the same as every normal sunset, the Earthbender would have been able to blend in with the environment. However, with the sky growing increasingly purple as time passed, he could easily see the bright green and brown colors of the man´s outfit. The green short-sleeved shirt clung to the man´s body like glue, with the edges tucked inside his dark brown baggy pants and a belt holding it all together. On his feet he wore black boots that were nearly covered by the pants.

"Do we let him go?", the Earthbender communicated using gestures.

"No. Come down and cut him off", the Non-Bender gestured back as he backed away from the corner so he wouldn´t be seen by Wan.

The Earthbender vanished and Shay waited for the target to pass by, after which he followed closely. Not long after, Shay´s partner showed up from one of the alleys, stopping in the middle of the street and in front of Wan. He fixed the man with a hard, stern look that made him freeze in his tracks. Wan turned around and found Shay in front of him. Cornered, he backed to the left, so he could keep them both in his eyesight.

"Gentlemen, I don´t have any money with me.", Wan said with hands raised in a defensive position.

Shay drew a quick breath and hardened his expression. For years, he had drawn inspiration from one of Achilles` many scolding expressions to create his own menacing look. Hours had been spent in front of a mirror testing out multiple frowns and scowls, adding one detail and dismissing another. In this new world, the search for the perfect intimidating visage had continued. Some had worked and others had evolved over the last year. By now, either people gulped and shivered at the sight of the menace Shay imposed or met his stare with a challenge.

Takeda Wan fell into the former category.

"We aren´t looking for money, Mr. Wan. What we want is information.", he rectified, taking a step closer in the man´s direction. Wan stepped back in response. "We want to know what you are doing in this part of town."

The industrialist managed to look confused and scared at the same time.

"That´s it? Y-you just want to know that?", he asked, looking between Shay and the other man. "I just went out for a walk."

"Mr. Wan, lying is not your best play here.", Shay´s colleague advised. His face twisted into a grim look and he took a step closer. "We saw you coming here with groceries and delivering them to the residents of that building." He pointed towards said rundown building.

"I come here often to distribute food and other supplies to those in need. What´s wrong with being charitable?", Wan rebuked.

"He didn´t seem too grateful for the help.", Shay pointed out. "You don´t come to this part of the village. Usually your executives do."

"I told you, I just felt like taking a walk. Please, let me go.", Wan pleaded.

"Xī, he doesn´t seem willing to tell us the truth.", the Earthbender said in a conversational tone.

"You´re right, he doesn´t.", Shay agreed in the same tone. "Perhaps we should do this the hard way."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

"Hard way? No, no, no, no, no, please, please…", Wan was sweating now and his eyes looked ready to bulge out of his skull.

The two partners moved as one towards the industrialist and the latter cowered in dreadful anticipation of pain. Shay experienced a familiar pang of guilt for putting the man through this, one that was put aside very quickly.

"Takeda Wan, I am agent Nán and this is agent Cǐ, and we work for the International Anti-bending Revolution Repression task force.", Shay says while showing him an piece of plasticized paper. Wan glanced at the card. He saw a photograph of the New Yorker's face, his codename and the name of the task force written in bold letters. He saw the man named Dōng show him a similar piece of paper with his photo on it before they simultaneously put them away. "We are aware that there is an Equalist faction hidden in the village and that you have been acting as their contact to the outside world."

"We are looking for a man named Gang. He is about my height, of Water Tribe ancestry and a long beard.", Cǐ continues, showing another photograph. "The man you were talking to, was he this man?"

Wan recovers from the revelation and examines the photograph. He no longer looked threatened as his breath became less loud and hope shined in his eyes. He nods almost instantly and turns around, gesturing for them to follow him. They enter an alley, out of sight of anyone passing by, and Takeda Wan tells them everything:

"He came to my office one day under the pretense of presenting to me with a new idea for ship manufacturing. As soon as we were alone, he revealed what he stood for and told me I was going to help him hide in here. I asked him if he was out of his mind. He was expecting me to say it, because he showed me a photo of my parents tied up to a chair. 'As long as you assist me and my comrades, we won´t harm them', that´s all he said. He left my office, but not before he said we would be in touch."

"How long have you been helping them?", Cǐ questioned .

"A month and a half. First it was a small group of five, then more began to show up and taking residence. Now the whole building is crawling with those bloodsucking leeches and I´m in charge of feeding them."

"Do they carry weapons?"

"None that I´ve seen. But some have arrived with heavy bags."

"Do any of them come out?"

"Some do. I started to fire workers from my company so I could employ their people. They want to keep an eye on me as well. The villagers hate me for it, but there was nothing I could do."

Shay processed the new information in his head before speaking slowly and calmly. "Mr. Wan, you have been very helpful. Here is what we´ll do: Don´t come back here or other sites where Equalists may be hiding. Return to your office and stay there until we call you. Afterwards, head to the local inn and tell the man I´m expecting you in room 19. Come alone and speak to no one else today. Do you understand?"

"Very well. Once again, a thousand thanks.", Wan nods obediently and starts heading out of the alley. Midway he turns around. "Excuse me, I don´t want to seem ungrateful, but… I thought you were going to beat the truth out of me."

The sides of Shay´s mouth lift briefly in a smile. "When we said we´d have to use the 'hard way', it was meant that we would need to expose our operations to a civilian." His smile vanished and a serious expression morphed in its place. "But know this: If you ever speak about this conversation or what we are doing here to anyone, we will make sure that no company will ever want to do business with you. We´ll spread enough rumors to publicly disgrace you for life. Not even your family will want to be with you."

Wan, regretting he ever asked that, leaves the agents alone in the alley.

"You exaggerated, y´know?", the Earthbender asked.

"I know, Dishi. It´s exaggeration that makes them believe me.", Shay explained, this time addressing him by his true name. "Now we get back to the inn and wait for everyone else."

As the two men left the periphery of the city, Shay thought about Tenzin, Pema and the kids. After a year and a half, he could return to Republic City and be with them again. He´d return to the metropolis and visit all the landmarks, spend some time in the park and catch up with acquaintances.

"One last time."

After so long, I posted another chapter. I thought that I was done with writing after my massive writer´s block. Good thing I´m stubborn.

And this is what I pictured Shay was doing while Season 1 and 2 were rolling. I will gradually tell how he got where he is now, don´t worry.

In case you´re having difficulties picturing Shay´s new outfit, it is the Tracker outfit. I thought that instead of creating a new attire for him, I could take one of the game´s outfits and make it canonical here.