Felipe entered his personal office hurriedly, with an air more tense than anyone there had ever seen. Not even Lídia, his coworker for the past 4 years, could imagine what might have happened. The young woman with very white skin, glasses, and black braids preferred to remain silent rather than say anything that might irritate Felipe; despite their time working together and their informal closeness, he was still the section chief.
"Lídia!" Felipe exclaimed. "I'm going to use my ability to Ponder; don't let anyone disturb me!"
"Yes, boss..." Lídia replied.
Felipe went to the back of the room and stopped next to a bookshelf full of very well-organized books. He chose a philosophy one, but it wasn't the content of the book that interested him. Slightly moving the book was the key to opening the secret door behind the shelf.
The click of a lock and the metallic sound of gears were heard; the shelf moved slowly to the right, revealing a large room filled with books thrown on the floor in every corner, papers with various symbols, and in the center, a rug with geometric patterns composing a colorful mosaic.
On the walls, there were shelves full of books with worn covers, paintings in detail-rich frames, and a board with notes in several different languages. Unlike André's room and Felipe's personal office, this place was darker, with a medieval appearance—a place where he felt at home, reminding him of his dwelling in the Other World.
Felipe sat in the center of the rug, crossed his legs in front of his body, joined his hands so that his fingertips touched, and began to breathe slowly, as if meditating.
Although Lídia had seen that scene dozens of times, it was still something wonderful. Gradually, she approached the secret entrance that remained open, placed a hand on the door, and stood watching Felipe use his exclusive power.
Even not knowing the details of how Felipe's power worked, Lídia knew that when he did that, he was capable of finding answers to almost all problems based on his accumulated knowledge. Another important point of the intelligence chief's power was his perfect memory; once he saw a face, heard something, or read a text, he was able to remember it perfectly, and through "pondering," reach conclusions with millimeter precision.
There were still other points of the ability that Felipe said she didn't need to know, as they weren't important. Lídia watched the scene of Felipe in his moment of reflection with a smile on her face and a thought in her head.
Will I ever be able to have a power of my own too?
Felipe's eyes opened; they were totally white, as if there were no irises or pupils, in addition to emitting a strong glow.
Is it a new ability? Lídia thought. No, it's just something I've never seen...
For about fifteen minutes Felipe remained immobile, like a statue. Under the vigilant gaze of Lídia, who every now and then returned to her desk to answer a call, he pondered calmly, until finally showing signs that he was reaching his limit.
Gradually Felipe's eyes began to close, and his breathing became faster, to the point of panting, until he opened his eyes again with an expression of astonishment. Lídia ran to help him; this was why he didn't want anyone else to see what had occurred. This was his moment of weakness, where the most respected person in the place needed to be supported by his personal secretary.
"It is very complex..." Felipe said as if he were very tired. "There are thousands of possibilities..."
"What?" asked the girl. "I didn't understand..."
"The Silver Knight..." Felipe continued, while trying to catch his breath. "If the same thing happens as last time, I fear that no one will be able to stop him..."
"But he is trapped in the 'Other World,' right?" Lídia began to tremble. "Is there any danger of him managing to come to our world?"
"No... According to André, the bastard... is already here..."
Felipe's answer left the girl in a panic. Even so, she gathered all her strength and helped her boss back to the first room, sat him in a padded chair, and afterwards, headed to the bookshelf, returning the key book to its original position, causing the door to close.
While the secret door slowly closed, Felipe explained:
"André didn't give me enough information... So I worked on assumptions. One way or another, I can't reach a satisfactory answer... There are thousands of possibilities, and each one has a low percentage of occurring; however, we cannot discard any... I cannot let everything repeat itself."
Lídia remained standing next to her boss, recalling the stories he always told about the Other World, and the name of the Silver Knight had always been attributed the blame for everything bad that happened to the heroes; it was he who manipulated everyone from beginning to end.
Lídia's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door finally closing.
A few seconds after the typical click of locks that occurred when the sounds of gears ended, the phone on Lídia's desk rang. Still trembling, the young woman hurried to answer.
"Uh... W-World Intelligence and Security Division office, Lídia speaking, how may I help you..."
After listening to what the person on the other end of the line was saying, she looked smilingly at Felipe while responding.
"You can leave it to me, I'll pass the message to my boss..."
"Who was it?" asked Felipe, who was much calmer and already breathing normally.
"The guys from the NY office!" exclaimed the girl. "They confirmed the arrival of the 3... and said the ones from Paris arrive on the same day."
"When exactly?" asked Felipe.
"On Friday, boss."
"Great, we have 3 days to make preparations," Felipe said these words while putting his arm over his face. A clear sign that he was willing to take a nap; sleep was a side effect of his power.
"Should I call Kawã too?" asked Lídia softly, afraid her question might bother Felipe.
Felipe didn't answer, just gave a positive signal by raising his right thumb.
That makes 9, but one day it will be the 33... thought Lídia while picking up the phone to call the next guest.