"All right. Preparations are complete," I declared as I dramatically rubbed my palms together. I was currently situated in the living room in the company of Judy and, for a change, I wasn't sitting on my favorite comfy chair but the couch. It was mainly so that she could sit next to me, since the previous arrangement of her sitting on my lap, while really cozy, was not exactly conducive to our current activity. Once I felt suitably prepared, I picked up the brick phone on the table, turned to my girlfriend, and subsequently told her, "Let's begin the operation!"

"I still think this is silly," my dearest assistant threw a bucket of cold water on my enthusiasm right away, and I couldn't help but shake my head in the face of her negativity.

"Come on, Dormouse; don't be like that! The plan is foolproof, and even if it doesn't work, we won't lose anything."

"True, but I think you have overcomplicated it," she told me, and after a momentary pause she added, "A lot," probably for extra emphasis.

"What? It's not overcomplicated," I denied just a touch defensively. "Let's go over it one more time: I pick up the phone and I will dial Mystery Number X."

"That part is self-evident," she agreed with the usual nod in tow.

"Yeah. So then, once the line connects, I will do this." As I said that, I raised my left hand and extended a single index finger, as if I was pointing at the ceiling. "And then, when I do this," I continued as I abruptly bend my finger, "You start shaking your melons. Simple."

Judy's brows imperceptibly sunk for a moment, and after a heavily implied sigh she raised her hands and asked, "I've been meaning to ask, but why do you keep calling these 'melons'?"

Saying so, she shook the two maracas in her hands, making a distinct, sharp sound in the process and earning a confused glance from yours truly.

"I call them that because that's what the packaging says. Look." While I was speaking, put the phone back onto the table and then I reached over the arm-rest of the couch and picked up the discarded hard plastic package on the floor and showed it to her, "It says so right here: [Rumba melon childhood playmates. This will be a gift to give children the best. Clown. At home. Hurry up and collect!]. What is so hard to understand about that? It makes perfect sense to me."

My girlfriend rolled her eyes and she snatched the package out of my hands, and after studying it for a second she asked, "Just where did you even find Chinese bootleg toys like…?" Her words trailed off as she took a closer look at the other side of the container and instead she asked, with almost palpable levels of incredulity (at least by Judy standards), "What does [Unlimited joy makes children more lively and lovely! Infinite pleasure!] even mean, and what does it have to do with a pair of maracas?"

"Do we even really want to know?" I responded while shrugging my shoulders. "As for your previous question, I bought this at the same place where I got my fake moustache and wig during the 'let's get Snowy an ID' operation."

"You bought this back then?" she uttered in surprise as she finally put the silly, multi-colored package covered in incomprehensible machine-translated garbage aside, and I once again shook my head.

"No, of course not. I got it this morning, not long before you came over."

"Good. I was afraid you wanted to do this so badly you bought these weeks in advance."

"Don't be silly, Dormouse. I didn't expect I'd get an ominous call from MNX yesterday, let alone a week ago. Speaking of which…" I took the package from her, threw it behind me, then I got hold of the phone again and extended my left index finger one more time. "So, just to be clear: straight finger, silence, bent finger, artificial radio static noises."

"I got it," she answered, followed up by a quiet 'I got it the first four times you told me, I still think it's silly' which I probably wasn't supposed to hear, so I pretended I didn't.

"Great. Let's get started then."

With that said, I took a huge breath, prepared myself, and dialed Mystery Number X. To my relief, the line actually connected, and there was even a ringback tone, so we already cleared the first hurdle. I held my breath as I waited for someone to accept the call on the other end aaaaaand… the call was forwarded to voice-mail.

I didn't let that discourage me, so I terminated the line and I immediately dialed the mystery number again. The same thing repeated itself: connection, ringback, voice-mail. It was around this time that holding my breath became uncomfortable, so I let it out in the form of a sigh.

"Oh well. As they say, third time's the charm."

After I said that, I immediately dialed again, and one bated breath later… someone actually picked up the phone! I immediately signaled to Judy with my eyes and made sure that my finger was straight as an arrow, and as much as she complained about it, she dutifully raised her maracas high and stayed alert, her eyes glued to my signaling hand.

"I told you not to call this number unless absolutely necessary," the deep, gravely, and still completely unfamiliar voice of a man answered my call with words that were practically dripping with annoyance. I took a deep breath, glanced at my assistant one last time, and then I promptly bent my finger.

"Hello? Are you there? The line is terrible, I can't hear a thing!" I spoke in a strained voice that was just on the verge of shouting, while at the same time Judy provided the background static to complement the illusion.

"What?"

"Did you say something? I can't hear you!"

"I said I'm here!" the impatient voice on the other side yelled into the phone, which signified the fact that he took the bait. It was too early to celebrate though, and so I continued with the information extraction.

"Oh, you're there! Finally! You called me yesterday but I couldn't hear a word!"

"I called you to tell you it's time!"

"Whine? I'm not whining! I'm asking because the reception is absolutely terrible!"

"No, I said it is TIME!" he shouted so loudly it distorted his voice.

"Time? Did you say time?"

"Yes!"

"You want to know the time?"

"NO!"

"Then why did you say time?"

"I said IT. IS. TIME!"

"Oh… Time for what!?"

"For the operation!"

"What? I couldn't hear that! Are you getting a surgery?"

"No, not that kind of operation! It's the attack on the wyrmbloods!"

"Ooooooh! I get it now!"

"Good! Finally!"

"What? Did you say December!?"

"NO! I said FINALLY! How did you even mishear that?!"

"So the attack isn't in December!?"

"NO! It's as planned!"

"What?! I still can't hear you!? Is it in December or not?!"

"I said IT IS AS PLANNED! THE OPERATION IS ON THE THIRD OF NOVEMBER, AS PLANNED!!"

The man on the other side bellowed so furiously I wouldn't have been surprised if his voice damaged the tiny speakers in the phone. That meant that I was probably drawing this out a little too much, so I decided to wrap things up as soon as possible.

"Ah, I think I got it! You wanted to tell me that the attack on the Dracis is on the third of November, right?"

"Yes! That's exactly what I wanted to tell you!"

"Okay, I got it! Thanks! Also, we should change carriers! The reception on this island is shit!"

"I hear you, brother! I'm hanging up now!"

"Wait, did you say you can't hear me?"

"No, I said I'm HANGING UP THE PHONE NOW!"

"Aaaah! Got it!"

And just like that, the line was cut, and for some reason I couldn't help but imagine the guy on the other side slamming the receiver down so hard he not only broke the telephone but even the table it was sitting on, even though I logically knew he was probably using a mobile phone as well. Anyhow, I turned to my girlfriend, who was still steadily (if not exactly enthusiastically) shaking her so-called melons, and after straightening my finger I told her, "You can stop now, he hung up."

"Did it work?" she inquired the moment the sound of the maracas died down, and I responded by giving him a huge nod.

"Waaaay better than expected," I told her with a not at all cocky grin as I put the old phone away and leaned back in my seat.

"You can't be serious."

"But I am! He took it hook, line, and sinker."

"So?" I didn't really get what she was asking, so I responded with an inquisitively raised brow, at which point she clarified, "I couldn't hear the other end of the conversation because you made me shake these. What did you learn?"

"I think it should've been pretty obvious from hearing just my end, but if you insist: apparently there's going to be an attack on the Dracis family next week. In fact, since today is the 26th, it means it will happen the next Monday."

"Did you confirm that it's the knights?"

"I didn't want it to be too blatant, but considering he called them 'wyrmbloods' and what I learned from the Hub, I would say it's about ninety-nine percent certain." I paused for a moment to breathe there, and then I tentatively added, "That said, I think the fact that we discovered the exact date of an attack is the more important detail we must focus on. We should just presume it was the Knights, just to err on the side of caution, and we're going to learn if it was them for sure when the time comes anyway."

"True," Judy nodded as she scrutinized me, apparently waiting for me to breach a certain topic, but since I wasn't in a hurry to do so, she ultimately let out an impatient grunt and said, "Since you refuse to address the elephant in the room, I'll do it in your stead: does this mean that you are related to the Knights?"

"Probably," I answered, followed by an ambiguous shrug. "I mean, I can't say for sure due to my amnesia, but the fact that someone calling me 'brother' conveniently contacted me on my old phone just as I learned about how the Knights are coming to Critias is a bit too much to chalk up to coincidence."

"I agree. It would also explain the lack of a Knight in Joshua's harem."

"Please rephrase that."

"In Joshua's circle of acquaintances," Judy did so right away, much to my appreciation.

"Much better, thank you." After saying that, I let out a shallow breath and attempted to get my thoughts in order, resulting in the words, "I think there is more to it than that though."

"What makes you say that?" Judy inquired, and before I knew it, she already had her phone on the ready.

"Well…" Instead of answering right away, I laboriously roused my aching body off the couch and began my usual routine of walking up and down while thinking, and only then did I say, "For one, while this new revelation tells us that I was probably linked to the Knights, I doubt I was one of them."

"Chief, you're tall, fit, know how to fight with medieval weaponry, and they called you 'brother'," Judy interjected. "All of that makes it fairly obvious you are one."

"True, but at the same time, I have abilities that don't require magical artifacts to work, I can speak Faunish, engage in Dominance to train, and the only available weapon that belonged to the knights not only doesn't give me super-powers, it actively rejects me," I countered. "All that points to the fact that I'm probably not a Knight."

"If so, then why did they contact you?"

"If I wanted to give you an educated guess, it could be that before I lost my memory, I was something like an informant or a sleeper agent; not necessarily clued into everything, but called in for support when the situation demands it."

"Kind of like the assets of the Celestial Intelligence Network," Judy noted while typing so furiously I was afraid she would break the screen of her phone.

"Precisely what I was thinking of."

"That would still leave you with a connection to them though, and wouldn't explain any of the other idiosyncrasies you mentioned before," she pointed out, eliciting a slightly flummoxed 'Hrm' from me.

"I can't say much to that. I'm just as lost as you are."

"Noted," she said as she literally committed my words to her notes. "Putting your origins aside for a moment, what do you plan to do about the information about the attack?"

"What to do about that…?" I pondered aloud as my pacing came to a slow halt. "I spent a lot of time thinking about it last night, and I think we don't really have much of a choice in the matter. Unlike the sentai wannabes, the Knights mean business. We must warn Elly's family."

"I'm glad we agree on that," Judy approved without looking up from her notes. "What about Robatto?"

"Right, that," I muttered with no small amount of distaste as I resumed my pacing. "Considering the circumstances, we can't let them be any longer. We not only can't be sure of their motives beyond Lord Grandpa's vague plans, even though I've been observing them a lot, but considering they never used those Gigants against the group, nor did Labcoat Guy or his android participate, we can't even be sure of their true combat potential. In short, they could prove to be a fatal distraction once the Knights also enter the picture, so we should try and sort them out before that."

"In other words, you want to neutralize Robatto before next Monday," Judy posited, and I nodded in agreement.

"Neutralize… that's a very tactful way to put it, but yes, that's the plan. Unfortunately, that means we'll have to confront Lord Grandpa on top of that, which is probably going to be a bit of a pain in the butt considering I still don't have enough demonstrable evidence to pin him down."

"And you want to do all that in the span of a single week?"

"Technically it's eight days, but putting pedantry aside, we don't have much of a choice, do we? I mean, the option of not interfering with the narrative and staying impartial observers has already sailed, so if we are going to meddle, we might as well do it swiftly and decisively."

"Is that your excuse for putting yourself in danger this time?" my dear assistant asked with just a tiiiiiny bit of an edge in her words, so I stopped once again and shook my head.

"Nope. We are going to do things slightly differently this time around."

My comment elicited an interested 'Oh?' from my girlfriend, followed by the obvious question of, "Then what are you going to do?"

"I'll have Josh deal with Labcoat Guy," I told her straight away.

"How?"

"I… didn't quite work out the details yet, but it should be fairly straightforward," I elucidated to her while doing my best to project confidence. "It mainly involves getting Josh and company to storm Labcoat's hideout, catch him, and then bring him in front of Lord Grandpa."

"What if he denies his involvement?"

"Oh, I have a separate plan for that," I told her, this time with genuine confidence and just a little bit of mischief.

"Does it involve doing something dangerous?"

"It shouldn't. In theory, at the very least."

"… If you are trying to reassure me, you are doing a terrible job."

"Come on, Dormouse! I'm serious here. I learned my lesson, and I'm only going to make my move when everything is perfectly safe. Trust me."

My girlfriend looked me in the eye for a second, then stated, "That's slightly better. You're learning."

"Thanks, I think?" I muttered in response to her compliment, but then I shook my head and declared, "Anyhow, it's not something I can do while I still feel like ten pounds of wet socks stuffed into a five-pound bag."

"Ew."

"You're welcome for the mental image," I said as a flashed a grin at my girlfriend, and then I added, "But putting that aside, our primary concern should be warning Abram, and doing so in a way so that it wouldn't raise suspicion. I mean, we can't be sure that I used to be the only sleeper agent on the island."

"That's right. If they notice that the Dracis family is preparing to defend themselves, they might realize that there was a leak, postpone their plans, and then we would be back to square one."

"Precisely. And that's why I'm going to Phase over there and discuss this in person."

"When?"

"As soon as possible."

After hearing my answer, Judy glanced over at the clock (which was probably done for my benefit, as she could have just as easily checked the time on her phone). It was just a little after ten in the morning, so I wasn't exactly late from anywhere, yet once she confirmed the time, she let out a determined huff and put her phone away.

"Be back by lunchtime."

I observed the unnecessarily resolute glint in my dear assistant's eyes, and after comparing it to the last time I have seen her like that, I quickly draw my conclusion.

"… Do you plan to cook?"

"Yes," she confirmed as she stood up. "You're sick, and sick people need home cooking to recover faster."

"I'm not entirely sure that applies to enchantment-tweaking induced exhaustion as well, but I'm not going to stop you."

"Don't even try," she told me on no uncertain terms as she headed towards the kitchen.

I didn't even bother to try and stifle my chuckles, and once she was out of the room, I took out my phone. Before anything else, I quickly checked on Abram using Far Sight, and I found him in his mansion, or to be more precise, his study within the mansion. I had little trouble recognizing the room even though I had never been there, considering the place was stacked almost to the ceiling with boxes upon boxes of music records, including actual honest-to-goodness vinyls.

I only spent a few seconds gawking at the sight before I moved on to my actual target and confirmed that there was no one else around. As such, I quickly returned to my body and dialed the number Papa Dracis gave me a while back. After a few short seconds the line connected, and I was greeted by my self-described father-in-law's usual enthusiasm.

"Hello, son! What do I owe the—"

"Hello, Abram," I cut in before he could start babbling. "Can I ask you a little favor?"

"Depends," he answered. "If you ask for my permission to elope with my daughter, I'm afraid I must say no! Everything else is fair game!"

"I just want you to walk over to the door and stay there for five seconds."

"… I can do that!" he declared, and a quick Far Glance told me he did just that. "I'm here! Hello?"

Instead of answering him, I put my phone away and, after waving at Judy in the kitchen to let her know I was leaving, I immediately Phased over to the other side of the study's door. Once I reoriented myself, I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. I could hear shuffling from the other side, though it only lasted for a moment before Abram threw the door open and looked at me as if I was a ghost.

"Erm… Son? Is this a prank?"

"No," I told him, and he let out a breath of relief right away.

"Good! I'm not good with pranks..." His relief only lasted for a moment though, as his brows soon descended into a curious frown. "But if it's not that, then why did you sneak into our house like this?"

"I'll tell you later. First, let's go get Emese and Elly. Sebastian too," I added after a little hesitation. "What I'm about to tell you concerns all of you."