In the ward in St Mungos Hospital, Garrett, who was on the bed, had a depressed expression, seemingly remembering some unpleasant memories.
Merlin sits by the bed and looks at Garrett, but he did not know how to console him.
Every agent has their fair share of secrets, some may be painful, others may be regretful, but in the end, a secret's a secret. It was already very ill-mannered for someone to seek out those secrets.
"Inside SHIELD..."
A few minutes later, a hesitant Garrett looks at Merlin and lowers his voice:
"I don't know if you've noticed, but as the scale of our organization grows, it's become not as pure as it used to be."
"Are you reminding me? Garrett."
Merlin looks around and tells his friend:
"Relax, I know."
"Mmm?"
Garrett looks at Merlin with a suspicious gaze, the latter shrugs and tells Garrett:
"Someone had already reminded me before you. I'll pay attention."
"Just paying attention is not enough, Merlin."
Garrett says:
"You have to be careful, Merlin. You've been in the spotlight too much these past few years, and could easily draw attention; threats from the light can be seen clearly, but not the ones from the shadows."
"Have you noticed anything? Garrett."
Merlin looks at Garrett's serious expression and asks:
"Or perhaps you've found some evidence?"
"I am the supervisor of the SHIELD branch in Europe after all, it would be my neglection to not notice such things."
Garrett tells Merlin:
"But I've only noticed it and have yet to find any solid proof. I just know that there is hidden darkness lurking in the shadows of SHIELD, maybe you've already become a target."
"Do you think that Fury knows?"
Merlin hesitates and asks in a soft tone:
"Do you think that Fury's trustworthy?"
"Fury's a good leader, he's trustworthy too; he's sharp and always has a plan ready for everything, but..."
Garrett looks at Merlin and says:
"He's not omnipotent and all-knowing."
"Then, do you think that we should talk to Fury about this?"
Merlin then asks, to which Garrett shakes his head and says:
"That man is quite stubborn on certain topics, he won't believe anything without proof."
"Proof huh."
Merlin rubs his forehead, and moments later, as the healers of St Mungos Hospital inform Garrett to prepare for today's healing schedule, Merlin takes his leave. Before he left, Merlin tells Garrett:
"Relax and take a good rest, I'll find that proof."
"Be careful!"
Garrett exhorts:
"Don't fight them head-on, use your brains and solve the problem with your intelligence."
"Mmm, I know."
As he finishes, Merlin leaves the room and hurries back to where he was currently living. After seeing Merlin off, a dozen minutes later, when the healers had finished preparations, Garrett is pushed into the healing chamber, and before the healing procedure begins, Garrett places down the phone in his hand.
On the phone screen was a 'message sent' icon.
The content of the message was simple with just two words.
"He knows."
As Merlin returned to the hotel he was staying in, he pushes the door open and finds a white letter placed on the floor.
This was definitely slipped in from beneath the door.
Merlin looks around to find the hotel pathway empty. He first senses the letter with his dark senses to confirm that it was just normal paper, he then picks it up, closes the door, and comes to the desk.
Merlin inspected the letter, it was quite empty and didn't even have a stamp.
He shakes his head, opens it, and takes out a stack of papers from within.
On the very top was a letter with words, and as the documents below are spread onto the table, Merlin discovers them to be a delicate mechanical blueprint. Merlin could not understand what it meant with his level of knowledge in this area.
He could only look at the letter, and he assumes that he would find answers in it.
And as Merlin opens the letter, what appeared before him were a female's handwriting. Merlin knew this style of handwriting and was quite familiar with it.
It was the handwriting of Miss Carter, who had been missing for months now.
"Merlin:"
"I'm sorry for me leaving without saying goodbye, and I know that you have a lot of questions, but now is not the time for answers."
"I've found Hank, he's still as ill-tempered as always. But under my request, he still gave me these plans to handle the mess he left. According to him, this is a blueprint for a miniature, incomplete quantum interferer. You should give it to Professor Bill Foster, for he is fully capable of making this."
"It can help that poor girl Ava maintain the quantum activity of her body, but Hank has reminded me that this interferer can only suppress the child's body from splitting apart, but is unable to cure her. To fully heal young Ava, one would need to find a way into the quantum realm; Hank has been studying the topic for years, but unfortunately, not even he can find the right method."
"You need to take good care of that child and don't let her overuse her quantum abilities. Hank told me that as she grows older, her connection with the quantum realm would deepen; one day, she would disappear from the world by being attracted into the quantum realm, but that was at least 10 years later."
"I've listed down hank's contact number inside the letter, but I request that you do not let anyone know of Hank's whereabouts."
"Do you still remember what Old Steve had reminded you? As SHIELD continuously grows and expands, fogged water would enter the clear water bay; I trust that with Fury's abilities, he can clean the water of this large pool when given time, but I suspect whether or not the hidden darkness would give him that much time."
"Take care of Sharon for me, Merlin, and don't come looking for me. I've dedicated most of my life to my work, and it's time to let a poor elderly lady enjoy her final moments happily."
"Lastly, Old Steve wanted to tell you that if you have the time, you should take a spin around Bleecker Street in Manhattan, where there was a nice view and good food."
Miss Carter's short but mysterious letter ends here.
But Merlin was still frowning, he looks at the stack of paper next to his hand and knows that Miss Carter had fulfilled her promise, she had helped Merlin find the mysterious Hank Pym as well as let him design an interfering device for Ava to help suppress her quantum state.
But that wasn't the point.
The point was that Miss Carter had confirmed Old Steve's warning, if she, the leader of the SSR, thinks that there exists darkness within SHIELD, then that would mean that the internal situation of his organization was in a much worse state than he had anticipated.
And from Miss Carter's words, Fury also seems to know about this and has been trying to keep the water in SHIELD clear.
But Fury did not tell him, nor did he ask him to partake in it, this means that Fury didn't need his help, at least, Fury didn't wish for Merlin to be implicated in it.
Maybe that elderly agent was suspecting Merlin too.
"How very unlikeable."
Merlin pouts his mouth as flames burst from his hand to burn the letter's seal. He then opens the letter and finds a tiny set of phone number listed inside the letter.
That must be Hank Pym's contact method.
Merlin saves the number into his phone but does not call immediately.
Because he did not know what to say to that Professor Hank, he seemed to have a bad temper and had already given Merlin the help he needed.
Merlin keeps the stack of papers in his handbag and looks outside the window, it was currently in the afternoon and dusk was yet to come, bright afternoon sunlight had already become gloomy.
"Sigh, looks like this trip will be cut short again."
Merlin laments so, he didn't stay in the room, instead, he packed his stuff and leaves.
He had to waste no time in collecting the magic resources he needed since he's already confirmed that he will be returning to New York soon. But considering the fact that order has yet to be restored at that place, Merlin assumes that it would be hard for him to gather all the necessities at once.
Two days later, a plane departing from Paris soars into the sky, it was SHIELD's internal mailing jet, specialized in transporting some of SHIELD's internal data and resources between North America and Eruope.
This was not a commercial plane, thus its interior was not decorated to be comfortable; on the upper deck of the cabin was a small room for pilots to rest in, and that was where Merlin currently was.
Opposite to him was a brand new house-elf Dobby.
Or to say, SDOLD's newest consultant Dobby.
It had put on a new set of clothing as per Merlin's order. Madam Malkin was an excellent tailor, the black suit and pair of shoes she made herself were currently being worn by Dobby.
But the uniform that was supposed to make one look handsome lost its majesty because of Dobby's thin figure.
Dobby even received a pair of psychic sunglasses standardly issued to SDOLD agents, which was currently resting on Dobby's sharp nose. But the small sunglasses could not cover much of its big eyes, thus its appearance was akin to that of a villain that usually appears in fairy tales.
But what was Merlin hoping for about a magic race that was born ugly? Dobby managing to put on that uniform was the most active change it could make for now.
According to the habits of house-elves, they normally do not wear such official clothing as it would obstruct their work.
Merlin even noticed a black wand that looked like a fire stick hanging from the elf agent's waist.
It looked like a normal stick, but mana waves were emitting from it.
"How perfunctory of Master Ollivander."
Merlin looks at the wand hanging on Dobby's waist and says with a frown:
"It's not sculpted and there aren't even ornaments, can it even be used?"
"Of course, it can! Sir."
Dobby strokes the wand on its waist and says to Merlin with its sharp voice:
"Master Ollivander made this for me on the spot, he didn't add many ornaments due to shortage of time, but it has everything a wand should have."
"Good."
Merlin did not stay on the details and said to Dobby:
"Classes in the academy start in September, I haven't given the instructors there the heads up yet, but I trust that with your capabilities, you will be able to complete the 6-months training without getting noticed."
"I'll do good, sir."
Dobby tries to straighten its chest and says to its new boss:
"It's easy to disguise amongst muggles."
"Mmm, that's good."
Merlin takes out his phone and glances at it, discovering that he had a new message; it was from Professor Franklin Hall of the academy, it was simple with a single sentence:
"My experiment has finally succeeded!!! Merlin, come to my lab and help me run tests!"
"Alright, what a coincidence."
If not for Professor Hall's letter, Merlin would have already forgotten that he had promised Professor Hall that he would help him with a special experiment before he left the academy.
But lord, that was 6 years ago.
What exactly is the research subject of Professor Hall's experiment? For it to have lasted 6 years.
This made merlin curious, so he glances at Dobby on the passenger's seat, keeps his phone, and says to the ugly-looking mystery consultant:
"I just so happen to also need to head over to the academy, I'll go with you."
