Selim waited in front of a gray metallic door, situated in the middle of a corridor painted in faded blue-violet. The men he'd been following had all entered the room. From the outside, there was no way of knowing what was going on inside. No signs on the door, no audible noises. So, Selim decided to wait right in front of the door, ready to meet this officer from Headquarters.

He didn’t have to wait long. The door opened with a slight metallic squeak, and a lone figure emerged. It was him. Clutching a few files under his arm, he closed the door behind him and turned to face Selim. He studied him curiously for a moment before approaching.

Selim seemed momentarily disturbed by his thoughts, then somewhat reluctantly placed his hand on his chest, two fingers extended and three closed, the standard lab salute for a level 2 meeting a higher-ranking officer. Selim tended to disregard this rule, but he didn't take the chance to disobey in front of this officer.

"Selim, right? Pleasure to meet you," said the officer while extending his hand. His voice gave nothing away. Standing tall and straight, he met Selim's gaze. Selim glanced briefly at the files in the man's hand before replying.

"Selim, right? Pleasure to meet you," he extended his hand. His voice gave nothing away. Standing tall and straight, he met Selim's gaze. Selim glanced briefly at the files in the man's hand before replying.

"Are you looking for something?"

The officer returned the brief glance to the files and replied, "Ever since 'the incident', we've been keeping a closer eye on all assignments involving rogue agents..." As he spoke, he reached for the files tucked under his arm and swiftly pulled out a blue one, catching Selim off guard. He opened it and continued, "Reminds me... you're handling a few of those assignments yourself, aren't you?"

"That's correct," Selim responded succinctly.

The officer in black continued, "I read the report about the bridge incident... You handled a particularly dangerous target quite well." He spoke with the blue file open in his right hand, his eyes darting from the file to Selim, as if he was carefully watching for his reactions to each new piece of information.

"I did what I had to do," Selim responded, keeping his guard up. He was face to face with an officer whose job was to sniff out traitors and procedural missteps.

"Why is he talking to me? He wouldn't waste his time if he didn't have an agenda... What does he want?" Selim wondered.

"But what interests me more than the bridge incident, is this," he said, closing the blue file and holding it up to show Selim the cover. The words "BRACON University Mission" were clearly visible.

"Not that damn mission again!" Selim thought. His face momentarily hardened, an action not missed by the officer.

"It's quite fascinating, I must say. You've delegated the task of finding the target to an outsider. I've read that you've never set foot on the campus. And, of course, the mission isn't progressing, and bodies are starting to pile up. Do you have an explanation?" The officer's voice was now probing.

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"I'm just following orders, you should ask..." Selim was cut off by the officer, "I've already spent some time with your superior. I didn't learn much more than what was already written in this document." He waved the file in his hand.

A few seconds of silence passed before the officer spoke again. "It's also quite interesting that this mission allows for the possibility of a second target..."

Those words piqued Selim's curiosity. "A second target?" he asked.

"Yes, weren't you aware?" The officer asked, feigning surprise.

"There's only one target. A former agent capable of changing his appearance, he was involved in particularly difficult espionage missions. He has about twenty kills to his name, not including the people he's killed since his betrayal," Selim explained.

"Yes, that target is clearly mentioned. I was referring to the other one... Hmm... Here, take the file and read it carefully. It seems you're missing some crucial information," he said, handing over the blue file. Then he added, "I'd also like you to handle the issue regarding the outside agent."

"What are you suggesting?" Selim asked as he took the blue file.

"Put him on a mission and let him prove himself. Either he's up to the task, or he dies," the officer responded coldly, shrugging his shoulders. He added, "Also, take a few other agents who haven't yet proven themselves or who could become problematic in the future." He scratched his chin thoughtfully. After saying this, the officer saluted Selim and began to walk away.

"Wait, there's something else," Selim called out.

The officer turned back and smiled - it was probably the first time his face showed an emotion that wasn't forced.

"I know why you were following me and waited outside this door. There's always room at HQ for valuable and, more importantly, loyal agents..." he looked Selim up and down, raising an eyebrow, then continued, "Consider our little chat an informal job interview." With those words, the officer turned to leave again.

He quickly disappeared from Selim's sight around the hallway corner. "This isn't good... This guy knows too much..." Selim thought, gritting his teeth.

After a few minutes, Selim was outside. He opened the door of his car and settled into the driver's seat. The leather seat creaked under his weight.

Although the car had been parked in the shade of a tree, the inside was still stifling hot, and the leather was uncomfortably warm.

Selim rolled down his car window, lit a cigarette, and opened the infamous blue file. Now he had all the time in the world to read. He skipped the first few pages and returned to the one he had started reading in his superior's office.

After a few lines, he saw the first - and only - mention of a secondary target. The words he read were: "In the event that the agent encounters an unexpected threat, the agent must take all necessary precautions and inform his supervisor. The agent must not engage with this new threat."

Selim searched for other mentions of this target but found none. He closed the file and tossed it onto the dashboard. "Since when do they put this kind of warning in a mission report? An unexpected threat? And on top of that, an order not to eliminate it? What's going on?" he wondered. He smoked, staring at the water tower in the distance. The scent of pine trees mingled with the smoke from his cigarette. He had a bad feeling.

"I need to get rid of the rookie. There are too many uncertainties to leave such a mission to a greenhorn," he murmured. He pulled out his phone, tapped the screen, and brought it to his ear. "Yeah, it's me. Get the guys ready, we're going on a mission."