บท 97: A Prelude to Darker Days

"What exactly am I looking at, Agent Smith?" asked the heavyset man sitting behind the lone desk inside the stately office they were meeting in.

The room was circular in design. It had two entrances and a back wall with windows that overlooked a well-kept lawn. The walls were plastered in expensive wallpaper with portraits of well-known historical figures hanging at intervals around the room. 

Agent Smith was sitting on one of the two couches that faced each other in the center of this office. Underneath her was a very familiar symbol of an eagle with outstretched wings. Sitting opposite her were two men. The first, a balding man in a crisp black suit, and the second, a man in a military uniform with four stars pinned to each of his shoulders. 

"We believe that's one of the players, sir," Agent Smith answered quickly. 

"You believe?" the man behind the desk repeated.