(The events in this chapter happen during the same day as the last chapter.)

Darryl's Pov:

I start making my way to the locker room since my work here at the agency is done for the day. As I am walking down the hallways of the TDO agency, I suddenly halt to a stop once I hear someone yell out, "BADBOYHALO!! WAIT!"

I abruptly turn around to see a random TDO agent running up to me. Why such a commotion? It's not like I was running away or something. He could've easily caught up with me. The male agent then comes to a stop in front of me and lets his hands fall onto his knees as he catches his breath desperately. I just watch him with an unimpressed face. This guy must be a new recruit if he has already run out of breath from that short sprint to me. I just wait as patiently as I can so that the agent can calm down. Once he calms down, I ask, "So? Why were you in such a hurry to catch up to me?"

He then quickly stands upright and says, "Well, the head agent wanted to speak to you at his office. And since he requested for your presence now, it would've been best for me to catch up to you before you left the agency. It would've been troublesome for everyone if you left, and we had to contact you again just for you to come back and speak to the head agent. You know how the head agent doesn't like to wait."

I'm surprised by hearing this. Why does Technoblade want to speak to me all of a sudden? Did he organize a mission for me at the last minute? But that doesn't seem right. Technoblade doesn't like to wait or take up too much time, so he organizes things with enough time. Whatever the case, he wants to see me right now, so it must be urgent. I just nod and say, "Alright then, thanks, I'll head there now."

I immediately walk past the agent and make my way to Technoblade's office. Even though it would spare me time if I just quickly go to the locker room to collect my stuff since I'm closer to it, it is never a good idea to keep Technoblade waiting. I take quick steps as I walk down the halls and then soon arrive at Technoblade's office. I knock at the door, soon followed by a usual monotone voice asking, "Who is it?"

"It's Agent Badboyhalo, sir."

"Come in."

I immediately open the door by instinct once I hear Technoblade's approval. But what almost stops me in my tracks is the sight I see while entering the room. When I enter the room, there is a very noticeable difference between all the other times I've been called to Technoblade's room compared to now. For once, Technoblade isn't looking at his computer, doing work. This time, he is seated with his forearms placed over his desk and looking straight at me. He never does that. His eyes are always glued onto the computer, rarely ever glancing at me. But right now, he is making direct eye contact with me.

I quickly close the door behind me and stand in place in front of it, looking directly at Technoblade. As I take a closer look, I notice that there is a bit of an indescribable look that Technoblade is giving me. But I'm starting to slowly notice that there is a bit of a saddened look in his eyes, almost like a hint of... disappointment? Worry? I can't tell for sure. To break off the momentary silence, I say, "May I know why I was called here so suddenly, sir? Was I assigned to a new mission at the last minute?"

Technoblade lets out a sigh and says, "No, nothing like that. Sorry to inconvenience you like this, but I just needed to speak to you about something that has gained our concern so that I can just get it out of the way."

Oh? What's this about? I say, "Alright then, what is it?"

Technoblade takes a moment to collect his words. He then says, "Look, Badboyhalo... it's just- it has come to our attention that there has been some kind of difference in your performance from your latest missions from these past few months."

Seriously? This is what he wants to talk about? I raise an eyebrow for him to elaborate further. He says, "At first, it wasn't very noticeable. But over time, it seems like your performance in missions is slowly starting to worsen. You are becoming less attentive and alert, your pace at getting from one place to another has lessened, and it seems like you haven't put as much effort in your fighting. Once, you didn't even manage to finish the job by killing an agent that was in your way during a mission! Plus, I heard that someone else almost managed to kill you."

Ah, yes. The agent that I didn't kill was Zak, or Skeppy, during the mission that we found out each other's identities. Soon after we started dating, an agent almost killed me during the mission since I was caught off guard while thinking about Zak... Technoblade continues by saying, "What I want to know is if you are starting to shift your strategy or attention to something else, judging by how you even danced with someone during a mission, or if there's something else going on? Because so far, this new behavior isn't cutting it."

Of course, he just had to bring up the dance. I say, "Sorry, sir. I'll try better in the near future. There has just been some stuff going on for me recently."

Technoblade studies my face for a moment before saying, "This is why we need to separate our work life from our personal lives. That way, things can't get jumbled up. So, from now on, whatever is going on for you out there, make sure that it stays out of your head and instead keep your head in the game while working. Oh, and also, don't try, DO better. Because we won't be tolerating this kind of change in the agency. We only aim for better, not worse."

"Yes, I understand, sir. I'll make sure to keep that in mind."

"Good, you're dismissed now."

I nod and take my leave out of the room. Looks like I need to step up my game since my mistakes are starting to get noticed and stacked onto each other. Because even though he didn't state so, Technoblade clearly just gave me a warning just now.