I didn't have time to finish my self-scolding. I darted away from the man. He lept at me and shoved me against the back wall, one meaty hand constricting my throat, the other over my mouth, muffling my sounds of struggle. My eyes widened while I choked for breath.

"Listen," the man said. "I'm gonna make this slightly easier, for ya." He paused to press me against the wall harder. I flailed under his grip. Too busy was I gasping for breath that I didn't try to push him off of me. The man's eyes were sharp with determination. His feet were rooted firmly to the floor. Any attempt at pushing him off balance would be futile. I glanced down at his arms. Too strong to remove from me. What other weaknesses were there that I could use to--

I desperately coughed in a sharp amount of air while the man's grip on my throat loosened ever so slightly. My throat felt like a crushed soda can. Something told me that feeling would last for a while. After a few gasps of air, he tightened his hold on my throat again, constricting me. Not enough to suffocate me, just enough to pressure me into doing what he wanted. 

A realization struck me. If he wanted to kill me, he would have done so by now. He was letting me take in enough air to stay conscious, not trying to subdue me. He wanted information. Well, too bad for him, because I wasn't going to give anything.

"What...do you know...about the ball?" he asked through huffs of breath. He removed his hand from my mouth so that I could talk. He then lifted me off the ground by the throat, shoving me against the opposite wall so that he could reach the door and lock it. Then, his hand slid into his jacket, pulling out a rectangular, flat metal blade with a rubber handle. The cold metal of the blade was pressed against my forehead; I recognized it as a Brain Freezer. Sadly, it didn't have anything to do with ice cream. Essentially, it stuns the brain with a shock of fifteen milliamps, knocking the victim out long enough for a search of the pockets, a kidnapping, or a getaway.

I kept my voice low so as to not draw attention to our scuffle. Non-C.D.A.D.U.O. witnesses (namely Athena) would mean going through the trouble of wiping their memory or risking their becoming a hostage. I also couldn't risk the confidentiality of the meeting in case there were other enemy spies outside of the stall. "What ball? I don't know what the heck you're talking about but I do know if you don't let me go I'll-"

In a harsh whisper, the assailant cut me off abruptly. "Don't play...dumb. We...know what...you and your...friends...are up TO!" He gasped on the last word as I shoved my knee into his stomach.

"My friends? I don't know what you're talkin' about but you do need to let. Me. Go." For final emphasis, I added in a whisper loud enough not to be heard, "NOW!"

"Not until...I get...what I came for." I felt the Freezer being pressed harder into my head. A tingling sensation spread through my body via my spinal cord. For a split second, I lost feeling in my legs, causing me to collapse. I was only lifted back onto the wall by the attacker.

Metis, I called inside my head.

Metis' calm voice filled my inner ears. "Yes?"

Gimme info on this guy.

"Scanning face... Got it. Ryan Anagnostis. Not enough information on him. There are childhood medical records, allergies, hobbies... I'd call him a Present-Ghoster." Ghosters were people who had little to no information on themselves and spent their entire lives off the grid so as to not make themselves noticeable when they were on the internet. No one could be sure of their status with how little information was on them or not being able to identify them when they did pop up on the radar. Present-Ghosters were people who had old information on their past lives a.k.a. childhood, when they were normal. After they entered adult-hood, they start disappearing and losing information. Any type of Ghoster was considered suspicious and threatening and is kept under surveillance by the Custodes.

Report him to the Custodes.

"Got it. Also, I'm missing recent information. I need an upgrade."

Alright. Thanks, Metis.

Metis silently went back to her work inside my head.

"The...masquerade ball. Why else are you...buying those...fancy dresses?" I could tell Mr. Anagnostis was losing his breath and energy trying to hold me down and withstand my kicks to his stomach.

"I'm not going to any ball!" Luckily for me, I was a natural liar. Most C.D.A.D.U.O. agents had to be, but for me, it came easier than for others. "I'm just going on a date!"

"STOP...LYING!" Anagnostis' harsh whispers were losing their sharpness, like a dull knife used too often.

I was getting pretty tired of hearing those words. Out of the corner of my eye, a flash of light briefly sparked, then disappeared. Perfect timing.

"I suggest you get off me before I call the cops on you," I said threateningly, trying to keep him occupied.

"Nice try. You don't even have your-"

A blast erupted from the stall door and shards of metal flew in every which way. I used Ryan Anagnostis as a shield to block the shards. The metal shrapnel panged against the stall walls, leaving thousands of dents like a metal sculpture. When I was sure the shrapnel had finished flying, I peeked around the paralyzed body of the man who had questioned me. The door had been obliterated into a million pieces. Standing in the doorway was a brightly dressed woman, similar to an assortment of highlighter colors, holding a metal, silver, sideways, floppy hat. The center, where the head would have been, glowed a blinding red.

I realized I had a chance. While the attacker was hunched over, head in his hands and eyes closed for protection from more debris. I knocked him out cold with an upward kick of the knee. He limply crumpled on the floor.

Pretending to notice the woman in the door for the first time, I said cheerily, "Oh, hello, Ms. Meadow."

Agent Meadow chuckled in response as she hung the guillotine-like contraption across her back. "What happened here?" 

"Well, for starters, it looks like you pressed the red button. I was keeping this quiet."

"I just wanted to see what the MiB made for us." Agent Meadow patted the metal floppy-hat destroyer on her back.

Agent Meadow frowned."But, on a more serious note, what really happened here? To you, I mean."

"Someone's onto us," I mumbled fearfully. "And it's most likely our enemy. Who's our enemy at the moment? Oh, yeah-"

"Not here!" Agent Meadow warned me. Right. An agent can never forget about confidentiality. I paced in the small stall, the floor littered with metal. How had they found out? Has C.D.A.D.U.O. been compromised? Was something going on that nobody knew about?

The little A-IV7 voice in my head popped in. I hadn't realized I was thinking out loud. Or, out loud enough to activate Metis. "Would you like me to contact Headquarters?"

Sure. That'd be great, Metis. I thought for a moment. Tell them what we ran into and take necessary precautions.

"Of course." With that, Metis went back to her duties in my head. I walked around the shrapnel from the broken door.

"What are you going to do about this?" I asked Marian.

"I'll get a cleanup team. That is their job, anyway." Marian shrugged. 

A voice shrieked down the hall. "Woah! Wh-what happened?"

I jumped in surprise. I scolded myself for forgetting to immediately check for witnesses and wipe their memories. "Athena!" She had finished changing and poked her head around the corner of the open stall.

Agent Meadow stepped in front of me and sprung into action. "Ma'am, this stall is not stable. Please clear step away for your own safety."

Athena gave me the what's-she-talking-about look. "B-but, was that a bomb? Should I call the police?"

I snatched up my sky blue ball gown and ushered Athena out, carefully stepping around pieces of shrapnel and an unconscious Ryan Anagnostis.

"What the heck happened? Was that a body?" Athena practically yelled at me. Her eyes were wide and her face slightly pale.

I racked my brain for a sufficient answer. "The door fell off its hinges." That was kind of what happened. "A body? Why would you see a body?" I nervously laughed. "That's just creepy."

Athena pivoted to turn to me, her dress swishing around her feet. "Are you kidding me? Doors don't just fall off of their hinges and break into a million pieces like that! And the loud explosion? What in the name of my uncle Phil is going on?! Okay, you know what? I'm calling the cops. I don't care if some crazy lady says not to--she's crazy! And what are you--"

"Athena." I held up my hand to stop her hysteric rambling. Honestly, a minor explosion and an unconscious guy isn't the end of the world.

"I need you to calm down." My stern voice meant I had no time or tolerance for hysterics. "You see those people over there?" I pointed across the street where men and women in navy jumpsuits were hauling equipment out of a black van and crossing the street to SF Garments.

"They're already here to investigate." I watched Athena's eyes shift across the street to the oncoming workers.

"Sooo...they're gonna investigate whatever the heck happened back there and report it to the FBI or something?"

I suppressed an eye roll at how far off she was. As far as she knew, there weren't secret, forgotten branches of the government keeping oddities in the world like these away from the view of the public.

"Yeah. Just that," I said.

One of the men in navy jumpsuits approached Athena. "Good morning, ma'am. I just need you to look right here..."

Athena looked at the device he held up in front of her face. A silver wand-like stick that had a rounded top with a ring of blue light around it. I didn't have to see the back to know that there was a set of dials indicating the hour, day, month, and year. "What is--"

She was cut off midsentence by a bright flash of blue. Her face went still, her eyes blank, mouth slightly agape.

"Alright, ma'am," the worker said while pocketing the device. "Nothing to worry about here. Just a faulty door is all. You ladies are free to go."

I gave him a nod. "Thanks," I said, playing along with the memory wipe charade. The device was carried by all Custodes agents and was used to wipe the memory of any non-CDA witnesses. Normally, agents who would rather not have their memory wiped as well would wear special protective sunglasses. Recently, the Info-Lense contact lenses were upgraded with the same film the Men in Black's protective sunglasses had so that they wouldn't have to worry about taking sunglasses on and off.

The rest of the workers walked past us to the sight of the "broken door." I turned to face Athena who was still blinking away the fogginess of the wipe. Her face was slightly scrunched up in confusion. She looked around, then her gaze landed on me.

I held my arms out to show off my dress. "So, what do you think?"