May switched the screen, and footage of several agents searching a house appeared on the projection wall. Leading them was a middle-aged Chinese man.
"Agent Guan, how are you?"
"Getting by."
"This is Agent Guan, Chen Haoran's supervising agent," May introduced him to the others, then looked at the screen. "Any news?"
"Probably not much. Chen is a Magician. At first, I thought he'd made himself disappear."
"The report says you previously caught him violating the Index Protocol," Coulson said.
"He twice said, 'You're interfering with our artistic expression,' but late last night, he was taken away by professionals. They only left behind this small piece of aluminized material." Agent Guan held up a transparent bag containing a small silver-white scrap of fabric.
"Fireproof clothing," Simmons said with certainty.
"So the people who took him knew about his abilities," Ward said.
"That's right. We've already figured out why.
Over the past few days, the tech department discovered a gap in our data flow. It was the same group of tech geeks who hacked us before.
Somehow, they got in again. The Rising Tide Organization."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the command room turned to look at Skye.
"Why are you looking at me? I didn't do it."
"Your associates and S.H.I.E.L.D. have really screwed me over this time." Aaron looked like he was about to cry. "My name is on that list. Chen Haoran has already been taken, so who knows when it'll be my turn!"
"You shouldn't need to worry, should you?" Coulson's face twitched, leaving him utterly speechless inside.
Chen Haoran was just a street performer, but Aaron was someone who could go head-to-head with a Destroyer. Capturing him... even a special operations squad might not succeed.
"Agent Coulson, do you know what it means