S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Your place?"

The sudden change of subject caught Dr. Connors's tired mind off guard. Once he processed it, he refused without a second thought.

"No. I have a place of my own in New York."

Connors's refusal made Dilos anxious. "Doctor..."

"I know what you want to say, but those people are after me, not you. If you stay with me, you'll only put yourself in danger."

Connors cut Dilos off and looked at him as if he were a younger man—or perhaps an heir. "Dilos, you're still young. You have more potential than I do..."

"Stop, stop, stop, stop..."

Hearing the respected Dr. Connors talk as if he were delivering his last words and would be dead before long, Dilos hurriedly interrupted him.

"Do you even hear yourself?!"

"Sorry to interrupt, gentlemen."

Just as the two were about to continue, a man's voice cut in. It didn't sound particularly young, but it had a certain warmth to it, easily drawing Dilos and Connors's attention.

A man in a black suit and sunglasses approached, followed by four similarly dressed men. He was of average height, around thirty, with a head of dark brown hair that wasn't particularly thick. His slightly high hairline made Dilos wonder if he'd be bald in a few years.

When he reached them, he took off his sunglasses and smiled at Dr. Connors. "Hello, Dr. Connors. I'm Agent Phil Coulson, with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

"Sorry, you said you were with the Strategic Homeland... What was the rest?"

The name was so long and awkward that Dr. Connors hadn't been able to remember it, so Phil Coulson repeated it.

"The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

"S.H.I.E.L.D..." Dilos looked at the agent and thought, So they were keeping an eye on Dr. Connors too. But...

"Why not just say you're S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Dilos blurted out, watching the scene unfold. "Isn't it common sense to use the initials for a name that long?"

Coulson turned to look at Dilos, then smiled. "That's a pretty good suggestion. I'll bring it up with my supervisor."

Then Coulson turned back to Dr. Connors. "I'll be direct, Dr. Connors. You're in danger. Whoever wants your research will come back. This time, they stole your research; next time, they'll come for you. You're a rare talent, both for the United States and for the whole world, so please accept our protection."

"Accept your protection? Ha. Aren't you after my research too?" Connors replied with an icy laugh, showing no courtesy. "You're all the same, really. One side is just a little more polite than the other. And how do I know you aren't working together? Maybe you'll wait until my lab gets blown up, then come along and play the good cop."

Ever since this S.H.I.E.L.D. veteran had arrived, Dilos had kept his ability active. He could clearly sense that when Dr. Connors openly mocked Coulson with such swagger, the agent couldn't help feeling annoyed, despite how well he controlled his emotions.

But Coulson was a veteran. Connors's taunts didn't make him let anything show; he kept smiling. The four agents behind him, however, weren't as good at hiding their reactions. Dilos's now-excellent eyesight easily made out their eyebrows twitching beneath their dark sunglasses.

"Rest assured, Dr. Connors. Our department is quite legitimate, and our organization's goal is to protect world peace," Coulson said, still unwilling to give up on persuading him.

"As long as you aren't a dangerous terrorist and you're a law-abiding citizen, we'll protect you. We won't force you to tell us anything you don't want to."

Listening from the side, Dilos could hardly keep himself from rolling his eyes. To be honest, there wasn't much difference between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra anymore. Perhaps the organization had been founded with the goal of protecting the world, but now... all Dilos could say was, Yeah, right.

Even if there were people in the organization who truly cared about protecting the world, they were in the minority.

Dilos wasn't about to let his guard down around any agent, not even Coulson, who seemed like a genuinely upright agent in Dilos's memory. He'd already opened his telepathy and was sensing everything around them.

Although Coulson's words sounded convincing, Dr. Connors still refused. There wasn't much Coulson could do, so he left with the other agents.

Watching Coulson go, Dilos relaxed a little. He turned to Dr. Connors, planning to pick up where they'd left off and persuade him to stay with him. But just as he was about to speak, he heard Coulson's voice by his ear.

"Have Team C follow Dr. Connors for the next few days to prevent him from being kidnapped. Team B should stand by at the designated location, ready to provide support."

The voice sounded so clear to Dilos, as if Coulson were speaking right beside him. At the same time, all the surrounding sounds seemed to grow louder. The jumble of noise gave him a headache, and it took him a while to come around.

"What's going on with that voice? Is there something wrong with my ears...?"

He turned and looked in confusion toward the direction Coulson had gone. Coulson and the other agents had already walked far away, yet Dilos could still hear him clearly.

"Understood, sir. What should we do now?"

"What should we do now?" Coulson's voice held a trace of helplessness. "We'll meet up at the base. Do you think I'd really say something that stupid? All right, I have other things to take care of, and they're above your clearance level. Aside from contacting Teams B and C, you're to wait at the usual place. Any other questions?"

"None, sir."

As Dilos focused more intently on their conversation, he gradually stopped noticing the surrounding din and began picking out Coulson and the others' voices with precision. But once they'd walked nearly a hundred meters away, the voices in his ears grew less clear and slowly faded out.

Only after the voices disappeared did Dilos notice that the surrounding cacophony had vanished too. His hearing had suddenly become stronger, then somehow returned to normal. He couldn't help falling into thought. After the serum had altered him, the changes to his body seemed to go far beyond what he'd shown so far.

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s arrival gave Dilos a bad feeling. This world, which had still been relatively peaceful, was about to get a lot more eventful. In these circumstances, he needed to learn more about the changes to his body as soon as possible.

"Dilos, Dilos! What are you thinking about?"

Dilos felt someone nudge him. He came back to himself and looked at Dr. Connors's worried expression, then shook his head to show he was fine.

"If you're all right, then go on home."

"Dr. Connors, I..."

Dilos had intended to try persuading Dr. Connors again, but remembering what he'd heard from Coulson, he swallowed his words.

From what Dilos remembered of Coulson from his previous life, the man was decent. With Coulson vouching for him, Dr. Connors should be relatively safe for now.

Dilos's priority was to hurry home and figure out what was going on with his body. Thinking of the strange changes he'd undergone, he felt he needed to adjust the penetrating vision of his super-eyes.