An assortment of cheeses, sliced deli meat, and cut vegetables with dip sat in the middle of the long conference table. Jacob's hand hovered above the tiny slices before eagerly picking up a piece of ham and rolling it with a bright yellow piece of cheddar cheese before placing it on a cracker. He bit into the food, savoring its flavor as he indulged on the free lunch. Beside him sat two head administers from the board of the Agency of Mystery. Cassandra Greene sat cross armed as she read through her files with a cold, emotionless eyes as Phillip Tucker yawned from boredom. Across from them sat Dr. Malcom Hayes, the head administer of Westbury Sanitarium, who sat with his fingers tangled together and hands resting on the table. A sinister grin on his face.

The microphone whined as electricity pulsated through the aged wiring. Its squeals grew louder with each test taps from Dr. Heung's finger, drawing the attention of the three attendees before him. Coughing, he cleared his throat as he pulled out his handkerchief to wipe away the nervous sweat developing on his forehead, "Ahem... My name is Dr. David Heung. I double as one of the head psychiatrist at Westbury Sanitarium and am Mi- Cypher's personal therapist. As stated in his contract, a psychiatric evaluation must be conducted one every six months to ensure mental stability to continue his employment. Today I will share with you the results of our third session."

He stepped to the side slightly to reveal a blank screen behind him. On his cue, the screen lit up, showing graphs and pictures of Cypher's brain scans, "Cypher suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, caused from the exposure to traumatic events within the asylum..." Dr. Heung stopped for a moment as he forced himself to swallow his own lie. "Being admitted at such a young age and witnessing the violent acts of other patients and the grim environment, it certainly had a negative effect on his growing mind. As a result, he eventually developed dissociative and situation-specific amnesia. His mind contains many repressed memories as his brain forces itself to forget stressful events in his life to emotionally protect himself from reliving through the painful past he endured. Due to the severity of said amnesia, he cannot recall much personal information about himself and only remembers figments of life within the asylum. He has no recollection of his name, family, childhood, etc..." Dr. Heung took a drink water from the glass beside him.

"Yet, the amnesia does not effect his ability to function or interfere with his judgement. He might not be able to recall information on himself, but he functions perfectly normal for a man of his age. He is capable of driving a vehicle, living on his own, handling weaponry, so on and so forth without endangering himself or others. I see no concerns with him continuing to work for the Agency. If anything, it is giving him a supportive lifestyle and something else to focus his mind on."

Cassandra leaned back in her chair slightly as she curiously placed her hand on her chin, "Would you declare him mental sane, doctor?"

Dr. Heung's eyes widen with anxiety as he carefully thought of a way to answer her question, "Well...He is prone to having panic attacks though his attacks are only triggered when he is placed in a situation involving a great amount of unnecessary stress. He was admitted to the asylum as an orphan to be cured of his aquaphobia which he never truly recovered from. So large bodies of water generally trigger the attack. Though I believe it has been requested that he does not take any cases with water involved"

"Is or isn't he stable, Dr. Heung? You said he suffers from amnesia. Are you not concerned with someone with such a shaky memory is fit for a job with the Agency?"

"Yes, I did say he suffers from two types of amnesia, but I also stated that it does not effect his functionality. It only impairs his memories regarding his past," Taking his glasses off, Dr. Heung wiped the lens clean before adjusting them back onto his head. "Imagine that your mind is like a circuit board. Wires run from one circuit to the other and relay data. The data is your memories while the wires act as the neuron sending the electrochemical signals to the circuits - or cells - within the brain. Memories can retain any information including emotional memories, knowing how to do a skill, need to sleep or eat, and even automatic functions like breathing.

Cypher's hippocampus - the part of the brain that focus on learning - has remained untouched by the trauma. Meaning he can learn new skills with ease and continue to act out anything he had learned in the past. It is only his amygdala - the part of the brain that focus on emotional reactions to memories - suffers from it. All this means is that Cypher's wiring is crisscrossed, sending the correction information to the wrong circuits. He does know everything about himself, but he does not realize it due to it being sent to the wrong part of his brain. To him, his 'life' started only a few years ago after being released from the asylum. Everything else is just a blurred dream to him. I do not feel that not fully understanding one's past would interfere with their present when it comes to performing a duty."

Silence fell over the room as the two board members looked at each other. After a quick nod to one another, Phillip raised his hand to get the doctor's attention, "Why though should he continue to work for the Agency? What could such a broken man offer us?"

Once again Dr. Heung grew uneasy. He began to sway slightly at the podium as his mind raced for an answer. It was of dire importance that he did not cause any doubt within their minds about Cypher or he would be removed from his position and tossed back onto the streets. Making him prey for Dr. Hayes once again. As he stood with sweating palms, he could feel his superior's sadistic eyes glare at him. Lighting up about his grin with anticipation of once again being able to continue to torment the poor man, "Well.... You see..."

"He gets the job done," Jacob's muffled voice carried out over the table. Quickly, he swallowed the bite of his sandwich. "Cypher doesn't question shit. He just does what we tell him to."

Sighing with a bit of relief to have his old friend speak in his defense, Dr. Heung was able to regather his thoughts, "Cypher has a disoriented view on reality. So when faced with a paranormal entity, he does not question the logic behind its existence. Since he already is slightly insane, it actually protects him from the stress of his job because he does not try to make any sense of it."

"He caused collateral damage and does seem to have a lack of judgement when it comes to practice."

"He summoned and left a demon within the basement at an university back in America. How can we continue to trust someone like him?"

Jacob rose out of his chair. He walked for a moment in a circle, "So he's a rookie. Cut the kid some slack; he's only been here for little over a year. We're working with him and tightening his lease."

"Of course he can always return to Westbury," After having been quiet during his colleague's speech, Dr. Hayes finally spoke out. He remained in his seat sitting perfectly still with his hands still clenched together. Smirking. "He is always welcome back in our care."

Dr. Heung gulped as his hands tightened into fists at his sides. His body shook from wrecked nerves as he awaited the final decision. He could not allow Cypher to return to the asylum and be at Dr. Hayes' mercy, but he questioned if he had manged to convince them to let Cypher be. The shuffling of papers filled the silent room as Cassandra looked through her paper work once again. Occasionally, she would lean over to whisper to Phillip as the two softly spoke to one another. Eventually, the two nodded to each other like before. Slowly, she rose from her seat and placed her hands on the table. Using her stretched out arms to support herself. Dr. Heung stared at her with fearful eyes as Jacob paced behind her with his hands buried in his pockets, looking over to feel a sudden rush of sickness run through him as he gazed at Dr. Hayes.

"We have come to a conclusion," Cassandra shifted her weight from one foot to another. "While we accept that he is at least stable enough to work for us, the Agency does not have the budge to continue to support flying a personal therapist out for the evaluations and his care."

Instantly, his heart sank at her words. Dr. Heung gasped for air before blurting out, "I'll lower my fee! Half price!"

Dr. Hayes glanced over at him. Amused by the desperation in his voice, "Oh? Are you sure about that, Dr. Heung? Why fly all the way out here to see Cypher when we can have him back with us? Just like old times..."

Shaking his head, he slammed down on the table, "Cypher needs this. He has not yet been rehabilitated and has no where else to go. I can continue to treat him here while he lives out a semi-normal life and not locked up back in a padded cell!"

"So you'll work at half the price...?"

"Yes! Just allow me to continue to work with him."

Without saying a word, Cassandra picked up a pen. She scribbled away at a sheet of paper setting in front of her before sliding it out towards the middle of the table, "Then it is settled. Cypher will continue to work for the Agency under the same terms that we had agreed upon from before, but with Dr. Heung's fee being cut in half. Are there any objections?" The room went quiet once again. "Alright. Everyone please sigh and we may all return to our lives."

Dr. Heung instantly took the pen from her, signing his name as quickly as he could before rushing out into the hall. The cool air felt good upon his heated skin as he leaned against the white wall. Calming himself down after the stressful confrontation. His heart pounded from the adrenaline rushing through his veins after his emotional panic attack. It was a close call; he almost lost Cypher to Dr. Hayes once again. As he stood by himself, he heard footsteps approach him. He straightened him up and turned to come face to face to Jacob.

Jacob looked at his old friend with concerned eyes, "You alright, David?"

"Yes..." Dr. Heung ran his hand through his greasy hair. "It just never gets easier, you know? Lying to them about... Well... About everything. He's no orphan and I can't tell them the truth behind his abuse, especially with Hayes right there..."

A second set of footsteps drew near the whispering pair. Dr. Heung turned once again towards the source only to be somewhat surprised by the sight. Cypher was briskly walking down the hall in their direction. While he had a stern look upon his face, a sense of comfort swept over Dr. Heung as he watched the youthful man. As always, he was dressed in his usual attire: A sharp black vest over a bleached cotton shirt with the sleeves rolled up to just below his elbows and freshly pressed black slacks. His fedora bobbled upon his head with his steps, only adding to the confident appearance he held. It caused the stressed doctor to smile for there was some pride buried deep within his years of built up guilt.

When Cypher was first put into his care, he was a somewhat pudgy boy with mangy hair. Either curled in the fetal position on his moldy mattress or sitting in the corner with his knees pulled together. Always clenching onto a worn out teddy bear with a missing eye and tear stained cheeks. At first, it was difficult to look at him; Dr. Heung had refused to look into his deep blue eyes during the first few months since kidnapping him. Eventually, he learned to cope with their look and was able to watch as Cypher grew. Losing weight from the starvation forced upon him by Dr. Hayes and caused by depression, he developed into a scrawny teenager. He had grown emotionally numb by this time and just spent his days slouched over in his bed, staring blankly at the wall. At least until Dr. Hayes began the hydrotherapy; Cypher became extremely skittish after that. He would shake violently from terror as he would sit soaking wet beneath the ratty blanket given to him.

Now there he was. Standing tall and looking handsome, though his ocean blue eyes still showed signs of the pain and torment locked deep within him. At least now though, Dr. Heung could look at him and somewhat smile. Even though Cypher was still emotionally shattered, he was amazed to see him looking and acting so strong.

"Oh, Dr. Heung, what a pleasant surprise. Do we have a session today?"

A faint smile appeared on his face, "Good afternoon, Cypher, and no. I am here on other business."

"Ah, I see. Well then I will let you get back to work, Cypher's gaze shot up to Jacob. "You wanted to see me though, right, sir?"

Jacob nodded, "Yeah, we've gotta talk about some shit because of the damn shit you keep screwing up." He dug into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. "I'm gonna take a break real quick. So meet me in my office."

As Jacob excused himself and went to walk away, both Cypher and Dr. Heung caught sight of an elderly man exiting from the conference room. His gray hair sparkled in the light; his cracked lips curled into a devilish grin when he saw the finely dressed man. Instantly, Cypher grew uneasy. He instinctively stepped back until his back was pressed against the wall. A droplet of sweat ran down the side of his mutton chop. Dr. Heung stood at Cypher's side with his hand resting upon his shoulder.

"Hello, child of mine, it has been awhile hasn't it?" Dr. Hayes' eyes sparkled with delight as he gazed at the cowering man. "There is no reason to be so nervous, boy. I am only here on business."

"Business...?" Blinking his wide eyes, he pushed himself off the wall and stumbled in front of Dr. Heung. "Dr. Heung... Is there a reason you both are here...?"

"Dr. Hayes was just sitting in on the conference about your test results. Nothing more. He can't get you here."

"He is right, boy. Now if you excuse me, I am going to head back to my hotel," He pushed his way pass the two before stopping a few steps down the hall. "Oh, and boy?" He continued to face forward, before glaring over his shoulder with a stare that pierced Cypher's shattered soul, "He cannot protect you forever."