//------------------------------//
// Bonus Flashback 1: Borealis and Silver's First Assignment 
// Story: The Shadow of Mortals 
// by Silverlinings 
//------------------------------//

	Warning: This chapter is much darker than normal. I will be touching on certain dark subjects, like physical, domestic abuse. I DO NOT condone the act of physical abuse. There will also be a bit more... coarse language. I've censored what I've had to to keep this rated Teen.

"Captain..." Diamond Jubilee shook her head, staring at the white stallion, "why does this keep happening?"
"I'm not sure what you mean, ma'am," Silverlinings said, flatly. He had no idea why the grey mare would call a meeting with him.
"Another one's quit," She pulled out a file form, indicating the self provoked termination of the position of first lieutenant.
"Hazy Crackle quit?" Silverlinings looked shocked.
"Something about you being 'unethical and reckless.' That's the third lieutenant you've lost this month," Jubilee remarked, "you need to find a partner that works."
"Don't think I don't know that," Silver muttered, "but Hazy Crackle was the last eligible officer in my ranks," he explained.
"Then lucky for you, we have a transfer coming in from Van Hoover," Jubilee held up a case file, and tossed it to the pegasus. "She's really experienced and skilled."
Silverlinings read the information on the new mare. "Borealis Burnout, huh? Well... we'll see," He closed the file, determined to read the whole manuscript later.
"Just... try and make this one work," Diamond Jubilee pleaded.
The captain sighed, "Like I said, we'll see." He wasn't too keen on the idea of some pony he'd never met taking the title of first lieutenant, but he did trust Diamond Jubilee's judgement.





The brown pegasus mare stared out of the train window. She had spent her entire life in Van Hoover and when the opportunity for a transfer came up, especially to a town like Stableton, which no pony had ever really heard of, she grabbed it. She looked at her files, which sat in front of her. She was to be paired up with the captain of the local guard; a daunting position to be taking, to say the least.
After some time of staring at the passing scenery, dozing off and rereading her transfer information, the brown mare finally saw her destination; a large castle, full of grandeur, came into view as the train left a tunnel, opening up to a range surrounded by mountains, but still managing to fit in rolling hills inside the convex landscape. It was nothing like the rainy, bustling city she had grown up in.
"Wow..." was all she was able to say. She was absolutely breathless at the sight and splendor of the rolling countryside. "Well... here we go," She mumbled to herself.





Unethical and reckless? Silverlinings thought to himself as he laid in bed. "Unethical, maybe," He muttered out loud to the ceiling, "but reckless? Maybe they're right. Was it my fault that... that thing got away?" He thought about the most recent plague on the town of Stableton. It resembled a Changeling, but it was silver, with eyes of fluctuating color. Sometimes they'd be blue, other times red. He rolled over and looked at the picture he kept on the night stand. It was a dusty old photo, but he cherished it so very much.
Silverlinings was about to drift to sleep, when he heard a soft creaking sound. He looked up and saw that his door was open. A small pegasus filly stood in the doorway. She had a yellow coat with a red mane, red hooves, wing tips and tail. She wore light blue pajamas and held a stuffed animal resembling a breezy under her wing.
"Daddy..." She said softly.
"Yeah Sweetie?" Silver asked, still barely awake.
"I heard lightning outside..." She replied.
The stallion smiled, "Alright, come here." He sat up and turned on his lamp. The little filly ran over and jumped into his arms. She was small for a filly her age, only barely larger than a newborn foal, and she was to start school next year. Although this filly, Marigold Mist, wasn't technically his daughter, Silver didn't mind when she called him 'dad'. After all, she barely knew her real father.
Silverlinings readjusted himself, holding the small filly close. He cleared his throat and began singing the song his mother would recite:


Hush little foal, please dry your eyes.
It will be ok, no need to cry.

All of the ghouls and monsters, you fear,
are locked outside. You're safe in here.

You're safe in my arms.
Safe in my arms.
Safe in my arms, you won't be harmed.

Safe in my arms.
Safe in my arms.
I promise you, you're safe in my arms.

All of the evils of the world have gone.
I will hold you close until the dawn.

I promise you that, safe you'll be.
Because to get to you they'd have to get through me.

You're safe in my arms.
Safe in my arms.
Safe in my arms, you won't be harmed.

Safe in my arms.
Safe in my arms.
I promise you, you're safe in my arms.

Though the world may be a scary place,
I will protect you through the fears you face.

Because you're my foal, I hold you dear.
I promise the demons won't come near.

You're safe in my arms.
Safe in my arms.
Safe in my arms, you won't be harmed.

Safe in my arms.
Safe in my arms.
I promise you, you're safe in my arms.

You're safe in my arms.
Safe in my arms.
Safe in my arms, you won't be harmed.

Safe in my arms.
Safe in my arms.
I promise you, you're safe in my arms. 


Silverlinings looked down at the filly he'd been cradling; she was fast asleep. He sighed softly and smiled, before getting up and carrying his niece to her room. He laid her down gently, and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
"Good night, Sweetie," He smiled, "I promise that nothing bad will ever happen to you..."





Burnout sat in her hotel room. She'd have to stay here until she could find a suitable place to live. She was reading over her transfer papers once more. She was now more excited than nervous. She set the papers on the table and climbed into bed.
"Might as well," She yawned, "try and get some-" the hotel phone started ringing. "Dammit!" She swore as she picked up the receiver. "Hello? Who is this?"
"Where th' hell are you!?" Came an angry, slurred voice from the other end.
Burnout caught her breath and her heart beat began to pick up. She swallowed hard before answering, "How did you get this number?" She asked, trying to keep her voice calm.
"Th' fuck does it matter to you, you dumb little-" The stallion on the other end started to say.
"Pine Tipper," The pegasus interrupted, "How'd you get this number?"
For a second, no pony answered, until, "You left the damn number on the coffee table, with a hotel name on it, you dumb bitch."
'Crap,' Burnout thought, 'Should've taken that, too.'
"Hey, you still there, you stupid cu-" The stallion hiccuped, slightly.
Burnout began to raise her voice, "Dammit, Pine! You've been drinking again, haven't you?!" She shouted into the phone.
"Don' try an' change the subject, you stupid-"
"Shut up! Just shut up!" Burnout had tears welling in her eyes. "I'm just so sick of your shit!"
"Hey, listen you little whore! You get your ass back here now, or I swear I'm gonna-"
"Gonna what!? What the hell can you do to me that you haven't already!?" Burnout no longer cared that there might've been some pony just on the other side of the wall, trying to sleep. She shouted as the tears began rolling down her cheeks, "Why do you think I left, Pine? I can't stand you! You're just terrible!"
"Where the fuck are you?! I swear I'm gonna come over there and-"
"Go ahead and try! Maybe if you find twelve more assholes like you, you might have enough accumulated brain cells to know where to start looking!" Burnout cried hoarsely into the receiver, before slamming it back into the cradle and fell backwards onto the bed. She'd been wanting to say that for years, and she finally did. A smile broke out on her face. She was finally out of Van Hoover; she was finally away from... him.





"Deadbolt.... Deadbolt!" Silverlinings called to his second lieutenant. 
The burgundy unicorn refocused, realizing his superior officer was addressing him. "Yes, Sir?" He asked, blinking his bright red eyes, and brushing his grey mane out of the way.
"How goes the hunt?" Silverlinings asked, referring to the changeling-esque creature roaming the streets.
"Still no luck Sir," Deadbolt answered, "We can't find hide nor hair of it."
"Damn..." Silverlinings muttered under his breath. "Alright, I want you to double the patrols," He said, looking over at the unicorn, "but only during the night. Keep the same number of troops during the day. If civilians saw upped guards, they'd worry; no sense scaring every pony."
"Right away, Sir," Deadbolt trotted off towards the barracks to inform his men of the new schedule.
Silverlinings heaved a large sigh and began the long walk across town to the castle. 





He passed by his old friend, Warm Glow's house, and decided to stop in. The white pegasus knocked, gently against the door. He waited a couple seconds, until a purple mare with a green mane answered. "Hey Kaleidoscope Sugar," Silverlinings greeted in a sincere tone.
"Oh, hi Silver!" The mare answered in her usual chipper tone, "come on in."
"Thanks," Silverlinings stepped inside, "I just came by to see how Warm Glow's doing."
"I just got him home from the hospital," Sugar informed, "He might be asleep, but you're welcome to check on him, if you'd like. Upstairs, first door on the left," She gestured to a flight of stairs.
As Silver began to ascend the flight of stairs, a small squeak of a voice came up behind him, "Who're you?"
Silver turned around to see a little filly, maybe a year or two older than Marigold, with a purple coat and a green mane with a yellow streak. The pegasus smiled, "My name's Silverlinings and I'm a friend of your dad's."
"I'm Kaleidoscope Coral," The filly replied, "but every pony just calls me Kali."
"Well, Kali," Silverlinings went down another step, "Do you know if your dad's awake?"
"I think so," Kali scratched her head, "I hear him laughing at his TV shows, so I'm pretty sure he's awake. Mama won't let me see him though. I hope he's ok. Mama had to take him to the hospital."
"Well I've got special permission to go check on him," Silver smiled, "How about I check on him for you?"
"Ok," Kali smiled back, "Thank you, Mr. Silverlinings!"

As Silver entered the bed room, he was met with a sight that made him stop for a second. Then he cleared his throat to get the attention of the other pony in the room, "Never thought I'd see ya held up in bed, Glow."
The red stallion lying in bed looked over from his television and smiled. "Silver! Great to see ya!" He began trying to sit up, grunting as he tried lifting himself with only his front hooves.
"No, don't get up on my account," Silverlinings said as he walked over to the bed side. He looked the red pegasus over before asking, "How ya holding up?"
The red stallion smiled and sighed. "Like crap," he honestly answered. "Can't feel my wings anymore and my hind legs are getting all numb." He patted his hind legs with his fore legs.
"What'd the doctors say?" The white stallion asked.
Warm Glow hesitated, before answering, "They said... there's a possibility that I ain't got long..." He finally choked out, a lump forming in his throat, "few years... tops."
Silverlinings stared at Warm Glow, in shock, "How high's the possibility?"
"Uh..." Warm Glow stuttered, thinking, "Only a 40% chance I'll be fine."
"Then there's still hope," Silverlinings put on a smile, attempting to reassure his old friend.
Glow smiled, "Exactly! But..." He sighed, "On the uh... off chance I don't make it..." He thought for a second. "Silverlinings?"
"Yeah?" The pegasus got closer to his friend, to hear him better.
"If something happens to Sugar and me, please take care of the kids." Warm Glow beseeched.
"Sure, of course," The white stallion assured. "Wait kids? Plural? I've only met Kali."
"Yeah, I got two more on the way," Warm Glow smiled at Silver.
Silver smiled and sighed, "You old hound dog."
"Heh heh, well..." The red stallion yawned, interrupting himself.
"I should probably go," Silver said, getting up.
"Alright, thanks for stoppin' by," Glow answered, before drifting off to sleep.
'I should get to the castle anyway..." Silver thought, 'See if that new transfer is here yet.'





"We're so glad to have you with us, Ms. Burnout," Diamond Jubilee smiled warmly at the young mare sitting across from her, "We were having some trouble finding a suitable first lieutenant for our captain, but after reading your resume, and meeting you personally, I'm sure you'll do fine."
"Thank you Ma'am," Burnout replied, "with all due respect though, where is he?"
"Oh, I'm sure he'll be around any minute," Diamond reassured.
At that moment, as though on queue, Silverlinings came flying in through the skylight, rather than use the front door. He landed next to the two mares and blew his single black bang out of his eye. "sorry I'm late, M'lady," He bowed to Jubilee.
"It's quite alright, Silver," Diamond Jubilee said, as she gestured to Burnout, "This is Borealis Burnout, your new partner."
Burnout took Silver's hoof, mindlessly, as he extended it in a hoofshake. Her mind was elsewhere, like how handsome her new partner was...
"Great to meet you!" Silver said to Burnout, "Hopefully this arrangement can work out." After a couple seconds of Burnout's vacant expression, the white pegasus cleared his throat.
"huh?!" This seemed to snap Burnout back to reality, "Oh, sorry, I was just... hi." She said finally, after a little rambling.
"Uh... hey," The stallion chuckled, "I was just saying it's great to meet you."
The brown mare cleared her throat, "likewise," she answered. "Sorry, just a little nervous meeting new ponies," She apologized.
"It's alright," Silverlinings said, "so, do you want to get started?"
"Uhm, sure," Burnout replied.
"Then let's get going. I need to brief you on what's been going on," Silver informed.
"It's alright," Burnout declined, "my information file had the details on what's been going on. Something about a monster that looks like a changeling but probably isn't, right?"
"There's a bit more to it than that, but that's about the gist of it," the stallion chuckled.
The pair of pegasi spread their wings and left the way Silver had come in, completely disregarding the door.





"Alright, Burnout, you ready to head out?" Silverlinings asked, as he prepped for the nightly patrol.
"Yeah, let's go," Burnout answered as she made her way to the door of the barracks.
The two of them headed out and immediately took to the skies, so they'd be able to cover more ground. After about half an hour of quiet streets, something caught Silver's eye, down towards an old warehouse.
"Try and keep up," He said suddenly, as he did a straight nose dive towards the ground.
"Wow, ok then," Burnout was slightly shocked at this sudden course in action, but she followed her partner's lead and dove down. They were getting closer to the ground gaining speed the faster they went: one hundred yards, eighty yards, sixty yards, thirty, ten, five. Right before he was about to hit the ground, Silver pulled up and began gliding through the alley ways. The brown mare never lost sight of him once as she followed him through the tight streets, weaving in and out and around paths which hadn't been touched in years. Was he serious? This was so dangerous, so reckless, so unorthodox, so... awesome! Right as Burnout was really about to get lost in the adrenaline of the moment, she saw her partner spread his wings to catch himself and slow down. She also slowed down and came to a halt next to him and they both stared up at the old, worn building which had caught Silver's attention.
"There was something definitely making it's way here," Silver said, "why is it always a warehouse? Can you get anymore cliche?" He mumbled as he approached the front doors, cautiously.
Burnout stayed quiet as she followed to the doors. Silver gave her a glance, then motioned towards the door, signaling her to breach. She nodded and proceeded to kick the door open and move quickly and quietly inside. She stayed low and silent as she moved to a nearby crate and peaked around it to get a good look at the warehouse. Silver followed and moved to a different crate across from Burnout. The sound of the door being kicked in still echoed through the vast, mostly empty building. The only other sounds came from rats and the occasional rusty hook which had been caught in a cross breeze.
For more than a minute the pair didn't move, breathing softly, not wanting to alert an unknown third party.
"What're we looking for?" Came a curious voice behind Silverlinings; he immediately reacted by spinning around taking whoever it was by the throat.
He inevitably released this pony however, after seeing who it was, "Deadbolt? What're you doing here?"
"Same reason you're here," Deadbolt answered, "You saw something come in here, didn't you? Well, so did I."
Silverlinings nodded as Burnout approached the two of them.
"You know what it had to have been, don't you?" the red pony asked.
"I have an idea..." Silverlinings said, looking around the warehouse. "Oh," he said, noticing Burnout's approach, "Deadbolt, this is my new partner and first lieutenant: Borealis Burnout; Burnout, this is my second lieutenant: Deadbolt."
"Hey," Burnout smiled as she greeted the stallion, "nice to meet you."
"It's a pleasure, really," Deadbolt answered, "i hope you last longer than his last partner."
"Yeah, well it's going well so far," she commented, "so I take it you didn't want the position, or you'd probably be standing where I am right now, huh?"
"Not really," Deadbolt shrugged, "Not exactly my thing; too much responsibility and whatnot."
"Right, well," Silver cleared his throat, glancing over at Deadbolt, "we should go find whatever it was that came in here."
"Right!" Deadbolt agreed. "I think it was making it's way over towards those stairs," He pointed at a set of stair cases leading down.
"Let's go have a look," Burnout said. The three of them began descending down the stairs, the only light coming from Deadbolt's horn and whatever was emitting the orange glow from beyond the bottom of the stairs. Upon their arrival and the lower level, they discovered a smelting facility, which looked to still be operational. There were catwalks to move about on and large vats of molten metal, moving around on wire harnesses, rotating in unison, in a mechanical and autonomous fashion.
"Let's split up and have a look around," Deadbolt suggested, as he began to move along the rickety catwalk.
"Right..." Silverlinings replied as he and Burnout went off on different walk ways. After a few minutes, when Silver knew he should've been well out of ear shot from the other two, he still felt uneasy. That's when all of the pieces fit together. "How long?" He asked aloud.
"How long what? Be specific?" Came a calm voice from behind him.
"Where do I begin?" Silver inquired, without turning around. "Let me start with the simple one," He turned to face his target: Deadbolt. "How long have you not been you?"
"Well done, Silverlinings," Deadbolt commended, his voice becoming a little more proper, "Allow me to answer that question, with a question; how long have you known?"
"Since you showed up here at this factory. I just needed a little more evidence which you've been so kind as to give," Silver responded.
"Well, to answer your initial question, only about an hour before I got here." Deadbolt's face grew curious, "Tell me, what gave me away?"
Silver smiled, smugly, "Well, first of all, you said you saw whatever it was come in here, but Deadbolt's, the real Deadbolt's, patrol pattern didn't lead him anywhere near here. Also, you said you didn't want the position of first lieutenant, but the real Deadbolt wanted it more than anything; but he wasn't an option for the position due to his severe ADD. Which leads me to the final, damning piece of evidence against you; you've been attentive and have been able to stay focused this entire time. The real Deadbolt had nowhere near that big of an attention span. Sorry to call you out like that, but I have one final question: where's the real Deadbolt?" Silverlinings asked, wrapping up his explanation.
After a couple seconds of silence, the Deadbolt doppelganger answered, cold and flat, "Dead."
Silver was taken aback. This subsided quickly, however, as shock was quickly replaced with anger, "You bastard!" He was about to attack the fake Deadbolt, but it beat him to the punch, literally. The copycat shed it's skin, revealing a metallic endoskeleton, as it lunged towards Silver, fanged mouth agape. Silver quickly backed up and took flight. He was grounded quickly, however, as the metallic creature, which turned out to be what they had been hunting, extended its arm and grabbed one of his wings, tearing into it with it's claws. Silverlinings landed with a crash and groaned as he tried to get up.
Burnout heard the skirmish echo through the cavernous room and took flight trying to find the source of the disturbance. When she found Silver and the creature, she quickly landed next to her partner to make sure he was alright. Upon seeing the extensive damage done to his left wing, she hurriedly turned to face the mechanical menace. It made low clicking sounds as it's blue eyes turned a deep blood red. It looked ready to pounce again, but rather than go after the brown mare, the changeling-like robot instead slashed at one of the chains holding the platform up. All three of the beings on the catwalk lurched forward, as it began to give. Burnout turned back around to Silver and began pushing him to safety. The white pegasus was able to stand, but his vision was blurred, due to his loss of blood. After a few seconds, the robotic fiend threw its claws against another chain support. This caused the certain platform they were standing on to give completely, sending half of it crashing into one of the cauldrons of molten metal. Silverlinings was able to get to safety and Burnout took off, ascending to higher ground. She circled around and looked at the catwalk, now half submerged in the metal magma. She couldn't find any sign of their opponent. She assumed it was gone now; it had fallen into the vat of liquid metal.
"I think it's over," Burnout called to her partner, who was still recovering from the attack.
"Thank Celestia...." Silver mumbled under his breath, leaning back and sighing in relief.
As Burnout was going to go join him, something brushed past her flank. She was about to turn around, mid-flight, but it was too late. All she saw was a flash of white, before another pegasus grabbed her by the throat and pushed her at subsonic speeds into the far wall, where he held her there, gasping for breath. She looked into the pegasi's large red eyes. It blinked once and the ruby gaze was replaced by very familiar golden eyes. This pegasus was now a perfect impression of Silverlinings.
"How... the hell...?" Burnout managed to cough out as more pressure was added to her throat.
"By analyzing the blood and feathers left over from my assault," The Silverlinings duplicate explained, in a tone both reminiscent of the real Silvers and that of a robot, "I was able to transform my physical characteristics to that of your colt-friend."
"Hey!" She spat. "He's... not... my......" Burnout wasn't able to finish her statement, as she had lost consciousness. The android released it's grip and Burnout dropped landing and smashing into a stack of crates.
"No!" Silverlinings cried as he stood up on his own four hooves. He flapped his wings once, but immediately winced at the pain that shot into the left side of his body. 'Damn it," He thought, Can't fly like this... He quickly lost his balance again, as the doppelganger landed right in front of him on the catwalk.
"What the hell do you want from us?!" Silver cried out in frustration.
"Same thing as any other living, breathing thing on this planet," It answered. It beat its wings once and quickly swooped in close to Silverlinings and whispered in his ear, "To exist."
With that, the autonomous menace slashed more chains holding the catwalk up, with it's newly acquired pegasus wings, which were razor sharp. The real white pegasus began to tumble down the slope, but not before grabbing a hold of his copycat and dragging it with him.
"You fool!" It cried, with a malicious glare, "you've killed us both!"
"Maybe, but at least Stableton will be safe," Silver replied as he pushed himself into the guard railing; which, in turn, wedged his lookalike into the opposite railing. The two sat, dangling halfway over the edge into a fiery oblivion.
"Stableton?" The fake Silverlinings laughed out right, "This goes far beyond that of your pathetic little pit of a home!"
"What do you mean?" Silverlinings asked.
"Why should I tell you," It hissed, "We're both going to die anyway!"
"Tell me, damn you!" The white pegasus punched the android hard enough to shake the railing, which inched them closer to their demise. The fraud chuckled and spit out what appeared to be oil, "You pathetic worms," It turned to face Silver, one of it's eyes was cracked, revealing it's more aggressive red ones, "will you never learn? Violence, only begets more violence. If you kill me another will only take my place; better, faster, stronger and with more malcontent than I, for your wretched, worthless species!"
Silver threw another punch at the creature, attempting to shut it up. When it looked back at him. The eye which had been damaged before was now completely blacked out, while they other was flashing a bright yellow. "I see...." It sighed, "I suppose, it is as it was and forever shall be: a pointless endeavor." It released all grip and allowed the pair of them to slip out of safety. Silver, having accepted this outcome early on, made no effort to fly to safety. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, not in his condition. As he closed his eyes, and prepared for the inevitable, he felt a tug at his right fore hoof. He opened his eyes to see Borealis Burnout, holding onto him, while dangling herself over the end of the catwalk. 
"You're not dying on my watch!" She called out to him.
Silver slowly looked down to see himself, or rather, his lookalike slowly descend into to the magma of the smelting facility. It made no effort to fight it, it simply laid there, letting itself get engulfed by the molten metal. This was the last thing Silverlinings saw, before he passed out.





Silverlinings slowly stirred. Past visions of what had happened swirled around his head: the changeling creature, the fight, everything. As he slowly opened his eyes, he was met with only white, as it was extremely bright and his eyes needed to adjust.
"Uuuugh," He groaned as he attempted to sit up.
"Daddy!" He heard as his chest was met with a small force that cause him to fall backwards, back into his bed.
When his eyes finally became completely clear, he was met with the sight of his niece, who was hugging him tightly. "Hey Sweetie," He said, in a raspy tone.
"I'm so glad you're awake, Daddy," Marigold nuzzled herself into Silver's chest, squeezing him tightly.
"Me, too," He said as he cleared his throat. "Hey, Sweetie, can you go get me a glass of water?" He asked.
"Sure!" Marigold Mist hopped off the bed and trotted out of the room. silver looked around and saw his was in the hospital. he was hooked up to an IV and heart monitor. He sat up completely and stretched. This was a bad idea, as a horrible pain shot through his left side.
"Oh yeah," He sighed, looking at his wing, which was in a cast, "crap..."
At that moment, he heard the soft trot of some pony approaching. He looked over at the door and found Burnout standing in the doorway. She smiled and said, "Marigold said you were awake."
"Did she?" He asked, with a sarcastic smile.
"Cute kid, by the way," Borealis commented as she entered the room.
"Thanks," Silver replied, "Don't get the wrong idea though, she's just my niece."
"Really?" Burnout jeered, "She seems to think otherwise."
"Well she never knew her real father, just me," Silver sighed.
"Is that so?" Burnout asked, looking Silverlinings over.
"So what about this?" Silver pointed to his wing.
"The doctor said you'll make a full recovery. the attack missed anything vital. It's just gonna sting like hell for awhile," Burnout explained.
"Great," Silver said, dryly, as Marigold returned with the cup of water.
"Here you go, Daddy," she smiled as she handed the cup to him.
"Thanks, Sweetie," The white stallion thanked as he drank his fill. After he was done, he turned back to Burnout, "What about you? Are you staying; in Stapleton, I mean?"
"Are you kidding?" Burnout smiled, "If I don't stay, who'll protect your sorry flank?" She jokingly socked Silver on the shoulder.
"So that's a yes?" Silver asked.
Burnout smiled again, "Absolutely."