Not Water Cooler Gossip (Evron)

[Cassidy Morgan]

Same shit, different day.

Those were the usual sentiments of any regular person heading into work, right? Perhaps there were individuals in the world that truly loved their jobs... but, in Cassidy's mind, work was still "work", wasn't it? It wasn't called "super hyper fun times!" or "magically amazing time spent with random people!" No, it was called "work" and... it sucked.

Well, it didn't always suck. Having to go sucked. Getting paid, despite her family's financial reserves, did not. Having to deal with the people that presumed (perhaps rightly so) that you were nothing more than a lucky screw up, also sucked. Being yelled at wasn't much fun, either.

And, of course, Cassidy compounded all of this by making sure that nearly every day at the office was a "recovery" day. Ah, blissful, unconquerable habits...

Today was no different. As usual, Angela (her maid) had been forced to physically drag her out of bed in order to get her up and, with Sebastian's (the chauffeur) help, deposit their "mistress" in a hastily drawn bath. While Cassidy mulled around and half-drowned in a sea of bubbles, the dear maid did her best to iron out any wrinkles and Febreze away the remnants of the scents that remained in Cassidy's uniform from wherever the previous night had taken her. Following this, a combination of yelling and pleading managed to get the purple haired woman out of the suds, dried, and into her uniform. She was then unceremoniously carried to the waiting Lexus and driven to her place of work.

On a good day, she was booted from the vehicle, equipped with dark sunglasses, and pushed to shuffle into the DNCS office building structure approximately 15 minutes after she was supposed to be there. 15 minutes was a triumph, truthfully. It might have been frustrating on the Morgan Family Staff... but they were well-compensated, so they only complained when Cassidy wasn't around. And, honestly, the whole affair was the most action the maid and chauffeur experienced on normal days.

15 minutes...

But this morning? Cassidy was particularly uncooperative. To make matters worse, she had insisted that she "could not function in the workplace without a new phone" and had forced her driver to stop at her carrier's store prior to dragging her to work. Because of this?

55 minutes, 34 seconds late crossing the threshold.

Alarming. Or, rather, it should have been. The DNCS receptionists that saw Cassidy stumble in? Not a single eyelash batted; no shameful glances given. There simply was no point and they had learned that long ago.

The best part about being late was the elevator situation. No fighting, no multiple stops. For Cassidy, every day consisted of an empty cube, trimmed in brass and steel, and a 25 second staring contest with the unblinking eye of a security camera to reach the 13th floor where her personal cubicle of hell awaited. ...Was it the 13th floor? No, actually it was the "14th." The "13th" floor didn't actually exist. The number skipped from 12 directly to 14.

...

But it was still the 13th floor.

Some number of steps took her by the primary copy/fax machine, and down to her corner station that conveniently did not have a window. Although not an actual "office", the partition-secluded section dedicated to the purple-haired woman was quite large. This was not, however, unique - although the floor was expansive, the majority of the space was dominated by only eight such partitioned sections. The 14th (13th) floor was primarily dedicated to "Handlers", and each section was nearly a carbon copy of the others.

Cassidy's was, of course, a general mess, looking as if two file cabinets had been loaded with C4, launched by trebuchet over her work space, and detonated. (Except that, somehow, no paper had been burned in the process.) Three separate computer stations - fancy HD monitors connected to laptop docking stations - dominated the three desk-like table tops of the setup. These were shifted somewhat to the right, however, as the far left "corner" was stuffed with a document scanning station and a relatively cheap "personal" fax/copy/printer in case a) the Handler was lazy or b) the primary fax/copiers were out of order. (And weren't they always? It was an office building, after all.)

This was the general setup (sans mess, of course.) For Cassidy's station, there were a few other particulars. Hovering above the station was an imitation Tiffany lamp - almost like a chandelier - that had been put up by some previously rejected co-worker as a "joke." The dominant light in it was, of course, red (red-light district, effectively calling her a whore) and it was almost always on. Why, exactly, she hadn't taken it down was beyond anyone in the office... but the fact that she'd left it up (going on 2+ years now) had definitely kept the perpetrator of the "joke" away. Perched, precariously, above the right corner of her station was a potted cactus. This, too, was a "joke", as the card attached to the pot proclaimed it to be "the only kind of plant your lazy ass could keep alive." Cassidy had no idea who had mounted it and had made no effort to find out. Each computer monitor was also decorated with super deformed, super "angry" looking sumo wrestler stickers. This was the only cosmetic change Cassidy had made herself.

"Mwa~h!"

Such was the rather disappointed... noise Cassidy proclaimed as she, quite literally, fell into her work station chair. A quick flick of her wrist turned the volume on all of her monitors up to maximum and some frantic button mashing ensured that her "office" phone ringer volume was also twisted up to 11. And why?

Well? How else would she be alerted when something that actually required her immediate attention came along? As everyone knew, there was no such thing as "proactive" when it came to Cassidy, nor was "taking the initiative" in her work-related vernacular. No, the immediate arrival of each work day was presented in the same way: all volumes up to obnoxiously loud levels and...

Nap time.

The folder containing information on one Tristan Caine sat, mostly undisturbed, on the central keyboard of her computer set up.

[Evron Glower]

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[atrb=style, background-color: #1A1A1A; border-radius: 35px;] [STYLE=height: 250px; width: 460px; margin-top: 6px; opacity: 0.7; border-radius: 30px; background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/LXv5t.gif);][/style][STYLE=font-family: times new roman; font-style: italic; font-size: 45px; color: #E7E1CD; text-transform: lowercase; margin-top: -30px; letter-spacing: -3px; opacity: 0.99; text-shadow: 2px 2px 2px #000000;]YOU ONLY GOT ONE LIFE TO LEAD[/style][STYLE=font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; margin-top: -10px; color: #CEC6AA; letter-spacing: 2px; text-transform: uppercase;]SO DON'T TAKE FOR GRANTED THE LITTLE THINGS[/style] [STYLE=font-size: 11px; font-family: arial; margin-right: 13px; margin-left: 13px; text-align: justify; background-color: #696969; padding: 13px; color: #000000; margin-top: 6px; opacity: 0.95; margin-bottom: 1px; border-bottom-right-radius: 30px; border-bottom-left-radius: 30px;]On the opposite end of the spectrum, a man’s alarm goes off for 5:30. A hand moves out of the sheets and smashes the alarm. He raised out of the bed, debating what was worse, waking up for school or for work. He went into his small bathroom, 10 minute shower, and brush teeth, goes into kitchen and gets his coffee which was already brewing up. Evron stood outside his door more towards the railing, a cigarette in his mouth and lit. When did he start this habit? A few days after he broke up, feeling adventurous after giving up all drinking, Evron bought his first pack. Slowly he caved into the nicotine and now he smoked, sure it made him a little slower, but he tried his best not to smoke every chance he had. Between the lingering warmth of the starting day and the coolness of this apartment, he couldn’t tell which was better, of course by the middle of the day he would say coolness. He took his coffee to the dining table, were he started a computer to read the news of the day, much cheaper in his opinion compared to people who bought newspapers, sheesh catch up with the times, getting it off the ‘net was faster than any old piece of paper. 6:20 AM, Evron slipped on his dress shirt, pulling up his tie, and buttoning up his jacket; one could say he was a ready mofo others enjoyed poking at him saying he should be a part of MiB. Which if he looked at his job, it was kind of like hunting aliens but mutated people. He took his cell phone and car keys, quickly gliding down the stairs, some people were out at the parking lot already. ”Oh, howdy neighbor! Off to work? You should take a break already.” Evron smiled at the older gentlemen. “Sorry, sir. Work beckons to me.” ”Man, you should settle down with a better job and a nice woman.” The man winked at Evron who chuckled. Even though he was somewhat hardened, he couldn’t be mean to the civilians, it was just wrong. “I’ll speak to you later.” Evron slipped into his car and drove off. The morning light was already there, unlike winter where he would drive in the dark with others who were trying to get to work as well. It made him feel a little more chipper, but others wouldn’t notice. The sunlight hit his eyes, making him squint, he fumbled around for his sunglasses, putting them on. It was much better know that he could see. Evron took his regular route to work, side streets, people didn’t like to follow along if you took side streets, they would rather go on the highway, suspecting they were faster, but to Evron it was full of angry people and he didn’t need to go into an office where he was angry a majority of the time. Evron wondered what shinnagins he would be put through today at work. Actually that thought put a shudder through him, maybe that was best put in the back burners for now. Evron parked and got out of his car. He was early along with a handful of other people making their way to their offices. His office floor was 10, were most field agents resided at, not high enough but also not low enough, just right in the middle. Of course one thing that disturbed him when riding the elevator was the fact there was no number 13, it just skipped to 14, he never questioned it, Evron was in no position to do that. He walked into a maze, each the same, all small, with a computer and monitor along with whatever possession a person can bring in showing families and to be families. His of course was very plain; going by the guidelines of how one’s cubical should be like. He went down to business opening up email and a word document. Just another fun day in paradise, yes? [/style][STYLE=width: 400px; text-align: center; font-size: 9px; color: #565656; text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: 0px; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: 3px; opacity: 0.9;]made by kiwii at btn & ote![/style]

[Cassidy Morgan]

The first e-mail went out while Evron was on his commute. By the time he reached his desk and opened his e-mail client, it was the third message on the board, below a department-wide "reminder" of DNCS's sexual harassment policies and a congratulatory message for one Clarissa Forte and her non-department employed husband for the birth of their first son. As luck would have it, the "first e-mail" and this congratulatory message were very much linked - Clarissa had been, up until one month ago, the "Director of Agent Relations and Communications" - in essence, a "Handler" that wasn't tied to any single operator. Rather, she had been primarily responsible for filtering assignments and information to all of the A2-ranked individuals within DNCS except those on the science team. Truly, Clarissa was perfect for it; her mind just worked in such a way to facilitate a job that really shouldn't have been isolated to a single individual - and DNCS, as whole, recognized that. As soon as it was made known that Mrs. Forte was pregnant, steps had been taken by DNCS leadership to utterly redesign department communications and eliminate her position. (She would be hired back on, after maternity leave, in a different position with reduced pay and fewer responsibilities - nice of them, huh?)

So what did this mean for Agents like Evron? Well, for one, the last month had been a veritable roller coaster when it came to direction and information. As the bureaucratic machine's parts fought amongst themselves for how, precisely, the new "system" would work, the lesser cogs (such as Agents) found themselves pinged by a hundred different sources - as far as orders and information were concerned. Naturally, individuals such as Operators had their Handlers and, as such, were immune to the mess, but everyone at rank A2 or lower were forced to grit their teeth and endure. But today, today it seemed like some individuals - Evron being one of them - were getting a kind of reprieve from the madness.

What did the "first e-mail" say? It was more of a "heads up", really.

"Agent Glower,

As you may be aware, the department is in the process of revitalizing and revamping the way we communicate to you. Our goal is to ensure that you have easy access to all potential resources and are provided with accurate information and orders in a timely, efficient manner. Due to the restructuring of the communications hierarchy, you and others like you, have had the unfortunate task of operating under sub-optimal conditions without proper designation of a single information resource. We appreciate your dedication and patience in this manner, and are happy to report that your perseverance has paid off. The department restructuring should be completed over the next few weeks, but certain individuals, based solely on the importance of their current assignments, will have the benefit of being granted access to DNCS's most accomplished direction and information specialists - rank A3 "Handlers." More information regarding your specific assignment is forthcoming.

Again, thank you for your patience in this matter.

Disclaimer: Access to a "Handler" is not a promotion to Operator status, nor is it intended as a promise to be considered for advancement. Individuals granted this convenience remain at their previous rank and do not receive any other additional benefits.

Sincerely,

Angelique Mason, Temporary Director of Agent Relations and Communications."

About the time Cassidy fell into her chair on the 14th (13th) floor, a second e-mail arrived in Evron's virtual mailbox. It read:

"Agent Glower,

This is automated message informing you that you have been assigned a Handler contact within the department. Attached to this message is the dossier of the Handler you have been assigned. Additionally, please complete modules 140050: Introduction to Policy and Procedure - "Operator/Handler Interaction Basics", and 140100: Post-Operations Protocol - "Documentation is Important! Requirements and Expectations of A3-level Paperwork" on the DNCS intranet's Training and Resource web site. Note: Due to the special circumstances surrounding your designation, you will receive time-and-a-half pay for completing the modules. Thank you.

Have a wonderful day!"

The horrific part about this was, of course, that the dossier attached to the second e-mail was none other than Cassidy Morgan's. Well, that, and having to do stupid web-based training. Not a minute after the second e-mail arrived, a third e-mail dropped into Evron's virtual mailbox. It read:

"Evron,

I just wanted to send a personal e-mail of apology. Really, taking over for Clarissa has been the biggest pain in the ass in my entire life. Anyhow, I wanted to let you know that your assignment to the Caine case was completely random - at least, I know I, personally, didn't have anything to do with it - and I promise your designation to that woman as your Handler is not meant as a punishment! I'm sure it probably feels that way, but it really is just the nature of your assignment. She was his Handler, so the department feels that you can, at least, get additional information by working under her, with regards to this specific case. Whether that's true or not, well, I won't pester you with my opinion of the matter. I want to wish you luck, though, and, again, I want to stress that this is just how it worked out. I don't know if she'll be your contact permanently (God, I wouldn't wish that on my greatest enemy) or just for the duration of the case, but I want to encourage you to persevere! You have a good reputation in this organization; don't let her screw that up for you.

Also... did I mention I get to go back to my old position after this afternoon? Last day dealing with this bullshit whirlwind of madness. I have no idea how Clarissa did it for six years. What I mean is that this e-mail address is pretty much defunct, which is why I thought I could shoot you this message of encouragement before the IT guys go and blow it up. If you reply, I probably won't see it. Sorry!

But, again, good luck! ...I have a feeling you'll need it.

Sincerely and with apologies,

Angelique Mason

PS - Don't bother trying to call her in-house. You're gonna have to go up there. I recommended taking a large bucket of ice water with you... and dumping it on her head.

PPS - Just... don't pour it on the computers. Those things are expensive.

PPPS - I promise I'm not a hateful or vengeful individual! Really!

PPPPS - And no, I wasn't the one that hung the red light. I didn't do the cactus thing, either. Seriously, don't believe a word anyone says otherwise!"

Meanwhile, on the 14th (13th) floor... Cassidy was dreaming. About raisins. Dancing raisins... with fangs. That, apparently, were really good when added to a salad. Who knew?

[Dr. M. H. Stark]

Dr. Stark smiled. Not outwardly of course. expression of feelings betrayed thoughts and proved disadvantageous for a man in his position. He liked to let people wonder what went on in his powerful mind.

He had to files open on his computer. Evron Glower, and his new assignment to Cassidy Morgan. Worthless girl. He'd have had her killed and Tristan framed if he'd had a say in it. But even he, with all his power, was not foolish enough to leave anything to question with whom he answered to. Truth be told even he wasn't sure who they were but her employment had been a suggestion from them. And any suggestion they made was to be treated like an order. Of course he let it be known his disdain for her knew no bounds and he made sure she knew it.

He sipped his coffee and spat tobacco juice out into his empty water bottle.

He knew Caine had made Contact with Morgan. What was said and any other details were anyone's guess. Knowing Caine he'd told her nothing but was feeling out the situation at his department. Of course he'd left Agent Morgan completely in the dark for that reason. So what was Caine's next move? It was anyone's guess. He had no resources, no contacts, and nothing to lose. But his idealism made him dangerous and unpredictable.

Which is why Stark needed a wild card. Enter Agent Glower.

He was young, relatively new, and inexperienced. But the good doctor knew he was ambitious and capable. Throwing this unknown into the mix served two purposes. It gave him an ace that wasn't obvious, and it served to test an agent. Was he prey or predator? Time would tell.

Dr. Stark stroked the black cell phone on his desk.

One didn't take chances with a man like Caine, however. He had other aces and other means. He held many strings. It was just a matter of finding the right ones to twine together for Caine's noose. And, of course, finding someone to catch whatever he dropped before it fell into the wrong hands.

He thumbed his phone open and sent one text.

"D.O-02-001R Activate." Designation Operator, 2nd generation, 1st production, Rook. He closed his phone, again spitting into the bottle and sat back. Now time to exercise, what he perceived, as his infinite patience. Just a matter of time.

[Evron Glower]

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[atrb=style, background-color: #1A1A1A; border-radius: 35px;] [STYLE=height: 250px; width: 460px; margin-top: 6px; opacity: 0.7; border-radius: 30px; background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/LXv5t.gif);][/style][STYLE=font-family: times new roman; font-style: italic; font-size: 45px; color: #E7E1CD; text-transform: lowercase; margin-top: -30px; letter-spacing: -3px; opacity: 0.99; text-shadow: 2px 2px 2px #000000;]YOU ONLY GOT ONE LIFE TO LEAD[/style][STYLE=font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; margin-top: -10px; color: #CEC6AA; letter-spacing: 2px; text-transform: uppercase;]SO DON'T TAKE FOR GRANTED THE LITTLE THINGS[/style] [STYLE=font-size: 11px; font-family: arial; margin-right: 13px; margin-left: 13px; text-align: justify; background-color: #696969; padding: 13px; color: #000000; margin-top: 6px; opacity: 0.95; margin-bottom: 1px; border-bottom-right-radius: 30px; border-bottom-left-radius: 30px;]His eyes scanned the computer. Oh ‘promotion’ just lovely, he got the recognition but not the benefits. Once more his clicking started, he got through a well documented report, his computer dinged, signaling that he had received. Evron rolled his eyes, great there were more modules to read, but he stopped at the end of the emails. Ok, this was looking better; he would at least be paid for this so it was worth his time. He leaned back in his business chair and wondered who his ‘handler’ would be, he would have to report after he complete to modules and see if his handler had, too. Once more another email popped up, he raised an eyebrow, and this semi-promotion was getting more interesting. He clicked it open and scrolled. ’ Anyhow, I wanted to let you know that your assignment to the Caine case was completely random’ Yeah right, it was random. Interesting, that woman, why did he felt like he had heard that around here. This person had a lot of sympathy for him for being placed with this woman. It couldn’t be bad, it really couldn’t be her. His heart started to race a little with a pinch of nervousness, but he couldn’t show it, not here in the office. He was about to start an email but skimmed that by the time he would get this he wouldn’t be able to. Once more he stared at the email, seeing it was also useless to email the woman. He chuckled at dumping water on her and to not ruin the computer. He nodded, seeing that Angelique didn’t hate this women. “Red light? Cactus?” He made a confused face and shook his head. If people knew weird, they were way off and had never been in DNCS. He walked out the cubical after working through those modules. He walked up to the elevator and pressed to go up. After getting in, he pressed the floor for the 14th floor. Evron stared hard at were the buttons were at, 13 was missing, still, he tilted his head, he’ll never get people’s fright of 13. Finally the elevator stopped and he stepped out. After walking awhile, he finally found a. Red light? He looked at the door which was open, he walked in to see a woman asleep. Evron looked around before shaking her shoulder vigorously. “Excuse me? I’m you’re new operator.” He said next to her ear, not sure how to actually be an operator, he’ll need to ask Tristan first or learn the hard way. But he didn’t know that he would end up becoming a triple crosser, or would it still be double. If one thought hard about that it would hurt their head, sadly it was nowhere near Evron’s radar. [/style][STYLE=width: 400px; text-align: center; font-size: 9px; color: #565656; text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: 0px; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: 3px; opacity: 0.9;]made by kiwii at btn & ote![/style]

[Cassidy Morgan]

"Ngh...mmmmmm...."

A buzzing near her ear stirred her. Not the obnoxious ringing of a phone or the sudden explosion of any number of alerts or alarms on her trio of computers, which were the anticipated "normal" wake up calls, but a human voice. Cassidy's groggy mind did not grasp the words spoken, but the volume and proximity was enough to at least begin the mental rebooting process.

"Mmm...? ...Mmm... just... a splash... orange juice..."

What was she mumbling? For whatever reason, Evron's words had twisted her dream around and about, with the mental roulette spinning and landing on: the simple recipe for crafting a screwdriver. Who woulda thought?

"Ugh... don't...crush ... the mint... muddle... it..."

And a mojito? Perhaps she could be a sleep-walking bartender? Regardless of her mumbled lines, the girl was actually waking up. Gentle alarms just caused gentle (read: slow) awakenings. For a brief moment, raven eyes fluttered open, locking on Evron's own... and then, slowly, her eyelids slipped closed again.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Seconds passed... and her slumber was shattered. Cassidy's eyes shot open in surprise and she jerked backwards, offering a suprised little "eep!" with the motion. Her momentum tipped her chair backwards, and the unfortunate wheels on the piece of furniture carried the bottom of the chair forward. The result of this combination? Cassidy was sent heels-over-head in reverse, unintentionally losing in a bout of office pro wrestling. Her chair had just performed one hell of a teardrop back suplex on her.

Her landing was rough, but she recovered well enough, given her drowsiness. Cassidy rolled with the impact, reverse somersaulting herself into a kneeling position that caused her to look far more "centerfold school girl" than her twenty-nine years and "professional" uniform belied. With her beret launched into some far corner of the office, her hair was unfurled and free, falling as a purple-cascade around her shoulders. After a brief moment, she looked up at Evron with a drowsy smile, her look still mostly glossy from her nap.

"H-hiya... uh... ... is... it lunch break yet?"

The tumble had also caused something to fall out of her pocket. The handwriting and the number on the half-crumpled napkin was surely familiar to the Agent standing above her...

[Evron Glower]

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[atrb=style, background-color: #1A1A1A; border-radius: 35px;] [STYLE=height: 250px; width: 460px; margin-top: 6px; opacity: 0.7; border-radius: 30px; background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/LXv5t.gif);][/style][STYLE=font-family: times new roman; font-style: italic; font-size: 45px; color: #E7E1CD; text-transform: lowercase; margin-top: -30px; letter-spacing: -3px; opacity: 0.99; text-shadow: 2px 2px 2px #000000;]YOU ONLY GOT ONE LIFE TO LEAD[/style][STYLE=font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; margin-top: -10px; color: #CEC6AA; letter-spacing: 2px; text-transform: uppercase;]SO DON'T TAKE FOR GRANTED THE LITTLE THINGS[/style] [STYLE=font-size: 11px; font-family: arial; margin-right: 13px; margin-left: 13px; text-align: justify; background-color: #696969; padding: 13px; color: #000000; margin-top: 6px; opacity: 0.95; margin-bottom: 1px; border-bottom-right-radius: 30px; border-bottom-left-radius: 30px;]She was mumbling, maybe waking up. No, this inconceivable mumbling was for an alcohol drink! He stood back up and straightened out his jacket. Her eyes started to flutter open slowly, the ticking slowly started in her eyes and suddenly she jerked up and back. This action made Evron jump back slight as he avoided being in the radius of her fall. He flinched hearing the air come out of her lungs. But she was back up, doing a back summersault and kneeled almost like a school girl. Evron ducked unsure if he was going to get whacked by her beret but it feel somewhere in the dark confines of her office, But her hair fell almost like a roaring waterfall, making Evron blink and raise an eyebrow. Evron crossed his arms as she looked up at him, hearing the most stupid question ever. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He really had a dead hated this kind of behavior, especially in the work place, how did she beat him? ”No ma’am it’s not time for lunch.” He sighed out, ”I’m actually here to report to you.” Cassidy was a real piece of work, now that he got to see her face to face. His attention then went to a piece of paper that flew out of her pocket. He went over and swooped down pick it up, Evron was about to say something but stopped. Evron then looked up at the woman, his mouth opened slightly in astonishment. ”Where did you get this number?” He shot the piece of paper up, kneeling on one knee instead of standing up, still staring at the violet haired woman. [/style][STYLE=width: 400px; text-align: center; font-size: 9px; color: #565656; text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: 0px; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: 3px; opacity: 0.9;]made by kiwii at btn & ote![/style]

[Cassidy Morgan]

"Huh?"

Yep. It was that elegant of a response.

Still not in full control of her faculties, Cassidy responded by staring at Evron. The smile has mostly faded and, after a moment, her eyes slid from his face to the napkin he was holding. The corners of her mouth dipped, forming a small frown. Where had that crumpled piece of paper come from?

"Er... lemme see..."

It was a prototypical "stalling for time" reply. Her eyes shifted to the left, and she raised her left index finger to her chin, doing her best to take on a contemplative look. There were some obvious clues here: a) it was on her person, which meant that it must have been picked up within the last two or three days. b) It was a napkin and, seeing as how she almost never picked up fast food and almost never went to a restaurant that wasn't also a bar, it must have been acquired during one of her "nightly adventures." c) It had a number scribbled on it. This was important (she was sure of that much) because she didn't accept phone numbers from just anyone. Taking into account that she had no friends, had no lovers and was not looking for either at the current time meant one of three things: the number was work related, the number was a contact for something she intended to buy, or the number was a contact for someone or something that she owed a debt to.

Cassidy sucked in a breath. In her opinion, it was far too early in the day to be playing "detective." Her frown deepened.

"Hmmmmm...."

In the back of her mind, she had the nagging suspicion that the napkin (and the information on it) had something to do with... the "trauma" of last night. Unfortunately, she was also quite sure that there were two separate "traumas" that had occurred. ...And she couldn't, at this moment, clearly remember either of them. She gave a shake of her head and pushed herself into a standing position.

"Ya know... I'll, uh... have to get back to you on that one, 'kay?" She yawned. "I mean, unless ya think you can, er, make a guess on its origin? I'm a little fuzzy right now." Suddenly, a confused look crossed her pretty face. "And... whaddaya mean you're here to report to me? Who are you... and why are you kneeling? I'm totally not marrying you, okay, cowboy? I mean, geez, I only just got dumped by my last partner last night... Totally not respecting a poor broken heart..."

Was it any wonder she flustered Tristan? Marriage, break ups... what a circus. However, her playful words had actually started to jog her memory...

[Evron Glower]

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[atrb=style, background-color: #1A1A1A; border-radius: 35px;] [STYLE=height: 250px; width: 460px; margin-top: 6px; opacity: 0.7; border-radius: 30px; background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/LXv5t.gif);][/style][STYLE=font-family: times new roman; font-style: italic; font-size: 45px; color: #E7E1CD; text-transform: lowercase; margin-top: -30px; letter-spacing: -3px; opacity: 0.99; text-shadow: 2px 2px 2px #000000;]YOU ONLY GOT ONE LIFE TO LEAD[/style][STYLE=font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; margin-top: -10px; color: #CEC6AA; letter-spacing: 2px; text-transform: uppercase;]SO DON'T TAKE FOR GRANTED THE LITTLE THINGS[/style] [STYLE=font-size: 11px; font-family: arial; margin-right: 13px; margin-left: 13px; text-align: justify; background-color: #696969; padding: 13px; color: #000000; margin-top: 6px; opacity: 0.95; margin-bottom: 1px; border-bottom-right-radius: 30px; border-bottom-left-radius: 30px;]Her response was one who was still slowly calculating the situation. Then things started to click for the woman, her eyes went from his face to the piece of napkin he held in his hand. Evron sighed as she contemplated as to where she got the number; this was going to be long day at work. Evron slowly shifted his weight back and forth on the balls of his toes, noticing they were going numb in his kneeling position. Did it really take a person this long to answer a simple question? If a nerve could pop out of Evron’s forehead, it would by now but he needs the patients for time being. She hummed in thought, gathering whatever information she was thinking, his dark green eyes still laid on her waiting. Then Cassidy only shook her head and stood up, of course he followed suit, feeling his legs getting the pricks from being in that position for too long. His shocked showed slightly before his face went back to a neutral mask. Evron put his hands into his pocket, yep it was still there, the thumb drive he was given; Evron was about to show it to her the item, but he caught his breath in annoyance. “I’m not her to propose to you, ma’am.” He straightened his tie out. “You can say I’ve gotten dump myself a while back.” Evron’s eyes turned slightly cool. “I’m here to report to you. If you’ve read your email, I’m your temporary operator.” It would take a lot to get past his shell for a deep relationship. He was never truly cold in the first place, but he tests the waters and only one person passed for Evron to show her off like a trophy. Only her. "And that number." He stopped and showed the thumb drive. "Is the same number I have." Evron said in a grave voice. [/style][STYLE=width: 400px; text-align: center; font-size: 9px; color: #565656; text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: 0px; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: 3px; opacity: 0.9;]made by kiwii at btn & ote![/style]

[Cassidy Morgan]

"Wha-? E-mail? Temporary operator?" Spiral, spiral, spiral, and mix. Cassidy's brain - helped by the extended slumber and the now semi-respectable time lapse since her last bit of consumption - was beginning to work now. She flicked a glance in the direction of her computers and... shrugged. "Are you serious? Didn't you know..." And her voice took on a suddenly hushed tone. "That it's the same thing?"

The one notoriously constant thing about Cassidy when it came to work at the DNCS (aside from "always late" and "always hungover") was... the unfortunate "relationship distinction" Cassidy always assigned those she "Handled." No, Sir Caine was not the first or the only one and now, with Evron proclaiming that he was there to report to her, it seemed Agent Glower's fate was the next to be sealed.

She flashed Evron a coy smile.

"It is, you know? It always is. There's just really no other way to describe it. ...Or deal with it. I mean-" As she spoke, Cassidy flitted over and slipped back into the office chair. She slid it into place at the center point between her three computers and, with a tap of her heel, sent herself slowly spinning in a circle. "-it's the expected stereotype of a deal, isn't it? Everything I saw is right, as the wife, and you, as the husband, just don't have... a snowball's chance in hell of arguing about it. After all, everything I'd be telling you comes straight from top, right? Sooooo... there it is."

She stopped her spin so that she was facing Evron and leaned back in the chair. Unlike her nap posture, there was no chance that she would flip herself over this time. She hesitated in this position for a moment... and then a look of recognition passed over her face. She crossed her legs abruptly, straightened her posture, placed her elbows on the arms of the chair and, in a decent mimicry of a behind-the-desk-villain, steepled her fingers in front of her face.

"The napkin-" She said, allowing her eyes to flit to the crumpled piece of paper. "-is a nice little souvernir from my Ex. I thought maybe he wanted to hook back up, but... I'm really not so sure. It was a weird gift." She paused for a moment, her gaze shifting off to some random corner of the room. "In fact, it was almost like he was trying to pass me off to a replacement... I think you kinda fit the description..."

It was a serious accusation, if one thought about it. Her words were not so serious, their tone was light, flirting, playful... but the substance of those words, if one read through her nonchalance, told the story well enough. Ex-Handler and Ex-Operator had met, exchanged "pleasantries" of some sort, and all of that had ultimately come together here - in her office - with Evron, ironically, the fulcrum of it all. The worst part about it, of course, was that - with Tristan on the lam - the whole of the traitorous potential of this problem... was left up to these two.

"Oh, and I don't need a ring, okay? You'll probably just leave me in a few months, like all the others, and pawning it off and such is such a hassle, ya know? Anyhoo, cowboy, what's your name? You can't come all up in here to tie the knot without at least telling me who you are. Gah! And don't say "read your e-mail!" You're right here, right now, so get to getting on with it! Electronic assistance is so not required."

[Evron Glower]

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[atrb=style, background-color: #1A1A1A; border-radius: 35px;] [STYLE=height: 250px; width: 460px; margin-top: 6px; opacity: 0.7; border-radius: 30px; background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/LXv5t.gif);][/style][STYLE=font-family: times new roman; font-style: italic; font-size: 45px; color: #E7E1CD; text-transform: lowercase; margin-top: -30px; letter-spacing: -3px; opacity: 0.99; text-shadow: 2px 2px 2px #000000;]YOU ONLY GOT ONE LIFE TO LEAD[/style][STYLE=font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; margin-top: -10px; color: #CEC6AA; letter-spacing: 2px; text-transform: uppercase;]SO DON'T TAKE FOR GRANTED THE LITTLE THINGS[/style] [STYLE=font-size: 11px; font-family: arial; margin-right: 13px; margin-left: 13px; text-align: justify; background-color: #696969; padding: 13px; color: #000000; margin-top: 6px; opacity: 0.95; margin-bottom: 1px; border-bottom-right-radius: 30px; border-bottom-left-radius: 30px;]Oh, how hard he wanted to smack his forehead. This was his competition for a promotion, he got outsmarted by someone who doesn’t know all of the information. His head jerked back slightly, listening to her mumbling, his eyes cooled over even more, Evron wasn’t going to lose this battle; if this was a battle in fact, maybe more for his sanity as he kept Cassidy entertained. He stood there, watching her talk, picking up the chair and sitting back down in it. Husband; he wasn’t anyone husband or not yet at least, how much will it took to not shake the woman. “Look, I just got orders to come here. I’m doing my job, that’s all. This isn’t a relationship; I’m not here for fun, or anyone’s amusement.” He clenched his jaw, seeing her new position, one that was sinister and was completely different than the one he was introduced to earlier. Her eyes went to napkin in his hand, he followed suit but his eyes flickered back up to her. Gosh, this woman seemed to have more problems than him. His heart raced, he wanted to get his word in but waited for her to get everything off her chest, just being a gentlemen right? The number wasn’t meant to represent a please let’s get back together, but more as a I can help you understand what’s happening; obviously the message didn’t get through. Through her words, he didn’t realize he was part of whatever conversation that had sparked up last night. He was focused on a baseball game with a few of his close buddies after he had gotten out of work, very unaware of what was happening between an old handler and her operator. But now he was sucked into a new situation, one he’ll have to adapt to quickly if he wanted to live. “The name’s Evron Glower.” He opened his closed fist, in it was a small, black thumb drive, full of confiscated information, Evron was sticking his neck out on a limb showing her this. “I bet that number came from a person named Tristan? He needs our help. Now if you’re done with whatever analogies you have, please introduce yourself ma’am so we can get down to business.” His voice was chilly, if someone walked in it would be like watching a battle between yin and yang, the tiger and the dragon. [/style][STYLE=width: 400px; text-align: center; font-size: 9px; color: #565656; text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: 0px; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: 3px; opacity: 0.9;]made by kiwii at btn & ote![/style]

[Cassidy Morgan]

"Cool yer heels, there, cowboy," Cassidy said, her look becoming quite disinterested as she swung herself back around to face her computers. She interlaced her fingers and extended her arms forward, cracking her knuckles. The space bar on the central computer was pressed; the log in appeared and was satisfied, and she moved into the system. As soon as it loaded, a triple button combination was pressed - that's right, she was a wreck most days, but she had macros!, and something began booting up on all three computer screens.

"You totally have to appreciate the situation before we can-" Her hands went up, fingers forming quotations for the next part of her speech. "-get down to business." Her hands dropped back down, flicking the mouse to restrain the screen saver. "And you totally don't, so let's play schoolhouse, 'kay? It's a quick lesson, too. Watch the screen carefully! There will be a quiz afterwards~!"

And what was it that came up on screen? First, a word: Relationship. Did she have this planned? She did - Evron's response was not all too different from... pretty much every other agent that had been assigned to her and had had to deal with this. Next, naturally, came the definition: 1. The way in which two concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state being connected. 2. The state of being connected by blood or marriage.

This repeated three times before Cassidy cleared her throat and swung her chair back around to face Evron. She tapped her cheek twice with a finger and offered him a smile.

"Now then... pop quiz, hot shot. What is this we are in now? Right now, at least, according to your oh-so-important reporting? It's pretty simple, cowboy, cuz it's precisely what you said it wasn't." Again, she swung back around to the computer. A handful of buttons were pressed, dismissing the "relationship tutorial sequence" and opening up the various important programs for actually doing "work." She might have been nonchalant and seemingly uncaring, but she obviously knew her way around the system. "Mr. Glower, we simply can't move on until you accept the reality of your new situation. And we won't be talking about Sir[/b] Tristan Caine until you do. As for my own introduction? ... ... ... Psssh. Does... does that even really matter? It's so not important in the grand scheme of things..."[/color]