The W Concern

It's going to be a long night

Dani stood outside the W concern, frowning at its logo. It was a big happy clementine orange W that was leaning ever so slightly to one side, like it was just about to do a little dance. A better logo would have been black, mysterious. A W made out of daggers.

Well, whatever. It probably helped with the cover.

She scanned her fob, got in the lobby and then let the annoying floating robot that looked like a squished up ball of spaghetti scan her retinas. It beeped and glowed green. A door opened. Slowly. Too slowly. How long had it been kind of broken for? And why wasn't anyone fixing it?

Shit. She was in a bad mood.

Which made sense. It was going to be a bad night, a long night. The only two questions were: how long and how bad?

On the other side of the door she watched it creak to a close. That thing was going to be a real problem one day. The doors were ten inches of thick, pure steel infused with silver and they were heavy duty for a reason. One day someone was going to figure out where their headquarters were and when they did those doors would be their first line of defense.

Or not. Because probably all anyone would have to do is stand outside, wait for someone to get in and then just stroll in right behind them.

Whatever.

She pulled a small bag of salt and vinegar chips from her backpack and started munching. The first chip hit her mouth, so sour it was almost painful but that was the whole point, the whole reason she liked those chips. They were both delicious and dangerous.

She ran up three flights of stairs, got to her desk and then threw her backpack across it. She had ten minutes before most of her team arrived. Just enough time to review her slides, finish her chips....

"Leah," She said. "You're already here."

Leah sat a few desks down. She was wearing a pair of oversized glasses today, brown hair partially swept back, a crumpled burnt orange blazer thrown over the chair behind her. Her laptop was flipped open, the blue light of the screen illuminating her face. She looked up at Dani for a moment, eyes dancing with amusement. "I'm always here early," She said. "And everytime it surprises you."

"I guess it does."

"Don't change," She giggled as she refocused on her screen "I love it."

Dani laughed. Leah was one of her favorite people to work with. "What are you working on?" She asked.

Leah leaned back in her chair, frowning. "The wire's totally quiet. Nothing. Nada. I know it's early but I'm convinced there's a bug." She looked toward the large screen to her left. It took up about half the wall and consisted of a real time map of Toronto and a rolling list of updates from field agents. The map of Toronto was green, the rolling list was just a series of "nothing happening, all safe." She gestured at it, "That's weird, right?"

"Unheard of," Dani said, frowning. She leaned over to glance at Leah's screen and then the big one. They were identical.

"Well hello," Tom said as he strolled in, an oversized mug of what smelled like coffee in one hand. Dani narrowed her eyes. He wasn't carrying anything.

"Where are the weapons?" Dani asked. He was their lead armorer, a certified weapons mage who used his magic for two things: the creation of deadly weapons used to kill, maim or capture shifters and the creation of children's puppets that, animated by fairy dust and spells, played whole shows on their own. When she was bored Dani liked to imagine Tom switching between crafting swords to crafting adorable talking frogs and it never ceased to tickle her.