Solitaire

𝟙.𝟡

As they walk into the commission, The Handler takes off her jacket and expectantly throws it off to a random worker as they continue their discussion. Five speak up and say, "I'd like to discuss the logistics of my family's safety at your earliest convenience."  Mavis snorts at his wording, and brushes her shoulder against his, and says, "You're such a nerd." He glared at her, in a playful-- annoyed manner and flicked her forehead. "Ow. dick."

"As well as this body replacement," he finished, turning to look back at the physically older woman. "Such chutzpah. It's refreshing, I'll admit. Slow down Five, all in good time." she told the boy, "in fact, now that you've finally agreed to work with us, we've got all the time in the world."

she continued, as they walked into a different room, and the three watched as various peoples, in different era's of fashion passed by them. "The Commission works in support of a delicate balance between the timeline of events and mankind's free will."

They passed the place where the briefcases were held and the three paused their movement to look at them in a calculating manner. "The briefcase is no longer part of your kit. Free your mind. Your management now." she finished, "one of us." as they exited the room, she continued to talk on and on causing Mavis to roll her eyes and in her head think,

"God did she always talk this much?"

Without responding, the boys just smiled slyly at the comment, finding the annoyance in her voice to be amusing. "All the people on this floor are case managers, each one responsible for one major event at a time." she stopped, standing at the opening of a room full of people working like bees without pause. "So many of them.." Five said in awe, and Will said. "Looks exhausting." The room was filled with idle chattering and constant ringing of phones.

"Interesting isn't it? Being a part of something so...grand." The Handler, spoke, before beckoning them along, "Whenever someone chooses the wrong path and the time is changed, the commission gets a report, from field agents on the ground. These field reports are sorted and assigned to a case manager." she continued, as her heels clicked on the ground,

"They determine if anyone needs to be... removed from the equation to assure that their event happens as it should.'' They walked into a room, where a woman was seen with a capsule sorting them into various tubes. 

"Based on that determination, the case manager sends instructions via pneumatic tube to... temporal assassins like you formerly were, Number Five, and William." she then turned to look at the lavender-haired girl, "However you, Mavis-- are a different case, considering you were raised into this life you should know most of this already." Mavis just nodded and leaned back into a wall, with her hands in her pockets, "sure do." she said bordley.

The handler looked back to the other two, ignoring her daughter's disinterest, "Any queries so far? " she asked. Will-- not having any questions, and quite frankly having the same disinterest as Mavis, looked to five for a response. "Yeah, who was our case manager?" At this question, the handler smiled, "Ah, you mean the apocalypse." she beckoned them into another room.

The room they entered was filled with people typing on old-fashioned typewriters and they stood at the desk of a very nice-looking lady. "Everybody, meet dot." The woman looked up from what she was typing to look up at them in surprise and introduced herself, "--oh hi." she greeted, as kindly as she looked. Will gave her a pleasant smile in return, finding her kindness a rare trait among those who work here these days.

"Dot is responsible for all apocalypse matters. In fact, it was she who first flagged your appearance in 2019." The handler informed them, with a hand on her shoulder. "No hard feelings." Dot told them, to which The Handler continued, "Well you certainly put us through the ringer. Outsmarting two of our so-called best temporal assassins."  Mavis scoffed at her statement, more specifically the title given to two people who couldn't even keep a withdrawal-ridden addict chained up.