Happy Birthday Daniel! Hope you had a good one!
James Lester raises one eyebrow at the cluttering coming from above him in the metallic ceiling. Probably maintenance, he thought and returned to the various invoices on his desk. But the maintenance team ran outside, carrying a new air conditioner to be put up in the main corridor; their jaws slack, trousers low, earplugs glued to their ears.
A puff of dust dirtied the air. Enough was enough, Lester sighed and walked out of his office, his ears assaulted by the blaring electronic music from the Rec Room; obviously occupied by one Connor Temple.
Becker gave a quick salute on his regular patrol of the ARC, Lester giving a vague nod in return. Was it only him who had noticed the awful racket coming from above? Jess and Abby were at their usual stations, continuing with the latest reports from the usual anomaly. Matt haunted the doorframe of the Menagerie, brooding over his future, the future, if there was going to be any future at all; he was clutching a hot cup of coffee and he glared at the ceiling as a large chunk of plaster landed in his drink. Lester rocked back on his heels in satisfaction; someone else had noticed the disturbance.
"Hey, Lester," Matt walked up to the civil servant, poking the plaster with the end of a biro, "Get some better maintenance guys, hm?" And, leaving the drink in Lester's hands, he continued to his lab.
Lester could have screamed.
Later that day, whilst he was on his way home, home for the first time that week actually, a head popped out of the ventilation system. That certainly should not be happening, Lester thought, as the head produced an arm, which, in turn, removed the shroud from around the head. It smiled.
"Uh, this isn't MI5, is it?" it said. Lester looked bewildered and adjusted the grip on his briefcase.
"No." And the head disappeared. Good riddance, Lester continued with his journey to the front door.
"Name's Daniel. You've got nice vents here – clean. Not like Parliament…Yes, I know who you are." Daniel extended his hand, and upon getting no response, waved, and disappeared.
"Oh, fine then. Give me more paperwork." Lester turn around resignedly, and grumbled back to his office, where more paperwork had been created in that brief encounter.
