I do not own any of the TF characters. (c) Hasbro/Takara


Allison was going to be very, very late.

She was already minutes behind her very tight morning routine, and it wasn't completely her fault. The rain, for starters, was mugging up the traffic to excruciating lengths. People reacted as if they'd never seen rain before, even less how to drive in it. Yes, the beginning of the rainy season marked opening day for derby drivers and thirty car pile-ups, as people seemed to forget what they were doing and start driving as if the very touch of rain against the treads of their tires would release all hell onto the streets. Gawking drivers would sit in the middle of the highway, their fingers drumming on the steering wheel as they stared up through the windshield, as if somehow spotting a puffy white cloud amongst the gray would somehow alleviate them from their situation.

Sad and as unfortunate as that was, she was reluctant to admit that even she would have preferred to venture out in her own car, and the fact that the bus was late was causing her levels of irritation to rise astronomically. She'd already been late twice this week due to traffic conditions, and this would mark the third day in a row. Looking at her watch, she clicked her tongue in disapproval at her own stupidity for not remembering that this was the very same reason she'd been tardy before.

Of course, this would have all been avoided if her car had not decided to die on her two weeks prior. Not only that, but the mechanics were some of the most incompetent lot she'd ever come across. She'd thought all her car had needed was a new timing belt, but in the most bizarre turn of events just about everything that could have possibly gone wrong with it, did. It wasn't that Allison was too poor to keep it maintained. She was comfortable, living alone in a fairly decent studio apartment in a part of town that wasn't too bad. Yet, taking care of her car had always been low on her list of priorities. In fact she absolutely hated to drive. The highway was a hassle, she hated dealing with a commute, and parking rated among the highest of her personal most frustrating activities.

Once, she had been so impatient to park her car that she had somehow managed to reverse over the top of a manhole, despite the bright yellow warning tape around it indicating there were workmen directly below. This wouldn't have been an immediate issue if it weren't for the fact that one of the workmen had just started his lunch, and was in the process of climbing out of the manhole at the time.

After some very awkward apologies, and a check that nobody had gotten hurt, Allison had fled with the proverbial tail between her legs. The workmen had laughed it off in the end. She was a tiny thing, not frail, but certainly below the height of what would have been considered a standard of beauty. Not that Allison cared too much. Glamour was not her thing, and she'd always preferred quiet, alone-time over the raucous of noise and chaos. She usually ran out the door in the morning with very little time spent on herself in the mirror, and her appearance probably suffered just a little bit for it. There wasn't anyone in her life that she felt the need to impress anyway.

Her only saving grace in regards to driving a car was that her position guaranteed a parking spot reserved for only her at the office, not far from the entrance. It even had a little yellow sticker with her name printed on it that she took care to keep clean and intact. The bus however dropped her off down the street, and she'd have to dash down the sidewalk just to make it in the door on time.

Not that it matters, she thought dryly to herself, pushing a wet strand of dark hair out of her face. It wasn't like she had anyone in particular waiting for her. In fact, she hadn't had anyone waiting for her in almost a month. The man she worked for had mysteriously disappeared three weeks earlier, for reasons that were yet to be explained to her office. Being his personal assistant, she would have assumed she'd be the first to know if he was planning any sort of trips, but apparently that was not to be the case. One day he just didn't show up, and that had gotten the office talking. His corporate mediators were assuring everyone that he'd been needed suddenly on a conference errand, but that didn't alleviate any suspicions at all. When the director and top engineer of a computer development firm disappeared, the rumors were bound to fly.

So here she was, three weeks later with no explanation as to why she no longer had someone to answer to. It was a wonder she still had a job. She spent her time continuously organizing his files and anything else he'd left in shambles upon his departure, doing the occasional oddball errand for the other technicians in the department if they asked. She found herself constantly interrupted by fellow peers who were curious if he'd contacted her. She'd tried to remain polite at first, reminding everyone that she was just as much in the dark as they were, but for some reason they just kept coming. It was starting to test her already severely strained nerve.

Management hadn't even bothered to appoint a stand-in in the meantime. Things just carried on regardless, and she bore the brunt of the workload. Her boss may have been gone, but the research in the labs downstairs was for the most part autonomous, and was fully funded and could be independently operated for months.

So Allison continued on, waiting for someone to actually tell her if there was something more important she could turn her attention to, other than organizing computer data from day-to-day, but so far nobody had. As it was, that seemed to be her life at the moment and didn't appear as if it was about to change any time soon: twenty-three, very alone, and spending her days pushing papers whilst being surrounded by a flurry of conspiracy. Sometimes she almost wished the whole building would go down in flames.

Despite all her complaints, it put food on the table, and paid her bills, and at least she was in the zone of the most profitable line of work in the city. She didn't have the funds to move anywhere else, nor did she have the resolve to even consider it. She could always move to another company and attempt at something new, but in an industry where even getting a chance to step into the lobby is a blessing, one with very little education really doesn't have room to be picky. Allison had hoped to someday actually use that work experience and maybe advance in the company. After all, her boss had always said good things about her. But, as the weeks went by with no word from Dr. Arkeville, that particular little dream was fizzling out at a geometric rate.

Finally, the familiar 270 route bus rolling over the hill in the distance, its front-runner lights glittering merrily against the raindrops as if unaware that it had put serious strain on her day. Allison looked at her watch again in despair as she boarded the cramped, stuffy vehicle, noting that she'd at least make it and only be a few minutes late.

Although she doubted that anybody would notice.


02/27/2011 - Minor edits with this chapter. Nothing major.