"So what's everyone else up to?" Ianto asked. Julia seemed to have a good sense of what everyone was up to so she seemed to be a good one to ask.
"Rob is doing some further research into backgrounds and Todd is trying to see if there is anything in the logs which are different from normal rift fluctuations and to see if he can use that to create a warning for us other than the rift going mad. Even if it does, how would we know where the window will open when it does? It's all rather vexing."
"We'll figure it out," Ianto assured her. "We usually do." He finished his coffee and sat back, enjoying the quiet morning.
Julia stood up and put her cup in the sink. "Well, I'm off. I need to do some research of my own."
"Best of luck with that," Ianto said. She nodded to him before heading off towards her desk to work. Ianto watched the rest of the staff at work, observing them from where he sat on the sofa. Rob had an intense look on his face, moving from one screen to another as he made notes. Todd was scrolling through rift logs and then moving over to another display where he was checking lines of code.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Jack had returned, mug in hand. He walked up to Ianto and looked mournfully down at his mug.
"Oh what a sad sight that is," Ianto observed with a smile. Jack nodded sadly.
"Can you fix this?" He turned the mug upside down, showing that it was empty. Ianto laughed softly and stood up.
"I suppose I will have to, won't I?" Ianto said as he took the mug away from Jack and headed into the kitchenette. He made them both another cup and set Jack's down on the counter for him before taking his own. Jack smiled appreciatively at him before picking his up and drinking. He smacked his lips together in satisfaction.
"So, what are you up to today?" Jack asked.
"I thought I might go topside and talk to Sherry for a bit," Ianto said. Jack nodded. He was expecting something like that after their conversation the night before. "You?"
"I'm going back to my puzzle," Jack said. Ianto smiled at him. "I think if I can use it as a distraction from this other issue, something just might float to the surface. I feel like there's an important detail that I'm forgetting, and the more I try to think of what it is, the more it skitters away somewhere else. So a little puzzle solving might prove to be a good distraction for a couple of hours.
"You know where to find me if you need me." Jack saluted him with his mug and headed off towards his Kralyro puzzle.
"Have fun," Ianto said. He made a cup of coffee for Sherry to bring upstairs with him. Carrying both that and his own out the door, he took the lift up to the office level. He hit the release button with his elbow and ducked through the opening. Sherry looked up from where she was reading a magazine.
"Hi there," Ianto said as he entered the room. "Thought you might want some coffee."
"Oh thank you," she said, gratefully accepting the mug. She pulled a stool over so he could sit. "You didn't have to!"
"I know," Ianto said as he sat down. "I wanted to. I know how thankless this job up here can be." He smiled at her. "No one understands why it's necessary."
"True," she said. "I think the rest think Jack just brought me in to fill the empty office and they don't see the point." Ianto could see that her lack of self confidence showed through here. He wondered if he was ever that young and unsure of himself.
"I used to do this job when I first started here," Ianto told her. She gave him a wide eyed look. "The place was a disaster. It was just a front in those days, so no one bothered. Outdated materials and dust all over the place." Ianto looked around the gleaming office. "It's so different now."
"Do you think?" Sherry asked as she looked around the room. "Is that a good thing?"
"Yes, I think it is," Ianto said. "Do you like working here?" Sherry nodded and he smiled. "This place can be pretty strange sometimes."
"I'm used to strange," she said with a little laugh. Ianto smiled at her. Her laugh was musical and one couldn't help but to smile when she did it. She glanced at him and then back down at her hands which were wrapped around the mug. "It doesn't bother me too much."
"Well, that's something, Ianto said. He rested a foot on one of the rungs of the stool and wrapped his arm around his knee. "Because you never know what you may find around here."
"Like waking up far into the future?" She asked. She looked up at him and he nodded. "Is this terribly strange for you?" Ianto considered her question for a moment.
"No more than usual," he said lightly. "I've gotten used to odd things happening in my time here. I do miss my family, though." She nodded and looked down. "But Jack took care of them for me."
"Jack's good that way," Sherry said. "Always watching out for people. He's sort of an uncle of mine," she confided. Ianto smiled at her admission.
"Oh? " He didn't want to volunteer how much he knew just in case she wanted to tell him herself.
"Yeah, a long time friend of the family," she said. "He's been very good to me."
The secret door opened up and Rob came through the gap. "Hi."
"Hello Rob," Ianto said and Sherry smiled at him. "Headed out?"
"Yeah, wanted to go look around the Assembly again," Rob said. He stopped and fished out his keys from his trouser pocket.
"Need some help?" Ianto asked. Rob shook his head. "I'd be happy to come with you if you want."
"No, I'll be fine," Rob assured him. "I promised Jack I'd keep my link on, so if anything pops up you can give me a shout. I'll see you guys later." With another wave he headed out the door, passing a couple of tourists on their way in. Ianto got up and stood back to let Sherry handle them. It was easy to see that when she spoke about something she was comfortable with, such as this tourist information, she was much more self assured. She gave them the info they needed and sent them on their way.
"I guess I should go back downstairs," Ianto mused. "Might be some research I can do that can help."
"This thing," Sherry said as he turned to go. "It sounds really bad, doesn't it?"
"Yes," Ianto said. He knew that the team tended to shelter Sherry, but he also felt that they had to be honest with her. He of all people knew that a shy exterior could hide a lot. "It's bad."
"Can you stop it?" She asked.
"We're going to try, which is all we can do." Ianto said with a nod. "We'll figure out something."
"Good," Sherry said as she turned away. "Because something tells me it's going to get worse before it gets better."
Ianto went back down to the Hub, troubled by her comment. He wasn't sure if it was just a comment or whether she might have some foreknowledge of what was to come. He was frowning slightly as he came back down the lift and headed back through the door into the Hub's main room. Jack could be seen walking around his puzzle, and the others were working on other things. Ianto went over to Rob's empty console and logged in. Soon he was sifting through news reports which featured any of the individuals who were on the list from their discussion the evening before. Perhaps somewhere there he could find something to point him towards the intended target.