Alec's POV

Alec leaned over his desk. Many versions of the same idea sat before him, some were in pencil with neat annotations dotted around a detailed sketch and others were just quick scribbles of pen on napkins when a developed version of his idea suddenly hit him.

Training as a Weapons Specialist had so far been fun. It was a weird type of freedom that oddly felt a lot like he was back in Erudite creating and planning pranks and mischievous tricks with his sisters and Cody. Ryan, the head, had met him on that first Monday in the Pit at nine. Alec was thankful for the lie in having heard that Issy and Hec started at six that day. Suckers. Ryan had led him out of the compound and into on of the surrounding buildings. The plague above the door had WDS Restricted Access etched in and Ryan handed him a key card with a picture of him in one corner, his full name to the side of it, followed by his rank and several rows of numbers sectioned by GP, SEC and OF. On the back of the card was a large barcode and Alec held the card against the scanner until the door clicked open. The key card would get Alec into the building, the knife range and the gun range. Only the Leaders and Ryan have all access throughout the building.

Alec was led through corridors, up stairs and in lifts as Ryan explained what happened in what parts of the building and with fifteen floors there was a lot of room. The basement was just where they stored the weapons they have made or just have as a backup and the first three levels had several types of knife ranges. The next three levels were where the labs were, where they developed bombs and similar stuff. The next four levels handled the tech side, like those weird disk things that Hugo was/is producing, and drones. Two levels above that technicians developed a range of bulletproof items, the last three floors were where the offices are and the roof was used as a gun range. Apparently Dauntless had a lot of weapons, enough for a war if it came to it.

When they came to the fourteenth floor Ryan led him through corridor after corridor with loads of doors on either side with name plates on. He stopped at two doors that were opposite each other. One said Hugo.V and the other said Alec.V. He got handed a key for his door and when he opened it, he was greeted with a large room. In the middle of the room was a big table that could be folded into a smaller desk, a wheelie chair was in one corner and against one wall was a large white board and against the opposite wall was a chalkboard. When Alec turned back around Hugo was leaning against the door frame sharing a grin with Ryan. Alec was told he had six weeks to come with a suitable idea of a weapon of some sort, make it and then present it to the Leaders and Ryan at the end of the six weeks.

Now, three weeks in, Alec was stuck. Maybe he was thinking too big but it was such a good idea and he didn't have enough time to come up with another idea. With a quick look to the clock, he noticed he had been staring at his ideas for more than three hours now so he decided to take a quick break. Alec didn't have timetabled hours as such but he did have to come in for at least four hours a day on weekdays and at least two hours on a weekend. He left his office, locking the door behind him, and made his way down to the break room where there was a kitchenette.

He directed his thoughts elsewhere and Lilah immediately popped up in his mind. A small smile made its way onto his face as he walked into the break room. A groan immediately sounded out when he walked in and Alec lifted his head to see Matt leaning against the counter, grimacing slightly. He turned to Hugo who was slouching in a chair with a cup of coffee already in his hands.

"He's thinking of his girl again!" Matt whined to Hugo and Alec rolled his eyes.

"Shut up Matt, stop complaining. You're just jealous that he actually has someone compared to you." Hugo snapped lightly before he lifted his cup up to Alec. "Brother please?" Alec laughed, grabbing his brother's mug and placing it on the counter before opening the top cupboard and taking out his mug. Everyone on the fourteenth floor has their own mug. Alec had no idea where it came from but he was told by Hugo, who had chosen Alec's mug, that it had stopped people from fighting over mugs and that the mugs were actually made and personalised. It had just become this silly ritual really. Alec's mug was black with goldish-yellow cracks like marble and a bold white text saying The Brains Behind Mischief. As Hugo knew, Alec was the brains behind many of Issy's pranks and tricks. Issy being Mischief of course. Hugo's mug was simply a dark red, like the colour of wine and it had a crooked print saying Neuro Stim Nuts. Alec really didn't want to know the story behind that nickname...

As Alec made them both coffee he listened to Matt and Hugo debate about fuck knows what. First it was about Matt's girlfriend – at which point Hugo had a coughing fit and Alec was sure he heard liar and bullshit and not possible in between the coughs – then it escalated onto Hugo and he not having anyone – this time Hugo spluttered on his words and turned red. Alec thought this would be a great moment to give Hugo his mug back. He picked up both mugs and brought them over to the table, placing Hugo's mug in front of him before Alec placed his own mug down a few place away from his brother. As soon as he sat down his phone buzzed and a grin lit up his face. Matt groaned again but Alec ignored him as he opened the message.

Lilah –

Have you worked out the system yet?

Alec sighed as he replied quickly. No, I just can't seem to make the connection work... This is early for you isn't it?

The other Leaders hadn't given me many reports to do and my dad just said I could have an early break today.

... What about if you used the technology you and Issy used with those headsets and the block things? Would that work?

Alec's eyebrows furrowed together as he puffed out a breath. 'Would it work?' If he was to attach a harness of some sort to it that connects to a headset... His eyes widened as his hand shot out and grabbed a napkin before catching the pen that Hugo had knowingly thrown his way and started to dotted ideas and methods down. When he had covered two napkins on both sides, he tossed the pen back towards his brother and started typing his reply to Lilah.

You are such a WONDERFUL person! You've unblocked my mind! Thank yoouuuu! Honestly, what would I do without you?!

Alec locked his phone and shoved into his back pocket as he downed his coffee. In less than three strides he was at the sink and he quickly washed out his mug before placing it to dry. On his way out of the room he picked up his notes, ignoring the look of confusion from Matt and the knowing smirk from Hugo. Back in his office Alec wiped his chalkboard clean and started to transfer his notes over, adding little ideas as he went until he had his first draft ready to be built and tested. Grinning to himself, he started to test it out way into the night.