Mr. James Tenson, sitting on a lonely bench somewhere in oxford, took out his Palm Pilot and began to write. It was just outside the city centre and too early for there to be anyone passing, there would be no distractions.

His gloved hand shook slightly as he began writing in the speech he was going to give to his fellow party members the next day. It was cold as he had anticipated and he himself was barely visible under the many layers of various jackets and scarves. His breath came in ghostly clouds and he bent low over his work. He had chosen a spot by the river, not specifically; he had just been ended up there. It was eerily still and the normally vibrant colours of the water, trees and surrounding features were dull as if the place itself was lethargic and lifeless.

James sighed; he was not enjoying the thought of handing his daughter, Kate, over to one of those places that until now he had always viciously supported. He would not change his mind over this, but that didn't make it easy. He shook his head and forced himself to look back over his work so far, reading it through, altering things here and there, but never completely with it.

He had chosen to write it away from the house because the atmosphere in that place was almost stifling. James just wanted this to be over as quickly as it could be. He tried not to think about it too much. 40 minutes passed, and his work was took shape and drew towards a definite ending. For a while he finally lost himself in it, oblivious to the city slowly awakening around him. James began to feel better and as he packed his things into his bag, he felt more certain that this could all work out. "For the good of the family" he told himself, and shut out the shreds of doubt crawling back into his mind. "For the good of the family"

He stepped out and headed down the road that would lead him home.

*~*~*

Kate peered through the slight opening in the door, her eyes darted round the darkened hallway and then settled on each of the bedroom doors in turn. She blinked, surprised at what she could see. Just days ago she would have hardly seen anything, the only light that came from a tiny window was thin and pale in the young daylight. But as she felt her eyes swiftly adjusting, she could see as if it were bright sunshine. This was weird, but a small part of her was grinning inwardly. 'Night vision' would be useful however unnatural some people thought it was. Taking in this new experience she shifted from her crouching position to kneeling, and sitting up on her bare feet. Closing her eyes she paused to listen She realised that she had in fact changed quite a bit, without even noticing it. Even through the doors and space between the sleeping people and her, she could hear their slow, rhythmic breathing. There weren't many other sounds in the house, but her ears caught them all and she was aware of tiny details she had never come across. The deep hum of the electrical appliances downstairs, the sound of water heating up in the pipes beneath the floorboards. She could smell knew things too. She sniffed audibly and felt silly for a moment before realising that she was fully alone. The dust in the carpet, the paint in her room, her families' individual scents. The most surprising of these being her own scent. She had never even thought about it before. Weird.

Finally satisfied that there was no one else awake in the house, she crept silently along to the kitchen, taking in all the new information she was being bombarded with from all directions. When she reached it, she went about making herself a bowl of cereal. Her plan was to just eat breakfast quickly without having to face anyone else along the way. She couldn't get back to sleep anyway, she had been trying and failing for the last hour at least. And she was ravenously hungry, dinner the last thing on her mind the night before.

Her hand shook slightly as she mechanically brought the food to her mouth. The heating had only just started up. Although she was enveloped in her dressing gown, it was still cold. Her head swirled with the uncertainty of what was to happen to her and she sighed and tried not to think about it too much.

Finally finished, she shoved her bowl and spoon into the sink and, after grabbing some fruit and crisps to store in her room for later, went back to bed.