JUNE 25TH, 2007
Kingfisher stood at the window, watching the world outside from his 10th story office. His back was facing a long, mahogany table, at which three people were seated.
"I refuse to stand for this atrocity!" a man with balding hair exclaimed.
"It's our best option right now," a tall, slender woman argued.
"Halcyon is dying, Karina!" the man shouted back. "If we keep with this foolish endeavor, the agency will take us down with it!"
"I have faith in our plan-" Karina was interrupted by the balding man, who yelled "WHAT. PLAN?! Karina, three directors are dead, and countless operatives have gone missing! The agency's dead. I can see it. You, however, cannot!"
"So you'd rather see our hard work GONE in an instant, Daisuke?" Karina retorted.
"If it means not DYING, then yes, yes, a thousand TIMES yes!" Daisuke shot back.
"You know what? Let's ask Mason what he thinks. Mason!" Karina called.
Kingfisher didn't reply.
"MASON!" Daisuke also called, his thick brows lowering.
'I think the organization should stay," Kingfisher remarked from the desk. The other directors started as the dummy at the window fell back, a clean hole in its head.
"Mason... if you ever do that again, I don't care how long we've been friends, I am killing you then and there," Karina panted.
"It was a necessary step, Hummingbird," Kingfisher replied.
"Will you let go of those names, man? They're crude and almost always ineffective!" Daisuke cringed.
"...What Daisuke MEANS to ask, Mason, is how we're going to survive this ordeal," Karina threw a dirty look at Daisuke. "We need a plan of action."
Kingfisher wordlessly threw a manila folder on the table. There was an emblem of an eye with two horns on each end.
"You... you couldn't possibly be suggesting..." Daisuke stammered.
"I am," Kingfisher replied.
"Mason, I thought we went over this already. We CAN'T use Daybreak. Not now, when the technology is still a prototype." Karina sighed. "If word gets out of its existence, everyone in the organization would be killing each other to have it."
"Does anyone have a better idea?" Kingfisher asked.
No one responded, though Daisuke looked visibly frustrated.
"... That's what I thought," Mason replied.
