Prelude - From Lowly Beginnings...

"So that means that... Wait, what does that mean?" He asked.

"Well, if you take the x over to the other side..."

"Ah, I see..."

Sima leant back in her chair. It looked as though she'd done enough, and that one more person finally understood quadratic equations. For the past hour, Sima had been helping a number of people, including the latest and her good friend Alex, work through many of the things that they didn't understand in maths. It was only a matter of time before they would become proficient enough to help others, and so on. Amongst the rush of the GCSE years, she thought, it was good to get a chance to relax a bit and unwind. However, the opportunity never presented itself to her, except for on small occasions like this one. It was for this reason that she always savoured his moment, making it last for as long as possible before the inevitable,

"Sima! I need some more help..."

---ooo0ooo---

Walking down the corridors of the Agency, Keetha was suddenly struck dumb.

"x=15" she said to herself.

---ooo0ooo---

Out of nowhere, the ball came rushing past her face, very nearly hitting her squarely. However, just in time, she managed to avoid it.

"No fair!" she exclaimed, "That could have been serious!"

"Calm down Sima," came the voice from the other side of the room, "We've not hit you yet. In all the years you've been at this school, I can't think of a single time that you've been out in dodgeball. Except for that time that we all ganged up against you, but it is pretty hard to avoid 5 dodgeballs coming at you at once I'll admit."

"True, but what happens when you do hit?" she asked.

"I don't-" Her friend was cut off by another ball hitting him. "Hey, wait a minute! I wasn't ready!" Sima simply stood giggling.

---ooo0ooo---

"Here." said simply. "It's a dodgeball. Wanna play?"

"Five... But..." After a momentary pause, she returned to her senses. "Dodgeball? Yeah, sure I'll play."

---ooo0ooo---

As she was walking down the street, Sima heard a shout behind her.

"Sima! Wait up!" She turned around. It was Alex. She stopped to wait for her, as Alex sped up to catch Sima. "I thought you'd gone half deaf," she exclaimed, "I was calling you for ages!"

"Yeah, sorry about that," Sima replied as the pair started walking again. "I was... distracted..."

"When are you not?" Sima just laughed. It was true though, she almost always had something on her mind, though not because she needed to. It was through choice.

"You know me. I can't bear to have an empty mind."

"Yeah, but I sometimes wonder what trouble you'll get yourself into by not concentrating..." Alex mused.

"Well, I have you for that don't I?" The two laughed, continuing on their way home.

---ooo0ooo---

Walking down the corridors of the Agency, Keetha heard someone calling her. She looked around. It was Claes.

"Keetha! I've been calling you for ages now, it's like you're half deaf!"

"I'm sorry," she replied. "I... had something on my..." She trailed off, deep in thought.

---ooo0ooo---

The doorbell rang. No reply. It rang again, this time repeatedly. Suddenly, a sign of movement. Sima stirred, getting up from the sofa and moving to open the door.

"Sima, what took you so long?" her mother asked at the door once she had finally opened it.

"I..." she trailed off, obviously thinking about something.

Her mother sighed. "Nevermind, now come on. We don't want the house getting cold, do we?"

Sima nodded, obviously having not heard. The sound of the door closing brought her to her senses, however, and she realised what was happening.

"Oh! Sorry, I was thinking. Did you do the shopping today?" she asked apologetically.

"Yes, I did, but I've already brought it in. You were standing there until I closed the door just staring into space."

"It was that long?"

"Yes... I sometimes wonder what we'll do with you, you know? It'll be hard for you to keep a job if you don't concentrate." Sima started to make a point, but was interrupted, "I know, you want to be a scientist or psycologist, where your drifting off will be a good thing. But you'll have to take other jobs first. It'll take a while for you to get to that position."

"I know." She sighed. "But... It's just hard. If I have nothing to concentrate on, then I just concentrate on nothing. That's a pretty hard concept to get your head around."

---ooo0ooo---

"Keetha!" His voice cut through the air like a knife. Keetha instantly came to her senses. "Concentrate on the target! Don't let your mind wander again, that's what caused you to fail last time. You've been sitting there for five miniutes now, and in that time countless possible suspects have passed you by."

"I'm sorry. It's just hard. If I have nothing to concentrate on, then I just concentrate on nothing. That's a pretty hard concept to get your head around, you know?"

Alcide sighed. "Just concentrate on the people, ok?"