Agent Gray, Red with Love

The Man In the Chair... Or at Least Next To It.

  "You're late," Hayashi Ono scolded, reading a newspaper when Graham finally found her office, 15 minutes after he was supposed to.

  "Uh, sorry?" Graham said, with lack of other things to say.

  "Don't be sorry, just get here on time," the Faculty Member responded coldly, flipping a page.

   "Hey, it's a new setting. And I don't have Devineaux or Zari to help me out," Graham protested, "It was going to happen."

  Hayashi Ono laughed coldly. "'It was going to happen,' what a sorry excuse. Strive for it not to happen. As an ACME agent it is your job to be prepared for anything, including navigating your own office building."

  "Hardly a building so much as an underground bunker," Graham grumbled under his breath.

  She looked up from her news paper. "Is that a problem.... Agent Hawkins?"

  "Uhh," Graham stammered, not thinking she could hear him, "Nope, not at all. Sorry m'am."

  Hayashi Ono got up. "Good."

  She walked past Graham as if he was nothing but a pillar holding up the ceiling. Then she walked out of her office.

  It seemed a shame, as her office was quite pleasant, if not in total contrast to her office in ACME HQ Europe. 

  The walls were an ashen black, which accentuated the royal purple carpet. Her elm wood desk was more like a coffee table, where she sat on a small white pillow to do her work. On contrary to her desk in HQ Europe, this "desk" was filled with different items, including a computer, mouse and mouse pad, a bonsai tree (could those grow underground?) a few picture frames (though Graham could not see what the pictures were of) and, the only thing resembling ACME Europe, a few stacks of origami papers.

   In fact, there were two large, oak shelves of origami papers, flanking a giant map behind where the faculty member sat. Graham looked a little to his left and saw a few grey bean bags around another small table, where he assumed Miss Ono's guest would sit. Neon purple lighting knitted from the ground near where the walls met the floor, giving the room a soft purple glow. Hanging from the ceiling were white paper airplanes and cranes, at it seemed Hayashi Ono really liked origami.

  That reminded Graham eerily Paper Star, the psychotic paper wielding ninja, or whatever the official term for her was. That wasn't a very comforting thought.

  Luckily, Hayashi Ono was not Paper Star, Hayashi Ono was Hayashi Ono, faculty member and co-leader of ACME. Of course she was a little scary, between her commanding tone and her disregard for unprofessionalism, but she definitely wasn't a V.I.L.E. operative.

  She wasn't in the office either.

  Graham peeked behind the door frame, watching agents straighten as his new boss passed by. Did he follow her? Was he supposed to stay in her office and wait?

  "Pssst!"a voice whispered.

    Graham looked to his right and nearly jumped, as Darja, the original gas-gun lady who kidnapped him in Sydney, and the person who "trained" him was standing outside the door.

  "What are you doing?" She hissed.

  "I don't know! Standing?" Graham replied, not sure what that question meant.

  "Are you the new assistant?" Darja asked.

  "What is it to you?" Graham asked, defensively.

  "Just answer the question," she demanded.

  "Yes," Graham relented.

  "Well, then go after her!" She whisper-yelled.