Operator (A Hat Films Fanfic)

Prologue

"Smith?" I heard Ross call from outside my front door, his voice quiet and muffled through the wood. Loud pounding followed, signifying that he was starting to get impatient, but I ignored him; he nagged me about my long morning routines everyday, I was used to his empty threats.

When I finished pulling on my boots I quickly ran over and undid the deadbolt, allowing Ross to come inside. "Hey mate," I said, greeting him with a nod and shrugging my jacket on. It was almost too warm for one today, but because it was raining I decided to wear it anyway.

"You ready to go?" he asked, motioning towards the open door where Trott sat in his car which was parked in the round about. Normally we took Ross' car, but because his was getting repairs done, we were forced to use Trott's 1981 Omega (which Ross and I had appropriately named 'The Shit Wagon').

"Yeah, just let me get the mail first," I said, shouldering past him and ignoring any complaint as I jogged a little ways down the street to the administrative office, where our boxes were held. I could hear the Omega sputter along behind me and shift back into park as they waited.

Pulling open the glass doors, I was greeted with a pleasing site. My neighbor was there sifting through her mail as well, and beside the secretary, we were the only people in the building. "Oh hey America," I called, earning a warm smile as she looked up at me.

Almost ironically, America and her brother Mark had moved here from the United States a couple of months ago. She had just started a master's program in software design, and Mark was fresh out of a 7 year physics PhD program, now doing some kind of research at a lab in the city. They were an odd pair, and I didn't know much about their history or why they moved to Bristol, England other than the fact that Mark was offered a job. You could say I had gotten close to America; we went out on a few dates, and though I wouldn't exactly call us boyfriend and girlfriend, it was getting both serious and exclusive.

Like I had said, they were a bit odd. She had mentioned that she had a ham radio license, but I didn't really know how serious she was about the hobby until the first time America had brought me into her flat. I was shocked to find a huge world map full of tacks and string in her living room; marking out all the places she had made contact with. The rest of the room was littered with retro-looking equipment and radios. She had tried to explain to me dozens of times about frequencies and transmitters and other radio-based topics, but it all seemed too complicated for me and I rarely understood her. Still, it was nice to listen to her talk so passionately about it, so normally I would just nodded my head at certain times to show that I was halfway listening.

Her brother wasn't any better. It seemed that his workplace was the kitchen, which was always scattered with loose papers and graphs and what I could only describe is 'physics stuff'. It's not like I understood any of it, but that didn't stop him from showing me his latest project. They were both brilliant geeks, and even if I felt like I was back in school being lectured whenever I went over to their flat, I enjoyed their company immensely.

They were both musicians as well. Though primarily woodwinds, it wasn't uncommon to stumble upon an acoustic guitar or violin when in their flat. During the occasional clear days of spring, when their windows were opened, their duets or solos could be heard all around the apartment complex.

"Good morning Alex," America replied, "You off to work?" She leaned back to look around me and through the door to where Trott and Ross were motioning for me to hurry up. Luckily, I was able to keep her away from the other two long enough to get her in the habit of calling me by my first name, but now that we were sort of a thing, they were starting to close in on her like vultures. She only seemed amused by their teasing, but I worried they would cause her to run the other direction.