Chapter Text
Staff walking around with piles of paperwork. Multiple agents, each armed with a silenced pistol. The halls of this hidden, underground base contained people who had but one purpose: to fight for peace. That was the inner workings of WISE, the Westalian Intelligence Services' Eastern-Focused Division.
A report from Agent Twilight made its way through the corridors of the WISE headquarters. It contained the latest developments of Operation ‘Strix.’ Being placed on top of a pile of other reports, a staff member brought it to a particular office within the headquarters. Knocking three times, they awaited permission to enter.
“Come in,” a woman spoke through the closed door.
***
The staff member entered the room, piles of paperwork in hand. The office is collaborative and able to house a small team of people. Being well organized, each item and piece of equipment in the room had its proper place. The men and women within this office had their respective taskings, these tasks being completed with utmost efficiency. The one managing them was none other than Sylvia Sherwood.
“Good afternoon, Handler. I have reports from multiple agents that I’ve been asked to submit to you,” the staff member said.
“Afternoon. Just place them on my desk,” Sylvia replied as she signaled where the reports should be set down.
As she let out a tired sigh, Sylvia began working through the stack of reports. The one she picked up first was from Agent Twilight. It read:
O p e r a t i o n S t r i x
S t a t u s : O n g o i n g .
P r o g r e s s : M y d a u g h t e r c a n n o w r u n a q u a r t e r o f a k i l o m e t e r .
Sylvia took a couple of moments to process what she had just read.
Again? Just how slow is Operation Strix progressing? This is the fourth time he’s given such a lacking report.
She rubbed the bridge of her nose. The end goal. The means to achieve it. What position was Twilight currently in?
“Fake family…” She scoffed lightly.
The absurdity of the entire operation became apparent to her– the means to execute it, rather. He was succeeding, sure. But these reports… the line between fake and genuine attachment began to blur.
Need I lecture him?
It seemed to her that a stern refresher on avoiding attachments was necessary. He even used ‘my daughter’ when referring to Anya. She trained him better than that. Her eyebrows slightly furrowed, trying to analyze her agent’s recent behavior. But the longer Sylvia’s contemplation went on, the more the twinges of sorrow built up within her.
The ‘daughter,’ such a crucial piece to the puzzle that is Operation Strix. For a moment, she felt like a mother again; comforting Anya about the bomb dogs brought out Sylvia's dormant maternal instincts. She promised her that they would be taken care of, a promise that would be kept. Sylvia even went as far as taking in the german shepherd shot by twilight.
Yeah… A total sweetheart
Sylvia’s lips curled into a small smile. Maybe she would overlook Twilight’s report after all. Again. This would be the last time she’d let it slide, however, swearing that the next time such a report was submitted to her, he would get a very stern talking-to.
She placed Twilight’s report down after marking it as clear, her smile dropping afterward. Invasive thoughts of unconscious envy began swirling around in Sylvia’s head.
A bad habit of her’s started to show itself again. Whenever Sylvia read Twilight’s lacking reports, these reports containing images of the Forger family, Anya would be the one to catch her attention the most. It was as if her own vision was betraying her. Anya’s bright pink hair was gradually replaced with a reddish hue, as if she was seeing her own–
“No,” Sylvia quietly muttered.
She sighed, mentally shaking the thoughts away. Time wasted looking at the past could’ve been better spent fighting for the future. Her fingers hesitantly moved to the next batch of reports. The rest of her afternoon consisted of monotonously reviewing them, as it was a somewhat uneventful day in Berlint.