Chapter Text
The centre of operations was in chaos. Someone has made a catastrophic mistake: the tiniest miscalculation, a minute detail that has been overlooked, had led to a disastrous outcome. Now a young man was dead, and countless more lives had been disrupted.
A string of operatives gather in the private office of their superior. The man himself is sitting at the desk, eyes closed. There is a slightest tremor in the steepled fingers – if not for that tiny hint of humanity, he might as well be a frozen statue. The operatives suffer through the uncomfortable silence, none daring to break it.
“I shall take full responsibility for the failure,” the statue of a man facing them suddenly springs to life, opening his hard eyes. None of the operatives dares to object. “Dismissed.” There is an almost tangible sigh of collective relief, and they start to filter out of the office.
One last person, a senior operative, lingers.
The man behind the desk asks, “How can I make it right?” The operative has no answer - though they are in the business of pulling off minor miracles, even he cannot bring the dead back to life.
As the man in the three-piece suit drops his head into his hands, the operative flees.