Amy sat alone in her studio apartment, curled up in the single armchair that occupied the room. She was always alone these days. Usually she didn’t mind, but it was becoming somewhat of a drag. Apparently spending day in, day out locked up in what was essentially a small bedroom wasn’t great for your mental health. Who knew?
Maybe it was time to find a job. At the very least, it’d give her something to do. A spot of modelling, perhaps? They always seemed pretty happy on TV. Or there was always acting. That sounded like a laugh.
Or maybe she could set her sights lower. After all, if she didn’t find something soon, she’d be sitting alone and bored in the middle of a street. The only question was, what jobs were out there for someone with no qualifications and no employment history? Hell, she’d only had one job interview in her life, and that was for-
A sound cut her trail of thought off. It wouldn’t have, but it was the middle of the night and the sound was insanely loud, like someone was landing a helicopter in the backyard of her close. She glanced towards the window that overlooked the garden.
“Huh,” she said out loud. Apparently, someone was, in fact, landing a helicopter in the backyard of her close.
For the first time in possibly hours, she pushed herself up from her seat and walked over to the window. It was dark, but a number of apartment lights were turning on, giving her just enough to see the man climbing out of the chopper. She was too high up to get a good look at his face, but she could see his crisp, dark suit, the briefcase that hung by his side and the almost old-timey hat that sat on his head. He reached into his pocket and removed something that could have been a phone, but equally could have been a pocket watch, given the fact that he looked like he’d walked out of the 1920s.
As he paused to look at the thing in his hand, Amy pressed her nose up against the glass to try and get a better look at what it was. She’d have stayed there, except a vibration from her back pocket forced her to turn her attention away. She slipped the phone out, took one glance at the screen, looked back up at the man, then looked back at the screen to make sure she hadn’t misread the message.
Instead of a number it just read “Unknown”, although she had a good idea of who’d sent it. The entire message was just two words, after all – “Come outside”.
Even from her height, she could tell the man was looking up at her now. It was weird, to say the least, but it was also the most interesting thing that had happened in days, so she slipped into her trainers, pulled on her vest-jacket and headed outside.
“Amelia Woods,” the man said as she approached, “I’ve come to request your assistance.”
“I suppose you’re with those special forces people, huh?” she asked. The man nodded. “And here I thought you guys didn’t like me.”
“Whether we like you or not is irrelevant,” the man said, a little too stiffly for her liking. Was he unable to smile or something? “What matters is that we need you. Are you in?”
She took a look back to her empty apartment, then turned to the man and grinned. “I’m in. Just give me the details.”