I'm stuck in a meeting: a meeting whose attendees consisted of myself, Anna, and one Oscar Lee. Now, Mr. Lee was a familiar face, I noticed as he made his way into the room and sat down across the table from Anna and myself. Something about him screamed deja vu, from the way he sauntered in as if the millions of microscopic, invisible processes that sustained our lives on Earth were required to stop and watch him, to the way his speech demanded a sort of attention and respect that one would give to the most esteemed of public speakers. Truly a man of the people.

A man, who's trying way too hard to be Che Guevara. Fitting, considering his occupation.

"Greetings, ladies!" he exclaims as he settles in his chair. I look him in the eye for a split second before averting attention to the table that separated us. Anna looks down at me, a scowl forming on her face. Clearing her throat, she looks back to Oscar before starting to speak in a slow, monotonous tone.

"You seem awfully peppy this morning."

"Why wouldn't I be? It's a beautiful morning! Not to mention, I think we might be on the verge of launching our operation. What's there to not like about today?"

"Oh, I don't know," Anna says between sips from the solid purple thermos in her hand. My eyes peer upward from the admittedly boring beyond comprehension regurgitation splatter of beige paint against a wooden surface to observe the ongoing (soon to be) argument. Why anyone would feel the need to paint a wooden table beige is beyond me. "The fact that it's five in the morning? And instead of sleeping, I'm sitting here and listening to you prattle on like a bloody buffoon; a cheery figurehead in the grand scheme of this second coming of the Glorious Revolution? That's at least two things, do you need me to continue?"

Wow, I didn't think Anna had it in her to go off in that way on somebody. Wait, has Kea been influencing her? No, can't be. They can't stand each other, duh! Oscar stares back at her, jaw dropped slightly. The dejected look in his eye is honestly kind of saddening. However, just as I note that, they light back up: fiery. Oh no, she always warned that he had a temper.

"My my, Miss Nyman. I can honestly say that I'm shocked! Shocked that someone like you: a woman we brought on solely for her ability to make whatever bullshit we say sound like it was written by Shakespeare is calling me a figurehead-"

"Calm down, you two!" says a rather sharp dressed man, who's standing in the doorway. Once absolute silence was reached throughout the room, he steps all the way into the room, looking from Anna to Oscar and back again. Again, I have to say that he looks awfully familiar to me. Not in the sense that I've seen him at any point while getting settled at this compound, but from somewhere else. "I let you two alone for a few minutes due to traffic, and the next thing I know, I'm about to walk in on the scene of a fuckin' murder? I thought you two were professionals, dammit!"

Without warning, as he approaches the desk, he slams his closed fist on the top, causing the entire table to vibrate from surface to legs. I'm shaken back to sitting straight up in my seat, and he takes a look down at me, a smirk coming across his lips. "Well well; I wasn't aware we had a guest."

"She's with me, sir," Anna says, her voice shaking.

"It's quite alright, Miss Nyman. I didn't say I was annoyed at this revelation. Just," his eyes find their way back to me, and I contemplate hiding my face on the table again. "A surprise." He grins at me. My blood runs cold as his serpentine gaze refuses to focus on anyone else.

"Anyway, back to the matter that I walked in on: what was that quarrel all about?"

"Well sir,"

"I don't give a damn what it was about!" Once more, his fist slams against the table. "I will never say you two are required to like each other, but you will have to work together if this plan is ever going to work. Now, can you do that for me?"

"Yes, sir," both voices say in unison.

"Very good. Now, was that so hard?"

"About as hard as you are condescending, sir."

"Mister Lee; I take offense to that. Nothing's as condescending as I am to a pair of whiners who need to realize this show ain't about them."

"Whatever, sir," he says with a roll of his eyes.

"Anyway: I have some very good news! It would appear our order has gone through, and not only that, but it will be arriving today at sunset."

"I don't mean to be rude, but is sunset really a solid time to set up a meeting?"

"Honey, don't you worry your pretty little head about the details of this transaction. If I decide to take you with, you'll learn all you need to know about it then."

"You're not really thinking about doing that, are you?"

"Why wouldn't I? She's made more positive contributions to this discussion than you have." To that, Anna snickers. "That goes double for you, Nyman." And just like that, the snicker subsides. She turns to me, and whispers something that I can't even make out under her breath before taking a big swig from her thermos.

"And after we pick up the package, we'll be one step closer to the grand unveiling of our intentions. One step closer to a new world."

Weird, and here I was thinking that Lee was the one in charge of sounding like a pompous, arrogant hack. Well, he must've learned it somewhere I guess. The sharp dressed man backs away from the table, turning back towards the door he came in through before ultimately saying: "Dismissed. Meet me back here at 4:30 PM, you included." From behind his back, he points over at me. I get out of my seat and walk over to him, much to the inaudible dismay of Anna.

"Hey," I say as I jump right out in front of him. "I don't believe I caught your name..."

"Haha! You must really be new here, huh? You can call me Derrick. Derrick Montenegro." And with that, he pushes past me and walks out the door, disappearing down one of the branching paths of hallways. I turn back to Anna and leave the room with her, one thought floating around in my head as we make our way back to our living quarters:

Where have I heard that name before?