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[h3] [color=5ffb17] Wednesday, 10:57 a.m. to roughly 12:07 p.m.[/color][/h3][/center]

	Sunlight filtered through her closed eyelids, making Talia groan. She moved to roll over in her bed, to find the alarm clock and check the time, but instead fell off a couch. An open suitcase jabbed painfully into her ribs. 
	[color=5ffb17]“Ow,”[/color] she muttered, blinking through the haze of sleep.
	She managed to push the suitcase beneath a coffee table. Before her mind could fully comprehend where she was, Kalik stood from beside the couch and nuzzled her neck with his cold, wet nose. 
	Talia smiled and scratched the husky-retriever behind the ears as things finally clicked.
	Autumn and her Sector X had spared little time in getting Talia to Virginia. With her larger and less necessary belongings promised delivery in no more than a fortnight, she packed the bare necessities, readied her beloved furry friends, and boarded a plane. Four hours and a trip to good ol’ Walmart later, she found herself asleep in a new, small house. In a new city. All for a new job she hoped would not backfire on her.
	Talia took a deep breath, first-day jitters sparking to life and making her stomach churn. [color=5ffb17][i]At least with their efficiency, they’re [u]definitely[/u] not the government,[/i][/color] she thought, trying to ease her worry.
	A loud growling hiss rose from beneath the couch. Talia looked under the raised sofa, and two pairs of angry feline eyes stared back at her.
	[color=5ffb17]“You’ll get used to it. Promise.”[/color] Talia gave Ronaldo and McMuffin a small smile, which one of them returned with another growl, then rose to her knees.
	Kalik sat in front of her, watching as she grabbed her phone from the coffee table to check the time.
	[color=5ffb17]“Crap!”[/color] She jumped to her feet, then hurried to and up the carpeted steps to the small hallway of the second floor.
	Still dressed in her clothes from the previous day, she went to the empty room she planned to make her bedroom. Pulling one of the few outfits she had brought with and hung up in the closet the night before, she rushed through her morning routine, freshening up as well as she could.
	Kalik waited for her outside the bathroom door. He stood and wagged his curled, bushy tail at her when she came out. Shiny new tags hanging from a brown collar around his neck glinted in the sunlight filtering through a hallway window.
	She pulled out her phone, gauging the time and how long it would take her to get to Sector X.
	[color=5ffb17]“Got a few minutes for exercise,”[/color] she said to Kalik as she shoved her phone back in a pocket. She led him back downstairs, then to the kitchen.
	Talia paused in the kitchen, which expanded into the dining room, admiring the space and elegant black counters and matching island. 
	A soft whine from Kalik made her attention shift back to him. In the barren dining room, he pawed impatiently at the floor beside a large sliding glass door leading to a deck.
	Talia opened the door for him. With a glance to Talia, Kalik stepped outside with the girl at his tail.
	Though not the largest yard, it housed a couple trees, and a gloriously tall fence prevented easy view of the yard from the neighbors. The deck expanded a fair amount of the back of the house, with a couple steps leading to a sidewalk below.
	Talia cast a look around at the fencing to be sure there were no prying eyes. With a satisfied nod, she watched Kalik for a moment as he sniffed at one of the trees.
	Taking a breath, she leapt down the steps as the tugging, tingly sensation of her body morphing into a young husky-mix pulled at her. Her off-white blouse took on a golden hue that spread over her upper body, and the black of her pants turned to fur that made it look as if she had waded through ink.
	She stepped onto the grass and sniffed at it, the sweet, earthy scent inviting. 
	Finished marking his territory, Kalik looked to Talia and cocked his head. “Talia Jones.”
	[color=5ffb17]“Mornin’!”[/color] Talia wagged her tail. [color=5ffb17]“Call me T.J., would you? Or just Talia. So, I don’t have long before I have to report into work. Thought some exercise would be nice, though.”[/color] She lowered her head toward the ground playfully. [color=5ffb17]“Betchya can’t catch me!”[/color]
	She sprinted off around the yard, pausing only to see if Kalik had made chase. For the next few minutes, they bounded around the yard, Talia with youthful energy and Kalik with a cautious eye cast about the grounds.
	Finally, Talia used her teeth to pull Kalik to a stop by his collar.
	[color=5ffb17]“Sorry, gotta go.”[/color] She trotted back toward the deck. [color=5ffb17]“I’ll see you afterwards, though! I’ll leave the glass door cracked open for you to get in and out… just make sure the cats don’t escape, and nothing else comes in.”[/color]
	“I’m going with you.”
	The finality in his voice made Talia stop and turn around. [color=5ffb17]“Huh?”[/color]
	“I’m not staying here without you.” He stood beside her, his form larger than hers. “And certainly not with two terrified [i]cats.[/i]” He snorted. “I owe you a great debt. I’m going with you.”
	[color=5ffb17]“You don’t [i]owe[/i] me anything.”[/color] Talia sat. She looked at him a moment before her ears pulled back and she gave him a hard stare. [color=5ffb17]“You’re to wait here for me.”[/color]
	“[i]If[/i] you manage to leave me here, I’ll howl until everyone on the street hears.” Kalik inhaled as if to do just that.
	Talia gave a grumbling growl, then sighed. [color=5ffb17]“I’ll make a call. See what I can do for now, but you’d have to be nice to everyone you meet.”[/color]
	She turned back to the deck and returned to her human self. Kalik sat on the sidewalk at the bottom of the stairs, watching her expectantly as she called the only person she knew in Sector X.
	After a short chat with a helpful man in the Human Resources department, Talia looked down at Kalik from the top of the steps and crossed her arms, trying to suppress a smile.
	[color=5ffb17]“C’mon, ‘work dog.’”[/color] She jerked her head toward the open sliding door. Despite her stern tone, relief flooded through her at not having to enter the unknown alone. [color=5ffb17]“Just [i]be good.[/i]”[/color]
	Kalik gave a happy bark, his tail wagging as he strode smugly into the house.
	[color=5ffb17]“Maybe I’ll get you trained to be a therapy dog or something.”[/color] Talia bounded inside after him.
	After dishing out a quick breakfast for the household, Talia grabbed her hat, purse, and Kalik’s leash from inside the front closet, and left.
	Kalik’s comforting presence trudged beside her without the leash attached. Her human nervousness clashed with the dog’s sense of adventure still mulling around inside her, warring against each other as she occasionally rushed forward, egging Kalik to go faster.
	They soon arrived at the rows of seemingly normal storage units. As they neared, Talia clipped the leash onto Kalik’s collar. The lax officer manning the lightly gated entrance let her through with a brandish of her “Guest” badge and directed her toward Unit “A17.”
	She found the unit with little difficulty. Tucked between two other units near the end of a row, a card reader guarded the loading area. She cast an instinctive glance around, then ran the magnetized portion of the badge through the reader.
	With a click, the blinking red light on the device turned green, and the metal door popped up a few inches.
	[color=5ffb17][i]Wonder if there’re chips or something in the cars that make these unlock and open themselves.[/i][/color] Every James Bond and other spy movie she had ever seen ran through her mind as she raised the bay door enough for her and Kalik to enter.
	The dog’s ears pulled back, and he cautiously crept inside ahead of her. As soon as Talia entered behind him, a string of florescent bulbs buzzed to life above, lighting the metal-lined room. A bit smaller than she expected, it looked standard enough besides a normal-sized door at the back of the unit.
	The bay door closed itself, making Talia jump and Kalik spin around and growl at it. 
	She placed a gentle hand on Kalik’s back--though whether to reassure the dog or herself she was not entirely sure--and went to the back of the unit.
	Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and stepped into a narrow hall that looked like it ran the length of the entire storage unit strip. Corrugated steel lined the walls, and a couple fans rotated lazily amidst the florescent light fixtures and ductwork overhead. A few thin windows situated high up let in daylight.
	[color=5ffb17][i]Last daylight I’ll see for a while, I bet.[/i][/color] Talia frowned, then forced a tight smile as Kalik whined.
	A piece of paper taped to the metal hung in front of her. An arrow labeled “LOBBY AND ELEVATORS” printed on it pointed to the left.
	[color=5ffb17]“This way.”[/color] Talia nodded down the hall as another door opened ahead of them. A man dressed in a white suit shirt and holding a shiny briefcase emerged. Without noticing them, he strode determinedly down the hall.
	At the end of the hall, stairs led underground. After another short, winding hall, the space widened significantly. Lined with plaster walls, open doorways she assumed led to other rows of storage units branched off the main hallway. A few other people entered from the branches, most too busy in their own little world to pay her or Kalik much attention.
	At a security station manned by three officers, she waited her turn and abided the guard’s wishes. After a final, short flight of wide stairs with an unconventionally tall ceiling, she came to a well-lit rectangular room. Three elevators waited on one of the longer walls, and a grand staircase mirrored each other at the shorter ones.
	The smell of coffee saturated the space, the [i]shhhhhhrrrit[/i] of a latté machine coming from a small café opposite the elevators. A short line of people stood in front of it, waiting to suck down their afternoon cup of Joe. A receptionist desk sat near the café. A few armchairs were placed in a wide circle around a table stocked messily with magazines, a couple of the seats occupied.
	A dark-skinned man and petite woman holding a large duffel bag conversed in front of the elevators as they waited, and the man with a briefcase Talia had seen earlier sipped quietly at a foam coffee cup.
	With a loud [i]ding,[/i] the down arrow above an elevators lit up. The couple went inside first, followed by Briefcase-man.
	[color=5ffb17]“Hold the doors!”[/color] Talia shouted. She sprinted down the last stair toward the elevator, Kalik keeping pace.
	Briefcase-man pressed a button as the doors started to close, making them slide back open.
	[color=5ffb17]“Thanks!”[/color] Talia gave him an appreciative smile as she and Kalik made it safely on the elevator, the couple moving aside to give them enough room.
	“Yep.” Briefcase-man released the button, and the doors closed with another, gentle ding. “What floor?”
	[color=5ffb17]“First floor.”[/color] Her brows furrowed as he pressed the button furthest down on the number pad. [color=5ffb17]“Uh, I said the [i]first[/i] floor…”[/color]
	Briefcase-man smirked. “That [i]is[/i] the first floor. You’ve just left the seventh floor. First day?”
	“Yeah.” Talia gave a self-conscious smile. 
	“New recruit!” The woman’s face lit up. “Welcome. You’ll get used to the floor numbers.” The woman smiled at Talia. “Beautiful dog.” She placed a hand on the railing as the elevator began its descent. “I’m Gina Bates. Field agent.” She offered a hand to Talia. “This is my associate, Will Falto.” She nodded to the dark-skinned man. “Gun expert.”
	[color=5ffb17]“Talia Jones.”[/color] She shook the woman’s hand, then the man’s as Briefcase-man's focus returned to his coffee.
	Will got off the elevator first, saying a quick farewell to his friend in his Spanish accent. The women left two floors later, with Briefcase-man the floor after.
	Alone, Talia looked to Kalik. The dog returned the girl’s stare, before the doors opened to the first floor.
	Talia took a deep breath and, ever thankful for Kalik’s presence, stepped off the elevator.