Tamiko sat inside her Cadillac Series 62 listening to the radio as she applied the final touches of her makeup in the rear-view mirror.  She took little notice as the crackling voice droned on about the state of the war, first condemning a Luftwaffe air raid on the city of Exeter before moving on to talk about how the princess Elizabeth had registered for War service. She did however pay a little attention when the subject changed to how the Japanese had crushed Philippine and American troops on the Bataan Peninsula, seizing the bay of Manilla through their naval hegemony in East-Asia. She listened for a few moments longer before she reached over and flicked it off and gave herself one last look in the mirror, shooting her reflection a quick wink and a smile before she exited the vehicle. 

She was early this morning as she often was, she liked to be one of the first in the offices so she had some time before the other members of staff made their way in. She walked the short distance between the car parking area and the entrance to the large building. She smiled at the ununiformed security officer posted at the doorway as he opened the door for her with a smile of his own and she customarily flashed her ID badge his way. 

“Morning Miss Kitamura” he said happily greeting her. 

“Thank you Daniel” she beamed back at him as she strode through into the small lobby and made her way to the offices. She loved the Rutherford building, once a luxurious estate it had been converted a long time ago into their headquarters and was still filled with much of the original artwork and décor – rather befitting of the organisation she always thought. 
Her office was directly beside the small medical room that doubled as a storage area for office supplies and other uninteresting bits and pieces. She made her way in and flicked on the lights before she hung her coat up and sat behind the desk, quickly leafing through the stack of papers that had appeared on her desk overnight. They were nothing too important, just cost reports, various balance sheets and a few invoices that had come in. She spent several hours sorting and filing them into her obscenely well-organized system all the while making notes in the red finance logbook she kept, time getting away from her as she did.

A short while later she saw Sven leaving his office and glanced at the clock on her wall, realizing it was already time for the briefing. She pulled out a small compact mirror and again took a few moments to make sure that she looked her best before she slipped it back into her bag, exchanging it for a small non-descript brown package she made her way quickly into the kitchen area. She spent a few moments boiling a kettle of water as she opened the brown packet and removed several teabags and placed them in a pot before adding the water. Soon she had a tray filled with mugs, a very small amount of milk and some sugar cubes – as well as the pot of tea itself and made her way into the central meeting room.

She cheerfully greeted each of the others as she made her way in before setting the tray on one of the empty desks, hoping that they’d be impressed she announced “If anyone would like some tea, then please help yourselves” as she picked up a cup for herself. Tea was a luxury that few of them had been able to enjoy with much frequency since its rationing. Tamiko however just so happened to know the right people and had received a ‘care package’, so had set about sharing it with her colleagues here and there.  Not that she’d tell anyone of course, but thanks to her relationship with a certain Lord she always received more than her fair share of luxuries. 

She looked down at the briefing document that Sven handed her and gave him a curt “Thank you, Professor” and sat at one of the desks and made small talk briefly before Sven began. She loved listening to the old man speak with his accent and paid careful attention to his every word, even more so as he brought up the ‘Mirror of souls’. British Ceylon would certainly be no walk in the park, difficult terrain and a total lack of any amenities – especially if they’d be heading into the jungle. But of course with the promise of a piece of whatever this mirror was it seemed more than worth it. Tamiko quickly scanned the briefing document but didn’t see what she was looking for and so as soon as Sven opened the floor up for questions she asked “What does this Mirror of Souls do exactly?” as she gazed at him with a curious, and of course innocent, expression.