[hr][h1]James Porter[/h1][hr]
[b]THREE DAYS BEFORE DEEP COVER INFILTRATION[/b]

James tapped his fingers on the metal table in the middle of a dull concrete room. His handlers were to arrive with instructions straight from high command. It seems he was needed once again for some dirty job. He thought about his next assignment privately. Multiple reasons popped into his head from assassinating troublesome nobles, gathering intelligence about some obscure foreign experimental project, or some other task of similar nature.

His handlers entered the room and placed a single piece of paper on the table. "Memorize this."

James did as he was told, he read the paper twice over and handed it back. One of the handlers then brought out a lighter and burned the paper in-front of him. He then asked, "Permission to ask a question sir."

"Granted."

"Will I still be given a [i]'parent'[/i] for this mission?"

"This detail cannot be disclosed at this time. However, if you are approached by a parent from the institute, the challenge phrase is "Top of the morning", the response is "Perfect day for a spot of tea"."

"Understood, I've memorized the phrase."

[i]'Parents'[/i], the institute's name for handlers in the field. Despite James' flawless record, they still felt the need to monitor him. It was exhausting, but it kept him razor focused on his task. It will be no different in Bermuda.

[hr]
[b]PRESENT DAY[/b]

[i]Irksome.[/i]

There were too many people around. James walked around, constantly reminding himself to smile and look like a proper student. The niceties, the pleasantries, the annoying minutiae of social interactions were all irksome. He came here to do a job, not play house with children and go sightseeing.

There were very few things that James liked about this assignment. Riding the Queen Titania was definitely something he liked and so was being able to dress like a bespoke gentleman instead of a beggar or some random servant. The tour was more insightful than amusing, but he laughed and smiled all the same all for the sake of keeping appearances. However, as he continued to walk with the tour, he looked around him and for a moment, his convincingly good fake smile disappeared. He realized that he'd never had anything like this before. Even in his earliest memories, he was a spy and an assassin. How delightful it must be to be ignorant of the shadows surrounding you.

He caught himself frowning and quickly looked straight ahead and fixed his smile. Eventually they reached the Hall of The Greats, students were mingling once again. He joined in the [i]'fun'[/i] and began to slowly walk around and take in the sights and sounds while eating the odd treat here and there until someone bumped into him from behind. His hat was jostled off of his head and onto the floor. James looked behind him only to find a shorter woman with black hair dressed in some oriental cloth.

"Pardon me, miss!" He shouted, she then apologized right after, “Ah!  Sorry, I didn’t mean to run into you."

James then picked his hat off the floor donned it on his head, "No no, it's no problem. See, good as new!"

[hr]
[sub][@Vega7285][/sub]