Isis Juneau awoke to cool air and the blaring sound of a wind-up alarm clock. Light streamed through the venetian blinds of the room’s two closed windows as the clock made its ringing routine. The young Juneau rubbed her face groggily, acknowledging the six A.M. alarm with a yawn and a stretch before climbing out of bed in one articulate movement. 

The Juneau residence was a modest, one bedroom apartment on the third floor of a ‘downtown’ apartment building, if one could call it that. It had a small kitchen, bathroom, and a living room. In the interest of saving money, Isis roomed with another girl, a Fae one year her elder. The small apartment was relatively well kept, despite her roommate’s tendency to leave fast food containers and clothes all around the place, mostly in part to Isis’ due diligence in cleaning and maintaining their quarters. Everything in the flat was meticulously arranged in a manner that followed good Feng shui. Even the electric fans installed that kept them in relative comfort that morning were located in auspicious-looking positions. 

The alarm was silenced by a gentle tap, ringing once more before falling quiet. Rummaging through her tidy closet, she threw on a white sailor-style dress over her underwear. She hesitated a moment before deciding to forgo the usual tights; Isis reasoned the day would likely be too hot for that. Turning around, she clicked her tongue irritably as she tripped on a loose shirt; her roommate had probably come home late again and thrown all her clothes everywhere. The older Fae turned in her bed, folding her pillow around her head. Sighing, Isis weaved around the clothes her roommate left strewn about on the roommate’s side of their bedroom. Throwing an errant soda can into the nearby waste basket, she made her way to the kitchen to make her early-morning breakfast of eggs, orange juice, and buttered toast.

Being the good, studious and punctual Fae, unlike her roommate, Isis downed the entirety of her breakfast, toast included before heading out of the house juggling a large metal canteen of water. It was clear she would need a lot of water today to do her best. Reaching a crowded bike rack at the edge of the property, she proceeded to untie her aluminum framed bicycle from the tangled mess of bikes. Carefully unhooking the bike from a neighbor’s, taking care not to scratch its light-blue paint, Isis placed the water canteen into the bike’s bottle holder. Using the palm of her hand as a temporary visor from the sun, she mounted the bike and started coasting down the small hill, letting the wind hit her face as she gained speed. 

It took about twenty minutes for Isis to head across town, a few minutes more than usual, for she had intentionally slowed down to conserve energy. Arriving in front of the Daedalus headquarters, she dismounted the bike and chained it up to the nearest empty pole. The front lobby of the headquarters was still mostly empty despite it being a work day, likely on account of the sweltering weather. Blowing out some air with her mouth to cool herself down, she grabbed her water canteen and headed into the building. 

Inside the sparsely populated building was the commander and Clark, but Isis was surprised to see Southey, barely clothed and passed out, and the slacker Overture, having arrived surprisingly early, doing her best to look ‘cool.’ Raising her eyebrows in apprehension, she said hello to them before greeting her superior. 

“Good morning, commander Kairn.”