On a certain day in the middle of the month, Margot found herself sitting in an office. It wasn’t her office, her office wasn’t nearly this large or well furnished. Though they had to cater to the egos of their immortal employees, there were limits to what the DPAA could afford.

Margot couldn’t help but marvel at the amount of paperwork that sat on the wide mahogany desk. There were enough stacks of neatly piled paper to make a small paper city. In contrast, the DPAA’s office of Reality Refinement and Reorientation generally kept all their work and reports in a digital form, with a lesser-known Office of Records printing out and archiving all the more important pieces of their paperwork when necessary.

After a few minutes of waiting, the door to the office opened and in walked a woman. Middling in height. Muscular in build. Tan skinned. Dressed sharply in a dark blue suit. Her auburn hair was streaked with gray and kept in a short, no-nonsense, hairstyle. She bore a severe visage etched with wrinkles and frown lines. Her name was Fatimah Dillan. This woman was the Director of the Eastern Branch of the American DPAA.

From what little Margot knew about the woman, Director Dillan spent most of her time in New York working out of a building that didn’t officially exist. Margot could also vaguely recall Monty mentioning something about the woman having worked with an often rumored about, but little spoken of branch of the American government that had served as a predecessor to the DPAA before the ENE. Which would make her much, much, older than the sixty or so years that she seemed to be.

Margot’s impression of the woman after meeting her for the first time was one of shock and awe. After countless simulated lifetimes, and a broad variety of actual experiences fighting myriad beasts, fiends, and horrors, Margot had quietly held the belief that there was little that could intimidate. Yet here Margot was, an immortal being pressured by a human who was clearly just an ordinary human despite the extra bells and whistles that the woman had going on in the background.

Fatimah Dillan was the kind of woman you automatically just called “ma’am” regardless of how casual or formal you generally tended to be. She was the kind of woman that people stood up and saluted whenever she entered the room. Regardless of wherever or not one had experience military etiquette or not. Her presence commanded respect from mortals and immortals alike. In fact, Margot found herself doing so now. The compulsion was so strong that she’d only remember to question the feeling, a few hours after this meeting had taken place.

“Please sit, Mrs. Kaylan. No need to stand on my behalf,” said the Director.

“Er...Right,” said Margot. Blushing faintly as she awkwardly lowered herself back into her seat.

“I’ve heard good things about your work in the department. Department-Chair Benvenuto hasn’t stopped singing your praises since you’ve joined on...and while I’m not really an expert on the subject myself, our friends in higher realms have said that you’ve managed to make some fairly impressive innovations with the adaptive code in the Cosmic-Runtime modules we use as the basis for our reality-modification programs,” said the Director.

“Er...Thanks,” said Margot. Still clearly feeling a bit nervous in the older woman’s presence.

“Now...You’re married, right? I believe your husband Mr. Kaylan works in our Otherworld Crisis Management Office...How loyal are you to him?”

“Wha- What!? Ex-...Excuse me?!” said Margot. Not sure if she’d heard the question correctly, and not liking where the question was going if the words her ears had caught held true.

“Sorry, sorry...I'm an old woman now, and I’m afraid we mortals don’t really have that much time pussyfoot around a subject...What I mean to say, is...I’ve come to understand that immortals tend to hold...complex and often ambiguous relationships with each other, including their significant others...I was just inquiring as to what kind of relationship you have with yours…”

“A good one!” said Margot. Her tone was sure and a little more heated than she’d intended it to be.

“Ah...Alright, then...In that case, if I were to...let’s say...suggest that it was in the interests of the nation and the world at large, for you to keep an eye on your husband’s activities for us...You’d probably say…”

“No!...No, I will not be spying on my husband for you! Look, I was told that you wanted a report on how world-T1Theta483032u4303X09 was doing. If this was some kind of ruse…I have work to do. Unless of course, you wish to fire me...which is completely fine with me...You can expect to speak with my lawyer if you do...and I still won’t be spying on my husband for you...” said Margot. Placing a manilla folder with a printed report and a data-drive on the Director’s desk and preparing to leave. Her aura rising, her hair shifting into living flame as her awe for the woman replaced with distrust and more than a little outrage.

“Again...Please, calm yourself, Mrs. Kaylan. I assure you I mean no harm. I only meant to broach the subject and maybe feel you out a little. As a Director of the DPAA, I would be remiss if I failed to do so…”

“Well, I have to say that’s quite forward of you, Ms. Dillan ...Dangerously so,” said Margot. Her eyes narrowing. Her skin beginning to glow.

“True...and if it weren’t for the fact that the department’s psych-analysts had you pegged as being one of the more thoughtful...even-tempered...immortals, I probably wouldn’t have dared to bring the matter forward...Again, please accept my apologies...I assure you, I wouldn’t have brought the matter up if our superiors in the House of Black and White weren’t getting a bit antsy…”

Margot frowned. Her first instinct was to excuse herself and leave regardless of any possible consequences. It was her second instinct that kept her in her seat. The house of Antipodes was a name she recognized. Theirs was a name she’d researched at great length from the first moment of learning of the group’s existence. Yet she still didn’t know very much about the group.

“And why is the House of Antipodes suddenly so curious about my husband?” said Margot.

“Nh...Well, that’s a complicated question...From my understanding, the house has been aware of and leery of, our esteemed Mr.Kaylan for quite some time...It doesn’t help that up until now Mr. Kaylan has done a very good job of keeping himself an enigma...Now, however, something has happened and is continuing to happen, and it’s making them a bit concerned,” said Director Dillan.

“What exactly is happening and what does it have to do with my husband?” said Margot. Her anger growing cool as her curiosity took over.

“A certain cosmological event has been taking place over the past few months...a merging of cornerstone worlds, on a scale that is almost never seen...It’s a...It’s a fairly huge deal, especially for our world because according to the higher-ups it’ll hasten our universe’s evolution into a hyper-dimensional plane by quite a bit...And somehow, somehow you’re husband has managed to come into contact with, and earmark, for his own future-use, a full third of the worlds involved…”

“We-...Well, whatever this is...I can assure you I’d know if it was my husband causing it and regardless…”

“You won’t be playing the part of an informant for us...I know, Mrs. Kaylan... You can’t blame an old spook for trying…Returning to the actual topic of today’s discussion...” said the Director.

“This wasn’t the actual topic?” said Margot. Her tone growing sharper as the older woman’s words grated on her nerves.

Director Dillan suddenly became unexpectedly hard of hearing. Pretending not to hear, the young immortal’s grousing.

“Your reports on world-T1Theta483032u4303X09 - codenamed: “Gewirr”- have been excellent. As has been the work you’ve done with other world-modification systems that you’ve worked on...You’ve impressed us...You’ve impressed me...Do you know what that means in the government? Here, the reward for doing good work...is more work. So I’d like to offer you a slight promotion, so you can head up a little project we have coming up. Certain circumstances are changing within Gewirr and a number of worlds that unexpectedly have been found to have distant connections to Gewirr. Connections of an ambiguous nature…and we think you’re the right woman for the job.”

Margot found herself still wanting to put as much distance between herself and the shady Director as possible, yet she couldn’t help being intrigued by the woman’s description of a project that could end up being her biggest challenge yet.

“...I’m listening…” said Margot. Making a mental note to discuss today’s meeting with Monty about today’s little meeting with the Director before she agreed to anything.