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not alone enthralled her. It absolutely thrilled her to her core and made her spend long periods staring at the sky, hoping to see a peek of something never seen by man before.

The small green alien she hoped to see waving to her as a child never came. No Martian man landed on the roof of her house. No small woman from Pluto lived in her pink nightstand drawer. No one ever came from Saturn, with hula hoops crafted from the space debris that formed Saturn's extraordinary rings for her.

No one ever came, and the girl grew up.

Well, not entirely. The girl never really grew up. Not quite. She still, somewhere deep in her core believed it all. That a Martian man was coming to wave 'hello', that the small woman from Pluto had simply gotten lost on her voyage here, and the person from Saturn simply was taking their time crafting the hula hoops.

Okay, so she didn't quite believe the hula hoops thing.

But she believed the rest. The idea that there is much more beyond the actually small planet of Earth. That her home was just a fragment to some huge. That each living, breathing human carried particles of stars in their bloodstream. That the dark side of the moon wasn't as dark and forbidding as it seemed.

So, she took up arms to prove it. She took up arms in the form of words and books. In the form of knowledge and the pull towards the stars that every human felt once or twice. Before the girl 'grew up', she would spend many-a nights hiding under a blanket fort an architect would be proud of, studying books from the schools' library.

She would hide out under blankets with a flashlight after the lights were turned out, reading until her small body caved from exhaustion, and would be found an hour later by her mum who was checking up on her, fully aware her daughter had stayed awake to read. She would then be tucked in, and in her mind dream would play like an action movie from the cinema of what she thought was out there.

As an adult, Valarie Scott was still the same starry-eyed girl she was as a child. So it seemed natural that she incorporated her passion into her work. When the open internship at a new 'Brion Laberotires' was announced, Valarie jumped to the first call for employees. In an advert, it promised research in space, and more exactly the possibilities of humans colonizing other planets and possibly extraterrestrial life. The mere thought of working in a place with the same beliefs as herself sent her over the edge with excitement.

Now, she didn't quite think they would accept her application. The initial shock of her receiving an email claiming she had been hired was real. In her luck, many large companies and such didn't take interest in a student, who majored in astronomy, at least.

No, most craved the usual med-student, law student, or just about anything basic enough as that. But Valarie wasn't that; she loved the stars so she chose to study them.

She had practically memorized the email she had received that informed her of her being hired. She even repeated it, like she still didn't believe it, on her way to work after she began her new job.

"It is with our great pleasure that we welcome you, Ms. Valarie Scott, to the Brion Lab. Family. After careful consideration and a grueling elimination process of other applicants, your application was deemed the most notable. You have that intuition, spark, drive, and love of space we need here at Brion Laboratories. The following attachment is your work special.

Welcome to Brion!"

Valarie bit her lip, trying to tame the massive grin that spread across her lips as she pushed through London's rather crowded sidewalk. She always wanted to work in space as a child. And sure, while this wasn't exactly rescuing Princess Leia from the Death Star-like her five-year-old self proudly told her class she wanted to do- it was still so exciting.

The walk to work was always joyous. Even on a day like that particular day. The air was cold and nippy, like several thousand nats. It was more annoying than the December cold, but not as severe. Dead leaves scattered the sidewalk, as all the trees were nearly bare in their transition into October.

London in the fall always seemed to be bleaker. More grey and dull, as it seemed more deep grey rain clouds huddled over the city. Valarie didn't mind. She dressed for the chill anyway. The cold couldn't attack her arms and hands, which were stuffed into her dull grey jacket she wore over the light cream sweater. Her legs were safe as they were under a pair of also grey jeans.

Valarie did enjoy more colorful clothing, but since her work at Brion began she had been informed that the bright colors were deemed too distracting, and only an array of light pastels, whites, grey, and blacks were permitted. She did think this was odd but didn't question it too much. She found the desire of seemingly her dream job stronger than the desire to wear her classic cherry red sweater to work.

Valarie's morning strolls to work seemed bleak too. Nothing new, apart from the faces. But growing up in a bustling London, Valarie let the faces sink to the background. She only paid attention to those around her if the attention was drawn. She became so used to this bleak morning stroll, in fact, it almost became impossible for her to notice anything new.

For example, that same morning, Valarie failed to notice the odd, new splash of blue among the bleak brick and concrete buildings. Yes, somehow she completely missed the new sight; an 'antique' public call booth, like those used in the fifties and sixties, tucked on the edge of the alleyway. It rested on the spot like it had been there the whole time, but then again, no one looked up from their phones or away from forwards enough to notice the new sight. It simply melted into the scenery of the streets and alleyways.

Brion Labertories tall, white, pristine building loomed between a clothing shop and an attorney's office. It seemed out of place, yet while fitting in like a puzzle piece. It almost seemed menacing at times too.

Valarie slipped off the sidewalk and pressed against the glass door, cold hand grasping the even colder metal handle and pushing the door open. She stepped inside, immediately beginning to peel the thick coat she wore off. At the front desk, the receptionist's eyes darted to her. She gave him a soft smile, like every day, and he simply looked back to the computer screen he watched before.

Valarie became used to certain workers' coldness; not taking it as an insult, but rather just who they were. The receptionists-known simply as Lee- was one of the cold workers. She walked by his desk on her way to the elevator and patted Lee's desk.

"Morning, L." She greeted, not finding the silence and feeling of eyes digging into her skull feeling odd in the slightest.

Lee was a bleak guy. He seemed young, but also quite old. His black hair sometimes appeared grey, but others strictly black. He sometimes had baby smooth skin, and other he had bags under his eyes. But his completion was always pale; as pale as someone who is ill. But Lee always appeared that way, so Valarie never questioned it. Valarie entered the lift and selected the fifth floor.

The metal doors began to pull shut, and Valarie mentally smiled at the thought of having the ride to herself. She found the rides with silent coworkers quite awkward as if she made any noise their eyes would cut to her, and dig into her for the duration of the ride like daggers.

She mentally cheered when the doors closed with ease, and the lift began its ascend upwards. Valarie leaned against the wall of the lift, humming silently to herself as she prepared for whatever today would bring.

Work generally consisted of organizing data, inserting research into computers, and filling cryptic codes out on documents with even more cryptic codes. She did question the code, but brushed it off as 'scientist speak', and something to do with calculations most likely.

The lift came to a stop, the doors singing as they pried open. Valarie left the small lift, turning to the right end of the pristine white halls, and strolled towards a certain door. The whole building seemed white and pristine. The walls, floors, ceiling, doors, everything. White and pristine. The only room that ever became messy was the actual labs, which usually had scattered papers and notes all around.

Valarie stopped before the lab she typically worked in, pushing the door open to, what she assumed, an empty room. She walked in after closing the door behind her and tossed the bag she wore thrown over her shoulder onto a desk. When a throat cleared, she nearly jumped a foot into the air.

"Miss Scott." Doctor Jekyll said coldly, not even glancing at the young woman. Doctor Jekyll was a short, stocky man. His hair, or what left, was blonde. He always wore glasses and a lab coat. He also wore the most peculiar watch, but anytime Valarie asked he would make a fuss about why she was such a nosy one. So she quit asking.

"Dr.Jekyll. I wasn't aware you were there." Valarie stood, staring at the man with a hand placed over her chest. She expected a witty remark and a smile like she had received from him formally. But rather, he continued writing on the clipboard.

"Then be more aware of your surroundings, Miss Scott. You can get into quite the trouble if you are not." He spat, almost as if a warning. To Valarie, it sounded more as a threat. She stared at him for a moment, before slowly turning away and assigning herself a task of stacking the papers she would later ruffle through neatly.

No more was said between the two, until Doctor Jekyll was exiting the lab. He walked towards the door, his items and notes tightly clutched in hand as he opened the door and linger in the doorframe.

"I won't be back today. They need me on floor seven. Oh, and Miss Scott?" Jekyll said, turning in the doorway to look at Valarie.

"Yes, sir?"

"You'll need to stay late tonight. I stayed until past midnight last night, and I need you to shift through my notes." Jekyll informed her, in a tone that made it seem like more of a command. Which, as seeing that Jekyll was her superior, it was a command. But Valarie still let the whine past her pink lips.

"Just me?"

"Yes, Miss Scott. Just you." Jekyll responded shortly.

"But, isn't Marty back from his vacation yet?" Valarie asked, immediately regretting asking in the first place when Jekyll slowly turned to face her. His voice read anger as she mentioned the other intern who had been hired; Marty Hartley.

"Are you questioning me, Miss Scott?" Jekyll asked slowly, his voice low and menacing almost. Valarie stared at him, finding it out of character for the scientist to be so cold towards her.

"No, sir." She responded after swallowing hard. Jekyll nodded slowly, almost satisfied with the woman's answer, and turned to leave the room in silence. The door softly shut, and a soft thud from the door shutting echoed around the room.

Valarie stared at the door, then shook off the strange exchange that had just taken place and went back to the work that would consume her attention well into the night.

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