Per 
Samuel was sitting in his office shared with Bentley, resting his legs on his desk, with his fedora draped partially over his face. He sighed and mumbled,
"We've certainly not done a ton in the last month, haven't we?"
Bentley was sitting at his desk across the room, facing opposite of Samuel's desk, fiddling with his thumbs as if he had nothing better to do. He responded,
"Yeah. I mean, we haven't even gotten paid yet."
They both sat in silence for a while. Bently eventually decided to switch from playing with his thumbs to solving a Rubix cube, which was sitting on his desk, gradually gaining layers of dust until then. Just as soon as Bently motioned his hand towards the cube, the daily intercom announcements came onto the loudspeakers, in a feminine voice. Before the voice could say anything other than,
"Hello! staff members!"
Bentley woke up Samuel by shouting,
"Hey! Announcements! Wake up!"
Sam woke up, startled. He moved too quickly and hit his knee on the edge of the desk. He sputtered,
"Wha- Announcement?"
Bently rolled his eyes and said,
"Yeah. Now shut up."
The voice of the announcer then broadcasted throughout the room, saying,
"Samuel Daniels and Bently Kirk, please see project director, James Thawfield, inside his office. Thank you all, for listening. Have a productive day, everyone!"
Soon after they heard the faint sound of the intercom being shut down, Sam said,
"This may be our first project here in a while… well, let's get a move on."
Sam moved to the door, holding it open and motioning Bently through. They traveled to a door at the end of the hallway. The door had a slightly blurred glass, centered on the door. There were bold, black words printed on the glass reading,
PROJECT DIRECTOR
JAMES THAWFIELD
Once the two men entered the small room only lit by a single blub at the top of the office, a stench of cigarette butts and smoke overcame their senses. The director was sitting at his desk, with his coat lazily hung over the back of his chair, revealing his black suspenders with brass buckles and a white, button-down shirt. In the corner of his mouth was a half-used cigarette, with the end of it burnt to a near crisp. He took it out of his mouth, putting it between his fingers, and lifting it upwards, leaving a small trail of smoke. He gestured at them,
"Come in, and get yourselves a chair, the both of ya."
He then let out a puff of smoke from his mouth, having it quickly fill up the room. He spun in his chair, reaching for a drawer behind his desk. Not too long later, he emerged back from behind his desk, returning with one yellow file. He threw them on his desk then said,
"We have quite an important matter to discuss."
He studied them, then exclaimed,
"Well, What are ya looking at? Sidown!"
Sam and Bently quickly moved to the two seats in the front of the director's office.
"Took ya long enough."
Bently worriedly said,
"What did you call us here for, Sir?"
The director responded,
"Well see, I have a job for you. It involves the infiltration of a group. A group called the Serpent's Hand. I need you to stay awhile, and then strike them from the inside."
He began to open and read the document inside the file, his cigarette still between his fingers.
Sam knew that group.
"Isn't that the group that is hell-bent on setting anomalies free? From us?"
The director sighed,
"Yes."
Sam also began to grow more concerned with the topic, and finally said,
"Bently and I specialize in things like tracking down groups of interest and people of interest. What makes you think we can pull off an infiltration? We are not good long term "secret keepers" ".
He looked up from the file for a moment, only to grimace and say,
"To be honest,"
He paused for a moment to take a puff of his cigarette.
"I had a gut feeling that you two would fit the job."
Sam though,
A "gut feeling" doesn't quite cut it
But he and Bently said nothing about it. Jame Thawfield took multiple minutes to view the file in front of them, every now and then glancing up at the two associates while Sam and Bently contemplated what they were getting themselves into. Once finished reading the file, the project director cut the silence of the room and said,
"You two are going to need robes."
Bently responded, confused.
"What-"
"We understand."
Sam interrupted. Bently gave him a look that could only be described as confusion.
"Well, alright. You two are excused."
Sam responded as he rose from his seat,
"Thank you, Sir."
As soon as Bently rose to exit, the project director cut in.
"Except you, Bently. I need you yet."
Bently slowly sat back down, looking even more confused. James looked at Sam for a moment before yelling,
"Well? Go!"
Sam looked concerned and turned to Bently. Nervously but in a reassuring tone, Bently said,
"Just leave, man. I'll be fine."
Sam walked down the hall back to his office. He sat down on his chair in silent contemplation.
What could be so important?
Just as he was gathering his thoughts, he heard Bently say,
"Alright. Will do sir."
Sam scrambled to sit upright at his desk as Bently opened the door and walked into the office. He was carrying two dark green robes over his arm, their belts strung with rope.
"What did he talk to you about?"
Bently shakily responded,
"Oh-that? He gave us some robes. You know, the ones he was talking about?"
Even though Sam knew that was not the case, but he decided not to press.
"Here. Take one."
Bently threw one of the replica robes to Sam. He caught it, then he spread it out on the desk before him. What immediately caught his eye was a gold outlined insignia of a tree.
"Oh and-"
Sam raised an eyebrow.
"We leave tomorrow. Get some rest."
The next day, Sam and Bently were standing atop a hill, facing a cave entrance which was dimly lit by torches, mounted to the sides of the cave.
