Per 
Director Hollender quickly moved down the corridor, passing by researchers and doctors running through the brightly lit hallway. He was moving through his favourite hallway, the main hall stretching through the middle of Site-89. The bright and beautiful skylight shone overhead leaving a ray of light that stretched to the end of the hall and eventually merged into the site's mess hall and recreational area. He took a sharp right at the intersection, following the pink line leading him to his destination.
He quickened his pace and carefully moved around the bustling researchers and doctors, hurrying past the rooms covered wall to ceiling with frosted glass. He could only see the faint outlines of the lab-coated scientists conducting research. The sign overhead read "Department of Research, Development, and Experimentation" and pointed straight in front of him. As he entered the laboratories, he recognized more of his peers moving about the area, Assistant Director Lorem was busy helping in some experiment or other, but Hollender was too busy to stop.
The Director had been called for an interview, but there wasn't a caller ID. Strange. The email he received stated that the call was to be monitored by O5-12 and O5-8, known as the archivist and the head of internal investigations. It was an understatement to say Hollender was extremely nervous. Although Hollender didn't like to express his nervousness to others.
He quickened his pace down the hall, following the new teal line into the office sector, and headed towards the office at the end with the gold-trimmed door. He lifted his keycard to the lock. He waited a couple of moments before a quiet buzzing could be heard emanating from the lock and the light turned from red to green and the lock could be heard releasing. The door popping open slightly.
He carefully locked the door behind him, and with a buzz, the door secured itself behind him. He heard a quiet ping from his computer, and gingerly opened the lid, revealing an email.
Hollender sat back in his chair, contemplating this news. He reached into his pocket, grasped his phone, and turned it on. He began to message his assistant.
Today, 19:34
Griffin, are you there?
I need something of you
What's up, Charles?
I'm going to be out for the next day or so, you're in charge until I'm back
Sure I can do that. Where are you going?
I'm heading to Site-01 for a meeting with the overseers, nothing to worry about I'm sure
Alright, make sure to get back in one piece boss
Will do
He put the phone down and leaned back in his chair, unbuttoning his white jacket and placing it gently on his mahogany desk. He peered at the nameplate on his desk "Director Charles Hollender" for several moments. He stood up from his desk, straightened his pink tie, adjusted the gold clip, and fixed his posture by cracking his back. He opened the wardrobe and a wall of coats and jackets appeared. Charles pondered a few moments before selecting a clean white suit and softly sealed the wardrobe. He put on the jacket and adjusted his tie again. Hollender grabbed his phone from the desk and rushed over to the door, unclipping his keycard from his belt. He held it up to lock and the door popped open. He locked the door behind him and quickly made his way through the corridors to the elevator.
The doors opened and Charles stepped in, greeted by red-carpeted floor and mirrors. Hollender pushed the button labeled "Level 4" and watched as the doors closed in front of him. The calm elevator music helped him collect himself and think about his situation. Just a simple meeting, nothing to worry about. The doors opened again and the calming music of the elevator slowly became mute. There were two guards stationed at the checkpoint, both laughing at something or other. One of them, Officer Ogechi, noticed Hollender approaching and stood to attention, saluting their director.
"Good day Director. No need to go through the checkpoint tonight we've already gotten the override from O5-12."
"Thank you, Ogechi. Slow day up here?"
"Indeed, very slow day. If you want later you could come up and join us. That'd be a hoot."
"I'll see to it that I do, have a good night boys."
"See ya 'round, sir."
Hollender passes through the side entrance and the other officer, Williams, opens the door to the helipad. Charles and Williams both recoiled as the cold wind blew into the small room, the light snow sticking to their clothing. Hollender patted Williams on the shoulder and exited Site-89.
He stepped out onto the snow-covered helipad and found the helicopter waiting for him as expected. He opened the large door and pulled himself into the cabin.
"Ah! G'day Sir."
"Hello, Winston. Are you aware of our destination tonight?"
"Well of course sir, I received a message directly from O5-12 himself, Sir."
"Ah, perfect. If you don't mind, Winston, I'm going to take a nap on the way there. Please wake me up when we get there."
"I get it, important meeting so ya got to get your energy. Don't worry boss, I'll wake ya when we get there."
…
"Sir, wake up. We're approaching Site-01 now."
Hollender groggily rose, he had been sprawled out across the seats in the back and fixed his suit that he had laid over him like a blanket.
"Ah, it would appear we are. What time is it, Winston?"
"22:41, Sir."
"Perfect, right on time. You are a great pilot Winston."
"You're making me blush, Sir."
"Har har. Thank you for the ride, Winston."
"My pleasure, shall I wait for you here?"
"No, I'll make my way back some way or another."
"Alright, Sir. Hope you enjoyed your flight, make sure to lift your tray table, and don't forget your luggage may have slid around during the flight."
"Alright, stewardess."
"That's Captain to you, Sir."
Hollender stepped out of the helicopter, into the cold and lept down to the hard concrete. Two guards approached him.
"Hello, Director Hollender. You're scheduled for an 11 o'clock, correct?"
"That is correct, can you guide me to the meeting room? I'm not quite familiar with Site-01."
"Absolutely. Reginald, take the director to the board room please."
"Got it. Director, if you would please follow me." the other guard piped up, stepping beside the other.
The two stepped away from the landing pad and walked down a flight of stairs. Hollender could feel the warmth wash over him again as they went deeper into the facility. There were very few people at Site-01 compared to Site-89, and Hollender could distinguish the differences very fast. Analysts and accountants were hustling about, which was a different atmosphere compared to Site-89, but Hollender shifted his focus back to his current objective. The guard led him through a few more corridors until they came to a set of large double brass doors, with two locks.
Two agents from Mobile Task Force Alpha-1 stood guard at the door, and they saluted Director Hollender as he approached. They turned around and each inserted their keycards and the light above the door flashed green and folded into the wall.
"This is where I leave you, sir, straight down that corridor is the board room. You can't miss it."
"Alright, thank you, agent."
The officer turned around and returned to the helipad. Hollender moved forward, into the grand hallway. The guards closed the large doors behind him, and he was left in complete silence. He calmly moved through the red-carpeted hallway. He glanced at the portraits on the walls, each one depicting past and present Overseer members. He noticed there was an empty frame at the end next to the massive marble doors.
He glanced at his watch.
22:59
He took several deep breathes and opened the doors. The room was completely pitch black. He stepped inside and the large doors closed behind him.
Suddenly, the room was bathed in light, and Hollender could see the large semi-circular table that was made of obsidian. A large inverted obsidian pyramid extended from the ceiling and hung over the table. All of the members were there except for O5-4. O5-1 spoke up.
"Good day, Director, I hope your flight here was pleasant."
"Yes, it was perfectly fine. Quite a nice flight."
"Charles, do you know why we summoned you here?" O5-12 called out to Hollender.
"No, sir." He replied.
"Were you involved in Operation Burning Overlords?" O5-12 questioned.
"I was. I brought both Mobile Task Force Titan-1 and Titan-3 to Site-90 to defend against the Global Occult Coalition and The Prying Eyes. I lost a chunk of my forces. I was also injured in the fighting, but I've fully recovered." Hollender stated confidently.
"I'm glad to hear you're alright, and that you did your part for the Foundation," O5-12 said with a satisfactory tone in his voice.
"I'm sure you are aware most of us are newly appointed Overseer members," O5-8 said.
"Yes, ma'am. I remember going to O5-11's promotional party on the 15th of last month." Hollender said.
"Yes. Well, we are still looking for the remaining Overseer member and we believe you should join the council." O5-8 stated in a loud but kind voice.
"I would be honored, ma'am. Are" Hollender said, stumbling for words.
"O5-13 and O5-12 being the oldest members on the council have been teaching us what we need to know to bring the foundation back on its feet. Everything is in disarray on the East Coast. The GOC overran us in Germany, and don't get me started about India. My point is, Director, that we are in desperate need of order. We are suffering from raids every other day and we need it to stop." O5-7 stated.
"I've been doing all I can to take in refugees from other sites, sir. I can create another level if you want to temporarily contain more anomalies from the crippled sites." Hollender said confidently.
"That would be good to strengthen our Western front so we can focus on the rest of the sites. Get on that as soon as possible." O5-6 said with his loud and authoritarian voice.
"Yes, sir," Hollender said respectively.
"The point is, Director, we want to welcome you to the Overseer Council, O5-4," O5-13 said proudly.
"After he unfortunately passed in Berlin during the second wave of Operation Burning Overlord, we think you are the best fit for the position. Your credentials and title will be updated shortly." O5-11 said, reflecting on the O5-4's death.
"A-Are you sure? Surely there is someone more qualified for the job than me. I really don't know what to say." Hollender said, as he fumbled for words
"No, we are quite certain of our decision. We had multiple vouches for you to join the Overseer Council and we think you would be a good addition to the council." O5-1 said, with a serious tone.
Thank you, all of you. Though, will this affect my day-to-day operations?" Hollender questioned.
"Not significantly, no. You will be called for the occasional meeting or having to sign some documents. Sometimes summoned for a lecture or two. Generally speaking, of course, even we're not fully organized yet." She said, nervously laughing at the end.
"Alright. What do we do now?" Hollender asked.
"Well let's celebrate. Hey, Reaper. Can you get the popcorn?" O5-2 said, excitedly.
O5-7 looks up from his desk. He looked like he had been spacing out.
"Sure." He said with a cold tone.
He stands up from his seat and walks up to the wall on the far right side of the room. He flicks his hand in an upwards motion and the concrete wall separated, opening up to reveal a large kitchen and bar area.
O5-8 leans over the desk to shake Charles' hand.
"Glad to see you again Charles. It's been too long." O5-8 said with dazzle in her voice.
"It certainly has Amelia. I'm glad to see you're doing well for yourself." Hollender said respectfully.
O5-5 gestured for Charles to shake her hand.
"Director, I don't believe we've met before. My name is Ridley Waybeck." She said with a quiet, polite tone.
Hollender felt himself relax, his shoulders felt looser and he felt like he could be informal with them now.
"Yeah, you're primarily around Site-98 on the West Coast if I remember correctly. How was it on the front?" Hollender asked.
"Dreadful, but there isn't an alternative option for open warfare. I tried to do my part, like everyone else here." She said, still with confidence in her voice.
"Well, it was a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Waybeck," Hollender said joyfully.
"The pleasure is all mine," she said as she smiled kindly.
Hollender moved over to O5-11's seat.
"It's great to see you again Seicho," Hollender said with a relaxed tone.
O5-11 leaned in for a hug and Hollender eagerly accepted.
"How have you been Charles?" O5-11 asked.
"Well y'know, same old same old. We've had very few breaches recently. Plus the whole fiasco last month while we were giving relief to the surrounding sites." Hollender said.
"Glad to hear you're still you." She said in a soothing tone.
"How have you been over there? I heard it was rough over in Indonesia." Hollender said.
"It was, we were having constant night raids for our collection of amnestics. They sure as hell didn't give up easily. At one point they even took a quarter of the facility. We had to flush them out with water by breaching the facility from the outside. We took heavy casualties over those couple of weeks." She said, a note of sadness dwelling on the final sentence.
"I'm sorry to hear that, I'm extremely glad to see you in one piece though. Did the relief support I sent over help?" Hollender said, hoping to lift her spirits.
"Oh definitely, that probably brought us back from the tipping point in the end. Thank god that storm didn't delay them a day later or we would be toast." She said, noticeably reviving her voice.
"Glad to hear they got there in time. If you need more support just give me a holler." Hollender said, relieved.
"Will do, Charles," O5-11 replied.
"Director, now that we have the formalities out of the way, we will be taking part in a congratulatory dinner. I know this is a bit of a late notice, but do you think you can attend, or does something else require your attention?" O5-9 said with his British accent.
"I'll definitely attend. in the case that I'll be staying for the night, I will need to make some emails," Hollender said respectfully.
"That is why I had a room prepared for you, to the left once you exit the hall and all the way down the hall, room B-13. Show the guard your keycard and he'll let you through." O5-9 said in a calm and warm tone.
"I only have Level 4 credentials, will that-" Hollender said, as he was suddenly cut off.
O5-12 suddenly tossed a keycard attached to a necklace at Hollender. He caught the keycard with ease and clipped it to his belt.
"This should suffice to pass security," O5-12 said, with a chuckle.
"Thank you all very much, I'm going to go to my room and prepare for dinner," Hollender said brimming with happiness.
Hollender slowly pushed the doors open before turning around to look at his new peers. Laughing and talking to each other like real people. Hollender definitely didn't know what to expect, but he wouldn't think they would be normal. He was about to turn around but noticed O5-7 staring at him from the entrance to the kitchen before walking to the table with three bowls of popcorn.
He carefully closed the doors behind him and walked down the corridor. He noticed the empty frame had been replaced with a framed painting of himself.
As he took his gaze off of the painting, he moved down the hall, quietly looking at each portrait. He finally made it to the end of the red-carpeted hall and pushed both doors open with a confident push.
The guards turned around to face him.
"Good day, Overseer." The Captain said.
"Good day, Captain." Hollender politely responded.
"Your room is straight down the hall at the end, can't miss it." The Captain said in a British accent, pointing to his left down the red-carpeted hall covered with dozens of doors.
"Alright, thanks mate," Hollender said cheerfully.
"No problem, Sir." the Captain replied.
Hollender began to walk down the corridor before someone called his name.
"Director Hollender," O5-7 called, as he slowly pushed the doors open from behind Hollender.
"Hello, O5-7. What brings you over here?" Hollender asked kindly.
"A talk, come with me," O5-7 replied.
The two began to walk down the corridor towards Hollender's room.
"I apologize for the state of the guest room, I didn't have that long to prepare it," O5-7 said in a monotone voice.
"I'm sure it's no problem, don't beat yourself up about it?" Hollender said.
"Well, I should tell you I'll be preparing your actual room later, for when you need to visit again." He said, looking at Hollender with a flat expression.
"As expected, your room will be next to Overseer Three and Five's quarters. I shall create the room after the dinner later tonight." O5-7 continued.
"Did I catch that right? You'll create the room by early tomorrow?" Hollender questioned, baffled by what O5-7 had said.
"Well, of course, Director," O5-7 said, confused as to why Hollender had found that information so bewildered.
"Ah, my mistake. I'm assuming you don't know how the Prodigium works." O5-7 said, placing his right hand over his left.
Hollender noticed dry blood stains on the white gloves O5-7 was wearing, and The Seventh Overseer noticed Hollender's gaze and put his hands back in his pockets.
"The Prodigium?" Hollender asked.
"Yes, our meeting room. I won't drag on with the details but it is a non-euclidean space that we have learned to manipulate. There are many rooms connected to the meeting room, but I believe you have only viewed the kitchen so far. The private quarters are to the far left of the main chamber, with a hallway and our quarters attached. You can personalize your room however you wish, although I will prepare it for standard accommodations. I shall teach you how to manipulate the Prodigium yourself, in due time." O5-7 finished, as he stopped in front of Hollender's room.
"Thank you, is there a name I can call you or-"
"No." He quickly replied.
"Alright. One last thing, is The Prodigium a documented anomaly that I can read about?"
"Also no."
There was a moment of silencer between the two.
"Dinner is at 23:50. Don't be late." O5-7 said as he turned back to the meeting room.
Hollender watched him as he walked down the hall. O5-7 turned his head to see Hollender peering at him, before turning around again and walking away.
Hollender looked at his watch.
23:20
Hollender lifted his new badge to the door and a peculiar whir emitted from the door before popping open slightly. He got inside and closed the door behind him and let out a long tired, sigh.
He pumped his fists for a moment and then returned his gaze to the room. Double bed, bathroom, kitchen, cupboards, coat racks. Hollender sat down on the bed and took a moment to contemplate what had happened.
"I could do with a shower." He said as he talked to the air in the dim room.
…
Hollender emerged from the shower and picked a black suit with white stripes. He twirled the coat tails while he looked at himself from the floor to wall mirror installed in his bathroom. He walked to the door and opened it, and on the other side of the door was O5-11. Hollender stumbled back in surprise before collecting himself.
"Hi Seicho, what are you doing out here?" Hollender asked.
"I was heading to dinner, care to join me?" She asked as she eyed Hollender's suit, before continuing, "Lovely suit, by the way, I think it fits you perfectly."
"Thank you, your dress looks wonderful as well," Hollender said, trying to be as respectful as he possibly can.
Hollender looked at her dress, it was a long and flowing green dress that draped down to the floor and matched her green high-heels. Hollender noticed the earrings she was wearing as well, they were a beautiful bouquet of purple flowers to compliment her long and wavy dark brown hair. He also noticed the bright purple lipstick she had worn, and then looked upwards to her blind right eye.
"You look wonderful, Seicho," Hollender said warmly.
"Do you always dress like this, or is it just for tonight?" Seicho asked, twirling one of Hollender's coat tails.
"I normally dress in white, just being a little more professional tonight." Hollender said.
The two Overseers walked down the corridor together as other men and women in suits hustled past them. The Captain opened the double doors for them and they walked down the silent hallway together. O5-11 stopped in front of the doors leading to the meeting room.
"Well, Director. Are you ready?" O5-11 asked.
"I suppose so, Seicho." Hollender responded.
O5-11 pushed open the double doors and all of the overseers were seated at the table, the lights had been dimmed and there were candles laid out across the table. All of the Overseers stopped talking and looked at Hollender.
"Please then. Take a seat, Director."
