Thank you to melliyna and hhertzof for reading over this and betaing it.
For anyone who didn't know differently, it looked like an ordinary Monday morning on the Grid. Those who had spent all Friday night there knew that it wasn't, and only they knew why. However, it did explain why there were cables hanging from gaping holes in the walls and the ceiling. The floor, on the other hand, was remarkably free from dust and plaster: the carefully screened cleaners had spent Saturday afternoon here.
This didn't stop Malcolm from complaining to anyone who would listen. "You'd think this place didn't have any technical staff at all, expecting us to put it all back." No one was listening, though, and he was reduced to telling the holes in the walls his opinions on the subject. Anyone would think he wasn't glad it had only been a drill. Maybe he would have been happy to see the full water cooler, but he didn't have time to care about that, he was far too busy. Or so he spent time telling a small motorised vehicle.
Colin and Malcolm had originally made it to communicate with the outside world, but despite all the work they needed to do this morning they were now discovering new uses for it. A post-it note on the front proclaimed its name to be 'Tim' and it was occupied in delivering cups of tea to those who had already made it to their desks.
It was in the unfortunate position of nearly running Tom over as he entered the Grid, but Tom was sure-footed and carefully picked it up, its wheels still running. A few long strides brought him into sight of Colin, who held a remote control. Immediately Colin pressed a button and Tim stopped whirring. Tom didn't say anything; he didn't need to.
"I'll just, um..." Colin took the vehicle from him and scurried off with it, back to his domain to hide, or perhaps to work.
The other occupants of the Grid kept their heads down.
Ruth looked as if she hadn't noticed anything at all, as she was occupied in rooting through a big pile of folders on her desk. Her hand brushed one the wrong way and it slipped off her desk, its contents spilling over the floor. She looked up, embarrassed, to see if anyone had noticed, but if they had they gave no sign, and she quickly picked them up, looking flustered all the while.
Danny had learnt his lesson about being late, looking as if he had been in for hours and was now frantically typing away. He paused every so often to sneak glances at Sam, who was avoiding his gaze. She had found something far more important on her computer screen, which held her attention instead.
"Red seven on black eight," Tom muttered as he passed, and she jumped.
"I was just..." she managed, but he had already gone on to his desk and wasn't listening to her excuse. A few clicks of her mouse and she sat up straighter. Danny smiled at her and this time she noticed, and smiled back.
Zoe was the only person who was neither entirely engrossed in her work, or pretending to. But since for Zoe this was now an unusual occurrence, it didn't set her apart from any of the rest of them.
"Good weekend?" she asked Tom.
"Hardly," he said, and she let it go.
Tom had barely got his computer up and running when the screen immediately went black, with an accompaniment of sighs and swearwords from around the Grid.
"Sorry," Malcolm shouted, and he plugged back in whatever wire he had decided to take out of its socket.
"I hope that's not a sign of things to come," Zoe muttered, but not quietly enough.
Tom stood up and pitched his voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "It's going to take a while to get everything back to normal. It would help a great deal if everyone was patient and gave Colin and Malcolm a chance."
As he sat down Malcolm came past trailing a length of cable behind him. "Thank you."
Tom nodded in acknowledgment.
"Perhaps this would be a good time for everyone to catch up on some paperwork." Harry emerged from his office looking like he'd had a good night's sleep. Several, in fact. "Ruth, where's that threat assessment you promised me for first thing this morning?"
"Just sending it now." She smiled in his direction, but when she turned back to her computer to press a few buttons the smile instantly vanished.
Harry didn't notice though and just said, "Tom." As he went back the way he came his unspoken command was obvious, and Tom got up and followed him.
Harry stood behind his desk. "I need you to keep an eye on Peter Falkner for me."
Tom frowned. "Why?"
"The Home Secretary's paranoid. I've just spent twenty minutes on the phone to him trying to reassure him that the MP for Birmingham East isn't in fact after his job."
"No, but from what he told me it sounds like Falkner has secrets he shouldn't. I need to know what he knows."
Tom nodded.
"I have an appointment at noon to reassure the Home Secretary he has nothing to worry about. Don't make me lie to him." He sat down and at that the meeting was ended.
Back out on the Grid very little had changed.
"All right," Tom began, and the people that had been surreptitiously looking at him now face him openly.
As he briefed the team and allocated them tasks, the spark that had been missing all morning so far was suddenly lit. Their faces became animated and their chatter louder. It might only be a small task they were doing, but it was enough to vanquish the ghosts of the EERIE alarm and the prospect of an apocalypse. And it gave Malcolm something more interesting to do.
