"When did it happen?"

Weiss stood in the dawn's light of my office, face clouded over and eyes cold, the story told with an exact edge. "Last night. Local authorities arrived at the university's campus grounds around seven o' clock. They had a warrant for her arrest. Involved some kind of embezzlement charges, though I wasn't able to uncover the specifics."

I interrupted him with a glare, "So I should suspend her and let the dirty money fly over our heads. She'll be back in the office by the month's end."

"It's not that simple Director," the deputy began with a deep sigh, his right hand fixing his hair as the glasses poised on his nose began to slide down from the sweat, "You see... the Police searched for her at the Minister's residence because they were told she left the office early. When they broke her door down, they found her in the presence of an O'Hare boy. In her bedroom."

That was not the best news to hear in the morning.

"Inform the University board of trustees that Minister Standish has been let go. I'll begin searching for a temporary replacement immediately."

*****

It'd been a hell of a day.

Since Weiss had informed me of the Minister's... unfortunate mistakes, my office had been ablaze with desperate activity. Pursuits to collect every single resume available on the Collective campus to try and figure out some figure of an alternative individual to replace her. Within hours, hundreds of administrative and academic faculty members had been brought forth by interns and clerks only to be checked off by whatever flaws prevented them. By four o' clock, the news of Standish's "honorable resignation" had already spread like wildfire throughout the university and the campus itself, and time was running out.

However, by five sharp, that last draw of hope had been just what I needed. A call was made, the Deputy ran off to meet the candidate, and I found myself resting on one of the Minister's remaining pieces of furniture in that massive, lavish office her predecessor had refurnished just two years ago - quite a bit against my own perspective, though that didn't stop him.

It wasn't long before the man himself shoved through the doors along the far wall, and even from the distance, I felt as if a wave of disbelief clouded him. Had he ever been to the Minister's office? Unlikely. But now it'd soon be his home, whether he liked it or not.

"Good evening Doctor."