Bound in Time

Chapter 6: The Day that Wasn't

~1955~

(Allyn POV)

As the Handler and Five shook hands, her, Five and I were teleported to what I suspected to be the Commission building. The building was built from multiple different types of stone bricks, but each colour brick fit into the grey and brown colour scheme. The grass was perfectly green, and the dark gray pathway leading up to the building separated the massive yard in two. Indistinct chatter could be heard around us as we walked towards the building, employees entering and exiting the building every few seconds. Some of those people had briefcases, while others had a complex array of papers stuffed under their arms.

"I must admit, in all the time that I've been here, I've never seen anyone quite like you two." the Handler told us. A few passerby's waved and said hello. The Handler waved back but continued. "Hazel and Cha Cha, for example, are talented certainly, but... they can't see the big picture. Your spunk, your enterprising spirit, well it reminds me a great deal of myself, if I may be so vainglorious. If things work out for you both here, you could potentially make fine successors." the Handler continued, putting an arm around each of our shoulders. My shoulders tense upon the contact. Five shrugged the Handler's arm off of his own shoulders, and she slowly dropped hers from mine. We walked inside the building, and the Handler removed her large overcoat, and a passing employee took it from her as if on command.

"I'd like to discuss the logistics of my family's safety at your earliest convenience." Five started to comply as the Handler led us up the stairs.

"Such chutzpah. It's refreshing, I'll admit. Slow down Five, all in good time." she said nonchalantly. "In fact, now that you've finally agreed to work with us, we've got all the time in the world." We turned a corner, and continued down a long hallway. The floors were made from polished marble, and the walls were more of a granite.

"The Commission works in support of a delicate balance between the timeline of events and mankind's free will." the Handler explained as we passed the briefcase room. I paused for a moment, Five doing so as well, and looked through the glass of the room, my eyes scanning the rows upon rows of specifically organized briefcases.

"The briefcase is no longer part of your kit, Five. Free your mind. You're both management now. One of us." the Handler reminded us, and we kept on our path. We took another stairwell up another floor, and passed dozens of rooms on both sides of the hall, everyone within working without disruption.

"All the people on this floor are case managers, each one responsible for one major even at a time." the Handler explained more to myself than Five. We stopped in front of a room filled with probably over a hundred people inside, all siting in desks perfectly aligned, everyone typing away busily.

"So many of them." I breathed in awe.

"Impressive, isn't it? Being part of something... so grand." the Handler relished. "Come along." the Handler finished, and we continued on down the massive hallway.

"Whenever someone chooses the wrong path, and the timeline is changed, the Commission gets a report from field agents on the ground. These field reports are sorted and assigned to a case manager. They determine if anyone needs to be... removed from the equation to assure that their event happens as it should. Based on that determination, the case manager sends instructions via pneumatic tube to temporal assassins like Number Five formally was." the Handler revealed, winking at Five as we walked into the Tube Room. She stopped and spun on her heel to face us.

"Any queries so far?" she asked politely. Five shook his head, but I spoke up with a question I've had on my mind ever since she'd started explaining.