As Shannon stared at the small tower of sweaters, folded and precisely stacked in the shelves of her closet organizing system, she wished Tonya hadn't brought up clothes. It would have been a simple matter of grabbing the one on top of the pile to throw over her usual work attire, but now, she was second-guessing every choice. She texted Tonya.

~

Shannon: I can't decide!

Tonya: About?

Shannon: Clothes! Why did you have to mention them at all?

Tonya: 🤣 Two words: tight sweater.

Shannon: Sure. Funny. You're no help.

~

She sighed deeply and closed the doors without making a decision. The task was overwhelming, and she was tired. Going to bed early seemed like a better idea than picking out an outfit, even if for the most important date of her life, especially since she needed to try and get her report done in the morning before her lunch with War. That meant getting up early.

Gotta love paperwork! Forms in triplicate to pee.

A nice hot shower sounded enticing before watching the weekly update on Them. Shannon called for her apartment's AI to turn on the music in the bathroom, and classic funk poured from the speakers a moment after. She let the water run to warm it up, then stripped out of her daily attire. An hour later, she was pulling on soft flannel sleep pants and a faded cotton t-shirt to prepare for bed.

She ordered the TV to flip to the update about Them. The weekly update was hosted by the Claxian T'Kow. The Claxians were blue-colored humanoid beings who had contacted Earth's governments some fifteen years before. Wanting to show positive intentions, they shared some technology and medical advances, though not all they knew, insisting humans weren't ready for most of what they could teach.

"You're not mature enough as a species to take this knowledge and use it for good. You are too war-like, and you would destroy yourselves... and we would have helped. We cannot bear such a burden," T'Kow, the chosen liaison for the Claxians, had said.

Some of that sentiment changed when the Claxians learned They, a reptilian species intent on enslaving conquered planets' inhabitants, were coming. There was an active collaboration on defense strategies between Earth and the Claxians, who had shared ways to fend Them off. Humans, being exactly as the Claxians described, were quickly adapting the defensive tech into offensive. The Claxians urged caution and logic; the attack weapons being developed should be focused on Them, not on conquests between nations on Earth. The last thing the planet needed was internal conflicts going on when They arrived.

Even with Their advanced technology, They were still years away. Humans had the Claxians to thank for the early warning. In fact, T'Kow had explained her humanoid species had made contact well before they usually would, based on the likelihood They would set their sights on Earth.

It disturbed Shannon that They didn't even have a name, but the Claxians had asserted, when first revealing the news of not only Their existence but Their inevitable invasion, They needed no name. The impersonal reference was enough. She shivered at the thought of Their impending arrival. Being a species maintained as an edible slave force was a horrifying, yet possible, reality. She tried to not think about it too much; her panic would overwhelm her every time.

Knowledge about Immortals, on the other hand, was old news to certain circles. Their existence, as well as the ISD's, became public, breaking decades of secrecy when the powers that be announced They had been observed to be en route. With the public's acceptance of the Immortals, there came a massive swell of modern paganism and polytheism, much to the monotheists' horror. Yet, the genuinely great Immortals remained elusive. It was one thing to recruit a minor deity with limited powers for the coming war and quite another to have a significant player agree to support the humans.

Her phone pinged, breaking her out of her thoughts, and she picked it up.

~

Tonya: Hey, I'm reading a report about the Fates.

Shannon: Oh?

Tonya: Yeah, they're going to give a press release tomorrow. We got ahold of their speech.

Shannon: I'm calling!

~

Shannon hit the speed dial for Tonya, excited to hear about the Three Aspects of Fate. "So, what are they going to say?"

"It's not what we were hoping for. Basically, it's something to the effect of, 'Fate is indeterminate by its nature, blah, blah, blah... our job is to caretake the fabric and weave it as Fate would allow, not as our pattern would dictate, etcetera, etcetera.'"

Shannon gasped. "Wow. So, basically, 'You're on your own, fuckers.'"

Tonya snorted. "Ya think? This isn't going to go over well. We'll see an escalation in our counter groups."

Shannon pinched the bridge of her nose as she padded to the kitchen for a late-night snack. "You going to be on call in case things get bad?"

Tonya made a sound of frustration. "Probably. I don't know. I've been part of your detail all this time, so it's just as likely they'll have me stick with you."

Having grabbed a glass of milk and a small stack of cookies, Shannon returned to the bedroom TV. The next segment of the show always shared images of Their fleet, collected during the week by the Hubble Telescope, which had been taken out of research service and donated to the war effort to track Them.

She perched on the edge of the bed and put Tonya on speaker. "You watching the update?"

"Yeah." Tonya cleared her throat. When she spoke again, her voice was near a whisper. "Their fleet is enormous, Shannon. What are we going to do if War says no?"

Shannon's stomach fluttered. The pressure surrounding her mission would double tomorrow once the Fates made their announcement. She made her voice firm with conviction when she answered. "He won't. He can't! It doesn't make any sense. He'll say yes, you'll see."

"I hope you're right, Shannon. Thank the gods we have the Claxians here, at least."

"I wish everyone agreed with us. I just don't get why any group would protest the Claxian's being here! Look at how much they've done for us," Shannon voiced for the thousandth time.

"Preachin' to the choir, sister. I don't get it either," Tonya agreed.

"The Fates announcement will ramp up the Immortalphobic response, for sure."

"And one always riles up the other. Franklin had some good insight when he said he thought the two groups were in cahoots with each other."

Shannon set aside her empty glass and stretched out. "Lord. Franklin. That idiot had a good idea?"

Tonya laughed, "Despite his lack of general social and dating skills, he's actually a good Agent."

"Well, I guess even the dumbest among us get lucky every now and then."

"Oh?" Tonya teased, "Is he going to get lucky?"

"Fuck you!" Shannon exclaimed. "I don't date coworkers. I wouldn't even date him if he weren't a coworker. He's not my type. Besides, I have the mission, and you know how these kinds of assignments can mess with Agent's relationships."

Tonya turned the conversation. "So, are you ready for this? I mean, you're basically looking at seducing an Immortal."

Shannon swallowed, a tremor of nervousness running through her. "I guess so. But, I'm still not wearing a tight sweater."

Tonya cackled. "Whatever. Look, I need to go to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

Shannon said goodnight, then turned out the light on the nightstand, snuggled under the down comforter, and closed her eyes. To her annoyance, she could not fall asleep; her mind raced with jumbled thoughts about meeting War and the possible consequences if he continued to follow his path of non-violence. After tossing and turning for two hours, she decided it was pointless and went to her home office. Ultimately, she found herself surfing the web, trying to understand why a monk would ask her on a date and how she might convince one to join a war effort.

"Oh, hey, that's a good choice of sweater!" Tonya's teasing dripped with sarcasm the next morning. She shrugged out of her coat before she dropped her purse in the bottom drawer of her desk, then plopped the paper bag she carried on Shannon's desk.

"What's wrong with my sweater?" Shannon glanced at the powder blue, amazingly soft Angora sweater she had chosen to go with black pants and a dark blue button-up.

"I thought we agreed you needed a tight sweater. That," Tonya explained, pointing to Shannon's outfit with one hand as she put her other on her hip, "is not a 'get a second date' sweater."

Shannon rolled her eyes. "I thought we agreed he'd expect me to be coming from work! I'd never wear something like that to work." She opened the bag, peered in, and smiled at the sight of the everything bagel with a generous smear of cream cheese. Tonya always seemed to know when she didn't have breakfast.

Tonya laughed and collapsed into her desk chair. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Shannon playful hit her friend's upper arm. "Stop it. I'm nervous enough already. I don't need you to get me all self-conscious again about my choice of clothing. A decision I spent an hour agonizing about this morning, by the way! I was much later for work than I had intended to be."

"Oh, please," Tonya scoffed. "I know you were still here at least an hour early. You work too much."

"I have shit to do, Tonya! I didn't finish my report yesterday because I let you talk me into a burger and beer." She twisted the bagel apart and began spreading cheese on half of it with the knife Tonya had thoughtfully included along with a generous stack of napkins.

She really is a good friend.

"Because you don't eat!"

"I do too!"

"Only when your best friend in the whole world brings you breakfast. Tell me I'm wrong."

Shannon laughed. "You're not wrong!" She licked the knife before taking a massive bite of the monstrous baked good. "What are you assigned to do today?" she asked around the mouthful.

Tonya looked up from her email, eyebrows arched. "I'm tailing a certain agent as she goes out to lunch with an Immortal who might become a potential recruit."

Shannon paused, looking at her friend. "Really? You're supposed to follow me?"

"Yep," Tonya nodded, looking back at her monitor. "Don't worry, you know I'm good at being in the background. It's my Talent. You just need to ignore me if you catch sight of me."

"Ignore my best friend as she spies on me. Check."