Toril closed the apartment door after her, locking it and then slipping the key under the door. Astin was already calling the elevator, and Caleb stood beside him, dourly sipping his soda. She could not understand why he always seemed to get so worked up over their missions. The details really did not matter at all. They were there for one purpose, and that was all they should need to worry about. Of course blending in was always important, but she could not imagine being a student could possibly be as bad as Caleb’s reaction would suggest.

The elevator deposited them on the bottom floor. She shifted her slipping book bag back onto her shoulder and followed Astin out of the apartment building. It was still early morning on a Wednesday. There were a good number of people on the streets, but all of them looked like they had a clear destination and purpose.

She slipped into the passenger seat of their old beat up car. The engine turned over, and soon they had moved out into traffic. News toned out of the radio, and Caleb sat in the back seat, staring out the window, Jester curled up in his lap.

Toril pulled out her mp3 player and slipped the headphone into one ear while pressing play. Music floated into her ear as she watched the scenery fly past outside the window. She did not know how far away their new assignment would be, but there was no reason to ask. They would get there when they got there, no sooner.

“We’re there.” Astin said, just shortly before the scenery stopped moving in front of her eyes. She tucked the mp3 player away as she refocused on her surroundings. They were in a city, and a much more upscale one than their previous. Their car looked out of place among the recently washed cars and their shiny hubcaps.

Astin climbed from his seat, and so Toril did the same, watching for traffic before moving over to the sidewalk. The man nodded and they went to the nearest building and pressed the buzzer.

“Who’s there?”

“Astin.”

“Hey, bout time. Come on up.”

The apartment they went to was on the very top floor of the building. They had barely knocked on the door when it flew open to reveal a old man with a huge smile.

“Come on in you three, we’ve been expecting you.” He ushered them inside. “Make yourselves at home.”

Caleb immediately made his way to the refrigerator. He muttered something about the lack of soda.

“My name’s Paul, and my partner there is Alfred.”

Another old man with huge glasses raised his hand in greeting, but returned focus to the task in front of him.

“We’re in charge of taking care of this sector. Fun job with the Academy right here. We’ve been looking forward to meeting you and your team Astin. Herd so much about you.”

“Then you should have soda.” Caleb plopped onto the couch.

“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you, Paul.” Astin said. “Is everything ready?”

“Alfred’s just putting the final touches on your IDs. I’m the one that will be filling you in on what you need to know.” He grabbed two packets off the table at which Alfred was working and handed one to Caleb, and the other to Toril.

She sat down and pulled it open. There were lots of papers, and a booklet, along with and ID card with her picture on it and a last name that was not hers.

“In case you didn’t know, your mission takes place at Chelo Academy, one of the premiere Academies in the world. You all are enrolled as students, coming from varying places, with nothing that should tie you together in any way. You’re going to have to go to classes, keep your grades up, and follow the rules of the Academy, which are in that booklet there.” Paul paused for a moment. “This mission is different from past missions because you’re going to be in an area where people not only can see Myst, but are trained to use it themselves. That means you can’t be sloppy and then just remove memories. I suggest you get to reading your packets; your first day of classes is tomorrow.”

Alfred got up from his table and handed the packet and newly made card to Astin with a smile. “Just remember to not say anything, out loud or telepathically, that you can’t risk being overheard. Other than that, have fun.”

“This mission is a waste of time. We’re bothering with integrating ourselves into such a complex system to take out one Drifter?” Caleb muttered.

“It’s not part of our job to know.” Astin replied.

“What if we come on an unusual situation?” Toril questioned.

“Use your best judgment. In emergencies we can contact each other.”

“I don’t know if being around people who can use Myst will be less annoying, or more.” Caleb moved to the door.

“As for you two, it’s time to make you look a bit younger.” Paul said looking from Toril to Astin.

Caleb stood, Jester on his shoulder. “I’m going out to get some soda.”

“Be back before dark,” Astin said.

“Yes, ‘Dad’,” the teen left the apartment.