Adrian Durrell, 28 year old security consultant

Adrian walked casually, sipping his mediocre coffee. His head nodded slightly to the beat of the music playing from his headphones. He finished his coffee, tossing the cup into a trash bin.

He spotted one of the scientists briskly walking his way, and removed his headphones in case they wanted to talk to him. This particular scientist was an older woman, with an uncanny resemblance to a vulture and the heartlessness to match.

"Hey Robinson, what's up?"

Her expression soured slightly at his informal tone, but he was used to her prudishness by now.

"What is up, Mr. Durrell, is that you and your team are dismissed for the rest of the night."

Adrian raised an eyebrow at the older woman.

"I'm sorry? The roll out is scheduled for a week from now and you want us gone now?"

"You and the rest of your team, are dismissed for the remainder of the evening. You will be compensated for the full shift."

"But why?"

"That information is sensitive."

He stepped towards her, eyes narrowed. She looked with the same unflinching passive disdain.

"I'm the head of security, Meredith. Shouldn't I know what exactly is going on."

Her nostrils flared imperceptibly at his use of her first name, but that miniscule crack in her blank demeanor vanished as soon as it appeared.

"No. If you have any questions or complaints, speak with Human Resources."

With that, the woman left, not waiting for a reply from him. With a sigh, Adrian picked up his radio and told his team the news. 5 minutes later, his car was backing out of the parking lot, making it's through the drizzling rain.

As he drove, he grumbled to himself.

"Those assholes, never tell us what the fuck they're up to, expect us to just nod along."

Making the lengthy drive home in the dead of night was unpleasant enough, and added greatly to his frustrations with his employers.

CompanionCorp™ did this too often for him to not be upset at this time. On top of that, he was curious as to what they could be doing that would need to be hidden from their own security team.

He glanced at his fuel gauge, which was a little closer to E than he would like. He took a left, driving towards the gas station he frequently hit up.

As he drove, his mind briefly wandered to the cute girl who sometimes worked the register. He resolved to finally ask her name, should she be there.

With his mind enraptured in the idea of getting to know his convenience store crush, he didn't notice the slight figure standing in the road until it was about a dozen feet away.

He slammed on his brakes and yanked the steering wheel to the side, his tires squealing. Despite his actions, the car still clipped the person, though much softer than if he hadn't tried to stop.

He hopped out of his car, ignoring the rain and cold, running towards the unfortunate pedestrian.

"Please don't be dead, please don't be dead."

He whipped out a flashlight, illuminating the young man laying in the rain. Adriana's jaw dropped, and the flashlight slipped out of his fingers.

"What the fu..."