“Duncan, wake up, will you? Didn’t you hear the pager?”

A large hand tapped on my shoulders to get a reaction. I turned off the music on my earphones, laid it down and yawned while I got up from my desk.

The man who woke me up was Greg, the leader of the rifter corps I was assigned to. He was a mountain of a man whose physics many envied, but honestly in my opinion his strongest suite wasn’t his frame, but the giant heart that moved it. Have you ever had a day when you overslept and didn’t have enough time to prepare your lunch and had no breakfast at all? Well, whenever that happens, Greg is the guy to hand over his meal for someone else. 

It doesn’t stop there. No matter if you're moving, having trouble with your pet or whatever else comes to mind. Greg is the first to come and the last to leave. Hell, sometimes I wouldn’t wonder him telling me, he donated an organ for a stranger.

If he didn’t shave his black hair in an army hairstyle, he probably would have been more popular with the ladies thanks to his constitution and the green eyes that always glow with a warm undertone in them. When he’s around, the whole room starts to feel warmer. You know, it's the type of cozy feeling that lets you relax like a burning fireplace.

“Sorry, Greg. It took like an eternity to fill in the last report for all of us. I must have fallen asleep while trying to stay awake with the music.” Truth to be told, I no longer feel tired, even though I wished I could. Somehow when I got the ability to cure others fatigue I ended up with a smaller need for sleep.

If anyone had asked me ten years ago if I’d take three to four hours of sleep a day, I surely would have shouted ‘Deal!’. Nowadays, that’s different. I miss the chance to sleep and dream. Whenever I closed my eyes now, there was only nothingness awaiting me until it faded with another morning. 

I stretched my tired body and stood up from the desk. “So, you said the pager rang? Where are we called to?”

“Seems like another rift is about to appear in Greenwich Park.”

“Well, at least we will get some fresh air while waiting for another battle.” I laughed and shrugged while I walked to the armory. Things like this were already routine for me.
“Did you polish your shield or something?”, I wondered as my gaze fell upon the shiny thing. Really, why bother? It surely wouldn’t last another day this clean, but Greg had cleaned it nonetheless. “If you’ve got time to waste, why not sort the archive instead?”

“It’s not about wasting time, you know”, he huffed. “It’s about preparation. It helps to calm my nerves when we lie low for some time. You never know when the next call will come in.” 

“I know”, I replied. “But it helps to calm my nerves to tease you guys just a bit.” 

“You never change, do you, Mr. Sarcasm?” It was Pam’s voice that caught my attention.

When did she get in here? Occasionally, I really had to wonder how another human being could move so silent. Especially in heavy boots, that should create a lot more sound on the ground.

In many ways, Pam deserved to be called a force of nature. It wasn’t just because she wielded fireballs in battle and knew how to deal with idiots really efficiently. Somehow this woman always found a method to threw complaints at people, dragging them into word combat once you left a single chance for her.

Her red locks and the icy blue glare merged elegantly in her strong demeanor. If it weren’t for her freckles, which she tended to hide beneath a notable amount of makeup, her stance would have shaken some soldiers to their core. Still, it was always fun to see the idiots who claimed her to be cute because of them whenever they got a glimpse of the face beneath the makeup. I’d love to enjoy their horror every day as they realized the cute little princess could turn into a sharp-tongued-beast within the blink of an eye.

Well, gentleman. Never mess with a woman who wields her fire in tongue and hands. 

“Guilty as charged, Miss Firefly. Glad to see you’re set to go.”

“You would be too if you didn’t waste so much of our time cuddling with your favorite desk.” She grinned at me wittingly. “Charles is already in the parking lot to get to car started, so let’s move out.”

I nodded, reached for my robe and staff to change in gear. 

Most of the equipment we used by now was something we found in the rifts. Weapons and armors from those dimensions were forged with compatibility to the foreign energies. Therefore, they could be used more effectively in combat with the rift’s beasts than gear from our world.

Still, they could be tricky to handle. You couldn’t just use any weapon or armor you’d find. They needed to be adjusted to the energies one was compatible with and suited for the abilities you developed. A shield that was supposed to protect you could harm you instead if it supported the wrong elements. 

But thanks to the high difficulty in obtaining items one could use most efficiently, it was also possible to obtain a sufficient living if you managed to sell only a few in every three to six months.

Well, to be honest, I would prefer to earn less money and chose a safer job instead. But once you know there is no choice left either way, you have to take advantage of every last option left to you. Not that I wanted to spend my everyday life complaining. There were more than enough reasons left to put a smile upon my face. Still, from time to time, these feelings started to pent-up and I felt the urge to rant until the pressure relieved me from its grasp. 

“Let’s go. Seems like we’ll get another sunshine day waiting for use to enjoy ourselves to the fullest.” I smiled as we walked out into the rain. Of course, there was no sunshine waiting for us. This was London after all and as far as things changed in the world the weather didn’t bother. 

Charles awaited us in the car right in front of the building. His physics were similar to mine. As we both had brown hair and kept our hairstyles simple, we were sometimes questioned if we were siblings. But while my eyes had a dark green shade, his were of grayish-blue, and everyone who watched closer could easily tell our faces were different.

So, what's to say about Charles? He is the kind of guy who loves to make awful jokes. Really, they are so bad that you’re never certain if you should shake your head or laugh at the joker himself. Still, he always manages to take our heads of serious matters with every stupid remark he can find. Without his bullshit, my head would have exploded ages ago. 

His fingers tipped on the steering wheel in time to match the lyrics the radio shouted at us. I laughed at him as we got into the car and set out, while ‘Wrong side of heaven’ from ‘Five Finger Death Punch’ accompanied us like a secret hymn.