A faint voice in her earpiece dragged Siana out of sleep before the sunrise had fully broken through the blinds. She sat up reluctantly, pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

Voice: Ms. Siana! Are you there?!

She stretched one arm, rolling the stiffness from her shoulder.

Siana: Well, good morning to you too. What's the problem?

Voice: You know it's not morning here right… Never mind, you've got to get moving; the targets are on their way to school. You've got your gear, right?

Siana: Yeah, I've got it. Remind me again why I need to get this close? I feel like I've been observing the school just fine from afar.

Voice: You need to be close so you can react; there's no way the targets were only noticed by us. Something's going to happen, and you need to be there. Now get moving please!

The line cut before Siana could ask any more questions. She swung her legs out of bed, cracked her neck, and reached for her bomber jacket she'd hung on the back of her chair.

Walking through the city at dawn always felt… odd. The streets were still, the shops quiet. It reminded her too much of her hometown after a bad snowstorm.

Her thoughts drifted to the targets. A group of teenagers… kids even. Supposedly with potential. She hadn't met them yet, only seen their faces through their files. Still, if they were strong enough to be noticed by her superiors, then they were strong enough to be noticed by others.

Siana sighed, running her hand through her hair.

Siana: [I don't know why they assigned me to this. I'm not the best with kids, I can't even get along with my younger sibling.]

By mid-morning, the streets were flooded with commuters. The school loomed ahead, its roof cutting against the pale blue sky. She slowed her pace, ducking into a nearby alley. Watching. Cataloguing.

That's when she heard the footsteps behind her. Close…and getting closer.

She spun on her heels. Three men. Leather jackets, cheap jewelry, smirks full of bad intentions. One had a blade he obviously thought made him dangerous.

Thug 1: Wallet. Phone. Don't make it hard.

Siana tilted her head, studying them. She put up her hands in fear as her bottom lip started to quiver.

Siana: Please no! I don't have much.

Siana: [Gods, I hope this looks convincing.]

Thug 3: That jacket of yours looks pretty nice, and that earpiece.

Siana: [Damn, the helpless act always works on TV.]

She snatched the lid of a nearby trash can and launched it right at the middle thug's nose, dropping him on impact.

The second thug lunged. She pivoted, caught his wrist, and yanked on his cheap necklace, bringing him forward into her knee. The crack of his nose breaking echoed in the alley as his knife clattered to the ground.

The third picked up a metal pipe. He swung wildly, she slipped inside his defense and delivered a palm strike to his chest.

The first man froze as he slowly pushed himself back up. He scrambled to his feet, fists raised.

Siana stepped forward once, and that was enough. He ran, swearing under his breath.

Siana: [He'll probably just go try to mug someone else.]

Siana rolled the third thug's discarded pipe towards her and popped it up with her foot. With another swift kick, she launched it at the escaping thug.

The pipe collided with the back of the man's skull with a loud crack.

She exhaled, adjusted her jacket, and crouched to pick up the dropped knife.

Siana: Have a nice nap.

Her earpiece buzzed again.

Voice: All targets have arrived. Move in.

She glanced back toward the school, the laughter of students spilling faintly down the street. Her expression hardened.

Siana: Yeah, I'm on it.

For now, the mission was simple: secure the kids before anyone else did. Easy enough.