Snippet #2472362

Thaddeus woke to an annoying vibration and ring combination that was coming from his phone. He groped groggily under his pillow for the slim device, swiping the screen to dismiss the alarm. He lay there for a couple more moments, torn between the dream and reality, before finally giving in and sitting upright. Stretching, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and rolled out of the comfortable bed. He padded across the spacious bedroom, topless and sporting a pair of pajama bottoms, and stepped into the bathroom. This room was also quite large, able to fit both a spa bath and a large shower with plenty of room to move around. Thaddeus quickly took a shower, which managed to wake him up sufficiently for him to be functional, brushed his teeth, and shaved. Fully awake now, he went to the sizable kitchen, preparing a simple breakfast of eggs and toast for himself. Having eaten, he strode into his closet and chose a suit. Today's was a dark navy blue pinstriped three-piece, pure wool, custom tailored.

If there had been someone watching Thaddeus perform this daily morning routine, they would have found it ordinary, and yet at the same time slightly off. Without knowing why, they would instinctively sense that something was not exactly normal with this routine, and they would have been right. In fact, this whole routine had been conducted like clockwork; it didn't contain any emotion, any sign that the actor had any feelings. The same result could have been reproduced if the actor was replaced with a robot, calculating and exact in its movements.

Now looking presentable, he walked to the door of his large penthouse condo, grabbing his briefcase on the way. He checked his appearance in a large mirror by the entrance, performing a final check before heading off to work.


He arrived at the bottom of a large building half an hour later. This was the offices of MedLife, a not-for-profit organization of which he was vice-executive director. Despite being small, MedLife was an organization dedicated to providing proper medical treatment and medication to people in third-world countries. However, it is surprisingly powerful, having close ties with numerous governments, even receiving funding from the UN, and is quickly growing.

Thaddeus entered the building, heading straight to his office. On the way, his assistant found him, mumbling something about conflicts, Syria, and poison gas, and handed him a sheaf of papers. Thaddeus promised her that he would look into it, and the assistant hurried away. Finally reaching his office, he shut the door behind him and looked around. Two large floor-to-ceiling glass panels formed a windowed corner, overlooking the rest of the city. Directly in front of this was his desk, facing the door, with a small sitting area to the left. Bookshelves lined the walls.

Putting his briefcase down, Thaddeus took a seat at his desk, and glanced at the pile of papers on his desk, as well as the new bundle just given to him. He sighed, picked up the top-most pack, and started reading.