"I mean, if that's what you're looking for. But border collies are super smart. They don't need to attack, they'll just call the police." She grinned cheekily across the table at him, exposing her dimples. "But as long as you're getting a dog, I have no complaints."
"I'm sorry, Francis, I don't make the rules," she said, shrugging. "In Poppy-world, you need to follow the law of the land. All residents must own at least one dog." She checked her watch and frowned. "We should probably get going. We're expected at 9."
"A couple agents, I think," she said, leading the way through the dining hall. They were crossing the doorway when they came across Evan, who stopped in his tracks. He said nothing, only shooting Francis a poisonous look before moving past them to enter the dining hall. Poppy sighed and kept walking. "Jesus," she said. "That guy just doesn't know when to quit."
"It's weird," she admitted as they turned down the hallway. "You'd think that he'd give up by now." She rubbed her temple as she thought, her brows drawn together worriedly. "I don't know. He saw me exit your room this morning after the whole 'loopy' thing was over, and he was pretty pissed about it."
She looked at him for a moment, her eyebrow raised in suspicion. "Okay, weirdo," she said as they entered the Planning Room. The room was large and intimidating, with various agents milling around a square table that took up a majority of the space. They looked up when Poppy and Francis entered, but quickly resumed talking.
Francis had seen many rooms like this before. He peered around, then strode up to the table in a dignified manner, politely placing his hands on it and speaking up. "We were called in here in hopes of being put onto another mission. I hope you have the information ready, because we need to hear it."
Poppy said nothing, only raised her eyebrow slightly. She stood back, and let Francis handle the talking. A woman with shots of grey through her hair turned and glanced at Francis. Her face was severe, with deep lines around her mouth, and thick rimmed glasses settled on the bridge of her nose. "Ah, yes. Mr. Craw. Good to finally meet you. I am Dr. Oalyns. We do have a mission for you two, if you wouldn't mind sitting down."
Poppy sat next to him, her hands folded politely on the table. "We're planning on sending you out for negotiations with various countries," Dr. Oalyns said, sitting across from them. "You two seem to have an ability to get things done and to get out if things go wrong. The nations you're being sent to are the neutral ones, and we're hoping that we can tip them onto our side." (Is that okay?)
He nodded slowly, rolling her words around in his head. "I understand. When do we arrive at the first nation?" (Yeah, that's good!)
"Well, we're first stopping at the Reaye colonies to gather supplies and change out our agents. Several people are only here because they escaped from the explosions. After that, though, we'll be only a couple hours from our first nation."
The woman checked her watch as it beeped, pressing a few buttons. "Not at the moment," she said briskly, looking up at them. "We'll have more information available at the colonies, but until then, that's all we have for you."
He stood up, clasping his hands together. "Thank you for your time, I appreciate it. Best we get going."
