Rook

normally you’re the second person in the Rookery, after that assistant of yours,” said Tidy Twin.
    “Yes?” said Myfanwy.
What, do these guys keep tabs on my comings and goings?
“Well, I… had an appointment.” They regarded her with expectant eyes, and she was suddenly filled with a desire to shake up those proprietary stares. “A gynecologist appointment.” She smiled triumphantly at the twins. “To have my vagina checked,” she added. They nodded in unison and, to her private satisfaction, seemed somewhat disconcerted.
Of course, they do have a female body,
she remembered, slightly crestfallen.
They probably aren’t going to be freaked out at the mention of female matters.
“And… it’s still… there. And okay.”
    “That’s… good,” said Tidy Twin.
    “Yes, anyway, let’s get down to business.” Fortunately, Thomas had left an agenda for her meeting with Gestalt, and Myfanwy was able to run down the list—or would have been if she hadn’t moved the meticulous piles around. “Okay, let’s see…” She shuffled through papers.
    “I be
lieve
you have some documents for me to sign,” said Cool Twin.
    “Yuh,” she said shortly, finding the stack exactly where she’d left it. “So, um, you need to sign these… things… which I have alreadysigned, I think.” She flipped through them hurriedly and saw the signature of Myfanwy Thomas. “Yes, I
have
signed them, and now you need to. So, here is a letter to the… Prime Minister… of Great Britain that states that we are aware of nothing he needs to know about.” She passed the documents over to the twins, who began signing them. She watched with fascination as they produced identical signatures simultaneously, one with the left hand, one with the right.
    “You missed this one,” said Tidy Twin, handing her a contract.
    She took it and had a dreadful moment of realization.
Crap. Signature. What did Thomas’s signature look like?
She’d seen it a minute ago, and Thomas had signed at least one of the letters to her, but she hadn’t really spent much time contemplating its form or shape. In retrospect, that had been a mistake.
Oh God.
She took a breath and was aware that Tidy Twin was staring at her. She smiled tightly at him, and then signed it.
Is that it? It looks familiar.
Still, neither twin seemed overly interested in her signature. Nor did either compare the new one with the old ones. “All righty, thanks. I’ll take those and make sure they get to… where they need to go.
    “Now,” Myfanwy continued, “this week’s schedule. Okay, it looks as if I’ve got rather a lot of meetings with accountants about—are you all right?” she asked. Both the twins Gestalt were staring blankly into space.
That’s creepy.
    “I’m about to go into the headquarters of the cult,” said the twins in unison. “Do you want commentary?”
    “Uh, sure,” said Myfanwy. “Should I take notes?”
    “Not necessary,” said Gestalt through two mouths. “The teams are equipped with recording material. We’re gathering at the door, and Pawn Kirkman is looking through it. He’s signaling that there are three people on the other side—armed.
Cooper, once Meaney brings the door down, launch stun grenades.
” Myfanwy looked up in surprise—the twins’ voices had shifted, becoming higher, intent. She realized that she was hearing the voice of their sister giving orders. “I’m giving the countdown: Three! Two! One!” The twins’left arms jerked slightly, presumably mirroring the motions of their sibling more than two hundred miles away.
    “Meaney has punched down the door, and we’ve drawn back to avoid the concussion. Now we’re in, with five men in front of me. They’ve covered the foyer and—
take him! Take him!
Okay, a man with antlers is down.
Team one, hold the foyer. Teams two and three move in. Keep in mind, people, that we want as few deaths as possible. Immobilize them.
Kirkman is scanning surrounding rooms.
You four—secure that room. Move forward.
”
    For the next forty-five minutes, Myfanwy listened intently as Gestalt led the assault. Soldiers were directed, orders given, cultists restrained or dispatched (depending on the extent of their dedication to the cause). She was treated to a blow-by-blow account as the female Gestalt was surprised by an attack, and her guards were impaled on the prongs of a high priest’s antlers. She watched as the twins’ muscles tensed while their sister kicked and spun and