The alarm, its piercing shriek coming every several seconds, blared throughout the northwest buildings of the F.O.W.L. compound. It had been going for a couple minutes already; a couple minutes that -- for the employees within those buildings -- felt like an eternity.

"That's the fire alarm!" Sally yelled in response. She knew Gabriel hadn't directed the question at her and would likely be agitated by her volunteered answer. However, the receptionist knew she was one of very few who actually knew what the migraine-inducing sound was.

Gabriel cast a predictably disparaging glance at the squirrel but otherwise didn't acknowledge her. She glanced at her partner, who simply shrugged.

The door to the rest of the main building opened and F.O.W.L.'s head maintenance technician rushed in. The tall poodle paused near Sally's desk to shed his blue overcoat. "God be damned, it's hot in here! Turn the heater down a bit, willya, Sally, sweetie?!"

Sally looked at him helplessly. "I only had it set at seventy-four!"

"Probably can't read the thermostat to save her life!" Gabriel commented to Steelbeak.

Sally glowered at Gabriel; Steelbeak simply rolled his eyes.

"Can you do anything about the alarm?!" Sally asked the maintenance technician.

He shook his head, shrugging. "I've checked the system and the electronics show that nothing's malfunctioning! None of the switches have been tripped so as far as the system's concerned, the alarm's not even on! I called the alarm company and they're looking into it on their end!"

"What do we do until then?!"

"Take lots of aspirin for your headaches, I guess!" The poodle smiled, though he may really have just been gritting his teeth. "I'm looking into your heater situation next!"

"Thanks, Sammy!"

Gabriel, Steelbeak and Sally watched him disappear back into the heart of the building. Sally attempted to resume her tasks, but answering the phones with that alarm blaring relentlessly around them proved impossible. She turned to her stack of paperwork, picking up the top several sheets. She shrieked, jumping out of her seat. "What the hell?!"

Gabriel and Steelbeak had both seen the paper turn to ash in Sally's palm. Wary looks were exchanged.

"I'm starting not to like this so much!" Gabriel cried, turning to Steelbeak. "This is not Kosher!"

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