A strange shimmering pattern appears in the air outside the station, and three figures appear out of nowhere. They seem to be out of place, and look around themselves in some confusion.
"I still don't understand why we have to do it this way. What are we doing here?"
"You know the rules. Transporting directly into the middle of the city would be too risky - it's almost impossible to find somewhere where we can arrive unobserved."
"Okay, whatever the Captain says. I guess we should head to the rendezvous, then.
They walk into the station. Then they walk out again.
"What exactly did he mean by "cash or valid Oyster card"?"
It's a weekday afternoon during the school holidays and the grey skies are filled with swirling drizzle. Everything in sight glistens damply, including the scattering of passengers huddling under the canopies waiting to go somewhere else, preferably somewhere indoors. The station PA comes to life.
"For the attention of the children on the northbound platform - please note that ball games are strictly prohibited on London Underground stations for safety reasons. Please stop playing football and pick your ball up immediately. Thank you."
One missed pass later the players discover that in a match between a football and 160-odd tons of train, it's usually the train which wins.
Andy is in an irritable mood, because he's got a hangover. He's got a hangover because Laura was away on some business trip or another last night - a meeting in Glasgow, apparently. With Laura away, Andy had a fun evening out with the lads. All good fun - curry then beer and plenty of spectator sport in the pub when the pissed guy at the next table started making indecent proposals to a couple of tourists.
After too many pints he staggered in and fell asleep, then woke up late and had to rush out of the door feeling lousy. He's also reeking slightly due to not having time for a shower. And why the hell is Laura's mobile engaged for so long at this time of the morning?