Everyone knew Alex was a crow at heart. If you paid enough attention to him, you'd see him pocket a stray coin, shiny pebble, or even a pretty colored pop tab. It was a miracle his callsign wasn't Crow.

One random Tuesday, after returning from a mission, Alex approached you.

“Hey, I saw this the other day, and it made me think of you,” he said as he held his hand out to you, his latest find sitting in his palm. The pebble was small, no larger than your thumbnail. Polished almost perfectly smooth by time, it glinted in the light coming from a nearby window.