A Recruitment Drive
Opening your mouth while you are on the outskirts of Changye City, especially near the Alloy Springs makes you taste the grease and smell the smog coming out from the chimney of their factories.
Two weeks have passed since I got out of quarantine. I have been working for Kei’s Office for 3 months and 2 weeks. My job has now somewhat changed and with Kei trusting me after a 3-month probation period.
I am able to work on independent investigations on behalf of Kei’s office. I have business cards to give.
My current location is on the outskirts of the city. Under a district they call the Abyssal Abodes because of how dark it can be when you head down the caverns below where they solely rely on the light produced by the city. Make no mistake however. This place is full of militants, combat-oriented OB-affiliates.
I am visiting one of the offices that requested a meeting with our office. Kei said to me she will only meet the clients after I take a look at them. This change in attitude is because of the last request. Facing a demon has almost cost us our lives. Yes, she was motivated with revenge to kick one of the fragment of Okinawan devil, but she also realizes how reckless they have been doing their jobs. I am tempted to say they are using me as the guy to test the waters. I can excuse them for now since I know that they just got their asses kicked when facing a CODE ORANGE.
“Your wits are still there, Mister?”
“I am listening.”
Wrinkled face full of scars with prosthetic body. The man in front of me is one of those old men who saw the era change. He is giving a pressure you’d faint if you didn’t hold on to your consciousness.
“So you fellas handled that devil-fragment. Impressive. How was it?”
He takes a look at our resume and business card.
“Demons… have quite a way of handling the weakness of humans. We can’t fly.”
“Blinked you into the clouds, eh. That’s why you get strong legs. How do you survive?”
I told him.
“Eh. Guess you got a backup if you didn’t manage to shoot into a canal.”
The old man swings his left arm in blade mode. I squinted at the edge of the blade. My eyes are cross-eyed.
“Good. Well, we can work something out.”
My purpose here is to associate this combat-office with Kei’s office. We are a three-person office and there is no rule that you can’t have extra people working with you without hiring them. At least Kei told me that as she savors the subsidy-money from Sato-san.
“So, Assistant, you want to associate with us.”
“That’s right.”
I wore my professional demeanor and presented the pitch to the old man. But first, time to remind him who he is.
“Aidan Riva. Served in the Euro-Africa death march. Served for 18600 hours in the field during an incursion. Did two full combat tours in the Siberian Outbreak and had accumulated combat wealth that made you so dangerous in the field they rated you to MD Grade in your prime. Not to mention, you and your comrade took care of the ORANGE risk levels in the province of Anhui, Fujian, and participated in the Hebei to Hunan Marches. You… have quite a reputation for a man who is below the EX Grade.”
LS-Graded Agents usually handle creatures that pose minimal threats that can be easily contained and neutralized.
MH-Graded Agents are more trained but just above an LS-Graded Agent.
Most Agents who manage to reach this level are moderately augmented or have participated in contracts that make them beyond human. MD-Graded Agents are graded to handle creatures that have unpredictable behavior.
HG-Graded Agents like Vaun and Sato are the top of the Surface agents. Heavily Augmented and can go toe to toe with ORANGE-level entities alone.
EX-Graded Agents are the ones who keep the dangerous devils, demigods at bay. They are living humans that have surpassed their evolutionary shell and took a step beyond what is human.
SP-Graded are the special ones. They can be equal to devils and demigods because of certain circumstances or are seers.
UN-Graded Agents are anomalies themselves. They are beings that can’t be classified by the Otherside Bureau. Hence they are the Unknown Grade.
Aidan Riva here sits between the HG and EX grade. He’s a top HG Grade Agent, but because of his age and the wounds he suffered throughout the early days of his career. He has settled down.
I’m sure he is thinking that we want a glass cannon. But honestly what Kei wants is the office he is managing. Because although this is a combat-oriental office he is running.
The old man runs a freelancing office where he contacts his trainees to do the job as their broker. Kei wants to partner up with Mr. Riva to facilitate a partnership where his freelancers can conduct a wider radius of work for us.
“Well-researched. I guess you learned about the Freelancers under my office. May I see the contract?”
I took out the contract that Kei wrote up. He reads it slowly, reading every printed word without missing a damn thing.
“Oh, I was hoping that you were going to hire my lads and lasses as combatants, but you are looking for scouts instead.”
“We personally handle the investigation of the anomalies.”
“In other words you all want the data for yourself. Contract’s not bad. But I will make it clear that you are not hiring me, but the Freelancers under my care.”
“Of course.”
Freelancers are unaffiliated. They do not belong to any group or faction and have a tendency to prefer Syndicates because of the ‘freedom’ that they offer. You could say that Mr. Riva here is offering freelancers a job for the still-decent Agents.
You may question why I call them Agents. It’s because if you want to fight monsters you need to be ‘graded’ by the Otherside Bureau before you are authorized to handle the creatures that are infecting the overworld.
Agents are all-rounders compared to Hunters who focus on hunting down the monsters outside of the city-forts. Still, it’s appropriate to call everyone an Agent at this rate.
“You got a deal then.”
He offered his left hand. I offered mine and for a second I felt like my hand was stuck on a hydraulic press.
He grins.
“It’s a pleasure working with your office, Mr. Assistant.”
There is a shop that sells skewers in the area. I contacted Kei about the contract and sent a message to Sato on how they will contact him sooner or later.
“Do you mind if I sit here?”
“Not at all.”
It is a Hunter judging from his attire. Leather made from a monster. Equipment that is fashioned after their remains.
“How is the hunt going?”
“Good. There are too many Volkolak in the area. You, how is the city?”
“Too many anomalies and the usual shit.”
“I see. The city is too complicated. You find the outside more peaceful than this.”
“Lonely too.”
“That is correct.”
He takes a huge bit of the turkey wing he ordered. I ate my skewers and took a drink of the tap beer I ordered.
“Still in business?”
“Yeah.”
“You should go out more, friend. Happy hunting.”
“Счастливой охоты.”
I replied as I exited the caverns.
***
I am watching a Syndicate group boasting about themselves in the train station. The tattoos on their bodies tell me they aren’t Ji Ceng. They seem to be Japanese Diasporas who settled here in Changye.
Proudly displayed on the arms is the Ame no Ohabari clad in lightning bolt. Which means that they are the Kurogane Renmei. The Iron Brotherhood, which they are known locally and outside of the Changye.
“What did the guy do?”
“Stole from them.”
The man in question is in his 40s. He has a bald pattern head and has a large stomach. This is near the service station, but since this is the outskirts, these guys are probably the only real authority here since the OB and the LCDP barely bothers to come here unless it’s for the publicity stunt involving of making people think they can care.
“Kono dansei wa watashitachi kara nusumimashita!”
The man leading the punishment spoke abruptly. Realizing his mistake. He clears his throat and shouts again.
“This man has stolen from us! He has forsake his good deeds and threw them into the gutter! This is a warning from the Kurogane Renmei!”
He made a gesture. The man holding a katana swings his sword down. The head rolls to the side and kisses the stone.
A woman who seems to be the man’s lover grabbed the head of the man as if it was going to be stolen from her and eyed the Kurogane Renmei members in fear.
“Take the head of your husband and bury it. The rest of his sinful body will be a reminder!”
They tied the ‘sinner’ with manila ropes around the station’s pillar. His limbs pulled until they could tie it behind. He is barely held by the collar of his clothes and a sign is hung around his neck with a sign that says.
“I am a thief.”
After the gruesome show. I joined the flow of people and headed into the service train. The Kurogane members had set up a toll booth. I fished out a few dollars and paid them. One of the commuters pointed to one of the homeless trying to take a dump on the side.
A Kurogane member dragged the homeless man and told him to go away before they drew his blood. I got past the toll booth and entered the service train full of vendors selling all kinds of food, narcotics, and pills.
“Nii-san, you want some?”
A woman in a skimpy outfit sits down next to me and shows me her goods. I checked her tray and saw she’s selling the same as the vendors. But she doesn’t seem to sell so many drugs and is selling tobacco products. Ugh, even the flavored ones.
She is also selling smoking pipes. I got curious about the briar pipe she’s selling.
“How much for the smoking pipe?”
“Good eye, Onii-san! That is only for fifty dollars!”
Five inches long with beautiful symbols engraved on it. I fork out the fifty dollars after checking the quality of the smoking pipe..
She’s selling tobacco for it in cases. I ask here which of the cases were only tobacco. She tried upselling, but a five dollar tip made her answer honestly.
After buying the smoking pipe and tobacco case from her. She settles down and watches the blurry landscape pass by. Not that there’s any view to behold when it’s just apartment rooms stacked up in towers.
“Don’t you have to fulfill a quota or something?”
“Aiya, Nii-san, I already made it. You don’t look like you smoke, Nii-san.”
“Not everyday at least.”
“Really? No wonder. You’re an Agent?”
“Something like that.”
“Interested in fun, Nii-san? I can give you a discount!”
“Oh, so you also work nights?”
“This is my day job.”
“Well, I have to respect the grind.”
“Thanks. So, are you visiting?”
I check my watch.
“Don’t think so. By the way, Miss. What’s your name?”
“You can call me Mai!”
“Okay, Mai. Do you usually travel around the outskirt trains? Do you hear a lot of rumors for example? Like anomalies and things like that.”
“Depends.”
Oh, she’s a quick one. Hearing and seeing that I’m asking her this. She’s quick to take notice that there might be business for it.
“Hmm, I collect rumors. Anything at all. I’ll pay you for anything that I find interesting.”
“So urban legends?”
“Something like that.”
She grins.
“Then you can count on me, Nii-san! Mai here will provide you with the juiciest rumors I can find! I’ll even give you some spicy ones too! I’ll make sure to tell you about the fresh young girls too if you want.”
“Haha, then I’ll write down my contact number and you know? Here’s some extra so you think about it seriously.”
“So generous Onii-san!”
I put on my best business smile, wrote down my contact number and handed her some extra bills to make sure that she thinks about this opportunity properly. Something was strange with that girl. She has that kind of posture that makes you think that she'll suddenly pull something out of her person and kill you with it.
As I got out of the service train.
Rain starts falling on Changye City.
A Recruitment Drive
Opening your mouth while you are on the outskirts of Changye City, especially near the Alloy Springs makes you taste the grease and smell the smog coming out from the chimney of their factories.
Two weeks have passed since I got out of quarantine. I have been working for Kei’s Office for 3 months and 2 weeks. My job has now somewhat changed and with Kei trusting me after a 3-month probation period.
I am able to work on independent investigations on behalf of Kei’s office. I have business cards to give.
My current location is on the outskirts of the city. Under a district they call the Abyssal Abodes because of how dark it can be when you head down the caverns below where they solely rely on the light produced by the city. Make no mistake however. This place is full of militants, combat-oriented OB-affiliates.
I am visiting one of the offices that requested a meeting with our office. Kei said to me she will only meet the clients after I take a look at them. This change in attitude is because of the last request. Facing a demon has almost cost us our lives. Yes, she was motivated with revenge to kick one of the fragment of Okinawan devil, but she also realizes how reckless they have been doing their jobs. I am tempted to say they are using me as the guy to test the waters. I can excuse them for now since I know that they just got their asses kicked when facing a CODE ORANGE.
“Your wits are still there, Mister?”
“I am listening.”
Wrinkled face full of scars with prosthetic body. The man in front of me is one of those old men who saw the era change. He is giving a pressure you’d faint if you didn’t hold on to your consciousness.
“So you fellas handled that devil-fragment. Impressive. How was it?”
He takes a look at our resume and business card.
“Demons… have quite a way of handling the weakness of humans. We can’t fly.”
“Blinked you into the clouds, eh. That’s why you get strong legs. How do you survive?”
I told him.
“Eh. Guess you got a backup if you didn’t manage to shoot into a canal.”
The old man swings his left arm in blade mode. I squinted at the edge of the blade. My eyes are cross-eyed.
“Good. Well, we can work something out.”
My purpose here is to associate this combat-office with Kei’s office. We are a three-person office and there is no rule that you can’t have extra people working with you without hiring them. At least Kei told me that as she savors the subsidy-money from Sato-san.
“So, Assistant, you want to associate with us.”
“That’s right.”
I wore my professional demeanor and presented the pitch to the old man. But first, time to remind him who he is.
“Aidan Riva. Served in the Euro-Africa death march. Served for 18600 hours in the field during an incursion. Did two full combat tours in the Siberian Outbreak and had accumulated combat wealth that made you so dangerous in the field they rated you to MD Grade in your prime. Not to mention, you and your comrade took care of the ORANGE risk levels in the province of Anhui, Fujian, and participated in the Hebei to Hunan Marches. You… have quite a reputation for a man who is below the EX Grade.”
LS-Graded Agents usually handle creatures that pose minimal threats that can be easily contained and neutralized.
MH-Graded Agents are more trained but just above an LS-Graded Agent.
Most Agents who manage to reach this level are moderately augmented or have participated in contracts that make them beyond human. MD-Graded Agents are graded to handle creatures that have unpredictable behavior.
HG-Graded Agents like Vaun and Sato are the top of the Surface agents. Heavily Augmented and can go toe to toe with ORANGE-level entities alone.
EX-Graded Agents are the ones who keep the dangerous devils, demigods at bay. They are living humans that have surpassed their evolutionary shell and took a step beyond what is human.
SP-Graded are the special ones. They can be equal to devils and demigods because of certain circumstances or are seers.
UN-Graded Agents are anomalies themselves. They are beings that can’t be classified by the Otherside Bureau. Hence they are the Unknown Grade.
Aidan Riva here sits between the HG and EX grade. He’s a top HG Grade Agent, but because of his age and the wounds he suffered throughout the early days of his career. He has settled down.
I’m sure he is thinking that we want a glass cannon. But honestly what Kei wants is the office he is managing. Because although this is a combat-oriental office he is running.
The old man runs a freelancing office where he contacts his trainees to do the job as their broker. Kei wants to partner up with Mr. Riva to facilitate a partnership where his freelancers can conduct a wider radius of work for us.
“Well-researched. I guess you learned about the Freelancers under my office. May I see the contract?”
I took out the contract that Kei wrote up. He reads it slowly, reading every printed word without missing a damn thing.
“Oh, I was hoping that you were going to hire my lads and lasses as combatants, but you are looking for scouts instead.”
“We personally handle the investigation of the anomalies.”
“In other words you all want the data for yourself. Contract’s not bad. But I will make it clear that you are not hiring me, but the Freelancers under my care.”
“Of course.”
Freelancers are unaffiliated. They do not belong to any group or faction and have a tendency to prefer Syndicates because of the ‘freedom’ that they offer. You could say that Mr. Riva here is offering freelancers a job for the still-decent Agents.
You may question why I call them Agents. It’s because if you want to fight monsters you need to be ‘graded’ by the Otherside Bureau before you are authorized to handle the creatures that are infecting the overworld.
Agents are all-rounders compared to Hunters who focus on hunting down the monsters outside of the city-forts. Still, it’s appropriate to call everyone an Agent at this rate.
“You got a deal then.”
He offered his left hand. I offered mine and for a second I felt like my hand was stuck on a hydraulic press.
He grins.
“It’s a pleasure working with your office, Mr. Assistant.”
There is a shop that sells skewers in the area. I contacted Kei about the contract and sent a message to Sato on how they will contact him sooner or later.
“Do you mind if I sit here?”
“Not at all.”
It is a Hunter judging from his attire. Leather made from a monster. Equipment that is fashioned after their remains.
“How is the hunt going?”
“Good. There are too many Volkolak in the area. You, how is the city?”
“Too many anomalies and the usual shit.”
“I see. The city is too complicated. You find the outside more peaceful than this.”
“Lonely too.”
“That is correct.”
He takes a huge bit of the turkey wing he ordered. I ate my skewers and took a drink of the tap beer I ordered.
“Still in business?”
“Yeah.”
“You should go out more, friend. Happy hunting.”
“Счастливой охоты.”
I replied as I exited the caverns.
***
I am watching a Syndicate group boasting about themselves in the train station. The tattoos on their bodies tell me they aren’t Ji Ceng. They seem to be Japanese Diasporas who settled here in Changye.
Proudly displayed on the arms is the Ame no Ohabari clad in lightning bolt. Which means that they are the Kurogane Renmei. The Iron Brotherhood, which they are known locally and outside of the Changye.
“What did the guy do?”
“Stole from them.”
The man in question is in his 40s. He has a bald pattern head and has a large stomach. This is near the service station, but since this is the outskirts, these guys are probably the only real authority here since the OB and the LCDP barely bothers to come here unless it’s for the publicity stunt involving of making people think they can care.
“Kono dansei wa watashitachi kara nusumimashita!”
The man leading the punishment spoke abruptly. Realizing his mistake. He clears his throat and shouts again.
“This man has stolen from us! He has forsake his good deeds and threw them into the gutter! This is a warning from the Kurogane Renmei!”
He made a gesture. The man holding a katana swings his sword down. The head rolls to the side and kisses the stone.
A woman who seems to be the man’s lover grabbed the head of the man as if it was going to be stolen from her and eyed the Kurogane Renmei members in fear.
“Take the head of your husband and bury it. The rest of his sinful body will be a reminder!”
They tied the ‘sinner’ with manila ropes around the station’s pillar. His limbs pulled until they could tie it behind. He is barely held by the collar of his clothes and a sign is hung around his neck with a sign that says.
“I am a thief.”
After the gruesome show. I joined the flow of people and headed into the service train. The Kurogane members had set up a toll booth. I fished out a few dollars and paid them. One of the commuters pointed to one of the homeless trying to take a dump on the side.
A Kurogane member dragged the homeless man and told him to go away before they drew his blood. I got past the toll booth and entered the service train full of vendors selling all kinds of food, narcotics, and pills.
“Nii-san, you want some?”
A woman in a skimpy outfit sits down next to me and shows me her goods. I checked her tray and saw she’s selling the same as the vendors. But she doesn’t seem to sell so many drugs and is selling tobacco products. Ugh, even the flavored ones.
She is also selling smoking pipes. I got curious about the briar pipe she’s selling.
“How much for the smoking pipe?”
“Good eye, Onii-san! That is only for fifty dollars!”
Five inches long with beautiful symbols engraved on it. I fork out the fifty dollars after checking the quality of the smoking pipe..
She’s selling tobacco for it in cases. I ask here which of the cases were only tobacco. She tried upselling, but a five dollar tip made her answer honestly.
After buying the smoking pipe and tobacco case from her. She settles down and watches the blurry landscape pass by. Not that there’s any view to behold when it’s just apartment rooms stacked up in towers.
“Don’t you have to fulfill a quota or something?”
“Aiya, Nii-san, I already made it. You don’t look like you smoke, Nii-san.”
“Not everyday at least.”
“Really? No wonder. You’re an Agent?”
“Something like that.”
“Interested in fun, Nii-san? I can give you a discount!”
“Oh, so you also work nights?”
“This is my day job.”
“Well, I have to respect the grind.”
“Thanks. So, are you visiting?”
I check my watch.
“Don’t think so. By the way, Miss. What’s your name?”
“You can call me Mai!”
“Okay, Mai. Do you usually travel around the outskirt trains? Do you hear a lot of rumors for example? Like anomalies and things like that.”
“Depends.”
Oh, she’s a quick one. Hearing and seeing that I’m asking her this. She’s quick to take notice that there might be business for it.
“Hmm, I collect rumors. Anything at all. I’ll pay you for anything that I find interesting.”
“So urban legends?”
“Something like that.”
She grins.
“Then you can count on me, Nii-san! Mai here will provide you with the juiciest rumors I can find! I’ll even give you some spicy ones too! I’ll make sure to tell you about the fresh young girls too if you want.”
“Haha, then I’ll write down my contact number and you know? Here’s some extra so you think about it seriously.”
“So generous Onii-san!”
I put on my best business smile, wrote down my contact number and handed her some extra bills to make sure that she thinks about this opportunity properly. Something was strange with that girl. She has that kind of posture that makes you think that she'll suddenly pull something out of her person and kill you with it.
As I got out of the service train.
Rain starts falling on Changye City.
