[right]Case File 126: [i]Six Degrees of Division[/i][/right]

[i]The case started like most others, the night was young, the wind was silent, and the finer parts of city blissfully slept unaware of the darkness that lingered beneath. It was on this faithful night that my client, soon to be employer, strolled into my office. He had the air of man who had fought in many battles yet still found my humble abode to be beneath him. It was then and there that I knew this was going to be an interesting case indeed. Something far livelier than the typical complaints of blackmail, smuggled goods and lost kittens. No, when a fun case came along it was a like a sixth sense suddenly came to life. A rapid feeling of exhilaration letting you know that this one was going to be a wild ride. 

When the man began speaking, my suspicions were confirmed. It seemed this man was a representative of Cerberus. While normally this would be a cause for alarm, I was rather intrigued by the fact that my former school had sought me out after all these years. After working alone for a while one soon comes to realize that most people in life look for the easy path, and thus if they go out of there way for your help it’s generally in your best interests to listen. 

So listen I did, as the man relayed his request, and it was something far more complex than a simple case, no the man was offering me a job uniquely suited for my skills. The chance to join Division Six of the new Butei Unit. This of course is the very same offer I disregarded as spam in Case File 116: A Ride with the Devil, it appeared I had made a mistake. 

However it was not the job that interested me, in my line of work job offers are no rare occurrence, hired muscle is always appreciated on any team. Yet I enjoyed my ability to serve as a detective to the people of this city, while it may have been sinful, tears did not suit this city. Normally that would have been the end of it, I would wished the potential employer the best of luck and seen him off. 

Two things made me hesitate, the first was the man’s nature as a Cerberus operative, and they were a unique and powerful organization after all. The very fact that the school that had trained others and myself so well was now going through the painstaking trouble of tracking me down for this job was rather intriguing. Then there was the setting, the division was stationed in a little city called Arkhan. 

The very same Arkhan that had given me so much trouble in Case File 47: The Flying Kestrel. If my current city was a city of sin, Arkhan was a place that even sinners dared not tread. It was then that it dawned on me, for so long I had been defending this city, offering even the poorest clients my help. However now the people appeared to have finally rallied behind heroes and good Samaritans. Tears did not suit my city, and it seemed they were finally flowing out of our streets. 

Arkhan would be a good next stop, the city of sin and death, was a city I could get behind helping. After all, I had been there a few times before, I’d do well to help my contacts in that area. So I did the rational thing and accepted the contract. This next case would no doubt go on for a while, but isn’t that the way all good things went? 

When a good case came blowing through the front door, one would be remiss to not give it a go. 
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[hr]

There was no denying that Starbucks was an interesting place for Deuce to first meet the rest of his new teammates. It seemed the coffee chain could survive even in the most scum ridden cities, not that Deuce was too surprised, for even criminals loved their coffee. The time of day was also an interesting choice. 10 PM, a time when most Starbucks around the country shut down, but Deuce supposed the different clientele gave ample excuse for the late hours. 

Deuce however wasn’t going to just wait around till ten, he wanted to get a glimpse into the people he was working with before they had a chance to know who he was. At this point he doubted anyone other than his leader would have his picture, and Deuce had more than enough experience in Arkhan to pass as just another one of the lowlifes that lived in this city. 

Entering the coffee empire’s store at precisely nine o’clock, Deuce grinned as he caught sight of an old acquaintance. An old contact of his named Stephan Sinclair, it seemed the man was enjoying some smoothies with some of his own friends. All criminals no doubt, but that suited Deuce just fun, it was unlikely the rest of his team would be expecting their teammate to be mingling with criminals before they had even arrived. Thus granting Deuce a better chance to observed his newfound allies. 

“Stephan Sinclair,” Deuce stated in greeting as he walked closer to his old contact.

“Deuce is that you? Long time no see buddy.” Came the response, as the two shook each other’s hands. “What brings you back to Arkhan?” 

“Just some business, say are you with friends?”

“Oh those crazy guys, here let me introduce you to them.” 

It wasn’t long after that Deuce found himself sitting with criminals, toasting with smoothies as Deuce regaled them with tall tales of his previous assignments. 

“So there I was staring down a guy three times my size, when out of nowhere Bloody Mary, you remember her right Stephan, well anyway she steps out of nowhere he slash the dude’s achilles. Poor guy probably didn’t walk straight for the rest of his life…”

Laughter and his storytelling would carry on even as Deuce’s other teammates sauntered into the Starbucks. Storytelling was not something to take lightly after all.