---

The obnoxiously loud beeping of his alarm clock had come to an end when his fist came crashing down on the 'off' button. The cracks in the plastic of the device showed not only its age but also the routine abuse it had to endure at the hands of its owner, who was anything but a morning person. After rolling over in bed the figure would slowly open his eyes, squinting toward the red neon light emitted from the device.



A sigh escaped his lips as he sat up on his bed which was too small for his size. It was a bed built for Xrashah and was hardly equipped to handle an above-averagely sized human like he was, standing at 6 feet and 2 inches tall. Warm rays of sunlight were shining through his blinds- A rare and peaceful moment. One that he was not able to savor, as he had to get ready for what was to come. Today was a very special day after all.

The figure slipped out of bed from beneath his blanket and slowly dragged himself to the bathroom. His apartment was quite quaint by modern standards, albeit a bit small. For his purposes, however, a studio was more than sufficient. Frankly, he could be considered lucky for even having his own private place to live compared to some other Pillars. Upon entering the bathroom the lights turned on automatically, revealing a rather claustrophobic but clean bathroom containing a sink, shower, toilet, a small cabinet beneath the sink, and, most importantly, a well-disguised camera in the corner facing away from the shower.



A female voice, indistinguishable from an actual human had it not been for the lower quality due to the aged speakers it was emitted from, spoke to the man with a neutral tone as he stepped in front of the mirror which was placed above the sink. He turned on the sink in the coldest setting and formed a makeshift cup with both of his palms to collect some water, which he splashed into his own face once his hands were full. Afterward, Jack looked up at the mirror.



What looked back at him was almost pitiful- Large bags under his emerald eyes, his pink hair being a complete mess- He looked as if he had not slept in days. Other than that he had a surprisingly fit physique, the product of his strong and well-maintained training routine. After yet another sigh Jack spoke up while still staring at the mirror.



He said before stripping down completely and entering the shower. His favorite shower settings were still saved so it instantly turned to the desired temperature and water pressure.



As he was showering, a hologram was projected on the wall across the cabinet, aiding in visualization with images, graphs, and the like as Mel reported on recent events.



As Jack was washing his hair he would poke his head out of the streaming water for a moment to interrupt his virtual assistant.



After which he would resume rinsing the practical 8-in-1 shampoo off his head.



Jack turned off the water and then proceeded to shake his head strongly, flinging droplets of water everywhere and adding to the already soaked ceramic walls of the shower. Having ceramic walls in the shower was definitely not the norm but the building that Jack lived in was quite old by Soma's standards. Then, he opened up the glass door to the shower and reached for a towel that was hung nearby.



As Jack was drying off his body he found his mind wandering, thinking about what was to come, having quickly forgotten about his sister's birthday again. This was not out of malice or lack of care on his part however, his mind simply did not have the bandwidth to deal with it at the moment. After all, today was his first day at his new job working in the Tower- And he was determined to give the best first impression he possibly could. He was employed as utility staff- part of the supporting members of the new IXth SU's δ division. Today was also the only day where he could realistically leave a good first impression, as all the new Agents would arrive tomorrow, as he was told. Therefore, once he was dried off, Jack would simply throw the towel to the side- A hassle he could always deal with at a later point- and then took his sweet time making sure his hair looked superb. After about 15 minutes of styling, fidgeting, and working on his hair he was done, and confidently so.
The man looked at his mirror image with a grin, pointing finger guns towards it in the process.



As Jack left the bathroom with a different towel wrapped around his lower body and re-entered his living/bedroom, a humanoid figure was waiting for him with her arms straightened and hands folded together in front of her body.



She said while gesturing towards the only table in the room- A small, round table made of solid metal was standing in front of the television screen that was placed across the room from his bed. A lone, cold chair with a fading coat of blue paint was already pulled back and ready to be sat upon. On top of the table was a bowl filled with a brownish smooth paste, not looking particularly appetizing, with a glass of clear water on the side. Jack frowned in slight disgust when he spotted his food.



The female figure opened her eyes to directly look at Jack. Her body was dressed in formal attire, wearing business casual even this early in the morning. Long, azure hair complimented her glowing blue eyes, and an amber, droplet-shaped earring adorned her left ear. The only way to tell that this was not a person but rather a chassis for an AI was the glowing blue ring on the left side of her neck. Even her synthetic skin felt as if it was perfectly human.



Jack raised his hand dismissively and took a seat on the chair after strolling past Mel's body.



He shouted out, lifting both of his arms up in victory before digging into his bland food. To get a job in the Tower, even just as support staff for a SU division, was a luxury not many had- And with it came housing, benefits, and an enviable salary. As such Jack had fought hard to get his current position, but it seemed that all the hardships and effort would finally pay off.

---

Approximately 30 minutes later, Jack was ready to leave. He was now wearing his fanciest suit, freshly cleaned and ironed by one of those automated stores that were just down the block. He picked up his train ticket which would allow him to board the only train that directly connects to the 2nd's Tower, staring at it for a brief moment, before heading towards the door where Mel was waiting. She approached him and immediately began straightening his tie.



In response, Jack chuckled and scratched the back of his head with his right hand while grinning.



Mel finished adjusting Jack's tie and then stepped aside so he could leave the flat. The pink-haired quickly opened the door and stepped outside, having stuffed his wallet, keycard, and ticket in his bag which was thrown over his right shoulder. On the way out Jack would look back at the ever-so-neutral Mel.



Jack gave a thumbs up and another signature wide grin towards Mel.



Then he would promptly close the door and storm off down the stairway. Inside his Flat, Mel's chassis would stare at the door for a moment before finally, for the first time this day, changing her expression and giving a very slight but sincere smile.

---

Even this early in the day, around 7:15 AM, the citizens of Soma were already out and about. Especially those that lived in the Residential District of the second Pillar were motivated to improve their lives- They were this close to having a taste of the luxurious life that many here still had dreams and ambitions, contrary to some of the poorer pillars. Those that lived in the second Pillar, even those at the bottom part of the local social hierarchy, often had some glimmer of hope for riches, fame, and power. It might not come as a surprise then that organized crime, scams, racketeering, and the likes were running rampant even this high up on the social hierarchy of Soma. However, instead of promising an escape from the everyday fight for survival in the 6th, people in the second Pillar were more enticed by power and money.

Of course, not everyone was like this. A good amount of people were honest well-meaning citizens; But in a world this corrupt it was hard not to become corrupt yourself. "Stare into the abyss and the abyss stares back at you" was a saying infamously thrown around by those at the top in a futile attempt to rationalize their blatant ignorance of the social problems present in the Pillar and the greater city overall. Yet it failed to account for the reality of the situation- Rather than staring into the abyss, those at the bottom were surrounded by it, engulfed in it. And if one was buried in the abyss it would not just be staring- It would tear at one's very soul, drowning and suffocating one's character until there was nothing moral or good left.

The automatic doors to Jack's apartment complex slid open as he approached them from the inside. Once outside, he would take a good look around- The weather was cloudy as per usual with a comfortable 21°C. The street right outside the building was fairly empty except for the occasional overcrowded bus. Having a car was a luxury in this part of the Pillar so public transportation was typically the way to go. Luckily there were plenty of busses and trains available with stations being typically not too far apart. Contrary to the rather empty street the pedestrian's walkways were filled with all kinds of people and figures, many of which were wearing suits. Most of these suits came from the same brand as the affordability in pricing made "Clint's Clothes & More" the perfect place to shop for your average low-income second Pillar citizen.

The grey walkway stretched all the way to the horizon while the sides were lined with copy-paste apartment complexes apparently made of some form of metal coated in an alloy to give it protection. The cold, silvern look of the samey-looking buildings combined with a horde of people all dressed in the same suit made for a rather depressing and lifeless scene. One which Jack was not unused to, and one which he hoped to escape after today.
After letting a rather intimidating-looking man about twice the size of Jack with a jaw akin to that of a crocodile with arms that were as thick as Jack's very own torso pass by, Jack entered the stream of people which was flowing towards the next bus station. While his ticket did allow him to board the direct train towards the Tower, he would have to get to Central station first, which was situated in the Commercial District. Therefore, he had to travel by bus to his local train station and then use another train to reach Central station first.

---

The bus ride and subsequent train ride were relatively uneventful. The experience was akin to that of a sardine being transported in a small can- The train was overcrowded with humanoid figures of many sizes and shapes squeezing each other in the small space. Even though a train came every 10 minutes, they were full every single time- A product of the daily routine of the working class.

The insides of the train were silvern, cold, and plastered with ads that consisted of both actual old-school posters and text which was holographically projected onto nearby surfaces by round camera-shaped projectors mounted into the ceiling. Sometimes, one's vision would be interfered with by the faint blue hue of another obnoxious ad for whatever new soda brand was fashionable to drink at the moment. The outside looked a little more interesting- The normal train which commuted within a Pillar did so on elevated train tracks. They used a rather complex system of focused electromagnetism to hover far above the ground and while doing so the train track went between the massive apartment complexes of the Residential District. As the train would drive along the tracks, being surprisingly silent for its size, it would slither its way between the buildings. Those that lived on the right floor would be able to see the train go by every 10 minutes on the dot, making those apartments quite cheap and undesirable for most to live in.

Eventually, Jack arrived at Central station in the Commercial District. The train's doors opened and unleashed what appeared to be a flood of people with him being caught right in the middle. As he was shoved and pushed around by beings partially much larger than him, Jack did his best to hold onto his bag in fear of losing it. Even after he had escaped the initial stream of people, he would not be left alone. Almost as soon as he was isolated from the others, an 8-legged being with what appeared to be a clamshell for its head approached Jack and began talking directly at him before giving him a chance to understand what was happening.



The creature began to use one of its tentacle-shaped legs to reach inside of the clamshell head to pull out a dubious, unlabelled bottle that was covered in a clear slimy substance. However, before it could finish the motion, Jack would quickly cut it off.



After which he forcefully pushed the person away and walked off. Clamshell-head would make some disgruntled noises in protest but quickly gave up once they spotted the next potential buyer and then scurried off.
You had to be aggressive with these annoying salespeople, Jack always thought, as they would not leave you alone otherwise.

But now, finally, he had reached Central station. Jack took a deep breath and looked around the familiar view:
14 different train tracks were aligned next to each other with a rather spacious platform in between each of them. The entire station was surrounded by a massive sphere made up of smaller individual hexagonal tiles of glass. Each platform had multiple sets of stairs that appeared to disappear underground, where the entrance and exit were located. From within the sphere itself, there was no way to enter or leave except by train so going down the stairs would be a necessity. The station was as crowded as it could be and thus incredibly noisy. Trains were zooming past on multiple tracks. Some were stopping, and even others were just now leaving. From Central station, one could go anywhere within the second Pillar and even the train to the hyper-velocity railway station could be taken from here to go to other Pillars. It was essentially the heart and soul of public transport in the second Pillar.

None of this matter to Jack, however. His goal was the 15th Track- The only train that could directly take him to the Tower. It was not located within the glassy sphere of Central station, but rather a bit further away, across the main plaza right outside. So Jack went down the stairs on his way to exit Central station.

The underground area of Central station was one large walkway, connecting each platform to the central path via the aforementioned stairs. Different shops, mostly consisting of fast food and snacks were lining each side of the rather large hallway while the ceiling was plastered with holographic ads of all sorts, glowing in neon-bright colors. The different fast food places, takeaway stands, and snack cars at the side were occupied by cooks who were preparing all kinds of meals: From burgers with tentacles on them to green fries made of a weird plant paste sold by what appeared to be the humanoid version of a praying mantis, to even normal looking onigiri- One could find any type of fast food here, sometimes with questionable quality. The different chefs were constantly shouting and advertising their products, adding to the loud and overwhelming atmosphere.
Walking along this pathway at this time of day was almost dangerous, actually. The constant flow of people, the right lane moving forwards and the left lane moving backward, meant that standing still was not an option. Shoulder on shoulder everyone was moving along at a fast pace and anyone caught in the way would simply be dragged along. This long hallway was essentially the main artery of public transport in the second Pillar and everyone was flowing along as if they were red blood cells.

---

However, even this stream of life must come to an end at some point. Eventually, Jack finally reached the outside of Central station. The northern exit, which was the one he took, opened up to the central plaza, the central point of city-life in the second Pillar. Jack took a moment to take in the view- One which he had grown accustomed to but still appreciated every time nonetheless.
The large, round concrete plaza was surrounded by cloud-piercingly large skyscrapers. The outside of each building was used as a giant screen, playing advertisements even this early in the morning. Behind the screens were office floors used by the largest corporations in Soma as their headquarters. Higher up, in between the gigantic buildings, one could spot smaller floating vehicles, likely reserved for the (literal) higher-ups of each company, as the average Joe could typically not afford the luxury of having their own vehicle, let alone a floating one.
Each building's lower floors were used as shopping spaces, situated right beneath the advertising screens. Where the higher floors have office spaces, these lower floors were filled to the brink with all kinds of useful and useless stores, selling goods in mall-like layouts.

The plaza itself was mostly empty. It served as a large open space and a point of orientation- As such it was also littered with normal police and security personnel. There were, however, no Agents or anything of the sort- Only normal, everyday police, coming equipped with a standard loadout: Baton, high-voltage stun gun, and a normal handgun. Some, however, also had an additional plasma rifle; A new addition to their loadout after the recent increase in crime. From the plaza, one could reach the important shopping malls, busses to wherever one would like to go, the city center and town hall for any Pillar legislation needs, and, most importantly for Jack, the 15th track. For this, he would have to go enter one of the giant buildings from which a floating railway could be seen leaving its side with a train likely inside. In the far distance, if one were to strain their eyes, the Tower was visible, looming ominously.

Jack checked his watch- A rather ancient relic passed down for generations in his family.



He muttered to himself. It was plenty of time to reach the 15th track from his position! With an excited grin, Jack began to cross the plaza and walk towards the large building that was playing an advertisement for the newest Android model, a solid 3 generations down the line from his own trusty Mel. It reminded him of how she was waiting for him at home, how he had been fighting to get a better job, a better position, a better life for so long- And now he had done it. His new life was about to begin, all the hardships, pain, loss, stress, and sorrow had been worth it for he had really done it. All that was left to do is board this last train and get to the Tower.

---

As Jack was crossing the plaza, he walked past numerous people and faces. Far too many to remember; From human to humanoid to some even walking on all fours- None of these things were unusual or caused Jack to pay much mind to them. By now he had seen much weirder folks than most- Even weirder than the odd clamshell-head he met in Central station earlier. Though there was one encounter that was different. One that stayed on his mind for longer than a second. Jack was about 75% across the plaza as he walked past someone that left a lasting impression on him. A woman, seemingly not older than 20 walked past him. She had short, silver hair reaching down no further than her chin while longer strands of hair were hanging down from the front. Her eyes were a deep, glowing blue. Glowing quite literally in this case as they were omitting a strange blue hue- Yet she was no Android as she was lacking the signature blue circle on her neck. The woman wore a cape-like top with a necklace adorning her collar. Her lower half was covered by a short skirt with long, black thigh highs underneath and normal streetwear shoes below. The girl's hands were covered in thick white gloves and she appeared to be holding a large case, almost looking as if it contained a large instrument or, more sinisterly, a weapon or large device of sorts.

Either way, her appearance left an impression on Jack- And as she was right next to him, time appeared to stand still for just a moment. Her gaze was focused on something that was behind Jack, something outside of his field of view. "I wonder what she sees?" Jack pondered for a moment, but ultimately it mattered not. They were both strangers and this chance encounter would not repeat itself again in the future.

Moments later, something changed. Jack wasn't sure how he noticed it first- Whether it was intuition, experience, or pure chance- He felt a chill down his spine. Everything after became a haze- The last thing Jack remembered clearly was the sound of a helicopter flying above.
Then, suddenly, something blue flew past Jack, followed by a terrifying scream from a woman in front of him. As Jack looked forward to investigate the source of the screaming he saw a rather normal-looking human woman, wearing business casual as many others were, letting out a scream of pure terror. It took only a moment for Jack to realize why she was screaming: Her left eye had been pierced by what looked to be a blue crystal and blood was now flowing down her face from the plugged wound. The pink-haired's eyes opened wide in shock until he was hit on his shoulders by something heavy. Jack reached towards his right shoulder and grabbed whatever had hit him. It was scaly, and rough to the touch, he almost cut himself just picking it up. However, once he saw it, he realized what it was: A right arm, covered in scales, likely having belonged to the same intimidating alligator-person that Jack had met earlier, severed right in the middle of the humerus which looked as if it had been cut in half. Finally, Jack began to feel panic too. Adrenaline was rushing in every artery in his body as he went in full-on fight-or-flight mode. The crowd around him began to scream and panic, people trying to escape the plaza as quickly as they could in any direction possible. Jack heard gunfire behind him, likely coming from the police and security personnel he spotted earlier. He wanted to do the same: He wanted to find out what it was, to run for his life, to make it to the 15th track as it would likely be safe there. Jack did, after all, have a ticket that allowed him entry.

But as Jack tried to move, his body refused to do so. His legs would not move an inch, no matter how hard he tried. Then, he looked down. A glowing blue crystal, roughly the width of Jack's own leg, was protruding from his abdomen. His own crimson-colored essence of life was dripping onto the floor creating a puddle beneath him, coloring the boring grey into a vibrant red.
His mind was in complete shock and the poor young man tried one more time to run away, to lift just one leg- But he couldn't. The crystal was as sharp as a blade and had completely severed his spine beneath the lumbar section, plus it had completely destroyed his insides. Jack's body swayed forward and finally dropped to the floor like a sack of meat. People around him were also dropping like flies- Some being more gravely injured than others, but all had been pierced by crystals of varying sizes. It looked as if a large shrapnel bomb had detonated in the center of the plaza, with the shrapnel being these odd crystals.

While Jack was laying on the floor, bleeding onto the pavement, he was spared the feeling of pain; All the adrenaline made him numb to it. Yet he could still feel his lifeforce slowly disappearing- The echoes of dreadful screams of citizens around him combined with the sight of dozens of corpses laying near him painted a miserable picture.
As he was on the floor, dying, Jack's mind was filled with thoughts and emotions: Anger, pain, grief, sorrow, regret- a concoction of emotions justified given his circumstances. There was, however, one emotion he could deal with. One he could satiate: Curiosity.

Just what exactly happened?

Using his last strength Jack positioned his upper body so he could look toward the source of the crystals. By now, the gunfire had ceased and the screams of the fleeing public grew ever more distant. His eyes gazed over many dead citizens, some that were still dying like him. As his gaze approached the center he would see police force and security personnel equally massacred- Their high-tech bulletproof vests meant nothing against the sheer force and sharpness of those crystals. They managed to pierce right through, ripping apart any protection the people might have had. A little further, Jack spotted the remnants of the helicopter he had heard earlier. It had crashed to the floor and is now little more than a giant ball of fire. Inside of the flames, he spotted 3 corpses: 2 normal-sized humanoid ones, and one which looked to be about twice the size of the others and somewhat overweight. The last corpse also had a crystal piercing right through its skull.

Then, finally, Jack set his eyes on the cause of all of this. Amidst all the corpses, the rubble, and the fire, all of which were creating hell on earth, there she was: The same woman Jack spotted just moments ago. He could never forget the glowing blue eyes and short silver hair. Something, however, was different. The case she had been carrying earlier was now laying open next to her and in her right hand was a long, blue, crystalline staff. She was standing over the burning wreck and was staring right back at Jack with a piercing gaze.



Jack wanted to scream out to her, to ask her what was going on, and why she was doing this; He wanted to scream for help, or get up and fight back. But none of this was possible. It was the end of Jack's story after all, and he would not be granted an epilogue. His eyelids grew heavier every second while the puddle of blood around him increased in size. Only moments later, his eyes fully closed- For the last time. A meaningless death, leaving yet another loose end, never to be solved, in this uncaring city. Though maybe, just maybe, this time would be different?

---

---

"With over 36 confirmed casualties with dozens more heavily injured and hospitalized, yesterday's incident will go down in history as a gruesome act of terror tainting the wonderful reputation of the central plaza as a place of commerce, community, and entertainment. While the Tower has refused to comment on potential motives thus far, it is believed to be a political assassination given the fact that the helicopter which was shot down was transporting newly appointed council member Grel who has died in the attack. As of now, no group or organization has claimed responsibility for the attack and the fugitive is still at larg-"

The large monitor playing a live news broadcast was shut off with a quiet zapp. A long, rectangular table with 3 seats on each side and one at the head was now only illuminated by cold, blue tainted light coming from square-shaped office lights above. Each seat except for one on the side was occupied by humanoid figures dressed in different kinds of suits. A moment of silence remained after the screen was shut off and lingered for far longer than it should have. Eventually, however, the discomforting silence was broken by the figure at the head of the table speaking out. Its voice was eerie, being not a singular voice but rather it was composed of a cacophony of voices, sometimes harmonious and sometimes dissonant.



Another figure, clothed in a purple coat matching their violet hair, drew attention to themselves by clicking audibly with their tongue. Then, they lifted up a tablet on which was a picture of the same silver-haired girl who had done the attack the day prior.

"Known member of WIZARD. She is apparently some high-ranking combatant of theirs- They were likely hired by either the Blades of Yggdrasil or the Children of Yhorgul. None of them have taken responsibility yet."

This statement was followed by quiet talking and whispering between the different figures until the purple-haired one spoke up once more.



He raised his gloved hand to point at another figure, seated on the very last seat of the table. It was an adult woman with blue hair, covered in what appeared to be a red, stringy substance with multiple yellow pearls interwoven in irregular gaps. The stringy substance covered most of her body and formed root-like outgrows that were sometimes moving around eerily. In response, the orb-like objects appeared to turn and rotate to look directly at the man who was pointing at her.



The person at the head of the table replied, the voices appearing to be quite distraught and annoyed at the current situation. Then, everyone's attention was quickly grabbed as a person wearing a brightly colored yellow-black suit with yellow, fiery hair and deep ruby eyes snapped his fingers.



He gave a bright, taunting smile to the multi-eyed woman.



The yellow-haired man then proceeded to wrap his arm around the shoulder of the blue-haired person sitting next to him in a teasing manner. His victim, the very same person who was visible in the hologram that was sent out to the new recruits, quickly freed himself from the blonde's grasp and then proceeded to adjust his tie before clearing his throat.



He replied with a somewhat annoyed tone.



Firebird chuckled before leaning back in his seat with his arms crossed behind his head. In response to Nevyn's statement, the Overseer responded with a more harmonious tone.



Following the Overseer's statement, Nevyn would stand up and give a proper, butler-y bow.



After which he would leave the room, having the eyes of all the other people in the room firmly pointed at his back. Unbeknownst to them, however, Nevyn's lips were giving a confident smile as he walked through the automatic doors.

---

The headquarters of the IXth's Delta division were located on the 42nd floor of the 2nd Pillar's Tower. Although stairs did exist, the easiest way to reach such a high floor was using one of the 5 elevators which connected specifically to this floor, the usage of which was only possible for those authorized to enter this specific floor. Upon leaving one of the elevators, which were all next to one another, one would find themselves in the main area of δ's HQ. It consisted of a spacious room with 8 different desks loaded with multiple monitors where the division's analysts and support staff worked. 4 on each side were lining a central walkway that lead to the main conference and briefing area: A large, circular arrangement of complex-looking computers, monitors, and general state-of-the-art security high-tech. In the center of it all was a large holopad that constantly projected a detailed map of the second Pillar in the air in the center of the room. The same pathway that lead to the main conference area also had a right and a left path. The left pathway would lead through a large automatic door behind which was a long hallway. It connected to the training area, vehicle bay, locker room, crew quarters for when Agents would have to stay at the Tower for a longer period of time, and washrooms. The right path similarly would lead to a large automatic door, behind which was a smaller hallway. It lead to the Commander's office and some other, supporting staff offices.

The doors to the center elevator slid open after a mechanical "Ding!" announced its arrival. Out stepped Nevyn, carefully checking his pristine watch that was tightly wrapped around his left wrist. He made sure it was always precisely on time, manually synching his watch to local time once every day. Punctuality and preparation were the keys to success, he always said.
As the new Commander left the elevator he was quickly greeted by his assistant, Alayna. All of her 3 eyes immediately focused on his face and even the 4 smaller eyes on her facemask appeared to move slightly to look directly at Nevyn. She carefully brushed some of her pale, pink hair out of her face and approached her new boss with a quick but formal bow.





With one hand Alayna motioned behind her to the desks which were all but one occupied by a member of Delta's supporting staff who each either gave a wave, a bow, a smile, or a thumbs up- Whichever they felt was appropriate.



The woman's eyes blinked a few times in surprise, all doing so perfectly in synch.



Nevyn chuckled as he took a sip from his signature cup of coffee that he had been holding this entire time.



Swiftly he checked his watch with his free hand again. 9:55 A.M, local time.



Alayna was a bit taken aback by all of this. She had spent an extensive amount of time pulling all-nighters preparing a perfect introduction for the new Commander. Yet here he was, prepared as ever. After a bit of quiet protest, she regained her composure.



The blue-haired man took another big sip from his cup, emptying the contents in his mouth and savoring the sweet black bitterness of his favorite brew.



After which both Alayna and Nevyn would stand in the middle of the conference area and watch the monitors which were currently showing security camera footage of the entranceway to the Tower.

---

He had his alarms set in case, but he was already wide awake by the time it sounded. Unlike many of his to-be-met members, he was already prepared for this trip. His belongings already packed, not that there were much to begin with, his teeth brushed, his body showered, his breakfast ready the night before, and most importantly, his weapon well-sharpened. Today was the big day.

Flemma took a brief glance at his watch. He still had quite a bit of time before the first train arrived at his nearest station, so he took this time to get himself a smoke, knowing that the moment he hopped on that train, it would be a no-go until he reached the tower, hell even after it too knowing Soma. He reached out for the pack in his lime-green jacket hanging on the wall, opened it and singled out a cigarette by firmly holding down the rest with his thumb. He jerked his arm upward, shooting the cigarette up in the air before catching it elegantly with the same hand, inbetween his middle finger and the cigarette pack. After placing it inbetween his teeth and put away the pack, he grabbed his sword lying on the table in its scabbard, pointing the handle at the tip, letting a stream of purplish flame ignite the cigarette. His last moment of total freedom, he should enjoy it.

Once the cigarette was finished, he promptly snuffed out the flames and tossed it into the bin. With that behind him, he grabbed everything he needed, making sure his travel passes were there, and made his way to the nearest train station. It would take a couple line transfer, but he should be transported right through the heart of the 2nd Pillar. The train would stop right by his destination as well, so no need for fancy GPS nonsense to guide his way there.

One of the reasons Flemma was prepared for this trip was that they reached out to him quite early on. Not a two-day notice, but rather almost two weeks. He was initially quite reluctant to be returning, even under the promise of a comfy quality of life. That was actually exactly what those Solitas recruiters said to him many so years ago. 'Work for us, we're like a family. We will provide for you'. And what do you know. So he wasn't exactly smitten with this idea. Sure, he was living in a tiny cabin in the mountains, living each day by hunting and trading with the nearby villages, but there's a certain sense of freedom and peace that he craved after toiling for so long and so much in the fast lanes of Fortuna. It was only when the guy brought up a certain benefit would the former 'gladiator' be convinced to be back in this life.

What better ways to be welcomed back to city-life than the cheerfully depressing sight of advertisement. Of all sorts. From the most fanciest vehicles to the most mundane of things like a water bottle. Everything with a fancy looking price tag and a tinsy bit of discount to make it look cheaper than it practically is. Sandwiching the transit map above the train door were two ads. Stepping out of the train you had a decent chance to be harassed by those sales officials. On the buildings in the distances were ads. It was everywhere, and Flemma'd be lucky to find a holographic screen that wasn't one of those thirsty corporate products. He did eventually find one with a less depressing sight: the murder of 36 individuals in an attack the day before.

The former FAC fighter stopped in the stream of commuters after exiting his last train to check out the news. Ignoring the funny notion that 36 people dying would just taint the reputation of the area, the fact that this was some political assassination was an interesting detail. It wasn't rare or anything, even back when he was still around, but it coincided with the mentioning that criminal activities were rising throughout the 2nd Pillar, indicating something big was going on in the background. He suspected it would probably just die down after a couple of months of investigations and back-and-forth condemnations but who knows. For sure though, he would be going in during the hot period, and he'd be curious to what he'd end up doing with these individuals.

Flemma arrived at the Tower a few minutes earlier than expected. So he waited a bit outside before entering just before the designated time, guided by security to the proper elevator. His arrival would be within seconds before the clock hits 10 AM, accompanied by a rather casual mischievous wave.

"Hello hello. How precise would you rate my punctuality?" The one-armed individual happily greeted the two as he approached the conference area, as well as whoever was around.

---

"Naah, my lady, I think that's enough. We'll run late if you keep doing this." A black-haired youth said. He stood before a tall mirror, looking at his reflection before him. Though he wasn't alone. Two small arms patted down his clothes. "Non! You must look perfect! This meeting is of utmost importance, and I will not have you look like a bumpkin, Milton." Despite being a doll, it 'spoke' to the boy named Milton in a voice that sounded like a lower pitch than his own.

After the doll finished, Milton sighed. "But it's been two hours, my lady…." Since he had woken up, Milton had completed all the preparations before the departure, but the doll in his hand insisted on tidying up his already tidied-up outfit. "Two, three, five, time doesn't equate to progress if nothing is done! Especially with that wrinkle!" Before Milton could respond, he jumped at the sound of a clock ringing behind him. Turning his head around, the hands of the clock were at their assigned time. "Well, it looks like it's time to go, my lady! Time to go!" The doll didn't respond as the boy went and picked up his belongings. Opening the door outside his home, Milton shot one last look of longing before turning back around and leaving.

It was odd that he had received a sudden invitation to join a security unit in the 2nd pillar. Milton didn't know what that entailed but it seemed like a tough job for someone like him. What exactly were the qualifications? He remembered his lady mentioning security dealt with the 'bad people on the streets. Milton only knew how to sew and make tea to an extent, so he was slightly curious about their decision-making. Regardless, it would be rude not to show up after being invited.

Arriving at the train station, he used the special ticket. The number of uses went down to 0, and then he was allowed access inside the train.

The building soon became a blur. Milton looked back down at his lady. "What do you think we're gonna do once we get there?" He asked the doll. The doll shifted, looked up at Milton, and placed her hands on her waist. "What do you think? I'd imagine we'd have at least a basic introduction on why, who, and what we were summoned there for." That made sense. His lady's intuition was only wrong when the Earth was flat, so he trusted her.

After a wait, the train stopped. The few people on the train filtered out, and Milton followed suit. "Wow, so that's the tower?" Milton said as he spotted the tall structure from a distance. It was incredibly tall. Although redundant, Milton couldn't stop but try to process how tall it was. "Stop looking like a dumbfound idiot and enter in! You're making a scene!" His lady slapped him with her small hands. "Sorry, my lady, I'll get going," Milton said as he hurried inside.

The tower inside was as wide as it was tall. It took a minute before Milton moved up to the receptionist. "Hi! I'm here for the errr…." Milton forgot, what was it called again? "IXth SU's δ division." His lady suddenly spoke. A smile grew on Milton's face. "Yeah, that one! You always remember everything perfectly, my lady!" In contrast to Milton's excitement, the receptionist was weirded out by the interaction. However, they did receive directions on where to go next after Milton was verified.

Going up the elevator and heading towards the HQ, he entered inside. He introduced himself. "Milton Bertel. This room is for the δ division, right?" Milton's heterochromia eyes darted around the area. There were a few people other than him. The blue man that he saw before and another lady seemed slightly shocked. There were others as well, which meant that Milton wasn't the first to arrive, but he did arrive on time.

---

Lucasta found herself in a blackened void surrounded by a pit of nothingness. The sound alone was horrifying because there was no sound. The silence was a terrible weapon, but great at instilling fear. The woman's feet were planted as she found herself paralyzed in place. Unable to see anything, as if she had been placed in a coffin and buried alive, but this was no coffin. She could feel the open space, but she was simply unable to reach it. This was the absence of everything, devoid of all life. A reoccurring dream Lucasta had frequently if a dream is truly what you wish to call it.

Out of nowhere blue threads began to spin themselves into existence, like thin streams of water swirling every which way, a bright and glowing contrast in the dark room. From the distaff of Lucasta's imagination, the threads formed a feminine figure with no discernable face or features. Lucasta attempted to move her feet, to take some sort of fighting stance, but she was glued to the floor. Whether that be her mind playing tricks on her or a literal trap she stumbled upon, she had yet to find out.

The sewn-to-life creation glided forward, levitating just above the concrete sea of black. Etching closer and closer, Lucasta eventually gave up her struggle, those threaded hands caressing her cheek, the creature's featureless face staring right at her, with it's blue body in the strangest of poses.

"Do not mess today up, girl. This.... is your destiny." And with those words, it planted a kiss on her forehead and that was that. Lucasta went to ask a question, she had worked up the courage to speak, managed to gain some semblance of strength but the cloud of dreams vanished and Lucasta awoke on a train, but not for natural reasons...

"Uhh, are you okay lady?" He looked like a teenager, poking and prodding the sleeping young woman as she appeared to be going through some sort of mental dilemma. A horrifying and confusing nightmare to be exact. Needless to say she had interrupted a passenger or two. "Why would you wake me up!?! I was just about to get some answers!?! Who the hell even ARE YOUUUUU!?!"

With that fit of outrage, the teenager just slid down to a farther away seat grimacing as he went. Maybe messing with crazy wasn't a good idea. "At least destiny has been kind to be so far. What would make today any different?" Lucasta shrugged, something of a fatalist, there was no need in worrying over something she couldn't change. If you couldn't guess, she was also something of a hypocrite.

Shortly after her rude awakening, the train came to a screeching halt. She was somehow saddened that she had missed all the sights on her way there. The city in all its glory wasn't something she could see very often. The 2nd Pillar. A few weeks ago this would have been so far out of reach, but something changed. The strings of fate had pulled her along like a puppet, leading her out of the frying pan but into a whole new fire. Life as an agent. Perhaps that is what the dream meant, but Lucasta knew it was so much more.

Eventually arriving at the building, she stood outside for a second. Ensuring her pointy witch's hat was on and pointed at the best angle it could be before taking a long, deep breath. Beginning to think of everything that had happened in order for her to land right here. Right now. "Go in already, we're gonna be late." Lucasta tensed up. "I was trying to have a moment...." Yes, she was arguing with a voice inside her head. Yes, stares from strangers came with that territory.

"You can only have one first impression, remember what we told you?" The voice was stoic and feminine, commanding even. "Yeah yeah yeah, don't mess this up. I know! I know! Chill out." This argument went on for several minutes, eventually becoming very heated before of course, that voice won! It always did. The sound of her high heels hitting the concrete could be heard as she made her way up the steps and into the rather extravagant building. Luckily she had been given a clear set of directions, alongside clearance, so finding the right elevator was pretty straightforward.

Seeing the multi-eyed girl at reception, Lucasta knew she was in the right place. Well, that and the several other people who had arrived for the very same thing. This was a new task force after all, not a solo project. The people she was looking at... well they would be her team. Pulling the brim of her hat downward, as if to cast a dramatic shadow on her face before crossing her arms, Lucasta felt no need to announce her arrival. They had her file, they knew exactly who she was. As for getting to know the others, that would come later.

---

Sofia couldn't sleep. Prison, after curfew and in a reinforced cell, was always silent. On the third floor of the shit-cheapest block of apartments this side of the 2nd Layer, the traffic and voices never truly stopped. Every twenty minutes the train went by. The track being several buildings over. It was too damn loud. All Sophia could so was just lay there and use the opportunity to relax and let her mind wander.

She'd gotten out to an almost unrecognisable world. All her old superiors were dead and her underlings were either arrested or higher ups in new gangs. Going back to the criminal world wasn't feasable and without her old connections, would probably just get her killed. It was a funny twist of fate that the same day that she'd resigned herself to the fact she was going to have to start begging and scraping for an ordinary job, she found the orb. She listened to the message and got the printed ticket. Yesterday was a day of making preparations, buying a whole new wardrobe, cleaering out her old accounts and setting up new, up-to-date ones. A quick trip to the seedier alleys she knew of, and she also managed to find the identical model of handgun that she used to own. She always felt safer and more secure with a hidden sidepiece. Old habits.

The moment the sun came up, she got out of bed with a sigh. The light coming through her thin, hole-filled curtains made dozing much harder now. She got dressed in her boots, black jeans, large, gaudy silver belt, and leather jacket. It was the same one she was wearing when she was arrested, and was restored along with her other affects. She had noticed that nobody she'd seen walking around wore leather anymore. She remembered a time when you couldn't move for the stuff, but even before she was incarcerated, it was starting to go the way of the grey trenchcoat. Oh well, leather was just all the more appropriate for being a garment out of time, like Sophia herself.

Once she was dressed, she made herself a coffee and smoked while she drank it, before placing the used mug in the sink and heading out. She first caught the train to Central, before having breakfast from a street vendor. Some unknown seafood in a wrap with some wilting salad. It was probably healthy. Maybe. Possibly.

She sat down and closed her eyes on the scheduled train from platform 15 to the tower. Sophia closed her eyes and tried to use this moment to get some additional rest before her 'work mode' was needed.

"Why would you wake me up!?! I was just about to get some answers!?! Who the hell even ARE YOUUUUU?! At least destiny has been kind to be so far. What would make today any different?"

Sophia opened her eyes, tutted, and looked a few seats over. Well, at least public transport being full of crazies hadn't changed. She reverted her eyed in front of her and closed them again, trying harder to shut everything out. Thankfully, it quietened down soon after and the rest of the trip was uneventful.

The moment the train pulled in, Sophia walked fast past the throng. She wanted to be punctual, if not early. It was drilled into her from an early age that gestures of respect to authority were things it was in your best interest to remember. That's how you get ahead in most lines of work. Sophia approached the reception, and merely uttered the words "IXth SU δ Division" in order to recieve instructions. Once she got out the elevator, she looked around. It started to dawn on her just how unfamiliar any of the technology in here looked, and for the first time, doubt was starting to set in.

---

I couldn't wait for you to come clear the cupboards
But now you're going to leave with nothing but a sign
Another evening I'll be sitting reading in between your lines
Because I miss you all the time

Music began to blare in the warehouse. Grumbles of complaints was punctuated with the clattering of tools and pans. From a pile of broken couches and tossed off cloth, a hulking giant arose. A loud grunt was all was needed before someone approached him holding a plate with some food on it. Piles of XXL Burritos, fresh from the vending machine. Those grots even took the consideration of removing them from the wrapper first before the green-skinned man took a bite into it. A thin soft tortilla wrapped around a slurry of synth meat and tomato sauce, flavored with cheese-based seasoning. To anyone who knew what food was, this was a mockery of a meal, more smoothie than food.

But for Rokkit, this was breakfast all the same.

Finishing his plate within seconds, the warehouse was already abuzz with life. Children running about getting ready for the day, some of them even bothering to wash up. The factory's machines were already cranking out parts for guns and bullets, with a few children at work putting things together or loading up boxes. Rokkit lended no hand helping the grots, partly because he knew to let them do their work, mostly because he couldn't be arsed to do such menial labor. There was other work that needed to be done first. To that end, Rokkit went to find the biggest of the grots, their leader Shorty. Despite being the oldest and biggest, she was barely knee-high to Rokkit, though it doesn't help that the ork would easily be over 8-feet tall, if he didn't slouch so much.

Barely any words needed to be exchanged between the two. Rokkit wasn't one for explaining himself, and Shorty knew enough from her harsh life in the streets to guess people's thoughts and intentions before they could lie about it. So when Rokkit met his little second-in-command, she was already ready with some work for him. "Morning boss. Might be interested in this one. Word is that there's a samurai on the run. Stole some preem tech. Big bounty on his head, could use the coin. Already sent his last location to you." Shorty handed Rokkit his helmet. Prior to coming here, it was just a normal helmet, but ever since working with these grots, Rokkit has felt like a boss. He's got his own group of minions making him stuff, he's got plenty of enemies to fight, and he's got the respect of anyone he cares to not kill. This place was paradise.

But for an ork, paradise means conflict. And in a conflict, there is a struggle. His home, if it could be called that, was but one of many warehouses in the 5th pillar. While most are actually used and owned by businesses, plenty more were abandoned and turned into camps or bases by the homeless, or criminal. And those folks always were looking to expand their sphere of influence, often by force. And it was Rokkit's job to make sure they knew their place. With the street as untamed as the 5th, Rokkit couldn't rest on his laurels if he wanted to maintain his comfortable life style. He'd have to go out of his way to crack some heads, and remind people that his place wasn't open for business.

After donning his helmet and grabbing his gear, Rokkit would first head out of his home and seek out that samurai. Samurai were corporate warriors, different from typical security guards in that they're specialized for fighting, often protecting VIP's or alternatively, killing rival ones. Different from a typical Handler, they work solely within their company's interest, not for money, and don't hire themselves out as such. So hearing that one had ran away with stolen tech must've meant a lot to this samurai. Rokkit was about to find out how much it was worth it to him.

The information that Shorty gave Rokkit was a bit outdated. Unsurprisingly, the samurai had already left the area. But not before leaving a mess behind. About twenty different corpses scattered about. Some seemed to have a theme going on so chances are quite a few gangs showed up to collect the bounty, but nearly all the bodies were chopped up. Meanwhile their guns were scattered around, some of them even usable still. That told Rokkit that these guys didn't even have a chance to shoot each other up. That Samurai made quick work of them. Not that it impressed Rokkit. Most gangs in the city weren't nearly as tough as some of the folks Rokkit grew up fighting. They were all flash and no dakka. Most of these corpses weren't even teched out, so Rokkit figured they were just fodder who were in over their heads.

The more important thing was trying to find out where the Samurai went. For this Rokkit needed to pay attention to his surroundings. He was in a back-alley area, with only two ways in. Most of the bodies were piled up at the largest entrance, meaning that they all were charging in before the samurai cut them down. The fact only one side was full of corpses while the other was untouched made Rokkit think the samurai ran that way, but then he stopped. He mentally thought about how this Samurai would've killed these gangers. Not a shot fired, and he could've have given anyone of them a chance to even get a bead on him. If he had ran down this ally to them, there should've been bullet holes. But there isn't. And in fact from the way the bodies fell Rokkit realized that the Samurai had attacked the gang from behind.

"Hmph. Clever git. Lead em right into a trap, thinkin dey can ambush em, but he's be da one doin da ambushin."

So the Samurai cuts them down from behind, but doesn't bother to stay. The path ahead was still clear so there was an obvious way he could've ran. But knowing that this place was going to be full of bounty hunters soon, if he took the obvious path he would just get boxed in. No, that samurai has to be smarter than that. Rokkit looked up. Loose pipes, broken cement walls, a shoe print on a windowpane. The Samurai went up. And Rokkit would soon follow.

Flexing his klaw, Rokkit clamped onto the wall and lunched himself upwards towards the rooftops. He jumped from one wall to another, stepping onto window stills, pipping, and aircons to the top. Despite crushing pretty much everything he came into contact with, the big brute was easily able to climb and jump his way up. But what he found was disappointing. Another dead body, but this one was different from the others. First of all, it was missing a head. But more importantly, this body was stuffed with advance cybernetics. Nothing that Rokkit could use considering his alien physiology, but this corpse wasn't a regular gangster. Flipping the body over, Rokkit took a picture of the corpse and sent the info back to Shorty. Not long after she confirms that this was the samurai.

"Dammit. Sum git got to em fer I did. Now dis whole damn thing's a waste of me time."

Rokkit hated wasting time. He checked the body for anything of worth and when he didn't, he began to tear out the cybernetic parts from the corpse. He was sure the grots could do something with it. Either way he returned back to his warehouse with naught much to show for it except an armful of limbs. Along the way he ran into a couple of grifters. Bunch of homeless men posing as veterans of some war that Rokkit never bothered to remember, and was pretty sure was a lie anyways. They were harmless to him, but always bothered his grots, so all Rokkit did was toss a bloodied pair of arms at the group and force them to scatter.

"Pft. Not even worth da dakka. Bunch of gits."

Returning to base, Rokkit vented his frustration on his punching bag. A heavy duty sack made from various nanofiber weaves patched together. It would almost be useful armor, if it wasn't full of holes from where Rokkit's claw and knuckles would break it. Rokkit was really eager to have gone up against a samurai, having heard a lot of tales about their combat prowess. He had imagined an epic brawl between his claw versus a Samurai's sword, a clash of steel in a stone jungle. With Rokkit showing off his finesse, and the samurai matching the ork's strength with his own. Alas, it was all but a fantasy. Rokkit gave his bag an impressive five punch combo, but it didn't mean anything unless he got to use it in a real fight.

"Hey boss, I know that last one was a fecking disappointment, but I got another lead. Or rather uh, a reminder. We got that meeting today, remember? Over by the 2nd." Shorty approached Rokkit wearing a different outfit from what she usually wears. Normally she's dressed in dirtied rags, not because she's poor, but because she often works on the line with the other kids. And putting together metal parts was a messy job. But this time Shorty cleaned up. She had taken a shower and put on some office attire. Granted, they were approximately what an office woman would wear, if she was a three-foot tall goblin. No one made office attire for children, and custom ordering them even through Clint's Clothes was far more than what Shorty would be willing to pay for. So she improvised using some clothes she picked out from the thrift store and were donated to a local church. She could reasonably pass off as an office worker from a distance, baring the fact she was shorter than most women and wasn't wearing shoes. Shorty never liked shoes and tried to make her pantyhose look like she was wearing flats from a distance.

As for Rokkit, he was just going to go in his usual armor. He couldn't be arsed to dress nice and even if he had to, his armor was the nicest clothes he got. Plus he knew about this job Shorty was talking about and he wasn't about to go there looking like some pansy git. They needed a warrior, and they were going to get one. So once Shorty had gotten her things together, the two would leave towards their meeting.

Rokkit got the call for this new job after a particularly harrowing fight against some twisted monster. Now, Rokkit was no stranger to fighting strange and dangerous xeno, but this thing was different from a nid or even warp demon. No amount of bullets seemed to phase it and it moved like a fourth-dimensional object. It was only when Rokkit smashed it with his claw that it seemed to do any meaningful damage, and that wasn't easy. He still won, but the whole experience left him bewildered. Shortly after he was contacted to join some security organization. Rokkit figured this would be a getter gig than just cruising the 5th looking for a fight, and if this means fighting more extra-dimensional monsters, he was all for it.

Shorty however had a more practical outlook. Working in the 2nd pillar means opening doors for her and the kids to move to the 2nd pillar, where she can get them an actual job and education. The money they made here running guns were barely enough to give everyone their daily bread. They're competing against professional gun runners who made military grade things. And clever as they were to make these pipe guns that pack a punch, they just pack the infrastructure to make this viable long term. And Shorty would rather make sure the kids get regular jobs, with regular stability, than risk their life's on the street. This was Shorty's chance at escaping provety in the 5th, which was why she was going with Rokkit and making sure he gets the job. What's good for him is good for her.

Getting out of the 5th was a bit easier said than done though. Lots of foot traffic to get through the streets, let alone the hell that was the early morning train. There was a saying in the fifth: early is on time, on time is late, and late is gone. And unfortunately Rokkit and Shorty we're "on time", meaning if they waited in line they would be late to their meeting. And while Rokkit doesn't care, Shorty didn't want to give a bad impression. "Hey boss, let's skip the line. Picked up chatter that there's a meet 'n greet not too far from here. What say we catch a ride?"

"Heh. Beats standing around like sum knob. Aight, lead da way, Shorty."

On the street, meet 'n greets were just another name for a drug deal, typically a small one. Could be as quick as a hand off or a long negotiation. Shorty had picked up a meet n greet that has gone longer than it should, and Rokkit was going to investigate. Sure enough this deal went south: couple of dead gangers, and a lot more civilian folk. There were still a few hangers left picking through the dead. "Crimson Lion. Fancy name for a bunch of low-rank thugs. Still look at their ride." Shorty pointed out the Crimson Lion's sweet street racer. With a reflective ruby paint job, striking lion decal, and blazing white underglow, it was a classic example of gangster excess. Rokkit wanted it.

There was five gangers, three picking bodies, one trying to break into a vending machine, and one actually watching. Rokkit and Shorty needed to get through all of them to get to that car. That's when Shorty revealed her hand: a small drone named Bosco. She went to find a secure spot to sit while she has Bosco stealth and hack into the vending machine. It spilled out a bunch of cash to distract one of the gangers. At the same time Shorty did a remote hack on the car's radio, causing it to go a bit crazy. This would distract the only gabger watching. And finally, for the big show. With two hangers sufficiently distracted Bosco went to the three Gangers looting the dead and broke out the gas. It began to fill the area, causing those caught within to tear up as the chemicals caused their eyes and throat to swell.

It was a little bit of chaos. Before any of the gangers could realize this was an attack, Rokkit struck. First he landed on the Crimson Lion looting the vending machine. He pounced like a tiger, dropping the thug by grabbing his head and slamming it into the cement. Next he ran into the chemical cloud. Rokkit's helmet was hermantically sealed, protecting him from the tear gas as he ripped apart the three wannabes before they could even draw iron. The last one realized something was up and took out his gun, a hefty little smg, and sprayed into the cloud. But too little too late. Rokkit was already gone, stepping around cover to blast the last survivor to giblets. One shot from Rokkit's gun ripped off the gangsters arm. A second blew off a leg. The last turned the torso into chunky salsa, scattering gore across the alley.

All this done in less than a minute. Bosco went to gather up the left over guns and drugs. "Immunosupressors. Used to prevent ODing on tech, which ironically means it's wanted by junkies who want to push their limits. Not useful for us but we can hawk this easy." Shorty says as she grabs a case. Rokkit wasn't paying attention and was already in the car. Normally even cheap cars needed a physical key to work, and Rokkit couldn't be arsed to find one. And a car this nice also had some digital locks and such to ensure that you couldnt just wire the car or steal the key either. But none of that mattered to Rokkit. All he needed to do was hit the dash with his claw and suddenly the whole thing roared to life. Shorty dove into the backseat just as Rokkit slammed on the gas, blasting out of the alley and into the streets.

Racing through the streets of the 5th, Rokkit and Shorty we're making good time to reach the meeting place. The only time they stopped was to get through the check points, which Rokkit begrudgingly did once he figures out how to slow the car down. But once he was allowed back on the road he wasted no time speeding up, tearing through alleys, and even preforming some complex manuevers on a busy intersection. Whatever shaves off a few seconds on his drive. Shorty was absolutely terrified and needed to vomit into a backpack full of old take-out, and desperately wishes she had taken the train instead.

By the time they reached the 2nd pillar, Rokkit had to ditch the car. Shorty was glad to be back on her feet and made a mental note never to join Rokkit for a ride every again. Her outfit was a bit of a mess so she had to do some spot cleaning, and she had to figure out where to go from here. Neither she nor Rokkit had ever been to the 2nd pillar. They've seen some of it on the news but never took a tour or anything. So Shorty needed to pull up the info on her Holo Display and get directions. "Alright, just a little walk. Boss just um… Just remember that this is business, see, so we gotta be a bit professional."

"Bah, it ain't dat difficult Shorty. It's just 'nother gig ta krump some gits and otha wetwork. Wotever planz dey got ain't nothin ta do with you or me. I ain't goin ere ta call shots or nuthin. Just a hired dakka."

"Well… Alright boss. Just want to make sure you know what to expect." The two free skins head over to the tall building. There was a section blocked off, apparently this was where that assassination occured. A lot of talk back in the 5th that this was a hit carried out by one of the gangs, but this was just talk. Though Shorty was curious about it, Rokkit just wondered how he'd fare in a surprise attack. He made him grin: even though the 2nd was suppose to be safe, stuff like this could happen. It means he'll never be bored even if he does hang out in this place.

Rokkit entered the building, his feet stomping into the clean mopped floors. He couldnt look more out of place if he tried. Shorty followed after, carrying a suit case to look professional even though it was filled with stolen drugs, her drone, and a her lunch. Shorty also ran into another problem she knew she was going to have to get used to: being too short to be seen over tables and countertops. "IXth SU δ Division." Shorty would say clear and loudly. After getting the directions, the dynamic duo would squeeze into an elevator and reach the meeting area. Lots of colorful characters here. Rokkit was eager to see how these folks hold up, while Shorty was quick to blend into the background and take a more analytical approach.

---

BEEP BEEP BEEP

click

With great annoyance, sigh echoes within Julius's bedroom following the abrupt ring of the alarm clock. As the new security agent swung his feet out of bed he took a moment to wake himself and muster up strength to get up and start his day. Vigorously, he rubbed his eyes until he was nearly blind before stretching and standing up on his own two feet. Upon his toes making contact with the hardwood floor of his bedroom the boy gathered his bearings a bit before making his way out the room.

That's going to take some time getting used to

For a native of the second pillar it wasn't much of a big deal but for Julius's case it was something he hadn't adjusted to. A nice hardwood floor that you did not have to gamble on winning splinters from was something entirely different from the ex-6th pillar resident. Nonetheless the boy was slowly warming up to the coziness of his new home provided by the security unit. His home was a standard 1 bed 1 bath and good enmities, his favorite one being the in-home laundry system.

As he slugged his way over to the bathroom he took notice of the mop of hair atop his head in which he instantly took a comb to and brushed out his hair until he didn't look stupid before tying hair that traveled down his neck into a small ponytail. While Julius brushed his teeth he read up on the news displayed upon the mirror in his bathroom. Aside from the 'situation' that happened recently, not much was being displayed. It was clear enough someone must have had bad blood with late council member, and most likely he'd have to look into it. Julius was already aware of how much of a pain this would be but nonetheless his new job was protecting the privilege of the 2nd pillars residents first and foremost.

Julius slipped into some decently breathable attire. A large black tactical combat shirt along with some grey cargo pants. Over it he wore a large yellow and white parka adorned with black and sand colored accents. Before leaving his house he grabbed his wallet, goggles, and most importantly his Anima. As he wielded the staff he gave the weapon a few spins before shrinking it down to the size of a pen and stuffed into his coat pocket.

Before long he was on the streets of the 2nd pillar and grabbing a bite to eat at a local breakfast vendor. Usually his go to being a bacon egg and cheese breakfast sandwich, From there he was on his way to the tower. While taking his walk Julius sunk his teeth into the sandwich while taking in the scenery. The 2nd pillar truly was a much different place, not nearly as rugged and dirty as the 6th nor as openly corrupted as the 4th was. Even the people were seemingly pretty friendly, it was almost something like a foreign land. On the streets pretty much everyone was talking about the assassination which was not much of a surprise. The public is in fear, not only did whomever manage to kill a newly appointed council member but there was plenty of other causalities. Not the mention that the culprits are still at large, at least in the publics eyes.

Not before long, The sandwhich was finished and Julius was in the front yard of the tower. He had never really came close to one of these and it was surely a sight to see. It truly was an icon almost reminiscent to that of a symbol, for civilians to take purchase in and criminals to fear. Even the people who came inside and out the building, most of them being dressed in business attire with a few exceptions.

Passing through security was easy enough, pretty much just taking all the stuff out of his pockets and placing them through the checkpoint. Now he simply had to ask for instructions at reception

"Morning, I'm looking for the IXth SU δ Division"

The lady directed the new recruit towards the elevators, before leaving off he gave his thanks and hopped into the elevator. Before long he had reached the meeting place, he had deducted that he was probably one of the last one to arrive considering that there was already a decent amount of people already there. Couple that with the time and you have your verdict. Julius decided to hang out in the back of the group, not wanting to attract anymore attention then he already has being one of the stragglers. Nonetheless he didn't mind considering that the scenic route was definitely more enjoyable

Adalia

---

Location: Entrance of the Tower
Interactions:

---

Brrrnnng.

Adalia was quite fond of blankets. She had quite the collection of them back in her studio in the 4th pillar, ranging for all sorts of weathers and materials, all of them self-cleaning and lined with heating mats for the perfect temperature control. The ones she had around her weren't quite as fancy, being the simple, standard linen ones that was provided for her from the research outpost, but Adalia had long since gotten used to the plastic, synthetic feel and found it comforting nonetheless. It was adequate enough for its current usage, wrapped tightly around her in a blanket burrito and giving Adalia' head and tail just enough room to poke out and groggily look around, ears twitching at the alarm clock's shrill beeping noise.

Brrrnnng.

No wait, it wasn't an alarm clock at all. Adalia's stomach churned. No, an alarm would be far more preferable, as it would be a reminder that all was going according to a schedule, and all Adalia had to do was switch it off and drift back off to her unharried slumber. But alas, it was the alarm clock's close cousin the phone reminder bell, and that was the herald of something far more sinister. Adalia squirmed back into the safety of the blanket wrapping and squeezed down her ears, hoping that it was a mere delusion.

BRRNNNG.

It was nothing. She just imagined it.

BRRNNNG.

Maybe she accidentally set the alarm clock sound all weird and it just coincidentally -

BRRNNNG. BRRNNNG. BRRNNNG.

Oh no. Adalia let out a muffled squeak. It was happening. It was today, and today she had to go out to face the reality outside the burrito.

An Agent.

Adalia tossed the word around in her mind as she went about her daily routine (or rather, letting the dresser's automated arm take care of everything for her), each time feeling the word burn slightly harder against her thoughts. An Agent. What was she thinking when she had applied for it? That it would be some sort of new adventure? Like a sort of picnic? Like tea and crumpets while getting boulders or explosives or bullets or fire thrown at her? Adalia would have cursed her past self had it not been for the fact that she had already resigned herself to her fate last night, over mocktails and online tutorials on how to make a good first impression at a new work place. Not that she thought had the mind to put any of that into practice. Instead, she had to satisfy herself by nearly dropping her breakfast sandwich and coming dangerously close to simply running back into the blanket fortress.

I-it's okay, Adalia. Calm down. You've got this. You're good with everything, you're qualified for this position. You're confident, you're cool, you can do this. Adalia thought to herself, wrapping fresh bandages around her arms just, well, just so she could do something. Adalia pressed down on her hair, trying to get rid of the stray strand that insisted on its outward position. Maybe.

"Lady Rosenthal." An elderly man dressed in a sharp blue suit and silver-blue hair exquisitely brushed bowed toward her as Adalia stumbled out of her studio, a slick black sedan whirring gently behind him. Adalia nearly jumped out of her own skin, completely shocked at the sight of the butler despite having known him ever since the day she ever remembered. Adalia couldn't quite manage to restore her composure, tail still tucked firmly between her legs, but she still managed a shaky smile. "Senath! Y-you're here! And uh, yeah!"
"You are far more eloquent than usual, miss." Senath said wryly, before opening the sedan door up for her. "The Kazmiertz Residence sends their regards."

Adalia sniffed, barely keeping a straight face against a fresh swirl of dread surging within her. "Thank you. Senath. I'll try." Adalia said hoarsely, and squeezed herself into the car.

The ride was uneventful, at least for the 2nd Pillar. Adalia had spent nary a month in the residence in the upscale side of the 2nd Pillar, and still she quickly got used to the constant buzzing of people of all shapes and race flitting across the streets, the insistence of the holo-signs that occasionally swooped down against the windows and the cat-calls of food-stalls. It wasn't so obnoxious near the Civitas, at least, and Senath expertly navigated through the chaos of the inner city traffic to land her at - Adalia took a big breath from her puffer to make sure she was still breathing - the IX Tower. Or was it just called the Tower? D-did she get the wrong address? Adalia knocked herself out of her train of thoughts. Focus. It was literally the only 'Tower' there was in the whole district. She just had to walk up and show her identifications, and off she'd go. A real Agent.

Adalia did not go in, not until Senath gently tapped her on the shoulder and handed her handbag. "You'll do more than fine, Adalia." Senath said with a warm gaze. Adalia only nodded, watching her last means of turning back drive off and disappear between the traffic. Adalia turned to stare at the entrance, dread crystalizing into numbness.

Just go in, right?

She was meant to be here, right?

---

Roughly two weeks passed since Ashelia left her Fortuna life behind. Despite planning months in advance, it would seem she severely underestimated the living costs for her stay in Metropolis. Not surprising, she practically lived rent free for as long as she could remember. Basic services were provided to her, and food was delivered on schedule with her work. One of the perks for serving under a prestigious family.

Those luxurious days were gone now, and she needed secure a steady income to at least keep her belly full. Hopefully, this new agent gig would suffice to solve her financial problems. If not, its back to playing on the streets for spare change until she could lock down a better way to make money. No way she's crawling back to Fortuna.

Ashelia kept to herself throughout the entire trip, trying to put her mind at ease by making up a lovely tune in her head. A wordless melody, to which she quietly hummed with her eyes closed. This could very well be the foundation of her new song, but what could it be about, she wondered. Before she could settle on a topic, her thoughts were interrupted by the intercom's announcement of their arrival.

Remaining seated as she watched others passed by, it reminded her that she knew nobody here. The previous bonds she forged were built on lies and deceit, which withered her attachments over time. She held selfsame concerns about her new superiors, would they also betray her trust?

She'd have to meet them in person to find out. Collecting her belongings, Ashelia rose from her seat and exited the terminal, making her way towards the tower. There wasn't much she carried on her, only a separate case that she kept her Anima in, and a duffle bag containing her spare clothes, among with minor necessities to keep her occupied during downtime.

The security checkpoint wasn't much of a hassle, only things she really kept in her pockets were her keys and wallet. One of the guards remarked how Ashelia didn't carry any electronics on her. She casually brushed it off with a shrug and stated that she couldn't afford one. In reality, all of her electronics were left behind in Fortuna, fearing they may have been tampered with.

After she was cleared to leave, her next stop is reception.

“IXth SU δ Division, please.”

The receptionist gave her specific instructions on how to proceed, noticing she may be one of the last arrivals. Not exactly a good first impression, but at least she wasn't late. Ashelia thanked the receptionist for the guidance and made her way towards the elevator. First day on the job anxiety started to make her skin crawl, literally, but she managed to stay composed enough for it to remain unnoticeable.

'I wonder...if anyone else here is a fogborn as well?'

She stepped out of the elevator with those parting thoughts and reached the meeting area where all the new agents gathered.

---

---

Time is not linear. Such is a fact that has been known to scholars and later on the general public for quite a long time by now. While time-traveling remains science fiction, even in the realms of science fiction, the deepened understanding of time gained over time only created more questions than it did answer existing ones. Yet, despite the weird flexible nature of time, one can pinpoint certain key moments of history, where a moment of significance occurred. Moments, whose ramifications would not be clear even to those involved until much, much later in time. Relatively speaking.

For Nevyn, time provided structure. The soft ticking of his outdated analog watch would remind him of the constant flow of time; A constant progression. It was the sound of the world moving forward, it reminded him that he could not afford to sit still. Not after everything that had happened before.




A sharp dinging noise from Nevyn's watch announced the arrival of another key moment: The formation of the Delta unit at precisely 10 am. As if automated, Nevyn would turn around to face his new crew precisely when his watch struck 10, standing in the middle of the conference area, facing all supporting staff as well as the agents that by now have all but one gathered at the entrance of the room. His eyes gazed sharply over each individual agent, a bright smile was plastered on his lips as he placed his now empty mug on the desk behind him. His assistant Alayna was standing beside him, hiding her smile beneath the mask which had 4 actual, functioning eyes on it, bringing into question whether it was an actual mask, an augmentation, or part of her body. With Nevyn standing at roughly 6'1 (1.85m), he was quite a lot taller than the averagely sized Alayna at 5'7 (1.70m). The assistant was nervous, seeing all these different new faces standing in front of her. While supporting staff was mostly comprised of 'normal' people, Agents were known to be a little eccentric, or in other words, a little extra. Even though she was anxious to meet them, she was wondering whether they'd make for a good unit.

As if feeling her worries, Nevyn reassuringly put a hand on Alayna's right shoulder for a brief moment and then stepped forward to greet his new Agents. He extended his arms outward to make the grand announcement.



Nevyn waited for a moment to make sure he had everyone's attention. The Commander was fully aware that one Agent was still missing as he had been carefully watching her on the cameras just a moment ago, however, time was not waiting for him so neither would he wait for her.
His voice was gentle yet vociferous- Nevyn wanted to make sure that everyone would hear him loud and clear. By now, the Commander had lowered his arms again and his eyes were scanning each Agent individually.



Nevyn did a signature butler-y bow to express his respect to the new recruits.



The Commander paused for a moment, looking over to Alayna who was glaring back at him with all eyes available.



Nevyn stepped to the side, using his right arm to gesture towards the holographic table in the middle of the conference area behind him. With a few swift inputs on her holographic tablet, Alayna changed the holograph to now depict the picture of the wanted terrorist wielding her crystalline staff.





As he was speaking, Nevyn accentuated his words with hand gestures.



The Commander nodded towards his assistant, who once again changed the hologram to a different scene. This time, a seemingly ran-down restaurant located in some backstreets somewhere in the second Pillar was shown.



Finally, the hologram turned back to a map of the second Pillar, as it had been before, now with a certain point of interest marked in red. Nevyn turned back towards his Agents and put his hands in the side pockets of his coat.



Nevyn paused briefly and closed his eyes for a moment, seemingly reflecting on something in his mind. Like the dutiful employee she was, Alayna was quick to take over. She clumsily stumbled forwards, almost dropping her device, before adjusting her posture and speaking with surprising confidence and composure.



Alayna raised her right arm to point toward the large electronic door that was located on the left side of the room, relative to the Agents.



Alayna took a moment to read over her notes on her holographic tablet.



Once again Nevyn tapped on Alayna's shoulder, this time to stop the very eager second in command as she was practically burrowing the new recruits with information. Afterwards, he stepped forward and added a pause for dramatic effect, letting all of that information sink in.



The last part had some emotions added to it as the topic seemingly even affected a veteran like Nevyn.



Nevyn stepped back slightly to lean against the table behind him while showing a confident grin.



After his speech, Nevyn was quick to check his watch again. 14 minutes had passed since all the present Agents had entered the HQ. Such a short time, really, relatively speaking. Yet it was a moment of huge significance: A moment of multifaceted importance- It was the start of a new story and the beginning of the end of another. For yet another, third story, it was merely another step towards its goal. How significant this moment for the recruit Agents was, however, was yet to be decided. It was up to them to make use of this opportunity they had been given. For them to find meaning and purpose in this very moment.

Once the Agents had passed towards their locker and vehicle bay, Nevyn would quickly stop Shorty in wherever she was trying to head.



In regards to Adalia, Alayna was instructed to keep watching the cameras. Should she still make it inside she would simply be ushered towards the vehicle bay. And if she didn't, Alayna would instruct Rokkit via headset communication to pick her up in front of the tower. Both options being quite embarrassing of course- A predicament of her own making.

---

Milton's head perked up at the sight of new faces in the room. Many of whom had unique features to each of them. Especially the man made out of metal. "He's not made out of metal! He's wearing armor, you dolt." His lady whispered to him. She whacked him with her porcelain hand. Though other than that, everyone looked normal. To him, anyways. His lady glared at every person that entered the room.

Milton's attention was caught by the person who called him in, with good manners and blue hair, but the man introduced himself as Nevyn, The Orchestrator. There was a moment when Milton wanted to speak up, but his lady pinched his hand. "Let him finish," With that, he did. It was for a good reason as well. "Ngaah? You want us to capture or kill this lady?" Milton said in confusion. Even though there was a group of people he would be working with; he was talking about debutante and himself.

The doll in his hand 'spoke' with the agreement. "I agree; if you think we can fight, you're sorely mistaken." However, Milton knew that they had little choice anyway. "Though, we'll try to assist with the extent of our abilities." They accepted the invitation after all. It would be rude to use an expensive ticket and leave without good reason. Another factor was also a part of Milton's reasoning, but that didn't matter now.

However, his assistant didn't seem to press his lady. After the doll stared at the assistant for a hard minute, she turned. "Let us go, Milton." Milton leaned forward and nodded in agreement. There was no point in staying after they had received a directive. However, the stuff in the locker room was... a bit much. For his lady, at least. "Do they have no sense of fashion? What hideous design. Milton, we're taking these clothes!" Milton jumped, "Ngah? Okay." Without as much compliance, he stuffed the clothes into his bag. He brought his sewing equipment with him so he could do that much.

The only thing left was the Anima itself. Milton stared at it for a while before closing the locker. He did not need such a thing. After all, he had his lady. With her around, Milton felt he could do anything in the world.

There was much time to reflect after he sat himself down in the back of the vehicle. "All of the things happened today, right, my lady?" Despite everything that happened, Milton held no strong feelings. Sure, it was a surprise to be invited to a security team, sure it was a surprise that they were sent to kill someone, sure it was a surprise that he would have worked with strangers, but that was fine. After all, it was good to take a walk outside the house.

---

Let's just say that Flemma was not really impressed.

Despite the more straightforward demeanor, the introduction still carried a strange corporate feel to it. Mainly due to the weird sense of urgency that the commander was trying to paint this as. And that the commander was well-ay-okay with throwing these bunch of recruits, many of whom bore signs of a unique background, likely not in any ways familiar with security work and such, into combat with barely any training, experience or hell even knowing each other. And he was phrasing this as some sort of test? This is a job. They were offered this position, they don't need to prove they are qualified. Already, the attitude was off-putting to the man, but he would see how that plays out. As far as he was concerned, this was a relatively simple mission. Relatively

"Yeah, this guy has a point." Upon hearing the slim-looking man, the swordsman spoke up frankly. "What do you want us to do with her? Make her pay is vagueness defined. We need better details than that."

And to think this was an elite security unit.

'Whatever' Flemma too followed the new agents into the locker room to prepare himself. He only needed to walk for a couple of blocks before a locker automatically sense his arrival and swung open for him. Inside was just like Nevyn's assistant Alayna said: a suit which he wouldn't use, an Anima which he also already have, a PDA which seemed quite new-generation comparing to what he used like fourteen years ago or so, a headset of similar quality and a holobadge. He only took out the latter three items, meanwhile putting his other stuffs away, and closed the locker. What remained on him for deployment were his belt pockets containing some essentials, the work items, and most importantly his long sword with a weird looking handle hanging in his back.

The three items were a little jumbled together, and Flemma only had one hand to work with, so he simply just carried that whole mess of technology with him to the vehicle. Once he sat down inside next to the kid that spoke up earlier would he begin to untangle the whole thing. It was a little awkward, but his fingers worked well with one another to compensate for the lack of the other arm. After untangling the holobadge, he hooked it on his belt. As for the other two devices...let's just say it made him fumble a bit with it.

"Umm, do you know how to use this?" Flemma looked over to the black-haired man, the two devices in his hands as he said. "I'm a little tech-illiterate."

@AThousandCurses

---

Rokkit was damn glad that the commander of this operation, Nevyn, kept things short. Granted Rokkit didn’t actually listen to all of it but he got the important bits: They were going after the person who attacked the plaza yesterday. And they were going to do that now. Even better, since Rokkit didn’t really have a plan but if they got this many folks, then they ought to do fine just by numbers alone. Even better, Rokkit will get to pilot a transport! He has no idea if this is some sort of armored truck or a flying gunship, but it didn’t matter to him. He would just be glad to finally be getting a proper war machine in his hands than all of these street racers he’s been stealing. Going fast is awesome, but he wanted something with more bite.

Leaving to go get his gear and see what he’s driving, Shorty stayed behind. She did one final check to make sure her appearance was okay before walking up to the commander and his secretary. She did her best to look professional, at least like Alayna, though also trying not to look like she’s just copying her. Shorty needed to make a good impression after all, and being a copycat was not a good look. However before Shorty could even speak, Nevyn took the initiative and spoke to her first. This caught Shorty off guard.

“Oh! Ahem, yes, I’m not one of the agents you recruited. My name is Shorty Grotsky, you could say I work with Rokkit, your newest agent.” First, Shorty extended her hand out to Nyven for a shake. She was pretty sure this is what you’re supposed to do in a professional setting, at least in those police procedure show’s that Shorty watches sometimes. If nothing else, Shorty knows how to stand her ground. Except instead of gangsters and tough guys, she’s talking to a police commander. “I am here to offer my services and enter your employment. You’ll find that I am a skilled technician and communication’s officer. I am the one who keeps Rokkit’s equipment and weapons operational, as well as gathering information and data needed to keep him alive.”
Shorty then produced Bosco from her briefcase. It was the only thing of importance there, since while she did have some papers, they were just random flyers she had so it looked like she kept important documents. “This is Bosco. He’s a combat drone that I developed to assist Rokkit in the field. He is also the means in which I can assist him without endangering myself from any distance. More importantly, through Bosco I can keep an eye on Rokkit.” Shorty has Bosco do some maneuvers through the air, as well as showing its armaments.

“Rokkit is a good agent, but that doesn’t mean he can’t get himself into trouble. I noticed that you assigned him as the pilot. That’s good, he’s a great driver, and he can even operate aircraft he’s never seen before like a pro. But he won’t be satisfied just staying behind the wheel. Chances are if he has the opportunity, he will recklessly endanger himself, the team, and the vehicle for the mission. But that’s where I come in. If you hire me, I can ensure that Rokkit doesn’t cause any more damage than he has to. He trusts me to handle things in his stead so he can focus on the important things such as, in his own words, ‘krumping gits’. This keeps collateral damage down and efficiency up.” Shorty ends as she has Bosco demonstrate some other abilities he had, such as opposable hands and the ability to access machines and electronics through it’s complex hacking tools. The same ones that Shorty herself would use to operate the transport if needed.

As Shorty was speaking, Nevyn would look down at the much shorter person all while supporting his chin with his right hand, apparently thinking about what she had to say. In fact the Commander would not interrupt Shorty at all, letting her finish the entire sales pitch, even though he had made up his mind quite early. Once she was done, her arm would remain extended and a short, awkward silence ensued as Nevyn appeared to think about the proposal. Alayna nervously tapped her foot on the floor, crossing her arms in front of her body while all eyes stared intensely at Shorty and Nevyn. Eventually, the Commander would finally break the deafening silence and extend his hand to politely shake Shorty’s.

”And you constructed that drone all by yourself?”

Shorty made sure to give Nevyn a firm grip, not trying to crush his hand, but to show that she’s not some dainty lass either. Sure Shorty is smaller than most humans and a girl to boot, but she didn’t last this long because she was soft and easy to push around. When he asked if she constructed the drone, Shorty made sure not to lie but take pride in her handiwork. "I modified a dwarven mining drone with additional weapons, armor, and improved performances. Usually they get tossed out after a few months of service, but I for one am not the type to throw away a perfectly serviceable machine, no matter how old it is.” That is to say, Shorty knew how to make the most out of things others would throw away. Though she also didn’t want to admit that she’s also just cheap and couldn’t afford to find/buy a better model to work off of. Still she was proud of what she could accomplish with so little.

”It is impressive.”

Nevyn replied. While he wasn’t much of an engineer himself, he could tell that the work was more than just superficially impressive. She might have been a diamond in the rough, waiting to get the right tools to shape and develop herself. The Commander pondered again for a moment, his eyes gazing over Shorty before darting towards the one empty seat on the support staff team. Of course, he was well aware of what had happened to the person that was supposed to be there. In a sense, the unit was getting revenge for the unjust killing of Jack by going after the silver-haired attacker. This is, however, when Alayna decided to step in. She did a very symbolic cough, trying to interrupt Nevyn and gain his attention.

”If I may, Commander-”

In response, Nevyn raised his eyebrow and assumed his thinking position again.

”I know what you are thinking. We have dozens- No, hundreds of applicants for the vacant seat. It is your choice ultimately, but please consider the very qualified applicants we already have that were recommended by the higher ups.

Nevyn nodded in acknowledgement but did not reply immediately. Instead, he looked directly at Shorty, using his amber eyes to directly stare into Shorty’s, practically piercing her with his stare. This went on for a few minutes before Nevyn closed his eyes, sighed, and put his hands in his pockets with his signature gentle but confident smile.

”I say let us give it a try. Just like the Agents need to prove themselves, let’s give Shorty a chance to prove herself.”

Nevyn raised his hand to point at the vacant seat next to the other supporting staff.

”Act as part of the support team for this mission and show me what you can do Shorty. If you can convince me with your actions then I will offer you a contract alongside Rokkit’s.”

"You have made the right choice, Commander." Shorty says with a confident smile. But deep inside she was freaking out and screaming. She had no idea that this would work, and she certainly didn't expect to immediately be in the job. Doing her best not to sweat she dismissed herself and followed Rokkit out to the lockers, but mostly just so she could brainstorm and figure out how to immediately be useful. She has no about this lady or what happened during the assassination, and knowing Rokkit they will end up fighting her in a few minutes, half an hour at most. So Shorty quickly left Bosco with Rokkit, explaining that she's going to be helping out as she goes to find somewhere to set up shop. Ideally using someone's computer.

Once Shorty and the other Agents had left towards the locker room, Alayna would quickly step in front of Nevyn to confront him.

”With all due respect- An unknown and untrained person in such an important position? That does not seem like a good choice, Commander.”

Nevyn responded with a reassuring smile.

”You know where she and Rokkit are from. She was able to build a drone like that basically from scrap. Imagine what she can do with proper tools and parts.”

After which Nevyn stepped aside, leaving the baffled Alayna in front of the conference area as he made his way to his office. The personal assistant would then quickly shake her head, brush off what just happened, and quickly join the supporting staff in monitoring the start of their first official mission.

Meanwhile, Rokkit went into the lockers to grab his things. He went to look for his locket, but wasn't really sure which one it was. He was still trying to learn how to read the basic language, and at best knows what his name is suppose to be spelled like. So when he eventually found his locker Rokkit door the door off and proceeded to grab his things. A headset, which he'd have to hammer into his helmet, a badge which he slapped on top of his armor, the PDA which he also just slapped onto his helmet, and a suit. It was a big one fitted for him, but Rokkit liked his armor as is, so he simply opted to take the pants and jacket and wrap it over his shoulders like a cape. This part he was having some difficulty with, since his hands weren't quite finesse enough to tie a knot and he was seriously debating just bolting his uniform to his armor, like everything else he had grabbed with him. "Goddamn humies making things hard fer an ork like me..."

---

"Ngah?" Milton and his lady jumped at the sound of a new voice. Masculine with a little gruff on the side. Looking toward the source, I thought the green-haired man had come just in time. Slow on the uptake, as usual, it took a moment for Milton to respond to the green head man's question. "Ah! Uhh." Taking out his device, Milton paused for a minute. It didn't occur to the black hair boy that he didn't know how to operate the device despite taking it. He was never good with any type of device.

Thankfully, his lady was there to save him from this awkward situation. "Weren't you listening?" His lady said with a scoff. Her head turned towards Milton's hand and stretched out her own. Strings were drawn out of his lady's hand and phased through the boy's hand. Without Milton doing anything, his hand moved by itself. "The PDA is simple." Milton's hand was stretched out to show the weed hair man the PDA.

With simple movements, Milton's hand began to operate the device. "All you have to do is turn the device on. From there, the interface will pop it." As if on queue, the PDA showed the company's logo for a brief second before changing back into the interface. From there, Milton's hand tapped through the various apps with his lady explaining each one.

"Are we clear?" With everything explained, his lady withdrew her strings. Milton acted as if nothing had happened and beamed at his lady. "Wowww, when did you learn that, my lady?" The doll, in turn, shook her head. "When I bought a phone for myself. I even showed you how to use it, you moron." Her head looked back towards Milton's coworker. "As for the headphones, just turn the dial for the right frequency."

Milton nodded before he missed something. "Ngah, how rude of me. I didn't introduce myself." Looking back at his coworker, whose name he hadn't received, he introduced himself. "My name is Milton Bertel, and this is my lady; it's a pleasure to meet you." With a simple bow, he looked up eagerly to hear what the grass head man's name was.

@Conscripts

---

Julius propped his chin up with his hand as their commander, Nevyn, debriefed the group on their first mission as well as shared a bit of his background. He was a rather interesting fellow, having been a fixer, he was a decorated individual who was hand picked for the job.

It seems as though Julius was right about having to look into the attack from the other day. The terrorist group WIZARD were the ones to blame for the attack. Who else to track down this highly organized terrorist group equipped with significant firepower? The freshly put together team whom just came together less than 10 minutes ago....great. Not only that but he seemed to be rushing them out the door to their demise. Looks like the benefits that came with the job are beginning to show their costs, imminent peril at a moments notice.

Julius made sure to make a mental note about this woman's Anima, he was sure someone like this would have some equally powerful friends. This mission won't be a breeze by any means, they were even given the option to capture or kill the said perpetrator. Capture is a possibility but it wont be easy, unless someone on the team had something for that but at what cost? It would be with the risk of causalities which in turn would cause more public uncertainty. Even his teammates raised some similar questions, but furthermore it seemed like it did not matter all to much to Nevyn. In the commanders eyes they were expendable, just like the last security unit who were wiped out. If they were to fail he could always just hire a new one on moments notice.

Welp, I don't plan on dying anytime soon so looks like we have a job on our hands Julius let out with a sigh.

Nevyn's assistant, Alayna, took over from there and explained the locker rooms as well as what they should expect to find within their lockers. It was actually pretty convenient, he didn't expect anything less from the unit. They even assigned Anima to those who didn't have one. Julius made his way to the locker with the rest of his unit, his assigned locker seemed to be more towards the end of the room. Inside he found everything Alayna spoked about, Uniform, PDA, Headset, and holo-badge . His even had...an umbrella? Wait was that supposed to be his assigned Anima? what the hell was he supposed to do with that? Julius brushed the thought of protecting his enemy from rainfall to the side as he slipped the PDA and holo-badge into one of the many pockets on his coat. He then put the headset into his ear and gave it a test.

"Switch to channel 4"

"Channel 4 selected"

The voice that replied back to him was a clear and pleasant voice of a mid-age woman. Once Julius was geared up for the mission he turned to his shoulder to see the big guy slapping the gear onto his body and then tying his uniform around his neck. Julius just watched with a deadpan look, so much for a first impression huh. He heard the guy mumble about the gear. Now was a good a time as ever to break the ice right?

"Hey, you don't have to wear the uniform if you don't want to. As long as you have your badge and other equipment you should be fine. I'm sure its probably uncomfortable for a big guy like you" Julius said trying his best not to stair at the mess of technology on the ork's helmet.

"Names, Julius Grant." the boy said holding his fist out waiting for the Ork to bump it. It seemed less painful then shaking this guys hand.

@Lucius Cypher

Adalia

---

Location: Entrance of the Tower
Interactions: Rokkit @Lucius Cypher

---

It took a hundred thousand years for Adalia's mind to finally admit that she was in fact, at the Tower. The next hundred thousand years was then spent trying to convince the rest of the body to acknowledge the same. The Tower. The Tower.

Next to her, a couple of security officers sauntered by at a pace of a century per step. Oh no. They were just walking at a normal pace. It was just Adalia who was stuck in this strange protraction of time within herself. And by the time she could get back to real time, she realized that time indeed did not wait for her - marching quarter of an hour ahead of her and leaving the paralyzed cat on the stairway. C'mon Adalia! You're going to be late! She thought to herself, fiddling with her inhaler within her pocket. She didn't need it quite yet, but to Adalia the feel of the smooth plastic; the option of using the inhaler, was comforting enough to develop a habit.

"Agent Rosenthal?" An unfamiliar voice rumbled next to her.

"No - sorry!" Adalia squeaked, instinctively blurting out the first thing she could think of. For the second time in the last hour, her tail puffed up defensively, tucked firmly between her legs. Her nerves took a second to catch back up, though it did not stand to help, either. "Uh, h-hello!" She forced her expression to be at least calm; and if failing that, at least attentive in case it was her new boss. Unwittingly, it came off as profoundly unnerved.

Thankfully, the one who addressed her was a coolly dressed gentleman, who, if he noticed Adalia's uneven tone, did not show it. "You are wanted in the vehicle bay. The elevator is to your left."

Somehow it was even worse that the man didn't acknowledge Adalia's disheveled reply. Flushing red and numb from embarrassment, Adalia scurried off to wherever whoever the person had pointed her to. Adalia didn't really have the bandwidth to ask any questions. As soon as the rush of having to speak to an unfamiliar person left her system, a new flood of thoughts entered her mind, raucously derailing all other trains of thought.

I messed up I messed up I messed up I messed up I messed up

The first day I didn't even start anything and I messed up

What happens if
Such a ramble was only stopped by an abrupt wall - in her anxiety-ridden trance, Adalia had run straight into a masked lady. Not even knowing who she bumped into, she blurted out, "Sorry! It won't happen again! Please don't fire me!"

Alayna, previously having stood with her back towards the entrance, slowly turned around after what felt like a light breeze crashing against her from behind, followed by desperate pleading. The second in command’s eyes, including the ones on her mask, were darting around the room to locate the source of the noise. Each eye was looking in a different direction and not at all synchronously as would be expected of so many eyes. No, it was hard to imagine how disordered, rapid eye movement could possibly lead to a clear picture in Alayna’s mind- Yet in her mental eye Alayna now saw a perfect representation of the room, the inner workings of how that was possible were only known to herself. Once Adalia was spotted, Alayna’s eyes would all quickly focus on her, piercing the timid woman with her gaze.



Alayna spoke with a stern tone while having her arms crossed, not pleased with the tardiness of Adalia. Under normal circumstances she’d be thrown out then and there, however, as per Nevyn’s request they would not go to such extreme measures for now.

Adalia's heart sank even lower. Explain herself? She didn't even know why she was here in the first place! Adalia's eyes were lost trying to figure out which pair of eyes was the 'correct' one to look at, eventually settling on looking meekly at the ground. No wait, it wasn't the time - her mouth had already hung open in a mid-stammer, demanding a response. Didn't she watch a tutorial on this?! What did the guy say? What did he say? No, no, that's right - it was one of:

1. Break down, screaming hysterically and retreat back to her home. Down an entire tub of ice-cream.
2. Pretend she didn't hear the question and hide in the toilet for the next 30 minutes.
3. Option 1, but scream louder.

At the last second, some tiny corner of her brain managed to regain volition and force out a response before her fight or flight instincts pressed all three options at once.
"S-sorry! I, um, didn't, wasn't sure where the Tower was?" Her tone wavered, acknowledging itself that the truth of the situation sounded incredibly stupid.



Alayna replied, obviously being a bit taken aback by that reply. How could one not know where the Tower was? This sky-piercing structure, reaching far beyond the clouds, was a beacon of light and safety for the citizens of the 2nd, visible from practically anywhere that wasn’t exactly where the outer borders of the 2nd Pillar were. Then again, Alayna had observed Aladia on the security cameras together with Nevyn, knowing full well that the naïve young woman had been here on time; She simply had not entered the building on time, for whatever reason.



Alayna replied after adjusting her posture.



She raised her right arm, pointing towards the large door to the left of Aladia with her long, boney fingers.



Adalia was both relieved and dismayed at Alayna’s assurance. Relieved, of course, that Adalia’s profoundly stupid explanation for her tardiness didn’t elicit immediate laughter. Yet it would surely have been easier for her to just get kicked out, and take the opportunity to reflect on her poor life choices? And to have to explain herself to the Commander...

This sentiment was especially pronounced when Alayna ushered her toward the new locker room, mentioning a mission. A mission? It was her first day on the job! Wasn’t there orientation day? A meet and greet? Adalia did sign for being an Agent knowing full well it was to be a fast paced job (actually, scratch that, she was already out of her depth) - but the thought of handling both meeting strangers AND going out to what was undoubtedly a real life combat situation curdled at the pit of Adalia stomach. But Adalia had embarrassed herself far too much already to ask any questions.

“Thank you! Uh-” Adalia searched for a nametag, and found none. Address, address - Mrs. or Ms, out the question, getting the wrong rank was going to be disrespectful, or maybe it was - she was overthinking things again, just go with the default; “Yes, um, Ma'am!''

What did the lady tell her again? The instructions were lost among the mental din. But the word ‘locker’ and ‘teammates’ came up when she pointed, so Adalia simply scurried back across the room and through the door - and straight into yet another person, this time belonging to a giant green man. She bounced off it like a teddy bear thrown against a wall. “AH! I’M SO SORRY!”

As Alanya watched Adalia hurry towards the locker room, she couldn’t help but sigh and pinch the bridge of her nose.



Alayna mumbled to herself as the tardy recruit disappeared behind the automatically closing doors. For now, however, it mattered not- There were more immediate things to take care of. Alayna turned her focus towards the support staff and confidently marched towards them, ready to help and instruct both them and the agents via communications moving forward.

---

Sophia litened to the briefing. Their target was a terrorist, using a powerful anima. Those types are usually relying on their anima and are next to useless without it. Sophia's mind was already thinking of ways to separate the target from their anima, or possibly to break the anima itself. Though, it being a staff, might be easier said than done. Sophia's train of thought was interrupted.

"He never said alive or dead, do you think it matters?"

Sophia turned to see that beside her, was the crazy from the train. Well, they were going to be co-workers and teammates now. Better at least talk about this assignment with her.

"Alive's always better than dead. Alive can talk. But it's not worth risking our own necks if we get a clear shot and it's them or us." Sophia turned to the woman "You killed before?"

"Once or twice, I find I'm better at telling someone else to pull the trigger. I'm Lucasta Karamazov, and you are?"

"Sophia Ward. Good leader always needs to get their hands dirty once in a while, make an example. Just to be clear, I've killed Agents before. Thought I'd clear the air early. Did you apply, or...?"

Lucasta made an awkward sound, caught off guard by that question. "Erm... you could say that. Honestly I'm not so sure what happened, all I know is that I'm here now. Along for the ride. If you've killed agents... why are you here playing the hero?"

"Served twenty years. Come out to a whole new world. Don't really have anything else going on. This line of work suits me a lot more than a desk job would." she'd shrug "I'm too old to play gangster. Won't know how rusty I truly am until I get out there."

"Twenty years? You don't look that old? Did you get work done or something..."

Sophia took a moment to double check that Lucasta wasn't taking the piss. No, she seemed to believe it. Huh. All Sophia could see when she looked in the mirror was how much she'd changed since the last time she saw a mirror. Guess as women in their fifties went, she wasn't so bad in the grand scheme of things. "I'm going to go gear up. See you in the transport, Lucasta."

---

Sophia approached her locker, and sure enough, it opened to her hand alone. Technology really had come a long way in all this time. You used to need bulky hardware and a few seconds to perform a biometric scan, and only the Agents had tech like that. She took out her PDA, and the badge, and stuffed them both into her inside jacket pocket. She left the suit here. That anima could tear through this suit like it was nothing. Clothes that let her blend in would be far more effective armor. Last but not least, an anima. Sophia had never owned an anima before, but upon picking it up, she immediately knew what this one could do and how to use it. If things came to a shootout, this definitely sounded useful for this particular assignment. Without another word she headed straight for the transport, her mind drifting back to how they were going to capture or kill this target.

@FatPrincess

---

His amusement over the fellow's flustering soon shifted over to the dynamic between him and an apparent talking doll. A small body but quite a character. Her explanation also was very on-point and straightforward, unlike the hundreds of lines that no one would bother reading on the associated instruction manual. And thankfully, despite being behind on the technological front, he wasn't that out-of-date; after all he did grow up in the fast-lanes. It took some refreshers, but he figured it out relatively quickly with the doll's instructions.

"Ah it works, thank you thank you. Flemma graciously said, having activated both the PDA and headphones. He put one of them in his pocket and the other over his head, with quite cleverness using only his left hand, before returning the greeting with a nod with the hand on his chest. "A pleasure to meet you both. What's your lady's name, if you don't mind?" He said. "I'm Floyd. Floyd Cloute, but you can call me Flemma." Knowing the rather strange name the green-haired man quickly followed up. "It's an alias from my old job. They call me that too often that I kinda got used to it. Floyd works too if that's a little awkward."

Now that he had some free time, Flemma took a quick glance at his new coworker. Quite a young lad they got for the spot. As far as he could tell, guys like these weren't uncommon, which was strange, considering the relative importance of the job. But hey, young talents were always welcome. They didn't have any shortages of surprises, hell even terror for the relatively experienced fighter like he was.

"So, I assume I can address you as Mr. Milton. How do you end up here with this diverse band of crime fighters?"

@AThousandCurses

---

Rokkit was already starting to get some nails to hammer his pants on when he heard someone trying to talk to him. The green hulk turned around, then looked down at the smaller human. Rokkit had to fight the urge to smack him, not out of any displeasure, just out of habit. He's been fighting humans for so long that his krump first, talk later instinct was still in him. Then the human, calling himself Julius, extended his hand out to give him a fist bump. Now that Rokkit could recognize more easily. He gave it a solid thump with his fleshy meat hand, figuring that was nicer than bumping with his metal klaw hand, though Rokkit's poor grasp of strength certainly made it feel like he just slugged Julius' arm. "Oi dere, da name's Rokkit Mechead! Aye know I don't need ta put on deez humie clothes, but dey real snazzy, so might as well make em a part of me kit. Black is dead 'ard an I need ta show wotever gits we huntin dat I ain't na softie."

Then Rokkit felt something run into him. He was confused for a moment, since it didn't hurt, but he also wasn't sure what just hit him. So he turned around and saw an even smaller human who's first instinct was to beg for forgiveness for bothering him. Underneath his stoic metal helmet, Rokkit smirked. She was just some grot. He supposed that wouldn't be too much of an issue, grots are useful after all. Before the human could hurt herself again and fall, Rokkit reached out to steady her. This would also show that his hand alone was at least the size of her torso: Rokkit was huge. "Wot's yer name, grot? Looks like yer gunna be out dere foightin wif me, an I need ta know wot ta call ya if I need sumone ta do sumthin."

Just as he spoke these words, Bosco the flying drone arrived. Rokkit casually continued to converse with the others as the drone began to work on Rokkit, first adjusting the mess of electronics forcefully smashed onto his helmet into something resembling a proper communication devise built into his helmet. Bosco also reworked Rokkit's uniform, first cutting the pants for extra materials, and then tailoring the top into something more akin to a mantle, complete with hood, though it was more for intimidation than secrecy considering that even with extensions, it barely went past Rokkit's hips. Meanwhile Shorty gave Rokkit a simple and concise explaination of what she's doing right now. "Hey boss, I'll be watching you all from here. I'll let you know if anything important happens. Bosco will help you if you need me to do something." Short and sweet, just how he likes it.

@PigeonOfAstora@pkken

---

“My lady’s name? It's um…” Milton stumbled on his words. What was his lady’s name again? It had been such a long time, since he had actually referred to her as such. Though such a scene was an eyesore to the puppet, who smacked Milton on the head. “You’ve actually forgotten my name!? You fur-brain.” The doll scowled before sighing and turning to the green haired man.

“You may call me, Margo, Mr. Cloute.” There was a small pause from the doll when considering which name to use, before settling on the one that had neither nickname, nor the suggested name that Floyd offered. The green-haired man simply nodded in acknowledgement, shrugging off the ignorance.

Milton shook his head before looking up again. “Why am I here?” Milton pointed towards himself. There was a thoughtful expression, before Milton shrugged. “Dunno. I just received a letter and came with my lady.”

“What they expect from you is unknown even to me.”

“Ngah! Dotcha think that’s kinda rude, my lady?”

Flemma’s lips curled slightly. “Really? I mean, like…what do you want out of this job?” He said, listing out, “Money? Prestige? Quality of life? All three, I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Tax exemption?”

“Also, I’ve been wondering.” The gentleman looked over to the small doll on Milton’s hands, amused but curious. “What’s your relationship with Mr. Milton here, Ms. Margo? You seem to be…umm…quite a governess to him.”

The initial word was babysitting, since she’s been way less airheaded than her partner, but he didn’t want to sound patronizing. Either way, it was pretty funny.

“Oh that? Ngmmm. Well, I guess it’s a good opportunity to walk around.” Milton simply said, as if being a part of a security team was like taking a stroll around a park. Margo placed her hands on her temple and let out a deep breath before looking back up at Floyd.

“I’m his caretaker for reasons you have mostly seen.” Margo said while reaching out to pet the back of Milton’s head. The heterochromatic boy leaned slightly forward to the touch and had a happy look on his face. “If you gave Milton a crossword puzzle and gave him specific directions, I’m sure he’d answer the Across questions with the Down answers.”

Though Margo had a few question of her own. “How about you, Mr. Cloute? Unlike Milton, I know the gravity of our situation. Why are you here and why did they recruit you?” From what the two of them had seen, everyone in that room had experience doing dirty work before.

“Their offer letter said a guy with my level of experience is very valuable” He curled his hand’s index and middle finger in response. “I used to fight people as per my old job, so I guess that’s enough reasons for them.”

“As for why I am here…” He gave a thoughtful look, carefully considering what he were to say. “Let’s just say I pissed off some people back then, so they want me dead. I figure why not give them a legit reason to do so, meanwhile hunting them.”

There was a moment of silence from the doll. It was as if those cold beady were judging him for what he said. Though the doll closed her eyes. “Do make sure that your little dispute doesn’t get Milton in trouble.” With that, she removed her hand.

Realizing the source of his headpats were gone, Milton briefly looked downcast before spotting the apparent lack of a right arm from Floyd’s body. “What happened to your arm?” Milton innocently asked as he eyed the stump where his arm should have been.

Margo gave Milton a criticizing look for his lack of tact. “Milton…” Margo began.

“Oh don’t worry.” Flemma let out a laugh, waved his hand casually. “I got asked that a lot. It’s just a result of weapon unfamiliarity, and a LOT of pissed off people.” He pointed to the long sword hanging diagonally on his back. “Don’t worry though, I adapted. Now if anything, they’d be unfamiliar with me instead.”

“Anyway.” He gave the two of them a two-fingered salute and a smile. “It’s nice talking to you guys. Gotta read up again on what the commander said, so talk to you soon…when the mission starts~”

“Okay~ It was nice talking to you Mr. Floyd.” With that the conversation was left finished. Margo sighed as she leaned over towards Milton’s ear.

“You’re quite troublesome, aren’t you, Milton.” The black haired boy beamed at the doll. “You always said that was my best trait.” Though in context, Margo said those words with a mix of sarcasm in them.

“Just make sure to think before you act. Even if your head is filled with dust, at least it’s filled with something. Also refer to him as Mr. Cloute. It’s impolite otherwise.”

“Aww…”