A clean white lobby.

White lights.

Waiting chairs and magazines.

A front desk with smiling faces waiting to help you.

All things that should be describing a hospital.

Instead, they are used to describe the main headquarters of the Assassins guild.

It wasn't always this way of course.

The Assassins Guild had the image you probably had in your head.

A place hidden away from the world in the deepest of shadows.

Where not just anyone can call the services of.

This wasn't even that long ago.

Some in the guild still remember those times.

One of them is walking towards work with a stone-faced expression.

This person's name is Komodo.

He’s a lizard man.

And.

He is an assassin.

Assassin, like many words when used for a long time, has changed its meaning slightly over the years.

While before to be called an assassin you had to sneak into your target's place and kill them with such precision and accuracy that no one will even know it was a murder.

Now even a guy with a club screaming at the top of their lungs and bashing a target's head in broad daylight can call themselves an assassin if they join the guild.

Komodo walks into the Assassins guild.

The familiar face greets him.

Man with a scar on his nose.

“Good morning Hart.”(Komodo)

“Good morning! You’re a little late today”(Hart)

Komodo knew Hart for over 5 years now.

He heard Hart used to be an assassin himself but he couldn’t imagine it.

“....I did get here on time...I just sort of stared at the building for a while...had to get the energy to actually go in”(Komodo)

“Well, I won’t tell anyone”(Hart)

Komodo smiles.

“That’s why you’re the best Hart”(Komodo)

“Yes, yes but don’t do it again”(Hart)

Komodo leans on Hart’s desk.

“So, you got a job for me?”(Komodo)

“Yep! And you’re going to like this one! It’s an intimidation job”(Hart)

“Ha, it’s been a while! People just order kills these days…”(Komodo)

“That’s not the best part! The target iiiiissssssss………”(Hart)

Hart gestures for Komodo to come in closer.

Komodo leans in but hart didn’t bother to whisper.

“The great sage!”(Hart)

“What’s this? A challenge for once?”(Komodo)

“Yep! I knew you’d like this one!”(Hart)

Most of Komodo’s last jobs have been nothing but easy kills.

It’s been a while since he felt like an assassin.

“Here the file”(Hart)

Komodo takes the file and reads through it.

“...leave a dead rat in a red suit on the bed of the sage…...man I love shit like is…”(Komodo)

Komodo didn’t really understand what it meant but it was still cool.

He’ll have to find some kind of tailor or maybe a doll outfit for the rat.

Then Komodo reads the name of the client.

“Kthanid……...Kthanid the monstrous?”(Komodo)

“yep!”(Hart)

“Is he like the rumors say?”(Komodo)

Komodo was used to rumors, he had few of his own.

But the shit said about Kthanid was insane.

He brushed most of it off.

But he did note just how varied most of them were…

“He was very polite…..but to be honest…”(Hart) 

Hart went silent for a bit.

“He was scary….”(Hart)

If Komodo had eyebrows he would raise them 

“It was his eyes….they were just wrong…I’ve seen many eyes in my day but his…...I don’t know if he really did those things….but I believe he would... ”(Hart)

Komodo didn’t say anything, he just flipped through the file a few more times.

“Well, it doesn't matter….it’s kind of nice actually having a client like that instead of a housewife with a cheating husband or a little kid wanting an assassin for his bully……..this might be my final job….”(Komodo)

Hart didn’t look surprised to hear that.

Many assassins share his same sentiment.

Some of them have already left. 

“I wish you luck on your job”(Hart)

“Thanks……..boss here?”(Komodo)

“Yes, she just came back, why?”(Hart)

“I need to give her my two weeks notice”(Komodo)

---

Komodo leaves the Lobby and enters the back of the assassins guild.

Going through that door was like entering another world.

It was a world far more fitting on the name assassins guild.

The lights were dim here.

The floor wasn’t clean.

And there was trash around no one bothered to pick up.

As he walked through the hall, more and more people came in.

Their bright smiles instantly vanish the moment they come through, replaced with ugly faces that would make people faint.

Komodo breathed in.

This was his element.

He kept passing people of all kinds, all races, all backgrounds.

Yet they all had the same expression.

Unease.

As Komodo passed by a mirror.

He saw he had the same expression.

The assassins guild used to be a place for people who didn't belong anywhere.

People who had nothing to offer except how well they can kill.

A place where they can hide from daytime and rule the night.

Now.....they have ads in magazines....fucking coupons and they start work at 9 o'clock. 

.

Finally making his way all the way back of the building.

Komodo reaches an office.

He stands outside the door for a bit.

He reaches into his pocket and feels the letter.

Komodo takes a deep breath and opens the door.

He enters without knocking.

The office room was dark, with only a small light illuminating the room.

Komodo had to watch where he stepped.

The office was filled to the brim with war memorabilia from the 57th world war.

 Flags, medals, guns. Knives, helmets.

All strewn about.

It looked like the owner of the office attempted to have it all orderly at first but then gave up halfway through.

Navigating the room while making sure not to step on anything priceless.

He sits on the chair facing the empty desk.

He waits for a couple of seconds.

Then.

His chair starts to shake.

The war memorabilia starts to float up.

The room itself is shaking now.

Slowly coming up from the ground.

A transparent figure appears.

It was a woman, she long blond hair and skin as white as snow, and she was wearing a military uniform filled with medals.

She didn’t really look dead.

But the sword going through her head gave it away.

The handle was stuck on the right of her forehead and the tip came out the back of her head.

Komodo lowered his head.

“Good morning General Lee”(Komodo)

General Lee.

The head of the assassins guild’s main branch.

Was a ghost.

She joined the assassins guild 20 years ago.

From the beginning, she was put in management.

Having a ghost with no real need for money was great to make sure there was no corruption.

In fact, if it was up to the assassins guild, most of management would be ghosts.

But finding ghosts like General Lee would take a miracle. 

While there are some theories as to how ghosts come to be.

With the usual grudges and unfinished business spiel. 

In reality. 

Becoming a ghost has nothing to do with how you die.

It has to do with where you die. 

There are certain spots in loam where space is weak.

If you die there, there is a chance you would become a ghost.

Ghost town was one of those places.

Of course, this begs the question.

What’s stopping someone from finding a ghost spot and killing themselves.

Being a cool immortal ghost and not having to eat or sleep sounds pretty nice.

Well, there are two problems.

One is that it’s not guaranteed that you would become a ghost.

The second thing is, that being a ghost is awful.

The hard truth is, ghosts are more like zombies than anything.

This also answers the question of how ghosts can exist if there is no afterlife.

Ghosts aren't dead people coming back.

While a zombie is a corpse brought to life, ghosts are the leftover mind brought to life.

The person the mind belonged to is dead, but the mind still exists. 

Most ghosts just float around aimlessly or repeat the same things they did when they were alive.

It’s very rare for a ghost to grow its mind back without the use of outside help.

A third party can just give them mind through death magic.

Though they would change with the influence of the third party's mind.

An example of that would be shadow grr.

But if you didn’t have that, you would just have to hope your mind was strong enough to survive to your ghostification.

 

General Lee had the strength of mind to put herself back together.

Though it took about 70 years.

Which is pretty fast by ghost standards.

.

Komodo made sure to sit upright.

General Lee would get angry if you didn’t show manners.

She ran the branch like a military.

Disrespect would be punished.

General Lee floats on her chair.

Papers fly around her and arrange themselves neatly on her desk.

She links her fingers and rests her chin on them and greets Komodo.

 

“How can I help you Komodo”(General Lee)

Komodo scratches the back of his head.

“well...um….I here to give you my two weeks notice…”(Komodo)

Komodo puts the letter on the desk.

Komodo waited for an angry outburst.

Or for the knives and guns around the room to attack.

But instead.

General Lee just nodded.

“Very well...I thank you for your years of service..”(General Lee)

Komodo was almost disappointed.

He thought he'd be killed for quitting. 

This…..this really wasn’t an assassins guild anymore…..

General Lee looks outside a black tinted window.

“I’ve been getting a lot of those lately…”(General Lee)

Komodo swallowed.

“I already know why, but I’ll ask anyway….what’s the reason?”(General Lee)

“Well boss…..you know the saying…...lizards don’t want much……..I didn’t join the assassins guild for money or anything like that...I joined because this was my passion...but lately...everything feels so sterile.....at the beginning going above ground was great! But now…….I don’t know...I’m tired of killing nobodies………”(Komodo)

General Lee sighed.

“I...agree….things have changed far too quickly….I was against this whole thing for that very reason….but the high management had money in their eyes………it’s just……nevermind……....thank you Komodo you can go now”(General Lee)

General Lee didn't bring up transferring him to a different branch.

Sooner or later, they will all be the same. 

Komodo slowly gets up and starts to leave.

But before he can open the door, Lee calls out to him.

“You might change your mind before these two weeks end”(General Lee)

Komodo looks back confused.

“I’ve been on the battlefield for so long I can still remember it….almost like I was still there...and trust me….I can feel when the winds are changing…….something is going to happen to Unlaw….something big…”(General Lee)

Komodo nods and walks out.

They take the file out and flip through it again.

He wonders if General Lee’s prediction would come true.

But then he quickly shakes his head.

The only thing big enough to change things would be the destruction of Unlaw.

And that’s never going to happen...

Soon the assassins guild will be just as obsolete as the adventurers guild.....

"welp....gotta get to work....."(Komodo)

Komodo hardens his resolve while staring at a photo of Kthanid the monstrous.

---