Sitting in the lobby, I could feel the cold draft from the door. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, as the cold nipped at my skin while I sat, unmoving. Filling out the paperwork and signing all the documentation, I passed the clipboard back to Emmi, who took it with a nod and a smile.
"Thank you," Emmi said. "If... if you wait in one of the seats, I can call her out for you."
"Thanks," I replied.
I sat back down in the foyer, as I tapped my leg with nothing to do. Staring around, I could see a "free coffee" station at the other side of the room. However, as I looked closer, the grime around the coffee-pot and the almost tar-like consistency of whatever liquid was inside made me think twice about using it. Next to me was a glossy magazine labelled "Panache", with an image on the cover of some celebrity I'd never heard of who'd been photographed on the beach. "Finntastic! Finnick Deller's Stunning New Look!" It read. I didn't know who he was or what he'd done, but I guess somebody cared enough about him to waste a full-page spread on his new tan or whatever the fuck.
People care about strange things, I suppose.
As I stared at the cover, a woman stepped into the foyer wearing a singlet and a pair of loose-fitting jeans. The singlet was pretty tight on her, considering her bust-size, and it didn't seem to quite fit her. It didn't change her from wearing it though, and being loud and proud about it. She had plaited orange hair, and a smile that looked two-parts arrogant and one-part crazy. Wearing no shoes and brandishing a bokken, she smacked the wooden sword against the alcove's entryway - the loud noise scaring the shit out of me as I sat there in the chair.
"I got a call for an Oscar!" She yelled into the waiting room.
I put down the magazine cover and stared up at her, awkwardly.
"That's me," I said, putting my hand up reluctantly.
"You filled out the forms, kiddo?" She asked. She wore a long smirk that never seemed to leave her face, dragging the bokken across the floor as she walked. I had a pretty good feeling that if I set her off, she'd probably take the opportunity to use it; that was something I'd rather avoid.
"Yeah," I replied.
"Good stuff," she replied. "Well, your ass is mine now then, so let's get a move on! We've got a lot to cover, so hurry it up!"
The woman strutted down the hall, and I followed reluctantly behind her. We passed several sets of office doors, many of the offices empty, before reaching an office with the name "Mackenzie Logan". As she approached the door, she pushed it open with her foot, and jammed the point of the bokken into the wooden door to hold it in place as she walked through. The room was nearly empty, save for a desk, a strange-looking mannequin to the right of the desk, and an ornate redwood cabinet that was lined with files along the wall to the left of the room. She threw the bokken into the corner of the room as she wandered behind her desk, and as I followed her in, I sat down on the opposite side of the rather Spartan desk.
The desk had little on it, save for an old computer and phone, a few faded stains, and what looked to be fine grains of purplish-orange Stardust powder on the desk's surface. Stardust was a drug that could seriously knock you around, and if the cops found you with it, they'd probably end up knocking you around a fair bit too. Still, something told me that any police officer would have a tough time trying to cuff Mackenzie. She didn't look like she'd be the type of person that would be happy to go quietly.
She put her bare feet up on the desk, as she leaned back in her chair. I sat nervously, with my legs crossed, waiting for her response.
"I don't think I ever introduced myself," Mackenzie began. "I'm Mackenzie, or Mack for short. Most just call me Mack. Some people, who're looking to get a stick to the face, also call me Zee. With your level, I wouldn't suggest that. You'd probably end up getting one-shot."
"Understood," I nodded. I wasn't quite sure what else to say.
"Anyway, so you're looking to become an Adventurer, huh, Oscar?" Mackenzie said. "It's a tough job, and you look like a pretty weak kid, you sure you're up to it?"
"I mean, I killed a monster like three times my size yesterday, so I hope so," I replied.
"Wait, are you the supermarket boy that I've been hearing so much about?" Mackenzie said.
"You mean at the Amby's?" I said.
"Oh hoh hoooo, that's the one," Mackenzie said. "You're the kid who spent fifteen minutes crying after smacking a daemon to death, aren't ya'? I honestly didn't think you'd have the stones to rock up here, but I guess I was wrong!"
I honestly didn't know how to respond to that. I thought that was a pretty normal reaction to a situation where I nearly died at the hands of a ravenous monster, but evidently that was not the case - at least not to her anyway. Then again, she looked like someone who'd been fighting for a hell of a long time, even before the whole world went to shit. I guess she'd probably been around the block enough that the trauma of it all didn't get to her.
"Yeah, I guess so," I replied.
"Well then, let's see if you've got the balls to handle the job." Mackenzie said. "Have you got a weapon, kiddo?"
"I mean, I've got a baseball bat," I stated. "Does that count?"
"Well, it'll do for now," Mackenzie answered. "Give us a look."
As I sat at the desk, I withdrew my baseball bat, and took it in my hand - passing it over to her.
Item Retrieved
1 Metal Bat
Taking up the weapon, she stared at it for a brief moment, looking it over in meticulous detail. Holding the bat up to her eye, she stared down the shaft of the club - holding it, flipping it, and gripping it with one hand.
"Watch your head," she said.
"What do you mean...?" I began.
As I spoke, she sent the bat flying into the mannequin with an insane amount of force. I barely got out of the way quick enough, as I ducked my head down, my own baseball bat narrowly missed my head by an inch. As Mackenzie wielded the bat, she slammed it into the mannequin next to her desk. The mannequin's chest seemed to fizzle with an arcane light as the bat struck it.
"Yeah, that'll hold up," she replied. "I'll get you something sturdier if you survive the week. You've got good reflexes though, kiddo."
"Fuck, that could've hit me!" I exclaimed. "What the hell's wrong with you?"
"A lot of things," Mackenzie replied. "Anyway, let's get a move on. I've got a meeting in half an hour, so we need to get this whole shebang over and done with quick!"
Considering the Stardust that I'd seen lining the surface of her desk, I considered the possibility that she was high or something. Hell, it'd probably explain the behaviour, but something told me she was just arrogant and didn't give a shit about anything. I guess someday I'd find out, but that day was not today.
Mackenzie handed me back the baseball bat, and picked up the handset of the phone on her desk, punching a number into the reciever. She waited a few moments as the dial-tone rang out. Eventually, the person on the other end picked up.
"Yo, Emmi," Mackenzie said into the handset. "Yeah, send up Victoria for me, would you? Tell her I've got her a new partner, a rookie-kid that I'd like her to break in... I don't care, she's getting a new partner. Tell her if she has a problem, then she can come into my office and deal with it herself... Right... Seeya then."
She slammed down the handset, with a reluctant sigh.
"Your new partner is Victoria Parsons," Mackenzie said. "She's kind of reluctant to get a new partner, but I'll bring her around, don't worry. She's a good woman, a hell of a fighter, and she'll be able to teach you the ins and outs of this game. Trust me, you're lucky to have her."
"Thanks," I said, still kind of reeling from the fact that my new boss had nearly knocked me unconscious with my own baseball bat. I waited at the desk for a moment, as I heard footsteps stomping down the hall - growing closer, closer, closer with each moment. As the stomping footsteps finally approached the office door, it swung open. A woman with black hair stood in the doorway.
"What did I say to you, Mack!?" The woman exclaimed. "No new partners was a pretty simple bloody instruction, wasn't it!?"
"Would you mind excusing Vicky and I for a moment?" Mackenzie asked. "We'll see you in the foyer in a moment."
I nodded. I was more than happy to take any opportunity to get out of Mackenzie's office. I stowed my baseball bat as I wandered out, shutting the door behind me, and pretty much the second I did - the conversation in the room devolved into a screaming match. I eavesdropped a little bit on my way out. Something about a person named "Cole", someone I'd never heard of. It didn't concern me.
I returned to the foyer, slumping into one of the seats near the entryway. Waiting impatiently, I picked up that gossy magazine I'd seen on the way in, almost tempted to read it. However, I put it down - deciding I'd rather brave whatever tar was in that complimentary coffee-pot than even a paragraph of that magazine. As I stood up, I wandered over to the coffee station, and poured a satchel of sugar into a cup - filling it up with the black liquid and adding some milk on the top. Stirring it, I took a sip. The acrid taste seemed to poison my tongue, the bitterness nearly revolting. It wasn't like any coffee I'd ever tasted. Hell, to be honest, I wasn't even quite sure it was coffee.
"Um, sorry... that coffee might be a bit old," Emmi said.
"Right," I replied. I really wish she'd told me that before I put it in my mouth.
As I tipped the coffee down the sink and threw out the paper cup, I approached Emmi's desk. She seemed to be busily working, shunting papers across her desk, moving her attention between the computer and all the myriad documents that littered the surface of her desk. I leaned against it. With nothing to do, I figured I may as well ask her a few questions.
"Emmi," I began. "I know it seems out of the blue, I was just wondering if you knew anything about a person named Cole? Did you know him?"
"He used to work here, he was Vicky's partner," Emmi answered. "I don't know much, but I haven't seen him in about a week... I liked him, he was a funny man."
"Liked him?" I asked. "You say that like something happened to him?"
"Well, um, I guess," Emmi replied. "Th-there's a bit of an unspoken rule around here... if someone's doesn't come in for more than a week..."
"And what's that?" I asked.
"They've either fled... or they're dead," Emmi replied nonchalantly.
They were ominous words, ones that seemed to hang heavily on the air. They said a lot, not just about the life of Cole, but about the culture of this place - about the wider indifference of a workplace built around the idea of protecting the community, yet one that couldn't care less about the fates of their own. It felt dismal.
"Thank you," I said to Emmi, sombrely.
"N-not a problem!" Emmi replied, stammering over her words. "F-feel free to ask me about anything else you need!"
"Will do," I said, sitting down in the dull brown chairs. As I thought about those words, I wondered - if I died in this job, would I just become an assumed casualty? Would anyone care enough to check?
I waited in the lobby, with my mind fixated on Emmi's words, as I thought about all the people I would leave behind. Sitting there, waiting for Mackenzie and Victoria, I pulled out my phone and drafted a new text message to my mum.
"Got a new job today!" The message read. "Stay safe, mum, I love you. Talk soon."
Sending off the text message, I sat there as I waited for my new partner to arrive, trying to avoid thinking about Emmi's words and their implications. If I didn't make it in to work, my boss probably wouldn't care enough to figure out whether I was dead or alive.
It wasn't a pleasant thought.
