Chapter One

>> 2041
>> Continent: North America
>> Country: Old New York
>> City: Mega City New New York
>> 12:49am

The room past the entrance way was, unsurprisingly, another lobby. This was a very small one, though, with a long counter with a pair of secretaries behind it, and a corridor to either side. I saw some offices further in, a bunch of cubicles taking up a room, the other side just had a turn further in and a couple of doors with little placards next to them.

“Miss?” one of the secretaries said. He was a guy secretary, a big muscled guy that didn’t seem to fit into his button-up shirt very well. “Hello miss, I’m Timothy Jortfull. Security out front said that you needed our services?”

I blinked. I hadn’t said anything like that to the security guy out front. Then again, I suppose it made some sense. When you walk into a store you’re usually there to buy stuff, not to come asking for a job.

“I’m sorry, Mister Jortfull, but I think you have it wrong. It’s not your fault, I just didn’t know if that was the right entrance to take for what I’m looking for.”

Mister Jortfull stood a little taller at that. “Oh, of course. This is the entrance for customers. There’s only one other entrance. For employees. I don’t think you should come in from that one.” He smiled.

“I’m hoping that I can soon,” I said with my best idol smile.

Mister Jortfull’s smile looked a bit fixed. “If... you wish?” he said. “We’d rather that than coming in from the walls.”

I frowned. “Why would I come in through the walls? I mean, I could come in through the windows, I guess.”

“We’re on the seventy-sixth floor.”

“I know... I took the elevator here.” I shook my head. This conversation was weird, and getting weirder. “Alright, look Mister Jortless, maybe you can help me?”

“That’s what I’m here for,” he said.

“Great! I’d like one job application, please.”

“You want a job application? But our applications are online,” he said.

I sighed. “I know. I tried to fill one of these out, but I got auto-rejected. Not that your site told me. You know, it’s rude to not tell a candidate that they weren’t picked. I had to have Chys check for me.” I raised Chys up, then because she wasn’t doing anything, I wiggled one of her forelegs as if she was waving hello.

“I... we’ll look into that,” Mister Jortfull said. “So, if I understand correctly, you want to work for the Wraith Ranger Forced Reconnaissance Group?”

“That’s right,” I said.

“Okay. Yeah, sure, why not?” he said. “Would you mind giving me a moment? I think I need to kick this up the chain of command.”

I nodded, then found a bench across from the counter to sit on. Fortunately, I had Chys to play with while Mister Jortfull ran off. I wasn’t sure if it was proper office etiquette to run while indoors, but I wasn’t going to point that out. Nobody liked a snitch, or someone who whined. Or a whiney snitch. “Do you think I’ll get the job?” I asked Chys.

‘It’s very likely that you will. Whether or not you enjoy it is another matter entirely, and one which is much harder to predict. Do keep in mind what I said about contracts, however.’

“They’re not legally binding unless someone has more firepower than me,” I repeated.

‘Exactly.’

Mister Jortfull returned a few minutes later, looking more composed than when he left. He adjusted his tie and lowered the arm holding onto a tablet computer. “If you’ll follow me, ma’am, the commander will see you now.”

“The commander?” I asked as I started to follow him.

His only reply was a severe nod as he continued to escort me through the building. We crossed through the office space and into the rooms beyond that. I was surprised to discover a full on gym indoors, with a glass wall that let those in the corridor see within.

A dozen guys and girls were exercising. Then we crossed another room that looked like a range. A fairly small one, with moving animatronic model three antithesis popping in and out of cover while a couple of mercenaries took shots at them with what looked like those guns that fired little plastic pellets.

Mister Jortfull reached a room at the very back of the building where a few floor-to-ceiling windows opened up to a nice view of New New York’s harbours. “Here, ma’am,” he said as he knocked twice.

“Enter,” said someone on the other side.

The door slid open, and I slipped into a surprisingly compact office. It felt like maybe they’d sacrificed office space to make more room for the gyms or something.

There was a desk with a built-in computer, a wall with some trophies and medals and plaques, and a locker at the back. Two chairs made up the last of the furniture, one on either side of the desk. Neither were occupied because the office’s owner was standing in the middle of the room, back straight, hands folded at the small of his back and legs apart.

“You’re the samurai my security’s been going on about?” he asked.

I nodded as I strained my neck to meet the man’s eyes. He had a surprisingly handsome-ish face, a bit of stubble, a square jaw, like someone from a poster, but a tiny bit chubbier. His arms were big with muscles, but he also had a gut pushing his shirt out.

He looked a lot like someone's dad, but I probably shouldn't tell him that.

"A lot of people must call you Daddy, huh?"

Oops.

The man blinked. “I’m Commander Caden Carpenter. I’d rather you didn’t call me... Daddy.”

“Okay, sir,” I said while working very hard to suppress the redness climbing up my cheeks. “My name is Magic Muffin Cosmic Giggle Princess. I’m a magical girl ready to fight for love and justice!”

“I... see. Well, Miss Magic Muffin Cosmic Giggle Princess, how can the Wraith Rangers help you?”

“I need work,” I said. “Fighting for love and justice is great, but there aren’t any aliens to blow up right now, and so I thought I’d ask if you needed any help?”

“You want a job,” he said. His eyes went distant for a moment, then he nodded. “I think we can arrange that. What are your specialities? What kind of work are you looking to do? And you understand what kind of work we’d ask of you?”

“My speciality is bringing a smile to the face of the downtrodden and also mid-ranged high-impact assaults.” I shook my head. “And I just need a job on the side, I ah, don’t really know how you can help me with that. Honestly, it was a lot of brainstorming that brought me here, but I didn’t have too much time to think about it.”

Commander Carpenter leaned back against his desk, arms crossed. I felt like I was being weighted with the way he was looking at me. “The Wraith Rangers mostly focus on anti-xeno operations whenever there’s an incursion along the east coast. We’ll do clean-up as well. But those jobs aren’t constant. The rest of the time we split our attention between security work, which means long hours and low pay, and special jobs, which are usually short and dangerous.”

“I think I’ll go with the short and dangerous ones,” I said. “I have school during the week, so this is more of a part time thing.”

The commander nodded slowly. “This is the first time we’d work directly with a samurai, but I’ve heard what it’s like from others. Frankly speaking, Miss Magic Muffin Cosmic Giggle Princess, samurai have a rep for being nightmares to work with, but other companies put up with it because it’s usually worth it in the end.”

“Oh,” I said. “Well, I’m hoping that we both profit from it, if that’s what you mean. I don’t want to be troublesome.”

“Hmm,” he hmm’ed. “Alright. I think we can work with that. Are you free tomorrow?”

Tomorrow was Sunday, which was one of my days off. “Yeah, I can manage. Probably not all day, but for a chunk of it, sure.”

He nodded again. “Good. Let’s call tomorrow a test, then. We have a medium-priority job tomorrow within New New York, in the destroyed part of the city. I’ll email you the details. Do you have good decryption software?”

“Yup! What’s the job? We’re not like... killing innocents or like, hurting nice people, right?”

“That kind of work pays well, but we don’t take it. My Rangers started as Us Army rangers. We still act to serve the citizens of whatever country we’re in. No strikebreaking, no extortion work. This job is closer to what we’re made for; recon in force.”

“Okay,” I said. “I can work with that. Send me the details and I’ll be there!”

“Good. You’ll be with one of my most experienced teams. There’s a rogue AI to hunt down out there. We’re being paid to take it out.”

***