In the city of Grandebelle, a tower resembling a giant boot made of blue glass rose high above the clouds and cast its shadow far and wide. This ominous building, forty stories high, was the Tower of the Chosen. It was a magnificent symbol of the most powerful criminal organization in the Pit.

On the top floor, a tiny blonde woman sat in a dark room filled with computers and monitors. Her skin was flawless, and her eyes were as blue as the ocean. Her lips were curled into an icy smile. She was wearing a white button-up shirt and a black blazer. Under her black skirt, she wore black tights and sported a utilitarian pair of loafers that shined like mirrors. Although she seemed harmless on the surface, there was something exceptionally strange about this young woman. She was one of the many strange people who called the strange city of Grandebelle their home.

An enormous number of Grandebelle’s residents lived a truly wretched existence, only barely able to survive by eating garbage and scavenging for scraps of metal and plastic to sell. Many others gave up on attempting to live anything even close to a normal life and ran around killing people with knives while screaming at the top of their lungs. People like that were strange without a doubt, but they could be avoided easily enough if you were smart enough to keep a careful eye on your surroundings.

Then, there were those who looked normal enough but whose minds were twisted beyond belief. There were a lot of them out there, and it was hard to identify them because they blended in so well. They wore nice clothes and spoke politely to everyone they met, but they secretly enjoyed watching others suffer. They were the type of people who would smile and say, "You look tired today," to someone working late, and then give them even more work to do without a second thought.

They were the ones you never noticed until they stole all the credit for your brilliant idea, or made you work two weekend shifts in a row, or refused to pay you for unapproved overtime. They were the type of people who would sniff out all your weaknesses and turn them into opportunities to get ahead.

"Oh, I'm sorry," they'd say as if they genuinely cared, "there's no room in the budget for that right now."

In short, they were the type of people you couldn't trust. These snakes in suits ate their prey with a smile and a wave. The little blonde woman was one such snake, though she didn't realize it herself. She was known to her coworkers as the humble Miss Planner, a gifted young lady with a keen eye for details.

Miss Planner was the perfect employee. She worked long hours, never took a vacation, never complained, and always got the job done. She had no friends and rarely talked to anyone outside of work. Most people thought she was utterly unfeeling and emotionless. The truth was, Miss Planner's heart was filled with a burning desire to make the world a better place.

The most important thing in Miss Planner's life was efficiency. Efficiency. Every second of her day was spent thinking about ways to make things run smoother and faster. She started her day in the research division analyzing every detail and devising every possible way to improve performance. By lunch, she was testing and implementing ideas in the field. When it was almost time to close up shop for the day, she reported her findings back to the main office and gloated to whoever would listen. The executives thought she could do no wrong. The managers in charge of implementing her ideas were constantly scrambling to keep up with her demands. Her direct subordinates were overworked and lived in constant fear of getting fired or demoted.

"Miss Planner, the Elders are waiting for you in room 3-2."
"Thanks. I lost track of the time there... did you finish the graphics for my presentation? The new logo?"

"I finished it. It's on the server."
"Great, thanks. Oh, and there's something else I need you to do for me, Milly."

"What is it, Miss Planner?"
"Could you go down to the security division and make sure they read my memo? Those lazy slugs need to get their act together!"
"Yes, ma'am!"

It was a lazy Friday afternoon in the Tower of the Chosen. Elder Crown and Elder Incarnate were arguing like toddlers, and the relatively youthful Elder Presence was nearly at his breaking point.

"You're a hothead who doesn't know how to control himself," seethed Crown. "I pity you."
"Hmph. You will regret speaking those words, you old cripple,” spat Incarnate.

"I hope you realize how much your little outburst has cost you. I'm going to have you chained up and sealed away deep within the earth until you learn to behave yourself."
"You're welcome to try... but first, let me show you something."

Crown glared at Incarnate, his face twisted into a snarl.
"You damn deviant. I’m not afraid of you.”

Incarnate reached into his robe and pulled out something small, round, and black. He held it aloft, and a soft light filled the room.
"Look closely, Crown," said Incarnate with a smirk. "Hehehe. You'll imprison me, will you? I'll trap your soul in this orb for all eternity!"

"You two need to stop this right now!" exclaimed Presence. "Incarnate, what are you doing? Put that away this instant!"
"I'm punishing an old cripple for being too impulsive," growled Incarnate. "And I'm showing him the truth of his own nature. There's no one as weak and frail as a crippled old man."

The two Elders continued to glare at each other, and the air grew tense. Presence shook his head hopelessly at the sight. Suddenly, the door to the conference room opened and the three Elders turned their heads in unison. A young blonde woman entered the room with a wave and a polite smile on her face.

"Hello, everyone! Thank you so much for coming today. Elder Incarnate, you've been working very hard lately..."
"Oh no," muttered Incarnate as he put the black orb back in his pocket. "It was no trouble at all. It's nice to get away from the temple sometimes..."

"I think you're going to find this was worth the trip!" replied Miss Planner with a bright and cheerful voice. She walked up to the podium and cleared her throat before continuing.

"Is everyone ready? Please, have a seat. I've been reviewing our operations over the past month, and although things are looking better, we still have a lot of work to do."

Miss Planner flicked a remote control out of her pocket and pressed a button to dim the lights, then another to turn on the projector. The whiteboard showed a map of the city with dozens of red dots scattered around it.

"These red dots represent Chosen Ones who died during the course of business last month," explained Miss Planner with a gentle smile. "As you can see, there are a lot of them. We lost forty-two people in total."
Miss Planner's eyes never left the board as she spoke, and her expression showed no sign of grief or sympathy. She looked like a schoolteacher explaining how to solve a math problem.

"Here are our drug distribution centers, now, with the deaths overlaid on top... we're getting a lot of fatalities in these locations. We only lost three Chosen Ones at the Tower. Quite a difference, wouldn't you say? Our security team is doing a great job! Well done, Elder Presence."
"Yes, indeed," murmured Presence. "The Tower is safe in my hands."

"I visited the distribution centers one by one and found the majority of them weren't fully staffed. We have plenty of product, of course, but not nearly enough manpower to distribute it or protect it properly. We'd be better off consolidating the distribution centers... the four largest, here, there, there, and there are all we need... and we can use the staff elsewhere."

"We won't have any territory left!" exclaimed Crown. "You want us to hand over the entire Pit to the Controllers?"

"You're misunderstanding something. This isn't our territory!" said Miss Planner with a smile. "This area belongs to the Pit Razors... our dealers have to pay them protection money. This area on the bottom actually belongs to the Devils of Evil! My goodness! Look at how many people they killed this month!"

Incarnate stood up and slapped the table with his palm.
"The Devils have gone too far this time! I'll send out my Spirit Hunters to deal with them once and for all!"

"My, my," said Miss Planner with a grin. "If you ask me, it's a good thing the Devils control this part of the city. They're very good at exterminating pests! We should recognize when to leave well enough alone. Now, let's move on to the next proposal."

Miss Planner sped through a few slides in rapid succession. Incarnate snorted and sat down again. He folded his arms across his chest as he stared at the ceiling, clearly displeased.

"Now, now, Incarnate. I think you'll like this next part," said Miss Planner with a mischievous smile.
"Hmph! You've got to be kidding."

"We'll need to close quite a few of our legitimate businesses in order to consolidate the distribution centers," explained Miss Planner as she kept clicking through slides. "I was looking for ways to keep the clean revenue rolling in, and I found a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

The slide changed to show a rotating 3D graphic of a theme park filled with smiling children and families. A caption read, 'SPIRITLAND! A PLACE FOR KIDS TO PLAY!'

"The King's Crown amusement park was closed down earlier this year, and it's being put up for auction! We buy it up, rebrand, and renovate. Look at all that space! Produce drugs over here, and distribute like so! No risk! No fatalities! Our customers come to us! It's perfect! And the best part is... we can use the branding to lure in those pesky little stray spirits! Wow! Elder Incarnate, your Spirit Hunters are going to be working overtime!"

"Yes! Yes!" shrieked Incarnate. "I can't wait!"
Incarnate couldn't sit still. He waved his skinny little arms around and shifted in his seat like he was dancing.

"With all those spirits in your grasp... you can finally create the Stone of Life and become immortal!" said Miss Planner with an innocent smile. "What a glorious future awaits you, Elder Incarnate!"
"Oh yes! Yes! What a wonderful idea! You're a genius, Miss Planner!"