"This isn't working."

Miss Planner grumbled to herself as she deleted the last few paragraphs of a memo for the sales team and reread what she had so far as she'd done hundreds of times already. She knew that there was something wrong with her memo, some key piece that didn't fit, but she wasn't sure what exactly it was. The wording was precise and eloquent; her sentences were crisp and well constructed. But it was missing something. Impact, energy, urgency... something.

Maybe it needed another section?

"I should have finished writing this stupid thing last night. Why did I wait until now?! I want to go home!"

The tiny blonde general manager leaned back in her chair and stretched out her arms behind her head, catching a glimpse of the gloomy Grandebelle skyline through the window. She spun around in her chair, took in the drab grey concrete buildings, the dark clouds rolling in overhead, the dreary light of the moon, and sighed.

"No more distractions. Let’s finish this. The Chosen Ones have brought forth a special kind of beauty in this artistically designed cigarette... the striking black color of the paper, the thin and slender filter, its slight aroma and cool taste on the tongue... these smokes are truly worthy of the coveted Nuke Plus standard of quality..."

Knock knock. Knock knock.

Just as Miss Planner finally thought of a snappy way to describe the new ultra-luxury 'Chosen Premium Nuke Black' product line, there was a gentle tap at her door which interrupted her flow. She rolled her eyes, exasperated, and took a deep breath. Who had the nerve to bother her without an appointment? She was busy! Was it Black Smoke? She wouldn't mind if it was Black Smoke. But she had a feeling it was someone else.

"Come in," she said sweetly.

The door slowly swung open, revealing a skinny man in a tattered green jacket and a smiling blonde teenage girl in a light pink tracksuit. Ghost Knife and Mona. Miss Planner resignedly gestured for them to sit down.

It was time for Ghost Knife's weekly report. Or rather, it was past time. He was a couple of days late. And he wasn't supposed to bring Mona with him. But Miss Planner didn't really care. She'd long since come to terms with the unfortunate reality that Ghost Knife had serious problems with punctuality, professionalism, and personal hygiene. So what? He was doing good work, which was more than she could say for the vast majority of her hapless underlings.

Miss Planner hadn't been paying too much attention to her experimental combat unit recently. Between working out the kinks in the new managerial support staff model, developing and marketing Nuke Black, keeping up with the Sage Trials and other Temple business... she didn't have much time or energy to spend thinking about Ghost Knife or Replica or the entire Soul Shell project in general. Erica had been handling all of it. Should she just tell Ghost Knife and Replica to report to Erica from now on?

"Mona! Ghost Knife! It's great to see you! Have a seat, make yourselves comfortable," said Miss Planner with a smile and a wave. "How are we doing this evening?"

"Hey Miss Planner!" replied Mona cheerfully. "I'm good! Thanks for asking!"

She turned to Ghost Knife and gave him a big, broad smile, who crossed his arms and nodded. It looked like the two of them were pretty comfortable with each other. Miss Planner had no idea how that happened. Ghost Knife was one of the most intimidating and standoffish people she'd ever met. He was quiet, intense, and very difficult to read. Mona was the complete opposite. She was outgoing, cheerful, and full of life, the type of girl who everyone loved and wanted to be friends with.

It was hard to think of a more incompatible pair. But here they were. Mona and Ghost Knife, best buddies.

"I don't know why I asked. I knew you'd be fine," said Miss Planner with a chuckle. She sat back and rested her chin on the palm of her hand, smiling indulgently to herself. "What have you guys been doing this week? Anything interesting?"

"Yeah! Ghost showed me how to blow things up with my aura yesterday!" said Mona enthusiastically. "And on Wednesday... he took me to the Serpent's Nest! It's this weird underground maze full of tunnels and caves, totally hidden under the city, right below our office! Have you ever been there, Miss Planner?!"

"I've been on the guided tour of the Grandebelle Underground, but never the real deal," mused Miss Planner absentmindedly, nodding in reply.

She looked over at Ghost Knife. He was staring into space, apparently not listening to a word Mona was saying.

"Ghost has been taking us all sorts of places lately," continued Mona. "We went to Sanders Point to meet some of the Cut Throats he used to work with, and then we went to a salvage yard where people sell scrap metal... some of the scrap they sell there has aura inside it, and I used 'Soul Vision' to find some!"

"Oh my! How intriguing," remarked Miss Planner, interested in spite of herself.

An image of Ghost Knife in his ragged green jacket digging through piles of garbage and dirty metal like a homeless scavenger popped into her head. Was that something Ghost Knife was good at? Maybe a hobby of his, even? She almost wanted to ask him to take her along next time. He said he'd do anything, no questions asked, right...? No, wait... no...

"So anyway, we're all starting to get pretty excited about our first mission," said Mona. "You made some cool armor for us, right? When are we going to get to see it?"

Ghost Knife still hadn't said a single word. Miss Planner was beginning to suspect he brought Mona along just so he wouldn't have to talk.

"Hmm... well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to let you try it out," said Miss Planner. "The design's mostly finalized. If you'd like, I could arrange a little fitting session for you and your friends next week. How does that sound?"

"Yes! I mean, sure!" responded Mona happily, hopping in her chair like an excited little kid at a birthday party. "Thank you, Miss Planner!"

"I'm going to give you the phone number for one of our managers-in-training. Her name is Erica Sheffield. She's been helping me with the Soul Shell... she's a lovely girl and a good friend of mine. I'll give her a call and let her know you'll be stopping by, okay?"

"Awesome! I can't wait!" replied Mona, grinning broadly as Ghost Knife silently scowled. Miss Planner sighed and gave him an awkward glance. He shrugged his shoulders in return and nodded slowly, his mouth shut tight. The whole scene reminded Miss Planner of someone.

Their names were similar, too. Ghost Knife, Ghost Wolf.

She couldn't help but smile to herself at the absurdity. The resemblance was quite uncanny, actually. If Ghost Knife put on some muscle, maybe vocalized a little more instead of always obliviously staring at the wall like a zombie, and got rid of that damn jacket... then yeah, they'd be pretty much identical.

But the way she utilized them wasn't remotely the same, was it? She could never leave Black Wolf in charge of a group of kids. He was a crazy murderer for crying out loud. A psychopath. Ghost Knife was a killer too, obviously. But he was a contract killer, which in Miss Planner's mind was an important distinction. He didn't kill people because he enjoyed it or anything. It was his job, and he did it professionally and efficiently. He was a lot more deserving of her trust than some big brute who got his rocks off torturing helpless women and eating them raw!