Noralie and Ilse's steps emanated a series of faint patters as they strolled along the concrete path leading to the familiar and imposing REISS headquarters. The building stood like a pristine canvas, bathed in flawless coat of white, and the broad surfaces of glass windows on its upper floors are reflective as mirror.
It was a usual busy day. The area around them was bustling with personnel and visitors alike who were going about their own personal businesses, it is as if the crowd was flowing like a stream of people that swirls around in a continuous motion of waves.
The breeze gently whipped through Noralie's hair as she look at the bleak and cloudy sky that casts a gloomy skyline over the horizon that faintly dulled the green pastures surrounding the headquarters— a scenery that seemingly stretched out endlessly before her.
Upon approaching the towering entrance of the HQ, a commotion suddenly caught Noralie's attention, snatching the focus of her eyes from observing the sky above.
It's hard not to, really, as the constant yelling and cursing earned the same critical and dubious look from the other passersby that happened to be walking nearby.
Speaking of whom is a man, clad with a peaked cap with golden accents and the customary PRU service uniform. His eyebrows are curled in frustration and fists are clenching while in a heated argument with a REISS security officer.
"You all can't do this to me!" the PRU officer exclaimed, he brushed his uniform off of imaginary dust and his hand reached into the holstered pistol strapped on his belt.
"Fahr zur Hölle, old man. I'd like to see you try," the guard boldly retorted in a slightly muffled voice under his full body helmet, his hand tapped the Benelli M4 Tactical Shotgun he was holding.
"This is not over, REISS pricks," The PRU officer hissed before storming off, leaving the other guards chuckling at each other.
If Noralie had to guess, this probably had something to do with the issue that sparked debates and garnered criticisms about the possibility of PRU being disbanded and the government's plans to entrust REISS the full authority of dealing with the phantom matters nationwide.
While there are groups that were fast to call out the administration, there are some who were in favor of cutting the budget and financial strains of the Azurean government, stating that there was really no point on upkeeping two anti-phantom organizations simultaneously as a single agency is enough to keep the safety of the population against the dreaded phantoms.
Noralie couldn't help but wonder if REISS could handle such a workload considering the current short-staffed situation of the agency, and what would become of the PRU facilities if this change were to happen. Even though it was a lot to wrap her head around, she have faith in the brilliant minds of the REISS leadership and they will surely figure it out.
With Ilse in tow, they continued into the lobby, passing by the guards who nodded to them in the usual respectful manner. A sense of familiarity washed over Noralie upon entering as the passing days made each corridor within the interiors of the headquarters easy to navigate, unlike the first few days when it felt like a spiral of endless space.
After a few minutes of walking, they eventually arrived at their common room at the Squads Division Wing's. The doors slid with a faint hiss, allowing them to enter.
To Noralie's surprise, there were no other of her squadmates inside, and the whole room was empty and quiet except for Carl on the other side who was lazily leaning back in his chair, his feet propped up on the desk.
Noralie, along with Ilse, headed to her respective desk near Carl's and sat down, sinking into the cushioned swivel chairs for comfort.
"Oh hey," Carl gave them a quick glance before returning his focus to what seemed to be a live hockey tournament playing on his computer monitor.
"Hi," Noralie looked around. "It's kinda quiet here. Where are the others, by the way?"
"I don't really know either. Actually, I just arrived a little earlier than you guys, so maybe..." The way Carl's words trailed off earned a pout from Noralie.
Carl, however, noticed her expression and sighed before continuing.
"You see," he leaned in closer and lowered his voice as if about to share confidential information. "Almost everyone heard the news about the possibility of the PRU being disbanded. The thing is..."
Carl paused, his eyes wandered behind Noralie and his face took on a 'you-ain't-part-of-this' look.
Noralie followed his gaze and turned around, only to see Ilse leaning closer as well, her ears hoisted attentively while eavesdropping.
"What?" Ilse raised a brow as she notice the eyes that pried on her. "I thought we're all in this together?"
"Yeah, whatever," Carl rolled his eyes before returning his attention to Noralie. "Have you heard about this PRU disbandment thingy?"
Noralie nodded, "Almost everyone have."
"That's the thing," Carl sighed for a moment. "A word have been spreading around the HQ that our superiors are currently discussing REISS' new protocols and the revisions in our procedures."
"How did you know?" Noralie curled her brows.
"One my of friends from the other bloc told me," Carl shrugged. "Also he said that we might get assigned to new tasks or something sooner than later. I don't know...I guess we'll just have to wait for further announcements."
"Wow, huh," Ilse eyed him in disappointment. "Bold of you to spew such nonsense then you're suddenly like, 'I dunno tho'."
"Now, sorry if I'm not that person who likes to butt his nose into stuffs and things that's none of my business. I ain't nothing like you," Carl chuckled.
"Excuse me? Stop comparing me to your dumb ass," Ilse snorts.
"Guys, that's enough," Noralie sighed. "You know what? Here, have some."
She reached out for her satchel under the desk and from one of its pockets, she pulled out a couple of granola bars which she handed over the two. "There, let your minds cool of a bit."
They don't need Walter reprimanding them once more as the squad leader turned to be annoyed by such childish antics and banters, which Noralie took a mental note to.
Even though he isn't here, it's still tiring and draining having to deal with the constant bickering. To Noralie, however, it's still a view that will always leave a smile on her face despite the headache she gets.
"Thanks," Carl nodded as he unwrap the bar of sweet, chewy snack.
The common room was plunged into silence once more as the chattering between Ilse and Carl ceased, save for the monotonous humming from the air conditioning and the continuous tapping from the keyboards that filled the tranquil space with meditative ambiance.
There's totally nothing much to do for the meantime so Noralie decided to spend the time reviewing Eidessa's documentation file to make sure everything is in order.
Almost half an hour of agonizing boredom had passed when the doors suddenly slid open, where Juliane nonchalantly strode in.
As usual, her expression is straight; calm and expressionless as ever, and didn't even bothered to greet them as she sauntered straight to her desk.
"Yo, Ju!" Carl called out, "Have you seen Gunth around?"
Juliane settled on her seat and leaned on her swivel chair in a not-so-feminine way, her eyes remained fixated on her fingernails as she responded, "They'll be here soon so calm your buns."
"Yeah, yeah," Carl nodded. "Say, is there something new? Mind sharing a bit?"
His further probing earned a death stare from Juliane, hee eyes narrowed into a piercing gaze. Clearly, he's getting into her nerves which Carl is either too inattentive to notice or brushes it off altogether. Considering Carl's way of dealing with serious situations, it's probably the latter.
"First of all, I don't want to," Juliane stated a-matter-of-factly. "And second, I'm not a support center for such inquiries. Okay, baldie?"
"Hey, I ain't bald," Carl ran his hand across his well-trimmed hair. "It's called buzz cut. The style!"
Juliane proceeded to sigh and press a palm acroos her face, which earned a stifled laugh from Ilse.
Now that Carl had mentioned it, Noralie too has no idea about Carl's hairdo being a specific hairstyle so she doesn't blame Juliane for classifying him as bare-headed. Short, shaved hair is equivalent to bald, there's no questioning that.
After a short while, everyone's gaze shifted towards the doors as Leon and Gunther enters, their faces straight and shoulders slumped in monotonous stance.
The disheveled Walter followed suit behind them, his graying hair is disheveled and sweat beads his forehead as if sprayed by a sprinkle of water. He headed straight to his corner cubicle and give Noralie a curt nod as he passed by.
Noralie looked around the room, annoyed by the fact that she's in the dark of what's going on. Situations like this puts her in a cycle of overthinking which she never liked especially on certain occasions. Now, that occasion is this.
Her gaze drifted towards Leon who looks goofy in his service uniform, he's like a kid forced into a 'Dad's Mini-Me' outfit. It's not that he looks bad but it was just the combat attire that suits him more.
Looking at him, Noralie pondered for a moment if she's going to ask him considering they haven't really had much interactions after the Baümer's Case, since he takes work more seriously than leisure stuffs.
It's kinda difficult to get along with him very much like Juliane, unlike Gunther who's more approachable and doesn't mind small talks. He's a friendly one, atleast.
All of a sudden, Walter's thunderous voice erupted in the calm of Noralie's surroundings, pulling her out of her quiet contemplation.
"Team, to the table now!"
Welp, here we go, Noralie sighed.
In choreographed motion, the team sprang up from their seat and goes towards the central table in unison where they settled on their respective seats.
Noralie sat beside Ilse just like what she always do, her eyes lingered on Walter as he emerge from his cubicle.
The squad leader sauntered and stood at the front end of the table, mustering his breath for a while before speaking, "Okay, so we have recieved major changes from the board earlier today. Of course, unexpected. It's mostly about revisions in our procedures and operations."
Walter eyed the people in the room one by one with a stern gaze, "I'm sure everyone of us here have heard the news about the possible disbandment of the PRU, and the government sharks have already decided."
No way, Noralie's jaw clenched.
Walter continued, "They decided to kick the response unit out of the league and hand over the whole phantom-related ordeal to REISS. Meaning, we will have to pull more muscles now than we used to which means more work, a lot of work."
"This also means that we are now responsible for patrolling the streets, responding the reports and concerns, and monitoring various areas of the city." Walter sighed.
"What will happen to the PRU staffs now?" Noralie asked. "Wouldn't it be a huged blow to the country's unemployment?"
A huge blow indeed. Taking off the frontlines of Azurea from the phantom outbreak may have its own complications, in addition to this is the understaffed REISS which is now the main workforce of the country. There's no way the officials haven't thought of that, especially the massive job loss that Azurea may face for the upcoming days.
"The lady got a point, Walt," Gunther remarked. "We're losing almost a hundred thousand people here. Can't we just merge?"
"The PRU has its own structure as complex as REISS and mixing everything up isn't the most efficient option." Leon answered, his fingers repeatedly tapping the surface of the table in instinctive tic. "Even if lead wants to, he's still not the one who makes the decisions here."
Gunther rolled his eyes, followed by a subtle scoff.
"That's true" Walter nodded, while his tone may seem nonchalant, the way his eyebrows are curled says otherwise. "There's a memo that's under finalization by the Board and it'll probably be posted anytime within the day so I'll update you if it goes out."
The squad leader's gaze trailed off for a moment, before Leon's *ahem* pulled him out of his reverie.
"Oh, where was I?" Walter blinked repeatedly. "Ah yeah, that's all. Do any of you got some questions before I go?"
Everyone is really not in the condition for anything today and Walter's final words were left hanging on the air. At the silence that lingered, he took it as a cue to clasp his hands to end their short meeting.
As Noralie strolled toward her desk, her mind is caught in a storm of whirling thoughts. Her mind is foggy right now and could really use something to clear her head. Hopefully though, her buddies got something on their minds.
"Hey guys, want to grab some snacks?" Carl offered. "We don't have anything to do right now."
"Can't say no to that. Are you coming, Noralie?" Ilse looked at her expectantly.
"Yeah, sure," Noralie replied with a smile.
"Nice! I heard they have this amazing roast beef stew on the menu that everyone's been trying. Let's go!" Carl rushed towards the door.
"You idiot, wait up!" Ilse yelled and darted behind him.
Noralie can't help but chuckle as she follow them towards the door.
