Location: MID Building, ARA Office

Time: 8:52 AM, January 2nd 2108

The woman talking to me was Deputy Chief Karen Kaldsen. That’s right, a Kaldsen. At first I was surprised that I’d be working directly under someone from the Kaldsen family, but I guess it makes sense. She only looked a few years older than me and was already in charge of an agency within the MID.

I couldn’t help but wonder how she was related to the Security General, although I suppose that really isn’t relevant. She explained that she was the person in charge of the unit I was being transferred into.

Overall, she presented a much more casual air than I was expecting. It only took a few minutes for her to completely forget, or at least move past, my tardiness. I tried asking her about the details of the work I’d be involved with, but she wanted to introduce me to the other members, in lieu of what she referred to as ‘stuffy work’.

She started with the man who’d been reading his book. I’m not very good at things like this, but I’d guess he was Asian. Not like, actually form Asia. He’s just, you know, Asian. Although his blue eyes made me think he must be mixed.

“This is Vier.” As Deputy Chief Kaldsen introduced him Vier lowered his book and glanced in my direction. The wounds I got from Hana burned as he stared through me.

Vier. Another Number. If Hana had rumors then Vier had legends. There’s not a single member of law enforcement who’s not familiar with that name.

We had to clean up after him far too much. And I mean that both figuratively and literally. His reputation for creating troublesome situations was only surpassed by the infamy he gained from anyone unfortunate enough to work a scene after he’d been there.

His facial features were well-defined. I almost want to describe them as sharp, but that has a bit of a negative connotation to it. It was like looking at an artist's sculpture cut from stone. Despite the jealousy welling up from inside I could admit he was attractive.

No, maybe not. The more I looked at him the more I felt unnerved. His perfection went too far, and that made it feel unnatural. I had thought the same thing when I met Hana. You could tell that Numbers were genetically engineered, right down to their appearance.

Even if you recreate a human perfectly you only end up with a doll. An attractive doll sure, but it will always lack the spark that makes humans truly shine.

Before I realized it my observation turned into a stalemate, with neither of us saying anything.

“Ah, hello. I’m Jaxon Charlotte. I look forward to working with you.” I used my most professional sounding tone to give a standard introduction.

His expression stayed the same. The look in his eyes made it clear that he didn’t see me as a person worth remembering.

“Very well. As you already heard, I’m Vier.” Rather than professional, I’d describe his tone as dismissive.

How was that an introduction? I get that they’re both Numbers, but why did he have to be so similar to Hana? Would it kill them to be a little more expressive?

“Vier is a special agent-in-charge, so make sure to listen to him. In the field, he calls the shots.” The energy in Deputy Chief Kaldsen’s voice made Vier’s response seem even more robotic.

“Don’t worry, that won’t be a problem.” Alright, even I can admit that coming from me that line was more than a little ironic.

Vier continued to stare silently while Deputy Chief Kaldsen watched him absentmindedly.

“Shouldn’t you introduce him to the others?”

“I guess, yeah.” Deputy Chief Kaldsen gave me a cold glance. “Tch. I would rather just stay here and keep talking with Vier, but let’s go.”

Talking? Did I miss the conversation happening? I’m fairly certain we all stood around awkwardly.

The next target was the sleeping woman. She noticed our approach and shot up out of her chair. I guess she woke up when Deputy Chief Kaldsen brought me in.

I got a good look at her, so let me hold true to my word.

She was cute. Seriously cute. Maybe even dangerously cute. I had no idea what kind of things I’d do if she asked. The longer I stared, the harder it was to accept. Can humans even be that cute? No. Frankly, it’s just not possible. Had she already evolved beyond humanity?

Would I call her the cutest person on the planet? Of course. I’d personally arrest anyone who said she wasn’t.

She wasn’t like Vier, or even Hana. She was the real deal. Her imperfections only served to elevate her higher than those pieces of art.

As cute as she was, I would never describe her as beautiful or sexy or anything like that. Those words carry a mature air, and that doesn’t do her justice. Her air of innocence wouldn’t suit a fancy red dress or revealing piece of lingerie.

No. I needed to see her in my high school’s uniform.

That’s a testament to the power of her cuteness, because it took me several moments of serious contemplation to remember my high school didn’t have uniforms.

There must be no god in this world.

Loving? Benevolent? Compassionate? Don’t make me laugh.

There’s no such thing as a god who would force me into despair like that.

Even if there was, I’d reject them. I’ll never accept a god that snatches the sight of that woman, no, that angel, in a high school uniform away from me.

Wait. Didn’t I overlook something important?

My school didn’t have uniforms, but what about hers?

My fantasy was dead, but there was still a chance to see the real thing.

Humans don’t have to cling to god for salvation, we can produce results through our own effort.

That is truly the meaning of hope, right? Right?

I’m sure it would still look great on her, but I knew I could never handle seeing it in person. No one could. Besides, by this point her high school uniform must be a national treasure. It would be irresponsible to risk damaging a cultural artifact to satisfy my lust.

Just a picture. I only need a picture and I’ll have reached nirvana.

“This is Nora.” I’ll always remember Deputy Chief Kaldsen for the great service of giving me her name.

Nora. Could a mortal like me even utter such a holy name? The natural thing to do would be to introduce myself as well.

“Where did you go to high school? Do you have any pictures?” Even one would be enough to let me pass on to the next world.

“Um, that’s a bit. . .”

As Nora’s voice trailed off she looked toward the floor. Her cheeks were becoming flush.

Too cute!

She must have been embarrassed from being asked a personal question so suddenly. I decided to clear up any misunderstandings, as to not damage my reputation any further.

“Ah, it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. I just needed to know if you went to a school with uniforms.”

“Eh?”

“Pft.”

“She really should have finished the job on that roller coaster. . .”

My chest still hurts when I remember the look Nora gave me. Like I was some kind of common pervert. I didn’t mean anything weird by it. I just needed to know, for you know, reasons.

Perfect normal reasons.

The movie watcher seemed amused at least. He was,very poorly, holding back his laughter. He was wearing closed ear headphones, so I’m surprised he even noticed what I said.

And Emilia. I’m fairly certain I heard her say something incredibly offensive to the person who saved her life, but let’s just ignore that.

“Jaxon.” Deputy Chief Kaldsen used her height to look down on me. “We all know where you’re coming from. Trust me when I say that I understand, but there’s a time and a place.” The fact that she was admonishing me in such a calm voice made me feel terrible about myself.

“And that time is never. Even if she’s already past thirty Nora doesn’t need to settle for someone like you. I just couldn’t allow it. But don’t let that get you down. You’ll find someone someday. Probably. Well, maybe.”

Why did she have to sound so unsure about that last part? Getting turned down by a third party before I even had a chance to make a move was somehow still emotionally painful. At least give me something to be hopeful about!

And I think I saw Nora lose ten hit points when her age was brought up.

“Ah, okay. Sorry.” For some reason I directed my apology to Deputy Chief Kaldsen rather than Nora.

Silence returned and I decided to think everyone agreed to forget about that episode.

“Hello. I’m Jaxon Charlotte. I look forward to working with you.” My second attempt at an introduction came out perfectly.

“I’m Nora. . .” Nora was still looking at me suspiciously. “Nora Norfolk.. . . And even though it’s pronounced norfork it’s spelled with an lk at the end, not an rk.”

Good to know, but why was she telling me? How many times must her name have been misspelled to want to give someone the correct spelling during an introduction? What sort of trauma have you endured, Nora? Let me know, and we can share that burden together.

It didn’t take me long to forget I was the cause of her latest trauma.

“Alright. I’ll remember. I’ll never make that mistake. You can trust me.” Was she impressed? Impressed by my sudden manly declaration?

“Good.” Nora looked away, sat back down, and started doing something on her computer. She was probably just really busy. Even though she was super impressed she didn’t have time to show it.

Don’t worry, I understand you, Nora.

Deputy Chief Kaldsen didn’t even bother moving; she just pointed to the guy sitting opposite of Nora.

“That slacker is Oliver.” She was aware he wasn’t doing his work.

Do something about it then.

Oliver didn’t get up or take his headphones off, he just looked up at me with his mismatched eyes from across two desks. A little rude for an introduction, but I guess it wasn’t our first time meeting.

I figured it was him the moment I saw the back of his uniquely colored hair. It was annoying nonetheless. Even if we hadn’t just recently been on opposite sides of standoff I still wouldn’t like him. One glance was enough to know we’d never get along.

Threatening to kill me is one thing, but looking like that was unforgivable. A complete and total playboy. One look was enough to tell me all I needed to know. Even compared to the super human looks of the other members, the confidence he was somehow radiating made him seem like the most likely to get a number from anyone he hit on. Guys like him had no idea how difficult it was for us normal folks to get a date.

“Hello. I’m Jaxon Charlotte-”

“And you’re looking forward to working with me?” Oliver cut me off before I could finish. I really wanted to wipe that playful smile off his face.

“We’ve already met, but I’m Oliver Oldridge. Try not to cause any more incidents. You really gave me a bunch of extra work the other day, seriously.”

Oldridge? The name had to be a coincidence, right?

“As long as you don’t try hurting any more defenseless civilians.” That was a point I couldn’t back down on.

“She wasn’t a civilian, and from what I heard, she’s hardly defenseless. And if you’re curious, I went to Evergreen Academy, and we did have uniforms.”

Mocking me already? Didn’t we all agree to forget about it?

“Last is Emelia, but you already know her.” Deputy Chief Kaldsen interrupted our conversation before I could think of a comeback.

I had already followed up on what happened to her, so I wasn’t particularly shocked to see Emelia under MID custody.

“I’m glad you’re doing alright.” Despite what I said, Emelia didn’t look much better off than she did in the slums. Sure, her clothes were nicer and her hair was clean, but her expression stayed the same.

“Well, I’m not dead. Yet.” Why couldn’t she sound more grateful? Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t help her because I wanted any credit. I certainly wouldn’t mind if she said a few nice things about me with Nora in earshot though.

“Ah, um, yeah. It’s kind of awkward for me to be working with them, but it must be even worse for you.” It was hard for me to find the words I wanted.

“Awkward? Why would it be awkward for you guys to be working with us?” Deputy Chief Kaldsen looked at me with an innocence in her eyes that didn’t match her position.

“Because you, you know, the attempted. . .” My voice naturally trailed off.

Was the room always that quiet?

“Sorry Deputy Chief Kaldsen. . . I’m sorry. . .” I was happy beyond belief that Nora broke the silence, coming to my rescue, but why was it more sleep talk? How did she fall asleep so quickly?

And as concerned as I am about her sleeping habit, the bigger concern might be her sleep talking. Why was she apologizing to Deputy Chief Kaldsen in her sleep? What has that woman been putting our innocent angel through?

“Hey, ah, boss, you told him I was last, but aren’t you forgetting Alec?” Despite phrasing it as a question, there was no curiosity in Emelia’s voice.

“Alec?” Why was Deputy Chief Kaldsen the one that honestly sounded confused?

“Alec.”

“And Alec is. . .?”

I was glad we could make a callback to a familiar speech pattern, but I was tired of being kept in the dark.

“Oh, Alec, yeah, that’s right.” Deputy Chief Kaldsen spoke as if she was remembering an old acquaintance. “Alec works here. I should have remembered to tell you about him during the introductions, but it never crossed my mind.”

She forgot about him? Other than me she only seemed to have four subordinates plus Emelia. How could she forget one?

“Has it been a while since you’ve seen him?” He could be away on missions.

“I think it’s been around fifteen months.”

“Fifteen months? I can see how you’d forget he works here.”

“Fifteen months? Ah, I misspoke. I meant five months.”

“Five months? I suppose that's still a pretty long time to go without seeing him.”

“Five months? Ah, I misspoke. I meant five minutes.”

“No one misspeaks in such a convenient way! And don’t forget about him so easily!”

“I sent him down to find you when I noticed you were running late. You probably walked right past him and didn’t realize. It’s easy not to notice him, right?”

I never met the man, so of course I didn’t recognize him. But she worked with him every day. It’s not fair to hold me to the same standard.

“Is that so?”

“That reminds me, I should probably let him know you’re here. I bet he’s still down there looking for you.”

“You should. You really should.”