NoHo, for North of Houston Street (as contrasted with SoHo, South of Houston Street), is a landmarked, primarily residential upper-class neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is bounded by Broadway to the west and the Bowery to the East, and on East 9th Street in the north to East Houston Street in the south.

The next day on that warm autumn morning, a young teenage boy is still sleeping in his bed in his loft apartment. He wanted to take a sick day, but this week was imperative. His brother is already at the office, and he was already waiting for him. For good measure, he had his assistant call him promptly at nine o'clock on his smartphone.

Next to his bed, the smartphone rings. Wrestling with his own consciousness, the young man manages to wake up and answers the phone.

“Zayne,” the young man groggily answers.

“Mordechai! Thank goodness you’re awake at this hour!” A cheeky female voice chimed.

“Yes, Sylvia, I am awake,” Mordechai confirms.

Mordechai Zayne is a nineteen-year-old engineer. At the young age of eight, he was tested with an IQ of 386. With this intelligence, he quickly passed not only grade school but high school in three years. Not old enough to go to college, he traveled abroad with his mother and father all over the world, learning about engineering. At age ten, he became the youngest student of Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science, earning a doctrine’s degree in four years learning six types of engineering, such as software, mechanical, mechatronics, industrial, civil, and chemical.

“Well, that’s a good thing because we need you to do some more troubleshooting,” Sylvia notified.

“All right. Tell my brother I am on my way,” Mordechai said.

“Now, I don’t want you to push yourself. He and I both know you had a busy night. So please take your time, young grasshopper,” Sylvia urged.

“I will, Sylvia. See you soon,” Mordechai confirmed as he hung up the phone. He climbs out of bed, and he said to stretch, walking around the apartment, trying to wake up.

It was a very modestly decorated setting; a one-bedroom with a bathroom. It also had a medium-sized kitchen and a living room with a fireplace, which he rarely uses.

Usually, he follows his basic morning routine. First, he immediately goes to the bathroom to relieve himself. Afterward, he does is morning exercises, which consist of yoga stretching and meditation for an hour. After his reflection, he has breakfast. Since he has a strict diet and being a diara, he’s pretty much a vegan. For breakfast, he has a fresh fruit salad with agave dressing and herbal tea with soy milk and raw sugar. While eating his breakfast, he reads the daily news on his laptop.

After breakfast, he takes a bath. For weeks now, he tried to make his own soap out of oatmeal and Aloe Vera. Pleased with the outcome of the solvent, he ended up making more and gave some to his friends.

After he takes his bath, he looks at himself in the mirror and washes his face. He cleans out his ears, brushes his teeth, and combs his shoulder-length black hair in that order.

Finally, he gets dressed. He wears a black shirt, a purple hooded sweatshirt, and a pair of black slacks with matching sneakers.

Afterward, he recites a Latin prayer for protection and for good luck for the day ahead.

He grabs his purple silk satchel containing his lunch, snacks, and a laptop. He heads out the door locking it behind him as he makes his way to his workplace, Zayne Enterprises; a diversified multinational conglomerate is owned and chaired by Revan Zayne, Mordechai’s Mother. Zayne Enterprises is a green company and headquartered in a building called The Ebony Stronghold in Dubai.

Zayne Enterprises are primarily run by business manager Rigby Zayne, who is Revan’s wife. Rigby makes most company decisions on Revan’s behalf since she is traveling over the world doing important work.

Founded by merchant ancestors of the Zayne family in the 18th century as a merchant house, it is among the oldest surviving companies being owned by diaras. The company began as a dozen businesses started by Solomon Zayne and Joshua Dunne. With the revenue generated, Solomon Zayne mostly helped rebuilt Dubai with the House of Al-Falasi.

Solomon Zayne's son and heir, Masir Zayne, officially made it a corporate company in the 19th century. Masir Zayne, who was Mordechai and Rahkaze’s Zayne's great, great grandfather, erected Zayne Shipping, Zayne Chemical, and Zayne Manufacturing. All these companies were energized by the world's Industrial Revolution; more branches were created and diversified while others dwindled and were discarded. Over the years, it has developed from a merchant house to a large multinational conglomerate company, exceeding every other company in the world.

Under the control of Patice and Masir Zayne, Zayne Enterprises became a "green company" and environmentally conscious from that time forward.

The Ebony Stronghold is the headquarters of Zayne Enterprises; it was built in 1888 by Masir Zayne. After its construction, the tower was one of the tallest buildings in the world. Built as a symbol of supernatural prominence, The Ebony Stronghold has erected sixteen statues of ancestral diaras or "Guardian Angels," which Masir Zayne insisted they be called, watching the sixteen ways across the world, overseeing the universe.

At the top of the tower is an observation deck that Masir Zayne asserted to be open to the public for free every weekend. It has double-bonded laminated float glass for windows that are crystal-quality, weatherproof, and unbreakable. The newly erected building in New York City were Mordechai and Rahkaze works is seemingly identical to the one in Dubai with a few hidden changes and improvements.

While Mordechai was heading to the office custom made motorbike, his brother Rahkaze is in his office working in Zayne Enterprises New York on the 34th floor.

Outside his office, there is a waiting lobby with a flat-screen TV, a table filled with snacks and beverages, comfortable furniture, and a leggy administrative assistant who is a dark elf named Sylvia Orchid. Sylvia is about the same age as Rahkaze. She has green eyes with short pink hair with one bang covering her left eye. Her attitude is a bit catty, but deep down, she is a sweet-hearted person once you get to know her.

Sylvia had her feet up, playing video games on her Nintendo 3DS until suddenly a couple of thin yet well-built wolf kemonomimis wearing business attire made their way to the administrative assistant’s desk.

One of the wolf kemonomimi, which is small with long jet-black hair and purple gradient eyes, made herself known, “excuse me, miss.”

Without even looking, Sylvia greeted them, “Welcome to Zayne Enterprises, this is the project manager’s office. How may I assist you?”

“Well, for starters, we have an interview with Rahkaze Zayne. Would you let him know we are here?” the other kemonomimi, who was tall with long brown hair and green eyes demanded as the dark elf looked up to recognize them.

“I would, of course, we had been expecting you. Hold on one second,” Sylvia urged as she took her feet off the desk and went to her cell phone and called her boss. Strangely enough, she spoke in a different language, “mihla, Rahkaze ... walkulubat aldhdhib athnyn mithlak almutawaqqaeat hi huna min 'almania ... ma kunt turid minni 'ann 'afeal maeahuma? yafhim.” She immediately hung up the phone and rose from her chair, straightening out her dress, “please, follow me. He will see you now.”

Sylvia walks towards the entrance to Rahkaze’s office and opens the door for them. As the small black wolf kemonomimi went inside the office first and the brown-haired wolf kemonomimi stood around and confronted the assistant with an evil smile, “don’t think for a second I didn’t catch what you said about us just now. I suggest you better watch yourself.”

With a smirk of her own, she downplayed her little threat, “Mister Zayne will see you now.”

After the exchange, the brown-haired wolf kemonomimi went into Rahkaze’s office as a long black-haired man with golden brown eyes wearing a black business suit was already sitting down in his chair.

Rahkaze Zayne is a 24-year-old diara. As of right now, he is the Chief Executive Officer of Zayne Enterprises New York, overseeing the day-to-day operations. Rahkaze has been through his own personal hell while wrestling with his past. Everything would have gone wrong, went wrong all at once. With the loss of his friends, he became jaded, angry, and bored with life, he blames the Oleander Syndicate, and he doesn’t shy away from his hatred for them.

Being courteous, Rahkaze rose from his chair and extended his hand for a handshake, “Miss Ayeka Junichi and Mrs. Kayla Anderson, welcome.”

Ayeka gladly shook his hand while Kayla was a bit reluctant to do so.

“Thank you for your time, Rahkaze-san,” Ayeka greeted.

Being the oldest of her squad, Ayeka Junichi had her fair share of battles and shortcomings. Eventually ending up at the Oleander Syndicate as somewhat of a motherly figure to a bunch of up-and-coming soldiers in a never-ending war with no clear-cut winner. Many people would have despair and become jaded in Ayeka’s position.

Yet her positive outlook in life is illustrated in the courage to rebuild herself and to try again. There many times, she had lost her way too many times as she should. But in the end, she had learned from this and was able to move on. Hopefully, her new colleagues would do the same or fail to try.

“No problem at all. Have a seat, ladies,” Rahkaze sat back on his chair, and the two women sat right across from him in the vacant chairs.

“Something to drink? My assistant can get it for you,” Rahkaze offered.

Kayla remembering that bitch elf, thought better of it, “I’ll pass.”

Rahkaze smirked, “I have already received your invitation from your grandmaster, who has made himself perfectly clear about me finally joining the syndicate as a part of the new Shadow Support Unit. But I already told him over the phone--”

“You told him to go fuck himself, we know,” Kayla finished as she went to the real reason why they are here. “I want to meet him.”

This makes Rahkaze cock an eyebrow, “meet who exactly?”

“Memento, I want to meet him,” Kayla clarified.

“Oh, I get it. Since he and I are the same kinds of diara, you think we know each other? That’s racist!” Rahkaze comically accused.

“That is not racist, Rahkaze-san,” Ayeka flatly denied.

Rahkaze shrugged his shoulders, “I call it as I see it.”

And it begins, Ayeka thought.

“Memento has been absent ever since ‘false accusations’ popped up a couple of years ago, yet there have been sporadic appearances. And it appears as of late, she had a sex-change operation and has become… a lot younger,” Kayla lazily accused.

“Whether you want to admit it or not, Memento has been helpful with the NYPD and working side-by-side with people all over the world for decades. Some say ‘Memento’ is a silent protector who doesn’t need anyone’s approval. Unlike some people, we got to know very well,” Rahkaze explained as Kayla was getting sick and tired of Rahkaze’s backhanded comments. “But hey, when it comes to fucking nice things up, you people have that shit on lock.”

“Watch yourself, Rahkaze. You’re no different from anyone else. Still trying to get your mommy’s approval,” Kayla threatened.

This made Rahkaze laugh, “apparently, you know my history with the syndicate.”

Kayla scoffed, “unlike you, child, I’m not a quitter.”

“And unlike you or should I tell any of you, I don’t let someone take the fall for something they didn’t do. By the way, how is the big guy? Is he still teaching? I heard he quit five years ago,” Rahkaze ribbed as he winked.

This was getting out of hand. With the snide putdowns becoming more savage by the moment. Ayeka decisively stepped in, “Rahkaze-san, Kayla-chan, there is no need for this kind of bickering!”

Unfortunately for Ayeka, Rahkaze saw the opening, “I don’t know, Ayeka-chan, you have come to my workplace, demanding me to give you information, you insulted my family by making a blatant accusation on my mother, and you treat me like a bitch! Yet I’m supposed to sit here and take this shit on the chin?!”

After venting out his frustrations, he leaned back in his chair with a smile on his face, “but then again, I don’t expect anything less from a bunch of scumbags who don’t even value anyone but themselves… I guess it comes with the territory when someone goes out their way, creating a bunch of thicc Mary Sues to do his dirty work for him.”

After hearing that, all that Ayeka can do is shake her head and respond the best she could, “I know we haven’t been the most supportive of you when you started your journey with us, and most of us were harsh on you deliberately. I included. My excuse was to bring the best out of you. Others wanted to malign you for personal reasons. I can’t be sorry for them because they must be accountable for their own actions. But you got to get over being mad at all of us and accept our hand in friendship and be understanding because if we don’t work together right now, history will undoubtedly repeat itself in the future.”

Rahkaze thought about her sincere words for a moment and gave some sincere words of his own, “I am sorry, Ayeka. I regret that I wasn’t trained to give a shit and brush off the ashes of innocent people off my shoulders like it was dirt.”

This angered Ayeka even more as she tries to regain her composure with a smile on her face, “whatever… Whatever led you to think this way, whether if it was your mother or yourself, is toxic, and you will regret the words you speak of.”

After hearing that, Rahkaze nonchalantly threw his hands up, “there is a lot of things in life I truly regret. Saying was on my mind is not one of them. I guess they call it ‘freedom?’ But freedom is an illusion created by your so-called masters.”

With a coy smile, Ayeka nodded, “that’s right, Rahkaze-san, keep thinking that way. So, I guess you’ll be there at the ceremony in Madrid?”

“I wouldn’t miss it. I already made the reservations,” Rahkaze smiled.

Both Ayeka and Kayla rose out of the chairs. While Ayeka left the office, Kayla stood behind and gave some final words of her own, “one more thing: Tell your brother he’s doing a great job. He’s doing way better than his own mother did.”

“Thank you, Kayla. He is one of our rising stars when it comes to engineering. He is a highly skilled inventor as well,” Rahkaze happily accepted the compliment as Kayla left the office.

Rahkaze took this time to compose himself. It was apparently obvious they weren’t here to give them a personal invitation back to their syndicate. Why were they here in the first place was not a real mystery; They had been trying to build or rebuild the reputation ever since the incident in London, England. Too little, too late.

Still, to this day, there is a lot of distrust and skepticism between the global public and the surviving members of the Oleander Syndicate. With their biggest blunder still lingering in the media, the Dark Nebula Coalition has felt the adverse effect politically and financially.