Roderick Harper never thought his career would change in an instant.

A fourth-generation Singaporean of Irish descent, Roderick had always wanted to be a police officer, and he was besides himself with joy when he found out he would be serving his National Service with the police. After all, his father and grandfather had been police officers during their time, not to mention that his grandfather was also a veteran of the Third World War. However, instead of ending up in CID as he wanted, Roderick got assigned to Traffic Police instead when he finished his NS and signed on.

For two years, Roderick would patrol the roads of Singapore, having to deal with errant drivers that often threaten to sue him for doing his job and grisly accidents caused by drunk drivers until one night, while participating in a police road block to catch drunk drivers, everything changed.

A car had came driving past and, ignoring all attempts to stop it, burst right through the roadblock, running over one police officer in the process. Roderick and his partner did not even hesitate, jumping onto their bikes and engaging in a high speed pursuit down Woodlands, their quarry clearly desperate to get to the checkpoint. During the chase, the car suddenly lost control and crashed into a nearby hawker centre, and that was the moment Roderick found himself fighting for his life for the first time as an officer of the law.

The driver had emerged from the car, but when Roderick and his partner moved in to arrest him, the driver suddenly backhanded his partner across the hawker centre, causing her to go unconscious before turning to face Roderick. Roderick could not forget that hideous face with violet eyes that seemed to stare right into his soul.

The driver, whom Roderick would later learn belong to a species of vampires known as suangis, began to assault him, knocking him to the ground and landing a number of vicious blows to his head and chest. Roderick was certain that he was going to die and, in a panic, retaliated with a few punches of his own as he struggled to grab his pistol when the suangi suddenly bit down on his neck. Roderick was saved at the last moment by his partner, who had regained consciousness and shot the suangi twice, causing the suangi to turn its attention towards her instead.

Roderick did not know what happened next, only that he passed out from blood loss and woke up in a hospital with his partner in a bed by his side and AC John Bradley-Wong of the Special Hazard Exorcism Unit standing over him, telling Roderick how lucky and his partner were. The Shades had arrived just in time to save them both, killing the suangi in the process. Roderick was originally designated for termination as he had been bitten by the suangi, but blood tests done on him with consent had surprising results: Apparently, by sheer luck, Roderick was the “one in a hundred thousand” who is immune to a vampire’s bite. AC Bradley then gave him an offer: Go back to TP or join the Shades, no strings attached. After thinking it over, Roderick accepted the latter choice and was shipped off to train with the commandos of the SAF for six gruelling months.

Roderick was actually at Old Changi Hospital on the night Xiaoye fought the mutated pelesit. He has heard stories about her, but personally seeing her in action was something else. Never did he expect Xiaoye to end up being the officer in charge of his training as a new member of the Shades, and yet, here she is, displaying an attitude and warmness that was completely different from what he knew about her as she stopped the vehicle in front of a shop where two other officers were clearly having problems trying to keep a human woman and a goblin-like humanoid apart from each other.

“So that’s a wangliang? Looks no different from a goblin,” Roderick commented.

“Like I said, Chinese goblins. The Korean ones, they’re called dokkaebi. All three look alike, but have different abilities. Anyways, remember one thing: Goblins, wangliangs and dokkaebis, they’ve all got a reputation for being quite lawless. No respect for authority, always engaging in criminal activities and all that nonsense. You know what happens when a certain group of people keeps making the news for the wrong reasons, right?” Xiaoye asked.

“They become stereotyped, and the innocent ones often become victims of racial discrimination.”

“Exactly. So be careful about what you say in front of that wangliang. C’mon, now, let’s go see what’s the ruckus about.”

The only fae kind that Roderick has ever encountered were elves, gnomes and kitsunes, so he was a bit taken aback by the sight of the wangliang shop owner. Apart from being only four-foot-tall, having a large, crooked nose and patches of green around his skin, the wangliang more or less resembled a human of Asian heritage. Right now, however, his face was flushed red with anger as he cursed at the human woman who was stopped from striking him by the female officer holding her back.

“Ah, you’re the ones from the Shades? No offence, but my partner and I aren’t used to dealing with fae kind,” the male officer, a senior staff sergeant, explained as Roderick and Xiaoye walked over to the shop.

“It’s fine, sir. What happened here?” Xiaoye asked.

“This lady,” the officer explained as he gestured towards the woman, “is accusing the shop owner of falsely claiming that she shoplifted. The shop owner says he caught her in the act and put up a barrier to prevent her from leaving.”

“What? Why didn’t he just let her leave?”

“He says she’s done it too many times. He even offered to show recordings from the CCTV installed in his shop, but we’re sort of shorthanded here.”

“That was reckless of him. If that woman’s innocent, he’ll get charged with a 520 and 340. Speaking of which, Roderick, what is Penal Code 520?”

“Illegal use of magic?”

“Wrong. Improper use of magic. Illegal is 521. You need to study Chapter XXIV more thoroughly.”

Roderick nodded as he mentally reprimanded himself for that mistake, but the fact that his new trainer was not angry with him but was instead being patient eases his worries. He has had to deal with snobbish or impatient seniors whose first reaction to his rookie mistakes was to chew his head off and make him feel useless, and he felt relieved that Xiaoye, despite her species, was actually one of the nicer ones, though it may be because he was her first rookie in seven years of her service so she decided not to be too strict. Either way, he followed Xiaoye as she went over to talk to the wangliang.

“I told him everything already! You all will take that woman’s side, I know it! No one trusts a wangliang!”

“Calm down, sir, my partner and I have only just arrived. Tell me what happened,” Xiaoye replied the wangliang, who appeared to be getting even angrier by the second.

“What happened? What happened? I caught that stinking bitch stealing from my shop! I put up a barrier so she can’t leave, then I call you! Now she say I kidnap her, I falsely accuse her. That woman is a lair, I tell you! You know how many times she steal from my shop before I catch her? But that officer, he already suspect me. He say they search her bag, cannot find anything. Suddenly, I become the bad guy. What logic is this? I got camera evidence some more, you know?”

“Okay, how about you show me the camera? Hey, senior staff sergeant? Don’t let her leave yet, I’m going to take a look at the cameras.”

The other officer nodded, and Xiaoye disappeared into the back room with the wangliang. As Roderick looked around the store, which deals with vases and glassware, the other officer approached him.

“So, Shades, huh? Your partner…”

“Not human, yes. I don’t understand, though. You’re the highest ranking officer here, sir, so why is she the one dictating?”

“Ah, you see, the moment we call a Shade to the scene, they automatically take over the case, but they can choose to relegate the case back to us. Seems your partner is more of the hands-on kind of officer.”

Roderick nodded in acknowledgement, but then his eyes turned towards the woman being accused of shoplifting. He noticed how she clutched her bag tightly, not to mention the strange charm that was attached to the strap. Quietly, he observed the woman’s behaviour as the female officer continued talking to her. For someone claiming innocence, she sure was trying to get away from the shop as soon as possible. As for the wangliang shop owner, the fury Roderick saw in him earlier felt genuine.

Again, Roderick felt his eyes being drawn to the charm on the woman’s bag, and when he was finally able to look away, he noticed how the other two officers were having the same reaction towards that charm, and it raised his suspicion just as Xiaoye and the shop owner returned.

“Roderick, anything happened while I was gone?” Xiaoye asked.

“Xiaoye, I think we should investigate that woman,” Roderick replied.

“Oh, why the sudden suggestion?”

“I hope I didn’t go over your head, but, well, how do I put it? Anger is hard to fake, and that wangliang looked really angry, like he might do something stupid if things do not go his way.”

“So you think he’s telling the truth?”

“Yes.”

“And the woman?”

“Feels like she’s got something to hide.”

Roderick saw Xiaoye giving him a toothy grin, and the other male officer looked somewhat uncomfortable at the sight of Xiaoye’s fangs as she gave her rookie a friendly tap on the shoulders.

“Good observation. Despite what I told you about wangliangs, you’ve shown no bias against them. That’s good.”

“Wait, you were testing me?”

“I have written letters of complaint regarding new officers discriminating against certain races and fae kinds. No offence, but I want to know what kind of person I’m training, so I slip in a little personality test, which you passed. Remember, racism is not tolerated in this country.”

“I thought every Singaporean knows that.”

“True, but there are always a couple of wankers who simply don’t care about the consequences of being utter bullshit-devouring imbeciles that worships the colour of their skin. Personally, I would rather just shoot them and send their souls to my old man in Hell, save the folks up there the trouble of smiting them down…”

Roderick shook his head, a bit annoyed that Xiaoye had sneaked a test upon him, but at the same time, he knew she was right. There are Singaporeans who choose to be racist despite having full knowledge that they can be fined, arrested or publicly humiliated, and Roderick found it difficult to understand why they do it willingly. As for Xiaoye, Roderick had no doubt that she had to endure some discrimination directed at herself at some point in time, being a cambion and, if the rumours were true, a former convicted criminal. Perhaps that was the reason she wanted to drill this particular lesson into his head.

“Anyways, I saw the CCTV footage. That woman filched something. A glass figurine worth a thousand dollars, smelted with dragon fire to make it three times more durable than normal glass,” Xiaoye commented as she pointed at the woman’s bag.

“But my partner’s searched her bag twice. How can she take something and put it in her bag but we can’t find it?” the other officer protested.

“True… Unless-”

“If I may speak, Xiaoye?”

“Sure.”

Roderick pointed at the charm on the woman’s bag.

“I don’t know why, but I’ve noticed that myself and these two officers, we keep finding ourselves distracted by that charm on the lady’s bag.”

“Charm? Oh, that wee little shiny on her bag?”

Roderick watched as Xiaoye took a good, hard look at the charm on the woman’s bag, stroking her chin as she does so, before that toothy grin formed on her face again.

“Good observation, Roderick. That charm's definitely a glamour. Woman thinks she's got us all buttoned up the back, eh? Senior staff sergeant, have your partner search that woman’s bag one more time, but this time, I’ll be neutralizing that glamour.”

“You can do that?”

“Glamours are made by fae. All you need is a piece of cold iron,” Xiaoye replied as she took out a piece of metal in the shape of a small rod, walked over to the woman and placed the metal against the charm.

Immediately, the charm suddenly appeared dull and unimpressive, like an ugly piece of decoration made of cheap bronze. The woman protested as the two officers searched her bag once more while Xiaoye and Roderick watched alongside the wangliang shop owner, the latter of whom was now rubbing his hands with glee, when the female officer pulls out a glass figurine.

“What is this? It was not there before? When did it show up?” she asked in surprise.

The woman immediately tried to flee, but the male officer had quick reflexes, and after a minute of struggling, both officers had the shoplifter cuffed and were escorting her to their vehicle while thanking Xiaoye and Roderick for their aid.

“This is not fair! I have human rights! I want a lawyer! Why are you taking that disgusting creature’s side? I’m not a criminal, he is!”

“Would you just hold your whisht already?” Xiaoye retorted as the shoplifter was half-dragged pass her and Roderick.

“Finally, justice! I have suffered long enough with that siao zah bor stealing from me all the time and calling me a criminal because of what I am. You two, you helped me out big time. Thank you very much,” the shop owner said to the pair.

“It’s part of the duty, sir. Good day to you. Let us know if you need assistance,” Roderick replied as he and Xiaoye bid the shop owner farewell and got back into their own vehicle.

“Man, sure sucks to be that shop owner. He gets discriminated because most of his kin does bad things… And that woman, oh, the audacity of her! Stealing something and saying she’s not a criminal? Absurd, man, just absurd,” Roderick complained as the two drove out of Chinatown and made a turn towards Marina South

“Well, what can I say? These are the daily shenanigans we deal with,” Xiaoye replied as they received another call from dispatch requesting officer assistance regarding an all-out brawl between two orcs at the lobby of the Neo Marina Bay Sands Hotel…