Just as I finish washing the dishes, drying them, and putting them away, my phone rings with the cheerful tone I set for Melody's calls. I'm glad I woke up a little earlier today, which I did specifically so that I could get breakfast out of the way in case it's an early job. It's not even seven yet, so she's calling before my allowed time. In other words: the job is either early or a decent distance away.

I put the cup in my hand away, the last dish to go, then I walk over to my phone and answer it.

"Good morning, Melody," I greet her. "You're calling earlier than I set as the allowed time, so I'm assuming it's got a better pay?"

"You're assuming correctly," she answers. "Sorry for not letting you know yesterday, they didn't finalize whether it would happen or not until a few minutes ago. I finished talking with them and called you."

She finished talking with them, then called me? Not finished her call with them? Is their rep at her office right now? Is part of the reason it's so early because they want to interview the potential candidate before hiring them for the job? I've heard of that happening before, but I've never had any skills needed to actually get one of those jobs. They're also more common in wealthier areas than in a lower district like we are.

"Before I give you the information," she says. "I wanted to assure you that the job is, in fact, real. We've already done a few verification checks to make sure of that after they contacted us to let us know they might be using our agency to make the request."

"Sounds suspicious," I say. "If you have to do those checks."

"It was to us, too," she tells me. "She told me that she'd given us that much notice so that we could check in advance if we wanted. It's the best-paying job I've ever had for any individual on a one-time contract, actually. Two grand for the one shift, with a possibility for a tip depending on the performance."

Eighteen hundred dollars for a single shift? Just what is this job? If Melody hadn't told me she verified it was real, I'd be suspicious of it and turn it down immediately.

"They'll cover your transportation and meals during the shift," she tells me. "And will allow you to store your bag for your training stuff during it."

Melody pauses for a moment, and I can hear a woman talking in the background, though it's faint enough I can't actually make out what she's saying.

"Yes, I was going to get that in a moment," Melody says, though not rudely. "Kieran, before I can call you in for an interview, I do have to inform you that it does require you being a power user, and they want me to verify that you actually are one. I know you mentioned it before, but they're going to want demonstrations of your power as proof. After seeing your power, she'll determine whether or not you're suitable for the job."

Definitely suspicious. I can see why Melody's agency wanted to verify the authenticity of it. Normally if someone wanted that with such short notice for the actual confirmation it will happen, the power user is going to be used and abused or just outright killed. From what I've heard, the actual power doesn't matter for those jobs, but the employer still pretends it does.

"I'm a power user," I confirm. "Erm, you said it's a woman?"

"Yes," Melody answers. "That's not a problem, is it?"

"Not for me," I answer. "I can't remember if I've told you or not, but I can't wear clothes while using my power. I'd be a little uncomfortable with that since they're a stranger, but I'm basically butt-naked the entire time I'm training it at the facility due to an aspect of it."

"Let me check," she says. "He wants to know if you'd be comfortable with him showing you his power because he can't wear clothes during it."

I can hear the other woman say something briefly.

"Okay," Melody says. "Kieran, she said that won't be an issue."

"Alright," I say. "What's the job? And other information?"

"She works for Spelcor," Melody informs me. "They want to do an experiment – not on you – involving a power user they don't already know."

The woman there talks again for a few moments. She's a rep from Spelcor? They're the leading manufacturer of spellsuits in Sivalshi City. If someone wants one of great quality – that's not Patron-made – it's Spelcor they'll go to. Why would they ask for someone from the lower districts?

"If your power is one they don't have readily available or much experience with," Melody tells me. "It will work better for their tests. However, they do need a power user to help them with the tests."

"Okay," I say. "I can come down for the interview unless something interferes while I'm on my way. It'll be maybe an hour to get there if I want to be safe."

"She can have a car at your place in ten minutes," Melody informs me. "The job itself takes place at Spelcor's center in the upper districts, so whoever they hire will be going that way already."

I'll get to ride in a car? That might be fun.

"Okay," I say. "I can be ready in time for then."

"He said he'll come down," Melody informs the rep, who responds. "Kieran, the car should be there in about ten minutes."

"Okay," I say. "I'll see you soon."

"See you soon," Melody responds.

The call ends, and I quickly change into one of my new outfits. Issac did buy me hoodie, so I make sure to put on the new one for under the jacket, too. That way, I'm more presentable. I even have a new pair of shoes to go with it, and once I'm in the outfit, I'm feeling pretty handsome, even if I know I'm a scrawny runt who's probably only average at best.

Ready to go, I grab my phone, wallet, and keys, pocket them, pull my workout bag over one shoulder, then make my way downstairs. I've barely stepped out of the apartment building when a car pulls up to the curb. It's black and a little shiny, and looks completely out of place here in the lower districts.

The front door opens, and a man in his late twenties or early thirties with slicked-back hair steps out of the front, then looks at me.

"Looking for Kieran Wolfe?" I ask.

"You him?" He asks.

"I am."

"ID, please."

I pull out my wallet and show him my ID, and after examining it, he nods and steps to the back door of the car before opening it. I enter, then he closes the door and enters the driver's seat. We both buckle up, then he begins driving.

The ride to the office building is smooth, and the car smells pretty nice. I don't really know what the smell is, but it's pleasant. The back of the car is pretty spacious, and there's a divider between it and the front, with a glass window allowing for a view between us. It can probably open to allow us to communicate with each other, though we aren't right now.

When we arrive at the office, he opens the door for me, then waits in the car while I go inside. I take the elevator up to Melody's floor, then walk over to her office, one of the four that are here. Only her office has light right now, and I can feel myself being stronger as I walk through the door lobby of this floor.

I reach her office and knock on the frame of the glass door, Melody visible within, and the rep probably sitting to the side, blocked by the filing cabinet that's strategically placed beside the door in order to hide whoever is with Melody at the moment.

My case worker is about five-foot-ten, with long, brown hair that she keeps tied in a ponytail, her eyes a moderate green. She's wearing a pink long-sleeved shirt, and when she stands up to let me in to her office, I can see that her usual blue jacket is tied around her waist. Melody is in her late twenties, but looks like she's in her early twenties, something she's quite proud of.

"Good morning, Kieran," she greets me as she lets me into the office, a semi-spacious room that's well-lit and warm. "Thanks for coming so early, and sorry for calling you a fair bit before the allowed time."

"If I got the job, then it's worth it," I say. "And if not, well, the opportunity was there."

I turn my attention to the rep from Spelcor, who's rising from her chair to greet me as I do. She looks to be in her late thirties, maybe early forties, and is dressed in black pants, with a dark grey blazer with the Spelcor logo, an orb with a flame and swirl of water circling it, on the left breast. Her hair is as black as mine, her eyes a darker green.

"Oh," she says upon seeing me. "I knew the name was familiar, though I didn't connect it to you when Melody here mentioned you."

"Um," I hesitate for a moment. "Do I know you?"

"No," she smiles. "But a file for you did cross a coworker's desk the other day. She'd mentioned you to me, though hadn't mentioned this was where you live or I'd have probably realized it was you Melody was contacting."

"A file for me?" I raise an eyebrow. "Why would Spelcor have a file for me?"

"With a power like yours?" She asks. "Word got to us about it and that you're training it. We like to preemptively prepare in the cases of someone potentially being hired by someone who will request a custom spellsuit for them. Your power is useful enough that once you're trained, there are several groups that would likely want to hire you and have a custom spellsuit for your uniform."

I shouldn't be surprised that organizations have already found out about my power and me training it, but I am. The way she's talking, I can assume that the Patron isn't in contact with them about stuff, so it was probably someone just mentioning it to someone else and word going around like that.

"Ah," I say.

"So there's no demonstration necessary to prove you have it and to show me if it's something we'd be looking for," she smiles. "Though with the tests for the product, you'll need to use it. You won't have an issue with several people observing you, will you?"

"No," I answer. "I mean, I might be a little uncomfortable, but overall, no."

"That's good," she says, then looks at Melody. "We'll hire him, no interview necessary. We already know he has a power and that it's one that we can use for this test."

"Melody said on the phone," I say. "That you'd let me store my bag? Does that mean this will be done in time for my training at the center today?"

"Yes," she answers. "We'll provide transportation to it after. We'd offer to let you do your training at our place after as a bonus, but the Lusvaris Training Center is quite good. Plenty of people who've trained there seriously have been hired in the upper districts."

"Thanks," I say.

"We should be going," she says. "The more time there, the better."

"Okay," I say, then turn to Melody. "Thanks, and have a good day."

"You as well," she tells me.

I follow the rep outside, and she introduces herself as Liz as we leave. Only Liz, with no other name. When we reach the car, the driver opens the back for both of us, Liz sitting on one side and me on the other.

Once the driver's returned to the car, the windows begin to darken as a light turns on in the ceiling. It's like a private room, and the fact that they're hiding where we're going worries me. Especially because Liz has a much more tired face now than she did inside.

"Don't look so worried," she tells me. "I'm just exhausted. I didn't get any sleep last night and wanted to at least catch a nap before going out."

"I'm still worried," I indicate the windows. "You're taking me somewhere I can't see."

"That's for my sake," she tells me. "It might sound a bit snobbish, I but I can't stand seeing the city in the state of the lower districts. However, it's because I find it depressing to see how bad things are. I'm a fair bit older than I look, and I remember this city when the lower districts were much smaller, there was much less of an overcrowding issue, and resources were scarce but not as much as now."

"Oh," I say. "So I'm going to be testing some product all day? That's a lot of money for just one testing session. How dangerous is it?"

"Do you value your sanity?" She asks.

"Uh… what?"

"Joking," she smiles. "Maybe. Actually, once you arrive at headquarters, you'll be asked to sign a non-disclosure that allows you to state that you did a job for us, but not what the specifics of it were. The payment is partly to help give an incentive to follow that. You'll be permitted to speak about it after a certain point, but not until then."

"So you can't tell me what I'm testing now?" I ask.

"No," she answers. "Though we did lie slightly to the agencies in that it's not strictly a product that we're testing. There might be a few products involved."

"I can't figure out," I say. "What kind of test would require a power user that you don't already know, but still have guidelines for what it could be."

"You'll see once you arrive," she tells me. "It's more that we need to exclude certain types of powers than include others. We've actually given several groups of agencies this request, all in the lower sectors, in different areas. Each day starting this past Sunday and going through this Saturday, a different person will be selected to undergo this, from a different area."

Which means that they're almost done with these tests. The only have me and one other to test this thing with.

"So I'm one of seven?" I ask.

"Yes," she answers. "The reason we're going with power users in the lower districts is due to the unfamiliarity of things they'd have."

"But power users themselves are still required?" I ask.

"Yes," she answers. "And as I said, we had to exclude certain types."

"But someone who takes almost an hour and a half to recover after just a few uses is okay?" I ask.

"Yes," she answers. "We're just testing something right now, and it requires power users whose abilities can be useful for it, but that's a wide range. It doesn't necessarily need them to be particularly powerful right now. Once it goes full live, we'll be more thorough in our hunt."

I'm dying to know what this testing thing is that works that way. Especially because they need people unfamiliar with whatever it is. Well, I suppose I'll find out after signing the NDA. How much longer before we arrive? What kind of testing is this where I can get tips, and what would I get them for?

Did the Patron have a hand in me being the one picked for today? To help me out for some reason? I don't doubt for a moment he's behind the improvements in my life lately, there are far too many of them to be coincidental.

Is the Patron trying to bribe me into saying 'yes' even though I'm already going to? It will probably be a year or more after I accept the offer before he tells me, since it would count as 'talking extra'. But I do feel confident in that he'll make the offer despite my lower abilities.

After all, Isaac did say that I'm basically the only person who can do a certain job who supports the Patron. So it's basically guaranteed as long as I actually train.

Ugh. The wait is killing me. I've never been more impatient for something in my life. I really hope the next couple of weeks go by fast and as good as the last couple have been.

"So," I say to Liz. "Is it okay to ask how long you've worked for Spelcor?"