KEI'S ASSISTANT
My first pay came after thirty days of work. I got it from Kei by check. We had a weekend off, so I paid my bills for the next month and visited the Undercity market to get my executor sword maintained.
"Oh, hell no."
Paul was an independent smith I visited to fix up my weapons. He approached me with his hammer and stopped me from taking another step. That rugged prosthetic augment of his, holding that hammer, could scare anyone. I had seen it bend metal like nothing once, and I wasn't going to piss off my favorite smith by making jokes.
"You walk in here with another sword from another smith? Boy, did you not understand the rules and taboo!?"
I nodded without a fuss. I took the spare sword off my belt and placed it on the box outside his smithery. It was a taboo to bring another sword inside without the permission of the shop's blacksmith. Honestly, it was a superstition that had no basis, but it was culture now. I went back in and drew my executor sword and my pistol out for him to examine.
Castor and Pollux. The sword was Castor, and the gun was Pollux. He took Castor and Pollux gently, like they were his precious babies, and placed them on his worktable.
"The cells are dead. The blade's dull. Pollux remains unused. Are you even going to fire the explosive rounds?"
"One day."
He took the magazine out and raised a brow.
"You used two rounds."
He took two rounds from his drawer and loaded the magazine with them. He picked up Castor and grinned.
"But Castor here is dulled and worn. How much MEAT did you cut to get this fella dulled? Look at this," he said, taking the cells out. "You even used it after the cell died."
"Can you fix it?"
"I can. But you sure are a cheap guy. Only coming here to fix it when it's already worn down!"
He took a new cell and inserted it into the hilt's power unit. He put the blade back into his furnace and started doing his work. After waiting for three hours, he took the blade from the forge and spent another hour sharpening it.
"It's done. Your Castor is back in business, and Pollux is fully loaded and maintained."
I took out the cash and retrieved my sword and gun. Paul counted the bills I paid him, annoyingly using a magnifying glass to check every part of each bill.
"Who owns you now, by the way?"
"I paid my debts. No one owns me anymore. I'm now under the employment of Kei's Office as their assistant."
"Smelled paper and ink on you. No wonder. How's work there?"
"Okay. It's a small office. Comfortable enough, and it's probably the best one I've joined yet."
"Coming from you… that's quite the evaluation. Did you finally get a break and get into the arms of decent people?"
"Two days ago, we reported a client after seeing his abnormalities. OB agents captured the man and cleansed him. I heard they gutted him."
"Seems decent to me."
"Better than usual. I can work with them well."
"Good. It's a shame to see you waste your time on those awful offices you worked for before."
"Thanks."
He sat on his stool.
"Question now is whether you're going to buy new gear or not."
I thought back to what this body wanted. I remembered the clawed gauntlet it had been trying to acquire for a long time.
"Ah, I almost thought you forgot about that."
He took the gauntlet out of storage. It covered the forearm and the hand completely. On the back was a grappling unit connected to a power cell that emitted electricity.
It was a high-maintenance device, similar to Castor and Pollux. I couldn't hold back my interest, so I gave in and bought it from him.
Paul fitted the device onto my left arm.
"Looks good, if I say so myself."
I activated the gauntlet. The claws extended, and after a second, electricity crackled along them.
"It's working."
"It's made by me. I ain't going to scam you if you paid me properly. Blacksmith's honor."
Paul counted the bills I gave him again. While he was counting, I looked at a device installed in his shop.
"Your augment detector isn't working."
Paul walked up to the detector and tinkered with it for a minute. The lights flickered, then stabilized. Only one augmented individual was detected in the building. Paul adjusted it further to whitelist himself.
"How are things here, by the way?"
"So-so. The need for weapons keeps the business afloat. There's no shortage of weapons, and it's not like anyone's trying to steal business. Bigger workshops earn more, but not to the point that small businesses like mine starve. What about you? You paid a lot for that gauntlet. Are you sure you can stay afloat?"
"Might have to eat artificial meals for the month."
Paul shook his head.
"Look at this, fool. Complaining about having a meal at all!"
"Don't mistake me. I'd eat anything as long as I can live another day. But if you have the cash, don't you want to eat an actual meal? Not those artificial things."
"You ain't wrong about that."
Paul nodded in agreement and stored his cash in a safe box.
"Hard not to agree. But it's been expensive lately, and I had to save up. Well, not anymore with what I have now."
I shrugged.
"You're probably going to find some materials and buy them on a whim."
Paul was the type who couldn't stop doing what he liked. He kept making things until he couldn't afford to anymore.
I looked at my phone.
"I'll be going now. Thanks for the upgrade, Paul."
Paul crossed his arms.
"Stay alive. Hard to find a loyal customer these days."
"Thanks, Paul."
I picked up my spare sword from the box and hung it back on my belt. The Undercity market was always filled with a wide variety of goods and weapons. The butcher's place was where hunters usually went. The Anomaly Hunter Center employed these freelancers. It was under the OB, but more flexible with hiring and payment. You weren't bound by contracts, but the downside was that you didn't get the benefits of affiliated offices.
Regeneration services were available to affiliates of the Otherside Bureau. They got massive discounts, and those who wanted their limbs restored were given the privilege to do so.
I stood in front of the boards. I noticed they were offering a decent amount to hunt down a draugr hiding in the Outer Districts.
"Can you move?"
Someone spoke behind me. I stepped aside. I rested my hand on the pommel of my executor sword for a moment before shaking my head.
----
Asobe Street differed from the Undercity Market. I could actually smell the air here. It was acrid, thick with exhaust smoke, and the mixed scent of the people passing me by was irritating, but it was still better than the air in the Undercity.
I looked at the three-story office building before leaving the street to find the noodle shop I had been hoping to eat at.
I ordered a beef noodle and spent an hour loitering in my seat before getting out of the shop, leaving before I gave them a reason to kick me out.
Changye wasn't exactly a place where you could relax. It was crowded. There was no place of leisure other than the red-light streets that didn't seem to rest.
The Neon Quarters were famous for their lights. It was the biggest place in Lower Changye that served everyone their preferred vice. It was a money-stealing place full of traps and games that would leave you penniless if you dipped your toes into it.
My previous company, before the one that fell into a flesh pit, was fond of sending their employees into an affiliated company in the Quarter to recycle their money back to them.
They would take their employees into brothels and persuade them to pay for the most expensive alcohol and girls. The employees were always willing to spend, only to find out the next morning that they had used most of their salary on alcohol and sex. They robbed themselves, spending what little they had on alcohol and sex.
I was in debt to the company, so I had no cash to pull out. They couldn't force me either, since my status did not grant me the right to take loans or incur more debt. Not to mention, it was far more troublesome to convince me when the process of any loan or debt could take days. So no one bothered to include me in their debauchery.
Not to mention that the higher executives running the place were snorting product after product, dulling their senses, and I had to watch their backs. Still, the pay was good in that company, so the cycle continued until they eventually gave up and offered their innards to the company.
I looked around me and sighed.
There wasn't a place where you could simply relax other than your home in this city. With a quiet complaint to the acrid wind, I took another glance around before making my way to the service train heading to Lotus Lane.
It was so full because of the weekend that I couldn't breathe properly until I reached my stop.
Weekends were troubling in this city.
It was a workday. At 1 PM in the afternoon, I was heading to the Central Linkway connecting Upper and Lower Changye. It was a place where most employees from Upper Changye gathered.
Midway Nexus was the central hub, full of transportation facilities such as trains and escalators. Climbing the Nexus using the elevator lift, packed with five thousand people, was usually worrying for first-timers. I could see the Elemental Arc, the grand architectural structure that marked the division between Upper and Lower Changye — a symbol of unity and balance. Scarred, beaten, and worn out, it was made of puddled iron and had rusted after years of exposure to Changye's weather.
The elevator arrived at Nexus Heights. I pressed forward into the wide lanes. It was clean here. The air was cold, controlled. The sterilized environment showed that it was near Upper Changye. Up there, it would probably smell even worse.
The café I was looking for was small. The person I was meeting on behalf of my office was sitting outside, next to a black iron arrowhead fence. I stood in front of him and introduced myself.
"I am the assistant working on behalf of Kei's office. Here is my ID."
I showed him my ID. He took a cursory glance and nodded. He took a sip of his coffee and ordered one for me. It was black coffee with cream. The aroma suggested a single-origin bean.
"You recognize it."
"It's Ethiopian. I roasted some during my previous employment."
"I see."
I prepared the documents, and he read them thoroughly while I drank my coffee.
"I see that Miss Kei is earning enough to employ another person. This is acceptable for an office of her size."
The Shichinin no Ken representative seemed pleased.
"This amount of information regarding the anomalies would fetch a hefty price on its own."
I also showed him the finances of the office and the request that Kei had prepared. She usually handled this with Eta, but since they were busy, someone had to deliver it. I was the newest, so the work fell to me.
"Then I must presume that Miss Kei and Eta are currently dealing with an anomaly?"
"That is correct."
He nodded and wrote a note with his right hand. He spoke about the policies of the Shichinin no Ken. The Seven Swords was an organization focused on battling monsters, cryptids, and anomalies that appeared in the city. Their products were often derived from the creatures defeated by their agents, and they were one of the few associations that provided detailed information about their hunts—for a price.
After a long conversation, the representative agreed that no changes were needed for the contract between Shichinin no Ken and Kei's office. We shook hands and prepared to leave.
As I was about to head back to Lower Changye, the representative stopped me.
"It was a pleasure speaking with you."
I nodded and began walking. As I did, I heard the representative mutter to himself.
"Hmm, what was his name again?"