Alliana's face is serious as she gives her orders to the automaton, "Ama, get to the code blue scene fast. Check it out and let me know what's going on."

"Understood, Team Leader Willingford. I'm on it," Ama replies in her flat, robotic voice, and starts heading quickly towards the chaos.

I try to say something, shocked by everything happening so fast, but then Alliana hits the gas, and we speed off through the city.

The radio crackles to life again, and Lydia's calm voice comes through, "Team Leader Willingford, this is Lydia. What's your—"

She's suddenly interrupted by the loud, angry voice of the client. "What the fuck am I paying you for? I need support out here now!"

Alliana’s hands tighten on the steering wheel as she takes a sharp corner. "Great, our 'important' client is freaking out," she mumbles, clearly annoyed.

Lydia's voice comes back on the radio, cutting through the tension. "Don't worry about him, Willingford. Just get there and deal with the situation quickly."

"Roger that, Lydia. Thanks for taking care of that situation," Alliana says, acknowledging Lydia's effort.

We get closer to where the incident happened, and it's a mess. Cars are on fire, there's debris everywhere, and we can hear fighting and magic spells in the distance.

Then Ama comes back, humming with her mechanical sound. "The enemy is eating people now, not just turning them," she reports in her emotionless voice.

Alliana nods, all business. "Okay, Ama. I need you to turn part of yourself into gauntlets. Imbue it with anti-flame and anti-magic and set lethality rate to 90%."

Without any fuss, Ama pulls off her hand, and it changes shape right before our eyes, turning into a pair of shiny gauntlets with a green light. They fly into Alliana’s hands.

Alliana puts the gauntlets on, and they light up her hands with a green glow. She gets out of the car, ready to go, looking like she's done this a hundred times.

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"What now TL?" I murmur, weapon in hand, eyes darting over the chaotic scene.

"Stay alert and follow my lead," my TL commands without hesitation, pushing through the debris. Ama shadows us, her presence a reassuring constant.

"This thing has wreaked havoc," TL observes, securing an earpiece. "Here, put this on."

I obey, and almost immediately, Olivia's voice punctuates the silence. "Give me a sitrep."

"We're on the approach," TL confirms, just as Lydia's voice suggests reinforcements. "The Customer Assurance Team could—"

"No, Lydia. We've got this," TL interrupts, decisiveness coloring her tone.

A violent eruption of red smoke signals the client's dramatic entrance, hurtling towards us before TL catches him.

"Lydia, Olivia, we've located the client," TL reports, her voice steady as I guide the shaken man to safety.

"Copy that, Willingford. We just lost communication with the client a few minutes ago."

The demon then appears, a towering behemoth, its eyes a glimmering inferno. "Ah, Willingford, your attention is mine at last," it booms.

With a weary breath, TL ignores the theatrics and charges at the demon, an unstoppable force against its fiery blade.

As the demon meets her challenge, Ama interposes herself, summoning a barrier of crackling energy that decimates any lesser fiend daring to advance.

"Down you go," TL says coolly, her gauntlet smashing into the demon's arm, effectively disarming it—both literally and figuratively.

Lydia's urgent voice interrupts, "Willingford, pull back immediately!"

Confusion etches my features, but TL falters, turning to me with a look that halts any questions. Then, the client, sword in hand, lunges forward, declaring, "Fucking finally!!"

Despite TL's attempt to step clear, he bulldozes past, his blade severing the demon in two. With a triumphant yell, he plunges his sword into its skull, and the demon crumbles to ash.

"Well done, the danger has passed," Olivia's voice sounds relieved.

I move towards TL, but the client, now in his ornate armor, shoves her roughly, bellowing, "You should've secured the perimeter! Because of your failure, lives were lost and a lot of potential money gone the drain!!"

As TL struggles to her feet, the client kicks her down again. Lydia's voice crackles through the earpiece, "Stand down. Let it go."

I hesitate, my instincts at war with the order given. The client continues his tirade, "The only thing you did right was let me take the reigns in time. My family's name will be sung for slaying this demon. We'll reclaim our honor because of my deeds today."

TL rises again, this time with more caution, nodding in submission. "Thank you for your bravery today. MagicPerformax appreciates your business."

With a chuckle of disdain, the client pauses, then delivers a final blow to her pride, "I'll see to it that you're not rewarded for this debacle. Back to training with you."