Chapter 1
----------------------------------------
“…is fastened. Please secure your carry-on items, stow your tray table, and pass any remaining service items and unwanted reading materials to the flight attendants. Thank you.”
A mild jolt of the cabin had been what stirred her awake. A few blinks of the eyes as she repositioned her posture and garments allowed the necessary seconds for her consciousness to catch up to speed. Pushing her shoulder-length blonde hair straight from out of her vision and fixing the flat cap back onto her head. Once she was sat straight, her straightened eyes underneath tinted glasses turned towards the other passengers going through the prompted procedures directed by the PA announcement she heard halfway through. She then lifted her head above to the flashing light above her seat, alerting her on her own requirement of passive urgency.
Oh… we must be landing soon.
Had it not been for the sudden change in altitude rocking the plane’s exterior, she would have slept through the entire sequence until the landing gear hit the airport runway. An uncomfortable circumstance most would like to have avoided. At the very least, she was more than well rested. Probably the first real span of a good night’s sleep she’s had for weeks.
Shaking the intrusive thought away from her mind, she began routining her proper seating procedure. Her phone was already off in order to save power in the upcoming arrival to the city. She’d need to remember to alert her manager and the others of the safe unboarding. Not that there was any worry regarding that part of the trip. That’s what they all had hoped.
The rising air between the jet plane’s wings tugged back as the aircraft continued to slow the descent sequence. The outside window view of the vast buildings and streets soon returned to becoming distant scenery the closer they flew downward towards the designated airport location. Before long, they approached level ground. The tires absorbed the shock transition from air to land, creating a minor rock of the passenger cabin. An air of relief passed over several other travelers around her. She, however, could only feel the oncoming stress that was soon to follow.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Southwest Skylines welcomes you to Promethea. The local time is 9:38 AM. For your safety and the safety of those around you, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened and keep the aisle(s) clear until we are parked at the gate.”
The rest of the PA’s announcement soon became standard white noise in the girl’s mind. With how much she’s traveled throughout her years, it became easy to ignore the droning the recorded message deemed necessary for the more eager and impatient flight patrons.
She supposed the statement regarding the time zone was important for her to keep in mind. Despite the near 12-hour flight, the clock registered merely 3 hours later in difference. She was starting to thank her decision to sleep a lot more, jet lag be damned. Yet the only thing that truly stood out in the instructions, the one that really mattered to her, was a name. The name of her life’s newest chapter.
The aircraft had halted and parked up to the connected gateway of the terminal. The lights for fastened seatbelts soon dimmed, allowing all passengers to reach for their bags and disembark.
“Alright… far too late to turn back now,” she affirmed to herself. Silencing her doubts, she grabbed her smaller luggage and slowly huddled behind the straight line of exiting traffic.
Going through customs were felt as equally mundane amongst already buried concerns. Once approaching security, her passport was already prepped in her hand and awaiting its request. The attendant at the desk slowly began reading through every intricate detail of her identification, not helping much to alleviate the anxieties carried over the flight.
“Ms. Adelaide Ligeia,” the attendant read out, addressing her for vocal confirmation.
“Yes, present,” she spoke in her best English. Another adjustment she would have to make from now on. Her native accent was told to be light enough to be understood in dialect, but it was hard to fully keep herself from being self-conscious to strangers about it.
“A long way out from Hamburg, Germany,” they observed. Adelaide only fixed her eyes back to her front. “No returning flight scheduled in your information. Is this a lengthy stay?”
“That’s right,” she nodded. “I have a staged residence placed for me in the city.”
“Who doesn’t these days, am I right?” The attendant’s laugh only came off as awkward in Adelaide’s perception, as if missing out on the context of an inside joke. At the very least, it also sounded like there were no issues found in her documents. The desk man cleared his voice noticing the failure in his humor. “Heh, excuse me. Everything here is in order. I hope you find the opportunity you’re looking for here in Promethea.”
A silent pause lasted with her passive stare towards the man before accepting her returned passport. Opportunity. Far be it from the term she’d use for her circumstance.
Adelaide only nodded to the polite sentiment the statement suggested and hummed in equal affirmation. It was no fault of the attendant’s own for his assumptions.
Her next stop in the airport was the baggage claim area. Staring attentive yet simultaneously lost in thought. Eyes following any remotely similar hue of exterior and shape, as the subconscious filtered in and out the background chatter of passerby arriving or departing flights. Only letting the occasional conversation be interesting enough to warrant an unintended eavesdropping.
“Really, you came all this way out here just for the sights?” Adelaide shifted her attention over towards the voice who seemed to come out the clearest from the bunch. Perhaps she mistook the question to be addressed to her in an attempt of small talk, despite the logic not making entire sense.
“Come on now, you make it sound like I’m some tourist,” laughed a young man to a more middle-aged adult, potentially the one she heard prior. “The whole city has the attention of the world on it. Most journalists would die to have a hands-on experience reporting the latest in science and technology. This vacation doubles as a business venture for me all the same!”
“Wish I had that excuse like you kid,” the older man sighed. “I’m working overseas here because of my company’s expansion. Boss saw the opportunity this place offered and wanted his best workers sent over to the new branch to lessen the load on new hires. Been back and forth for holidays just to see the family at home.”
“A regular here? Mind me asking how that’s working out in terms of life in the new age?” The speed in which the younger individual pulled out a notepad and pen made Adelaide wonder if he manifested it out of thin air. It reasonably took the traveling business worker off guard.
“Gah, you journalists waste no time smelling a story! Put your pen away, I’m too tired for any damn interview!”
A humorous sight for sure, yet her overlooking gaze soon turned away back to her own business of locating her luggage. For the best if she had to be honest. Last thing she needed was an enthusiastic reporter from some online newsletter eyeing her up and striking up a headache of a headline.
That wasn’t the only matter from the nearby discussion that caught her attention. There was that word again. Opportunity. People sure loved to tie that word together with the city. As if that was the best and only way to describe the intoxicating allure it gave off. Even back home, that was more or less the drivel she got about it’s good qualities, besides hopefully letting her lay low out of spotlight.
The name itself radiated an aura of pretension; Promethea, a title of inherent mythical importance. Based on the Titan of Greek origin, Prometheus. The stories say he defied the gods of Olympus, stealing the sacred fires from above and gifting them to humanity. And with fire, came our first sight of technology. With technology, came knowledge, and more importantly generally gave them civilization. It was poetry almost, that if a city such as this was to be the new age of innovation and technological advancement for the modern man, it needed a name to match the potential.
Adelaide was admittedly surprised by how much her brain retained about such abstract etymology and mythological relevance regarding Greece. Perhaps the research her friend gratuitously explained off in tangents finally stuck in some core memory.
“Ah, I almost forgot,” she muttered to herself out loud, taking out her from its pocket placement and powering it on. It nearly slipped her mind. The others were probably wondering if she landed safely. No doubt that they were just as worried about the trip as she was.
Adelaide’s finger pressed on an app with a white silhouette bear, placed on a blue background. After loading, an online chat interface displayed in front of her.
10:17 AM Alice hey girls :)
made it safely off the plane
Given everyone’s timezone, she wasn’t immediately expected anyone to be attentive at the same time as she was. Much less be online at all on CHAOS. At the very least, Adelaide wanted them all to know she was alright and on land. If they were at all, chances are they were lurking about under invisible status or just on mobile like she was. After a few seconds of staring at the screen, her guess was proven correct as she soon spotted one of her mutuals typing a response.
10:18 AM Little Red Alice!
happy to hear that! ^ ^
did you sleep well on the flight over?
Adelaide smiled at Red’s eagerness to respond. It was not long before she noticed more typing following after.
10:18 AM Dulcinea thank goodness for that
customs didn’t give you trouble I hope
Dulcinea was certainly no surprise in responding fast either. When it came to their group, she did always pin herself as the designated team mom. Although she did pin Hildr as more of the one to fight the battles any of them got into. Lady could bench press them all.
10:19 AM Alice yeah, I’m just waiting in baggage claim
afterwards I’m here waiting for transport
are Pandora and Hildr on?
10:19 AM Dulcinea Hildr is with family tonight. Pandora is taking a nap after recording
Adelaide looks up from her phone before finally spotting her sky blue roller suitcase. She reaches for its handle with her free hand.
10:20 AM Alice …isn’t it past 8 in Greece?
10:20 AM Dulcinea Does that ever stop her?
Adelaide had to give up that counter argument to Dulcinea. For as far as she’s known Pandora, her sleep schedule was always… erratic. It’s a wonder how she performed to her level of quality on strange patterns. It almost made her jealous.
10:20 AM Little Red it’s morning where Alice is right?
timezones are gonna be so weird =w=;
10:21 AM Alice true
there’s gonna be a large part of our days where you guys are gonna be asleep while I’m awake
10:21 AM Little Red maybe I should stay up longer so you don’t get lonely in the States
10:21 AM Dulcinea Do NOT
10:22 AM Little Red but Dulciiiiiii ;o;
It was good to see the others in decent spirits despite her circumstances. Last thing Adelaide wanted was for her friends to lose sleep on her behalf. Still, it was reassuring to know that they cared. Less worries to dwell on in the back of her head.
—Jazz/Factor—
Adelaide temporary wrapped up her conversation with her two friends and closed CHAOS. Transportation didn’t take long to arrive to the airport’s carpool area. Another arranged method of travel set up in advanced. The cab’s radio played a local station at a single digit's volume, almost becoming background filter in the woman’s mind as she watched the passing outside through the door window. Generally allowing herself to… take the moment all in.
It seemed that the airport, while in the city, had to be just about around the bordering limits. Once the buildings and billboards started appearing, the sights were almost night and day. The unorthodox infrastructure of offices and establishments almost made them sightseeing attractions in of themselves. The endless crowds of people and vehicles traveling inward, vastly outweighing those exiting. Names of companies flying across a massive, overseeing blimp of a LED monitor, as if ten or so different businesses purchases the same ad spot in a desperate bid of promotion. Even the damn airport floated a sign that proudly welcomed you to Promethea in theatric holographic display. The girl nearly expected fun facts thrown in for a quick humble-brag slide show.
The subtle disconnect compared to the outside world almost prevented her from mentally blurring all the visuals her brain wanted to register. Everything around here seemed engineered to capture attention on first impression. What kind of city could possibly require such captivating differences was anyone’s guess, but it clearly worked. Adelaide couldn’t tell if she was impressed or annoyed by the blatant pandering to new arrivals.
What the hell am I even doing here?
It was about the only thought she could manage to sum up in any semblance of words.
“Señorita,” the cab driver spoke up, taking Adelaide out from her inner conundrum. “You’re not much of a talker, are you?”
A strange question of assumption, in her opinion. Overall, it was embarrassing to be caught daydreaming and put on the spot. “No, sorry, I’m just having a look as we pass,” she answers sheepishly. “Were you saying something before?”
“No, it’s just rare,” the man chuckled. “Ever since taking this job in the city, I never hear the end of chatter. New face almost every day in the backseat, all with the questions and talking of plans and things here. I use earbuds at times to my own playlist just to drone out half of the tourist crap.”
Adelaide couldn’t help but feel concerned about the blunt confession her hired cabbie made about past customers. She wasn’t sure what the exact laws were in the United States, but anything blatantly blocking auditory function and awareness had to been illegal to an extent.
“But so far, you’ve been the quiet exception. Not many young ladies like you come here by the lonesome. Plus, your accent suggests far foreign. Something wrong?”
“It’s nothing,” she lied. Personally, she didn’t need to elaborate on anything if she didn’t feel inclined to share. “Just tired from the flight. Figured I rest until we get to Hollow Lane.”
“Right… that’s what your request said to drop you off at, yeah?” Adelaide couldn’t help but notice the hesitation in the driver’s tone. As if there was concern in his implied request at confirmation.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“That’s right, is that a problem?” She asked.
“No no, Señorita, no problem for me,” he said, in an attempt to ease worry. “Just not the first-place people choose to stop at.”
“I have business there, is all.” That was partially true. Not that she could really call her reason being here simply business.
That earned a snort from the man. “All anyone ever has there is business,” he retorts. “Most rather not have any there to begin with.”
There was a cryptic string of statements if she had ever heard them. Whether she was supposed to make any sense of his words or not was anyone’s guess. Adelaide supposed it was just her luck to be the lone passenger to be left to decipher it.
“You heard of the area before?” he asked again, taking the exit towards the main city road. “Tons of stories about neck of the woods.”
“I’m sure,” Adelaide sighs through the verbal tangent. It was hard to feign real disinterest in such a closed environment. “Since the start I’ve gotten here, it’s been ‘opportunity this’ and ‘opportunity that’. I bet there’s plenty of tales some street can spin.”
She was hoping her sarcasm would be enough to change the driver’s mind about whatever city-based trivia he planned to share. She was already passively dreading her time here. Active participation at the bare minimum was her desire at this point.
“Hmph… an opportunity to meet the devil, more like.”
A still pause came within the vehicle, as a vague sense of tension snapped the woman’s focus out of her prior mood. No longer was she absently staring off at passing scenery, and instead slowly turned back to the cabbie.
The devil… he said the devil. An opportunity… to meet the devil. One lone sentence uttered overrode any prioritized thought originally in her mind as the intrusive part of her brain replayed the line on repeat.
“…E-Excuse me wha-“
Before Adelaide can lean in her seat, the car jolts forward to a subtle halt. She managed to catch herself by the hands against the back of the front-passenger seat. A light hiss of discomfort passes through her teeth as she corrects her posture back to normal. It takes her a few more seconds to readjust her headwear properly as she faces the driver.
“Scheiße… what the hell?!”
“Hey hey, I’m sorry, sorry, but nothing I can do!” the driver exclaims, gesturing to his windshield’s general direction. “Road’s all jammed with traffic!”
Adelaide turns her gaze over to the massive, disorganized line of cars filling up the city street. Several honks of horns, alarms and roaring engines become apparent the more she gained focus on the dilemma. It did not seem like a natural stop of traffic either. At the coming intersection, cars from perpendicular lanes were blocking opposite lanes. It was if a panicked crash stopped all flow. Some cars were even flipped from assumed collision or sudden momentum.
A pile up? Is anyone hurt?
The sheer thought of anyone getting injured just as a bystander oddly hit a concerned note. The fact that she was unable to tell if any drivers ahead were trapped or worse did not help any intrusive ponder. What’s worse is that no one else seemed in a hurry to check themselves.
Curiosity was getting the better of her, whether that was the right choice or not. Adelaide decided to exit the car’s backseat.
“Hey, hey!” The cabbie shouted at her. “Where're you going?!”
“Getting a better view, my bag will still be here!” she countered. “My manager already paid in advance!”
With that, she started to approach the source of the chaos. The shouting of other drivers’ impatient attitude and frequent frustrated slamming of horns was enough to give the average civilian a migraine from audio and stress overload. It caused her to cuff her ears in slight irritation to protect her hearing. The still halt of the traffic did however make it easy to traverse between vehicles nearly touching nose to bumper. Further down she did see drivers and passengers peek and exit from their own cars in equal confusion and impatience. Whether they shared her worry or simply needed to fill their own curiosity to answer what created the holdup was anyone’s guess.
Yet the closer she moved towards the intersection, sounds of scrapping, thudding and crushing grow louder over the surrounding commotion. The source unseeable from Adelaide’s side of the road. The source originating from the upcoming turn. Construction perhaps? It was the initial thought she guessed, but the volume growing suggested otherwise. As if it was… moving closer? That vague yet concerned query was only heightened by the new realization of the pedestrians moving opposite from her advancement. All moving away from the center of the jam’s source. Running, in fact. Some are even drivers from the front of the trapped route.
“…Why are they running?” She finally asked out loud. Her first instinct was to ask any nearby commuter ahead from her position. “H-Hey, do you guys see what’s-?”
A destructive crack of brick and metal broke her line of thought. An unidentified flying object jetted through from the sky and through the corner of a building with great force and speed, before violently crashing down below into a nearby vehicle. Adelaide yelped and ducked for cover, fear of getting crushed by the mystery projectile or hit by windshield glass broken apart on impact. She had closed her eyes on impulse. Slowly opening them, she turned to what had landed.
A body. A body of a man had crashed down from the heavens above. A man no older than herself, nearly embedded in his landing against the car’s steel hood and roof. Unmoving and still. Likely dead. It was the only conclusion of logic her brain could muster as her confusion soon became overlapped by the sudden dread and horror of the body’s unexplained launch and appearance. The words failing to form in reaction, becoming caught in her throat with the slightest of stunned noise stuttering out her mouth.
More noises of violent crashing erupted. A notable rumble and shake, stirring her attention away from the supposed corpse she locked eyes on, and set her sights back to the intersection.
From behind the corner, a colossal being of steel. It’s head emerging from around the building, as the rest of it rolled forward into view. It’s yellow and black humanoid torso leaned forward in bulking mass, with bulldozing blades for hands scooping and crashing against whatever object stood in its path. Whatever it didn’t shove with senseless objectivity, was violently crushed underneath its large continuous treads. The screams of panicked onlookers and fleeing civilians cried out in mass from its reckless rampage.
Adelaide was frozen in object horror. Her brain failing to comprehend the sight that came before her. A giant mechanical beast. A monster, in her eyes. Seemingly loose with abandonment on the city. Her body shook in fear, threatening to falter in any sudden movement she thought of making next. She couldn’t move. As if her body refused to listen, like a deer caught in the headlights of a car barreling down an ill-lighted roadway.
She couldn’t move. Why didn’t she move? Why was she just frozen and staring onward? As if her mind was the only part of her body working, while the rest refused to listen to any given command.
The steel behemoth rotated its upper body, as its joints swiveled towards the road Adelaide stood on. Steam and hydraulics audibly compressing and uncompressing, as its vacant eyes threatened to stare her down.
She couldn’t move. She had to move. She had to run, now. Whatever anxiety-riddled thought that screamed into her mental consciousness ran on repeat as if to force the rest of her out of her frozen shock. She was in danger. If she didn’t move now, she’d be trapped between any car the bot bulldozed into her in mass. If that didn’t kill her, it was only a matter of time before it flattened her by the time it drew near.
Move. Move dammit! If you don’t move, you’ll die Adelaide! You’ll die!
“Gah… that smarts. Talk about a lousy cheap shot…”
A casual groan and voice had snapped her attention out from her stunned disposition. In such a pressing situation, the sheer tone managed to stick out. Adelaide turned to her left once more.
The man who once laid on the car and sat up. Alive. Glass that stuck or embedded itself on his black leather jacket trickled off his person, as he stretched his arms and neck out of discomfort. A shake of his head and long black hair cleared whatever daze he previously was knocked into. His almond shade of dark skin hadn’t had a single notable scratch on it. As if the crash left him uninjured and more inconvenienced than not. It defied all logic.
“W-What?!” Adelaide managed to express out loud. “Y-You’re alive?!” It made no sense. With the speed he landed at, no person could survive that impact.
“Live and kicking’ ma’am,” he retorted, rotating his neck and brushing off any hanging debris with gauntlet covered hands. “Take more than that to keep a hero down.”
A hero. The girl had no clue what he was talking about. Let alone understand how calm and unbothered he seemed to be by the situation at hand.
“H-Hey, we need to get out of here and-“
“Yeah, you go ahead and get clear,” the man cut her off, not bothering to even look at her as he begins to climb on-top of another vehicle’s roof and standing tall. “Didn’t think a construction bot was that mobile up top. Was hoping to avoid any more collateral but seems like this will be a cleaner job after all.”
The rampaging bulldozer of a machine began rolling closer as more pedestrians and drivers fled back away from its path. Adelaide began to finally will her legs to move and allow her to motion herself to any direction of safety. Yet she saw the unwavering stance of the brash stranger before her.
Is he crazy?!
Her thoughts soon voiced themselves out loud. “What are you doing?! Get out now or you’re gonna die for real this time!”
This plead was only met with a sigh. “You must be new here,” he deduced and smirked confidently. “Don’t worry, I’m what you call a closing act.”
Before she could voice her confusion and opposing argument on what that statement meant, he raised his right arm in front of him. His steel, blue gauntlet’s metal plates began to expand and open out, revealing a lever that extended outward from the side of his forearm. With his free left hand, he gripped it tightly and twisted forward. The sound of an electric engine roared as he throttled not once, not twice, but a third time through. The sound of an automated voice accompanied the humming surge of power it expressed.
“MAX Groove!”
With a confirmation, the man shifted his stance and cocked his right arm back in preparation. The artificial goliath rolled closer and closer, threatening to build speed and only slowed down by the cars it slammed aside and trailed over.
“Our horror show begins,” he says in foreboding tone. “Let’s shift straight to the Climax!”
With a leap, Adelaide watched him soar high into the air. Charging ahead forward into the oncoming danger the construction mech posed. A mismatch in objective spectacle, that had unexplainable charm in that she couldn’t look away.
As the bot lifted its beam shaped arms upward to block the smaller individual, its blades proved too slow to intercept. Dashing pass through its attempt at defense with near graceful ease. To meet this opportunity… came a thunderous punch.
A crackling shockwave from metal meeting metal impacted with tremendous force. The sudden sound that matching a cannon of both firing and connection synchronized at once. He had aimed straight for the robot’s head, as if throwing a strong right hook square in the oversized jaw. The collision of fist to steel face created a concaving imprint of bending exterior. The blow’s weigh contorting its head back in a sudden and unnatural jolt, causing the upper body to follow suit or risk immediate rip and tear. And the further it tilted over backwards, the laws of motion and gravity reached its tipping point. A loud crash onto the street below echoed down the building halls, as dust and dirt flew from damaged asphalt.
In perplexed astonishment, Adelaide stood bewildered in silence.
He… punched it. Single handedly destroyed it with one strike.
The man she thought to be a victim, turned to be the aggressor in a matter of seconds. Logic failed to fully diagnose a logical conclusion beyond what was witnessed. He now stood landing on-top of his toppled foe, checking for any further signs of movement or operational function. From her distance, it was hard to truly tell what his method of confirmation was other than perceived stomping and prodding. Before she could even consider making her way up and asking, he jumped down and marched off, signaling a job well done.
And as the strange man in black and blue left, a parting of the storm passed over the street. Despite the damage and the aforementioned panic of fleeing civilians and bystanders, the city of Promethea soon shifted back to a state of normalcy. Law enforcement soon arrived at the scene of the crime and parked near the fallen construction mech gone wild. Those whose vehicles weren’t destroyed, were re-entered and waited for proper instruction of detour. Others stuck on foot, merely stood on the side and called in reports of damages.
All that filled the young lady’s mind were more questions. None of which having any satisfactory answer.
—Jazz/Factor—
“Where the hell did you send me?!” Adelaide had yelled, seemingly into a phone’s speaker as she rolled her luggage down the sidewalk. Her furious complaints felt more than reasonably justified, given the stressful predicament she had borne witness to.
“Now now, Alice, deep breaths,” the female voice on the other side of the line suggested. The casual yet reassuring tone it spoke did little to quell the former’s anger.
“Don’t you ‘Alice’ me!” Adelaide hissed back. “What kind of manager sends her assigned talent off to some insane city in some oversea country?! I thought I was gonna die today!”
“Well, I thought I did a clear enough job in briefing you about it,” her manager audibly pouted. “Pretty sure I mentioned how eccentric Promethea and the locals could be months before we booked the arrangements.”
“Eccentric doesn’t exactly translate ‘scary bulldozing robots rampaging through city streets’ very clearly!” she grumbled, before finally attempting to take a deep breath to lessen her stress. “That cab driver couldn’t even take me the whole way down here after that.”
“What?! My poor Alice is walking by herself?! I need to get my money back for such terrible service!”
Adelaide could only cringe at the worry being expressed. She kinda wish she’d stop saying Alice so much while she was gone, but not much she could do there. “M-San, it’s not as if he had a choice in the matter,” she sighed. “I’d run away too, had that weird guy not shown up.” An enigma for sure. She hoped people like him weren’t commonplace here.
Adelaide pulled up her map application on her phone and checked the directions. “You said the place was more like a shop than a house, right?”
“Correct,” M-San explained. “The owner does a whole cavalcade of jobs, both short and long term. Seemed more than qualified to watch over you, dear.”
Despite the hopeful statement, the girl couldn’t help but feel doubtful. “…Yeah… I hope so.” It wasn’t that she didn’t believe her, but the chance of being wrong was far from unfamiliar.
Before long, her phone alerted her of the entered destination. Looking upward she stared at the shop building housed around the block corner. It appeared to be a single floor office by initial design. The ones you generally rent out for a small local business. Rounding the street corner however displayed a downhill incline with a brick wall trimming and extending out around the side of the building. A peek around showed a sheer drop-down area below behind the office, revealing also a lower floor underneath. She assumed it was the owner’s living quarters given the information supplied to her beforehand by her manager.
But the most outward appearance of the office was the sign hanging above for all to read. Its name was strange enough, but the graphic complimenting it stood out as ominous. A large white cog in the middle, with the face of a fiend right in the middle. Adelaide couldn’t tell if it was the business giving an implication on what work it does, or if it reflects the owners’ nature.
“MalGear,” she reads out loud. “Guess this is it.”
“Wonderful!” M-San confirms. “I’ve already informed him you’d be coming in today, so everything should be all set. I’m sure once you’re introduced to one another, you both will be just peachy!”
“Okay, that I’m not sure about,” Adelaide deadpanned. As far as she knew, she never spoke to the guy in her life. Only from what M-San brief her about him, which was annoyingly sparce. “If this Randall Jazz person is anything like the rest of this city, I think I’ll go mad.”
“Alice, trust me-“
“I told you to call me Adelaide while I’m gone,” she finally snapped.
A pause occurred with before M-San spoke once more, which did make Alice feel some guilt in the selfish request. “Adelaide, I promise you I went through great detail and research in making this place perfect for your absence. You’re not just my prized idol, but practically family in my eyes. I need you to meet me halfway and be brave for not just me, but for you as well. Promise?”
Adelaide takes a moment, staring at the Open sign of the office before taking a deep exhale. “…Promise. There’s no going back now anyways.”
“Danke,” her manager thanked. “Alright, I’ll let you off now while I handle things back here. Call me if you need anything else.”
“Ja, bis bald.” Adelaide hung up her phone and pockets it. She stares long and hard before nodding her head and knocking on the door.
“Come in!” the muffled voice on the inside speaks out, giving her formal permission.
Well, time to start my new life.
Adjusting her outfit, Adelaide lifts up her bags and opens the door with her free hand. Entering the building, she places down her belongings and looks around.
The main office space is admittedly quite roomy. More the size of a living room quarter than a simple space for filing and discussion work. In the middle sat two cheap but standard pieces of couch furniture with a coffee table. On the left housed a kitchen area of sorts, surprisingly public with only just a doorway giving any form of cut off privacy. The doorway that branched off to a hallway more than likely was where the stairs to the bottom half of the building could be accessed. More than likely restricted away from clients.
Which finally had her tracked her eyes over to the lone metal desk in the room. The one currently occupied by who Adelaide assumed to be the owner of the establishment. His jean coated legs were kicked up in a laid-back manner of relaxing, as a newspaper was held in front of his face. A strangely shaped, blue steel briefcase sat just to the desk’s right.
Before long, the silence was broken with the rustling of paper as the man closed his reading material and sat up in his chair. Once the obscuring object had left, Adelaide finally was able to get a good look at the man. Her shade covered eyes grew wide in sudden realization. His face. The same face she’d just as seen before in the city. With the fists that took down a colossus of steel. Now stood before her once again. He smirked with an all too ready demeanor.
“Welcome to MalGear. Randall Jazz, at your service. So, what job can I do for you?”