Sector 1: STAM HQ- Combat Facility [15:55]

“You are about to begin the combat assessment. You will be thrown into a combat situation against holographic mazoku. Your goal is to handle as many mazoku as possible without harming any humans...”

The 5 agents were standing above the facility in the operation room. All eyes were on the room below, on Kenji, as he warmed up for the upcoming test.

“Ah, this brings back memories,” Ryu rubbed his hands together, “Remember how scared I was that a real mazoku would jump out during the test?”

Shou laughed, “You almost pissed your pants, you were so scared.”

“This is stupid!” Seiji was grinding his teeth and stood with his arms crossed, “We all went through this when we were kids! Now this guy shows up and gets tested? It’s unfair.”

Hiro rolled his eyes. He was leaning against the wall, “You worried he’s gonna take your rank?”

Seiji scoffed, “Are you kidding? I’m worried we’re wasting our time on this new guy. He doesn’t even have a weapon!”

“He’s got that spear thing though?” Ryu pointed to the long wooden spear that Kenji was using down below.

Shou shook his head, “It’s not from STAM.”

“He doesn’t have an anti-mazoku weapon??” Ryu pushed his face against the glass trying to get a better look, “How is he gonna be an agent?”

Kyou was sitting at the main control seat. His brow furrowed and his scowl concerned, “STAM made an anti-mazoku weapon for him.”

Everyone turned to Kyou but Kyou’s gaze was locked on Kenji below.

“He laughed at them and told them he was an anti-mazoku weapon.”

Seiji scoffed, “What an asshole. There’s no way he’ll last.”

Kyou knew better. He knew what Kenji was: a mazoku killer. His home town was famous for their brutal nature toward mazoku. They hunted mazoku for sport and displayed their corpses on the borders of their land. Kenji had been hunting mazoku since he was a young boy, just like the other STAM agents. But Kenji was doing it without the help of anti-mazoku weapons- it was just him and a spear. Kyou couldn’t put his finger on the root of his feelings, but he couldn’t ignore the way his gut knotted as he watched Kenji dispose of his final mazoku hologram.

Sector 27: [15:55]

When Arisa opened her eyes they were in a dark alley. She let out a lung full of air, “I don’t get why that never gets easier.”

Aku rolled her eyes playfully, “You’re better than her at least,” she motioned to Keiko who was bracing herself against the wall and swaying slightly.

“I’m fi-ya-ya--” she dry heaved once and took 4 long deep breaths to compose herself, “I’m fine.”

Aku sighed, “Come on then. You wanted to be on time, remember?”

The three walked from the alley and were immediately greeted with a busy crowd. It was immediately clear that the 3 girls had traveled somewhere very different. The alley they had exited from opened to a large main street, but there was no sky above them. If one were to scan the crowd of people, they might not have noticed that all of them were mazoku. In fact, most of the people in the crowd were indistinguishable from a real human by their appearance. But there were plenty of others showcasing their mazoku status: horns, teeth, eyes, colors, shapes- they were all mazoku.

The building to their right read SECTOR 27- HOSPITAL. The three entered the building and Arisa perked up, “Aku what is the new agent like?”

Keiko nodded, “First impressions?” they waved at the familiar receptionist with 8 eyes and Keiko held the door to the stairs open for them.

Aku brushed a blond braid behind her shoulder, “Uh-” just thinking of the new agent made her stomach curl into a knot. What was it about him that reacted like this? “He’s tall I guess?”

Arisa whispered as they entered the part of the hospital where long-term comatose patients were, “Did he seem…dangerous???”

As they neared the end of the hall, Keiko turned the small corner into a deadend hallway. Aku stopped at the corner and kept watch, “He’s a STAM agent… of course he’s dangerous. It’s all clear.”

“We’ll have to wait and see how dangerous he is…” Keiko placed her hand on the wall. After a few moments the wall beeped and the wall flickered away to show an almost watery field.

“Who do you think he’ll be partnered with? He’s probably a disposer right? You don’t think Ky-” Arisa stopped short, not wanting to finish the question Keiko no doubt knew she wanted to ask.

“He has to be the 3rd disposer, there’s no doubt…” Kei looked back at Arisa, purposefully ignoring her other question, “Ready?”

She nodded and Aku from the corner with her eyes still focused on the hallway showed a thumbs up.

Keiko turned back to the watery wall and walked into it.

The other side of the wall looked like a completely different building. It was brightly lit and lined with red lockers. Above the entrance to the room was a large display: AGENT 013 - WELCOME TO MRPA.

“Ahh so nice to get out of that shell!” her once pink, short hair was now long and red and shaved to one side. There was green and orange scaling from her one pointed ear down her neck. She pulled her neck to the side eliciting a loud crack and light of relief.

Arisa entered next, but her appearance remained unchanged, “If I have to hear you complain about the shells I swear I’ll go insane,” following suit, she went up to her locker labeled 00.

“I don’t complain that much!” Keiko popped open her locker and began to unbutton her uniform top.

Aku was the last to enter and behind her the entrance closed. Her once blonde hair was now sleek and white. Her eyes were colored red and black. She had markings from her lower lid that traced down her face and onto her neck in two solid lines. She looked at Arisa and together the two of them groaned the way Keiko had while stretching their arms, “I always feel soooo stiff from that shell!”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Arisa chuckled and turned back to her locker.

Keiko grumbled as she changed, “It’s true though...”

Arisa pouted at the small screen inside her locker, “Aku do you have a mirror? My screen is acting up.”

“Yeah here you go,” from her own locker Aku passed her a mirror as she continued to change from her uniform.

“Thank you!” Arisa looked into the mirror and immediately her skin began to bubble. Her hair changed from brown to black and grew slightly longer. Her eyes became blue and her skin tone darkened. After a moment the bubbling settled and Arisa sighed happily.

“You ready?” Keiko stood by the exit door fully changed. Her top was a form-fitted leotard shaped suit. She wore loose fitted cargo pants and boots that looked very worn in. She pulled her hair into a ponytail as she continued, “Looks like all 3 of us have a meeting with Hong first.”

Aku closed her locker and pulled her hair from the braids it had been in. She wore a similar skin tight suit, but her’s covered her arms and the top half of her legs.

Arisa was the last to close her locker as she hurried over putting her hair up in a side ponytail, “Ready!” her uniform was different. She too had a black and red suit, but hers was hidden beneath a large white coat. Her code, 00, was etched over the small pocket on the jacket, “Three?” Arisa asked excitedly.

Keiko nodded and opened the door to the hallway, “Do you have duties at the nursery tonight?”

“I am on the schedule for today…but maybe Hong is changing the plan…”

“Oho! 013, 014, 00 what a surprise you’re all on time!” a man in a white coat like Arisa’s waved at them as he walked past.

“Hey Darrius how’s the MS crisis going?” Keiko called after him.

Darrius was much taller than all three of the girls. His skin was caramel colored which made the soft pink color of his shaved hair stand all the more out. But his most striking feature were his eyes. His eyes themselves were larger than a normal human’s and within them were 3 pupils. He groaned at Keiko’s jab and his pupils rotated as he turned back to respond, “Still in crisis mode!” he barely got the sentence out before he turned a corner and was gone.

“Well hurry up!” Keiko shouted after him.

“No pressure or anything!” Arisa called after him too.

Keiko sighed as she clicked the elevator button, “He must have been working non-stop.”

“Can you blame him? They’re trying to replace MS before STAM wipes us all out.” Aku crossed her arms.

They entered the elevator and hit the button labeled HONG. The elevator continued down into the deepest basement level of the complex. There was only one room this low: Hong’s office. The display outside the door showed the current meeting schedule. It read: 00, 013, 014 briefing. 22:00: Medical meeting.

Keiko waved her watch across the small scanner and the door clicked open. Immediately upon entering the large screen on the wall lit up with the familiar silhouette of Hong, “Good evening ladies.”

Sector 1: STAM HQ - [16:05]

“I’m sure you all met our new comrade at the academy today. Kenji is now an official disposer in our agency,” Shizune, Lanse's secretary, spoke in her usual lifeless voice. She was a wide woman with a small head and large hands, “Due to the results of the physical testing it has been decided that he will be the new partner to Kyoushirou-”

“He gets Rank 1?!” Seiji scoffed in anger, “You give the open disposer position to some new country kid instead of me?!” he moved to take a step forward but Shou held his arm out to hold him back, giving him a disapproving glare.

Unphased by his outburst, Shizune looked at Kyou, “Rank 1 Container, do you have any objections with this decision? Is Kenji unfit for the position?”

Kyou sighed, he didn’t want a disposer partner in the first place but he couldn’t deny Kenji’s ability, “As far as physical prowess he is adequate for Rank 1.”

Seiji opened his mouth to retort but Shou quickly smacked him on the back of his head, shutting up his feeble protest.

“Then if that is settled...” Shizune waved the screen behind her from Kenji’s results to maps, charts, and figures before continuing, “While we have discovered the mazoku drug, we are still in need of subjects to expand our testing on. Therefore all of you will be on patrol in our most recent reported areas. Rank 2,” Shoutarou and Seiji tensed at her direct words, “you will investigate a direct complaint from Sector 19. Rank 3,” she looked at Ryuichi and Hiroto, “will patrol Sector 7 and make the usual rounds by the hospitals. Rank 1 will patrol Sector 12 to show our new agent the ropes,” with that, Shizune turned away and left the agents to their duties.

“What bullshit!” Seiji barked out the moment the doors closed behind Shizune, “Fuck Shizune.”

Shou shook his head, “Shizune’s just the secretary, don’t blame her...”

Kyou rolled his eyes, “You watched the same evaluation that we all did. You can’t tell me you honestly thought Rank 1 should be yours?”

“Rank 1 should have been ours,” Seiji motioned to Shou and himself, “from the start! The fact that some disposer-less hot shot gets top rank is the dumbest decision Lanse has ever made!”

Shou rubbed his temples, here we go again.

Kyou took a step toward Seiji, his temper getting the better of him, “If you want to compare our records it should be pretty clear who is the better agent between us.”

Seiji stepped forward and glared back at Kyou, “It sure is crystal clear.”

The two held the tension for several moments until they were both smacked on the back hard, “Hey, hey this is quite the welcome!” Kenji smiled broadly, “You know I’ve been here the whole time you,” he squeezed down tightly on Seiji’s shoulder, “questioned my rank.”

Kyou smacked Kenji’s hand off him, “Come on.”

Kenji gave Seiji a reassuring grin before chasing after Kyou, “Partner wait!”

Hiro walked past Seiji with Ryu close behind. Ryu mouthed at Shou to be careful. Shou sighed, “Come on Seiji. Let’s head to Sector 19.”

Sector 27 [17:00]

The room was lined with three tables centered around Hong’s screen. Arisa took her seat, “It’s unlike you to call a meeting with all three of us. Am I going on a mission??” she asked excitedly.

Aku took her own seat, “It’s about time you join the black agents-”

Keiko groaned, “Are we really going to refer to ourselves with STAM’s system?”

Hong coughed to bring their attention back to him, the white silhouetted person on the screen. They knew Hong was just on the other side of the wall where his proper office was, but it had been many years since anyone had seen him in person, “With the crisis of MS going on most of our members are working to find some sort of solution to protect the many mazoku who rely on it...”

“I guess that means there’s still no solution...” Arisa mumbled to herself softly.

Hong continued, “We need to go about collecting MS from the mazoku. Now that STAM knows how to identify mazoku from humans using the MS, we need to collect their supply to prevent any unnecessary casualties. We sent out word that people should return their MS to MRPA instead of throwing it away as a precautionary measure, but many are still using it.”

“Of course they are. If people just stop coming to work now they will be outed as a mazoku anyways- MS or no MS,” Keiko interjected.

“There’s already been a movement to evacuate the clean sectors and seek shelter here where the humans can’t touch them.” Aku added.

Hong grunted in approval, “There are some mazoku that we believe will be among the first to be tested. Mazoku that have been on STAM’s radar need to be taken care of first. 013, you will go to Sector 19 and collect from a man named Durim. He has full-bodied developments and will naturally put up a fight.”

Keiko looked at the display on her watch that showed the profile, “Roger that.”

“014 you will head to Sector 12 and collect from several registered mazoku that have yet to turn over their supply. They are of low to no risk so I decided this would be a good opportunity for 00 to join since her evaluation for promotion is coming up.”

“Joining the top ranks at last,” Aku teased.

Arisa tensed but stayed determined. I can do this.