Arknis, as a joke, everyone would call this place ‘Purgatory’ even if technically speaking, a purgatory did exist in Arknis.

The name of the world existed before the ‘office’ and it was the Guardian God’s decision that decided to name it after the world. Nobody had ever brought up the thought of changing it to something else since the name fitted the reason why the ‘office’ even existed in the first place. It was a good enough name yet nobody’s suggestion could ever surpass this name.

White walls and floors, the lights absorbed and bounced off of the floors making it feel way brighter than it actually was. Those who had come here for the first time thought it was heaven since it fit the description of what heaven is described to be; there were some that were terrified by the sheer white, reminding them more of the sterile environment of a hospital.

For people like Amelia, who had worked for far too long here, the hue was akin to an annoying old friend. She hated being here, but it was so familiar that it was comforting, even if it meant having to put up with some particularities that came with them.

Arknis would never quiet down during work hours — frantic footsteps, rustling of paperwork, long conversations about work or mundane things, shouting out orders from across the hallway as well as the occasional apology from accidentally bumping into each other. It was not completely possible to avoid accidents, especially when it involved too many workers that were demihumans with varying traits.

Luckily the doors to every division were large and wide enough that there were no cases of demihumans breaking them. Although she was sure that this was only the case since there probably had been too many cases of it happening before her reign.

The usual mumbles of ‘good morning’ were thrown her way as she walked down the hallway, she either replied back or just gave a lazy wave (waving with one hand). She maneuvered herself through the crowd rather easily, not putting too much mind to the chatter happening around her. She stopped just as she reached the front of two large wooden doors, having patterns of flowers and veins etched into them.

The door swung open, her eyes immediately landed on her assistant, Diane. The white-skinned woman was standing close to her own desk, their eyes met almost immediately. Her usual polite and friendly smile greeted her just as she gave her a nod.

“Good morning, Miss Amelia.”

“Good morning to you too.”

She walked right past Diane, sitting down at her desk as her eyes glanced at the two piles of paperwork that were on it. She said nothing, though Diane still took out her notepad from her white coat. She flipped through it, then settled on today’s note that she marked down since yesterday.

She started her usual briefing. “You have two meetings today, but you aren’t required to go. And… Marcus requested to see you during lunch time.”

“Reason?”

“Classified and urgent.”

“But not so urgent to call me right into the division early in the morning.” Amelia retorted.

“Right. But I believe it would be best if you don’t keep him waiting for long.”

Her hand continued to glide through the paperwork, signing one after another, throwing the finished ones onto the growing pile on the ground. Her face remained mostly stoic but Diane saw that she saw a flash of intrigue in her eyes.

“Did he say anything else?”

“No miss, that was all he said.”

She looked up briefly, her eyebrows furrowed at that. She sighed, going back to working on her paperwork while Diane continued to rattle off whatever was left on her notebook, only the things that she needed to let Amelia know.

The office settled down to the noise of paper, pen and slow breathing. Diane’s desk was adjacent to hers and had as much paperwork piled up on her long wooden desk as Amelia’s. They went back to their usual style of doing their things on their own and only interacted with each other if necessary, or if one of them decided to take a short break.

Morning passed, the sunlight that came through the two windows on either side of Amelia’s side was much harsher. She blinked, she went through the very last paperwork on her table just as the first round of lunch time came around. The clock beside the door struck 12 p.m. just as she looked up from her desk, her eyes briefly glanced over to Diane, noting that her assistant was still absorbed in her work.

The chatter around her was much more different than earlier, now the workers were much more interested in what the canteen crew had made today as well as already making plans for what they might get up to after work. It was still packed nonetheless, she had to squeeze her way through the hallway just to get to the Surveillance and Investigation Division (S&I).

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After a quick scan from the sensor hidden above the giant metal doors, it slid open to reveal the insides of the division.

Holographic screens floating above solid blocks of metal, some integrated inside of it. Papers stacked upon each other on them, a few workers dressed in either a white trench coat or white collared shirt stand close to their own tables, whispering something amongst each other. There were much less of them at this time, though some of them still stayed behind since they had chosen to have their lunch an hour later.

And the person she was looking for immediately met eyes with her.

Marcus, dark gray-haired man with a stoic face. Some people joked that he had a ‘resting bitch face’ and honestly, she could see why they would feel that. His thinner lips formed a natural thin line, his eyes always seemed sharp yet passive, like a knife that hung up in the kitchen.

He gestured for her to follow him along, leading her to one of the few meeting rooms. She locked the door behind her, watching as his dark blue blazer swayed slightly as he placed a file on the table. He pulled out the seat as she approached, choosing to stand beside her as she looked through the file.

“Golden paper.” She murmured under her breath.

“I think you would be more surprised at what the request is.”

She clicked her tongue, her head tilted slightly as she read through the whole file carefully. There was not too much change in her facial expressions, remaining that amused interest that she had since she realized it was a request from none other than ‘Gaia’.

She closed the file as she spoke, “Well… I guess it’s good for them.”

His face scrunched just enough that she could notice it. “I’m surprised that’s the first thought that went through your head.”

She placed it back on the table, leaning back on the chair, forcing it to incline so she could stare at him comfortably.

“You already saw that phrase they used in their request.” She shrugged. “They said, ‘it’s up to you to decide the best course of action to take in this situation.’”

She snorted. “You already know what they mean whenever they use ‘best course of action’ in their requests.”

He sighed. “This isn’t just something that you could just leave it be, Amelia.”

“I’m not saying that I’m going to just leave it be.”

She gave him a light shrug, “But I’m not going to overly involve myself in something like this. It’s bad enough that someone is trying to create a God by their hands, but it’s not so bad that I will order a constant report on the progress.”

He resisted the urge to slap himself in the head, deciding to just drag his hand across it.

“You’re saying this so simply that it makes me concerned—”

“Marcus.”

He stopped as her tone shifted into something far more serious, he straightened his back, his hands resting behind his back. He could not help it, hearing that tone made him react the way a trained soldier would to the commands of their commander.

“I’m sure you know that Gaia wouldn’t just let a mere human act the way they are right now if it doesn’t benefit them in the long term.”

She sat upright on the chair, her hands interlaced and resting on the table. Her head turned slightly so she was staring right into the eyes as she talked to him. That mere aura around demanded his utmost attention, every bit of it that he could ever spare to anyone. But Amelia’s facial expressions remained neutral despite the aura around her, making the atmosphere even more tense.

“Benefit isn’t quite the right word for them…” She looked away briefly. “Goal might be a better word to describe exactly what they wanted.”

“I understand why you’re so stressed about this.” She sighed, even if she knew her words were not going to be the most comforting, she had to say it to him anyways. “But there isn’t much either of us could do aside from just letting this play out.”

“As controlled as possible, of course.” She added, which worked in easing his nerves slightly.

His tensed shoulders relaxed, but he was not completely at ease. She understood why this all would get on his nerves so easily, considering his past and all, it was natural for him to act this way towards this request. She was not as harsh as she usually would have, although she believed she had no reason to go to that extreme.

“You already have information about him?”

“All of the data currently available in the system and a little bit more.”

An amused grin appeared on her lips, making him raise an eyebrow at what she intended to do.

“Send everything into my phone. I will have a look later.”

“Understood.” He replied with a nod.

As she got up to leave, she threw him another question. “Marcus, did you want to discuss this because you were concerned at the possibility of him acting outside of what was expected of him?”

He blinked, yet that hint of surprise only flashed by his face. “Yes, I did.”

“Because the man in this case is far more unpredictable than most of the major cases I’ve ever worked on. So I can’t be so certain that everything will turn out the way it was supposed to.”

“Do you not trust me?”

Those five simple words combined into a loaded question, yet he did not have much hesitation in his reply.

“I trust you with my life. And I would continue as long as you show no signs of acting outside of what was expected of you.”

She could not help but chuckle at his response, shaking her head in the meantime. “Ah, you say that so coldly, it breaks my heart~”

Marcus did not react much to her words, just turning his attention back to whatever was already on his mind before all of this. There would never be a dull day at Arknis after all. She gave him a wave as she left the room.

“Make sure you have lunch. Your head won’t work well in an empty stomach.”

He retorted, “You should worry about yourself first before worrying about others.”