“Thanks for hiring our Office,” Emilio said to his current client, a pair of women who simply wanted to get from one side of town to another. They were leaving the Backstreets for a Nest, lucky them, they’d never have to come back here. Now Emilio was seeing them off at a WARP Train. “Hope you enjoy your time in a Nest. Be sure to put in a good word for me, I might finally get that promotion to Grade 8 if you do.”

  “Will do.” One of the women said. The announcement for boarding called out. “Ah, that’s our turn. See ya.” With that the two departed, getting on the WARP Train. This is the same station that Emilio used to arrive here, when he came here from District 22. That wasn’t even that long ago but it felt like forever ago. That being said, he hated the WARP trains. He didn’t know why, he had only ridden them twice. But both times, he felt sick to his stomach in the ten seconds they took, no matter how he was felt when he got on. Maybe it had to do something with the jump.

  That was when he got a call. Picking up his cell, he answered. “Heidi?” he asked, already knowing it was her.

  “Uh, yeah… You might want to haul your ass back.” She said.

  “What? Why? Is the Office under attack?” He asked, already walking faster.

  “Nope. But there is someone here looking to join.” She said. “Join the Office that is. You’re the boss so I figure you have to be here for that.”

  “Then go through the paper work and tell them I’ll be over in a bit, I’m all the way at the WARP station, just a few blocks away.” He said, looking up at the blue lights of W Corp’s Nest. The station was right on the border between it and the Backstreets. A bunch of W Corp’s staff was stationed around the area to keep any Backstreet’s resident from sneaking on the train or into the Nest or anybody from attacking the boarders. The majority of people getting off were going for the Nest, but a few reluctantly staggered to the Backstreets; he briefly wondered who would willingly take a WARP Train to the Backstreets. Then he remembered: Oh yeah, I did.

  “This person is a bit weird, but alright, I’ll do my best.” Heidi said, before she hung up.

  A bit weird? What did that even mean? Isn’t everyone a bit weird? It wasn’t long before Emilio finally made it back; he took a more dangerous shortcut that he couldn’t have taken if he had people with him. Although, he didn’t end up fighting anyone on his way. “Alright, who is the-” He cut himself off, seeing them. “-Newbie…”

  The person sitting in the waiting room looked up at him. They dressed in a long sleeved white smock, sleeves so long that they extended past her hands. The smock was stained with dried blood and dirt, causing Emilio to make a mental note to buff this place out with a sponge later. But the smock wasn’t the weird part about them. They wore a large cartoon bear mask that covered her entire head; like something a sport mascot would wear. Its large googly eyes staring in different directions, its small pink tongue hung out the side of its small fake snout. The girl in the bear mask silently stared at him, tilting her head to the side like a curious dog.

  “Just wait there, kid.” He said, he didn’t know her age, he only calling her kid due to her small size. While she was sitting down and her mask gave a bit of height to her, she was easily below 5 feet tall. This place better not turn into a babysitter job. Emilio walked into the main Office. “So I have no idea how to hire new people, but it isn’t too difficult right… So who is that person? She isn’t one of the Musicians, right? I know that they wore masks like that.”

  “I don’t think so. The Musicians of Bremen kind of fell apart after the disappearance of their leaders with the whole Distortion thing. I never heard about them having a bear in their group; what sound would a bear even make?” She said, peaking over at the girl, who was sitting politely. “It’s kinda cute, to be honest.”

  “That ax probably isn’t for show though.” He said, noticing the hatchet at her hip. “Did she give a name?”

  “Nope. She just walked in, said she wanted to join, and didn’t really go into why or who she was and what experience she had- Ah!” Heidi suddenly jumped in surprise.

  Emilio looked over and realized the girl was standing next to them all of a sudden, causing him to also jolt in fright. She was way too close, personal space clearly meant nothing to her. Neither of them heard her approach or her open the door. “Don’t sneak up on me like that…” He said. If she had any intent to kill, he’d be dead.

  “Oliver.” She said.

  “Oliver?” Heidi asked.

  “My name is Oliver. Nowhere to go.” She said, pointing at herself. Then, she pointed at Emilio and Heidi, “Want to join here. Become a Fixer. Grade 9.”

  “I see. That’s one of the most common reasons for becoming a Fixer.” Emilio nodded. “At least we answered two of those questions. But what about your experience? You should at least have some skill in combat.”

  “Also your age. No offense, but you don’t even look old enough to buy cigarettes.” Heidi commented. She also wanted to ask what the deal with the mask was, but really, there were people all over the City who were just weird like that.

  “21.” She answered. That meant she was 1 year older than the minimum age for being a Fixer. “Was Butcher before. Now want to fix.”

  “Butcher…” Emilio’s heart sank. “As in, that kind of Butcher?”

  “Is that a problem?” Oliver asked, innocently. The two’s eyes were drawn to the other object she carried with her. A small plastic case, that made the unmistakable sound of ice rattling around when it moved. It smelled vaguely meaty.

  Heidi and Emilio stared at each other. Well, they were expecting they would get someone like this eventually coming through their door. That’s when Heidi put on a smile. “Uh, Oliver? Why don’t you go back into the waiting room so we can discuss this, alright.” The tone she used was one that she normally reserved for children. Even though Oliver was by no means a child, she certainly looked like one, especially when wearing that mask.

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  Oliver walked out, back to the waiting room. At least she was compliant.

  “Right then…” Emilio said, “So what do you think?”

  “I don’t know how comfortable I am working with someone who eats human flesh. What if she wants to eat us?” Heidi said. She rubbed her left arm, with all 4 of her limbs being artificial, she didn’t exactly have much meat on her.

  “That’s what you’re hung up on? Didn’t you say you ate human flesh in the past?”

  “Not by choice! It was a Prescript!”

  “…And there is the punishment for disobeying a Prescript, I know. At least you don’t have to do that anymore…”

  Heidi nodded.

  “Back on topic… I think we can give her a chance. I think if she tries to kill us, we can both take her.” Emilio crossed his arms, shrugging. “We’ll run a background check on her and see if she has anything. But as far as I know, she’s just a run of the mill Butcher. The road ahead is gonna be a meat grinder, so we’ll need all the help we can get.”

  “Does your grandmother have some quote for this?”

  “Nothing I can think of right now.” he said, as he walked over to the waiting room. Something smelled sweet. That’s when he noticed that Oliver was now sitting on the floor of the waiting room, with a portable stove, cooking the meat that was in her cooler. “…Why…” He said, looking down at the masked girl, not even phased. “Alright, Oliver, come with us. We’ll do a little background check on you and get you your uniform.” He pointed to the main Office, inviting her back in.

  Heidi, not wanting to just stand there, turned around, back to Oliver, and pointed to the Office’s logo that was emblazoned on the back.

  Heidi got up, turning off her stove, and placing it on one of the chairs and walked in.

  “Please don’t eat that in front of me.” Emilio mumbled.

  Oliver, of course being a good girl, didn’t eat the meat in front of him. She ate it behind him when Heidi and Emilio weren’t looking, at the cost of them missing out on seeing what her face looks like. Emilio hated how good the meat smelled.

  The background check was a bit difficult, not just due to Oliver’s unique speech quirk, but due to her also not having any paper work on her. That was fine. Paperwork, ID cards, those were things that Nest dwellers had the privilege of. Here in the Backstreets, you weren’t expected to even have a driver’s license when going out for drinks.

  “So a Butcher.” Emilio said, “That means that you must’ve met the Eight Chefs right? Not saying every chef around here has met them, but have you met them?”

  “The Eight Chefs are dead.” Oliver said.

  “Yes, I know, but have you met them?”

  “Once. Didn’t talk to them. But was in the same room as 2 of them.” She said. “Went to the Library, with friends, came back. Things weren’t the same. Came here.” She paused, “Sorry. Don’t like talking. But I like food and fighting. Are we finished yet?”

  That certainly made things more complicated… This was the first time he met anyone who had been to the Library, she certainly treated being turned into a book and then spat back out like it was just another day in the City; which when you think about it, it really was just another day in the City. He and Heidi even considered going to it, back in their original groups, but maybe it was for the best that they didn’t.

  “Alright, if you don’t like talking, you can just nod.” Emilio said.

  Oliver nodded.

  “Let me see if I have everything. You were a Butcher, you weren’t associated with the Eight Chefs but your group was big enough to have them stop by your place. You went to the Library looking for… Whatever, then you died there, got turned into a book, were in stasis for that entire time, then you became one of the many people to get plonked back into the City.

  Oliver nodded the whole time.

  “Well, guess that was easy. Just one more thing. There is a group around here, the Musicians of Bremen. They all wear animal masks, not that different than the one you have. Clearly you aren’t from them, but I’m curious-”

  “What the hell is with the mask?” Heidi said interrupting. “It is kinda cute, I’ll admit!” She said, sounding genuine.

  “It’s comfy.” Oliver said, “I don’t like talking, sorry.”

  “Can you take it off for us? We’d like to know what you look like before we get to know you.” He said.

  “Em, you’re terrible at talking with kids, let me handle it.” Heidi scolded her boss.

  “She isn’t a kid though!”

  Without a word, though, Oliver complied and removed the mask, putting it down on the desk in front of her. She was a youthful looking girl. Blonde hair that was tied in a pair of small pigtails, freckles covering her face, and tired looking eyes. Her teeth were filed down into fangs.

  The two Fixers stared at her. That’s one mystery solved. The person underneath the mask is just a normal looking girl with sharp teeth. Kind of disappointing.

  Then, she put the mask back on. “I have more masks. Is a bear okay?”

  “Yeah, it’s fine, don’t worry.” Emilio said, holding his hand out. “Welcome to Runaway Office.” That was a simple application. Things were gonna get more difficult with the application process as they grew bigger and bigger. But for now, they’d settle with someone just walking in and asking to join. Oliver grabbed his hand, causing him to gasp when he noticed how damn strong her grip was. For someone so tiny, her grip felt as strong as the animal her mask was based on. Her couldn’t even break free until she let go, ending the handshake.

  “You okay, boss?” Oliver asked, tilting her head.

  “Yeah, uh… Damn, that’s a grip.” He said, laughing nervously. Maybe she wasn’t all show. Heidi tapped on his shoulder.

  “Hey, Emilio, looks like we got a new job coming in.” She said, holding up at PDA that they got their Contracts off of. It was normally used to take Open Contracts. Heidi grinned, “Talk about timing, huh? Looks like we’re gonna take the new kid for a spin.”

  Emilio looked to Oliver, who was kicking her feet in her chair, “Ready for some field work? You just have to nod, don’t worry.”

  Which is just what she did, standing up, adjusting her mask.

  “Who’s the Contract from?” He asked Heidi, who was busy staring at the PDA.

  “A workshop it looks like. Uh, Cacao Workshop? I’ve never heard of them, since they mostly do cooking tools.” She said, scrolling through the details; thank goodness this info was trustworthy. In the back of the Office, Oliver was looking through the uniforms. “It’s a rescue mission… They used the Seven Association to find their target and now want us to rescue them.”

  “They hired the Seven to find them but not send them out?”

  “I guess they wanted to save on money. It’s cheaper to just send a local Fixer Office than get those guys to do it; but at the same time, the Seven are masters of locating people, so that cut out the hardest part. Besides, we’re gonna be up against an Urban Legend Class Syndicate, so using the Seven for that sounds like overkill.” She went to grab her sword, “Buuuut… There is something else you might like to hear. The reward.” She handed the PDA to Emilio.

  “Bunch of Ahn. Possibility of future jobs… Oh yeah, and a promotion to Grade 8.” She held up her sword, “How’s that sound?”

  Yeah, now they were speaking their language.