Firstly first, I want to thank my teacher here who corrected mah bad English, yo. Like, it was really nice!
Something else
Mike was the new helicopter pilot, his employer personally came to hire him. The thirty-year-old man first thought it was a joke, nobody would claim to run a bounty hunting business.
The pretty lady said that she would pay him good money for each delivery he'd do for her, and to show how serious she was, she gave him a flyer for the organisation. Unlike that director, the flyer was drab and appealing.
"Got bored of your life? Need money? Rejected by the society? The Order will accept you and make you someone new! Friendly faces and a huge sense of community await you in the Order!"
There was a minute footnote saying:
"To join, wait for the phone call and follow the instructions."
Mike Blake was a former military pilot and when his duty was over, he had become unemployed, living from part-time jobs here and there. When the woman came to him, he was surprised by her offer, but he was in need of a steady job as he couldn't pay his rent anymore. His apartment was small, dirty and a strange smell had invaded the main room. Blake decided to join the Order, he shaved his beard, tidied his hair and put on his nicest suit.
“You don't have to be so formal.” The director said as Mike entered the office.
“I thought I should make a good impression for the job.”
“Don't worry about that, when I hire someone, they aren't always wealthy. Well, I'm glad that you accepted my offer. I'm sure you'll like it.” The director continued whilst handing a sheet of paper to the freshly employed man.
Rider on the storms
Rider on the storms
Into this house we're born
Into this world we're thrown
Like a dog without a bone
An actor on the loan
Rider on the storms
The song from The Doors was playing in the chopper. It was the fifth mission Mike had done, he was now flying over a huge desert. His package was a squad of six bounty hunters, who were well equipped. The team was composed of a Mexican who carried a DShK as well as six grenades, two Americans each carrying an M16 and some flash-bangs, a Japanese woman carrying a Japanese sword and a pair of Spanish twins who were more about technology. Andrew, the American, was head-banging slightly to the song, tapping out the rhythm with his foot. Juan the Spanish guy was reading his new magazine on innovative technologies.
“It's been a nice contract, hasn't it, guys?” Andrew asked out loud.
“Can't believe that drug lord was actually a seventy-year-old guy. Like, he died from a heart attack before I could shoot him.” Valentine the other American replied.
Mike was looking at the horizon when he got shot in the shoulder, he quickly held it as a reflex before the helicopter was shot down by an ambushing RPG which hit the tail of the vehicle. They went down in a spiral and crashed into a soft dune.
“Damn it! Snow is down! Shit! The pilot too!” screamed Valentine “We gotta get outta here!”
The surviving crew left the damaged helicopter in a hurry, quickly coming under heavy fire, being forced to take cover. As they didn't know where to aim, they shot in every direction, hoping to suppress the enemy. A sharpshooter shut them down for good. The attackers advanced to make sure every one of the bounty hunters was killed, the chopper exploded at that moment.
“Lucius, they’re all dead. The boss can now rest in peace. We're heading back to base. Over.”
Snow waited for the enemies to go before getting up. She had buried Mike and herself under some sand to hide from the drug lord's minions. Mike was alive, he was just shocked and his ribs hurt like hell. His face was covered in his own blood and the sand stuck to it. The woman was bleeding from her head but didn't look like she was in pain, in fact, she looked focused.
“Thanks, but what do we do now? I don't even know where we are…”
She pulled out her smartphone but there was no signal. She looked disappointed, but she was at least relieved that it was still working. A smile formed on her face when she saw a picture on her phone.
“Earth to Snow, Mike needs your assistance.”
She put away her phone and looked at the horizon, then at Mike. She silently took out some surgical tools and the man stepped back.
“Hey! What are you going to do with those?”
She knocked him out with a well placed kick, then proceeded to heal the pilot with what she had with her. After the operation, she dragged him out of the baking sun. When he came to, they were in the shadow of a dune. Mike's head was still hurting, but other than that, his body was in a better shape. He saw Snow sitting not so far to him, she was holding her legs close to her chest and was looking aimlessly to the horizon. He decided to check on her later. His pockets contained a deck of cards, some cigarettes and a lighter, those things weren't useful for their survival, but Mike decided to light a cig. After one breath of smoke, he turned to the woman and offered one.
“Wanna smoke?”
She shook her head, no.
“You aren't the talkative type, huh? So… Snow, right? You're from the land of the rising sun, that right? Bet you live a crazy life there, huh?” Mike said to her, but it was mainly to keep him relaxed.
She shook her head, a "kinda, yes". After finishing his cig, they continued to walk for a time. They didn't have much on them, some bottles of water, some snacks, a rifle and a pistol, some poison, a knife, ammo and Mike's stuff. Walking was a nightmare, the heat was too much and Blake had to drink a bottle of water one hour later. Snow was, unlike him, quite at ease, she was even humming a song from time to time. The man had to admit she had a pretty voice, he thought that if she didn't talk a lot is because she didn't want to waste her voice.
“Oh god! How do you keep calm like that?!” He shouted and panted.
“Huh?” She asked as she took out one of her earplugs.
“You were listening to music this entire time?!”
She nodded.
After a few hours, they found an oasis which was already being invaded by the desert, next to it was an abandoned nomad camp, a tent and some empty crates were abandoned, as if they left in a hurry, but there was no need to investigate that question. They took shelter in the tent and tried to regain their energy. As Mike was exploring the oasis, he almost fell into a bear trap. “Damn! That was close!”
He took a stick and activated the trap. The oasis had some bananas left and drinkable water, enough to replenish their livestock. The evening became cool , then the night cold. Mike made a fire with some planks from the crates and his lighter. He then sat next to Snow who was staring at the fire.
“Hello? Anybody there?” He asked her as he shook his hand in front of her face.
She had spaced out. She was thinking of her parents and friends, she felt lonely. She hugged her legs with a sad face.
“Hello?” He kept asking.
“Why do we live here?” She asked.
“Say what?”
“I said, why do we all live here? What's the point of living? Why do we keep living?”
“So... you're being melancholic?”
She kept silent and continued to stare at the fire. The wood was cracking and the flames were dancing in an hypnotic way. Mike fell asleep in the tent, he had a dreamless night. When he woke up, he found Snow playing with the sand with her bare feet, she didn't notice the man watching her with a tired look.
“Yo, how come you're so calm in this situation?”
“This isn't my first time, I'm used to harsh condition.”
“That's all? Not something like, my dad trained me to become a super assassin and my uncle trained me to become a commando at the age of twelve?”
“That would be pointless, plus, my dad was absent for twelve years until I found out that he was a bounty hunter and that he had a girlfriend and an adopted daughter. So... I'm not in good term with my father. Anyway, I shouldn't talk too much about me, someone might just explain it later.”
He shrugged and went to the small well to drink some water. He noticed something in the bottom of it, something shiny. He tried to get it by moving the bucket under it but without success. He then felt a hand on his shoulder, he only had the time to turn his head before he got punched in the face and fell into the well. He heard some screams and a gun being fired. The shiny object was a knife, a carambit one. He hid his new weapon in his sock, and used the rope to climb out of the pit. The sun almost blinded him, making him put his hand in front of his eyes for a moment.
“Go to hell!” Someone screamed.
Someone else laughed maniacally, someone really crazy.
“This is hell! I am hell!”
Mike found out that it was a man wearing a golden emotionless mask who was talking. That man was taller than the pilot and the bounty hunter, he was wearing black clothes with pockets and weapons like a commando. The attacker had his back turned to the pilot but he turned to Mike as he got out of the well.
“Still alive, huh? Of course, who would have died from that! Come at me, bro!”
The man was shot in his back, Snow shot three more times but the man was still standing even if he was bleeding badly.
“You can't kill hell! He yelled with a hysterical laugh. Not even the gods could!”
He took his knife and cut his throat but didn't die. He threw the knife in front of Mike and showed him that he could take it. He then faced Snow.
“Your father is a nice guy, right? Gonna see if you're as good as your daddy. Come at me, bro!” He said, doing a Hakka.
The bounty huntress shot him several times in the chest but the attacker didn't react to the impacts. Mike was frightened by the sight and took cover behind the well. The invincible opponent took a knife held on his left arm and began his attack. Swing left. Snow dodged. Swing to the right. She got cut on the forearms as she tried to block the hit. One foot kick in the stomach and she fell back.
“Come on! You can do better than that!” He said as she got her balance back.
“Shut up.”
She threw a right kick followed by a left then a right uppercut . Her opponent blocked them with ease, laughing. She struck his scrotum with her palm of the hand, the man stepped back. Snow swept his leg and he fell to the ground. She jumped and landed with her knee on his throat.
“Euargh!”
She gave him an elbow to the head, knocking him out. Mike clapped her performance and gave her the knife he found. She stabbed it in the attacker's heart without hesitation, but he just laughed and got up.
“You're heartless. Well, I guess you passed. Here's something to give to your boss.”
He removed his golden mask, but turned into ashes before anyone could see his face. Mike went to take the object, it was lighter than he expected. Snow decided to treat her wounds and let him do whatever he was doing. Something pushed Mike to put on the mask and he did. He felt something dark invading him. He took it off, as he felt like he was suffocating. He found himself in the middle of nowhere wearing nothing but some sort of black goo.
“What in the...?”
“Look who fucked up. Hello, Mike Blake. It's been a while now, three months now?” A feminine voice said.
“Who's there?”
“My god, you don't remember who your boss is?”
The pretty lady was sitting on a wooden folding chair, reading a science magazine, wearing a large white hat and sunglasses.
“Where am I?”
“You don't know? We're in South Africa. You travelled about a hundred kilometres. You're quite good at traveling long distances. By the way, Snow is on her way to kill you. I guess talking about killing everyone is a touchy subject for her. Anyway, you should prepare yourself because she's ready to kill you.”
“Wait, why don't you tell her that it wasn't me?”
The lady stood up and faced him. She looked ageless and yet, there was an aura of security around her, the same aura of elderly people. She took the mask and put it on.
“You should go now, she's almost here.”
She vanished like the immortal man from before. Mike cursed her for not helping him then began to run, run for his life. He managed to find a shelter in the ruins of an old oasis, deserted because of the advancement of the sand which had covered and destroyed almost every building. There was nothing left but empty wooden furniture. The fleeing tried to sleep in a bedroom but couldn't find any sleep, instead he remembered the time when, as a kid, he acted as if he was James Bond.
“God damn it!” He said with a groan.
Snow appeared in the door, she watched him silently, but with disgust.
“Oh shit! I can explain! It wasn't my fault! It was the mask!”
Five silent and obnoxious minutes passed by without a word being said. The woman rubbed her rear with a disgusted face.
“Er… what happened?”
“You rammed my arse. When you said bottoms up, I didn't understand something like that. You disgust me.”
“Wait what?! The boss told me that I said stuff like killing everyone!” Snow lifted an eyebrow.
“Oh really? If you ever said something like that, you wouldn't be alive as we speak. And by the way, if I chased you it's because you wanted to fuck my sister in a threesome with some dude. Like, what the actual fuck? Don't talk about someone's sister like that! That's, like, disgusting as fuck!”
Mike chuckled.
“Look who's being talkative all of a sudden. And I didn't know you had a sister! It was the mask who made me say those things.”
“You didn't wear any mask.” She replied angrily.
“God damn it! I swear that it wasn't me. I wore the mask and it took control of my body!”
“If that's the case, where's the mask now, huh?”
Mike gulped as he remembered that his employer took the object from him. At this rate, he would be thought to be complete liar and Snow would surely punish him if not kill him. He looked a bit embarrassed and the woman understood that something was off.
“You don't have it, do you?”
“No…”
Snow sighed turning her back to him.
“Don't tell me, miss Brown took it from you? I knew that something wasn't right. You should be glad that I understand it very easily. We've all been through it. Anyway, we should head to the extraction point, now that I found you.”
“Wait… you weren't supposed to kill me as a revenge or something?”
“What?! No!”
The man later found out that his boss was often messing with her new employees as a test of determination. When he got back to the main headquarters of the Order, he had to meet his employer at her personal office. He discovered one lady sitting in a big leather chair behind a oak desk with two stacks of papers on it.
“Welcome, bienvenu, Welkom, Wilkom! How was your trip? Good?”
“Hello, miss. I've heard that you wanted to see me, right?”
“Exactly! Come on, take a seat. Want some tea? Coffee? Wanna smoke? Cigar? Cigarette? Don't be shy! I won't bite.”
The man felt obliged and asked for a coffee which he got immediately from a coffee machine standing in the room.
“So, what do you want to discuss? Politics? Economy? Science? Sex?”
“Well, erm… I though that you wanted to see me for something…”
“At least I tried. She said with a smile. So, I wanted to talk to you in a professional way. You've succeeded in your mission. Now, I want to know everything about you. Your age, you address, your skills, your studies. Everything.”
Mike told her everything she wanted, even his past alcohol addiction. She seemed pleased as she was filling in a file about him. Once done, she pushed the 'enter' button of the keyboard.
“Good, very good. You're now a fully employed man of the Order. You will be moved to one of the offices near your region. You'll be delivering materials most of the time. When needed, you'll be transporting people like in your early missions. You can call me anytime, whether you need help or someone to talk to.”
He frowned.
“Are all your employees treated like that?”
“Yes. No exception. But I have to put you in Section New World, since you've experienced something supernatural.”
Somehow the discussion ended there and Mike found himself in his apartment without understanding what happened, he was standing in front of his door with luggage at his feet. A strong man stood outside of Blake's housing.
“Ready to go, sir?”
“Er… yes, I guess?”
Something else
Mike was the new helicopter pilot, his employer personally came to hire him. The thirty-year-old man first thought it was a joke, nobody would claim to run a bounty hunting business.
The pretty lady said that she would pay him good money for each delivery he'd do for her, and to show how serious she was, she gave him a flyer for the organisation. Unlike that director, the flyer was drab and appealing.
"Got bored of your life? Need money? Rejected by the society? The Order will accept you and make you someone new! Friendly faces and a huge sense of community await you in the Order!"
There was a minute footnote saying:
"To join, wait for the phone call and follow the instructions."
Mike Blake was a former military pilot and when his duty was over, he had become unemployed, living from part-time jobs here and there. When the woman came to him, he was surprised by her offer, but he was in need of a steady job as he couldn't pay his rent anymore. His apartment was small, dirty and a strange smell had invaded the main room. Blake decided to join the Order, he shaved his beard, tidied his hair and put on his nicest suit.
“You don't have to be so formal.” The director said as Mike entered the office.
“I thought I should make a good impression for the job.”
“Don't worry about that, when I hire someone, they aren't always wealthy. Well, I'm glad that you accepted my offer. I'm sure you'll like it.” The director continued whilst handing a sheet of paper to the freshly employed man.
Rider on the storms
Rider on the storms
Into this house we're born
Into this world we're thrown
Like a dog without a bone
An actor on the loan
Rider on the storms
The song from The Doors was playing in the chopper. It was the fifth mission Mike had done, he was now flying over a huge desert. His package was a squad of six bounty hunters, who were well equipped. The team was composed of a Mexican who carried a DShK as well as six grenades, two Americans each carrying an M16 and some flash-bangs, a Japanese woman carrying a Japanese sword and a pair of Spanish twins who were more about technology. Andrew, the American, was head-banging slightly to the song, tapping out the rhythm with his foot. Juan the Spanish guy was reading his new magazine on innovative technologies.
“It's been a nice contract, hasn't it, guys?” Andrew asked out loud.
“Can't believe that drug lord was actually a seventy-year-old guy. Like, he died from a heart attack before I could shoot him.” Valentine the other American replied.
Mike was looking at the horizon when he got shot in the shoulder, he quickly held it as a reflex before the helicopter was shot down by an ambushing RPG which hit the tail of the vehicle. They went down in a spiral and crashed into a soft dune.
“Damn it! Snow is down! Shit! The pilot too!” screamed Valentine “We gotta get outta here!”
The surviving crew left the damaged helicopter in a hurry, quickly coming under heavy fire, being forced to take cover. As they didn't know where to aim, they shot in every direction, hoping to suppress the enemy. A sharpshooter shut them down for good. The attackers advanced to make sure every one of the bounty hunters was killed, the chopper exploded at that moment.
“Lucius, they’re all dead. The boss can now rest in peace. We're heading back to base. Over.”
Snow waited for the enemies to go before getting up. She had buried Mike and herself under some sand to hide from the drug lord's minions. Mike was alive, he was just shocked and his ribs hurt like hell. His face was covered in his own blood and the sand stuck to it. The woman was bleeding from her head but didn't look like she was in pain, in fact, she looked focused.
“Thanks, but what do we do now? I don't even know where we are…”
She pulled out her smartphone but there was no signal. She looked disappointed, but she was at least relieved that it was still working. A smile formed on her face when she saw a picture on her phone.
“Earth to Snow, Mike needs your assistance.”
She put away her phone and looked at the horizon, then at Mike. She silently took out some surgical tools and the man stepped back.
“Hey! What are you going to do with those?”
She knocked him out with a well placed kick, then proceeded to heal the pilot with what she had with her. After the operation, she dragged him out of the baking sun. When he came to, they were in the shadow of a dune. Mike's head was still hurting, but other than that, his body was in a better shape. He saw Snow sitting not so far to him, she was holding her legs close to her chest and was looking aimlessly to the horizon. He decided to check on her later. His pockets contained a deck of cards, some cigarettes and a lighter, those things weren't useful for their survival, but Mike decided to light a cig. After one breath of smoke, he turned to the woman and offered one.
“Wanna smoke?”
She shook her head, no.
“You aren't the talkative type, huh? So… Snow, right? You're from the land of the rising sun, that right? Bet you live a crazy life there, huh?” Mike said to her, but it was mainly to keep him relaxed.
She shook her head, a "kinda, yes". After finishing his cig, they continued to walk for a time. They didn't have much on them, some bottles of water, some snacks, a rifle and a pistol, some poison, a knife, ammo and Mike's stuff. Walking was a nightmare, the heat was too much and Blake had to drink a bottle of water one hour later. Snow was, unlike him, quite at ease, she was even humming a song from time to time. The man had to admit she had a pretty voice, he thought that if she didn't talk a lot is because she didn't want to waste her voice.
“Oh god! How do you keep calm like that?!” He shouted and panted.
“Huh?” She asked as she took out one of her earplugs.
“You were listening to music this entire time?!”
She nodded.
After a few hours, they found an oasis which was already being invaded by the desert, next to it was an abandoned nomad camp, a tent and some empty crates were abandoned, as if they left in a hurry, but there was no need to investigate that question. They took shelter in the tent and tried to regain their energy. As Mike was exploring the oasis, he almost fell into a bear trap. “Damn! That was close!”
He took a stick and activated the trap. The oasis had some bananas left and drinkable water, enough to replenish their livestock. The evening became cool , then the night cold. Mike made a fire with some planks from the crates and his lighter. He then sat next to Snow who was staring at the fire.
“Hello? Anybody there?” He asked her as he shook his hand in front of her face.
She had spaced out. She was thinking of her parents and friends, she felt lonely. She hugged her legs with a sad face.
“Hello?” He kept asking.
“Why do we live here?” She asked.
“Say what?”
“I said, why do we all live here? What's the point of living? Why do we keep living?”
“So... you're being melancholic?”
She kept silent and continued to stare at the fire. The wood was cracking and the flames were dancing in an hypnotic way. Mike fell asleep in the tent, he had a dreamless night. When he woke up, he found Snow playing with the sand with her bare feet, she didn't notice the man watching her with a tired look.
“Yo, how come you're so calm in this situation?”
“This isn't my first time, I'm used to harsh condition.”
“That's all? Not something like, my dad trained me to become a super assassin and my uncle trained me to become a commando at the age of twelve?”
“That would be pointless, plus, my dad was absent for twelve years until I found out that he was a bounty hunter and that he had a girlfriend and an adopted daughter. So... I'm not in good term with my father. Anyway, I shouldn't talk too much about me, someone might just explain it later.”
He shrugged and went to the small well to drink some water. He noticed something in the bottom of it, something shiny. He tried to get it by moving the bucket under it but without success. He then felt a hand on his shoulder, he only had the time to turn his head before he got punched in the face and fell into the well. He heard some screams and a gun being fired. The shiny object was a knife, a carambit one. He hid his new weapon in his sock, and used the rope to climb out of the pit. The sun almost blinded him, making him put his hand in front of his eyes for a moment.
“Go to hell!” Someone screamed.
Someone else laughed maniacally, someone really crazy.
“This is hell! I am hell!”
Mike found out that it was a man wearing a golden emotionless mask who was talking. That man was taller than the pilot and the bounty hunter, he was wearing black clothes with pockets and weapons like a commando. The attacker had his back turned to the pilot but he turned to Mike as he got out of the well.
“Still alive, huh? Of course, who would have died from that! Come at me, bro!”
The man was shot in his back, Snow shot three more times but the man was still standing even if he was bleeding badly.
“You can't kill hell! He yelled with a hysterical laugh. Not even the gods could!”
He took his knife and cut his throat but didn't die. He threw the knife in front of Mike and showed him that he could take it. He then faced Snow.
“Your father is a nice guy, right? Gonna see if you're as good as your daddy. Come at me, bro!” He said, doing a Hakka.
The bounty huntress shot him several times in the chest but the attacker didn't react to the impacts. Mike was frightened by the sight and took cover behind the well. The invincible opponent took a knife held on his left arm and began his attack. Swing left. Snow dodged. Swing to the right. She got cut on the forearms as she tried to block the hit. One foot kick in the stomach and she fell back.
“Come on! You can do better than that!” He said as she got her balance back.
“Shut up.”
She threw a right kick followed by a left then a right uppercut . Her opponent blocked them with ease, laughing. She struck his scrotum with her palm of the hand, the man stepped back. Snow swept his leg and he fell to the ground. She jumped and landed with her knee on his throat.
“Euargh!”
She gave him an elbow to the head, knocking him out. Mike clapped her performance and gave her the knife he found. She stabbed it in the attacker's heart without hesitation, but he just laughed and got up.
“You're heartless. Well, I guess you passed. Here's something to give to your boss.”
He removed his golden mask, but turned into ashes before anyone could see his face. Mike went to take the object, it was lighter than he expected. Snow decided to treat her wounds and let him do whatever he was doing. Something pushed Mike to put on the mask and he did. He felt something dark invading him. He took it off, as he felt like he was suffocating. He found himself in the middle of nowhere wearing nothing but some sort of black goo.
“What in the...?”
“Look who fucked up. Hello, Mike Blake. It's been a while now, three months now?” A feminine voice said.
“Who's there?”
“My god, you don't remember who your boss is?”
The pretty lady was sitting on a wooden folding chair, reading a science magazine, wearing a large white hat and sunglasses.
“Where am I?”
“You don't know? We're in South Africa. You travelled about a hundred kilometres. You're quite good at traveling long distances. By the way, Snow is on her way to kill you. I guess talking about killing everyone is a touchy subject for her. Anyway, you should prepare yourself because she's ready to kill you.”
“Wait, why don't you tell her that it wasn't me?”
The lady stood up and faced him. She looked ageless and yet, there was an aura of security around her, the same aura of elderly people. She took the mask and put it on.
“You should go now, she's almost here.”
She vanished like the immortal man from before. Mike cursed her for not helping him then began to run, run for his life. He managed to find a shelter in the ruins of an old oasis, deserted because of the advancement of the sand which had covered and destroyed almost every building. There was nothing left but empty wooden furniture. The fleeing tried to sleep in a bedroom but couldn't find any sleep, instead he remembered the time when, as a kid, he acted as if he was James Bond.
“God damn it!” He said with a groan.
Snow appeared in the door, she watched him silently, but with disgust.
“Oh shit! I can explain! It wasn't my fault! It was the mask!”
Five silent and obnoxious minutes passed by without a word being said. The woman rubbed her rear with a disgusted face.
“Er… what happened?”
“You rammed my arse. When you said bottoms up, I didn't understand something like that. You disgust me.”
“Wait what?! The boss told me that I said stuff like killing everyone!” Snow lifted an eyebrow.
“Oh really? If you ever said something like that, you wouldn't be alive as we speak. And by the way, if I chased you it's because you wanted to fuck my sister in a threesome with some dude. Like, what the actual fuck? Don't talk about someone's sister like that! That's, like, disgusting as fuck!”
Mike chuckled.
“Look who's being talkative all of a sudden. And I didn't know you had a sister! It was the mask who made me say those things.”
“You didn't wear any mask.” She replied angrily.
“God damn it! I swear that it wasn't me. I wore the mask and it took control of my body!”
“If that's the case, where's the mask now, huh?”
Mike gulped as he remembered that his employer took the object from him. At this rate, he would be thought to be complete liar and Snow would surely punish him if not kill him. He looked a bit embarrassed and the woman understood that something was off.
“You don't have it, do you?”
“No…”
Snow sighed turning her back to him.
“Don't tell me, miss Brown took it from you? I knew that something wasn't right. You should be glad that I understand it very easily. We've all been through it. Anyway, we should head to the extraction point, now that I found you.”
“Wait… you weren't supposed to kill me as a revenge or something?”
“What?! No!”
The man later found out that his boss was often messing with her new employees as a test of determination. When he got back to the main headquarters of the Order, he had to meet his employer at her personal office. He discovered one lady sitting in a big leather chair behind a oak desk with two stacks of papers on it.
“Welcome, bienvenu, Welkom, Wilkom! How was your trip? Good?”
“Hello, miss. I've heard that you wanted to see me, right?”
“Exactly! Come on, take a seat. Want some tea? Coffee? Wanna smoke? Cigar? Cigarette? Don't be shy! I won't bite.”
The man felt obliged and asked for a coffee which he got immediately from a coffee machine standing in the room.
“So, what do you want to discuss? Politics? Economy? Science? Sex?”
“Well, erm… I though that you wanted to see me for something…”
“At least I tried. She said with a smile. So, I wanted to talk to you in a professional way. You've succeeded in your mission. Now, I want to know everything about you. Your age, you address, your skills, your studies. Everything.”
Mike told her everything she wanted, even his past alcohol addiction. She seemed pleased as she was filling in a file about him. Once done, she pushed the 'enter' button of the keyboard.
“Good, very good. You're now a fully employed man of the Order. You will be moved to one of the offices near your region. You'll be delivering materials most of the time. When needed, you'll be transporting people like in your early missions. You can call me anytime, whether you need help or someone to talk to.”
He frowned.
“Are all your employees treated like that?”
“Yes. No exception. But I have to put you in Section New World, since you've experienced something supernatural.”
Somehow the discussion ended there and Mike found himself in his apartment without understanding what happened, he was standing in front of his door with luggage at his feet. A strong man stood outside of Blake's housing.
“Ready to go, sir?”
“Er… yes, I guess?”
Let's see the bright sight of this world!