Dark Reign: Security Chief vs the World.

The common crowd that walked through the halls of the AFW staff building were a fairly uninteresting lot. Most of them were the administrative staff that basically made the entire federation keep going as well as it did. Accountants were busy at their desks, marketing specialists where all stuffed into meeting rooms explaining the next best thing for the AFW brand, and minor little merchandise minions were pouring over the roster of women, creating designs to sell and forging deals with companies to help build figures and statues. The ones out on the floor, out in the open, were staff with a wide variety of skills and talents. These were the hard workers that actually knew what they were doing and what was going on inside the company. The electricians that knew what parts were in need of replacement or repair, the maintenance that cleaned the blood off the ring and washed the combatants clothing and attire. The underpaid, worked to the bone underlings that did most of the work while the ones in charge wrote up a new hentai event and collected their million dollar checks.

So basically, business as usual.

But behind all of this hustle and bustle was the security headquarters of this massive Goliath of a company. An entire office dedicated to ensuring the safety of its employees as well as its guests. Cameras were placed in specific locations all throughout the arena, training area, and office rooms. Basically, anyplace that might have something nefarious happen had digital eyes on it. It was a fancy, pricey little set up. The problem that plagued it all was the exact same problem that infested itself in the entire federation.

The people who were working it all were completely incompetent.

Security monitors were manned by a pair guards who seemed more interested in their novels and social media then the comings and goings of faceless employees and guests. Complaints and concerns were pinned on a board anyone with a hint of curiosity could see, with full details on when, where, and who made the complaint. The equipment was state of the art, but the staff operating it could charitably be described as second rate.

Which is what made Kuro Nazaki’s job easy as she strolled into the office, her hair tied up and her suit pressed. It might have been a poor choice of attire, as she was one of the best dressed inside the security office, most simply wearing button up shirts, if even that. She usually never visited this side of the building, but her new employers seemed keen on getting this job done and out of the way.

The security office had a new head in charge. A fresh face with new ideas and likely new protocols to follow along with. It was well known at this point that the previous security chief was practically a joke in terms of his job, but he was also very popular amongst his staff and the company's crew. When he was finally let go just a month before he achieved his pension, many of his employees had a sour taste in their mouths. A poor position for the new guy to find himself in, but that wasn’t Kuro’s concern. Her job was to make sure this security chief...whoever they were, fell in line with the Blood Ties ideas for AFW’s future. By force, if necessary.

With complete ease, she walked into the office, flashing a falsified employee badge to the sleepy looking front desk attendant before walking in and snatching up a clipboard. Without skipping a beat, she ripped off a handful of complaints from the wall and snapped them onto her board before walking further into the lion's den.

Laughter and idle chatter paired with the occasional phone ringing seemed to be the norm for this place. Some employees actually seemed hard at work at their desk, answering calls and filling out reports, but Kuro didn’t need to look hard to find those that slouched on the job and let the younger, newer kids do the heavy lifting. People often grew comfortable in their situations, and comfort usually led to this sort of behavior. It was Human nature after all, and that was something Kuro could use.

She watched as a pair of particularly loud guards went over towards some corner of the room that had a pot of coffee and Styrofoam cups. The two were discussing some sort of sport, and Kuro decided that those two would probably help her along much faster then looking for her target’s office without a clear idea of where it was.

She let them talk for a few minutes more, getting a general layout of the office and it’s key locations before setting in on getting her own cup.

“Yo! Mornin fellas.” She said with a cheery tune.

Both guards looked over at her, neither of them recognizing her, but neither wanting to say so. They mumbled the greeting back as she walked in between them to pour her own cup, tucking the clipboard under her arm. Up close, it was much easier to see the finer details, but Kuro sort of wished she hadn't. One of the two men was actually a bit shorter than his counterpart, with a plump body and a round face. His haircut was short and squared, like what a kindergarten child might have. His haircut only made his head seem rounder, and his face smaller. His small, hard eyes were the biggest contrasts to the rest of his soft looking features. The other guard had a medium build, but it was clear that was soon fading away like his thin hairline. The excessive amount of black dye in his hair gave Kuro the impression he was older then he looked, and he still looked old. His sunken eyes and cheeks suggested a sad life, but he still had wrinkles around his mouth common to those who often smiled. A bit of a paradox, that one.

Neither said anything for a second, each of them just looking at Kuro, and then each other. Finally, one of them asked the question they both seemed to have on their minds.

“Hey, uh...you must be new, right?” The paradox asked.

“That obvious? Yeah, I got transferred here from over by the marketplace. I was a newbie guard in a pretty fancy jewelry shop. After catching a few crooks in the act, the boss thought I was doing pretty good, but as soon as I asked for a promotion, boom, suddenly my contract was bought out. Now, here I am...Name’s Tomoko.”

“Oh...Jesus, that sucks. Sorry to hear about that...but hey, on the brightside, you’ll probably like it here. This is Cho and I’m Barter, we’ve been around here for a while, and the worst it gets is maybe the odd complaint from someone about sexual harassment or running down to stop a fight.”

“Which is stupid...I mean, c’mon! This place has a building specifically made for super sexualized fights...wait, did you know about that Tomoko.”

Kuro shook her head, but kept a light smile on her face, “Just got here. Apparently, I have to go off and see the head of security so I can get briefed properly on what I’m doing here.”

“Oh fuck! Yamamoto, huh?” Barter moaned, rolling his small eyes, looking as though he wanted to spit.

“Lord, she's a bitch...Few weeks ago, she just strolled in, not two days after our old chief was gone, and she took over his office like it's her freakin birthright! Says everything we do is half-assed and crap! Like this broad knows anything about how this place works!”

“Oh, so the new chief is a woman?”

“Well...yeah, but I don’t mean it like that. If she had a pair of balls, I’d still say she was stepping over the line. I mean, this place has got a system! One that's been working fine!”

“What he’s trying to say is that she is a bit of a hard nose, probably trying to prove herself. If she gets a bit mad at’cha, don’t worry about it too much. We don’t get too many women around here, so she’ll probably treat you just fine.”

Kuro chuckled and nodded, but in her mind she couldn’t wait to break away from this conversation. It was good to learn a bit more about her target, but that rest was all a bit too superficial for her. After talking to these two, Kuro was starting to think that maybe the Blood Ties had the right idea.

“I’ll keep that in mind. So where is she anyways? I can’t find her anywhere on the floor.”

“I think she had to go fill out a report or respond to an incident...apparently someone found some medical needles in the trash or something...She thinks it's some drug… or something. My bet is some of the guys are doing steroids. I mean, have you seen that Dasher guy?”

“No way! Dasher is the real deal! I’ve been watching him since-”

“Sorry, but do either of you know where her office is? I wanna get a hang of the layout of this place.”

Both men paused a moment, before finally pointing towards a door partially hidden by the hallway entrance. The two were beginning to devolve into some sort of argument between when some wrestler was at his prime, before or after he sold noodles. Kuro gratefully began to leave. She was making a path straight for Chief Yamamoto’s office door, and was soon twisting the doorknob in preparation for her task.

It didn’t budge.

Locked. How annoying. It seemed Yamamoto wasn’t as bumbling as her predecessor, but that wasn’t an issue. Kuro just needed to get in, maybe find some dirt on Yamamoto, and have a conversation with her. Lucky for Kuro, some of the guards were willing to sell an old copy of the security chiefs key. One that was well within the Blood Ties budget, and had made its way into her pocket. Just as she had slipped the key into the door knob and heard the delightful click of a door unlocking...another voice called out to her.

“Hey you!”

Kuro froze for a minute, the grip around her clipboard tightening as she heard a pair of footsteps approach her. Slowly, she turned around, her face like stone as a myriad of situations and plans flashed through her mind. She had a pair of knives inside her suit, small but effective for an escape if need be. She wasn’t sure if she had been found out, but she wasn’t going to be caught...not by these losers.

By the time the individual approached her, Kuro was surprised to find the sleepy looking receptionist in front of her, holding a card.

“You haven’t signed Ryo’s birthday card yet, have you? Do you mind? We’re giving it to him tomorrow, and I wanna make sure everyone has signed it.”

Kuro stared at him, watching him fish around for a pen. He was standing in front of an impostor, and he wanted her to sign a birthday card. A smile crawled across her face, and she took the pen from him as well as that card, chuckling at the sheer irony of it all.


__

It always seemed to be raining in Tokyo during spring. Without fail, umbrellas were raised high and whirring tires skidded over misty puddles bound for nowhere in particular. The air grew heavy and the taste of the city lingering on your tongue. Glimpses of incandescent light peeked through the low-hanging grey that kissed the towering monoliths forming the heart of the business district. The security office seemed small by comparison. It was only a block from the arena proper, but days such as today could make the brief walk seem to stretch on longer than appreciated.

Where most employees tended to make for the cheaper, sloppier eateries for their break, Sae opted for a small and quiet cafe not far from Friction’s front doors. There was something nostalgic about the taste of vanilla chai on these days. She kept her small cup close, carried by the tips of her fingers as she walked back to her second home. The lights of passing headlights reflected off her violet gaze that seemed to glow like cat’s eyes in the dim afternoon shade. Her eyes canted up, peeking the heavenly lining between the clouds past the black brim of her umbrella.

She needed these moments alone, to breathe in the fresh air and let the humid cool tame her from the inside out. Her head felt light and eased off her burdens. The sounds of the city were are all around and ever encompassing. It probably would have driven someone from a smaller town a little mad, reeked with thoughts of claustrophobia. For a city girl like her, the sounds were liberating and filled her with life. They were everywhere, beyond counting and with their own relative quiets and deafening intensities, but she could pick them apart and enjoy them piece by piece against her ears. The skid of rubber against wet asphalt, idle conversations about friends and work, heavy machinery blaring behind closed off fences and tape, a million voices blurring together like the songs of birds in a concrete forest. She adjusted the grip on her cup, sipped her chai, and blinked once to take it in.

When she opened them, she was at the front doors again. She took the concrete steps off the sidewalk and passed through the sliding glass doors. She brushed shoulders with a few businessmen who didn’t entirely appreciate having their coffee rattled when they were busy standing around looking important. She pressed the button at the opposite side of the lobby and the chrome elevator doors slid open promptly. It was only a few floors to the security level. She closed her umbrella as she stepped in and wasn’t entirely surprised to see Koji had left his post behind reception when they opened again. Her arm leaned over the counter and docked her umbrella with the rest before she brought a hand up to stretch her neck.

Chief Yamamoto:

The sight that awaited her wasn’t something she was unfamiliar with. Lazy eyes and shifty glares. Feet propped up on desks and only a few busy hands working behind their desks to keep everything moving. She peeked at her mailbox as she passed by. When she didn’t see anything new, her gaze shifted back around the room as she continued her slow walk to her office. The atmosphere bent and changed depending on how she stepped and where her eyes fell. There seemed to be an eerie pattern of her meeting the gazes of others and a sudden rush to start looking productive again. Katie was still over her by her phone, no doubt talking about that fiancee she’s had for the past three years now. Cho and Barett were still at the water coolers even though their patrols started twenty minutes ago. Sam was walking out the door for what had to be the third time today instead of watching the cameras or coordinating with the others.

She breathed deeply through her nose. That permanent scowl everyone seemed to love came back. She had more work to do around here than she realized.

“Yamamoto-san!” Sae stopped in her tracks and turned around to the intern rushing her way. Ren, if she remembered right. He held out a USB as she approached. “Here’s the footage you asked for.”

She took it from his fingers. “From the Mason and Sin-Jae affair?”

“Yes, ma’am. And I’ve included an incident report as a PDF file in the same folder. Number and extent of injuries, victims involved, timestamps, everything you asked for.”

“Great.” She tucked the USB into her back pocket. “Well, I think you’re about done for the day. Feel free to clock out and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay. Sounds good.” He was about to turn away when he suddenly stopped himself. “Oh, by the way…I think you have a visitor.” He pointed to the opposite side of the room towards the hall entrance that kept her office door. In front of it was their supposed-to-be receptionist and another, darker figure she didn’t recognize. The clipboard and black suit said someone official, but she wasn’t able to pair her face with any of the higher-ups. Someone from the outside? Curious and curious.

She slipped one hand to her pocket and sipped her cup again. “Why is it you’re the only person in this place it seems I can rely on?”

“Because you’d take me up on sushi afterward?”

She didn’t look back, but she could feel him trying to steal a look over her shoulder. “Takeout only.”

Sae walked towards her office as she heard the sigh of disappointment behind her. She approached slow, reading lips and catching on only to the last bits of their conversation. Sounded like pointless chatter. She couldn’t figure out the suited woman from a glance, though.

“You’ll be holding on to that card for some time.” She shouted out as she stepped up to the two. “I fired Ryo six hours ago for attempting to hard download footage from Bethany Paige's latest match onto a personal device. Whether it was for personal use, redistribution, or Pornhub, I couldn’t particularly care. He’s cleaning out his locker right now. And you’re welcome to join him if I don’t see you and that card back behind the reception desk in ten seconds.”

The security chief would stare silently at the receptionist until they moved on, unless they preferred to offer up their job to someone else. Her eyes then shifted to this mystery woman. She was taller up close. Her hair was more akin to a veil of black and her smile was slightly off.

“Can I help you?”

Kuro had just finished scrawling her fake name onto the birthday card for Ryo, handing it back to the receptionist with a smile. The man didn’t even get a chance to read the generic message Kuro had scrawled across the card before someone suddenly shouted and ripped into their conversation. The man quickly flinched, apparently recognizing the voice. He hesitated to turn to look at the chief, but Kuro had no such issue.

“C…Chief Yamamoto?! We weren’t expecting you so soon!”

The person approaching the pair was an interesting sight amongst the casual wear paired with clip on ties. For one thing, she actually looked like she could handle herself if a security situation did arise. What stuck out to Kuro more than the woman’s violet hair and built frame was her eyes. The Chief had a strong gaze, one that didn’t flinch or stray away from anyone who looked at her. The very visage had the air of authority! Kuro did not even need to be introduced to know that this woman had to be the new Chief of security. The way the receptionist squirmed as the Chief walked up to them was all the proof Kuro needed.

Kuro watched as this newcomer walked right up and began explaining that  the card was unnecessary. Ryo had been fired just a few hours ago. The receptionist, as well as a few nearby guards and co-workers were surprised to hear such news. Kuro had caught a good handful of personalized messages in that birthday card. Ryo had quite a few friends here, and it appeared many were unaware of the situation. It was as though the part of the office closest to the trio had frozen over, as nearby security staff slowed their work to a crawl to listen in on the Chief. They were well rewarded by hearing their superior give the receptionist an ultimatum: Get back to work, or pack up your locker.

A shocked silence struck in that tiny corner of the office, the receptionist startled and silently stammering as his brain struggled to comprehend what his boss just said as she began to count down from ten. Kuro took the time to quietly pluck the key she had made for the Security Chief’s office out of the key hole, all without turning away from the situation. Kuro didn’t shy away from peering at the panicking receptionist as he looked to her for help. He received nothing but a cold expression, and so he quickly moved back to his desk, card in hand before the Chief could reach the end of her count.

Whispers and murmurs could be heard all around them. The eyes that glared at Chief Yamamoto or pitied poor Koji were heavy enough for even the newcomer to feel. To her credit, Chief Yamamoto didn’t pay them any attention, and instead turned back towards the stranger in the suit.

Kuro smiled at the security chief. The violet haired woman was fascinatingly ruthless, to the point where Kuro wondered if she were some sort of cop or military woman. The receptionist hadn’t stood a chance, and even though it seemed a majority of the office was against Yamamoto, it was clear that no one would ever directly stand against her. She was brutal and direct, but she got the desired results. A part of Kuro could respect that, while the other part of her figured she could use that later on. Only if the need to do so came up of course.

“Hello Chief Yamamoto. My Name is Kuroki Tomoko.” Kuro said as she offered her gloved hand to shake, “I’m a recent transfer from another private sector. I actually came across a case I found on your complaints board that caught my eye, and Cho over there said you might know a little more about it.”

Kuro would remove two sheets from the clipboard she stole, casually presenting them to Chief Yamamoto. Each header to the complaint had something to do with finding used needles around the AFW facility. The first mentioned a needle had been found in the staff break room while the other was in front of the men and women fighters locker room.

“I’d like to discuss this matter further in your office, Chief Yamamoto. I think that this is an urgent situation that you and I may be able to settle rather quickly. Cooperation pending, of course.”

There weren’t many people on this Earth that Sae couldn’t read. It was one of the few qualities in her that she didn’t feel was too excessive in taking a degree of pride in. She had a long and tedious career before her that depended on her ability to perceive danger at a moment’s glance. In the single beat of a heart. Her mind was a dictionary made to read the human face, to sniff out one’s intentions better than any of her lupine counterparts.

She thought she had a good eye for intentions. Then this tall and dark mystery appeared before her.

"Kuroki" was a case study in herself. She tried to see through that freshly pressed suit to the strong, lanky posture underneath. The comfort and composure that she radiated. She carried herself more like a businesswoman than the dime-a-dozen security management typically opted for. But it was the eyes that told the story; clear of worry, slightly dutiful, a gaze filled with some sort of purpose. What that purpose was, she’d have to wait and see. But she knew one thing for certain:

That was the worst smile she'd ever seen.

Sae placed a hand at her hip as her eyes traced down to the clipboard. She recognized a few of the pamphlets she’d pinned herself. Business she was hoping someone else would attend to. No such luck, evidently. Her gaze flicked over to Cho for a moment at the mention of him. It wouldn’t have been hard for him to fill Kuroki in, but then again, that’s what she expected. The pudgy good-for-nothing was always lazy and trying to shove off his work. If he could get one of the janitors to do his rounds in disguise, she had no doubt he would.

“I’m sorry, Tomoko. You’ll have to fill in the blanks. I haven’t heard anything about a recent transfer.” Her voice was a bit more stern now. Commanding in its presence and still able to make a few passing heads turn. It was a tone that hadn’t been familiar with until the day that she’d arrived. “Those complaints - and my cooperation - are reserved for personnel of this security department. And faces that I’m familiar with. Where exactly did you transfer from?”

Grilling the potential new girl was hardly a familiar custom for Sae, but her patience was running somewhat thin with her current stock of subordinates. The last thing she needed was another distraction from her duties. Inviting a stranger into her office was hardly appealing.

The walking enigma continued to stand in front of Sae Yamamoto with a smile across her face. The bottom of the documents Kuro held in between her gloved fingers waved gently in front of the purple haired woman as though to politely remind her of their existence. Kuro didn’t need to say a thing as Sae looked her over with a critical eye. It felt like the entire office was watching the two of them and their interaction, like it was some type of show or even a competition between the two of them. The Chief looked at the newbie in a manner few had seen her look at anyone else before, like the woman in front of her was more akin to a large spider that crawled out from the damp and unknown dark world. And still, “Kuroki” sat there and smiled as though nothing were happening.

When Sae’s sharp, but calm tone finally broke the chilly silence in that area of the room, those that were viewing the exchange felt a shiver run up their spines and quickly went about their own work. No one was comfortable when the chief’s tone, and it seemed as though everyone wanted to be as far away from her as possible. The only one left was the mysterious newbie whose gaze peeked at Sae from behind the documents, her demeanor relatively unchanged despite the impatient tone.

“No apologies necessary, Ma’am.” She said in an apologetic manner, “I’m the one who should be apologizing. I overstepped my bounds, being new and asking for your time like that~”

Kuro collected the documents and reports she held in her hand and quickly clipped them back onto her clipboard, which was swiftly placed under her arm. Her smile seemed to disappear in the face of Sae’s frustrated tone, but the newbie’s body language didn’t change. Her eyes bore into Sae’s own gaze, seemingly unfazed by the smaller woman.

“To answer your question, I was a security guard at the Fujiwara Jewelers branch near the capital for roughly a year. My duties included surveillance, Loss prevention, and ensuring the jeweler was a safe and comfortable environment for customers. A few weeks ago, my contract was bought out by the AFW, presumably due to my experience as a former police officer and my higher marks at the academy. Of course, that is my assumption.”

Kuro repeated the script she had been forced to memorize in a cool and natural, if slightly speedy manner. She had been told to act out the script a few times beforehand and have someone listen to it, just to ensure it sounded authentic. The entire process was a tedious one, and while she repeated everything she memorized without flaw, Kuro was only vaguely paying attention to what she was saying, like a highschooler regurgitating their notes onto a test.

“Back then, I served under a Sergeant Takeo Yamamoto for about five years, wherein I was tasked with investigating miscellaneous cases and basic patrol routes. I had to leave the force after I moved away from my home and came here.”

With her script finished, Kuro pretended to look over at the receptionist desk, as though she were watching him from afar rather than tracking Sae with her peripheral vision.

“It is all in my file that should have been sent to you beforehand. Names, numbers, locations. Of course, with your receptionist and general workload, I can understand if it got mixed up with some of the other files around here. If you are comfortable with it, I can ask him to help me look for it, then set it on your desk, Ma’am.”

“Kuroki” smiled once again, the gesture like a long, ragged crack going through a porcelain mask. The smile was not hostile, but neither did it seem capable of being a friendly gesture.

“Takeo?”

She almost whispered it. The name echoed in her mind and slipped free of her tongue before she had half a chance to catch it. It was a delicate string that Kuroki plucked, one that was just starting to garner dust and wither.

What were the odds? Out of all the people in Japan, AFW had decided to buy out the contract of not only a fellow officer, but an officer that had served with her husband. Takeo had a very brief window of service on the force, though most of it was unofficial. His criminal contacts had made the local precincts reluctant to accept his employment for some time, but Sae was convinced it would be a good place for him. He was a kind and strong man, helping others was in his nature, and with the local PD she could keep an eye on him as a federal agent.

It was a brief stint, but she heard nothing but appraisal. He got along well with everyone. On their first anniversary, he managed to get the entire station behind a surprise party for her. Those days were gone now, and there was a reminder right in front of her.

“No.” She waved the suggestion away. “No, that’s quite alright. I’m sure they’re filed away somewhere under that mess. If you haven’t noticed already, your future colleagues are far from the proactive sort. It’ll be refreshing to have someone with actual experience to work with. And if you were under Sergeant Takeo’s directive for five years, then you must have earned your stripes.” She put a hand to her hip and sneaked in another lookover over a sip of chai. Maybe that was why this woman felt so different from the rest. Yet somewhat familiar.

“We can get your papers sorted out in my office.” She turned around to face her door, reaching out for the handle. “I was an officer myself. Maybe you can enlighten me on your…”

Click.

Sae froze. It couldn’t have been longer than a second, but a second was all the trained eye needed to see the sudden stiffness in her shoulders. The tension that seized her neck as her hand gripped the doorknob tightly around its circumference. The unlocked doorknob. “...talents.”

As much as she would love to confess that she was losing her touch at the frail age of thirty-five, Sae wasn’t so eager to throw in the towel on ten years of living under deep cover. A locked door and a loose bolt were what made the difference between life and death in those days; success or capture. She hadn’t left it that way and no one else had the key. Not even the janitors. She made sure of that. The temptation to steal a glance over her shoulder at Kuroki went as soon as it came. There was, of course, the chance she was wrong about all of this, that she was just getting sloppy in her new life. One too many drinks taking its toll on her mind. But if she wasn’t, if there was even the slightest possibility...

Sae opened the door to her office and stepped inside. It was better to keep a low profile and move as though she noticed nothing. Clear her mind. Take notes and go forward silently. Nothing more. “Feel free to have a seat wherever works.”

It helped that her office was a darker space than the rest. The windows were the first thing that caught the eye on the opposite end of the room, nicely capturing some of Tokyo’s proudest monoliths and the packed streets some considerable feet below. The long mahogany desk sat prominently before them, eclipsed in sunlight and much better lit than any other space around the office. She preferred to let the daylight fill the room over the fluorescent fixtures above, even if it was a considerably gray day. It kept her eyes trained and she wouldn’t have to hear that nauseating hum they gave off. Filing cabinets lined the wall adjacent to the door. A couch to the immediate right faced the desk, intended for interviews but she’d yet to make time for them. Otherwise, it was a considerably empty space devoid of life. The carpeted floor was still stained with alcohol, chocolate, and some other sticky substance all too familiar in the AFW ring. Its past occupant must have enjoyed their old position.

She set her coffee down on the desk as she rounded to her chair on the other side. The reports in her other hand were laid out on the mahogany before her before she eased herself into her seat and leaned in to rest her elbows on the table.

“So, a former police officer. I hope I’m not prying, but how does a top-ranking cadet dutifully serving the law for several years make the transition into private security? The salary wasn't working for you?”  A couple of chairs were set in front of the desk, should Kuroki choose to use one of them. Sae’s face didn’t offer any suggestions. Calm, collected. No need to escalate the situation. Right now, she just wanted to know who she was dealing with.

“Well?!? Is it done yet?!?”

Lukas sighed heavily as he continued to type away at his computer. It felt as though he had been dealing with his pushy boss for at least a week, when truly the project had only been started three days ago. Apparently this was a high priority request, since Drake wouldn’t just leave him alone to work for a few hours and was constantly second guessing Lukas’s choices. Normally second guessing Lukas when it came to software and editing was a rarity in itself. Another sign that Drake must really want this project to be a success. That didn’t make research, document forging, or coding in the proper details and falsifying background reports any faster. This process took time, especially if there was any quality to it. Surprisingly, even a decent forgery could be sniffed out by even the most common of security checks. If this agent was to slip by unnoticed, detailed information and work would need to be put into her files.

“Almost, Sir. I finished up the hard parts, now it is just a matter of getting your client’s agent to memorize the information provided.”

The man pointed towards a folder filled with papers. Documented workplaces, former coworkers and employers, dates of hire, licenses, all of it was there. It had taken countless hours and a few sleepless nights to create all of the documentation, and it would likely take even longer to memorize everything without reference. An entire lifetime of false information all in one place.

“All I really need now is a recent picture of the agent in question to slap on the licences. I’ll de-age the photos a bit, but not too much.”

“I’ll be sure you get one. Incidentally, I’ve already taken a look through the documents you have written. Are you aware that your fake name is eerily similar to the Agent’s real name? And I’m curious as to why you focused her work history around police work, and not a simple security guard? After all, that would be so much easier to fake.”

The man in the green suit simply continued to type away at his computer. He never seemed to look away from the screen unless he was directly told to so. His nonchalant attitude was nothing new to his employer. Once again, Lukas sighed before he answered the questions given to him.

“Given what we know of your client’s agent, she had training at a police academy around her early twenties and high marks in school for human psychological behavior. Taking those into account, I figured she could play a police woman better than standard store security, and make her much more valuable as a result. The police officer she served under, Taeko something, has been dead for something like...five to ten years?”

“Why a dead officer?”

“Easier to mimic. This guy was a pretty good cop, even though it looks like something happened late in his career. He died in a car accident, but his record is more likely to come up in a search before that. Honestly, he was too good not to use. Just proficient enough to have some rep the security office could admire, but just empty enough to not raise any suspicion.”

The amount of thought that Lukas put into this was...interesting. Enough so that his boss couldn’t help but let out a slight chuckle under his breath.

“All this to fool some old man in a security seat...unbelievable.”

--

After Kuro mentally regurgitated her script, she went quiet. She didn’t hear the whispered word that Sae muttered under her breath, instead Kuro watched and waited for the chief of security to either believe her story, or send her off to dig for her resume in that godforsaken pile in the receptionist desk. It seemed to be taking her a few moments to decide, making the surrounding audience members start to lose interest and remember that they didn’t want to be caught by the boss slacking off. By the time Sae’s eyes returned to Kuroki, the office had resumed its daily affairs.

It seemed that Sae believed Kuroki’s story, waving away her offer to dig through the mountain of paperwork and even inviting the newbie into her office. Kuro only nodded her head gratefully, passively listening to Sae explain her history as an officer while watching her turn the knob to her office door. Curiosity overwhelmed the taller woman as she peered at Sae’s hand as the door opened with no resistance. The entire thing was over in a second as Sae walked into her office, the trailing guest walking behind her with a seemingly unconcerned expression. But a second was long enough for Kuro to spot the Chief’s shoulders stiffen, to hear the slight pause between her words.

So...she noticed.

The dark suited woman made a mental note of the new Chief of security as she followed behind Sae into her office. Carefully, Kuro closed the door behind her to afford themselves some privacy, pausing by the door for a moment to allow her eyes to adjust to the natural light that poured in from the impressive windows behind the large and expensive looking desk that appeared to be brand new.


The officer took a moment to look around, seeing as this was larger than any office she had seen previously. There was evidence that the previous owners had been neglectful in keeping the place clean, as well as leaving their own individual “marks” all over the place. With even just a passing glance, Kuro could see marks on the wall that had been poorly plastered over, blotches of discolored paint trying to hide large dents that looked as though they had been punched fairly recently. She knew that the previous Chief of Security had been let go just before he achieved his pension. It wasn’t hard to connect the dots on just who might have done such damage.

The carpets were a different matter entirely. The amount of stains and smells that wafted from the floor had to have been several years worth of filth building up in the bottom liner of the carpet. It was supposed to be vacuumed daily, which was probably the only reason there was only a slight smell in the air rather than an overbearing one. It wasn’t hard to recognize the dusty, old smell, but the tacky spot on the floor Kuro had been unfortunate enough to step in made a dry “shhrripp” sound as the stained fabric that clung to the bottom of her shoe was pulled away. Kuro tried to ignore the spot, instead looking for something that was not there at all as she approached Sae’s desk

The Chief sat down and spread the reports she had been holding across her desk in sorted piles. Coffee by her side, Sae leaned into her desk and peered up at her newest recruit with an innocent enough question. She didn’t offer up a seat, but the two chairs in front of Kuro implied the opportunity to do so if she wished.

Nothing on the desk either.

“Kuroki” would opt to sit directly across from Sae, pushing one of the seats aside so that she could move towards the center of the desk, setting the clipboard onto her lap as she adjusted herself in the seat.

“Not exactly Ma’am. I can’t say the salary wasn’t a factor in my decision, but after my move I learned that my father had gotten ill and was placed into a hospital. With the stress placed on my family, and my move miraculously placing me near the hospital, I decided to lessen some of the worry my family had working in the force. I transitioned to the private sector, in part so that I can have an easier time visiting my father as well as to help my family.”

Kuroki’s tone was not very emotional. She spoke with a matter-of-fact cadence, as though she were giving Sae a report. The empty mask of an expression Kuroki had on her face made it hard to tell exactly what was going on behind the curtains of the woman, but her posture seems to imply she was simply being casual. Perhaps she did not think that Sae was  wanting such a bleak answer, and so she was simply trying to brush past it.

“I’m proud of the five years I got to serve on the force, and perhaps some day I’ll go back there. But for now, my contract has me here.”

Kuro allowed a small moment of silence to pass between them, her eyes scanning Sae’s facial features to try and get some sort of clue of what she was thinking. The story was just another lie made up on paper, one of convenience more than anything. She passively scanned the documents on her clipboard during the silence before returning to Sae herself.

“What about you, Ma’am? What brought you here?” The rookie asked curiously, “You said you were an officer before...what made you change career paths?”

Sae brushed the back of her thumb with the other as she sat and listened with her fingers closely locked, only allowing her eyes to peer back at Kuroki and the story she laid out for her. Perhaps she should have called for that file before she came in. At least then she would have had something to reference this all against. She doubted she would have found any discrepancies even if this was all a ruse, but there was always the possibility. No doubt, that was part of the plan. Here she was, listening to a stranger in her office. That privilege wouldn’t have been afforded so easily in her recent past.

All because she let her guard down for one moment. All because that one word had her heart enchained.

In the back of her mind, she was aware that her paranoia could be getting the better of her. She hadn’t gotten as much sleep as she used to since leaving Tenmu. It shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise if she was starting to see enemies everywhere, even if that mindset wasn’t a terrible one to have in this particular federation. But she’d been alone far too long, surrivied far too much, to doubt her foresight. Kuroki had odd eyes.

She did her best to keep her impressions hidden for the most part, giving an affirmative nod to the more heartfelt notes of her story. This woman was more of a straight arrow than she realized. She spoke as if she was viewing her memories on a reel. It wasn’t hard for Sae to picture just what kind of officer she might have been back in the day. One of those worms with their nose stuck behind the desk; the ones that jumped whenever the sergeant said how high. Her dedication was admirable if nothing else. Sae would never know how her own parents would feel about her choice to follow in their footsteps. She liked to imagine she’d done them proud, at least for a while.

The moment of silence that came after couldn’t have lasted more than a couple seconds, but in this room it seemed to stretch on forever. She watched that subtle move of her eyes towards the documents on her desk. Just curious? Maybe. But for her that said something more. Where her interests might have actually been. It was only a flicker, but she knew how much that could mean.

"I was only an officer for a few years. The majority of my career was with Tokyo's Public Security Bureau. And because of that I'm afraid I won't be giving you any particulars." She was quiet for a moment and let her hands unravel. Her fingertips graced the desk, her eyes going between them and Kuroki as they slid over the mahogany. She folded one hand over the other, opening up her posture as she eased into her seat.

"It had nothing to do with my particular profession. As a special agent, I had the chance to work with some of the best and brightest of Japan. But with a family, how I approached my job There was a personal incident in my life a few years ago. It was...difficult. My work was affected and I had little choice but to resign. The research company I ended up with was beyond welcoming. Just like here, I ended up as their head of security and accomplished plenty for them. But the environment itself was a detriment to my health, to say the least. I made a stupid mistake and they sacked me for it.” She breathed deep through her nose. Her gaze left her guest for the moment as she reclined in her chair, resting an elbow on the arm. She turned her seat to the side to steal a look out the window and the rain pitter-pattering against the pane.

"I had no intentions of becoming a part of AFW. Maximilian Kingsley requested me personally. My first instinct was to turn him away. I have no interest in protecting the kind of ‘professional wrestling’ that garners this particular federation so much stock. But I couldn't deny that there was a certain attraction to this place. Something more. Stepping in here for the first time, it was...nostalgic, in the oddest way imaginable. In the end, I think it all came down to a stroke of luck. Fate, even." She turned her head back to Kuroki, her gaze a tad softer now. "Stupid, beyond belief. Hopefully you won't make the same mistakes I did."

Kuro’s eyes flicked towards Sae’s hands as the security chief began to unravel her own history for the not-so-starry-eyed newbie. The clearly guarded woman seemed as though she was finally allowing herself to open up, maybe even relax a little bit. Sae had been rather guarded ever since Kuro had walked through those office doors, and as she explained that she was once a part of the Tokyo Public Security Bureau, it became a bit clearer why that was. Police that went into that program were a special type of breed. Kuro could remember hearing about them back in the academy, the intensive training one had to go through in order to actually qualify. Most police officers in Tokyo worked in a small building, or even a small convenient stall that was easy to access. The Bureau was different, a place where serious cases got passed around by the “best and brightest” of the police force. Kuro never even knew anyone that had ever gotten that far, but she had heard stories from the other side. The fall of the named gangs and the Yakuza were supposedly done by officers like Sae here.

“Tokyo PSB...so that’s it....”

The Chief seemed to be on a much higher level then Kuro was first led to believe...more so then any one was led to believe! The entire plan was for an employee that didn’t even work here anymore! Instead, Kuro was sitting across from his replacement, and the worst part was that she actually had some credentials to her name. The old Chief of Security was an easy sell, but Sae might prove to be a much more difficult hurdle to overcome should the chief ever actively pursue the hidden agenda that was creeping around the dark hallways of her building. The entire shift was a frustrating turn of events, but...nothing that couldn’t be handled. Judging by the rest of Sae’s story, she had been in plenty of positions before hand, and each one ultimately ended with her out of a job, voluntary or otherwise. Pair that unfortunate work history along with her family troubles along with her staff, and all that was left in Kuro’s eyes was a situation of the blind leading a pack of fools. The fact that Kuro had gotten this far could imply that Sae was getting at least a little rusty.

Of course...there was the door.

Even now, as Sae was gazing off into the horizon, pausing her story only long enough to listen to the rain fall upon the glass, Kuro was picking apart every detail she could about Sae and her life. The office she had adopted was bare of sentimentality like decorations or personal pictures. Any tie to her personal life was gone, a careful officer who still had some of the force she served running inside her veins. Perhaps now Sae was reminiscing. About the tragedy that befell her, the life in the force she once had, or perhaps something as simple as a happy memory. The view gave Kuro the impression that Sae was not as tough and heartless as she let on to her lazy employees. And as Sae watched the outside world, she let her guest have a free view of yet another clue into her personal world. The rookie’s eyes flicked towards Sae’s unguarded hands, every digit on full display as the chief of security let her guard down for only a few seconds. Kuro’s eyes narrowed down at the subject of her own curiosity and found another piece of information.

The hands are completely bare. No jewelry and no ring, and there wasn’t a single picture of her family anywhere in her office. Judging by the rough response she got from her employees, Sae has likely had more than enough time to place anything so sentimental out if she had any plans to so. If Sae actually had a family like she said, then she probably didn’t want anyone to know too much about them. Sae’s time of being a Public Security Bureau agent would have taught her to be careful, but after the story she just told me I'm not so sure that's all there is to it.

Kuro knew how the other side of the law worked, thanks in no small to her tendency to be on said side. The Security Bureau dealt with high level cases and in turn, much more dangerous criminal types. The odds of Sae being sniffed out would never be too high, but they still remained. Perhaps she investigated someone a bit too publicly, and that someone got something done about it.

If she was on the run, she’d have changed her name, or at least never even touched on her history to begin with. The entire thing could be a lie, but Sae was moving all wrong for that to be the case.

An influential criminal under investigation who had any brains in his head would never attack the investigator directly. They may as well step out and air all of their crimes out to the police force if they pulled such a stunt! A much easier way was to attack those around the investigator. Plausible deniability, while showing a far reach.

It was not hard to deduce what Sae’s “Personal Incident” had become. Kuro’s conclusion was built on little observations here and there, the way Sae presented herself, and the story that the woman told. Such a woman would be a serious pain if she were to investigate someone, a bloodhound that locked her sights onto her target and would never let up. Unless, her loved ones were in danger. Kuro couldn’t help but let one of the corners of her mouth curve upwards in a thin smirk as she began to place the final pieces of the puzzle.


By the time Sae looked back at her guest, the smirk had vanished into thin air. “Kuroki” only peered at her superior with what looked to be a knowing stare masquerading as curiosity, as though she were only just debating as to what to say to her superior’s vague work history. Despite hearing a short form version of Sae’s history, the woman who sat across the desk seemed to be in her own thoughts, her eyes almost analyzing Sae herself.

“Ma’am, thank you very much for sharing your story. I’m sorry if I brought up any unwanted memories. I once heard a saying not long ago, A wealthy man can afford anything...except a conscious. I haven’t been here long, but from what I have seen and heard I would say that there is some credence to such a phrase. I wasn’t sure what type of people would work under someone like Mr. Kingsley, but talking to you has really put things into perspective. I think I finally found out what you're all about.”

The smile that appeared on Kuroki’s face tried to seem genuine, but would likely fail in Sae’s eyes. Before any such observations could be cemented into the security chief’s mind, Kuroki’s attention would return to the clipboard in her lap. Once again, she retrieved the documents from the clipboard on her lap, the complaint about a needle found in the women’s locker room, and the various incidents of personnel missing or suddenly quitting off shift.

“I’m sorry to bring this back up again Ma’am, but I’d like to ask you about some of these cases you’ve been having. You’ve been here for a while, and since you have a fresher set of eyes then most of the others out there I thought you might have a perspective the others don’t. And, with your permission...I thought I might take charge of these complaints.”

There was a familiar rattle in Sae’s ears that seemed to be growing louder with each passing second. The hiss of a snake, its’ rattling tail in the shade of the night, its fangs bared like severing moonlight. She couldn’t see it, couldn’t smell it, but she could hear. Second by second the sound seemed to grow closer and make her hairs stand with that subtle chill over her arms. When she looked back at Kuroki, she thought she had caught a flash of it in her eyes, only to find a placid woman in a nice suit sitting on the other side of her desk.

Even if the security chief appeared as calm and composed as ever, mentally her mind was going roughly a million miles a minute. If Kuroki was anything other than who she said she was, the raven-haired woman excelled at chameleoning those aspects of herself in every possible way. Then again, what would even be the point of that? Why this entire caper? It wasn’t as if the federation was sitting on bundles of cash or buried treasure. And of all people to target, why would it even be her? She felt as though she was relatively unknown on the AFW network at this point. There were wealthier targets, ones more susceptible to these kinds of tactics, not excluding the very man who hired her. With so many doubts, they were starting to sound rather convincing. There had to be something tangible to work her theory.

There was a point to telling that small story after all. She had to offer some bait for the switch. At least create an air of trust between them even if they were just strangers underneath the same roof. There was something she was feeling beneath the surface that she had to unravel. It was just a matter of finding out exactly what that was.

For now, she simply entertained herself as normal. As far as the forefront of her mind was concerned, this was nothing more than an employee evaluation. Kuroki wanted to talk, so allow her to talk.

The response she received was an interesting one. The more she got to know Kuroki, the less certain she knew what to make of her. That stoic gaze was eerily familiar to Sae's earlier years. She knew firsthand how tiresome and inconvenient emotions could be in the wrong situation. It felt as though their new hire had taken notes from similar pages. She was seeing a lot of herself in this one, and she couldn't decide whether that was more comforting or potentially troubling. There was evidence of the latter. Sae raised an eyebrow, very much curious about Kuroki's take on what she could be "all about", but the former agent tabled it for now.

The woman had a good mind for business, knowing where to get down to brass tax. The complaints board was an unexpected subject, if she was being honest. Even the regulars around here preferred to ignore them or ditch time that could be spent reviewing them in the bathroom. She didn’t know what impression of the company Kuroki was working with if she was basing her assumptions off of Sae, but it couldn’t have been a very reputable one.

“Complaints? I don’t think that will be necessary.” She took notice of the clipboard in Kuroki's hand. Sae wheeled her chair around to face the woman fully. The curiosity was written all over the chief's face. “I have those funneled to my office directly and personally oversee them. I’ve noticed what might be a disturbing trend amongst a few of them, in fact. It will take time - perhaps two to three weeks - but if I can confirm some of my suspicions, I'll begin investigating. It's a tall order to place on you, especially when you're still feeling the place out." Sae gave the woman one more look over, feeling some tension build on her brow before she leaned in with an arm across her desk.

“Of course, I’m not one to turn away talent either.” She shrugged. “If you would like to assist me directly in these matters, especially if it happens to be within your skill set, I can’t say that I’m inflexible."