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Angela In a sense, it was another lifetime ago when that business card had been given to Meika but nevertheless, the card leads to District V. Meika will likely have to deal with a security station but they'll let her through upon showing them the Dawn Office card (that, notable, has an outline of a pair of black gloves drawn on the back. All in all it ends up a bit more like airport security, albeit airport security in which the uniformed men and women hanging about don't seem shy about their weapons which seem to be long spears and swords primarily.

The Dawn Office is in 'The Nest' portion of District V which makes it a relatively nice area as far as how The City goes. There's considerable amounts of 'normal' walking these streets. There's no monsters, most citizens are not evidently armed, people tend to be decently dressed and, frankly, in enough of a hurry that Meika isn't bound to draw much notice unless she tries to. As a visitor she has been given a list of Taboos for Disrict V but most of them follow the same sort of laws you might expect anywhere else, albeit with a predilection of obeying the instructions of V Corp Agents. Art pieces are periodically present in the District with a noticeable bird theme in statuary--they are all the same kind of bird, suggesting that it may be a 'City' bird, standing up straight and looking 'up' with its beak tilted towards the sky.

The Dawn office isn't large, but it looks on the outside to be a nice house--not too big not too small--with drapes covering the windows, not covered TOO much to let the light in. Indeed, it does look more like a ''house'' than an office, albeit with an architectural style that comes across as slightly dated even to the anachronistic architecture of the rest of District V, interspersing a sort of 50-60ss aesthetic with splashes of supertech. Sometimes even In The City, there are places where horror isn't actively being unleashed whether it be corporate or more traditional sorts.

A pair of wooden brown doors with the Dawn Office insignia emblazoned over them seems to be the entranceway. A woman with short teal hair and green eyes is drinking some coffee by the entranceway, dressed professional with grey coat, dress skirt, and a button down shirt, black leggings and brown boots. She isn't a very traditionally effeminate woman--a closer look will show that the gloves she's wearing aren't gloves but are actually black prosthetic limbs. A butterfly-patterned cello case is hanging over one shoulder as she sips her coffee. She is bound to notice Meika's arrival, but aside from a look--doesn't move to greet her just yet.
Meika Kirenai     It's easy to figure ahead of time that moving out, no matter how far, will, for better or for worse, be far more of an upheval than you predict. It's another to go through with it, and see every avenue of interaction and familiarity to be cut out and exchanged with something else. The not-quite-two-weeks she's spent adjusting to the Eastern Seaboard Urban Center may as well have been as alien to her as moving to a colony up on Mars, even if smoothed along in countless ways she wouldn't even know were possible.

    She has her own place. Her own phone again. A computer, even it's starting to become synonomous to her with remedial coursework. A job to show up to, orbiting things magical and miraculous. More room to breath than she thought possible. Pressing guilt she's trying not to poke over being luckier than any dropout delinquent ever ought to be. Every time a new stranger looks at her in a way that isn't how she expects, she feels like a fish out of water.

    More breathing room is more breathing room, though. A handful of the 'maybe someday''s weighing down her mind have started to feel like 'maybe soon''s or 'maybe tomorrow''s. A slightly crumbled business card, lodged away in wallet and mind as one of those, carries with it a slight promise a re-up of familiarity, a novel little change in scenery out to a world she's dilly-dallied around, for better or worse. It's not a good place. It's not a great pursuit. When it sits on her mind in uneasy nights, the thoughts that circle around the card and the formless opportunity that 'a fixer office that might be hiring offworlders' carries, twist at her heart in a messy little way, like the ghost of adrenaline and the way action makes things feel bigger.

    The worst outcome, of sending in a travel notice, or dipping out to see where it leads, is 'no'.


. . . . .

    It's starting to be less unusual for Meika to wade through long formal queuelines and pass-checks, and starting to be less unusual for her to face less hassle with them than she braces for. Armed guards, too- no matter their demeanors or attitudes, militarized with guns or militarized with swords, while she's sure it'll always feel like she can't breathe deep enough around them, ambiently, it's become enough of an every-day sight. Well. At least V Corp's Nest arming guards with swords and spears lends itself the barest hint of fairytale lightness. Meika isn't sure if that's better.

    Taboos list crumpled up in a back pocket of her jeans, barely having scanned, the semi-frequent bird statuary is at least nice for having little spots to stop near when bracing to ask directions to where she's headed. That busy people don't stop to answer a scruffy teenager's questions makes sense, though. Wasting time wandering somewhere new is hardly the worst-feeling thing to do.

    Once she winds up out front (for real, none of the not-quite-right addresses she's stopped by to check against the business card count), and once it's clear she's not going to be able to waltz up and quietly knock on a door, she fumbles with her pocket to produce the card like pulling out a passcard to prove purpose in her being here. "... Miss? I'm looking for the Dawn Office, am- am I in the right place? I'm sorry if I'm not, but..."

    She's sure she is, there's the insignia right out front, even, but human confirmation and a silence-breaker both feel called for. Awful red eyes look up a few steps, not quite near the lingering woman's face. Despite having less reason, the dark circles around them are still glaring. "You don't- don't work there, by any chance..?"
Angela In a sense, The City is another world too, one where life is cheap. Each District, including the Outskirts, the Ruins, and beyond--all have their own dangers and that includes the Nests, usually, even if this one seems about as safe as any middle-to-upper-middle class neighborhood. At the very least, The Hook Office is very unlikely to ever set foot in this territory--let alone be able to cause trouble for Meika here.

The security here is in some ways cruel and some ways not cruel. They don't seek out ways to harm people if they are following the rules but are merciless towards those that do and are not inclined to listen to sob stories. In some ways it might even be more comforting if they had it out for people but something far deeper and less personal is what has it out for people here.

But not Meika. She's fine! Looking like a delinquent is less the norm here than in the backstreets but it's not uncommon here.

The woman--probably looks about twice Meika's age--focuses on Meika when she speaks up. She listens carefully and she says, "...You the girl that the Black Silence said had potential? Said your hair was longer but everything else looks about right." She pauses. "Yeah, this is the right place. We're a small office, you're looking at a nearly a third of the Office right here. We picked up another newbie while we were waiting to see if you'd show. Frankly, I figured you probably died on another job before you could drop by--normally we'd expect a response like the next day after something like that. She didn't tell us much."

She takes a long drink from her coffee and pulls the Office door open. "Frankly we're lucky she even bothered to tell us. All those Colors are eccentric and insane."

She sighs and opens the door, stepping inside.

A moment later, she pokes her head back out. "Coming?"

Inside the Office, a record is playing some faint jazz, adding a layer of ambience to the office. There is a small waiting lobby they pass through with a bunch of cheap magazines left laying on a table, mostly advertisements and celebrity gossip talking about a new artist's showcase by the Ring. They seem to be fairly outdate.

"I'm Yuna." Yuna says. "I'm guessing the news with that video that's been going around caught your interest again? Whatever the case, we could use more hands here. Tired of having to do jobs alone--"

Through the lobby there's a small study, complete with a couch and a desk with a padded chair sitting behind it. A bookcase full of similar leather books sits there along with a green lockbox. An old man in a grey coat is reviewing papers. A Zweihander is strapped to his back from a band traveling across his upper chest. His white hair and mustache seem well taken care of.

"Back already?" THe old man asks before his eyes settle on Meika.

"Seems like the lady the Black Silence told us about finally showed up, Salvador." Yuna says.

"Ah," Salvador pauses, and then louder. "Phillip, prepare a ''third'' cup of tea, please! We have unexpcted company."

"Yes sir." A quiet voice from an attached kitchenette, the owner of which remains unseen, responds.
Meika Kirenai 'Said your hair was longer but everything else looks about right.'

    Meika sways a bit on her feet, the soft thud of her heels rising and falling back to the masonwork step beneath her like faint empty punctuation. "... I used to keep it longer. But it's... more professional, short, I think." That's not why it got cut. It doesn't even look professional. Less than snarled, more than clean, it's still obvious she did it herself even if it's been neatened up to the point of presentability.

    The word 'potential' rings heavy in the air for how *little* it gets noticed, in Yuna's word choice. No thoughts to discrepencies, no lingering on what that'd mean. Someone made the call, and there's nothing in the spot where the reason why she did should be. There's no quality she has, no quality she remembers having, that'd fit right, but that connection doesn't need to be reached for at all if it wouldn't make sense. A handful of her forays into this world met similar genres of interaction, that's good enough to tide over wandering thoughts.

'We picked up another newbie while we were waiting to see if you'd show.'
'She didn't tell us much.'


    A pause, and a shaky exhale. "Guess she didn't tell me much, either. A newbie- are you still looking for applicants?" Fingers tap arrhythmic on the front stair's railing, dull and quiet. Her nails are painted, her fingers still covered with bunches of band-aids. Some of them too fresh to not be the brand standard beige. "I was- was hoping to ask about that. Curiosity, and all. Again, I- I didn't get told much either."

    She lets out a tiny laugh-exhale, as if the strangeness of this circumstance is catching up to her in some small way, but doesn't press too deeply into the feeling. She's surprised- and wears it on her face -that Yuna actually opens up the office's door and beckons her in. "Huh-? Oh, right. Yeah, I'm-"

    Shuffling noises as she grabs her messenger bag's shoulder strap, and hurries up the rest of the stairs and inside. In the lobby, just past the door, she stops, eyes fixed angled upwards, and does a slow spin, looking around the ceiling and surroundings with a scanning gaze. It looks old to the point of being wrong to touch, so her hands stay close and tight around the shoulderstrap of her bag. The sentiment only grows in the study.

'I'm Yuna.'

    "Ah- Meika Kirenai, it's-" As if deliberate and painstaking, she sticks a hand out towards the woman, to shake. "Nice to meet you. And I- what video? I haven't seen anything. Is it something that's..." She blinks, and pauses. "Yeah. I haven't seen anything."

    Unfortunately, that thought's been bookmarked, and she's physically capable of following through on it sometime. Even if the internet is intimidating, in her eyes, still.

    When Salvador's eyes fall to Meika, despite the little uncertain wince at 'lady' instead of anything less formal, she repeats the little introduction and deliberate-in-spite-of-discomfort hand shake offer. Her eyes fix on the sword instead of him. "It's nice to meet you, Mister..." A pause, uncertain whether 'Salvador' is a given or family name, and so she stops there, fading off.

    "... 'Finally showed up' makes it s-sound like I'm late for something. Ahah." It's not quite a laugh, awkward and soft. She's still not certain the status of this all- and, magical girl burn-out or no, she's also still never quite been familiar with the weight a Color's reccomendation carries. "I'm s-sorry if that's already been a hassle. I don't want to make that a habit."
Angela Yuna, who also keeps her hair short, grins for a moment. She doesn't comment on Meika cutting her hair herself--probably thinks it's just a manner of being frugal.

She has noticed that Meika doesn't, frankly, seem lke someone who has potential. She doesn't have any augments she can see and she seems nervous, but potential doesn't neccessarily mean direct combat ability. It could be any number of things. Meika herself not getting told much isn't unusual at all. Typical eccentric Color behavior. She must've noticed the bandaids but why are they there? Too many to be an accident... "Were those cut off and reattached recently?" Is Yuna's only immediate guess that comes to mind. She sighs. "Yeah they do that, don't worry about it. They wouldn't lie about that sort of thing just to mess with us. Probably."

''Are you still looking for applicants?''

"Up to Sal." Yuna says. "Meikakirenai?" She says it like it's one word. "That's a mouthful. I'm just gonna use Meika."

She'll shake Meika'sh and though. "Oh someone put out a video of some lady beating up the Red Mist in an L Corp facility. It's probably fake. Red Mist's been gone for over a decade."

Yuna also isn't aware she's an Outsider. And neither is Sal, just yet.

"Salvador. Or Sal's fine if you prefer." The old man shakes Meika's hand. It's a confident but not tight shake.

"Well, we were told you might be dropping by months ago. I suppose there was no deadline but we didn't think it'd be this long a wait." Salvador says. "That's fine, two new Fixers can help one another grow and Phillip--well, he makes wonderful tea and he's a good man, a capable Fixer--but he could use some confidence." He lowers his voice just enough to keep Phillip from hearing. And indeed, Phillip doesn't seem to react to it when he steps out of the kitchen, carrying a platter that has a tea kettle and tree teacups, already poured, inside. He sets it down on the desk. He is a young man--only a few years older than Meika herself. He wears glasses and a loose fitting jacket with black gloves, slacks, and shirt. FIxers don't seem to dress too fashionable around here. He isn't carrying a weapon at the moment.

Please enjoy tea with us, Phillip." Salvador looks to Meika. "His tea is easily COlor grade, hoho... I hope you like chamomile."

Salvador takes a cup. He isn't exactly easy going but is good-humored.

"We already agreed to hire you but we should ask some questions anyway, just to make sure we can get you up to speed for a Grade Five office as quickly as possible. Do you have any combat experience--"

"Meikakirenai." Yuna says.

"Meikakirenai?" Salvador finishes his question with her name. "And do you have a liscence already? We can help with the paperwork if not as part of the onboarding process--ahh, but that is...If you do wish to work here still? We are a Fixer organization that specializes in combat. And we are a small office so we don't always get too many jobs... but we do have some solid connections."
Meika Kirenai     Unfortunately for Meika, and for Yuna, and probably the entire Dawn Office (not that that's many people), Meika doesn't have any of the noted potential! None that'd be easy to pick apart with an interview. She's simply figuring Fixer work has an entry-level. Beyond handgun practice she still keeps up with, all her combat experience is-

    Well. All her combat experience notably isn't.

'I'm just gonna use Meika.'

    "That's- that's fine. That's my name?" Quizzical expression, but overall thankful that she won't be getting full-name'd for whatever reason. Her thankfulness is a little bit preemptive. Quieter, "... Ah? My fingers didn't get cut off..? Just- scraped up. It's nothing."

    The worry over potential prankage by someone doesn't leave Meika's expression while being led through, a nervous little twinge, but she tries to not put it to mind. It'd be awful to focus on, and awful for it to come to pass.

'Oh someone put out a video of some lady beating up the Red Mist in an L Corp facility.'

    "Ah. I see. L-corp? I- I have a friend who's with them." Slight familiarity, but uncertain at how much of the content of the video matters. She'll watch it when she can, probably. "A lot of fights happen there, yeah?"

'Or Sal's fine if you prefer.'

    "Mister Salvador," She ammends to her trail-off, still paying more attention to the man's weapon. Just like the security guards at the customs check, she's not sure if the fantastical nature of relying on swords feels better or worse.

'That's fine, two new Fixers can help one another grow and Phillip-'

    She seems relieved that the possibility is still open, at least for how much less embarrassing that makes it all to have shown up. "Aha, more the merrier, right..?" A weak, quiet joke. She hushes up too. "That... I hope he can get it, Mister, if you're relying on him. That's important, if he's already fine on- on his own."

'I hope you like chamomile.'

    "... I- Thank you, Mister Phillip- Mister Salvador." She looks between them, and only fleetingly at them before down at the tea. She picks it up to sip, still. "... I usually stick to coffee, actually. I was a barista for a few years, actually. Not that that's what you're hiring for. But I guess it's still an office, right?" Her giggle is more nervous than anything, but still quiet, and silenced up more so by the tea.

'We already agreed to hire you-'

    Meika half-chokes on her tea, shuffling awkwardly to put it back down and breathe enough to reply. "Huh? Already-? Why-" Obviously, the answer, again, is 'A Color's reccomendation'. The awful clatter of putting her cup back on its saucer makes her wince. "I- I came to talk, and see if this was even something to think about, I- why would you already want *me* to sign up?"

    "... Just 'Meika' is fine. Or- or 'Miss Kirenai', that's more proper. Not both, please." The slightly-correcting tone she takes doesn't come out easy, but it's a clear enough indicator of a different name scheme, and thus not being from around the City. She's brave enough to pick her teacup back up, and sip from it. It *is* nice tea.

    "... I'm a good shot with a handgun. I've been in- in a couple fights, not many, but- I can be a fine team player, at least." Not a great sales pitch. She's not a soldier. "... I don't have a license here, I know there's a system, so I'd-"

    A pause, and a confused blink. "You're trying to sell me on your company? With, wait, *is* this some sort of prank..? I'm sure your office is fine, I just- shouldn't it be the other way around, Mister Salvador..?"
Angela Salvador's zweihander seems to have some strange lines on them that initially look like inscriptions but on closer inspection it seems like they are actually tiny metal coils embedded into the blade, their purpose unclear.

''Just- scraped up. It's notthing.''

"Arright," Yuna says. She seems fine to leave it at that.

''I have a friend who's with them''

There is an obscure flicker behind Yuna's eyes. "Hope the spotlight pulls away quick. I'd check in on them if you can." Maybe it's better, actually, for her to stay the hell away from that friend now but Yuna isn't dead inside enough to suggest that.

Phillip seems curious about Meika and he says, "Nice to meet you, Miss Meikakirenai--"

''Just Meika or Miss Kirenei''

"Just Meika works." Yuri supplies. Phillip winces at the faux pas he's commited.

"Ah," Phillip awkwardly adjusts his coat. The tea is--

--well, depending on how often Meika drinks tea and how much she cares for it, her view on the tea might be different but it is exceedingly competently prepared tea, a particular care for temperature and strength has been taken.

"Ah, the more the merrier. Welcome to the team, Miss Meika." Phillip says. He pushes up his glasses, but not like in a cool anime way--more in a mildly anxious way.

"He will and so will you." Salvador says. "We won't progress quickly but we won't dally either. Yuna, do we have any non-combat cases coming up? It would be irresponsible to start with one of our usual cases." Salvador turns to Yuna.

Yuna glances to Meika for a moment. "...Liu Association's concerned about what Blade Lineage is up to. Been seen talking with Outsiders--not normally an issue, but with everything that just happened--they want to re-evaluate."

Salvador strokes his mustache. "Mm... Then we have a limited time to prepare."

''Huh? Already-? Why- ... .Why would you already want *me* to sign up?''

There is a small pause between the three Fixers but Phillip is the one who is honest about it first, despite stammering about it.

"She's a friend of a friend of the Office." Phillip says softly. "And you helped solve the Sweeper Crash incident. She didn't really say that but we inferred..."

''I'm a good shot with a handgun. ... I can be a fine team player.''

Salvador startles. "A marksman? Unfortunately we cannot afford bullets in this office."

"How can she...?" Yuna asks, confused.
"Mm... Good team players... That sounds like Zwei. Maybe that's why...?" Salvador strokes his mustache again. When Meika mentions it should be the other way around, that Meika should be trying to sell herself.

"...I must admit, you don't seem like a Fixer to me in some respects. But if we cannot trust the word of a FIxer, what can we trust? It is not a major cost to take you on--but if you'd like to share any other skills of yours that you feel could be helpful... But I've trained the inexperienced before. It is strange and would make me wonder what her scheme is... but hardly a dealbreaker."
Meika Kirenai 'I'd check in on them if you can.'

    Meika tenses. "... Is it that bad there, Miss? I haven't really heard from her, but... I think she'd be- she'd be fine." It's unsaid that it doesn't feel like there's much that could be done if there is something un-fine. Meika looks middlingly uncomfortable at that- feeling kind of helpless in general, in the face of much of anything, isn't easy to sit with. She crosses her arms in front of herself.

    As she stares at Phillip, too-red eyes that always feel set in a glare instead of anything else, he only falls free of her attention when Meika's eyes glaze over from the sheer discongruity of already being talked about as if she's signed up. It's baffling, unsettling, and escalating her protests against it feel like shooting her chances in the foot- it's not as if she didn't come here in hopes there'd be an opportunity, after all. Even if it feels like being suckered into a scam of some sort.

    "... Look, this isn't some weird thing I have to buy into first, right..? I know those are cons, so- so just say so if it's one of those. Won't waste your time or- or mine." She sets her tea down, and stops drinking from it. "If it's not, I'll- I can try? You said there's paperwork. I can do paperwork. But that's- I haven't signed anything right yet? You're acting like I have. It's- if there's stuff like that upcoming, something that's just, a trial, or whatever, I- I guess that gets to be mutual. right?"

'Been seen talking with Outsiders--'

    "Outsiders? What's that- does that mean people from, like, other worlds, and all? Or something else?" Telling worry creeps into her voice. Eyes flit between Salvador and Yuna, watching their mannerisms- at least mustache tugging doesn't read as anything worrying in the apparent boss's expression. "I'm from a different one, if- if that's a problem for anything. I guess I hope it's not."

'A marksman?'

    "Huh? No, I- I wouldn't say that. I'm just okay. And I don't- it's just a thing, it's just good to practice. Don't- don't get the wrong idea. I can't imagine I'd get it past checkpoints, anyway." A quiet blink, and Yuna and Salvador's comments remind her of an easy-to-forget fact of this world. "... Oh. I don't- I'm not from here. I don't pay that much for them, it's- it's not like it matters in the first place, though."

'...I must admit, you don't seem like a Fixer to me in some respects.'

    "Well, I'm- I'm not one? If you thought I- I already was, or something, that's..." Awkward, Meika grabs at her own forearm to squeeze it. Tight. "I'm sorry if you were misled otherwise. If inexperience isn't- isn't the end of things, I'd- I'd still like to try and sign on, and- and learn fast, I guess."

    As if slightly distracted on task ordering, Meika turns to her messenger bag, to extract a pen from its depths. The second her eyes are on just it and its contents of papers and journals, she exhales, blowing air out in the obvious manner one does when thinking 'what the hell', but thankfully, confusion doesn't hurt in of itself.

    "Look, I'm capable, I'm fast, I- I've worked with teams plenty. I can try, and- and if it's no major cost, that's... Okay. I guess that makes a little more sense sense why you're even... Yeah." Under breath, "I'm still not sure I get it But... if you've got the onboarding paperwork, I can try and start through it..? Or take it with me, to look over and come back with? Oh- and... thank you for the tea, Misters. I guess I'll- I'll be back, sometime soon."
Angela ''Is it that bad there?''

"Don't know for sure. Just know something's going down there." Yuna admits. "Admittedly, staying away might be the smarter option."

Phillip flinches at being stared at. "Um." He says. "Sorry if the tea is not to your liking, Miss Meika." He stops himself before going into Kirenai. When she further asks if it's a CON, he says, "..Um, I think--they...we are just a little confused. We weren't told much, and it seems like you weren't either."

"But if someone like her tells us we should hire you, we're not in a position to say no." Salvador says. "If you aren't ready for the work, we'll get you ready, and we wouldn't have you sign a contract right off the bat."

He pauses as he listens to Meika more. "So, yes, let us consider this a trial period. But for even just a trial period, we'd need to sign a fair amount of paperwork." And then he quiets down again as Meika admits to being an Outsider.

They are all quiet, actually. This explains a lot, but also represents a kind of strange danger they aren't sure how to articulate. Yuna manages to be the first one who does.

"That must be it. An Outsider perspective might not be a bad thing--that's probably what she was thinking." Yuna says. "...IS it a bad thing, Salvador?"

"Not at all." Salvador doesn't dally on it. "The City is still new to 'Outsiders' and what that might mean, however. It's just something to keep in mind. Outsiders--ah--well, those from other worlds. It's local dialect, I imagine. I haven't left the City in my whole life, hohh--Maybe I should at least once just to see what all the fuss is about, but I imagine The City is more particular about citizens leaving than Outsiders coming and going."

He says that as if The City was a living entity in of itself. "We'll take this one step at a time--and if before you sign on you decide this isn't for you, there is no shame in it. And if we decide you aren't up for it, well, we'll try to recommend you to something better. You came here, though, and--mm--call it intuition of an old man who has been at it for a while. I don't think it'd have been a prank."

He looks to Phillip and without even needing to say anything, Phillip moves to follow the silent order. He collects requisite onboarding and liscence papers and offers them over to Meika.

"Here. If you have any questions, let us know. Yuna helped me with my paperwork so--"

"--So you can show me you learned everything and help her." Yuna says. "I already cut my break short and have my next job to get to."