32 Chapter 31 JOB

The next day they went to the Embassy to get their abilities gauged. It was a mandatory process and also helpful in getting jobs. Shula had warned them that Kiara can not reveal her powers. Her power was similar to immortals. She will be put in danger if this information gets out. Aarav's gift was weird, it wouldn't raise doubts but he still cannot reveal the details. Because of the enchantment done by Shula, their abilities were masked. They will look like ordinary citizens.

They went inside the embassy and stated their purpose at the reception. It didn't take much time this time because of appointments. They were asked to go to the 7th floor. They followed the directions marked on the wall. They got on the elevator and soon reached the 7th floor. It was another typical office environment. They went to their assigned booth.

Kiara's booth was far at the end of the room. It was a different cabinet. A bigger cabinet than the rest of them. Most likely the chief's cabinet. When she got closer, a middle-aged man with a haggard expression was sitting. Beside him was an older man who was saying something to him. From the look on his face, he wasn't enjoying the conversation any bit.

"If you will excuse me, I have a client to handle.

The middle-aged man gestured Kiara to come in. The old man didn't leave his office. He asked him, "Why are you doing all this work? Isn't this meant for your subordinates?"

"There are too many immigrants this year. Because of terror activities in the Northern sides, people are fleeing for safer cities,"

"Terror accidents. What is SOUL agency doing? Are they just for decoration?"

"Beats me. Now excuse me,"

"Yes. Ms Kiara …. No Surname. You are orphan?"

"…"

"Age 25. Really. Education None. Hmm."

The sigh at the end was too long. Pity was written all over his face.

"All right. Would you like to pursue education or look for apprentice work? It will be good for you if you join any academy. Or you can apply for adoption. You are too young to work anyway."

"No. I want to apply for apprenticeship"

"You sure? It will be hard for you. I know a few good people who will take good care of you."

"Sorry. I don't want to be adopted".

It was too weird for Kiara to hear about adoption. She was being treated like a freaking child. No wonder, the head of the dept was handling her case.

"You have a companion with you. He is also too young. Child, how can you both survive on your own? They only say that this is the safest city. But believe me, it's not safe for two young kids. Your friend is a guy. He can do hard work, but you dear will hardly be employed anywhere. Think carefully."

"I will be fine on my own" Kiara responded spontaneously. She added," You said I can join the academy. Ok, I will do that then. But you see I hardly have any money, I need to work."

"…."

"Why don't you send her to my research centre. She can work there as well as pursue education. I can guarantee a safe working environment for her." The old man chimed in.

"…. That sounds good. I will make the necessary procedures then."

"….", 'Wait don't you guys need my approval or something'.

Kiara was handed a new ID. It was a red card symbolic for temporary citizenship. She tapped on her card and a hologram containing info appeared before her eyes.

Name- Kiara

Race- Human

Age- 25

Place of Origin- North Town

Attribute- None

Education- None

Languages- Santhali, Devanagric, Anglic

Occupation- Research Apprentice

Place of Work- Caito Institute of Gene research, Caito

Balance- 100 S

Licenses- None

All the details could only be viewed by her. Because of enchantment that Shula did, her attribute was masked. She had got 100 silver coins from welfare association as support. It was a meagre amount but enough to last a month. New additions were her occupation and place of work.

The card could also be used as a credit card. You can use it to trade and the best thing was the card cannot be forged. Magic sure was convenient.

The card itself was a costly magic item. It was a perk of staying in a big city. A lot of people dream of living in the city. But not all of them could get citizenship. They were too lucky to get even temporary citizenship. Most people could get a visitor or merchant card and they could only stay for a limited no. of days. In temporary citizenship, there was no limit to the no. of days of living in the city but there were a lot of perks you cannot avail. Also, the card was non-transferrable. It means if you die, your child cannot get citizenship. Also, all the properties in the city under your name would belong to the state. People had to work hard.

Aarav was also done by the time. He waved his card sharing his data to her.

Name- Aarav Adhiraj

Race- Human

Age- 28

Place of Origin- North Town

Attribute- Dream

Education- None

Languages- Santhali, Devanagric, Anglic

Balance- 100 S

Licenses- None

"I got a job", saying that she showed her card to Aarav. It was the same red card with Caito's wolf symbol. Everything was more or less the same except for occupation.

"How did you get a job so soon?"

"I look too pitiful." She then told him what happened back there.

Aarav was shown a lot of job vacancies. He naturally picked up city guard job as he was a soldier. He knew more about protecting than other jobs. Now he had no choice to be picky. It was not a high paying job. Also, it was the only apprenticeship. Meaning he will mostly do odd jobs in the police station.

Now, he can only cross his fingers and wait for approval of his application.

After two days, Aarav's application was approved. He got notified by a bing sound erupting from his ID card. He checked it to find out two additional lines in his ID.

Occupation- City Guard Apprentice

Place of Work- Caito City Guard HQ

Their ID card also worked as a message receiver. It showed important news and announcements, messages from Bank, Embassy and their respective place of work. However, it cannot be used to send messages. They had to go to a public communicator booth (phone booth) every time they had to call someone. As their apartment, was provided by the Embassy, had a phone booth in the building itself. That doesn't mean, it didn't have any queues. Personal communicators were insanely costly. There were only handfuls of handheld communicators which were used by the bureaucrats, rich people and other high-class citizens. To contact Alize, they had to leave behind the message in the Embassy. Then Alize would send them to reply on their IDs.

That day, they invited Alize to celebrate their news of employment. They went to the same food joint they went last time at their meeting. The food was very good over there and also quite affordable. Alize told them that not many people apply for the city guard job. It was a very taxing job with no fixed working hours. Aarav was very brave to choose such a job over others.

After a few days, both Kiara and Aarav joined their respective place of work.

Aarav took a public bus to go to the city centre. His place of work was very far away from their dwelling place. Their quarters were in the outskirts of the city, while the HQ was in the centre of the city. It took him an hour to reach the place. He saw nearly a quarter of the city on the trip.

The HQ was a tall building with nearly ten floors. It was smaller than the Embassy building, but it spanned over a wider area. The building was beige with a wolf head emblem at the entrance. He went in and saw many people coming and going. Most people were in black uniform.

The black-uniformed officers were quite tall. Most of them were nearly 200 cm tall. Also, they were bulky and huge. There were many normal people in a variety of clothes, waiting in line or sitting on benches. They were not as tall as the city guards. Maybe height was a criterion to join the forces. Anyway, the officers and civilians were easily recognizable.

Aarav walked to the receptionist. They were an elf man or woman. Being cautious, Aarav didn't use any form of address. He directly asked in English without using his translator.

"I'm here for the apprenticeship. I was asked to join starting today."

The receptionist in a very slugging voice replied him to wait in the reception area. He will call him when other apprentices also arrive. The elf didn't pay any attention to him. He didn't even raise his eyes.

'Guess speaking the same language is not helpful every time.'

Aarav was hoping to make more connections. But the elf was not interested at all.

After a short while, he was summoned. He along with many other men of the different race went to the training grounds

They were greeted by a tall bulky man. He resembled a bear. His height was about 200cm. he was wearing a black uniform with one star on his chest. His name was written on his chest badge. It read 'Jeremy Dios'. He was brownish. His muscles bulged as he moved.

"Good morning Fellas,"

He was speaking in Sumerian, Aarav had to switch on his translator.

"I see many young faces. Do you want to become respectable city guards of Caito? You_"

Before Jeremy could continue another man came and interrupted him," Keep it short". He was not as tall as Jeremy Dios. He was also not bulky. He was lean and thin. A proper gentleman appearance. With his curt sentences, he could only be superior. He was also wearing a black uniform. His badge had five stars and his name was 'Jaime Ulnas'.

They quickly moved on to self-introduction. There were only ten apprentices, so it got over quickly.

They were assigned to different city guards. Their job was to follow the guards and report their learnings at the end of the week. Aarav was assigned to Jeremy. He didn't have to go find his mentor.

"Aarav, was it? My name is Jeremy Dios. I hail from Caito itself. I'm 78. I recently got engaged. You are lucky to have me. You know I was the best from the academy. You are in good hands. I have good...."

And he continued. Jeremy was very talkative. It was their first meeting and Aarav even knew his pet's name. He was opposite of his appearance.

After a long self-introduction, he took him to the East Food Market in his jeep. Jeremy was assigned to patrol that area. Naturally, he had to follow.

Their apartment was in the South zone. It was very old and crowded. East zone in comparison was new and posh. It was where most permanent citizens lived. The infrastructures were top-notch, the roads were much better. There were even luxury cars and chariots on roads. It was a beautiful market area. It wasn't as crowded as the South zone.

Aarav followed Jeremy. He was talking to him non-stop. Aarav was responding with hmms and ohs.

He had to follow him for a full week. How was he going to survive it?

"Keep your eyes open. Rebels have been active for the past few years. Who knows if they already infiltrated the city."

"Rebels? You mean ones who destroyed North town"

"I'm not sure if they are same. But criminals are criminals. Keep an eye on any suspicious activities."

"Yes Sir"

Aarav remembered the story he heard from the pilgrims. The entire town was engulfed in toxic flames. It was similar to the Chernobyl Incident. Entire North town was destroyed. Thousands of people lost their lives. Millions were displaced. They had borrowed their story as a cover. The incident had nothing to do with him but he still wanted the culprits to be punished.