Wish Fulfillment

Groggy and tired, Coren entered the Lobby of the Seventh Sector Public Health Ward. The room was oddly busy for a Wednesday, the racket of shoes on marble being particularly unpleasant to his ears. sifting his way through the crowd of people he disappeared into an employees only door, making his way towards the elevator to get to the Ward offices.

After briefly getting lost Coren found his way to the elevator, riding it up to the 10th floor.

Coren straightened out his shirt before exiting the elevator, entering a large room. Large desks and working areas were arranged neatly, allowing for efficient use of space while still providing comfortable conditions. The glass walls allowed the morning sun to complement the interior lights, making for a very lively and clean looking workplace. Coren had arrived earlier than he had expected today so only about 30 people where in the main office.

Coren walked through the rows of cubicles making his way to his bosses office. Being the overseer of the floor she had her own glass room overlooking the main street.

Eve noticed Coren making his way towards her office and got up from her desk to open the door from him.

"Thank you." Coren said curtly, lowering his head when coming face to face with her.

"I'm proud of your work yesterday." Eve smiled softly.

"Oh yeah, that was no problem. I thought I was gonna die a few times but I ended up okay." Eve laughed.

"I have a new assignment for you today, and this time I can promise that we won't accidentally give you a higher tier mission." Eve walked to her desk. looking around quizzically for Coren's file.

Coren appreciated her trying to keep him safe but nonetheless was disappointed that this hadn't earned him a tier up.

Seemingly recognizing the slight disappointment in his face Eve smiled before leaning close to him over her desk.

"Don't worry. A few more missions and you'll be a C Class Ward in no time." she winked

Coren's face blushed as he calmly thanked her, trying to play it cool.

"By the way when you arrive to the job site you'll be meeting your new partner." Eve's words left Coren confused. "Apparently your last partner... Biggy quit. It was his first day too."

"huh" Coren had liked Gibee, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"Although i guess it's better that he figured out he wasn't fit to be a ward before he died. Some people just don't have what it takes." Eve paused "And thats okay." Eve placed Coren's assignment file on her desk then began making herself busy sifting through some other files in her drawer.

"Have a good day. Thank you." Coren said, grabbing his file he began to make his way towards the door.

"Coren." He turned back to see that Eve had peaked up from her drawer, looking as serene as ever. "Come back to my office tonight after you're assignment."

"Will do." Coren squeaked, his face turning a deep red as he speed walked out of her office...

Coren made his way to the assigned location, his mind still racing with thoughts about his meeting with Eve later that evening. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to her request than she was letting on, and he was feeling more and more nervous about it. He even considered bailing on the meeting, but as an S-class ward, Eve had the authority to have him arrested for disobeying her orders. He knew he had to man up and go through with it.

Coren arrived at the assigned location, a rundown warehouse on the outskirts of town. He scanned the area, looking for any sign of his new partner. He had just started checking his assignment file to make sure that he had gotten the time and location correct when he heard a voice behind him.

"You must be Coren."

Coren turned to see a tall young woman with long black hair and piercing blue eyes. She was dressed in the standard Public Health Ward uniform, a sleek black business suit with a logo on the lapel and matching shoes. The suit was made of a high-quality material that looked professional, but was also durable enough to withstand the demands of the job. Although some modifications had been made, indicating her higher rank.

"B-Rank?" Coren questioned.

"Yeah. Maria B-class ward." She replied, studying Coren. "I've heard a lot about you. From D-rank to a potential C in only one month? impressive." Seeming to make an adequate judgement on her younger colleague she motioned for him to follow her to a van parked nearby.

Stepping in through the backdoor Coren noticed that it smelled heavily of incense. A small workstation had been set up, including various different electrical devices showing all sorts of different sets of data that Coren couldn't understand at all.

"We've gotten reports of a suspicious figure wandering the nearby neighborhoods, all signs point to them being an anomaly." Maria sat the floor of the van, spreading out blurred pictures of a person in all black. In a lot of them he was simply walking public roads but in a few he was photographed looking through windows and generally snooping around random houses.

"This doesn't really convince me that they're an anomaly. Could just be some freak. It's a pretty trashy area" Coren had met his fair share of odd characters in his youth.

"That would be true... if these photos weren't three months old." Maria threw out a final spread of pictures showing each of the homes as a crime scene, each of the houses showed signs of major damage, bodies were strewn across the lawn in two of them.

"Oh." Coren suddenly felt very quiet

"Initial reports were ignored for that exact reasoning, in fact we were still getting reports from worried citizens until the actual incident happened. Seven families, seven houses." She said. "All in one night. Yesterday night."

"Oh." Coren replied dumbly.

"The plan is easy. We're just gonna walk around the neighborhood... separately"

"That's all? What if I see it?"

"You page me and I'll page Eve to call in a few friends to help me take it out."

"So I can't even do anything if I see it?"

"you can page me. and then walk away without arousing any suspicion... preferably."

"...Ok" Coren replied, turning to exit the van.

"Don't try and be a dumbass. We're just trying to keep the neighborhood safe, not turn it into a battlefield." Maria reminded Coren, following behind him.

"Mhm." The two walked out towards the road, the sun setting behind the shingled roofs of suburbia.

"Meet back at the van in 2 hours to check in." Maria gave him a final piece of direction before slapping his back and walking in the opposite direction...

The sun had fully disappeared and the darkness of night began to affect Coren's concentration. He was about an hour into the operation and had zero contact with any potential threats. Deeply yawning, Coren stretched out his body, trying to force energy back into his limbs.

A long howl pierced the air as a neighborhood dog sensed the oncoming night