The Sun rises as another morning starts the day off in the city of Kyrie, with a population of just over 500,000. Train stations were packed with schoolchildren and working adults alike, as does the cars and trucks that course through the city’s roads like blood pumping into the heart which is the city. Businesses are open as usual, preparing for another day of work.
Another person who is getting ready for work is Gilbert, a customer service officer who worked for a company which operates the city’s local tram service. He lives alone in a small, single bedroom house which he rented because the location is close to where he worked, thus saved his travel costs by just riding a bicycle.
He stepped down the ladder from the two floored building, and unlocked his bicycle. He takes out a pamphlet from the bicycle’s front basket, and places his small briefcase inside.
“The price for fresh fish is cheap today. Let’s see if I have enough money for today.” he muttered as he reached into his pocket for a brown colored wallet. He opens the wallet, only to find several banknotes with numbers 1 and 5 printed on them and a handful of coins.
He sighs as he realized that it’s the middle of the month and his monthly wage is drying up.
“Reheated food at the convenience store again, it seems.”
He stores the money back, and stows his bicycle to the main road before riding off to work.
------
He arrived at his workplace after 15 minutes of stopping by a public toilet due to diarrhea caused by yesterday’s spoilt milk he drank last night.
With his pants, socks and shoes soaking wet caused by the toilet’s faulty sink, he walks in the office and logged his work attendance while making a splattering, sloshing sound as he fast walks to his desk to save himself from embarrassment.
“Gilbert, here’s your work for today.” His supervisor, Angeline said to him as she placed three files filled with documents.
One of the files were filled to the brim with complaints from disgruntled customers and employers who reported about the delay caused by a faulty electric connection to three out of the seven trams serving the city several days ago.
“You need to make a report of the complaints, and send it to me. No need for you to cover up for me again like last time. Aside from that, just do your regular things as usual.” she said to Gilbert.
Gilbert only nods his head, and proceeds to work straight away. He pulls a typewriter placed on his cubicle’s desk closer to him and loads some paper into it.
“You’re awfully quiet today, is something wrong with you Gilbert?” Angeline frowned at her subordinate’s lack of response, before looking down at the carpeted floor close to him, soaking wet.
She burst into uncontrollable laughter not long afterwards.
“Did you wet your pants? Again?”
Angeline clutches her stomach due to excessive laughing, while wiping her eyes from tears.
“There’s this incident when I was in the restroom, and this happened.” Gilbert replies as he starts typing the report, while avoiding indulging in the topic further.
“Some things never change, am I right, Gilbert?” Angeline said to her childhood buddy while slapping Gilbert’s back.
Gilbert had no comeback on her words, and sighs.
“Maybe you need to check on your bladder, man. Yours may be weak…and leak prone.” Angeline added, before resuming her laughter at Gilbert.
“Go back and do your job, tomboy! Quit pestering me.” Gilbert finally snapped after Angeline’s ridicule garnered attention from other staff in the office, sheepishly grins at him.
“Okay, fine.” Angeline sighs as she kicks Gilbert’s chair in retaliation of him calling her a tomboy, when she is as she herself described, less feminine. Sporting a short hairdo just reaching to her nape, her lack of growth in chest and hips area, adding with her short stature also led Gilbert to call her as such since they started became friends.
“Dude, what was that for?!” Gilbert said at his supervisor. “That’s what you get for calling me a tomboy!” Angeline replies as she walked away to her own cubicle at the end of the row.
Their never ending bickering has always been a source of entertainment among their colleagues in the office, which were already rowdy to begin with.
------
Work for the day has ended as evening falls, and everyone rush begins as usual in the city. The same could be said to Gilbert, as he takes out his bicycle from the bicycle parking spot.
He sits on the bicycle and ready to pedal away, when Angeline came running out of nowhere and dropkicks Gilbert’s bicycle, prompting him to fall off.
“God damn it, Angeline!” Gilbert curses, as she laughed her butt off.
“Want to go back home together?” Angeline says to him.
“No.”
“Aww, come on. I forgot that my brother is using the car for today. Can I get a lift?”
“Not after you kicked me off this bike.”
“Getting sulky, aren’t you?”
“No, you bastard.”
She flipped him off afterwards.
The two stopped by a convenience store for Gilbert to buy some food for dinner, since he could not survive, or more like could not stand on having instant noodles and canned food on a daily basis. As a token of apology, Angeline buys some extra food for her friend.
After they paid for their purchase, they went back outside when they saw a bunch of gangsters picking up a fight with a homeless person a few blocks away. The homeless person was seen fending off their attacks while defending her purse, seemingly filled with money.
She fought valiantly, but the numbers are too much for her to even run away. She was soundly beaten afterwards, and they took her money.
After the gangsters left, Gilbert and Angeline went to see what happened to the homeless person.
She was left bloodied, and bruises on her eyes and mouth. She clutched her stomach, and coughed out blood. She was too tired after fighting against the gangsters; she could even barely stand.
“Oh shit, she’s bleeding! We need to take her to the hospital!” Angeline says.
“But we don’t have any money to pay for her medical bills.” Gilbert replies.
“Dude, she’s coughing blood and you’re thinking about the medical bills?”
“I’m being realistic here. Neither of us had money left, and we only have my bicycle for transport. And both of our phones are dead.”
“For fuck’s sake you should invest on buying a portable power bank.”
“Give me the money, and then I’ll buy it.”
“Enough of that, let’s bring her to your house.” Angeline suggests.
“Wait, why my house?” Gilbert asks in confusion.
“Your house is closer, and she needs emergency treatment. I only had this small first aid kit in my bag. We can treat her wounds there.”
“Alright, fine. Help me lift her up, and place her on the back seat.” Gilbert sighs, and starts to lift the homeless person’s weakened body off the ground.
They put her on the back seat of the bicycle, and went straight back to Gilbert’s home.
------
At Gilbert’s home, they laid down the homeless person on a thin mattress, and Angeline starts cleaning her wounds as Gilbert went to the kitchen to fetch for some water. She opened the homeless person’s jacket and clothes underneath to reveal more bruises caused by repeated beatings with metal batons and kicks.
Since she had nothing underneath the shirt and jacket, Gilbert looked away while helping Angeline to treat her wounds and covers some of the large bruises on her body with bandages.
She was given some pain killer pills and water before going to sleep.
“Take care of her, okay? Of course, I’ll drop by tomorrow to check up on her and bring along more medications from my house.” Angeline says to Gilbert as she puts back her shoes on.
“Don’t worry; I’ll call you if her condition gets worse.” Gilbert answers back.
As Angeline left, he closes the door and starts to prepare a dinner for two.
------
“Any new information on the rogue Magister, Cindy?” a woman asked, as her partner’s eyes were gazed upon the ten screens in front of her.
“Some Good Samaritans took her away. She appeared to receive some injuries due to a brawl between her and some thugs a few hours ago.” her friend named Cindy replied as she took a sip of coffee from her mug, which were placed beside her keyboard.
“A rare sight nowadays. We don’t often see people helping each other now.” She added.
“There’s no harm on being nice to others, Erica.” Cindy replied with a sheepish grin.
“However, the rogue Magister is currently in a very physically vulnerable state. We need to monitor her for the time being.”
“I will ask Six and Seven to keep an eye around the house she’s in. But if he comes, I’ll deal with him myself.” Erica said.
“Being a tactical member, I’m always worried of your approach of going in alone. I know that you’re confident on your skills, but still…at least bring along someone with you. You know, just in case.”
Cindy took another sip of coffee.
Erica hugged her friend’s seated figure from the back, and rested her chin on Cindy’s head.
“I’ll be fine, don’t worry. I know how to take care of myself.” Erica assured her friend’s worries away.
“Still…”
“Come on sweetie, you’re thinking too much.”
Just then, a warning notification popped up on one of the screen.
Cindy shrugged her friend off from her, and clicked on the notification.
“This is Five. Six, give me the status report.” Cindy spoke through her headset’s microphone.
“Six here. Just as we had foresaw, the rogue Magister Hunter was last seen nearby the railway’s railcar stocks depot, and several small explosions were spotted in the area. Ten and Eleven are going into the area for reconnaissance and rescue for any surviving victims.”
“Alright, noted. Please exercise extreme caution when approaching the area. He might’ve still within the area.” Cindy warned her on the field partner, Six.
“Roger that. I’ll provide a live feed of what’s going on as well as maintaining contact with Ten and Eleven.” Six replied.
Crossing her arms, Erica let out a deep breath.
“He had been eluding us for several months now. Taking him down will help us a lot in cracking down criminal rogue Magisters.” She said.
“Once we took him in, we’ll extract all the info he knew.” Cindy replied, as she finished her coffee.
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