The man who dared was unnaturally beautiful. Almost statuesque in form. His skin, though ashen in color, was smooth and creased in all the right places of his face. His eyes were a bright, captivating color, almost neon... they seemed to suck you straight in. His hair, although an odd two-toned color, even seemed to move and dance to some nonexistent gentle breeze whenever he moved his head. And the source of his laughter, his mouth, was lined with sparkling teeth that looked as if they could rip out your very soul.

So unnaturally beautiful.

Absolutely sickening.

For the small moment I spent staring at this stranger, I had been standing in the doorway, completely void of expression. Just a mute face staring straight into the snickering jaws of death.

So it took a moment.

“Officer Grimswold, please... a seat.” At that moment I was pulled out of the void to face the man who had called me to the main office. The chief was a large man with a rigid face and dark eyes was sitting behind the desk. He was a stern- looking man most of the time, but this instance had found him with a cold nervous sweat and fidgeting posture... a rare sight but welcome all the same.

It could perhaps mean that I wasn’t in any trouble.

At least not in any way that was traditional.

There were two seats in front of the desk angled at soft 45 degree angles, one was occupied by the statue man. I sat in the other seat and waited for my instructions.

I did happen to glance back at the statue man to discern what facts I could glean from his appearance and happen to notice that his wrists were cuffed in front of him. A prisoner that wasn’t going to run?

After Dorischell closed the door the chief began his tale.

“This,” he started, offhandedly waving in the general direction of the statue, “is Mr. LaFonte. He illegally bypassed the city’s security and has since been accused of robbery, property damage, and battery, and had led us in a wild goose chase around the city for an hour until we caught him and brought him here.” The sta--- LaFonte smiled a toothy grin to no one in particular as the chief continued through the report.

“We have since sorted out and narrowed down these accusations to a misunderstanding but the bypassing of the city’s security still stands. Normally we would inform the intruder of proper protocol and our law and urge them to reapply for Soraji access but...” He dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief as he quickly flipped through more pages with his free thumb, “but Mr. LaFonte here is a special case. Being one of the more dangerous beings on the Burrell scale, we can’t let him roam free about the city without proper surveillance... A-At least for the first couple of months. He’s been accused of so much already...”

I shifted in my seat a little, already dreading what I knew had no way of happening.

“Then don’t let him in the city...”

“We can’t do that. This isn’t one of those human-centralized cities or even the top floor like you’re used to.” The chief let out a sigh that sounded almost like a whistle and finally turned from his papers to look up at me.

“The truth is.. we’re not used to one of his kind trying to move into Soraji. It’s usually the other way around. We’re not used to the accommodation. Which is why we’re asking you...”

Oh no.

“Why we’re asking you to look after him for a while.”

Oh nO.