Seven Clouds left his workplace, looking for his bicycle. It was of a cherry red construction, with strange engravings over its entire surface. He felt the handlebars, settled his things in the basket. He'd never given thought to the engravings before now. Maybe it was a product of waking up to his discovery of a new kind of engineering, but he'd spent a whole minute tracing the engravings now. There was no response.

He'd purchased it when he was only fourteen, nearly ten years ago now. The woman who sold it to him ran a pawn shop not far from here. She'd been one of the first to offer him a job; it was a simple affair, manning the till of the pawn shop. She passed away when he was twenty, and her son had inherited the store before closing it down.

He still thought about her, from time to time. Feeling nostalgic, and having a moment to himself before his sisters came home from cram school, he decided to take a detour. Look around his old neighborhood. Think about everything he'd accomplished. Try not to focus on the engravings beneath him, or the unsettling design of his own circuits.

It wasn't until he passed the pawn shop that he had to brake and pedal backwards. Something was stirring in the location where the pawn shop once was. The storefront had been refurbished, a lovely shade of mahogany painted over the stone wood. The roof tiles had been washed, their dull gray making way for a shade of black charcoal, and the dusty windows had been cleaned.

A sign hung from the window: [Now Open]. Seven Clouds felt some trepidation. He wasn't carrying any real cash. All the money he'd earned went towards his family. But his eyes were drawn to a second message, pasted neatly on the window underneath the open sign.

[Now Hiring. Inquire Within.]

While his current job was something he was talented at and certainly paid the bills, he felt like he could do better. Maybe he could take the advice of his manager and live, claw back his free time from the clutches of Zen Electronics. It would depend on the pay, of course, but he had experience to spare. Maybe he could negotiate.

Emboldened, he opened the door and was assaulted by the smell of cloves and incense. Taking a few moments to overcome the attack on his olfactory senses, he was able to look around the newly renovated shop. The drab carpets had been replaced with wood, red carpet with golden engravings running around the displays.

A sleepy-looking fellow leaned against one of the displays. He wore his hair in two buns, and his skin was white as porcelain. He was dressed in a suit that looked a little too tight for his pudgy body, and his eyes had deep bags in them that distracted from the rest of his face.

"Welcome," the fellow managed before letting out an exaggerated yawn, stretching and straining his buttons. "I hope you'll find what you're looking for, Sir." His voice was much higher than his appearance would suggest. Perhaps a quirk of his size?

"And if I was looking for a job?" Seven Clouds leaned against the countertop, bringing himself level with the clerk, who looked nervous. 

"Well, we'd have to ask the boss. She's the one hiring, not me. S, so. Um." He pressed his plump fingers together, and then held one up. "Please wait here, sir. I'll be right out."

The man trudged out of the main hall with all the grace of an elephant, leaving Seven Clouds with the items in the store. He decided to get a better look at what was on display. Previously this store would serve as a resting place for all kinds of items.

Many of them would never be sold, even though they were purchased. The old pawn shop owner seemed to watch over the possessions of others while they dealt with the struggles in their lives, only to sell them back their family heirlooms once enough time had elapsed. He seemed to know what held little value to them and what was sold in an act of desperation.

Seven Clouds noticed that the current proprietor of the store acted no differently. This room was filled with things that had little value beyond sentimental purposes. Necklaces that would be worth more melted down into gold than kept in their current form, antique dolls and vases that even a collector would hesitate to purchase.

A selection of pre-packaged food on wireframe shelves were open to the left of the store, alcohol and cigarettes being sold over the counter. That meant the store's main source of revenue was probably acting as a convenience store for tourists and local businesses. It would make sense, as the store wasn't particularly profitable to begin with, but begged the question.

Why bother?

It was so much effort to keep a pawn store running, especially if you weren't about to sell the goods that belonged to others. Only a cold and ruthless approach would begin to squeeze juice out of this lemon. Seven Clouds continued to ponder this as the portly fellow from earlier returned.

"B, boss says she wants you in the back," the clerk spoke softly, fingers twisting around each other. "Says she wants to size you up. See what you're worth before she says yes."

As Seven Clouds made for the back hall, he felt a large hand rest carefully on his shoulder, holding him still. An uneasy look shot down from the big man's sleepy eyes. "Are you sure you want this job?" He whispered.

"No, not yet. Does it pay?" Seven Clouds flashed the big man a smile. The fellow didn't return it, rubbing his chubby cheeks.

"Pretty well. But there's other, safer jobs out there. Don't be in a rush to say yes." The man sounded incredibly concerned with his wellbeing.

"I worked at this pawn shop for four years and never had anything dangerous occur." Seven Clouds gently removed the portly man's hand from his shoulder, feeling a strange leather on the palm he could not see with his naked eye. Glossing over the feeling, he flashed a soft grin.

"What's the worst that could happen?"