Silently filled with shock, neither of the young men could express their surprise at meeting a talking baby who confirmed his position as the boss of a rather essential place of business. 

In one corner was Elias, who was sure some sort of trick was being played, while Sebastian was straight up in disbelief. Indeed, a baby was not the best choice to be the boss of…really anything.

Bartholomew—who preferred those who knew him personally to refer to him as Junior—knew there would be questions. There always were, but that would have to be set aside for another time. Right now, the purpose of this meeting was to…

“I have a question?” Elias asked.

“...Y-yess, and what is it?”

“Are you for real, for real? Like a...real human child or some hologram?”

“I am indeed real, yes.”

Elias shot his hand up again to ask another question. 

“Uh-huh...”

“And, like, how old are you? Surely, you’re not potty trained, so that begs the question of who changes your diaper, and is that before or after meetings?”

“This swine,” cursed the female associate.

She was met with a tiny hand raised, halting her from continuing in a crude tone. Heeding to her boss’s whim, she bowed her head. 

“While I know you may have many questions, we must pause them for now. I believe we did have some matters to discuss. Mr. Nox, I suppose we shall address the topic of you first.”

Sebastian sat uncomfortably as he heard the child’s words. He knew the truth behind the organization. If the child was indeed who he said he was, he no doubt had to listen up.

“You’re to cease your operations as a Handler from henceforth.”

“Pardon?!”

“Handler?!” Squawked Elias. He needed clarification despite the conversation not taking a route that required critical thinking. The words were straightforward, but the meanings needed clarification. “Handler of what? You said you were a recruiter!”

“I am! Those I recruit, I also handle for...”

“For what?!”

Sebastian gulped as if it were a bitter pill to swallow. Given its business line, he wasn’t even sure if it was okay to broach the topic.

“Ummm, look, Elias, you weren’t supposed to be involved in that dangerous stuff. I only used my resources to get a job to, well, umm, get around a little problem I have.”

“Answer the question, mate! Handler for what?”

“Espionage work...” Sebastian sighed.

He hesitated, then took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure. Keeping his cool was becoming increasingly difficult. He cursed himself for getting involved in Sebastian’s shady dealings. He had always sensed that there was something off about him, but the promise of easy money had clouded his judgment. The bartender’s persuasive words had only added fuel to the fire. It was as if they had been lured into a trap, and now he found himself in a position he never intended to be in.

“Are you done?” Junior asked. It is easy to read his face, given that he did not have many years to train his facial muscles to be subtle. He was both peeved and rearing to get back on the main topic. “As I was saying—”

“I just don’t understand. You work in what, espionage, but hand out night security jobs?”

“It’s not like that. I have a quota that needs to be met since I work alone, and I need quality insurance and whatnot.”

“AHEM,” shot the pink-haired fellow standing by the boss baby’s side.

Junior spoke about Sebastian’s unsavory lack of quality as he now had the floor again.

Sebastian was a handler within the world located in the shadows. A freelance recruiter who, for better or for worse, had been slowly losing traction on the big gigs that his name alone allowed him to attain. His skills as a handler had proved nothing but fruitless endeavors.

It all tracked from the start of a big job earlier this year, dubbed the Cosmos Rave Incident. The failed mission resulted in several grand blunders for freelance agents and civilians. Sebastian incurred a notable stain on his record. It was covered up and redacted for all. Only specific individuals of a certain clearance had access to the files—those who could understand the severity of what had transpired. 

From there on out, each job Sebastian could obtain dropped in quality. Gathering assignments far and between left him picking up the scraps, even ones that may not be all that exciting.

Fearing that he would lose out on the gig itself, he found some ways around them, approaching them and taking angles from the periphery. The job he procured Elias for was undoubtedly a night security job that flashed within the channels he was familiar with.

It was civilian-labeled. The coincidence of anything extreme was slim to non-existent. Still, the location was cleared out with nobody on staff on purpose to catch some stirring rumors that had been circulating. 

The blunder left a one-night security guard who shouldn’t have been there, ruining the stake.

Sebastian had quite an array of faults, the greatest of which was always overlooking the finer details. Had he read them, he would have known Torch would arrive on the scene just as the special operatives were about to flee.

“As I said, we would like you to cease operations immediately from wherever you do so to stop this terrible track record of yours.”

His shoulders slumped lower than they have ever before. 

“That being the case. We want you to move operations under more professional and proper channels. We have procured documents to assist you in working under The Collective.”

“So I won’t be cut off?”

His eyes lit up like fireworks as he was handed a folder with signed documents and information disclosing the required details. At the bottom was Junior’s signature, and another was from the collective approving the process.

A colossal wave of relief washed over Sebastian’s face. Effectively speaking, he was given a job opportunity that simply required the relocation of offices. The caveat was that he could only do it independently with proper supervision. 

This was fine with him because it meant he still had a job. His plan succeeded; granted, this was not his plan at all, but that matters little in the eye of results.

Little did he know at the time he would first need to go through hours of training to understand the rules and procedures that needed to be taken before he could officially start. As soon as he signed and submitted the forms 

That truth would come to him, but for now, his bliss came at the sigh of a tiny toddler asking his subordinate to escort him to the Collective and ensure that all paperwork was taken care of and that there would be no further issues.

Sebastian was grinning ear to ear. Before leaving, he whispered to Elias, “These people are great. I will let you know how things go later. See ya, buddy!”

Elias only groaned as he noticed the boss baby turn to him. It didn’t take a genius to realize he would be the next “business topic.”