{Interview From Hell}

Fluorescent lights illuminate the large steel room, that was covered in darkness before the man flipped the switch. Security cameras twist and turn following Kayden's eyes as he looks around the room. The room is filled with bookshelves, filing cabinets, and a few pieces of furniture. The room looks cramped for space as Kayden notices how stuffed the bookcases are with books, files, and papers, that they look like if any more weight is applied to them they might just burst. Kayden looks at the thermostat in the room, the temperature of the room is a solid 65 degrees. The sweat rolling off of Kayden's forehead could say differently. He stares up at the ceiling fan circling overhead, going at such a rapid rate it looks almost as if at any second it could come crashing down on top of him. Kayden takes a few steps forward and put's his hand on his head wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. The red carpet makes Kayden feel sick to his stomach because it is the color of blood. Kayden looks to the leather sofa in the corner of the room, it seems perfectly placed almost inviting. Yet, an eerie feeling comes over the top of Kayden as he see's the man that had shaken his hand and called him, sit down at the desk in front of him.

"Kayden, my boy have a seat." The man says in a raspy voice, so harsh and low Kayden has to strain to hear it. He slowly walks over to a chair in front of the desk and sits down. His mind whirls with ideas and ways on how to escape out of this room. He doesn't know why but he wants out of this room as soon as possible. He glances at the windows in the room and he immediately notices the locks on them. They have fingerprint scanners on their seal, ensuring that no one unauthorized could open them. Kayden glances at the doors in the back of the room, and the one he had been led through. All of them have key card slots, number pads, and fingerprint scanners. The only way in and out is through one of the authorized personnel. Kayden feels the air thicken with an overbearing sense of being trapped in this room with a man of power, who could easily dispose of him if he were to say the wrong thing. Something about the professional looking man sitting in front of him seems odd to him.

Kayden can feel the man staring at him, his eyes are a bright shade of orange like fire flames. Kayden can feel his eyes staring a hole through him, and Kayden's fingers start to tremble not with fear, but with the uneasiness of being alone in this room with the man.

Suddenly, the man lifts up a small remote control, pushes a button and Kayden can hear the static coming from the security camera's as they shut off. Kayden's mind begins to spin with questions on why he would cut off the live video feed. What exactly were his intentions with Kayden? Had Kayden stepped into a bad game of chess he could no longer win? Kayden swallows hard and chokes back his fear as he makes eye contact with the man sitting in front of him.

"Well, I am here like you asked me to be. Can we move forward with the process?"Kayden asks quickly, nearly stumbling over his words. He watches as the man's eyes focus in on his eyes, Kayden doesn't break his stare. Unyielding to let the man in front of him cause him to look away or back down when challenged. Kayden might be uneasy, but his stubbornness outweighed his uneasiness. Kayden suddenly feels a surge of electricity bolt through his body, and he shifts his eyes away from the man. He almost jumps out of his seat from the electrical surge that went through his body. He can't help but feel that the man in front of him somehow triggered it when they locked eyes and he has seen that Kayden wouldn't look away first.

"Kayden, would you like a smoke?" The man asks him as he lifts a cigar to his mouth, and retrieves a large silver lighter, lighting it with the flame from the lighter as he strikes his thumb across the striker. He shoves the cigar box across the table to Kayden, and Kayden rolls his eyes as he shoves the cigar box back across the table.

"No, I don't smoke cigars only cigarettes," Kayden replies as he crosses his arms, and leans back in his chair. His uneasiness has now turned into assertiveness. He didn't come here to be mocked by a man above him, but to serve a job in which he could flourish greatly financially from. The man in front of him smirks, and he takes a long draw off his cigar as the ashes fall directly beneath him into the ashtray the man had placed there.

"Kayden, I feel that maybe we're starting off on bad terms. Let me turn this around for you Kayden, you can call me L or Boss. L is what most of my Specials call me and the others call me boss. Which ever one would prefer, we shall get to the paperwork and begin your interview as soon as you answer a few questions for me." The man introduces himself as he exhales the smoke from the cigar directly into to Kayden's face. Kayden coughs and waves the smoke away with his hands, then he makes eye contact with the man.

"Fine. I'll call you L as soon as you tell me what it stands for." Kayden states as he locks his eyes with L's again, this time he knows he can make L look away. Because Kayden knows from past experience when a man introduces himself with an initial, that obviously his name strikes a chord with him on a deeper level then he willing to go or to share with anyone. Kayden being from the slums of the city knows that when something strikes a chord with a man of power you can easily turn things for your favor. Seizing this moment, Kayden knows at this moment he has the upper the hand.L shifts his eyes away from Kayden, and he smirks as he watches L fumble with paperwork.

"I don't have to tell you anything Kayden, nor do I have to hire you. You will respect me and my company if you plan to leave this room, and ever benefit here in this company. Is that understood?" L questions him angrily as he takes a long draw off of his cigar. He glares at Kayden now, impatiently awaiting an answer.

Another bolt of electricity surges through Kayden's body as he glares back at L. This surge is much more forceful than the other one that is almost painful. Kayden can feel his heart rate speed up, as it the sound of the thumps coming from his heart begins loudly beating in Kayden's ears.

"Yes, sir. I wouldn't have it any other way." Kayden manages to say, as he clenches his fist in pain from the electrical surge that has now targeted the bottom of his spine. He can feel his spine throbbing, as those words had left his lips. He glances up to L who he knows can see the pain in his eyes because he smirks and looks away from Kayden. As soon as he looks away from Kayden, the electrical surge disappears from his body almost as if it was never there to begin with. But, Kayden, knows what he felt was real because his spine lightly throbs now, an aftereffect from the surge Kayden assumes.

"Kayden, let me start by saying that you will be working for a wonderful company here at L.O.S.S. We are very family oriented and provide housing for some of our researchers, specials and all other members who choose to be available at all times for an assignment or for work. Which is very convenient for me, because I need all my of my workers to be on time no matter what. Now, I expect you to be on time and show up when I need you too. I also expect excellence, I only hire the best of the best. Do you have any special qualifications, that might make you more useful to me in that field than others?" L asks him, as he begins scribbling things on Kayden's paperwork. His handwriting is so illegible that Kayden can't read it. He watches him scribble what Kayden thinks is his signature here and there on the paperwork, all the while exhaling smoke from his cigar.

"I like to fight. I can read and write really well, um I can also do a lot with computers. I also have a remarkable gift. Even if you don't know it about me yet." Kayden answers as he smirks. When the word "gift" leaves his mouth, L glances up from the paperwork to Kayden's face his eyes express his interest in what that word could mean.

"What kind of gift exactly?" L questions curiously, as he drops the ashes from his cigar into the ashtray. He watches Kayden's expression very careful, and Kayden is aware that he is being watched by L who is clearly interested in what he was about to say.

"Well, you see L it's like this. I have a built-in bullshit detector, and it is still a working model that is constantly stuck in overtime inside my brain. You say this is a good company, and you will provide everything including housing for me. But, I can sense when someone's bullshitting me. Like you were right then, nothing in this life comes free. You are businessman L, and I mean no disrespect, sir. But, I am sure you take out fees out of everyone's paycheck for these things. Don't you?" Kayden says as he smirks and withdraws out a cigarette from his pack in his pocket. He lights up the cigarette and leans forward putting his elbows on L's desk as he faces him taking a draw off of his cigarette.

L glares at Kayden as he takes the cigarette out of Kayden's mouth and crushes in his fingers then shoves it into the ashtray. Kayden moves his elbows quickly, and he sinks back into the chair afraid that he had awakened L's angry side. He glances back to the lifeless security cameras when he remembers that L had killed the live video feed to them just a few moments before, and Kayden swallowed hard wondering if he had overstepped his boundaries, he wondered what L's intentions were to do with him now.

"Kayden, this is a smoke-free facility. Only authorized personnel or Specials may smoke on the grounds. I can smoke because I am the boss, and I make the rules for everyone else to follow. Besides, if I didn't smoke I might kill half of the employee's here for being so damn stupid. It takes three people to do a one man job on most days, and if I didn't get smoke a whole of people would be much more weary of not doing their jobs. Kayden, this is my company. I put a whole lot of work into making sure everyone and everything fit into the set structure of rules. A set of regulations, by which all employees must abide by including you, if I decide to hire to you. You stated earlier that you like to fight right?" L questioned with a glimmer in his eyes as he smirked at Kayden. He immediately begins filling in empty blanks and checking yes on all check boxes on the forms, with his illegible handwriting scribbling in notes here and there.

Kayden watched as L's hand quickly went through the vast pages of paperwork, before slowly pushing the papers across the desk to Kayden and reaching him a pen. Kayden swallows hard, as he tries to read the words written on the paperwork. He squints his eyes as he studies the page in front of him, he could make out a few words here and there. But, He couldn't read everything L had written on the pages in front of him. The highlighted portions of each page had a blank line, that demanded Kayden's initials or his signature.

"Yeah, I do like to fight sir. I am quite good at it too. I might not look like much, but I can hold my own in a fight if I have too. But, what does the fact that I like to fight have anything to do with the paperwork? And what exactly does this contract state, before I sign it? I would like to know what I am getting into before I sign my life away." Kayden replies to him, as he waits for his questions to be answered. His fingers tremble as he fumbles the pages back and forth reading bits of printed information that was on the paperwork. The bits of information only stated "how wonderful the company was" and "how beneficial it was for all its employees." Nothing about the paperwork itself, just full of the same lies L had tried to feed him minutes ago.

"The contract is just a mere agreement on the terms that will be exchanged here at L.O.S.S. The contract is simply stating that the employer and the employee, cannot break this contract for any reason until after the first assignment has been completed. You see, this contract forbids you or me from terminating it until after you have completed the first assignment. The first assignment is the most crucial and important assignment to everyone in the building. I am thinking of putting you in something we refer to here as harder-than-hell training. Which is formerly known as S.E.T training, depending on the side effects from the injections, and how well you handle them. Your interest in fighting intrigues me." L states to him, as his eyes stare at the pen near Kayden's fingertips. He awaits patiently for Kayden to sign his paperwork so the real training can begin, and Kayden can receive his first injection. L's curiosity runs wild with all the possible things the injections could do Kayden, how powerful or how weak it could make him. He wonders silently to himself if Kayden will be the bait or fish for his team. He secretly hopes he will be a force to be reckoned with which will give L the backbone he needs to fit into his team, and will add some youth to the variety of his team.

Kayden glares across the table at L, he hesitantly lifts the pen and signs all the paperwork. He reminds himself, that he needs this job so he can increase his finances. He is hesitant to sign the "injection release form," the form states that he will consent to these injections and he will live with the side effects from them for the rest of his life or until he retires from the company. Upon retirement from the company, he will be offered counter injections that will turn him back to normal, or he can keep his side effects. At that moment he would be offered a second form, in which he will sign yes or no to the side effects.

Kayden sighs, as he rereads the same sentences over and over wondering if he should sign it. He glances up to L who has received an important call on his cell phone and has entered into the side room to have his conversation privately. Kayden is left alone at the desk with the paperwork. He slowly waits until he see's L turning away from him and fixing a cup of coffee, and then he signs the form. But not before, he plunders through some of the files on L's desk underneath the last bit of his paperwork. But, to his surprise, he finds nothing about the injections, only other files with pictures of new applicants and their signed paperwork.

Kayden is curious if he will meet any of the other new applicants, and what working for L.O.S.S will be like. His mind whirls with negativity concerning the injections, he finds himself wanting to leave the room as his nerves begin to eat away at him. His fears growing as fast as weeds that he almost can't breathe when L reenters into the room.