Soraji was a miserable wreck of a city. Half the economy was in shambles, the people were always out to get you, and the prices-

I-

They’re-

Who ever heard of a vending machine that sells canned espresso for 10 dollars a shot?? Honestly if it wasn’t for this city’s ‘special feature’ no one would even bother imagining breathing here. And yet here I was, sitting in the police station, waiting for my turn to be given my assessment. Oh, I wasn’t the one in trouble, at least not in the traditional sense of the word, oh no~ I’m just here doing my job.

It’s at this point that I realize I haven’t even introduced myself. I just went and rattled off about my problems without even saying hello, sorry about that.

But really.

This city was a dump.

And honestly if it hadn’t been for the strange occurrences and characters I would meet here, I would have gone ineptly insane.

“Ms. Grimswold? Your assignment has been prepared if you would follow me into the main office…”

Taking my head out of the hands I was reading, I looked up to see a short woman, maybe in her mid-thirties, hair tied neatly in a little brown bun, wings stilled against her back, clothing pressed and steamed to a creaseless perfection. Her name was Dorischell I think? Normally I would be stunned by her appearance, what with the fairy-esque wings and all, but my face was fixed in a stern, emotionless expression. I had seen this before. In fact, that’s what Soraji’s ‘special feature’ was all about: The Oasis of the Odin- a safe haven for creatures of all origins.

Soraji was built as a superficial solution to an age-old problem that plagued our world for generations. Regular human beings pitted themselves against those that we had deemed ‘mythical’ for control over the worlds resources and in doing so, started a war that would never find its end. However, as if to provide some sort of proof of concept, a city was built that would house both regulars and the others in the same location. The city has been around for about half a century and it still hadn’t gone up in flames so I guess you could say this experiment was a success. At least from the outside…

I followed Dorischell through the door she had come out of and down a brightly lit hallway. The walls of this corridor were very empty, void of any pattern or poster, just a sterile… khaki. An odd analogy, I know, but it was the only word that could capture my full emotional avoidance of it. It was just something you didn’t look at or acknowledge, which would explain the way I gradually moved to walk in the center of the hallway slightly beside Dorischell instead of behind her against the right side of the hall. This made things a little odd since she was a shorter lady and had an equally small stride compared to my long lunges. So in order to not pass her, I would slow my leg fall speed mid stride. Doing this effectively readjusted my pace every so often so I would still be considered “following” her, but it also made me look like I was beginning to fall over and managed to remember that I was walking half way through the fall. This wouldn’t usually be a problem for me though, as I had a bit of a reputation around the precinct of being a stick-in-the-mud. So any snicker would be easily struck down with a stern glare.

And that’s probably why I stood in utter shock when this deep, wheezing laughter barreled straight into my face right as I opened the office door.