Day 9: 12:00AM

"So, anything about those rats yet?"

An impatient voice of a woman rang among what looked like this sea of computer screens glaring among the sound of computer keys clacking and a few people talking inside a dimly lit room enclosed with walls made up of metallic patches of gold. She rubbed the sides of her tired golden eyes before she peered through her empty paper cup of coffee as if she was expecting more and after a pause, she threw it with the others at the dump of used cups at her back.

"No, not a word, although, what we have much of is the reports of multiple skirmishes of our reapers against them, especially when they are prospects involved," said one of her staff, looking at her after attending to her computer.

"Also, Rick," she added, dismissing what her staff had just said with a soft yawn, almost seeming like a whisper with her half-closed eyes.

"Yes, ma'am?" A man then followed in confusion.

"And, there's a special request from the Pales, Miss Ankou is asking for our assistance-wait... I'm sorry?" Her assistant paused as she looked at Rick hugging his set of reports while waiting for her orders.

"My coffee, I need it," she added, scratching her forehead with a low groan.

"I-am… what about the one I just gave to you… ma'am?" He asked.

"Had it, drank it, now I need more," she replied as her head sank into the table. "Now, are you just gonna leave me hanging, or are you going to go back to the pantry or make me one?"

"I-I got it…"

"Thanks," she said, looking at Rick's back as he walked out of the room before turning to another group of people in the distance. "Rachel, drop your current team's assignments and contact the pales. Make up a report of what they're nagging us about and send it to me as soon as possible."

"Yes, ma'am," she gave her a nod before going back to her seat.

Looking at this, the woman looked back at the staff she talked to earlier and asked, "Any news about the enlistments? Damn, we better think of a name for us too…"

They then went back to their computers and after a moment, they returned her tired gaze and said, "Yes, we have confirmed a total of four reapers signing up with one that was sent by Death himself." She paused and after a moment of typing, she followed, "Sending the files to your screen now."

Without moving from her current position, she sighed as she looked at the four people on the monitor in front of her. "Two new faces and oh, Mary… she looks familiar, what do we have about her again?"

"Yes, her very first mission was with our hospital raid a few years ago. She tried enlisting to your squad at that very same year and now, she's back for more after failing two times in a row…" She replied with her voice that seemed a little bit breathy and about to break into a chuckle.

"Really going for that 'third time's the charm' huh?" The woman squinted along with another yawn. "How're her numbers?"

"Metrics are all green, though if you're looking for something, ma'am, her combat skills are almost below average and her choices of weapon are..." She cleared her throat, preventing herself to laugh before saying, "quite unique."

"The dudes are looking so gifted compared to her but…" Her face slowly sank to her desk again as she let out a long breath through her nose and just then, Rick entered a room with a fresh cup of steaming hot coffee in his hand.

"Ma'am, here's your coffee…"

"Thanks," she said, snatching the coffee from his hand and gorging its contents before looking back at the screen. She let out her tongue a moment after, blowing on it to let the heat escape, but then, after a second, with her eyes slowly turning sharp, she squinted and heaved out a heavy sigh. "Who the fuck is Juanito?"

The team laughed until one of them replied, "He just became a reaper not long ago. His real name was Jason but he insists that we call him Juanito. Mr. Death says that he would be a great addition to our team so he forwarded him to us via direct recommendation."

"Ah," she looked at his file, running through his personal profile, skills and his ability that soon crumpled her face in disgust. "Yep, fuck this guy. I don't want to unintentionally let someone pass through the tests by beating him so… Contact Rei and get him to teach our little Juanito everything that he needs to know."

"Are you sure?" One of her staff asked, sounding as if she wanted to ask more.

"Of course I am, just send the guy to him," she replied, checking the profile of the reaper following him and after a moment, she stopped to run her face through her sweaty palms. "Shit, now I can't have a tournament arc."

They didn't give her a reply and instead watched her look at her empty cup of coffee once again. "Let's just push through with the internship then, let's just mobilize team three to monitor them and their actions while they do their missions. On that note, yeah, who's available right now?"

"Counting out Rei and the others who were already deployed, we have the Vendor on standby and Viela, who's about to go on a mission. We're scheduled to pick up the Dolphin too, and also, Rick," one of her staff replied after looking back at her computer.

"No, we're not touching Rick and we can't have the Dolphin to carry them through this little test," she replied, immediately looking at Rick and asking him to make her another cup of coffee. "Send a message to Viela that we're holding off her mission for now by having us stop by at the headquarters. Give her a heads up too that she's going to have a dude tail her for this one. We don't have to worry about the Vendor."

"Got it, ma'am, will send it right away."

"Sure, just schedule us a bit of a briefing a few hours later and once you're done, go back to your quarters. We're good for the day," she said, standing from her seat to throw her empty cup to the pile of garbage at her back.

"And for uhmm… Mary?" one of them followed. "What should we do about her, ma'am, do you want me to…"

"Oh…" She replied, and without even turning to look at them, she shoved her hands into her pocket and stepped out with her tired voice following right after, saying, "We'll just send her to Choir."