Welcome to Oracle

My alarm rang for the fifth time before I finally got up. I rolled out of bed, brushed my teeth, took a shower, and got dressed. I did everything the same way I always had. I knew today would just be another normal day.

Then I saw the envelope on my desk. Yesterday really wasn't a dream. I actually met that crazy woman last night and I was supposed to see her again tonight. My day had suddenly gotten a lot less normal.

I couldn't focus on any of my classes since I was too busy thinking about my new "job". I didn't want to go, but I felt a little obligated. I had already been paid and it would be rude not to show up. Also, I didn't want to imagine what would happen to me if I decided not to show up.

With my resolve kind of steeled, I waited until sunset to head out. I mostly remembered how to get there so I didn't bother bringing up the map. When I reached the right street it still took me a while to find which alley to go down. Once the sun had set, the faint light appeared from the small building. When I raised my hand to knock on the door, it swung open.

"Welcome back employee!" Lisa greeted me bursting with energy.

"I would say I'm glad to be back, but I'm not too sure I am."

"Well, I'm glad you're back. Aren't you excited about your first day of work?"

"Absolutely thrilled."

"I know you can't wait to get started but you'll have to contain your enthusiasm for a little longer. First, I'm going to give you a tour of the building."

"Tour? This whole place is literally just one roo—"

Lisa cut me off and gestured to her desk, "Here we have my office where I do official things." She then points to a couch on the other side of the room, "that is the lounge where I sit and watch tv when I'm on a break."

"that's it?"

"that's it."

"Then where am I supposed to work then?"

"You don't work here, all of your work is done in the field."

"The field?"

"Yeah, like outside and stuff," she turns away from me and walks to the door. "Perfect timing, it looks like your coworker is here."

Wait, what? Did she really just say that I had a coworker? I couldn't believe it, there was someone other than me who was either crazy or desperate enough to get this job. Maybe I would have a normal person to talk to for once. I expectantly watched the door as Lisa opened it.

On the other side of the door stood a boy that appeared to be in his late teens. He wore baggy pants and an oversized hoodie. It was fairly warm even at night, so his choice of clothing was a little odd. However, there was one thing that stuck out about his appearance, his skin. It was pale, much paler than any person I'd ever seen. From what I could see under his hood, his hair also appeared to be a bright white. When he turned to look at me, I stared at the unnatural red iris of his eyes.

He turned to Lisa, "Who's he?"

"He's the newest member of our team, Washi."

He burst with laughter, "Washi? what kind of a name is that? Was there a typo on his birth certificate or something?"

"I'm right here you know."

He glanced over at me then turned back to Lisa, "When does he leave?"

"He's not leaving, you're going to be working with each other from now on."

"Why? I can do it on my own I don't need some dead-weight tagging along."

"I'm still right here."

They paid no attention to me and kept talking, "It's better for you if he comes with you. I've seen it happen."

He paused to think for a bit, "...Fine."

"Good, now go introduce yourself to him."

The boy walked over to me, "The name's Zero. I guess we'll be working together from now on."

I laughed a little, "What kind of a name is that? Isn't your name weirder than mine?"

He ignored me and turned to Lisa, "Are you sure we can't get someone else?"

"I'm sure"

"Great, we're all acquainted with one another, but what exactly are we going to be doing?" I asked.

Lisa answered, "You are now a part of Oracle, where our job is to save the world."

"Oracle?"

"It's the name of our company, I came up with it myself."

"I'm not surprised. So how are we 'saving' the world?"

Zero spoke up, "Lisa can see a future where the world is threatened by certain people, and we are here to prevent them from getting to that point."

"What do you do to these people to prevent them from threatening the world?"

"I try to resolve things non-violently, but violence is usually the only thing they'll listen to."

"So we're basically just vigilantes then."

Lisa seemed upset at my comment, "don't compare us to those low-lives they just follow their own sense of 'justice' doing whatever they want. Oracle has standards. We don't just attack anyone we think is bad, we are here as a last resort. The people we target won't just eventually be stopped by law enforcement or anyone else, we have to step in or no one else will."

"Okay so we're just vigilantes, but better."

"that is an acceptable definition."

"Enough talking," Zero said, "Let's get to work."

"Zero's right, you'll figure out what to do once you experience it firsthand."

"I don't like where this is heading."

Zero took me by the arm, "Let's go, we're wasting moonlight."