Chapter 2

I opened my eyes, my body was not willing to move. I sighed deeply and forced myself up in the dark apartment. I checked the time and went to shower first before going to the kitchen. I prepared some coffee and poured a glass for myself. I wonder what the new job would be like. I don't have much work experience, I'm only twenty-three years old.

When it was about time for me to leave, I went over to the mattresses and shook my sister's shoulder. She threw my hand off her, grumbling. I said, "Get up, you still need to go to school."

"Fine..." She groaned, sitting up, her hair a mess.

I checked my suit once more before adjusting my tie. My sister sat at the low table, a cup of coffee of her own, along with a horrific pairing of cereal. I ignored her dietary habits, not wanting to sound too stingy. I know I'm supposed to be the adult figure in her life, but honestly, it doesn't matter as long as she's happy.

I looked at the clock once more before opening the door. I said behind me, "I'll be off now. Make sure you get ready for school in time."

'I will, I will." She yawned.

I glanced back once more and left the house, walking my way to my workplace. Back when I was applying for my job, I had searched for any nearby places, and luckily, my current workplace was only a fifteen-minute walk from my home. Convenient, I know. I never know when I might need to rush home, so it was for the best.

There, I walked into the building with some of my colleagues, or rather, ex-colleagues. They stared and whispered about me behind my back. It made me wonder, did no one else apply for the promotion, really? It seemed like such a great deal, besides, how bad would the investigation department be? It can't be anything too different from what I used to do.

I entered the office, opening the door.

I would like to retract my previous statement.

I stood at the door, and there was a workspace like none other. Saying that there was a lack of 'work' would be an understatement. There was not a single laptop in sight, no cubicles where people worked. I looked around, a couch not too far away in front of me, along with some beanbags. There was a second floor, spiral stairs in the middle, a ladder right beside me, and a slide. Why was there a freaking slide? There were several televisions that were mostly turned off except for one that continued running. There seemed to be only one person on the couch, sleeping. I looked up, there was another person on the second floor. I took a step back and looked at the label of the door. Indeed, it had the words 'investigation' on it. Was I really in the correct place?

I entered once again, rubbing my eyes. Yep, no change. The investigation department didn't seem like an actual workspace. Did people get paid to do nothing?

I scratched my head, walking up to the person sleeping on the couch. It was a guy wearing pretty informal clothes, just lying on the couch as if it was his home. I tried to wake him up to ask a question, but decided it would be rude. Instead, I walked back to the door and called, "Hello?"

There was no reply for a few seconds before I saw a figure poke her head out from the second floor. It was a lady this time, and she held several documents in her arms. I faced her and asked, "Is this the investigation office?"

"I mean, that's what the door labels, right?" She replied.

She looked at me closely before looking at the documents in her hands. She looked back at me and nodded. She asked me, "Are you the new guy?"

"Yes?"

"In that case, could you take the staircase up to me?" She requested. "And do be quick before the others arrive."

I wonder what she implied by that. I walked up the stairs as she told me to, the stairs a slick silver. I reached the second floor where it seemed much more familiar to me. There were labelled shelves with countless documents there. There were desks with paper messily placed across them and even on the ground. The girl stood there, at the edge of the second floor where she had talked to me. She wore a suit much like mine. She walked towards me, a concerned look on her face.

"I heard you willingly accepted this job?" She asked me.

"Yes."

"And you're going to stick with it?"

"Most likely."

"You do know you can die, right?"

I paused. "What?"

I wasn't told about having the risk to die. I scratched my head. What kind of job was this? I only recall hearing about the pay and benefits, but I had never actually hears about the details. Thinking back, it was most likely because of the fact that my headphones were on when the boss came in. I cursed myself, I probably should have asked first. It was too late now. I just got this promotion, my sister had already celebrated, and if I quit, I might end up jobless.

Before I could say anything else, I heard the door open and someone announce, "Good morning."

The lady in front of me called back, "Morning! Also, come up here, the new guy's already here!"

"The boss wasn't lying?"

I saw as someone walked up the stairs. The guy seemed moody, and his entire demeanor seemingly exuded moodiness. He looked at me with tired eyes as he walked over to the desk, slumping down. The lady asked, "Did you pull another all-nighter again?"

"Yeah..." He yawned loudly. "I tried finding it everywhere."

Whatever they were talking about, I doubted that it was related to me. The guy looked at me, his eyes on the verge of closing. He said to me, "Do you know what we do here?"

"Not really?" I replied.

He nodded and rested his head on the desk, already snoring. The lady said to me, "Well, why don't you take a seat? I'll explain everything to you, and see whether you want to stay."

What had I gotten myself into? And why did everyone seem so against my option of joining the investigation department? I sat down across from the lady. She extended a hand, which I shook. She told me, "Hi, I'm Tickie Ursup. I've been in this line of work for a year, and I'm the one with the most experience out of everyone here."

One year into the job, and she had the most experience? Something seemed odd. Did people quit? If I remember correctly, this department had already existed before I even entered the company. What happened to those that were older?

"My name is Apollo Sage. I used to be in the Control Department." I said to her.

"Nice to meet you, Sage." She said. "I-"

"Apollo." I interrupted her. "I don't have parents anymore, so I would much rather you not call me by my family name."

"Okay, fine. Nice to meet you, Apollo." She continued. "I would recommend that you resign as quickly as possible. This line of work isn't for everybody, and I don't think you're suited fro this line of work."

"What is this about?" I asked her, genuinely concerned.

"Have you read Arcosto's stories?" She asked me.

"Who?" I replied.

Cut me some slack. I was orphaned when my sister was like, two, since when would I have time to go around trying to read stories. The lady sighed and handed me a book. On it, was the text 'Arcosto's twelve stories'. Who was this Arcosto guy anyways?

"Arcosto was a survivor." The lady told me as if answering the question on my mind. "He was a victim and survivor of the last catastrophe."

"What catastrophe?" I asked.

The lady pulled a map between us, a red circle on it. She pointed at it and said to me, "This is Horus City, okay?"

There was something outside of the city? Huh, then why don't anyone just leave? Actually, thinking about it, if I could save up enough money, maybe I could go on vacation with my sister outside of Horus City, just to relax. It sounded like a good idea.

"This was Pho City." She said, pointing at another part of the map that was blacked out.

"Why is it blacked out?" I asked.

"Because a catastrophe struck it." She told me.

"And?"

"Everyone died." She said.

An odd sensation hung in the air. Did she just say that everyone would die? What? Was there going to be an earthquake or a tsunami hitting us soon? Otherwise, how would everyone in a city just simply die?

"If you read the book, it'll sound like fiction, but it's the truth." She said. "An entire city died because of those twelve things, those curses."

"Curses?" I asked, looking at the book.

"Arcosto was a survivor of Pho City, and he wrote down what he had experienced. It's undoubtedly real, and w-"

"Hold on." I stopped her.

I had opened up the book. I recognised it. I used to hear these stories from random adults on the streets in the past. These were the stories that people told kids so that they would behave. No way adults would believe this bullshit.

"Enough with the joking, what do I have to do if I work here?" I asked her.

She seemed slightly enraged. Tickie stood and sighed, telling me, "As your superior, I'll let you go now. Go read that book at home, and come back tomorrow. I can't deal with you anymore."

Wait, so... Was I fired? But judging by the way she phrased it, I don't think I was fired. I didn't know what to do, so I did as I was told. I stood up and walked down the stairs, saying, "I'll take my leave now."

On the way out, I was thinking about stuff, book in hand. The company had an entire investigation department off stories that some random, probably delusional old man wrote. I sighed, not believing the mess I was dragged into. Pho City or whatever, I doubted it even existed. It was probably a place that Arcosto guy came up with.

I bumped into someone.

I looked at the person I had bumped into. I looked at him and asked, "Aren't you supposed to be working now?"

It was Kogen Taksony. He rubbed his head, then his eyes. He sighed deeply and rubbed his neck. He looked at me, his eyes aimless. "Cut me some slack man. I haven't been able to win much recently."

"Well, good luck with that." I told him, walking away.

Kogen looked at the ground where I had just stood, staring at the blank envelope that laid there on the ground. He looked left and right, making sure no one, not even I was looking. In his mind, he thought it was my pay or something, so he picked it up and slipped it into his pocket. I had walked halfway home when I felt my pocket.

"Huh..." I said to myself.

I felt everywhere in my suit and pockets, but it was no longer there. I guess I dropped it on the ground somewhere, it probably wasn't anything serious to begin with, so I ignored it. I was initially going to report it to the police or something, but now that it's off my hands, I don't particularly care anymore.