Love took my hand as we left MAL's office and almost by reflex I took Edge's hand, MAL sighed as she turned to see that Wolf had also taken Edge's other hand, "You guys really should practice some more passive forms of intimacy."

  We rounded the corner and Wolf puffed out her chest, "Excuse me, but who the FUCK asked you? It helps us feel safe."

  MAL held up her hands in mock surrender as we arrived at a door that was labeled "armory." She huffed, "So sorry, please don't decimate the facility again, I want to keep my job."

  Wolf continued to go in, shaking, "And I'll remember to tell Benz it was YOUR fault if it comes to that again."

  I take my hand out of Love's and place it on Wolf's shoulder, "Wolf, Please don't bitch MAL out before we are even able to get to our first assignment."

  Wolf placed her hand over mine, taking a deep breath, "Ok...ok...fine."

  Love looked over at Wolf, "Just be chill, we'll probably never see her again once we're on assignment."

  MAL opens the door to the armory, "Entrez vous."

  We filed into the Armory, all still holding hands as we got used to the new space.

  The entire room outside of the weapons locker was olive drab, whether it was the floor tiles, the paint on the walls, or the rubber that coated the metal bars of the barrier between us and the weapons.

  The man behind the cage was dead eyed and spindly, wearing Houska uniform and holding a clipboard, "You four must be the rescues...going to work for Benz eh? When MAL said you were young I didn't think she ment children."

  Green interrupted him, "we're here to create our loadouts, can we cut to the chase?" The flippant tone of Green's voice caused a momentary flicker of anger to pass over the otherwise deadpan expression of the armory attendant, but it was quickly replaced with the previous look, "Fine, all of you come inside and we'll get started."

  The loadouts here were much different than the bare-bones ones we got from the Trigram Agency. The attendant laughed at our expectations, instead of kevlar Kevlar-plated Nomex coveralls, we were fitted for suits, like suits you wear to a funeral, but also made of various bullet and blade-proof materials with joint flex support and ventilation, with boots you could run in, these were some pretty swanky suits, more functional and comfortable than any I'd ever worn.

  We were also each given a color-coded tie.

  Mine was Green, Edge's was blue, Wolf's was gray and Love's was pink, the look was classy but kind of gave off power Rangers, not gonna lie.

  We were also given a more well-rounded weapon selection, we needed to have a primary, secondary, and tertiary weapon, with a few special items for each of us. Also, there were "Adjuncts" to each weapon, little extra bits of tech, or what I hesitate to refer to as enchantments to enhance their efficacy in battle.

  We each filled out a single sheet of paper as well, for Trigram to put our money somewhere because we were getting paid this time.

  And now, because I like making lists, I'm going to list off our load-outs.

  Green got 2 swords and a 45. revolver, the Agency swords were glorified box cutters, but the Organization swords were the shape of Greek Xiphos swords, but with longer blades and handles, the attendant called them Diphos swords as a little joke, each sword had an adjunct that the attendant referred to as "Riven." This meant it appeared damascened and hummed with a subtle music, it was due to this vibrational frequency that the Riven weapons were so effective against otherworldly creatures.

  All the bullets in my team's load-outs were also Riven.

  The special allowance was that, since I would be in heavier combat, I was given a bulletproof, fireproof Trench coat to go over my suit. Finally some recognition for my tendency to get shot.

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  Edge got two Glock 45s and special gloves and boots that allow his finger and toepads to extend without him having to take off his shoes. He also got a compressed air gun that he could drool into through a special mouthpiece that allowed his saliva to congeal just enough to become an applicable semisolid glue.

  Wolf got a bullpup MDR rifle with an under-barrel shotgun with silver oxide dragons breath shotgun shells, a Desert Eagle, and an extendable Riven baton, with special modulating contacts so she doesn't have to wear those massive goggles.

  Love got 2 over under 12 gauge shotguns and a pair of gauntlets that the Attendant said would protect her hands when she swung, also she recieved a special body suit that acted like an instant splint, made to be worn under her suit, but whenever she used her strength and broke a bone, the suit would freeze in place, at least in the broken area.

  Heavily armored and Armed to the teeth, our team was ready. MAL escorted us up to the roof where we were told to wait for a chopper that would take us to our assigned facility.

  "I still can't believe that these bozos set us up for a babysitting mission." Grumbled Edge

  Green kicked him lightly, "Be glad they didn't just kill us."

  Edge made a face and huffed, nodding as he wordlessly accepted the Bright side of things.

  8 hours later we arrived at the lakeside facility that, outwardly, resembled and was even labeled as a Sewage treatment facility.

  Facility 919

  After arrival, we were introduced to a man who simply referred to himself as "The Curator" giving us a tour of the facility and all its high walkways.

  First, we were introduced to our charge, the Homo Picis in question, she was absolutely beautiful in a haunting, inhuman way, swimming around in what looked to be a massive indoor pool that smelled like low tide, splashing around and frolicking beneath the walkway, seemingly for our benefit.

  Her skin was bluish-gray, her head was round and bald, and her eyes were massive and expressive with blue colorations, obviously meant for depths greater than this. She had long slender fins instead of arms, but you could still see finger bones in the flesh of them, and with every stroke of her fins as she swam, they flexed. Her midriff is where it went from humanoid to dolphin, the tail and fin at the end were almost exactly the shape of a dolphin's tail, with only slight differences like small separations in the tail fin that showed she had been bitten by something, probably a shark.

  "This is minnie, or Contained Object 247." Said the curator of the site as he walked us over the tank, Love gasped as she gazed down at the mermaid, leaning over the edge a bit, "She's beautiful..."

  All of a sudden, I heard music start up, I couldn't place it, but it was as if intercom music had started in some far off part of the facility.

  The curator pulled Love back away from the edge, "She is dangerous...any attempts at communication are usually met with instant death."

  I furrow my brow and look up at him, "Why? Does she eat them or something?"

  The curator gives me a shocked look, "No! She's vegetarian! Outside of water, Her voice creates sonic waves that rupture the vessels in the human brain...any attempt at direct contact and..." he mimics the exploding of his head with his hands.

  I nod in understanding, Green asking a follow up question, "outside of water huh? What about under the water?"

  The curator turns to look at us, "Have you ever been to the opera, kid?"

  I shook our head, Green chuckled, "Nah."

  The curator shrugged in response, "I don't know what else to compare it to..."

  Edge eyed the creature now looking at us passively from just beneath the water, "This is an open air container...why aren't there more safety measures?" Wolf nodded in Agreement, "That was concerning me too....if her voice is so deadly, why not make the tank airtight?"

  The curator smiled at all of us, "Because she's shown she is trustworthy."

  Without saying anymore on the subject, he beckoned us away and led us into the residential section, where the music I had heard earlier got louder and louder until we were faced wjth a man in a blue suit shirt with a black tie, a white lab coat and a matching wide brimmed white hat playing Toccata and Fugue on the violin with a half eaten churro sticking out of his mouth like a cigar.

  The curator sighed exasperatedly as he came to a stop next to the man who promptly stopped playing, stowing the violin and bow in a case that sat next to his leg. "everyone, this is Doctor Herman Sharp, the supervisor for this site...and my boss.

  He took his time to "ash" his churro on the curator's shoulder, leaving a small dusting of brown sugar before returning it to his mouth and inhaling, "How do, children? I was shocked when I heard about what you all have been through...welcome to your first assignment!" He grinned widely as he exhaled smoke through his nose, it smelled like cinnamon, "I have to go...it's nearly time for my 24-hour check in with the big guy..." he leaves the way we had come, trailing more cinnamon smoke in his wake.

  "The big guy?" Asked Love, her eyes wide and interested as she watched the man who smoked a churro like a Cigar, leave.

  The curator nodded, "Director of Affairs, Phil Manning, our fearless leader....now let's get you guys to your rooms, shall we?"

  Soon we were settled into our new bunk area, which had 4 bunk beds, only 2 of which, I was sure would be in use at any one time.