At an undisclosed location and time.
"When do you think he's going to arrive? Hey, Cardinal, you there?" asked a person with a distorted voice at a conference table with three other people. All of them were obscured by the lack of lighting inside the room.
The one who went by the codename Cardinal made their annoyance clear with a sigh. "They will arrive when they do, Parrot. Now, can you please stop asking every five minutes?" demanded Cardinal. The meeting hadn't even started yet, and he already wanted to get out of this room.
The individual with the codename Owl crossed their arms. Their silhouette told everyone in the mostly dark room that they were pouting. "I will when they start arriving on time!"
"Maybe we should've arrived half an hour later than agreed upon. In retrospect, I should've gone drink with Dove, he certainly isn't missing much, what do you think, Owl?" a different distorted voice butted in.
"Hmm, I'm not sure. Knowing them, they would still make us wait for at least half an hour, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try your idea next time, Kingfisher."
"I see that everyone is here on time. Good," a man obscured in shadows said as he entered the dark room and sat at the head of their reunion table.
Parrot's silhouette motioned their head as if they were rolling their eyes. "Well, duh, you kept calling us on the phone to remind us to attend this meeting. A meeting for which you're late, Eagle." Parrot spat.
Kingfisher sighed. "Can we get back on track, please? I assume there's a good reason for you to call all of us?"
Eagle nodded, not wasting any time. "Yes, I believe this," he pulled four tablets from seemingly nowhere before giving one to each person in the room, "would be of interest to us all."
"Wait... this is the target this time?" Cardinal asked for clarification as they read through the briefing on the tablet.
"Apparently, yeah... Paulo Hagurama, CEO of Hagurama Industries. We got quite a high-value target here this time. Uh, it says here that he will be going on a shopping trip to GreenShoppingMall in Unmei very soon... I thought the rumors said he wasn't much for public appearances?" Parrot questioned as they scrolled through the briefing.
"Well, it looks like those rumors weren't completely true..." Owl whistled. "The client is offering all of this just for us to accept the job? Quite generous."
"Looks like the client wants him alive. That complicates things, but I suppose that's why they are willing to pay so much..." Cardinal mumbled, weighing the risk and reward of the job.
"Hey, is it just me or..." Kingfisher showed their tablet to everyone to see. "There's no mention of who the client is?"
"Oh, yeah, what's up with that, Eagle?" Cardinal asked as they turned to their boss. Everyone else followed them.
The individual called Eagle nodded. "You're not mistaken, Kingfisher. The client this time decided to stay anonymous."
The entire room grew tense until Parrot broke the silence. "Hey, Eagle, no offense, but..."
"That's not what we agreed on. Didn't you learn your lesson the last time we accepted a job from an anonymous client who betrayed us? How can you be so sure this won't be a repeat of that? Why did you even give them the time of day?" questioned Owl.
Their boss raised both hands to calm everyone down. "Now, now. I admit it was indeed a mistake on my part to accept that previous job. In fact, that's why we are here to discuss it. Now, as for why I'm considering accepting their offer..." Eagle trailed off as he placed a suitcase on the table before opening it and showing the contents to everyone in the room. "Let's just say they offered something that could truly change how we operate."
Even though the room was covered in shadows, Eagle's crew could still make out the smirk that grew on his expression as he waited for everyone's reaction.
Everyone in the room soon agreed to accept the job. Cardinal was the last one to accept after some hesitation.
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"So, what do you think? Does it look good on me?" asked a formless individual in front of Seiza. This formless individual held what Seiza could only describe as a formless red object in one hand and a yellow one in the other. The only thing Seiza could figure out was that its voice was female.
The environment around Seiza was just as formless and inconsistent as the individual in front of the talking dog. Even though he couldn't make sense of it, the talkative puppy couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia and... sadness from the room and the individual in front of him.
"Hmm... I suppose color theory would dictate the red one compliments you more than the yellow one," Seiza answered, although it didn't feel like it had been him as it felt too emotionless and neutral.
The formless figure Seiza couldn't quite figure out stomped the floor in frustration. "Come on, [static]! I don't want to hear what some dumb theory about colors thinks. I want to know what YOU think!"
Seiza felt his head move up and down on its own, soon figuring out that he was nodding. "I see... my apologies, [static], but I'm afraid I cannot help you with this. Fashion sense isn't something deemed necessary in [static] society." After a moment, he added, "Hmm, the fabric of both seemed to be of equal quality, so I suppose both choices are more than valid for the occasion."
"Just. Pick. One. Please." The formless unknown politely asked although Seiza could tell they were growing frustrated.
Seiza wanted to say something, anything, but he couldn't. Eventually, his body spoke in his place after a moment of silence. "I suppose you could pick the yellow one?" Seiza felt his paw rising to point at whatever this formless individual was supposed to be holding.
Seiza's eyes soon grew wide in surprise—or at least his mental eyes did—as he noticed that his paw wasn't a paw at all, but some sort of scaly claw of what he could only assume belonged to an animal he had never seen before. Wait, what?! What's this?! This isn't my paw! How is this possible? a baffled Seiza asked himself as he stared at the strange appendage.
Seiza couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity with it, even though it should have been the first time he had seen anything like it.
After the formless individual gave it some thought, they shook their head. "Hmm... no, now that I think about it, red is better."
Seiza felt his head tilting at the formless, indecisive figure. "Curious, but if you say so, red it is."
Before the formless figure could change their mind, they and Seiza heard the loud sound of metal banging to their side. When Seiza felt his head turn involuntarily to the source of it, he laid eyes on what appeared to be a metal door of some kind. "Hey! Are you coming or not? Everyone's waiting!"
"Ah, yes, just wait a second!" Seiza watched as the formless form in front of him twisted and shifted around the yellow object he could only assume to be a dress until they seemed to be wearing it... or at least it felt that way for Seiza.
After the formless individuals checked themselves out, they turned to Seiza. "Come on, [static], you heard her. Let's not keep them waiting."
"I'm still unsure if it would be wise of me to accompany you. Your folks don't seem very receptive to my presence here."
"Nonsense! They are just antsy with all the darkspawn attacks. Even if you're right, they will just have to suck it up and accept you as one of my best friends whether they like it or not!" The unknown form in front of Seiza declared.
"If you say so... shall we go then?" asked whoever Seiza was seeing through the eyes of.
The abstract individual answered with what Seiza assumed was a nod before Seiza felt his body move in the direction of the metallic door. It separated the dream-like space Seiza found himself in from whatever was outside. Seiza couldn't help but feel anxious about what awaited him.
The moment that the door opened for them, a bright flash of light blinded Seiza, preventing him from seeing anything until...
Seiza was suddenly woken from sleep by Nozomi, who jumped out of her bed and immediately started her usual chaotic routine.
Seiza blinked at the scene unfolding before him as he came back to reality. Oh... it was a dream. Seiza thought, finally processing that he was back in the real world. It felt so real, almost as if...
"Seiza?"
Seiza's attention snapped back from his thoughts before turning to Nozomi, who had a concerned expression directed at the talking dog, contrasting with her current disorganized appearance. The puppy tilted his head in confusion. "Hmm? What's wrong, Nozomi?" he asked, wondering if he had done something to cause worry for his friend.
The clumsy girl frowned. "You tell me. You're the one crying," she stated, with increasing concern.
The moment those words left her mouth, Seiza finally noticed how blurry his vision was becoming. What the... why? he asked himself.
Nozomi sat at the edge of her bed, by Seiza's side, completely dismissing how late she would be for school. "Are you okay?" she asked, lightly rubbing Seiza's back.
When Seiza was about to wave off Nozomi's worries, he couldn't help but feel an invisible force clenching his heart, making it hard to breathe. "I... don't know!" Seiza admitted, incapable of comprehending what he had just dreamed of.